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What would you do if the parks in your hometown became so tired and rundown that no one wanted to play there? For the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians, this scenario will never play out as long as they can do something about it.
For the better part of a year, this federally recognized tribe has been on a mission to restore and overhaul all the dilapidated parks and recreational space in the small, tight-knit towns that surround their reservation in Amador County—a historical, mineral-rich area of Northern California that was once the Promised Land for miners and fortune seekers during the Gold Rush era.
The Amador County Park Project is being bankrolled by matched funding between the residents of Amador County and the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians, owners of the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort. To date, tribal donations have amounted to nearly $485,000, and the community has kicked in about $41,000.
Rich Hoffman, CEO of the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort, explains why this beautification project is so important to this small Miwuk band. "Tribal members grew up in Amador County enjoying these parks, so when the Tribal Council noticed that the county didn't have the resources to maintain them, the tribe decided it would make a commitment to ensure that everyone would be able to enjoy them."
Apparently, giving back to their community is not just a one-time event for the Jackson Rancheria Miwuks. According to the Sacramento Press, it is a founding tenet of the tribe, which is "dedicated to developing projects that not only enhance the tribe's ability to remain self-reliant, but also reflect a commitment to be a good neighbor."
In his personally written updates to local newspapers, Adam Dalton, the son of Margaret Dalton, the tribe's first leader, is quick to point out that the project couldn't be accomplished without the help of an army of local residents. More than 150 volunteers have stepped forward with food and water for workers, equipment donations, building materials and precious man-hours. It's a community-wide effort reminiscent of 19th-century barn-raising days.
One community volunteer, a longtime resident of Volcano who acted as the liaison between his town and the Miwuks, said the renovation of their park resurrected a pride of ownership in Volcano that had a domino effect on nearby properties. "You know how some people have houses that are, let's say, less than magazine-worthy? Well, when these people saw what was going on across the street, they decided it was time to fix up their own place, and they started pulling weeds, trimming bushes and even repainted their houses."
So far, two parks have been beautified in the cities of Pioneer and Volcano, and the renovation of a third park in Jackson is underway. The enhancements each park will receive include new sod, bleachers, backstops, fencing, scoreboards and a resurfaced parking lot. The tribe tackled the most difficult park first, Mollie Joyce Park in Pioneer, which required a complete overhaul because it was overrun by weeds and neglected landscape.
Detert Park and Aime Field in Jackson, the project currently on deck, is getting a new barbecue area, baseball field and a regulation-size tennis court where the community hopes it will be able to host competitive tennis matches.
When will the beautification project in Amador County be completed? Sources say there is no specific timeline, but renovations will continue as long as local residents support the project with man-hours and donations.
So far, it has all been worth it, says Hoffman, the tribal spokesman. "There is a tremendous sense of accomplishment in seeing a project like this one develop. As each park is finished and we open it to the community, the excitement on the children's faces and pride for everyone in the community is indescribable."
Earlier this year, the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians opened the Margaret Dalton Children's Center in Amador County. According to TSPN-TV, the center is dedicated to the late Margaret Dalton, the aforementioned founding leader of the tribe who pioneered their transition from bingo-parlor operators to owners of the Jackson Rancheria Casino, Hotel and Conference Center, the largest employer in Amador County.


text: Split stepping puts stress on my lower back and thus makes it tough to come to net and be effective. I seem fine when playing singles and just staying back to hit ground strokes. I've always thought doubles was easier on the body, since you take ~half the amount of swings. Starting to think doubles and the use of quick twitch muscle fibers might be tougher on the body. Agree? Disagree?

subset: commoncrawl


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Escaping Crashed Plane With Lives — And Luggage
China's Internet users mourned the deaths of two Chinese students in the Asiana Airlines plane crash at San Francisco airport Saturday. But they cheered news that so many of the country's citizens escaped with their lives – while also noting that it was astonishing to see passengers escaping with their luggage, too.
Chinese filled almost half the 291 passenger seats on Asiana Airlines Flight 214 when it landed hard in San Francisco and skidded off the runway after a flight from Seoul. China's consulate in San Francisco said 120 of its citizens were confirmed as OK, indicating up to 19 could be injured among the total 141 on board.
Among the lucky majority who walked away from the jetliner crash was a woman in a green blouse. Even as black smoke billowed from the broken fuselage behind her, she was photographed wheeling away a giant suitcase and with another bag over her shoulder.
While the woman's identity and nationality weren't apparent, many on the Internet drew their own conclusions about her and others photographed tugging bags away from the wreck. "When I see people escaping the plane with their luggage I know they must be Chinese," said one user on Sina Twitter-like service, Weibo.
Around the world, flight attendants routinely use the plane's public address system to thank passengers moments after a jetliner lands, welcoming them to the destination point.
But the message is usually a bit different on flights crowded with Chinese passengers because one or two Chinese passengers typically stand and start gathering their belongings from overhead bins, sometimes before the craft has touched down. Flight attendant admonishments are common: "Please return to your seats!"
It is unclear what instructions the Asiana crew gave to passengers on Flight 214 and in what language. There were 12 flight attendants on board. Asiana says it can't immediately confirm how many speak Chinese.
Grabbing bags on the plane didn't put anyone in danger, according to crash survivor Xu Da. The executive of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Taobao service was among the first to publicize the crash in Chinese. Writing on Weibo, he said that after the plane stopped, "we immediately grabbed our luggage. My wife was very calm and organized the belongings."
By Sunday, between posts about the blue skies in San Francisco, he was defending the action in response to widespread criticism.
"The three of us were sitting in the same row and the luggage compartment was just overhead," Mr Xu wrote (in Chinese). "We didn't block the aisle. Our passports and money were in the bags. If we didn't grab them, we would have been in trouble…"
Surviving a jetliner crash is rare enough. And it's mantra that getting out quickly after impact offers the best chance of living. Furthermore, airline safety experts warn escape slides can get pierced by sharp objects, so instruct anyone exiting during an emergency to remove spiky heels and jewelry – and forget the luggage.
Others on the Internet defended the passengers, with one saying that their actions were "instinctive." No one could be expected to be thinking rationally at such a moment, the poster said.
Mr. Xu explained that the emergency exit was anything but by-the-book for his wife and son, who were seated near the rear of Asiana's Boeing 777. The plane's tail was broken off, leaving a big round hole where the kitchen galley had been. They just jumped out the back, no slide needed.
"When the crash happened, everyone rushed to the front," Mr. Xu wrote. "My son said we could go through the back, which is how we got out."
–James T . Areddy and Fanfan Wang. Follow James on Twitter @jamestareddy
Like China Real Time on Facebook and follow us Twitter for the latest updates.


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FSU Home → ECLC
The Fayetteville State University Early Childhood Learning Center, a child development and early childhood education center serving children from six (6) weeks through five years of age, is under the direction of the College of Education. It was established in the Fall of 1970 to provide early childhood education majors an opportunity to become familiar with young children and their characteristics. The Early Childhood Learning Center also has as one of its goals to provide a learning environment that will help young children develop to their maximum potential physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally.
The Early Childhood Learning Center is housed in the Lauretta Taylor Building. Hours of operation are 7:30a-5:30p.
We follow the university schedule for holidays with the exception of the NC Pre-Kindergarten that follows the Cumberland County School System holidays and closings, as well as the Cumberland County School System holidays.
For further information, please call (910) 672-1281 or (910) 672-2452.
The Early Childhood Learning Center serves not only the University, but the Fayetteville community as well, through its acceptance of children of either sex, children from any ethnic or religious orientation and children with mildly handicapping physical and mental conditions.
The Cumberland County Department of Social Service Day Care unit refers as many of its Day Care applicants as space permits. The Developmental Evaluation Center refers children to the Center on an individual basis.
The North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (formerly More@Four) was started in August 2003. Eligibility for this program is: child must be 4 by August 31st of the current year, family gross income and service priority. It is a state-funded, community based pre-kindergarten program administered by the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County. This service is provided at no cost to eligible families. The NC Pre-Kindergarten is a high quality early childhood learning environment for children with developmental, social, and family risk factors that may affect their success in school.
All of the following documents are required for new applicants enrolling in the ECLC:


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CUNA Pays Mica $180,000 in 2012
CUNA's 2012 not only revealed current President/CEO Bill Cheney's $1.34 million paycheck; the trade association also reported it paid retired President/CEO Dan Mica $180,000 in consulting fees last year.
The ongoing deal is structured as a $15,000 per month retainer for lobbying services, said CUNA Executive Vice President of Strategic Communications and Engagement Paul Gentile.
"As a former member of Congress, Dan has a great calling card, and can provide the kind of access that only he can have," Gentile said.
Mica was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979 and remained in office representing Florida's 11th District until 1989. Additionally, his brother John Mica is a current congressman who has represented Florida's 7th District since 1993.
Gentile said former members of Congress often earn up to $50,000 per month on retainer for lobbying, and added, "We're getting Dan for a pretty darn good price."
Many trade associations hire outside lobbyists in addition to their internal legislative staffers, Gentile said. CUNA spent nearly $800,000 on external lobbying services in 2012, he said. In comparison, Gentile said bank trade associations like the American Bankers Association and Independent Community Bankers of America pay millions for outside lobbyists each year.
"The bankers' external lobby costs dwarf ours," he said.
Outside lobbyists often have existing relationships with key committee members that can be helpful, Gentile said. Others have backgrounds that relate to specific issues.
"You really want to be covered across the board, and maybe you can get somebody who is more specialized," he said.
CUNA also spent $946,992 for services from the Arlington, Va.-based consulting firm Greener and Hook. The firm, which according to its website specializes in political communications and strategy, also works with a number of prominent trade associations, private companies and Republican politicians.
According to the tax forms, membership dues were CUNA's largest source of income in 2012, accounting for $24.4 million in revenue. The trade's association services generated nearly $11 million, the Governmental Affairs Conference brought in $4.4 million and CUNA's publishing business earned nearly $3 million. Expenses include $28.4 million in compensation, $9.3 million to produce conferences, conventions and meetings and $1.7 million in payments to affiliates. Administrative expenses reported for CUNA's federal PAC were $738,582.
CUNA reported a $2.06 million profit in 2012, up from a $1.9 million profit in 2011.


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Photos: Chris Wellhausen
Video: Justin Gunson
2013 Winter X Games Snowboard Street Recap
Words: Hondo
The 2013 Winter X Games Snowboard Street contest just wrapped up and man was it a heated one. The event started out with riders riding in two heats, all while trying to get into the exclusive final session. During the eliminations we saw some killer riding from dudes like Forest Bailey, Jonah Owen, Dylan Thompson, Brandon Hobush, Dan Brisse, Jaeger Bailey, Nick Visconti, Ryan Paul, Dylan Alito, and Louif Paradis. Some key standouts from the prelims were Brandon Hobush letting the hoof breath with some sick one-footers over the gap, Forest Bailey's radical style and backside lipslides, and Dylan Alito almost sliding the rail on the top of the wallride-he went higher than everyone on that bad boy. After all was said and done, the dudes who made the finals were Dylan Thompson, Jaeger Bailey, Dylan Alito, Ryan Paul, Dan Brisse, and Louif Paradis. Dudes were going for broke. Jaeger Bailey was flipping and sliding everything in his path, but my favorite tricks out of him were his one-footed boardslide, and his frontside 180 to switch nosepress down the downbar. It's always sick when you see dudes who are known for their zany moves do super sick and stylish more basic tricks. Other standout moves was RP's 50-50 gap out to backside 270 slider. It was sick, and if that rail was in the streets it would for sure be a closer to a video part.
Now I know there's been lots of talk about whack judging at X Games this year, but the judging at the street contest was on point. Louif Paradis won, and he won with legit tricks. He didn't flip, he didn't do any circus shit, he did insane snowboarding, and it paid off.
2: Dylan Alito


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Lucas-Milhaupt Acquires Polish Maker of Metal Alloys
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Friday, March 1, 2013
Brazing-materials supplier Lucas-Milhaupt, Inc., Milwaukee, WI, has acquired Inmet Metal Processing, Gliwice, Poland. Inmet manufactures silver-, copper- and nickel-based materials in strip, wire, plate, anode and rivet form for specialized applications including metal joining, electrical contacts and plating.
See also: Lucas Milhaupt
Related Enterprise Zones: Materials/Coatings
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text: Why can't Naruto form Rasengan with one hand now? It's been years since he's learned that technique and he still needs a kage bunshin to do it? And please don't use the chakra argument because he's mastered sage mode, kyuubi mode and bijuu mode so his chakra mastery should be close to perfect.


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"I want you to know that I was upset, embarrassed, and very sorry for our customer's poor experience. This goes directly against everything we have always taught our people and expect of them. It was just very disappointing."
"FedEx quickly took action, recognized the mistake made by their employee, claimed responsibility, stated their values, satisfied the customer, and updated the masses—socially. The power of social is exemplified in the fact that FedEx did not have to call a news conference, they didn't have to send out a press release; they were able to meet face-to-face with the understandably unsatisfied customer and inform the world about what steps they have taken through tweets and a thoughtfully written blog.
"What could have been a terrible PR disaster was rapidly resolved with the customer and proper steps in line with the company's mission and values were taken to protect the FedEx brand."
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LOS ANGELES — Savannah's Brian Harman and Swainsboro's Blake Adams are tied for second — one stroke behind leader Dustin Johnson — at the Northern Trust Open.
Johnson made six birdies on a warm, sunny Thursday at Riviera Country Club for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead when the opening round was suspended by darkness. Jimmy Walker birdied his last three holes and was in the large group at 67 that included Harman, the former University of Georgia star, and Adams, a former Georgia Southern standout.
Harman made seven birdies (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 14 and 17) and three bogeys (Nos. 12, 13, 16). Adams had eight birdies (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17) and four bogeys (5, 7, 14, 18).
Four days ago, Johnson closed with a 66 in the gray, cold weather of Pebble Beach to finish one shot behind the winning Walker. In conditions that could not have been any different — and could not have been any better — he made birdie on all of the par 5s at Riviera and only had one bogey on his card, at the long par-3 fourth.
The only comparison was the quality of his golf.
"It was cold, windy and wet at Pebble on Sunday. Here, it's not a lot of wind and perfect conditions. It's sunny and a really nice temperatures," Johnson said. "It's still golf, though. You've still got to adjust no matter what you're doing."
That was no trouble for Walker, whose victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was his third of the season. He drove his RV down from the Monterey Peninsula, got up at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to appear on Golf Channel, and then went right back to work.
Walker was in the middle of the pack until his tee shot on the par-3 16th settled just over a foot from the cup. He nearly reached the par-5 17th in two to set up a simple birdie, then finished with one of his best shots — an 8-iron from 184 yards out of a flyer lie in the rough to the back of the green and a 30-foot putt.
"It's four more days of golf," Walker said. "You can ride the momentum of really good play. But everyone started at even and you just have to be like, 'Let's go get it again.'"
It was a glorious day off Sunset Boulevard, and Riviera was in ideal shape — firm and fast, particularly on the greens.
The warmth meant a little more distance, such as the 349-yard tee shot Johnson hammered down the middle of 13th fairway, a slight dogleg left framed by eucalyptus trees. That left him only 97 yards, and he stuffed it. And on the par-5 17th — 608 yards up the hill, no help from wind — he reached it in two and had a two-putt from just over 20 feet. His only glitch was coming up just short of the green and in the bunker on the 225-yard fourth.
Johnson isn't playing a lot this season, but when he does, he plays well.
He already has a win at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He shared the 54-hole lead at Kapalua and tied for sixth, and then took off four weeks before returning at Pebble Beach. That was a good sign for Johnson, who said he doesn't have a good history of playing well in the first event after a long break.
"This time, I stayed with it. I worked hard at home," Johnson said. "It was tough at Pebble because of the weather, and it was hard to keep your concentration."
Life is bliss right now for Walker, who is going for his third win in California this season, starting with the Frys.com Open at CordeValle in October. The only struggle was a bogey on the par-5 11th when his tee shot just missed the fairway and buried in a small indentation in the long grass. He followed that with another bogey on the tough 12th, and then rallied at the end.
Web.com Tour
BOGOTA, Colombia — Savannah's Tim O'Neal is tied for 56th after the first round of the Web.com Tour's Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship at Bogota Country Club.
O'Neal completed his round at even-par 71 before play was suspended due to inclement weather. Savannah native Chris Epperson of Hilton Head Island, S.C., is tied for 124th at 3 over through 13 holes.
Hugo Leon leads at 5-under 66.
Women's Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia — Norway's Suzann Pettersen birdied her last three holes in a 6-under 66 to lead the women's Australian Open by a shot after the first round at the Victoria Golf Club.
Pettersen, winner of last year's Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers.
The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tour's opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. She's in position to take the No. 1 spot in the world from Inbee Park with a victory or a solo second-place finish.


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Can somebody please provide a very simple program to find the default audio device on the machine? I have tried researching this issue elsewhere, and I would find leads (such as GetDefaultAudioEndpoint()), but I have yet to find a single example of how to apply this to my own code. Every time I look at something elsewhere online, I run into linker errors and all kinds of stuff that is too cryptic for somebody who's completely new to programming something like this to really work with. One program I came up with, but which failed, is as follows:
That generates a run-time error having to do with atlbase.h.Code://#include <windows.h> //#include <tchar.h> #include <atlstr.h> #include <mmdeviceapi.h> //#include <devicetopology.h> //#include <functiondiscoverykeys.h> #include <iostream> //using namespace std; int main() { HRESULT hr; CComPtr<IMMDeviceEnumerator> pMMDeviceEnumerator; pMMDeviceEnumerator->GetDefaultAudioEndpoint(eCapture, eMultimedia, 0); //cout << hr; return 0; }
If somebody could please show me a few changes I could make to that program OR a completely different, yet really simple program to find the default audio device, it would be appreciated. I'm really walking into unfamiliar territory with trying to implement this sort of functionality or getting into this sort of API, so please explain anything that's not trivial. Thanks!


text:
Scum Of The Earth: Look At All These Racist Tweets Directed At President Obama As He Spoke In Newtown
- By Bossip Staff
8 of 14
Racist Tweets About President Obama
Last night, President Barack Obama interrupted the Patriots/49ers Sunday Night Football game to deliver a speech from Newtown, CT about the lives lost in the school shooting massacre.
Sadly, some insensitive people didn't quite understand the importance of the event and opted to send out racist tweets about the President. The people at Deadspin uncovered some truly disturbing tweets that make us feel a bit sad about humanity.
Click through and look at how worthless some of these people are.


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Earlier ONS articles have discussed the broader public sector 'balance sheet' - including public sector assets, liabilities and obligations which are not normally included within core Public Sector Finances statistics. These previous ONS articles have included indicative quantifications of these assets, obligations and net worth, making use of currently available published figures. Since the last ONS article was published on this subject in December 2011, further indications of the size of Government pension obligations have become available as a result of work by ONS. These pension obligations estimates are published today in a separate ONS article. This article summarises the new pension obligations estimates and discusses their implications for assessing the broader 'public sector debt'. It clarifies that, while such new estimates provide very useful extra information for assessing the state of the UK economy, they do not add to public sector debt in either the general or accounting sense.
Earlier ONS articles (Hobbs (2010a1), Hobbs (2010b2), Hobbs (20113)) have discussed the public sector assets, liabilities and obligations that fall outside the existing Public Sector Finances statistics, including the official fiscal measures, and have produced indicative quantifications of such assets and obligations. Hobbs (2010a) included published estimates of Government pension obligations, from both official and unofficial sources available at that time.
Since that time, the international methodological framework for statistics has moved on. The international framework – the System of National Accounts (SNA) has been revised. The new edition, published in 2010 (but referred to as 'SNA2008') includes a general requirement that National Accounts should be accompanied by a supplementary table on pensions, providing a range of estimates including those for Government pension obligations. Such obligations include those relating to state pensions.
While SNA2008 is the generally accepted international framework, the UK is legally obliged to comply with the European derivative of the SNA – the European System of Accounts (ESA). The current ESA – ESA95 - is in the final stages of revision and the new edition ('ESA2010') is due to be finalised and published shortly with an expected implementation date of 2014. Like SNA2008, ESA2010 includes the requirement for a supplementary table on pensions.
The first publication of the UK's audited Whole of Government Accounts (WGA)4 – a set of consolidated accounts for the UK public sector - occurred on 29 November 2011 and provided a wide range of valuable information useful for the purpose of analysing the state of the UK public sector's finances. A previous, unaudited, summary had been published in July 2011. The WGA include a range of figures relating to Government pensions liabilities but these do not include an estimate of any obligations arising from the state pension schemes. The first published WGA (for the year 2009-10) explained, in its Note 1.18 "Pension costs and public service pension liability":
" State retirement pensions are outside the scope of the IAS 19 'Employee Benefits pension liability', as they are paid to the general public, and are not employee benefits for public sector staff. State pensions are contributory benefits paid in accordance with government policy and are expensed as incurred (Note 6). Contributory benefits are funded from National Insurance Contributions, and are administered by the Department of Work and Pensions on behalf of the National Insurance Fund. Future state pension benefits are not recognised as a liability as they are only entitled to be paid as they fall due".
In a similar vein, the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) Fiscal Sustainability Report, July 2011 5 (FSR) commented (paragraph 2.35) on the nature of the state pension obligation and its degree of certainty as compared with public service pensions liabilities:
"The WGA includes net public service pensions liabilities, but excludes the present value of future state pension payments to the population in general. The rationale for this is that the public service pensions are a contractual obligation, while state pensions are a liability that arises according to the circumstances and legislation prevailing at the time of the claim, which makes any estimate of future payments too uncertain. But this distinction is less clear in practice, as the government can alter – and has altered – the generosity of public service pension payments. In June 2012, the Coalition Government announced that public service pensions would be uprated in line with consumer prices index (CPI) inflation rather than the generally higher rate of retail prices index (RPI) inflation from April 2011. This will reduce public service pension payments from 2011-12 onwards and will therefore also reduce the WGA net pension liability when this is revalued for the 2010-11 WGA".
As explained in earlier ONS articles, for example Hobbs (2010a), UK Government pension obligations include those relating to:
liabilities of unfunded, pay-as-you-go ( PAYG) public employee schemes including those for teachers, NHS employees, civil servants, members of the armed forces, the police and fire-fighters
liabilities of funded public sector schemes, the largest being the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) for local authority employees
The new, experimental, supplementary table on pensions, to accompany the core National Accounts from 2014, includes a range of information on pension scheme obligations for both the public and private sectors. It provides estimates of the actuarial obligations of all pension schemes for which government is the pension 'manager'. These are mainly public sector schemes and include public employee schemes, both funded and unfunded, and the state pension schemes.
The estimates in the new table cover the estimated gross liabilities, at end of December 2010, of pension schemes included in 'social insurance', as defined by the SNA – that is workplace pension schemes and state pensions accrued through National Insurance contributions. It does not include individual personal pensions as they are not considered part of social insurance; nor does it include social assistance (for example Pension Credit), or health, long-term care insurance or individual insurance policies.
The methodology and data sources utilised in developing the pension statistics for the new supplementary table were described in recent ONS articles (see Levy (2011a)6 and Levy (2011b)7). These drew attention to the difficulties involved in providing a single figure estimate for Government pension obligations, including obtaining suitable data, the necessary assumptions about mortality, earnings growth etc, and the choice of suitable discount rates. They also explained the differences between the approach taken for the purposes of the supplementary table and that used within the Whole of Government Accounts.
2.1 Unfunded state pension obligations
Levy (2012) explains that the last official figure for the state pension schemes' obligations was produced by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD), as at 31 March 2005, at £1.347 trillion, for Great Britain, based on the legislation in force at that date. The GAD estimate comprised liabilities of £1.02 trillion relating to accrued rights to the basic state pension and £0.33 trillion relating to accrued rights to additional pension, net of amounts given up as a result of contracting out. HM Revenue and Customs published a UK-equivalent figure, as at the same date, of £1.354 trillion.
The state pension scheme (providing the basic and additional state pensions) is classified as a social security scheme, and the pensions it pays are classified as social benefits, in the National Accounts, the benefits being paid on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis from the National Insurance Fund. As explained above, these obligations do not constitute a 'liability' in the financial reporting sense and so are not included as a liability within the WGA. Consequently, the estimates of state pension obligations that the new ONS supplementary table on pensions presents are the first official estimates of such obligations since 2005.
2.2 Unfunded public service pensions (i.e. unfunded public employee schemes)
Hobbs (2010a) discussed a range of estimates, both official and unofficial that had been made of public service pension obligations at that time – ranging from £770 billion (the ONS's estimate as at 31 March 2008, published in Pension Trends 8, and based on published accounts of pension schemes and departmental resource accounts) to an estimate, at end of March 2010, of around £1.2 trillion according to a March 2010 report by the actuarial consultants Towers Watson. The range of such estimates is explained by the range of different assumptions, including those about discount rates, that are made in deriving such estimates.
Hobbs (2011) updated these official estimates using data published in Pension Trends and the 2009-10 WGA (the latter prepared under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) principles enshrined in the accounting manual for government entities – the Financial Reporting Manual 9). Hobbs (2011) indicated that, at the end of March 2010, unfunded public service pension liabilities stood at £1.02 trillion. As explained in Pensions Trends and in the FSR, much of the rise in these liabilities is explained by the degree of variability in the market-based interest rates that are used in producing these accounting-based estimates.
2.3 Funded public service pensions
Hobbs (2011) explained that the largest funded public service pension scheme is the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS). Pensions Trends Chapter 14 (April 2011, page 14-7) stated that the latest available figures indicated that the LGPS had, at 31 March 2007, assets of £132 billion and liabilities of £159 billion (i.e. a net liability of £27 billion).
The new supplementary table published by ONS in Levy (2012)10 includes the following headline figures for Government pension obligations as at end December 2010:
Social security pension schemes (i.e. unfunded state pension scheme obligations): £3.843 trillion, being 263 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) (£3.497 trillion at end of December 2009)
Centrally – administered unfunded pension schemes for public sector employees (i.e. unfunded public service pension scheme obligations): £852 billion, being 58 per cent of GDP (£915 billion at end of December 2009)
Funded DB pension schemes for which government is responsible: £313 billion, being 21 per cent of GDP (£332 billion at end of December 2009).
In summary, the estimates in the new supplementary table indicate a total Government pension obligation, at the end of December 2010, of £5.01 trillion, or 342 per cent of GDP, of which around £4.7 trillion relates to unfunded obligations.
Levy (2012) clarifies that the new supplementary table applies an EU-required standard, stable, discount rate of 3 per cent (real) or 5 per cent (nominal) for purposes of comparability. This compares with the variable discount rates used in previous official estimates; for example, the 2009-10 WGA reports – Note 27.6 – that the discount rate used for central government schemes went from 3.2 per cent in 2008-09 to 1.8 per cent in 2009-10 and was largely responsible for the sudden increase in central government funded and unfunded schemes' liabilities over that period.
It is therefore unsurprising that the new ONS estimates of Government pension liabilities and obligations, as provided in the new supplementary table, are considerably different from previous estimates. Levy (2012) provides a commentary on the significance of discount rate assumptions for estimates of pension liabilities and obligations and provides indicative sensitivity analysis for the estimates within the new supplementary table.
As discussed above, the new ONS supplementary table provides a relatively comprehensive set of estimates of Government pension obligations. These updated estimates differ from previous estimates reported by ONS for a number of reasons, including that they relate to a different time (end December 2010), use different methodologies and make different assumptions, including those relating to discount rates.
The new ONS estimates provide useful and interesting additional information on Government pension obligations. In terms of their scale, it is interesting to compare the new estimates of unfunded Government pension obligations at the end of December 2010, at around £4.7 trillion, with the level of Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) at that time.
As explained in earlier ONS articles, for example O' Donoghue (2010)11, PSND is published on two bases – that including the impacts of the financial sector interventions (PSND) and that excluding the interventions ('PSND ex'). At the end of December 2010 – see the latest published estimates in Public Sector Finances: Statistical Bulletin, March 2012 12 - PSND ex stood at around £883 billion (59.4% of GDP) and PSND at £2,257 billion (151.8% of GDP).
The latest published figures, as at the end of March 2012, were PSND ex of £1,023 billion (66.0% of GDP) and PSND of £2,181 billion (140.8% of GDP).
As discussed in Hobbs (2010a) and Hobbs (2011), public sector obligations fall into a spectrum ranging from clearly measurable and time-bound liabilities through to remote and unquantifiable contingent obligations. The former will generally be included within balance sheets; the latter rarely. Where a specific obligation falls on this spectrum is often strongly debated and views change over time.
As cautioned in previous articles, care should be taken when aggregating or comparing such different data sources and the data provided by this article should be viewed in this context. Consequently, the new estimates of Government pension obligations presented in Levy (2012) should be used carefully.
The purpose of this article is not to provide a 'single figure' for the public sector's indebtedness but, rather, to promote transparency by drawing attention to the broader range of information that is available on the obligations of the UK public sector.
Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available by visiting www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html or from the Media Relations Office email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Hobbs (2010b), available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/psa/wider-measures-of-public-sector-debt/september-2010--update-/wider-measures-of-public-sector-debt.pdf
Hobbs (2011), available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/psa/wider-measures-of-public-sector-debt/december-2011/art---public-sector-balance-sheet.html
Levy (2011a), available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pensions/pensions-in-the-national-accounts/compiling-a-complete-picture-of-uk-pensions-including-unfunded-pensions-for-public-sector-employees--methodology-article-2011-/index.html
Levy (2011b), available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pensions/pensions-in-the-national-accounts/compiling-estimates-of-state-pension-obligations-for-the-national-accounts--methodology-article-2011-/index.html


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Post: ISO 1 Ticket For Phish Tuesday 7/25 And Friday 7/28
~ Quick and easy exchange. He even brought me a beer!
Thanks and hope you enjoyed the show!7/27/17
Post: FT: 2 Tickets Joe Russo's Almost Dead 12/29 BK Bowl, Seeking 1 Phish NYE
~ Easy transaction, hooked up 2 really tough tickets... thank you!!!!1/21/17
Post: HAVE: 1 Phish 1/1 Sec 106, 1 Phish 1/2 Sec 115 - Need 1 12/31
~ Made a great trade with Drew for NYE tix at MSG. We used the mail to transfer and trade tix, worked out great! Would trade with him again anytime.1/19/16
Post: Phish - Dicks - 3 Day GA Stands
~ Drew was great! We both live in NYC so I picked up the tickets from him by his office. I feel bad he can't make the shows, but he made it easy for me to take his place!8/27/15
Post: FT: 1 Phish 10/31 And 1 11/1 Cash Difference For 2 Phish 12/31
~ Traded NYE for Halloween run tickets and all is well.
Post: FT: 1 10/31 For 1 11/1 + Cash Difference
~ We met up right outside my hotel and the trade went as smoothly as it could have. I would definitely trade again.7/24/14
Post: FS: Phish 7/13 Randall's Face Meet Today
~ Very easy an punctual with communication. Super easy mid show trade among all the choas.overall a great dude would trade again with any day of the week7/15/14
Post: ISO 1 12/28 Anywhere
~ Great communicator and even better guy. Met me night one of NYE run and still bought my ticket for what we agreed on when he easily could have bailed and bought one for half face value. Thank you. Great person and phan A+++++++6/26/14
Post: FT: 1 SPAC 7/4 Lawn For 1 SPAC 7/3 Lawn
~ Everything went purrrfectly. Great communication through out. Gladly trade again6/23/14
Post: FT: 1 10/25 Worcester GA Floor For 1 10/22 Rochester
~ It was a little hectic at the venue but we met up and had great communication through out. Thanks Drew I'll be down on the Floor Friday night. Would gladly trade again. Thank you!!
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Product Description
NILLKIN Super Frosted Shield:
Use imported environmental PC materials. Formed by the highly precise injection molding
machine with high temperature. Both sides use the latest dustless matte
UV painting technology, with comfortable sense of touch and elegant appearance.
The rigidity is good enough not to transfer and break off easily. Open mold according
to real mobile phone with precise function holes. You can handle as freely as you wished.
The surface uses salient point design, wear-resistant, anti-skidding, dust-proof,
anti-fingerprint and easy to clean.
Color you can choose:black,white,bright red,golden,rose gold
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We need Diddy and Stat to have any chance in the playoffs.
Melo just got whacked!!!!!!!!!
for the love of the god how do you know call that ****?
AHHHH!!!What the F*ck does he have to do, to get a call.
knicks are playing the hawks and the refs in this one
glad the commentators are calling it out at least on these terrible no calls
DONT let them steal this win Melo
There was a list of who people thought who the best NBA on ball defenders are
How can you deny Shumpert the #1 spot? People gotta stop ranking the name of the person and start ranking their game instead


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Post: Phil Lesh @ The Fox In Boulder - SUNDAY - 1 Ticket
~ There was about a half day delay due to a busy work day, but everything went through smoothly. Blessings!6/22/17
Post: SOLD (FS: Four 11/1 Section 4)
~ Thanks Man!7/13/15
Post: (2) 11/1 FLOORS (PTBM's)!!! Looking For 2 10/31 Floors Or Decent Seats.
~ Finanlly putting a review in for the vegas tickets. This guy is a great seller. great communication and fast on shippin.6/10/15
Post: FS: 10/31 Ticket For Face And You Get Me A Poster
~ And there it is...my 10/31
And all I gotta go is send my man a 10-31 poster minted out!
Class act, man of his work.10/29/14
Post: TRADED - (2) Dick's 8/31 For (2) 11/2s -
~ I shipped tickets as a trade two months in advance of when my tickets would be available. Sure enough, once I knew it was time for my tickets to come, they were in my mailbox! Great communication! Would gladly trade again. Thanks Fromthehills!! 10/14/14
Post: Have Phish Santa Barbara 10/21 Floors: Want 10/22 Floors Or 10/31 Anywhere
~ Scott was a pleasure to trade with. He was easy to communicate with and he shipped the ticket as soon as he had it in hand. He is an excellent and trustworthy CoTer and I would definitely trade with him again.10/10/14
Post: FS: Phish Hampton PTBM 3-Day Ticket Pack
~ Tickets were exactly as described, and the seller kept contact throughout the process.10/25/13
Post: FS; 2 Reading GA Floors
~ Paid via PayPal & tickets came in 2 days. He was even nice enough to split the tickets & ship to 2 different addresses. Would recommend.10/23/13
Post: FS: 2 Tickets - Phish @ Reading, PA
~ He stayed in contact when recieved he shipped and i got them quick it was easy and done correct!10/21/13
Post: For Sale: Phish HARTFORD 10/27 - 2 PTBM Tickets
~ Absolutely perfection, did everything to ensure that the tickets arrived the day before my flight left for tour. Went above and beyond, doesn't get any better than this. Great communication, even dropped the tickets off directly at my home. Highest possible recommendation.10/17/13
Post: FT: READING FLOORS FOR HAMPTON
~ Scott and I set up this trade very early on, but stayed in contact and mailed each other our respective tickets as soon as we got them. Everything went very smoothly and I would happily trade with Scott again! A+++!10/15/13
Post: PHISH- Billy G. Trade- My Sun Or Sat For Your Friday
~ i would trade with scott again. we were able to meet up without any problems. good communication. 8/16/13
Post: Have: San Francisco, ISO: Dicks Fields
~ Great trade, everything worked out perfectly. Thanks!8/07/13
Post: For Sale: PHISH 8/2 (Fri) Bill Graham San Francisco - PTBM
~ Responded immediately and shipped out the BGCA Friday ticket the same day. Couldn't have been easier to deal with and now, less than 24 hours since I first messaged him on CoT, I've got the ticket in hand. Thanks!7/31/13
Post: FS: Page & The Meters - Denver Ogden - Friday 5/10 - BELOW FACE
~ we were supposed to meet while he was on break at work. he got pulled into a meeting and forgot his phone, so i got stuck waiting at starbucks for about an hour unsure of where he was at... but once he got back to his phone he apologized profusely and transaction went perfectly. he even said he yelled at his boss for making him late! life happens, it's cool6/03/13
Post: FS: 4/20 Trey Anastasio Band @ Oakland Fox - Front Row Aisle Mezzanine
~ I paid by paypal ahead of time and the tickets arrived fast. great communicator. 4/15/13
Post: ISO: 1 12/30 WEST - FT: NYE, 2 12/30 100 Level, 12/29 EAST
~ fromthehills is the real deal! Hope he andhis friends enjoy the run.12/18/12
Post: FT: 3 30th West Floors!!! Looking For 3 NYE Tickets
~ Very friendly and prompt communication, once we had the tickets, the trade was easy to set up and was executed quickly!12/17/12
Post: FS: 1 NYE Ticket Section 103
~ super quick payment and super appreciative. excellent communication for an easy transaction. Enjoy the show!!!11/29/12
Post: Sold Out Dick's Field For San Francisco
~ This was an excellent trade. Stand up guy and wouldn't hesitate to trade with again! 8/15/12
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You Are All Diseased by the Grammy Award-winning American standup comic George Carlin was recorded for HBO on February 6, 1999, but the material remains fresh and funny today. His textured voice and top-notch delivery create an unbeatable listening experience as he covers topics such as airport security, terrorism and religion. The audiobook includes: "Fear of Germs", "Cigars", "Angels", "Harley Davidson", "House of Blues", "Minority Language: A-Happens to Be; B-Openly; C-Urban; D-Girlfriend", "Man Stuff", "Kids and Parents", "TV Tonight", "Names", "Advertising Lullaby", "American Bullshit", "Businessmen", "Religion", and "There Is No God".
1. How's Everybody Doin'
2. Airport Security
3. Fear of Germs
4. Cigars
5. Angels
6. Harley Davidson
7. House Of Blues
8. Minority Language: A-Happens to Be; B-Openly; C-Urban; D-Girlfriend
9. Man Stuff
10. Kids and Parents
11. TV Tonight
12. Names
13. Advertising Lullaby
14. American Bullshit
15. Businessmen
16. Religion
17. There Is No God
Explicit Language Warning: You must be 18 years or older to purchase this program.
© and (P)1999 Atlantic Recording Corporation
"Raw Truth"
I heard an analogy recently that new born babies are like Diamonds & that, as they grow, they learn manipulation & pretensions, which covers the Diamond in Horse muck, finished off with sheen of nail polish to make it seem something pretty when it ain't. The Refreshing thing about listening to George Carlin is that he is all Diamond. Although what he says is not pretty, it is heartfelt truth & he may be cynical & crude, but that is what the World is often like & he is merely speaking his mind.
This download seems to typify the later George Carlin in being someone who was Blunt & Brutally honest (as opposed to the early George Carlin who was more people-pleasing & witty). I was not disappointed. Essentially the entire show consists of Carlin griping about things that annoy him. Most of the time, this can get dull (as with Grumpy Old Men), but the quirkiness of his view of the World means that things that annoy him are different to normal people & funnier as a result.
Starting with a rant about airport security (and how people should take more risks), he moves through subjects as diverse as Little House on the Prairie, Angels, Barbed Wire Tattoos & his State-of-the-Art Immune System. Each time he brings interesting insight & unleashes an arsenal of insults & plain common sense on them so that you feel you've seen the World through an unusual perspective (even though his is a simple, no bull philosophy.)
Naturally, my one criticism is that it's not for everyone. I recall being offended by the stuff at the end about God (when I was Christian) & dismissing him as a 'Devil-man'.
To some like this, but to those with an open perspective, what you can gain from raw truth is worth swallowing your Pride for.
I advise anyone that seeks to please others & who is affectations in any way, to get this book & learn how one of the masters of comedy told it like it is. Much of it is strong, potent stuff, but to get to a diamond, it's worth wading thru some.
Always loved George but not this time. Usually funny because it's relatable but this was nothing more than vulgar anger.
"another classic Carlin"
will never cease to amaze and get you questioning everything. we miss you George. thank you
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In Brief: Smithsonian Needs to Improve Preventative Controls for the Purchase Card Program, No.A-13-04, Issued March 31, 2014
Why We Did This Audit
The Smithsonian management has a heightened interest in reducing the risk of misuse, fraud, waste, and abuse in such vulnerable areas as cash processing and purchasing. Purchase cards allow the same individual to order, pay for, and receive goods and services. If purchase card internal controls are not properly designed, it will be difficult for management to detect and prevent fraudulent purchases or improper uses of the cards.
Our audit objective was to determine if the Smithsonian exercises effective management and oversight of the government purchase card program.
The Smithsonian uses purchase cards to reduce the administrative cost of small dollar purchases, incurring over $27 million in expenditures for 100,498 transactions from October 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012. At the end of 2012, there were 658 open purchase card accounts issued to Smithsonian personnel.
What We Found
We found that the Smithsonian generally exercised effective management and oversight of the Smithsonian Purchase Card Program. In general, the purchase card transactions we reviewed were appropriate for the mission of the purchasing unit. However, we determined that some additional preventative controls could improve the program.
We found that approving officials were not always approving purchase card transactions in the Smithsonian's financial system or documenting their review of cardholder purchase logs and credit card statements as required by Smithsonian policies and procedures.
We also found that the management had not blocked Merchant Category Codes that allow certain high-risk transactions, such as purchases of jewelry, watches, furs, and alcohol. In addition, Smithsonian had not fully implemented best practices to ensure effective strategic sourcing when employees use government purchase cards to acquire commonly purchased goods and services.
Lastly, we found that the Smithsonian may have inappropriately paid state and local sales taxes on purchase card transactions.
What We Recommended
To strengthen the Purchase Card Program, we recommended that management: reinforce the need for approving officials to timely approve transactions in the Smithsonian's financial system; evaluate restrictions on Merchant Category Codes; develop and implement a strategic sourcing program that encompasses all procurement methods, including purchase card transactions; develop thresholds for recovering erroneous tax payments.
Management generally concurred with our findings and recommendations and has planned corrective actions to address the recommendations. We will continue to monitor management's progress towards completion of these recommendations.
Click to view the full report.
Download Adobe Reader for PDF files at get.adobe.com/reader.


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Lexus ES Engine Questions
I am planning on buying a 2000 lexus ES300 from a family friend with 179,000 miles on it. It had the regular maintanence done on it serviced by the local Lexus dealership. I have been told that Lexus engines if properly maintained last well over 200,000 miles. Is this a good car to be getting myself into or is it a death trap? How long are these engines supposed to last?Thanks!
bottomliner Posts: 6Josh, I have a 1999 ES 300 with 142K, mostly on the interstates. No problems at all. I've heard of another 300 with around the same milage that had had the transmission rebuilt or replaced. It's a bit of a crap shoot, and probably depends a lot on how the car was driven.
sean300 Posts: 41I have a 1998 ES 300 with 123K on it. I got it used in February '06, did all maintenance on it. About three weeks ago the engine light (MIL) began to stay on. I took it to my mechanic who hooked up a scanner and he said that there is a problem with the evap system purging. Also said that it is usually the charcoal canister or solenoid. He reset the engine light and said that if it came on again then we'll have to take care of it. A few days ago the light came on and has been on since. Anybody ever experience this problem? I priced canister and it is expensive (almost $300). Can I use reman parts or used parts? Would really appreciate some help.
rcallahan Posts: 9My transmission just went out on my 1999 ES300. It had 110000 trouble-free miles on it. The Lexus dealer whent to Lexus US and got them to pony up a new transmission but I had to play 1200 labor. I traded the car in as-is.
)) "I am planning on buying a 2000 lexus ES300 from a family friend with 179,000 miles on it. It had the regular maintanence done on it serviced by the local Lexus dealership." ((
An oil forum, "BobIsTheOilGuy", has quite an extensive posting archive about past Toyota 3L V6 engine problems. Toyota had sludge troubles on that 3L V6 engine from ~1995-2002. The culprits were the recomended 7,500 mile oil change intervals Toyota advised at the time combined with questionably engineered small diameter oil return galleries from the heads (hot oil in the heads tended to remain there too long - a perfect breeding ground for varnish and sludge). At first Toyota denied culpability; but after being threatened with a class action suit by infuriated owners of affected cars whose motors had seized, Toyota extended the engine warranty to ten years, unlimited mileage, as long as an owner was able to show evidence of at least ONE oil change per year. If the car you're contemplating has up to date service records, you should be ok in case of problems - up to and including a replacement engine with all subsequent engineering improvements if necessary out to 2010. As a result, Toyota scaled back the recommended oil change interval to 5,000 miles, and Toyota enlarged the oil return galleries to promote quicker return of hot oil in the cylinder heads to the sump where it would be cooled by under-car airflow. Interestingly, the owners of affected cars who'd grown up changing or having their engine's oil changed at 3,000 mile intervals, and continued with their customary oil change interval in spite of the recommendations in the owner's manual, never developed sludging problems. The only Toyotas of the era that had a snowball's chance in the Sahara of not becoming sludgemonsters on Toyota's original 7,500 mile oil change intervals were those which routinely ran full synthetic motor oils or routinely ran easy highway miles. (Urban crawl is an oil killer - ask any fleet mechanic.) You might wish to inquire of your friend whether he/she opted for synthetic oil at the specified changes.
(Oh, and by the way, with regular oil and filter maintenance, there isn't a motor made over the last ten years, regardless of automaker*, that couldn't make it out past 300,000 miles if driven reasonably. In general, engines and motor oils have now gotten that good.
*with the possible exception of some Korean subcompacts masquerading under GM nameplates)
I own a Toyota SUV, V8 4.7L, and has mileage of 30K. I have routine oil change at 3,750 miles.
The service center tells me that I should pay ~$310 :confuse: , just to flush the engine and fuel system. They will also charge me the other regular 30K services for about $410.
Do I need to do this kind of service? any recommendation?
)) "The service center tells me that I should pay ~$310, just to flush the engine and fuel system. ... Do I need to do this kind of service?" ((
At just 30,000 miles? Not unless you're feeble-minded. (The fact that you're skeptical about your dealership's sales pitch tells to me your wits are very much intact.) Your question would probably have been more appropriately directed to one of the Toyota SUV forums than this Lexus oriented discussion, but I'm going to answer it anyway since I suspect a good number of Lexus' upscale owners get this salespitch from their dealer's service departments, too, and given their affluence and willingness to spend what it takes to keep their cars healthy may acquiesce unquestioningly to service writers' well-honed scare tactics. With your conservative oil change intervals and todays high detergency motor oils, I'd be willing to bet that your engine's internals are already clean enough to eat off of. As for the fuel system flush, gasoline sold in North America is government mandated to carry a relatively high additive content to protect fuel system components from the effects of moisture and corrosion. Additionally, your fuel system has very efficient fuel filtration. The reason automakers go to this trouble is to prevent a partially clogged fuel injector from dribbling or spraying non-uniformly into the intake port area just ahead of the combustion chamber which, in turn, would contribute to excessive exhaust pollution. These augmented dealer-advocated "flushings" with overpriced chemicals of questionable effectiveness rarely come anywhere close to doing what they claim, but they're a very profitable sideline for service departments. (One of the dirty little secrets of dealership service departments is that service writers get monthly bonuses over their salary based on additional make-work service they can pad the service invoices with.) The car dealerships (not just Lexus, by the way) buy this stuff at steep discounts, but charge high prices for it since the exclusiveness of dealership-only availability gives car owners a false sense of assurance in the products. The reality is these products are no better than the buck-seventy-nine supplements sold at WalMart, and maybe not even as good. Then the dealer also adds its customary $80.00/hour flat rate labor charge as a further assault on common sense. If you're using a major brand of recommended API "SM" motor oil and good quality oil filters such as Toyota's own brand at your customary oil change intervals, and major brand gasoline, you're doing all that's necessary for the continued health of your car's mechanicals. If most of your driving through the week involves short trips and/or urban crawling, get the car out on the weekend for thirty minutes or more of driving at legal freeway speed to let the engine stretch its legs to blow out any accumulated moisture and fuel contamination in the oil. In a sense car engines are somewhat like people - getting routine, moderate exercise does more long-term good than throwing chemicals in the mix.
Ray, Thanks for providing this extremely information and explaination! I appreciate!
I'm not going to spend the extra $310 bucks!
revs Posts: 5I looked over the Owners Manual to do this myself. Does anyone have a "how to" guide to change bulbs on a 1999 Lexus ES300.
Thank you.
How often should I change the oil and what oil is best for this car? 115K - Thanks
I personally won't go over nine months or 5,000 miles between oil and filter changes. As to the best quality oil, the answer isn't as clear cut these days. When your car was new I would've unhesitatingly suggested a full synthetic oil to achive maximum engine service life in whatever viscosity range Toyota/Lexus advised at the time. But current conventional oils have improved so much over the past fifteen years (especially the past six) that they'll easily handle a 5,000 mile oil change interval. If winter temperatures where you live are particularly cold (-20 deg. F. or lower), that would still make the case for a full synthetic motor oil, however. Any recognized name brand in whatever recommended viscosity and in whichever refining method you prefer should suffice. My personal favorite full synthetic is Pennzoil Platinum (watch for sales/rebates). My personal favorite mineral oil, and what I use, is Phillips 66 TropArtic (itself, labled a "Synthetic Blend", by the way, yet priced lower than most other name brand conventional-only motor oils). There are three other identical oils blended and distributed by parent company ConocoPhillips: "Conoco Super All Season", "76 Super", and "Kendall GT-1 High Performance". Generally the particular brand you'll find will be based on regional considerations, though most WalMarts carry the TropArtic. ConocoPhillips also blends and bottles the Motorcraft line of motor oils for Ford for U.S. distribution. Guess what - it's the same goo, too. Only the labeling and in some cases, the color of the plastic bottles, differ.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question.
Almost two years ago I started the purchase of my 92 Lexus ES300 it had almost 190,000 miles (I still owe $600) The car engine light came on and then the car started to overheat- There is water coming from underneath the car and out the tail pipe- it runs but because of the loss of water becomes hot within 15 minutes- Took it to the Lexus dealer and they said it was the block being cracked-head blown- power steering pump out and would cost me $8,000.00- way more than what I paid for it- I love that car and the body/interior are in great shape- what should I do and are there any suggestions? Thanks :sick:
jaspalb Posts: 84Obviously previous owner(s) allowed the engine to overheat (possibly due to less/no oil or coolant), which resulted in engine head cracking, and collant getting into the cylinder. $8000 doesn't seems to be a prudent choice, when you can get similar car at a lower price. You can try with private car garages and/or wrackers for replacing entire engine, and other broken parts. Best of luck. With normal maintenance 200,000M should not cause any major problem with these engines
First let me Thank You for your reply! You are right- when I took the car to the shop they said that the head gasket was a different color meaning it had been rebuilt before- I did not know this when I bought it- this has been a great car as I live in Missouri and it has taken me to California and back with 4 kids! I love this car!!! I have looked everywhere for a replacement engine and Im finding no luck:( If anyone has any good engine dealers that ship please let me know- I greatly appreciate any suggestions! Thanks
I'm new here, I'd really appreciate some advice.
I am the second owner of a 1998 ES 300 with approximately 86k miles. I purchased the car 12/01 when it was 4 years old and had 35k miles on it so I've had it a little over 5 years. So, the car is 9 years old as of last December.
I have never taken the car to the dealer for service because it is quite far from my house.
My "check engine" light has come on three separate times, starting in May of 2005. The first mechanic said it was the O2 sensor and he reset it.
Later it came back on.
The second mechanic replaced that sensor.
The engine light came back on but the same mechanic said it was the "knock sensor" P-330 and he reset that because the "condition wasn't present at that time."
Now the engine light is back on and I am aware that in addition my engine has a significant sludge problem. I've changed the oil every 3-5k miles.
Unfortunately, neither of the mechanics mentioned the sludge problem to me.
My question is this- is the oxygen and/or knock sensor possibly related to the sludge?
I ask because I have a claim with Lexus/Toyota re: sludge only if I can show that the sludge problem existed within 8 years of purchase. If the engine light reoccurence will demonstrate that (it started within 6-7 years of purchase) it may help my case.
Thanks so much!
If I were you I'd petition Toyota for relief and just leave out the engine light issue altogether. I don't mean lie or anything. I mean that it's probably not related and driving around with the engine light on is not a great thing to reveal to Toyota. And your mechanic blew it, because an error code for an 02 sensor doesn't necessarily mean a bad 02 sensor at all...it just tells us that the 02 sensor is unhappy for some reason.
Are the engine light and sludge connected? That's impossible to say with any certainty at this point, but it doesn't help your case I don't think to mention it and I don't see any moral reason to reveal it. It's not like the oil pressure light went on , or the overheat light, which it seems to be would relate directly to a heavy sludge issue.
Find someone who can fix the engine light issue and then petition Toyota. Maybe they'll help you out.
I didn't actually drive around for a long time with the engine light on, I did take it in when it went back on twice, albeit not to the dealer. It would be fine for a while, and then go back on. I only drive the car to work and back.
The thing is without the engine light "evidence" (and I guess it's really not!) I have no potential proof the sludge problem existed before the extended) warranty regarding this problem expired.
I just didn't know I should have been looking out for the problem because I didn't get the letter Toyota sent to the owners of these cars in 2002. If I did get a letter, I would have found a way to take it to the dealer to make sure my car didn't have the problem. I know sludge is a monster.
Instead, I drove around for the last few years and I'm sure made the problem worse despite getting oil changes regularly!
I was really hoping there was a potential link either to the O2 or knock sensor (the mechanic said the car did not knock so I guess something else made that one activate)
Anyway, thanks for the advice : )
Well ask around but I don't think the 02 sensor is evidence of anything...it's just circumstantial. You need proof of services done. What if they say "Oh, your engine light was on...why didn't you bring it to a toyota dealership immediately?"
I purchased a '97 ES 300 in 2000 with 31,000 miles on it. Currently, the vehicle has 83K miles on it. During the past couple of years, I've used the car intermittantly, which I guess threw me off my regular maintenance schedule.
I periodically checked the oil and other resevoirs and had no problems, other than air conditioning, with the vehicle.
On a frigid January evening this year, I started the car at night after leaving class and I noticed what I thought was a plume of smoke in the rear view mirror. I convinced myself that it was just the exhaust tempered by the cold weather, and drove home with no incident. A few days later, I noticed the smoke, again and while driving home, the car started to stall and idle almost violently at a stop light. This would happen at every stop light. I made it home and checked what I thought was the oil dipstick, which was full. I noticed the car was very hot and unscrewed the top of the oil resevoir and steam and smoke poured out of it for minutes. It was late and dark in my garage and I decided to revisit the situation in the light of morning. I took the manual in the house and realized that I had been checking the dipstick right next to the oil resevoir, but that this was the power steering dipstick. The oil dipstick is located on the other side of the engine, towards the back. There was singed oil on the inside of the oil resevoir cap and the oil was nearly gone. I put 4 quarts in the engine and decided if the problem persisted, I'd take it into the dealership.
The problem perisisted, I took it into the dealership explaining same and they called saying I needed new plugs and wires. They charged me $400 and sent me on my way. The car drove beautifully, though there were hints of minor exhaust smoke a few days later.
After 2 months and 600 miles, the car started exhibiting the same exact symptoms as before. I took it back to Lexus and they then said I needed new rings on the engine pistons. They said the rings are failing and oil is mixing with the gas and the engine sensors are detecting it. He said the idling and near engine shutdown was caused by the wires falling out and the plugs being dirty with oil. When I questioned him as to what they did the first time to get it running back smoothly, he said they replaced the bad plugs, cleaned off the good ones and replaced the wires. He said the plugs were again oily and the wires were again fallng out. They told me they could get me a rebuilt engine for $7,800. Not an option.
At no point during this debacle did the oil light ever illuminate, other than when the car was idling violently and threatening to shut down.
Unfortunately, I don't have much confidence in the Lexus service repair department to tell me what is acutally going on, as I find it hard to believe that they didn't discern the problem was internal to the engine the first time I took it in, rather they felt it was unlikely I'd get the engine repaired there, so they sold me what they could to get what they could out of me. Call me paranoid (OK, along with stupid for checking the wrong dipstick all these months).
Finally, here are my questions: Does this diagnosis sound legitimate? What should I look for in terms of credentials and experience in an auto mechanic when/if I take it in for a second opinion or repair? What is a 'reasonable' charge to replace the rings on the pistons?
I'd really appreciate your help.
What needs to happen is this: A Cylinder Leakdown Test.
This gives a quantitative measurement of internal engine wear, and will tell you if its the rings, the valve guides, the valve stem seals, or just excessive crankcase pressure.
Without this test, everyone's just guessing.
If the test has been done, they should be able to show you actual results on a print-out.
Excellent! Thanks for your help. I can assume this test can be performed by Lexus. Can other mechanics specializing in foreign cars perform this test, too?
Thanks, again!
Yes any mechanic who found his or her way out of their house this morning should know exactly how to do this test. I'm sure a Lexus dealer has this tool in their required tool shed they buy from Lexus when they open a dealership. It might be dusty (sounds like it) but they have one.
But any good import shop knows how to do this.
Thanks for your timely response.
I called the dealership today and they have yet to return the call.
Say that they did use this test and it does in fact reveal the rings need to be replaced. I know prices vary from shop to shop, but what is a reasonable price for this kind of repair? I need to decide whether to invest further in the vehicle or to trade it in.
It will all depend on the condition of the pistons themselves and on the true-ness of the cylinder bores. Re-ringing an engine with 87K on it is tricky because you may want to do work on the cylinder heads as well, and the bearing clearances should be checked as well. It's one of those "while we're in there" kind of jobs where the costs are hard to control.
But since they haven't really tested it they don't know yet, or they didn't tell you properly what they found. Perhaps you have worn valve guides or valve stem seals, which would give the exact same symptoms but only require removal of the cylinder heads---perhaps a $1,500 repair.
I'm learning so much from your responses.
Do you think the rings or seals or guides could have been caused from not having enough oil? There was a lot of steam and heat built up in the engine when I took off the oil resevoir cap and noticed the singed oil on the underside of the cap.
I'm assuming that the cost of replacing the rings and/or the other ancillary things you mentioned would cost more than the $1,500 for guides or stem seals? Much more?
I think engine wear from lack of oil is pretty rapid and catastrophic. I don't think being low on oil causes subtle wear issues like worn rings or loose valve guides...if an engine is starving for oil, it will destroy itself pretty fast, not keep running in a mildly degraded state like yours.
The wear on valve guides could be construed as within "normal" wear at 87K....quite premature but not unheard of...maybe there should have been more frequent oil changes. I have no idea of the car's previous service records.
I think if they bust open the entire engine, that is "go into the lower end" rather than just stay on the "upper end" (cylinder heads", then you will surely exceed $1,500 unless it's some kind of down and dirty patch job. Most of the cost is a) the labor to disassemble and assemble the engine and b) the machining costs. The actual parts are not very expensive---rings, gaskets, hoses, clamps, belts, etc.
Offhand, I'd say your car is an excellent candidate for a used engine, should the cylinder leakdown test show excessive ring wear. Remember, you cannot successfully install a new, perfectly round ring on a worn piston running in an oblong cylinder bore. It won't last but a few thousand miles before burning oil again. Everything must be "trued up" and made factory tight again.
I just LOVE what I'm learning about this whole procedure. Of course I'm less excited about how costly this is turning out to be :-(
I finally heard back from the Lexus Service Manager.
He stated that they didn't arrive at the ring failure determination from performing a cylinder leakdown test. Instead, they determined that it had to be the failure of the rings because oil was 'fouling out' the spark plugs, even the newly installed ones, and the only way that oil could get to the spark plugs was if the rings had failed.
He said the rings were failing on multiple cylinders.
Like you, he also told me that is was highly unlikely on a "Lexus engine" that the trouble was being caused by a valve problem.
He went on to articulate what is involved in rebuilding the engine and said that with the labor involved (40-50 hours), it would exceed the cost of even a factory new engine from Lexus ($7,000).
So, now I guess my only option if I'm going to keep the vehicle is getting a used engine.
My only experience with such an endeavor is when I had a new transmission put into a Hyundai Excel. I shopped around at auto salvage yards and found a mechanic to install it. I then promptly drove it from his shop to an auto dealer and traded it in.
Should I just start calling auto salvage shops and shop around for engines? Are there internet sites where I can shop for the engines?
I know the price will vary depending on the mileage, but can you give me a ballpark figure of what is a good price given a certain mileage range? Also, what should be a reasonable labor charge for removing the old and installing the new engine?
I remember when I had the transmission done, the warranty for the transmission was only 90 days and the mechanics work was only guaranteed for 30. Would the warranty be much the same on engines?
I know I'm probably asking a lot of you, but any help you can provide will help me make a decision.
Thanks for all of your help and patience.
"Instead, they determined that it had to be the failure of the rings because oil was 'fouling out' the spark plugs, even the newly installed ones, and the only way that oil could get to the spark plugs was if the rings had failed."
I'm sorry, but they are wrong about that.
Bad valve guides or valve stem seals could certainly foul spark plugs, and in fact could do so more easily than bad rings. Why? Because with bad valve stem seals or guides, the oil can drop into the combustion chamber with the engine shut off, putting a lot more oil onto the cold plugs than bad rings can do on warm plugs.
I'd still say that without a cylinder leakdown test, Lexus is just walking around with a blindfold throwing darts at your checkbook.
One step at a time. First, "nail" the problem. Automobiles are science, they are not sessions with a psychic.
I'm so glad I asked you. As stated before, I didn't have much confidence in the service manager at this point. I can easily see him saying something HAD to be the problem and it not necessarily being the case.
In the meantime, I talked to a company that specializes in engine auto parts. Their rep told me that the engine on the Camry and Avalon is the exact same engine as the Lexus ES 300 and can be used interchangably. Is that correct?
He told me he could get me a Certified Used Camry engine for $1,650 (no tax)delivered to a commercial address. He said that engine has 41K miles on it.
He had a certified Rebuilt Lexus engine he could get me for $3,500.
He also had a certified Lexus engine remanufactured by Jasper, for $2,800.
According to them, each engine is thoroughly inspected, leak-down and run-tested. Their warranty covers the 'long block'(cylinder block, cylinder heads, valves, crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, bearings, rocker arms, camshafts and all of the internal moving parts).
Can the Lexus, Camry and Avalon engines be used interchangably? Since I have a baseline for the engine prices, what is a ballpark figure for labor for installing the engine?
I will call the Lexus dealer back and see if I can't get a leakdown test, free of charge, since they misdiagnosed the problem the first time (charging me $400 for new wires) and just guessed the second time I brought it in.
I think I'm getting close to being able to navigate these waters.
I would want to speculate on engine swapping from different models. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it because you will invariably find differences in how things hook up in the different cars. So you'll need a shop that can improvise that kind of thing....wire too short, bracket in wrong place, hose too long, red wire meeting black wire instead of two red wires, coupler A not mating to coupler B, that sort of thing. So it might add 10 hours to the job. I really don't know.


text:
The House of Blues in Downtown Disney was overtaken recently by seven youth bands from the Performing Arts Guild of Orange County's music school.
This was not a typical music school recital. The March 3 event was a full-on rock concert with sweeping solos, thundering drums and excited fans. The bands rocked some of today's hottest hits, including "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Bad Romance." They had the sold-out crowd screaming for more.
From the moment they walked on stage, the students got to experience what it is like to be a rock star for the day. The event included an autograph signing and an afterparty on the terrace overlooking Downtown Disney.
To gear up for the show, students and teachers began forming and training their bands in October. Students attended weekly rehearsals, did a promotional photo shoot and some even laid down audio track in the guild's studio.
The Performing Arts Guild of Orange County is a nonprofit organization in Santa Ana near the Tustin border. Most of its music students attend schools in the Tustin Unified School District and live in Tustin.
The school offers students training regardless of financial challenges. The school accepts students of all ability levels. Most of the students have had no prior band experience, and some have played their instruments for less than a year. For more information, visit performingartsguild.org.
– Steve Strombeck is the founder of the Performing Arts Guild of Orange County


text:
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text: I've got a program that I've been working on for nearly a year now. It is a console based flash card program, respectively titled Virtual Flash Cards (VFC). I've written the entire program in C++ and everything works (for the most part) to my liking (console-wise). My issue is finding an appropriate GUI language to implement with my program so that the average user can use the program. I'm looking for a language that will work on Windows (but cross-platform would be amazing, yet unnecessary) and a language that won't require the user to download oversized files in order to run my program (i.e. QT). Maybe I could spend some time reading up on Python and Tk and making a module that would link into my program to add the GUI? Any suggestions? I've tried QT but the required libraries are so large I just can't dedicate myself to such a language. Links to languages would be appreciated as well. I'm a intermediate C++ developer but I have no experience with GUI programming.... Thanks in advance!


text:
Four injured in crash in Otter Tail County
OTTER TAIL COUNTY, Minn. - Four people were injured, one critically, in a two-vehicle crash Saturday at Highway 10 and County Road 75 here.
Elizabeth A. Flanagan-Montie, 23, of Verndale, was southbound on Highway 10 around 5:30 p.m. when Jacklyn J. Irwin, 22, of Wadena, struck her passenger side.
Flanagan-Montie and Irwin, along with passengers 23-year-old Marissa L. Bergmann, Jeremy M. Stacey, 22, of St. Paul and Jeremy L. Stacey, 3, also of St. Paul, were taken to Tri-County Hospital in Wadena.
Bergmann, who was air-lifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, was listed in critical condition as of Saturday night, Flanagan-Montie, Irwin and Jeremy M. Stacey suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and Jeremy L. Stacey had no apparent injuries.


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I'm really starting to dislike this guy more and more everyday. Does he think he's royalty?
Source - Click hereThe truth was out there, but it's all been deleted.
It took less than a minute to delete all photos that would have told the story of what actually took place when clubgoer Jazmine Singh's photo-taking collided with the ego of Toronto Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu at a popular night club in Yorkville early Thursday morning.
Singh, who said she was taking pictures of her friend Meghan Kesivic at the bar in Lobby Night Club around 1 a.m., was stunned when a "giant 7-foot man" turned out and grabbed the phone from her hand and deleted all her photos.
It wasn't until they asked the club's security to help, that they were told the big guy was a basketball player with the Raptors — and — in not so many words — that he could get away with it.
"He just ripped the phone out of my hand — I thought he was trying to steal it," said Singh, still incredulous a day later. "I had no idea who he was. I didn't care who he was. No one has the right to do that," she said.
Turkoglu was on the defensive that night.
The Turkish import told the Star Thursday he was at the bar "trying to chill" with friends, when he saw a flash go off. He said that's when he asked a security guard to grab the phone and delete the pictures.
"I don't like people taking my picture, especially in the club, before asking. She did. I said 'Did you ask me?' She said no. I said, 'I want you to delete it'," Turkoglu told the Star's Dave Feschuk following Thursday's practice at the Air Canada Centre.
"There was a guy with me, a security guy, he deleted it," said Turkoglu.
Singh says he never even tried to speak with her. She says she would have willingly deleted any photos he was mistakenly in, if Turkoglu had simply asked instead of "reaching out his long arm and simply grabbing the phone right out of my hands.
"I think he just saw a flash and freaked out,' she said.
Kesivic said Turkoglu's story doesn't add up, since she's not a basketball fan and didn't even know who he was. "He could have knocked on my door and tried to sell me something, I would have had no idea who he was."
It was only when they went home, and searched online, that they confirmed it was Turkoglu.


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There's something about the simplicity of the desert that cuts right to the essential. Maybe it's the access to ingredients. Or perhaps it is just that once you strip it down to what you really need, you really don't need all that much. When you're staring at yourself in the mirage and you are forced to look at whatever you can manage to make from your memory and your imagination, then one is compelled to stare down the demons and make sense of it. Here in Marfa, they call it A.R.T.
My background in the arts didn't have me getting all wiggly and wobbly as we spent some free time strolling among the buildings at the Chinati Foundation. There is something about the way an artist can challenge you to look at your own doodlings in life and ask you if what you have been doing these past 20 years has any more relevance than what he has put up on these walls.
In that sense, the art on those walls forced me to think about these things. And with the unsolicited quiet of the desert, the lack of distraction, this created an unavoidable encounter with my "inner" Marfa Lights.
Cochineal (no web site, don't Google it, you wont find one) was a perfect launching into the future of food in Texas. Not cutting edge, no not-that-in-your-face. More like simple ingredients without towers, truffle oil or turpitude. Take it or leave it.
We met Chef Paul Peterson, of the Gage Hotel in Marathon, at Cochineal. He and his wife had managed to get a night off and left offspring with family in Alpine, half way between Marfa and Marathon. Paul is one of those chefs that, if you dropped him in Austin or Park Slope, would easily transition toward the top of the scene. Easy going and mellow, with an edge. Kind of like a Chianti from Querciabella. In fact, we opened a few bottles that night, thanks to Cochineal owners Tom Rapp and Toshi Sakihara. Eventually they sat down with us as we worked late into the night. Among other things, we had a Carbonara that anyone, anywhere, would be proud of.
Walking out into an early autumn night in the desert, stars are jamming the skies; rush hour in Rome is light by comparison.
Maybe we should start a Chianti Foundation. Because of the interest in Italian wine in this little west Texas town. It would fit right-tight into the matrix of Marfa.
A new day, and we find ourselves in front of Chef Maiya Keck of Maiya's. While we were talking about wine, I was thinking, "She really likes Italians." The restaurant is Italian inspired and along with a perfectly delicious looking high ceiling dining room straight out of the WPA, I couldn't wait to come back in the evening.
In the meantime she sent us across the street to the Food Shark, a mobile food stand at the farmers market. It seemed everyone in town was heading for the Food Shark, as scads of young people were working their way through the interesting menu.
As I was cogitating what I would order, a woman stepped up to get her to go order. When I heard her voice I said to myself, "That is the voice of Isabella Rossellini." I then looked to her and made eye contact. Were those the eyes of Isabella Rossellini? It wouldn't be out of the question that someone like her would be here, seeing as this was the week for the Marfa annual Open House. I looked her over and she seemed to resemble Isabella from one of the scenes of Blue Velvet. I would encounter her later in the day, when perhaps that little mystery would be solved.
The falafel at the Food Shark was one hellatiously good lunch choice, though the Falafel Forage might be a little more difficult in these parts.
A block away was the Pizza Foundation, Maiya's sister, Saarin, runs it. Thin pizza, not over worked. I asked Ronnie the pizzaiolo how it was to make pizza at this elevation (appx 4800) and he explained that he had gotten the recipe down to deal with the elevation, the heat and the dry conditions. He did.
That evening we had a wine tasting/ reception at the old bus station , home of Shelly and Harry Hudson. Shelly's son, Jules, runs a neat little place in Dallas, Nonna. The family has the good taste gene in spades.
We set up the wines, Italian and otherwise. As the folks rambled into the tasting we were able to talk to folks a little more in depth. Isabella came up to me and we had a little talk about opera. She was from Germany: not Isabella. Or was she in some kind of character for the evening. I've seen too many David Lynch films.
One lady, Virginia Lebermann, who has all kinds of things going on in Marfa, was in the process of building a new venue for art and music with a lounge attached. "How would you like to curate the wine selection?" she asked. We set a time to visit the next day. Curate a wine list, they never asked me to do that in Dallas or Houston.
That evening, after the reception, we headed over to Maiya's to meet a client for dinner. We walked into a warm room with enormous ceilings; the place was inviting and hopping. Plenty of the young folks from the arts foundations were settling in at the bar, just like NY, LA or Firenze. In this little old west Texas desert town. All very Rod Serling-like.
Maiya sent out plates of food; grilled radicchio, tartlettes, frisée, plates of pasta, profiteroles, and dense chocolate tortes. And we brought out wine after wine to taste with the client and Maiya. They liked us, they really liked us. I wasn't in New Orleans or Napa, where I do get treated like I actually know something about Italian wine. I wasn't in Dallas or Houston, where I have to often deal with a lowest common denominator routine. We were in Marfa, Texas, and they got it, from Kerner to Taurasi to Brachetto.
Next morning we met up with Virginia Lebermann to look over the new Thunderbird Lounge. Fire pits and adobe, tongue-and-groove and sharp, clean lines. They want me to curate the wine selection here? Let's give it to them, see just how far we can push the envelope with Vermentino.
After all, we don't come here looking for some worn out windmills. We came out to see what was in store for us in the future, here in flyover country. In a bright, stark, clear-cut way, we were shown what might be in store for us. If we keep our eyes, and our minds, open.
In the words of Bobby Z, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wine blows."


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How vulnerable are you on Facebook? Try ZoneAlarm Privacy Scan and find out today. Scan now!
Facebook is offering Graph Search as the best way to figure out how you are connected to other users and to discover people you may have more things in common with. Someone can search for men over 30 living in Seattle who like to go kayaking. Or search for friends who liked football and live in Cleveland. Users can use the results to make plans with friends and like-minded folks.
But privacy advocates warn there are creepy ways to use the tool. British tech blogger Tom Scott listed some troubling searches on a Tumblr page "Actual Facebook Graph Searches," such as a search for "Family members of people who live in China and like Falun Gong," a religious movement banned in China, or "Single women who live nearby and who are interested in men and like getting drunk!"
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Graph Search last month, which Facebook is in the midst of slowly rolling out to users. Users create a "social graph" to look for friends and other Facebook users with overlapping data in the user profile pages, interests, and "likes" saved on the social networking site.
The new feature builds its search results only on information the user has made visible, and respects all privacy settings. Friends who already have access to see a user's data will see that user pop up on the search.
Facebook also restricts the search results for minors. Details such as birthday, school, hometown, and current city for users under 18 will only be available to their friends and "friends of friends" who are also under 18, Facebook said. Of course, this protection will only work if the minor told the truth about their age in the first place.
Even so, now is a very good time to go over your privacy settings to control what information about you shows up on other people's Graph Searches. ZoneAlarm's Privacy Tips for Facebook has some useful suggestions. You can also evaluate your privacy with ZoneAlarm's free Facebook Privacy Scan.
First, limit who can search for you on Facebook. To restrict your profile, and Graph Search results, to show up only for friends and not "friends of friends," click on the lock icon on the top right of the profile page. On the "Who can lookup your timeline by name" setting, select the answer to be just "Friends."
Secondly, regularly go through the Activity Log and clean up all the photos you are tagged in, the likes you've shared with friends, and all the places you've checked in that you don't want appearing in Graph Search. If you don't want them to come up, dump them from your profile.
Click the lock icon on the top right of the profile page and select "Review all your posts and things you're tagged in." By looking at the Activity you can either click on the icon of two-people's heads to limit the visibility of every post, like, tag, comment, or photo. Facebook doesn't offer any bulk review tools, so you will have to review every item ever entered one at a time.
Third, even if you have restricted your current posts and profile, older posts may still be accessible. Click on the lock icon on the top right of the profile page, and bring up the "Limit the audience for old posts on your timeline" setting. You can "Limit Past Posts" and "Limit Old Posts."
Fourth, organize friends into lists so that you can control who can access photos and posts. The lists can also help decide what levels of access these friends should have. For example, co-workers don't necessarily need to see or search photos.
"As always, when sharing anything on Facebook, remember to use good judgment and share responsibly," Facebook Safety recently wrote on its page.
Four Fixes to Facebook Privacy Before Graph Search Lands - ZoneAlarm Blog


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All quotes tagged Superior
(237 quotes found)
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
"Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; And shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status."
"The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot."
"The way of the superior person is threefold; virtuous, they are free from anxieties; wise they are free from perplexities; and bold they are free from fear."
"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance."
"The faults of a superior person are like the sun and moon. They have their faults, and everyone sees them; they change and everyone looks up to them."


text: A fellow mommy just told me her trick to a fabulous figure — a postpartum bra fitting. Having breastfed her two children well past their first birthdays, she joked that her once perky boobs were now drooping enough to hold a six pack of beer under them. As a mama juggling work and home life, she said her alternative to going under the knife was as simple as a trip to Nordstrom. She left the kids at home and took the time to get measured. Three bras and a couple of hundred dollars later, her girls were right back where they used to be thanks to properly fitting undergarments. And, no recovery time was required.