text:
June 7, 2006
"I know in many meetings of our colleagues when the issue of marriage comes up, heads drop."
He, of course, goes on to defend the posturing in the Senate, which any sensible onlooker can see is about motivating social conservatives to vote for Republicans this fall. The assumption must be that these folks are too dumb to see what a hollow stunt it is. As for the rest of us, presumably we're supposed to acknowledge political realities and avert our eyes.
44 comments:
- knoxgirl said...
Both parties seem to be on their own tailor-made paths of self-destruction.
- Sloanasaurus said...
"...which any sensible onlooker can see is about motivating social conservatives to vote for Republicans this fall..."
Althouse you have never been able to debate this issue rationally. Instead you just make statements like the one above. You provide great analysis on most issues, but on this issue you consistently fall short.
It is clearly obvious that the federal judiciary can put a stop to the large majorities of state voters who want to limit traditional marriage to its traditional form with the stroke of a pen. In a country where we have cases like Dred Scott, Roe vs. Wade, Kelo, and judges giving child molesters no prison time because they are too short, anything can happen.
Didn't a federal judge recent strike down the gay marriage ban in Nebraska - it is already happening.
- Seven Machos said...
...until the Supreme Court get ahold the issue, as it eventually must, Sloan. And, as my Contracts professor might say, this ain't your granddaddy's Supreme Court.
Do you really think that anything but rational relations is going to apply to homosexuality?
- MadisonMan said...
Why is this topic only addressed during election cycles? Heads are dropping out of shame for the shamelessness of it.
If the Democrats didn't react to this tactic like a starving lion given an insane man, the tactic's transparency would be ever more clear.
- Dave said...
You know, if gays ever get to marry they will learn what we straights have learned long ago: marriage is a miserable business to be in.
Then they'll all sit around the camp fire and laugh about how they all wanted to be married...but now they're all divorced.
I've long thought marriage was a fraud perpetrated by Hallmark.
- Dave said...
Doubtless someone will read my comment and think me a jerk.
I'm just being snarky and I'm sure there are lots of people who love being married.
- David said...
I will go out on a limb here and state that a majority of people in the U.S., both Republican and Democrat, are opposed to gay marriage, unlimited abortion, etc. I further feel comfortable stating that because of leniency in the judicial system that gives a walk to sex offenders who then go out and rape and kill again the electorate is taking a hard line.
The party that goes with spirituality and a no-nonsense approach to law and order will win the elections looming on the hoizon.
- Elizabeth said...
If the Democrats didn't react to this tactic like a starving lion given an insane man, the tactic's transparency would be ever more clear.
You give Dems way too much credit. My Democrat senator, Mary Landrieu, voted against this last time out, but now, with the considerable demographic changes to New Orleans post-Katrina, she's looking at having to swing more conservative north Louisiana Baptists her way come re-election time, so guess what? She considering changing her vote, despite the fact that the state has already passed the same type of amendment to its own constitution.
The argument that this is about states' rights is absolute bunk. It's about pandering to anti-gay sentiments and fears. It's about holier-than-thouness. Next up, flag burning. Thank God we have nothing meaningful to worry about in this country.
- Dave said...
"I will go out on a limb here and state that a majority of people in the U.S., both Republican and Democrat, are opposed to gay marriage, unlimited abortion, etc."
Well, these are two distinct issues, and it's rather naive to assert that a "majority" of people are opposed to both.
I can buy that a majority of Americans are opposed to "unlimited" abortions but where do you get the idea that a majority of Americans are opposed to gay marriage?
- David said...
Dave; I like the Hallmark jibe. I make my own cards on the computer. They are more personal that way.
I have also been married going on 36 years to the same woman. I don't know where the time went!
- nicky said...
On the political motivation: this is about the Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey Senate races. In Maryland the African-American vote, especially in Prince Georges County, is decidedly against gay marriage and this will add wind to Steele's sails in his attempt to get African Americans to vote Republican for the first time. With regards to Delaware and New Jersey, because of the handling of the Alito confirmation by the Dems, especially Biden, the Catholic vote, which was traditionally Democratic, is very prepared to continue its drift towards the Republican party. The gay marriage issue is but one more nail in the coffin. If the Dems. lose these three races, they lose seats in the Senate in 2006. In neighboring Pennsylvania, this debate gives Santorum's opponent, who I believe is against abortion, and a Democrat, another difficult choice to make. Choosing means losing votes. In any case, I for one don't mind politicians being political, nor do I think spending three days debating this issue is problematic. But I take Cheney's side on the subastance of this debate, not Bush's.
- nicky said...
p.s. Elizabeth reminds me that Mary Landrieu, especially after her brother's loss to Nagin, is also in trouble. Louisiana being Louisiana. This issue targets her as well. That's four Democratic seats.
- Tom said...
I have such a love/hate relationship with this debate and I could rant for hours...
I do love the man (on State Street)who told me that my lifestyle choice was going to lead to the destruction of a decent and moral society.
- David said...
Dave, I don't think they are distinct issues. The reason people don't like to talk about marriage, whether gay or otherwise, is precisely the fault of gay advocacy groups. It is illegal, according to most companies EEOC departments, to talk about such issues in the workplace.
The advocacy groups then want to talk about their situation to a group of people who would be sympathetic to their plight if they were legally allowed to discuss it. This fails the "is it fair?" doctrine of reasonableness.
Fairness is the unifying factor in many of the issues of the day. Apply it to immigration, gays, criminal justice, estate taxes, terrorism, Solomon Ammendment, etc., and it all points to the failings of a culture immersed in cultural relativism.
- Too Many Jims said...
"The argument that this is about states' rights is absolute bunk."
If anyone argues that this amendment has anything to do with States' rights, tell them to go read the text of the amendment. This amendment is anti-federalist.
- Sloanasaurus said...
"....The argument that this is about states' rights is absolute bunk. It's about pandering to anti-gay sentiments and fears...."
This statement is pure bunk. It is not bigotry as Elizabeth would like to claim it is. She is trying too divert your eyes using a smear from the real issue. The real issue is that there is a very likly possibility that the federal judiciary will discover in the U.S. Consititution a right to gay marriage. People like Elizabeth know this... not only do they know it but they want it to occur because they also know that a large majority of Americans oppose it - thus they realize that courts are the only logical avenue.
The gay lobby should instead start working to change public opinion rather than just demanding action. If they do it right, perhaps they will get gay marriage through the legislative process - a law that is accepted by the public and not imposed by a minority of radicals
The proposed constitutional amendment is a logical response to a runaway judiciary. If we did not have a judiciary that made outrageous decisions there would be no need for an amendment.
- Richard Dolan said...
I don't have any strong views about gay marriage one way or the other. But I am struck by how quickly this has become a topic that is supposedly too awkward or embarrassing for Senators to engage it on the Senate floor.
Ann says that the Senate debate is all "posturing," and that the Senators pressing the debate assume that Rep voters are "too dumb to see what a hollow stunt it is." It's a "stunt" only in the sense that the votes to pass it are not there. By that standard, most of what happens in Congress has been rendered illegitimate. Since that's where your argument leads, perhaps you need to reconsider.
All of the discussion about gay marriage, at least as far as the courts have been concerned up to now, has been framed in constitutional terms. If the legal arguments about gay marriage are constitutional in nature, and it is legitimate for the courts to entertain them (as it clearly is), it doesn't make any sense to say that it is illegitimate -- a "stunt" fit only to fool "folks [who] are too dumb" -- for the legislature to take up the same topic in the same way. So what that it has no chance of passing. You can't be serious in suggesting that the touchstone distinguishing legitimate legislative debate from a "stunt" fit only to fool "folks [who] are too dumb" to understand what is REALLY going on, is whether the votes are already in hand to pass whatever is being debated.
Why do you think it is legitimate for courts to consider constitutional arguments addressed to the subject of gay marriage, but not the political branches as well? Aren't Senators also sworn to uphold the constitution, and (unlike courts) empowered to propose amendments to it? Since the constitution obviously never mentions gay marriage, do you think it was a "stunt" for the first lawyer to press a constitutional argument and present it to a court? Would it have been a "stunt" if lots of lower courts had rejected it as frivolous, until some lucky lawyer finally found a court that took a different view? Do you think the early proponents of what became the XIX Amendment were engaged in a "stunt" -- surely, when suffrage was first proposed, conventional opinion regarded it as an even nuttier proposal than a gay marriage amendment -- that over time somehow lost its quality of "stuntiness"?
Here as on many other topics in the law, an ostensible argument about what is acceptable or proper is just serving as cover for a political opinion. Just a few threads ago, you were bemoaning the frequency with which law professors offered a political answer when asked a legal question by a reporter. Well, there seems to be something similar going on here.
As for all the noise about the motives of Santorum and others in raising the issue, OF COURSE politicians have political motives for what they do. That's not a news flash and it's not a big deal. They also often have other motives as well, and undoubtedly Santorum has lots of motives for the position he has taken here -- political, constitutional, social, religious, etc. So what.
If one believes that the constitution is being hijacked to serve social agendas, for the purpose and with the effect of precluding the normal process of resolving divisive issues through the political branches, as Santorum clearly does, then it seems obvious, at least to me, that a legislature empowered to propose constitutional amendments has every right and perhaps a duty to consider exercising that power. Calling it a "stunt," as many now do, is just an effort to delegitimize discussion.
Santorum's complaint about "why is this even an issue now?", in context, is his way of saying that it was a "stunt" for a few judges to force the country to deal with this and similar "social values" issues in constitutional terms. Many will disagree with Santorum's view on that score. But on any rational scale of "stuntiness," I think Santorum's position about which institution under the constitution should decide such issues -- courts or legislatures -- is much to be preferred.
I don't have much interest in discussing the merits of gay marriage, other than noting that I don't think this is an issue any court would be wise to constitutionalize, but it strikes me as offensive to try to rule out half of that discussion, by denigrating those who raise it, because you hold a contrary political opinion on the merits.
- David said...
It looks like the Marriage Protection ammendment is stalled in the Senate on a real close vote...
- Joseph Hovsep said...
Sloan: The Nebraska amendment was overturned not merely because it defined marriage as between one man and one woman. The amendment said "The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska" which was deemed so broad that it would prohibit gay people from accessing the political process to attempt to obtain legal protections, even things as mundane as health care decisions, living expenses, funeral arrangements, or hospital visitations. There is no legitimate reason for effectively barring gay people from any legislative recourse to secure these kinds of rights other than getting their own constitutional amendment.
- Joan said...
where do you get the idea that a majority of Americans are opposed to gay marriage?
How about the ABC news poll that ABC so drolly misreported?
(Not to mention, of course, the many state referendums on the subject.)
- perry said...
The real issue is that there is a very likly possibility that the federal judiciary will discover in the U.S. Consititution a right to gay marriage.
I'm no constitutional scholar, but isn't the whole purpose of the Constitution that it assumes that people start off with all rights, with the text of the document denoting specifically what rights we do not have - and then it specifically leaves it to the states to decide what other rights to abridge?
So - just as there is no specifically defined right in the Constitution for me to wake up, smoke a cigarette and eat some wheaties for breakfast, I retain that right nonetheless, unless my state has taken it away from me through their set of laws. (and living in New York City, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, but I digress..)
In fact, I would venture to say that the Constitution provides more or a right to gay marriage (or at least the right for states to decide whether or not to allow it) than a right for the federal government and the supreme court to be involved in marriage AT ALL.
- Simon said...
I'm not sure I entirely agree with MadisonMan ("Heads are dropping out of shame for the shamelessness of it"); I would suggest that heads drop, as much as for any other reason, because of the sheer futility of it. The bill will not pass; it will not come close to passing. If, for some bizarre and unforeseeable reason, it did pass Congress, it would never be ratified. To ask the Senate to spend six hours debating this is to ask a quorum of Senators to waste six hours of their lives (and a not inconsequential amount of taxpayer money). This whole business is masturbatory; it's an affront to a Senate that has better things to be spending its time on.
I'm not just saying this because I oppose the FMA. The fact is this will not pass. If you want it to pass, I'd say to yu that it's good to want things, but you will not get this, and I say that without meaning to be condescending, but this isn't about politics, its about math. If it can't pass and won't pass, it's irrelevant to ask whether it should pass.
- SteveR said...
I guess I am over the stuntiness of the whole thing. Nearly my whole life, any attempt to modify Social Security has been characterized to old people as the "Republicans are going to make you eat dog food" or something equally stupid.
Waste of time? Maybe, I think it could be worse though, they might actually pass a bill or something, how often does that make things better? Oh and don't even get started on the hours and hours spent trying to characterize Sam Alito as the end of civilization.
- downtownlad said...
The assumption must be that these folks are too dumb to see what a hollow stunt it is.
These are the same people that believe that the Earth is 6000 years old and that evolution is fiction. So yes, most of them are that dumb.
I'm getting tired of this debate. Glad I live in a city where I never have to come into contact with these people. Now I wish they would just do the same and stop invading my neighborhood with their bad hair and bad clothes.
- Sloanasaurus said...
Perry, I think you are right. The Court would say that the states have no right to restrict marriage just to a man and a woman. Or they may say that if gay marriage is allowed in one state, it must be recognized in all states (overturning DOMA).
Many judges are prepared to do this because they think it is morally wrong to deny gays equality, i.e., the right to marry in the same manner as heterosexual couples are.
- whit said...
"We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
- President John Quincy Adams, in an address to military leaders on October 11, 1798
We're just beginning to see how prescient his words were.
So, just kiss it all goodbye!
- Simon said...
"Waste of time? Maybe, I think it could be worse though, they might actually pass a bill or something, how often does that make things better?"
I don't see where the "maybe" comes into play. I will take the FMA seriously when its proponents bring forth a list of the 38 states that will ratify the amendment.
There are enough blue states that any conservative attempt to amend the Constitution will fail, and there are enough red states that any liberal attempt to amend the Constitution will fail. I think that's actually quite healthy, even if it works against my own interests in some manner (I would love to end the protracted horror of Roe by putting a right to life into the Constitution once and for all, but the sadness at lacking the votes to do so is tempered somewhat by knowing I have the votes to prevent the other side from a post-hoc legitimization of Roe).
- Too Many Jims said...
"Many judges are prepared to do this because they think it is morally wrong to deny gays equality."
Can you please point me in the direction of one judge that, in the course of saying anything about gay marriage, says the result he reached was because "it is morally wrong to deny gays equality"?
In a previous comment you lamented that we have cases like Dred Scott. My (admittedly fading) recollection of that case is that, from a legal and constitutional framework, it was decided correctly. Did you want the justices to inject their morality there but not here?
- SteveR said...
"Waste of time? Maybe"
My attempt at understatement.
With the Senate, where do you start and where does it stop?
- Simon said...
"My (admittedly fading) recollection of that case is that, from a legal and constitutional framework, [Dred Scott] was decided correctly."
Hardly. Dred Scott is rightly recognized as the progenitor of the doctrine of "substantive due process", the doctrine that would later be used by both conservatives (see, e.g., Lochner v. New York) and liberals (see, e.g., Griswold v. Connecticut) to enforce their own political and moral views on the country.
- Michael Farris said...
The purpose of this was to fail which would (republicans hope) galvanize the base to come up with a bunch o' new anti-gay initiatives that would draw them to the polls in november. The thinking is that once there to affirm whatever it is they think they're affirming, they'll also vote for enough republicans to keep the house and senate. I wouldn't be surprised if it works.
- Too Many Jims said...
When was the last time they put the "Right to life" amendment on the Senate's (or House's) calendar for a vote? I honestly can't remember.
Here are the explanations that I came up with for why they have brought this amendment up and not the "Right to Life" amendment:
1. They believe gay marriage is worse than abortion.
2. They believe more Americans believe gay marriage is worse than abortion. (Quite possible, incidentally.)
3. They believe they "lost" the Roe fight so they are trying to cut it off by nationalizing an issue that had previously been left to the states.
Are there other reasons you can think of to push the anti gay marriage amendment and not to push the right to life amendment?
- Simon said...
There are amendments introduced in every Congress, but if pressed, I really couldn't tell you when the last one made it onto the floor.
I'd add to your list that, first, as a corrollary to your (3), that the mood is bullish enough that we think the fight on Roe is almost won (which I think is true, but it's not likely to be the reason), and second, I think a lot of Republicans are terrified of what Jeffrey Rosen is currently talking about in The Atlantic, "The Day After Roe". I will talk more about Rosen's piece sometime in the next couple of weeks, I think it has some serious holes, but I don't think he's wrong that a lot of establishment Republicans fear the consequences of winning the abortion fight.
I'm sure there are a lot of other, more cynical, reasons to push the FMA, just none that readily jump to mind. To some extent, though, you have to react to what's before you. The gay marriage controversy wasn't made into a controversy by the GOP, it was made into a controversy by the MASC, Mayor Newsom and some sections of the homosexual community, so to some extent, it does seem to me that the pandering over the FMA and immigration isn't so much the pander of choice as the pander that is demanded by the base. These simply happen to be the hot issues of the moment, which means that your average panderer has to pander to demand.
- peter hoh said...
"I know in many meetings of our colleagues when the issue of marriage comes up, heads drop."
Could be that some of those "head dropping" senators would rather not make noise about the issue as they are enjoying the company of more than one woman.
- Marghlar said...
If this was really a worry about what federal judges might do, it would be drafted so as to merely take away their power to interpret the U.S. Constitution to reach this result. It isn't. It extends itself to the legislature as well as the judiciary, and seems to apply against state as well as federal action. This is about federalizing family law, pure and simple.
Indeed, if Congress really wanted only to prevent the federal courts from overturning state constituitonal amendments and statutes banning gay marriage, it could be much more easily accomplished by stripping their jurisdiciton over the issue, as they are empowered to do by Article III.
They aren't doing that; hence, we can see what their real motivation is.
By the by, this really crappy decision will be overturned on appeal. Bill of Attainder? Give me a freaking break. I do think there are good reasons to reach this result, but they are not to be found in Article I.
- Fitz said...
"The assumption must be that these folks are too dumb to see what a hollow stunt it is"
Unless of coarse your part of a group that calls itself pro-family.
What exactly is wrong with a political party in power debating legislation that is important to its base?
Its hardly hollow in as much as it puts politicians on record as being for or against an ultimate solution.
Its already forced politicians like McCain and many Democrats to promise to vote for it only if the courts force the issue. This is of a real and discernable benefit.
I think the more important an d interesting question is why the press & pundits use every opportunity to belittle an amendment that are so overwhelmingly popular at the State level?
This is no Joke and the academic liberals know it.
They think this amendment is the only thing that can really stop nationalized SSM.
They have bitten off more than they can chew, so need as much time as they can to chew on it.
The people wont swallow though.
- downtownlad said...
Unless of coarse your part of a group that calls itself pro-family.
Maybe when you learn how to spell we can start taking your arguments seriously.
- Simon said...
"I think the more important an d interesting question is why the press & pundits use every opportunity to belittle an amendment that are so overwhelmingly popular at the State level?"
There is a huge difference between a federal amendment and a state amendment; one may oppose the former while supporting the latter, as does McCain. When you are talking about the FMA, there is not only the policy-level question, there is the federalism question: not only "should homosexual marriage be illegal", but "should it be against the Federal Constitution? Because of my views on Federalism, I would be opposed to the FMA whatever my normative preference on homosexual marriage.
What is wrong with a political party that is in power debating legislation that is important to its base? In the abstriact, nothing, if that legislation actually has a snowball in hell's chance of passing. The FMA does not; it cannot and will not ever marshall the requisite number of states needed for ratification. It is therefore a collossal waste of a finite resource - time - that could be better spent on something productive that is also important to the base, such as confirming the President's nominees, or pushing legislation that might actually pass.
- Marghlar said...
Even leaving federalism to the side, there are good reasons to be skeptical of highly specific morality amendments...they haven't been durable in the past, and they needlessly stultify the normal political process.
It would have been harder for Marshall to announce that it was a constitution he was expounding, if he had been interpreting a proscribed list of curse words. Or the FMA. This is hardly Free Speech, Due Process or Equal Protection we are talking about.
But then again, neither was the 3d Amendment...but I guess that is inoffensive enough to be durable.
- in_the_middle said...
The amendments at the state level are hardly popular. Get real and look at the turnout to, say, Texas' amendment. Governor Perry crowed about how such an overwhelming majority had approved it. Craftily leaving out, however, that 17%, yes that's SEVENTEEN PERCENT Of the state of Texas showed up at the polls.
People who don't bother voting have themselves to blame, and that's a shame in and of itself. But when 17% of the people of a state can decide the fate of all, enshrining bigotry into a document nearly impossible to change even should sentiments change?
As an aside, the objection to gay marriage has DROPPED 10 points since 2004. Yep, let's lock in our religious, Christianist intolerance into a civil document while the rest of the majority shifts their viewpoint and becomes more tolerant and accepting of the concept. This is beyond the job gay people have to reasonably show that they need to be part of the solution. And that is happening. Much to the chagrin of Santorum, Allard and their ilk.
So among the states, gay marriage amendments are not that popular. The polls prove it, as does the freakin annoying urban legend of the "value voter" from 2004. It's a base driving tool, shamelessly used to drive them to the polls. Sick and sad, yet likely won't work in 2006.
The fact that the GOP couldn't even muster a majority today to shut off debate is telling. Perhaps Jon Stewart's interaction with Bill Bennett and the subsequent disastrous performance by Bennett exposes some reasons why.
Jon Stewart's segment with Hollow Bill
- Simon said...
I agree, to the extent that I think that the real protections of - the really important parts of - the Constitution are the structural parts. That seems to be a real difference between those with what I suppose we'll have to label "liberal" judicial views vs. "conservative" judicial views: liberals are mainly obsessed with the rights-bearing sections, while conservatives think of the primary Constitutional protections as stemming from the structural provisions.
Needless to say, I think the "liberal" views is wrong. One may go back and read the various Constitutions of the Soviet Union (or, for that matter, the proposed EU "constitution", and I use the term under protest), and they contain these magnificent, soaring rights-bearing provisions that make our Bill of Rights look positively niggardly. And what did they amount to? Squat. Why? Because simply announcing a right is meaningless; it is the creation of a structure
That's why I don't understand liberals who claim that there are massive majorities in favor of abortion, and yet quake in their boots at the prospect of overruling Roe. The primary protection of the right to abortion isn't the Supreme Court's say-so, it's the huge majorities who support abortion. In fact, since Roe is not only meaningless but an unnecessary flashpoint, I would think that any liberal who honestly believes there is a "majority for choice" would love to see Roe overturned. That this is not the case suggests to me a credibility problem: it means they know that their rhetoric is hollow, and that the vast majority of the public disagrees with Nan Aron about abortion as much (if not more) than they disagree with me.
The genuis of the constitution isn't that it says this right is protected and that right is protected, it's that it sets up a structure which allows us to control the manner in which we're governed. I wouldn't trade that for the most expansive bill of rights imaginable.
- Marghlar said...
Does that make me conservative? I don't think of myself as such (although I might be a judicial conservative and a political liberal). I think there is a liberal tradition of thought in which the structural constitution is pretty important -- see Ely, Redish, etc. But that's mainly semantics. We obviously agree that in some ways, procedure is more important than substance, where regulating a government is concerned.
I'm an abortion rights supporter, but I often wonder if Roe has done that cause more harm than good. I do think you overstate what ought to be our position -- obviously a belief in a nationwide pro-Roe majority can coexist with many individual states where there is not one. An abortion rights supporter might well say that they would prefer to have a nationwide prohibition, because of the harm to women (especially poor women) caused by any state prohibitions. See, e.g., South Dakota.
I don't like Roe as a constitutional decision. I don't like SDP, and I doubt that the real textual protections for unenumerated rights (P or I clause, maybe 9th Am.) can support novel rights, as opposed to widespread or traditional rights. I also think that Roe halted a pretty strong movement towards legalization of abortion at the state level, and that it antagonized conservatives and may have set the liberal cause back in the long term.
I doubt (although I know you think differently) that it would be overruled. If I was to engage in the horribel mistake of trying to predict the future, I'd hazard that the court will keep chipping away at Roe until it is no more than an empty guarantee. O'Connor & Kennedy basically opened the door to that in Casey. This will enable the judges to get what they want, without formally overruling past precedent.
- ChrisO said...
I'm not a Constitutional scholar either, but I have always felt that one of its strengths is the protection of minorities from the tyranny of the majority. The percentage of people in the country who favor or oppose gay marriage is meaningless to me. Judges theoretically don't make decisions that way. It's always easy to find a bloc of people who are willing to take away someone else's rights, particularly if they feel it's an issue that will never effect them. I'm sure if in the days after 9/11 an amendment had been introduced stripping all Muslims of citizenship, it would have enjoyed a lot of support, although probably not a majority. That's why the amendment process presents such high hurdles, and why our elected representatives supposedly can apply a more sober and less emotional approach to the process. That's also why so many people find this whole process a ridiculous diversion. When is the last time the Senate devoted three days of debate to Iraq? I recognize that there is a lot of mundane business conducted in the Senate, and it's not all going to be about Iraq, but three days?
And Nicky, your analysis of the Senate races smacks of more than a little wishful thinking. The Republicans want this measure on the ballot so their natural constituency will turn out to vote, and in the meantime vote for Republican candidates, as well (particularly since there is such a fear that Republicans will stay home in disgust.) If blacks in Maryland turn out to vote on gay marriage, it doesn't naturally follow that they have become Republicans and will now vote for Steele. If they want to cast their vote for a black candidate, then their presence in the voting booth may help Steele. But it won't be because they have adopted Republican values.
And in New Jersey, what signs have you seen that Catholic voters are "very prepared to continue (their) drift towards the Republican party?" The Republicans got some good spin with all of the theatrics about Alito's wife. But the problem with cheap stunts like that is that they really don't have any staying power with the electorate. Despite all of the Republican huffing and puffing at the time, I really doubt that the Alito hearing is going to have much of an impact on the voters.
And as for Casey, the only hard decision he's goiung to face is what to eat at his victory breakfast.
- ModNewt said...
Most proponents I read and hear argue that this amendment is to protect families. The merits of this are silly. If you want to protect "families" (i.e. children) from gay marriage just make an amendment that prohibits gays from adopting. Even with a marriage amendment individual gays can adopt and have children via artificial insemination.
This amendment will never, ever pass. Not now, not ever. The US is becoming more and more tolerant of homosexuality. Just look back 20 years, homophobia was far worse back then.
Pew does polls on this all the time. In a poll done in '03 (when opposition to gay marriage was peaking due to the Mass courts) people up to about age 30 are split 50-50 as to whether gays should be allowed to marry. As you get older, people in their 40s and 50s are twice as likely to oppose gay marriage. In a poll done this year 58% of 18-29 year olds favor gay adoption; compared to 44% for 50-64 year olds.
I suspect that this is not one of those issues on which people get more conservative as they get older. Therefore this issue, while heated now, is basically over. Forty years from now people currently 30 will be 70 and will still be split 50-50. My guess is over the next 40 years younger people will become more and more supportive of gay rights.
Gay bashers, your time is over... finished.


text:
Accidents - Safety Plans, Videos & Training
We recommend the following OSHA safety plans, videos, and training programs to help make your company compliant with the required Government standards for dealing with and preventing Accidents in the workplace.
Slips, Trips & Falls Video
Regular Price: $274.80
Special Price: $229.00
Accident Investigation Training Video
Regular Price: $274.80
Special Price: $229.00
About Preventing Accidents In the Workplace and Accident Investigation
Everyday throughout the world accidents happen in the workplace. Accidents can happen for many different reasons. Carelessness by people, equipment failure, or surroundings behaving in an unexpected way are some of the causes. Accidents can happen to anyone at anytime and in any workplace. To minimize your company's risk, have them watch safety videos on how to prevent accidents. If or when an accident occurs your safety manager will be tasked with accident investigation. Your safety manager will need to know how to investigate an accident. The information learned from a proper and thorough investigation can often prevent a similar or other accidents from happening.
The most effective way to minimize the chances of an accident is to do a rigorous job site safety analysis by a "Competent Person" to identify hazards or potential hazards. Add these hazards into your site specific safety training and address these hazards in your refresher training. Use signs indicating the hazards and brief your employees when ever possible. All of this aids in developing a culture of Safety in the workplace.
Feel free to read more about workplace accident prevention on our blog.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Your browser does not support iframes.
A South Carolina fugitive wanted for kidnapping, domestic violence and resisting arrest has been arrested in Brunswick County.
Twenty-six year-old Bobby Andrew Wilson, of 778 Freemont Road, Longs, S.C., was arrested July 9 on fugitive warrants from Horry County, S.C.
In addition to the kidnapping, domestic violence and resisting arrest warrants, Wilson was charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver cocaine, possession of ½ ounce or less of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The following cases were adjudicated over four days of District Criminal Court on July 1, 2, 6 and 7 in Bolivia.
Wednesday, July 1
Judge William F. Fairley presided over the following cases with prosecutor Cathi Radford and courtroom clerk and Michelle Warth:
Incha Britto, maintain place for prostitution, aid and abet prostitution, charges consolidated, Brunswick County Jail 45 days, suspended sentence 12 months, unsupervised probation 12 months, remit costs, seized $47,344-forfeit to general fund in accordance with general statute.
A Leland woman was killed July 12 after she was thrown from an ATV.
Around 8 p.m. Sunday, July 12, 31-year-old David Kent Beasley of Leland was driving on rural unpaved road 1413 when he allegedly drove left of center and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle, Sgt. T.W. Pope of the N.C. State Highway Patrol said.
Beasley was driving about 35 mph when he collided with a 2001 Honda passenger vehicle driven by 28-year-old Charlie Samuel Ward, who was driving about 15 mph, Pope said.
The following cases were adjudicated over five days of District Criminal Court on July 8, 9, 10, 13 and 14 in Bolivia.
Wednesday, July 8
Judge Scott Ussery presided over the following cases with prosecutor Cathi Radford and courtroom clerk and Lisa Quick:
Ashley C. Ackerman, improper equipment, costs.
James Micheal Allison, improper equipment, costs.
The Brunswick County Grand Jury under the direction of Judge Robert Floyd Jr. with prosecutor Rex Gore and courtroom clerk Lisa Gore returned the following indictments during a Superior Court session on July 6:
Jason Joel Berry; felony possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver cocaine, felony possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver schedule I controlled substance, misdemeanor possession drug paraphernalia, misdemeanor possession marijuana up to one-half ounce.
John Christopher Blake; felony indecent liberties with child.
Holden Beach Police charged the following people and investigated the following incidents last week.
•Police charged Archie Maurice Bullard Jr., 41, of 2405 Amigo Drive, Fayetteville, with assault on a female. He was taken to the Brunswick County Detention Center.
•Police charged Dana Hagins Wright, 39, of 110 Lake Clair, Fayetteville, with simple physical assault.
The Aggressive Criminal Enforcement (ACE) Team is a support unit, whose primary functions are traffic enforcement and assisting in the apprehension of drug traffickers in the county. The ACE team conducts driving while impaired and driver's license checkpoints, as well as street-level investigations on controlled substances.
The ACE team works with the sheriff's office K-9 Enforcement Team and Drug Enforcement Unit to apprehend narcotics suspects as well as saturating hot spots where criminal activity is reported.
Brunswick County Sheriff's deputies investigated the following incidents last week, which are taken directly from sheriff's office incident reports:
•Larceny on Lincoln Road in Leland; suspect stole a GPS unit from victim's residence.
•Larceny on Post Office Road in Leland; suspect stole victim's Ford E-150 van from residence.
•Larceny on Highland Drive in Bolivia; suspect stole victim's mail, including a check and Medicaid cards.
The K-9 enforcement team answers calls, conducts driver's license checkpoints and assists with other agencies when K-9s are needed.
From June 29-July 5, deputies with the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office K-9 Enforcement Team answered 30 calls and made three drug arrests.
K-9 deputies patrolled the following communities: Waterford, Palmetto Creek, Southport, Village Point, Shallotte Point and Compass Point.
The Ocean Isle Beach Police Department recovered a $12,000 ring from a Shallotte residence on June 29 with the help of the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office. According to Ocean Isle Beach Police, charges are pending.
Copyright © 2019
The Brunswick Beacon is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Brunswick County, North Carolina and surrounding areas.


text:
Click to zoom
Be the first to review this product »
Our own finely crafted and densely woven luxury 180 thread count percale pillowcases.
Yorkshire Linen's own finely crafted and densely woven luxury percale pillowcases.
The 180 thread count ensures comfort and a softer feel with the benefit of an extended lifetime.
Pack contains: 1 Orthopaedic 'V' Pillowcase
Size: 35 x 72 x 72cm (14 x 28 x 28")
Thread count: 180 (single-ply)
Fabric: 50% Polyester 50% Cotton Percale
Machine washable at 40˚C
Low heat tumble dry
Cool heat iron
Do not dry clean
Wash dark colours separately
Do not bleach
UK MAINLAND (excluding the Scottish Highlands and Islands)
Please CLICK HERE for the complete list of our delivery destinations (including Europe), estimated delivery times and delivery charges.
Please CLICK HERE for information regarding our courier deliveries.
We offer a 14 day no quibble money back guarantee This is simply our guarantee to you that you can return any products to us for a full refund if they prove unsuitable for any reason. Please CLICK HERE for more information regarding how to make a return .
Only registered users can write reviews. Please, log in or register
Processing your requestAt times of high demand this may take a momentPlease be patient
Sign up to receive our
Keep updated with the latest news and offers on social media
Enter your postcode to find your nearest store
Pillow Buying Guide
Secure online shopping


text:
Edited by Mary Anne Everett Green. Covers the period from July 1623 to March 1625. Addenda for the reign of James I are included in a volume shared with Elizabeth I, listed under that monarch.
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic - James I. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1859.
This premium content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.


text:
Or, in English: Where are the old ways going?
I've spent a few weeks helping my friend, Robert Walker, format and upload his books to Kindle.
Incredibly, Rob has forty novels that are out of print. These aren't self-pubbed novels, or small press novels. These are books that were with big houses, which had big print runs and distribution. Some of these books go for big money on the used book circuit.
By the end of this month, thirty of Rob's books will be available on the Kindle, for $1.99 each. I predict he'll do quite well with them. After all, he managed to sell millions of copies when they were in print.
Which begs two questions.
1. Why did they ever go out of print in the first place?
2. Why am I, his friend, uploading these books to Kindle, rather than a publisher?
Part one is pretty easy to answer. More than 95% of everything ever published has gone out of print. Times change. Publishers fold. Bookstores need to move X number of copies per quarter in order to keep books on the shelf, and distributors charge rent for books just sitting there. So if a book isn't paying for itself in real estate, it goes out of print.
But Out-Of-Print does not equal Worthless. There is still money to be made on old books. That's why there's a billion dollar used book industry.
However, used books still involves storing, shelving, and shipping paper. It's the same industry, just at a discounted cut for all involved (and zero cut for the author.)
Which brings us to the second question. Why isn't anyone mining this rich vein?
Previous attempts to grab the out-of-print gold have met with disaster. Google is still in court over its Search Inside the Book program. Amazon first allowed all public domain books to be uploaded to Kindle, then did an about-face on the practice. Big publishers have tried to retroactively grab ebook rights, and are now attempting to add clauses to old contracts, offering a paltry 25% royalty rate.
But I don't see any well-funded, large, coordinated effort to scoop up the rights to out of print material and make it available again. Everyone is so worried about the erights of present and future books (and erroneously pricing those erights at more than consumers want to pay) but no one is taking a used bookseller/antique dealer/eBay stance on all of this material that's just ready to be exploited.
Smart authors are doing it themselves. Among my peers, I've seen Raymond Benson, Lee Goldberg, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Scott Nicholson, F. Paul Wilson, and several others make their older books available on Kindle. But these are a small fraction of the writers I know with out of print work.
What's the hold up?
I think it's a combination of things.
1. Writers are used to the publishing end of things being done for them.
2. Writers are scared if they publish their own ebooks, no one will want to republish them in print (even though that rarely happens these days.)
3. Writers don't believe they can actually make money off of the stuff that's "failed."
My advice to writers: Wake the hell up.
Ebooks are not only here to stay, they're only going to grow in popularity. And an ebook is forever. Your $50 a month now may be $10,000 a year in 2016. You have to an opportunity to make money for eternity on these rights, and eternity is a long time.
But the opportunity won't last forever. Because someone is going to get wise, look at your backlist, and see dollar signs. They're going bribe you to get a piece of eternity, for doing nothing more than providing a cover and an uploading service.
I urge all writers to look at their backlist, and figure out how they can turn those dead tree books into ebooks. This should become a required skill for writers, like understanding narrative structure, or how to write a query letter.
If you're techno-stupid, shop around for a reasonable one-time fee to get your ebooks up and running. If you sign a contract with a e-publisher, make sure the lion's share of the profits are going to you, you have control over the list price, and the contract lasts for a finite amount of time.
Eternity is a long time to share royalties on books that you wrote.
Remember that. Before someone figures out how to screw you out of it. And I'm sure that will happen, very soon. Companies with deep pockets will offer to get your books on Kindle, and the fine print will screw you.
If I were an unscrupulous publisher with a big budget, that's where I'd be putting my money. I'd be approaching name authors with long backlists who don't know any better, offering them pennies on the dollar for what their life's work is worth.
The best defense against this is twofold: education, and hard work.
If you have out of print books, get them on Kindle yourself. If you need help, pay a flat fee for it.
If you do sign a publishing contract for your ebooks, make damn sure it is highly in your favor, and it has an expiration date.
For the first time in the history of publishing, writers have the upper hand.
Don't piss that advantage away by thinking that this is still 1995.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Obtain vast specifics on the great soldiers, fighters and veterans who were part of American Civil War, First and Second World Wars. Find out your great-great grandparents, great grandparents, grandparents or any ancestor and their past from the repository of war. The information helps to locate deceased ancestors as well as enhance genealogy family history research.
With Jay County War Records Index, data seekers can explore information on the name, service number, rank, unit, date and place of enlistment, honors and achievements, birth date, term of service and various other related data that give genealogical research a new dimension.
Now locating the war enlistment specifics and military service records in the Jay County, IN has become extremely easy with this comprehensive Online War Search Portal. Data seekers can explore war data and famous conflict information including county vital records and public information. The database includes the compilation of birth and death certificate information, marriage license and volume number, and divorce decree, county obituary burial and cemetery data, county civil court cases information, adoption, land index and property assessment deeds, county will and estate, census and military service records. The user friendly search system will help you to gather your useful information simply.
To obtain the Indiana Jay County Records, please provide the information below. When you fill-up the form, make a note : The more fields you fill in, the more detailed result you will get.
Please Provide
I wish to receive updates and additional information from this website.
Our Database is loaded with over 400 million county records which include United States Nationwide Vital Records, Public Record and Information. We offer 24x7x365 Search Expert Support. We are working day and night to collect, authenticate and deliver up-to-date County Records in an easiest way.
Our 24x7 Dedicated
Search Expert Team
Will Search The
Record For you From The
Different Sources in The Web.
- 24x7x365 Dedicate Support Team
- Free Search Expert Support
- Cross verification of individual record.
- 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.
1. Comprehensive, detailed & updated database of USA Nationwide vital records & public information
2. Multiple vital & public records Search Facility
3. Offers variety of people's records - Anytime, Anywhere
4. Instant access to over millions of public records since 18th century
County Records API | Public Records API | Background Check API
Copyright © 2019 county-record.net . All rights reserved.
By using the website (county-record.net), you are complying with the privacy policies & terms of services. Further using of the website (county-record.net), or database or data please refer to our privacy & terms of service pages..


text:
Just curious to see what you guys think. ADVANCED POLL!!!
I gotta go with Chris Clemons, Max Unger, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman. Not bad, but most on defense obviously. You guys? Any you thought I missed?
CANHawk wrote:MRob is elite.
Sidney is knocking on the door of elite.
KJ will be elite this time next year.
MontanaHawk05 wrote:Unger's close, Clemons is somewhat of a system product (albeit an awesome one)...the other four, I think, would be anchors on any team.
olyfan63 wrote:A healthy Rice for a full season with an in-sync QB targeting him could easily approach elite status.
I was really torn about the Clemons pick. It's the "system" argument. But dammit, the dude has flat made plays against some very good O-Lines. Just ask Aaron Rogers...
Can anyone with a strong opinion pro or con on Clemons as "elite" make the case for or against him with some good data points we should be considering?
Data point #1 is the 'Hawks just gave him a new contract. So far Clemons is playing at or ABOVE his contract, IMO. (Another chorus of kudos to the front office on both signing him and having him play "worth it"). But what does "elite" mean? I think Clemons is elite for a LEO in Carroll's defensive system. But I don't know if he is elite in other team's defensive schemes. Philly didn't seem that upset to let him go. And do we call Irvin elite too if he gets 15 sacks as a rook?
Sarlacc83 wrote:I love Lynch with all my heart, but he doesn't have the type of breakaway speed to be elite. I wouldn't trade him for another back, but if I'm being objective about elite status, that's my honest opinion.
mjwhitay wrote:Elite is a big word. I think we have 5.
Marshawn Lynch
Earl Thomas
Richard Sherman
Brandon Mebane
Jon Ryan
Unger, Red, and Clemons are close
Browner, chancellor, Wagner, Robinson, and KJ Wright round out the potential pro bowlers
This team definitely gets 6-8 on the pro bowl roster. The first four are locks to get voted in by the players. No question.
MissoulaHawk wrote:I'm a little surprised more people picked mebane than clemons. Not that mebane isn't a nightmare in the middle, but Clemons is the type of player that quarterbacks must account for before every snap, or at least he's nearing that realm.
Return to [ THE OFFICIAL NET NATION FAN FORUM ]


text:
aidens party, part one
March 25, 2012
50 comments:
wowwww!!! soo fun!! love the pics, can't wait to see more!ReplyDelete
Awww how fun. I bet that was a fun party. 3 is a good age because they are still kinda baby-ish, but at the same time they are big enough to have a blast in things like the bounce house without getting pulverized haha.ReplyDelete
- Sarah
He looks like a happy little 3 year old! What a fun party!ReplyDelete
what an angel!ReplyDelete
My goddaughter had a bounce house for her party last year and it was a blast! I think we all felt like kids again in that thing!ReplyDelete
What a great party and adorable 3 year old!ReplyDelete
looks like a fun party! I can't wait to see more :)ReplyDelete
LOVE the bandaid on his knee! :)ReplyDelete
what exceptionally beautiful people you are! that little boy has so much joy. it's wonderful. thanks for sharing your life here, casey.ReplyDelete
Hi Casey, such CUTE pics! I get so emotional on all my girls' birthdays. It goes so fast. Aiden is a cutie, looks like a fun party!!ReplyDelete
So fun! :) and you must someday post a tutorial on how you do your hair -seriously love it!ReplyDelete
What a happy, lovely boy! Happy Birthday, Aiden! xReplyDelete
SO sweet. It looks like he had a great time!ReplyDelete
You have the cutest family!! But you definitely get that all the time. :)ReplyDelete
Love how excited he is!ReplyDelete
that first photo is priceless!ReplyDelete
Love his face when he's looking at the cake--looks like he just wants to dive right in!!:) Can't wait to see the rest of the pics!ReplyDelete
Looks like he had so much fun! :-) Cannot wait to hear more! :-)ReplyDelete
I love seeing children's faces light up in front of their birthday cakes! So precious. I'm in the mood for a bouncy house now, too! :)ReplyDelete
Your baby boy is so sweet! I love the first and last pictures most! He's so happy and so loved! It's clear to see :)ReplyDelete
Aiden in that bandana? Too much cuteness!!!!ReplyDelete
Such a cute party! We have the same candles left over from last year. I have a think for fun candles!ReplyDelete
How sweet. Happy belated birthday too him. :)ReplyDelete
i think he knew it was his party. :) his face is priceless.ReplyDelete
How fun! Cute that your little guy played out in the bounce house literally all day. I'm sure he had blast! :)ReplyDelete
Oh man, what a happy kid! Looks like a fun time was had by all :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 26, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Looks like the perfect day Casey!! He is the most precious boy ever ~ Those Jumpy Houses are hilarious! Especially when I tried to get in one, and the kids walked away...real fast...ReplyDelete
I hope he had the best day ever! He looks so grown up with his bandanna. His rosy cheeks...aaaaah! Too CUTE!
These are adorable! It looks like he had an amazing 3rd birthday :) Now he's going to be expecting you to one-up that sweet slide next year though! hahaReplyDelete
Left brain, right brain, pug brain.
These are adorable! It looks like he had an amazing 3rd birthday :) Now he's going to be expecting you to one-up that sweet slide next year though! hahaReplyDelete
Left brain, right brain, pug brain.
Love all of these photos :) He is adorable!ReplyDelete
Such a beautiful family! Looks like Aiden had a fabulous birthday.ReplyDelete
So sweet! What a fun little party!ReplyDelete
So cute!ReplyDelete
I just wanted to let you know that because you are one of my favorite bloggers, you were tagged in my latest post, "i mustache you a question."
Would love if you answered the questions I have made up for you and repost them on your blog. I know it seems time consuming, but it's actually quite fun!
Have a great week (it always gets better after monday right?)
Love the picture of him at the door and the last one. The video on the previous post is awesome! Soo sweet. Yesterday on Facebook I watch the video of him when he was born. Soo precious! You are a lot stronger then you think! Have a good day beautiful.ReplyDelete
This looked like a blast! Hope it was a happy happy birthday for him. I love how the music on your blog accents your pictures. So perfect!: )ReplyDelete
Vonae Deyshawn
I LOVE his long hair!!!!! So cute! xoxo A-ReplyDelete
so sweet! i love the pic of him by the door with the sign!! SO sweet, cant believe he's so grown up. But he will ALWAYS be your baby!!! :)ReplyDelete
aiden's hair handkerchief just like his daddy wears is too adorable for words. looks like the funnest party EVER!ReplyDelete
oh goodness, the party looks like an absolutely success, because aiden looks like one happy camper!!ReplyDelete
and you can never go wrong with bouncy houses :)
xo TJ
aw, what a perfect day! you guys are too much fun!ReplyDelete
that first picture... sweetest.ReplyDelete
that first picture... sweetest.ReplyDelete
that first picture... sweetest.ReplyDelete
What a precious little boy. I'm so glad he had such a great birthday! :]ReplyDelete
- Katelyn
such a sweetie!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 27, 2012 at 10:20 AM
I love the bohemian look that you have going for his birthday! It's so relaxed and fun! So glad you guys had such a great day for your sons birthday!ReplyDelete
You know what I just love?ReplyDelete
Aiden's pouty lips. (:
i love that excitement in his eyes. oh the small things that make the kids happy is amazing!ReplyDelete
So much fun...he looks like he had a blast!ReplyDelete


text:
Quote:Wallace was under contract!!WWStandsure
What is MM's real concept towards promotion? - The squad now seems far too large, Is a 'thinning out now required?. I cannot understand retaining so many players last season with injuries (Wallace for one), whilst releasing 'promising' reserves who had Tranmere in their hearts, while also signing (some older - perhaps more experienced but slower?), players, some who obviously play the same position (Alibi and Stokey, when we already had Cook?). As to those who just do not seem to be 'up for the job' one has to lift an eyebrow and ask just how is MM working all this out. I think the squad only needs a couple of decent players to raise their game (this should be evident from the training ground), to turn this season around. I have to question why Mangan, Dunn, Dawson (on loan to Darlington I believe), Rokka? etc are picking up wages but not considered regular first team members? - economic suicide or what. The young lad from Barnsley showed a lot of 'first teamers' up on Wednesday - just by his commitment, there are several players getting regular selections who can learn from that Hughes take note), but first start playing together (Norwood you hardly ever pass to cook?, Ridehaugh your crossing/even from corners, is now generally appalling - just what is happening from the training ground? you have the facilities guys but it's not evident on performances at PP. Love to hear from others on this - which is generally based on many comments posted on this site.
Weve just won back to back games, and still the negative posts appear?
The team performed well against L.Orient on Wednesday, despite being denied 2 blatent penalty decisions, and going behind, they dug themselves in and won the game.
What more did you want?
I feel like weve finally started to pick up some guile and form, but people still insist on taking a pop at the players?
Lets just get behind them and help make it 3 out of 3, instead of moaning.
I accept the Chester 'keeper had an excellent game
I accept the Chester 'keeper had an excellent game
You have therefore highlighted a pertinent reason why the result wasn't at least 1-0 for Tranmere.
Quote:the kav
We are 2 players short: a wallace/ harvey player who can s plit the 2 banks of 4 who constantly line up 35 yards from goal and an instinct striker who is in the box to be in the right place at the right time.
Total users online:
Most users online:
Users on this site:


text:
Barber Salon
Barber Salon may refer to any of the following locations:
- The interactive Barber Salon in Marina, Los Santos in GTA San Andreas.
- The non-interactive Barber Salon in Ganton, Los Santos in GTA San Andreas.
- This is a disambiguation page for Barber Salon, which could mean a number of things


text:
(Note: please click on photos for more detailed views.)
SOCORRO, N.M., July 26, 2002 -- A new landscaping project at New Mexico Tech is aimed at making Brown Hall, the administration building, more visible from the street. The project, conducted by Tech's Physical Plant, will also correct parking problems near Brown Hall and make the administration building more accessible for the disabled. In addition, the landscaping project will make the Memorial Rose Garden once again visible from the street.
The area in front of Brown Hall near the rose garden is slated for a much-needed facelift. The plans include new sidewalks, plant beds, a new flagpole, lights, and three planters. When finished, the area will match the entrance on Campus Drive.
Dan Jones, New Mexico Tech's resident architect says, "The new look will not only enhance the rose garden, but will also bring the area in front of Brown Hall into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act."
The Brown Hall Memorial Rose Garden, whose visibility is being enhanced by the landscaping project, was originally dedicated by the class of 1947 to honor the 17 men from the New Mexico School of Mines who died in World War II. On Oct. 13, 1979, the rose garden was rededicated "in memory of all deceased former students."
A new parking lot is also included in the plans. Jones designed the new 33-space parking lot, which will be located between Brown Hall and Driscoll Hall, around existing trees. According to Jim Shaffner, director of the Physical Plant, the few trees that will be removed during the project are diseased or dying. Graduation ceremonies are held in the area, but Kimberly Eiland, Acting Registrar says, "The parking lot won't adversely impact graduation ceremonies." The project should be completed by mid-October.


text:
Story highlights
- Home invasion occurs in Uniondale, New York
- Hofstra junior lived with her twin, other students
- Andrea Rebello was killed, along with suspect
A 21-year-old Hofstra University junior was fatally shot early Friday in an exchange of gunfire between a suspected home invader and police who came to the house, officials said.
Andrea Rebello lived with her twin sister in an off-campus house in Uniondale, New York. A male suspect wearing a black ski mask forced his way into the residence, which the sisters shared with two other students, according to police.
At some point during the night, the twins' female roommate was able to leave the home and call police, a Nassau County police spokesman told CNN on Friday.
When police arrived, there was an exchange of gunfire that left Andrea and the suspect dead. Police say the source of the gunfire that killed Rebello is still under investigation.
It was not immediately known whether the suspect knew the students. Armed robbery was believed to be the motive for the home invasion.
Andrea's high school principal, Carol Conklin-Spillane, said the girls' home community in Westchester, New York, was heartbroken.
She described Andrea as a fun-loving, personable and self-aware young woman. The sisters were a perfectly complemented "match set."
"There are twins who are just siblings and there are twins who are close, and then there was Andrea and Jessica," she said. "They were best friends by choice."
Conklin-Spillane said while on her way to Sleepy Hollow High School in New York she heard a student had been killed.
"I remember saying to myself that some mother's heart will be broken today," she said. "Never did I imagine it could be one of our community members."
Andrea's parents, Fernando and Nella Rebello, are closely tied to the Portuguese community, and always worked to create opportunities for their children, Conklin-Spillane said. The family was extremely close, she said.
Friday was the last day of finals at Hofstra University, right before graduation weekend. The university said in a statement that the commencement ceremonies will go on as scheduled. Andrea Rebello was majoring in public relations.


text:
Voigtlander Bessa
See that little V on the front door? It's a Voigtlander Bessa, possibly a pre-war model. This camera is built like the proverbial brick S&%t house.
That X in the film window means the cover is in place preventing any light from reaching the film. The little black knob turns to move it out of the way so you can see when you've reached the next exposure when winding.
Here's a top view of the Bessa, showing the pop-up viewfinder and the depth of field scale on the right side.
The front standard has a linkage that goes to a shutter release over on the right side of the door. You can just barely see that little triangle at the top of the door. Also, this camera once had a lens cover or filter attached to a hinge still visible at the 10 o'clock position on the lens bezel. The lens itself doesn't appear to be coated at all, but then again, it's very old.
Look at that honkin' huge opening! It's 6cm by 6cm.
They recommended the use of Voigtlander film too. I've never seen Voigtlander film.
Labels: voigtlander bessa


text:
VANCOUVER -- The atmosphere at Totem Park Residence on the UBC campus — near the site of the third sexual assault in three weeks — is "tense," music student Elana Cooper said Sunday.
Cooper and her friend Rachel Stiyer were notified of the latest sexual assault at an emergency meeting in their dorms on Saturday around noon, hours after a man wearing a hoodie emerged from a wooded area near their building and attempted to drag a 17-year-old girl into the woods.
"We were all called in. It was very tense. Everyone realized the gravity of the situation," Cooper said.
Saturday's victim was walking alone on the UBC campus in the 2500-block of West Mall when she was approached from behind, UBC RCMP spokesman Sgt. Drew Grainger said. The man placed his hands around the woman's hips and attempted to drag her into the woods. During the attack, Grainger said the suspect also ripped at her clothing under her skirt.
The young woman struggled, broke free and screamed for help, causing the male suspect to flee.
She sustained a bruised eye, requiring minor first aid after being punched in the face by the man.
"This assault series has become university RCMP detachment's top priority. We are engaged with many partner law enforcement agencies to attempt to identify and apprehend the person or persons responsible for these attacks," Grainger said.
"The RCMP would also like to reinforce the continued strong message for all citizens who walk through the campus at night to exercise every precaution to ensure their own personal safety."
All three cases were similar in that the women were returning home in the early morning hours on a weekend after having spent time at either a campus drinking establishment or at a friend's accommodation on campus.
Police believe the same man is involved in all three cases. He is described as Caucasian, and in his late 20s to early 30s. He is approximately 6' 2" tall with a thin build. He had short cropped hair and was wearing blue jeans and a dark hoodie.
He is also believed to have an American accent, though Grainger did not know what dialect the man spoke.
Stiyer said she had always felt safe on campus but the events of the last three weeks have been "a wake-up call."
"It's not saying you shouldn't go out, it's being responsible for your actions and being proactive. It's sad you have to take actions outside of what you would normally do in order to be safe," she said.
Cooper and Stiyer were advised during the dorm meeting to walk with a friend, call campus security or call Safewalk, a free student service that will send a coed pair of walkers to any point on campus to accompany a solo walker.
Rojin Djavanmardi, a first-year student, said the assaults have made her "really scared."
Although she hasn't used Safewalk yet, she has changed her routines, coming home early and using the library closest to her residence rather than the main library, which is farther away.
Her parents have been calling constantly, worried about her safety.
Esther Mutinda, a first-year engineering student from Kenya said campus security has been ramped up. "There are more police cars, people telling us to walk in groups."
She hopes authorities will catch the perpetrator soon. "It's getting kind of intense."
Police are seeking the assistance of the public in identifying the man responsible and will be stepping up patrols at UBC following the three assaults, added Grainger.
Barry Eccleton, director of campus security at UBC, said he is beefing up security and putting up signs around campus to remind students and staff to be aware of their surroundings and pair up after hours.
"UBC is a city unto itself and so we're not immune from these sort of incidents, but fortunately they are few and far between," he said. "We take safety very seriously and we are doing everything we can to ensure that people do all the right things."
He said campus security has a dispatch line that people can call around the clock.
"If they feel unsafe, they can call us and we'll come and get them and transport them to where they need to go," he said. "We also have emergency phones strategically placed around the campus. They can hit the button and it comes right through to my people."
Last Sunday, a 20-year-old UBC student was sexually assaulted inside her apartment building in the 2700-block of Fairview Cres. She had just returned home when she was approached from behind by a man who suddenly emerged from a stairwell. The man took off her coat while placing a hand under her skirt, attempting to grope her.
The woman struggled, broke free and screamed for help, causing the attacker to flee on foot. She was unharmed and did not require medical attention.
The Saturday previous, at about 2:45 a.m., a man approached a 19-year-old student from behind as she was walking alone in the 6300-block of Biological Sciences Road.
He wrapped an arm around her waist, picked her up and took her into a nearby garden as he placed his other hand up her skirt and groped her genitalia. Just like the other two women, she also screamed and broke free causing the attacker to run.
UBC RCMP urge everyone walking on campus at night to be vigilant of their surroundings and potential vulnerability when alone.
Djavanmardi said some students are talking about pepper spray or other weapons of self-defence, although residence advisers stopped short of suggesting that.
Cooper, however, has a self-defence plan: her violin case. "It's nice and hard," she said.


text:
For a few days' work proctoring exams in 1999 at a Downstate community college, Raymond Roskos Jr. earned $364.
He'll be paid much more later. That brief service in the state higher education system is all it took to qualify Roskos to eventually draw a public pension based on his salary with the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Last year, he made $76,232, state pension records show.
The state pension code was revised in 1998 to make employees of statewide teachers unions eligible for inflated public pensions if they already had service credits in the plan — just like the Chicago-area labor leaders who benefited from city public pension funds.
In addition, Illinois lawmakers have allowed privately employed individuals from university foundations and associations to get benefits through the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS. Those groups include the University of Illinois alumni association and the private fundraising foundations at the U. of I., Southern Illinois University and Northern Illinois University.
State law also specifically mentions the quasi-governmental Illinois Community College Trustees Association, an advocacy group funded by state community colleges.
A Tribune/WGN-TV investigation of the pensions for city union leaders led to legislative reforms that still must be signed by Gov. Pat Quinn. That legislation would prevent new union officials from accruing public pension credits going forward but would not affect those already in the system. It also does not address the associations.
Roskos, whom IFT recently promoted to field service director, is one of at least eight active or retired union employees who benefit from the current arrangement. The unions, which must pay the employer costs for their pensions, include the Illinois Federation of Teachers, University Professionals of Illinois and the Cook County College Teachers Union.
Roskos began working for the IFT in 2008 and was in a private retirement plan at first, according to union spokesman Dave Comerford. He said Roskos found out he had prior service credit in SURS only when he received a routine letter sent to pension plan members.
"He found out that it was legal under the law to get into the system so he chose to do so once finding it out," Comerford said.
Comerford said Roskos declined to comment but said the law was not designed to benefit someone in Roskos' position. "The intent was not for these kinds of situations to happen," Comerford said. "That shouldn't be allowed to continue."
Other union leaders eligible for inflated state pensions include:
•Marietta Miller. Also a field service director for IFT, Miller worked as a secretary for about a dozen years at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. Her final four-year average salary there was about $22,300. But she made almost $144,000 with IFT last year, dramatically boosting the pension benefits she stands to receive. Miller did not return a call seeking comment.
•Ronald Ettinger. A retired professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Ettinger boosted his pension considerably by spending the last four years as executive vice president of University Professionals of Illinois, where he earned about $98,000 lobbying on behalf of public university faculty.
"I think it's a very legitimate program, personally," said Ettinger, who now makes about $92,000 a year on the state Educational Labor Relations Board in addition to about $92,000 a year in pension benefits.
It's beneficial for union leadership to come from the universities that the union represents, he said. "We've become part of a smooth, functioning institution," Ettinger said.
•Perry Buckley. President of the Cook County Teachers Union, Buckley did not return calls seeking comment. He was at City Colleges of Chicago for about 23 years before he took a leave of absence in 2004 to work for the union. He made about $92,000 during 2003-2004, and $185,000 last school year, according to SURS records.
The foundations and the U. of I. alumni association whose employees qualify for SURS are closely connected with state colleges and universities, but they are still private groups. They consider themselves exempt from public records requests, for example.
About 90 employees from the U. of I. Foundation and an additional 10 from NIU's foundation currently participate in SURS, though some of them are in a self-managed plan that is structured more like a 401(k).
The Illinois Community College Trustees Association is a group that lobbies the state on behalf of community college boards and provides education to board members. State pension code was changed in the 1970s to include it in SURS.
Four of its employees currently contribute to the pension system, including executive director Michael Monaghan, whose pensionable salary this year is $208,000, including a $17,000 car allowance. He was an Illinois Senate staff member for 15 years — last serving on a pension committee — before joining the association in 1989 at a starting salary of about $40,000.
Monaghan argued that the association works on behalf of the state and pays the employer amount assessed by law, in contrast to the state's neglecting to make full payments.
"If everybody were to pay into the system as the trustees association does, there would not be a retirement issue," Monaghan said. "We are a good funding source if nothing else."
Tribune reporter Ray Long contributed.
email@example.com firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
New version of Easy Photo Uploader for Facebook , our relative software to send pictures to Facebook has been updated to version 0.9.2.1
After some complains of users, we discovered some problems on our side, but we also found some piece of information in the Facebook documentation.
the app has some tickets to be used and use the Facebook api, depending on the activity of the users.
it means we need to engage more users to post comments and like in the page to increase the rights to use the Facebook api.. how to do it ? .. well, a new challenge for sure
You can download the new update on the dedicated page :


text:
TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Israel's military and intelligence services Web sites crashed for several hours last weekend in what appeared to be a cyberattack, an event that carried the potential of crippling the computer systems of the country's high-tech defense industry.
The Haaretz daily reported Monday that the shutdown was the "biggest computer crash in the history of Israel's online government."
The Web sites of the armed forces, the Mossad foreign intelligence agency and the General Security Service, Israel's internal security branch known as Shin Bet, and several government ministries broke down Sunday.
Authorities denied there had been a cyberattack and blamed a "malfunction" in "the IBM-manufactured storage component" of the government computer system.
The sites were down for several hours.
There was skepticism about the official explanation because the breakdown occurred just days after Anonymous, a shadowy group of global hackers and online activists, threatened to retaliate against Israel for its maritime blockade of the economically crippled Gaza Strip.
In a YouTube video posted Friday, the group accused Israel of "piracy on the high seas" for intercepting two ships -- one Canadian, one Irish -- carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza's beleaguered 1.2 million Palestinians in international waters earlier that day.
Israeli naval commandoes boarded the ships and took them to the port of Ashdod in southern Israel.
"Your actions are illegal, against democracy and human rights, international and maritime law," a computer-generated voice declared on the video.
"If you continue blocking humanitarian vessels to Gaza … then you leave us no choice but to strike back again and again until you stop."
There was no way to authenticate the video. Anonymous threatened Israel in June, although there's no record of a cyberattack before Friday.
Anonymous, which claims to fight for human rights and against Internet censorship, has carried out cyberattacks on several governments and international conglomerates since 2008. During the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria it repeatedly paralyzed government Web sites to support the protesters.
Suspected Anonymous activists have been arrested in a half a dozen countries, including Britain, Australia and Turkey.
The Israeli security establishment has been building a cyberdefense apparatus for some time. But in September, reservist Maj. Gen. Yiftach Ron-Tal, chairman of the Israel Electric Corp., warned the cyberthreat to Israel is growing but that the country isn't adequately prepared to cope with it.
He raised the possibility that Israel's enemies had already implanted viruses in its computer systems that control military and civilian infrastructure like the defense industry and the national power grid.
Israel's military is digitalized down to platoon level and thus becomes vulnerable to cyberattack during combat.
Israel's water, transportation and financial systems, as well as its military command network, face potential cyberattacks.
Ron-Tal, a former commander of Israel's land forces, declared: "We could already have witnessed a silent infiltration that will be activated when the enemy wants.
"We need to be prepared for the possibility that critical infrastructure will be paralyzed."
Sunday's shutdown, if it was a cyberattack, came amid growing tensions over Iran's nuclear program and increasing speculation that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was pushing for pre-emptive strikes against the Islamic Republic.
Israel's intelligence establishment has been widely blamed for sabotaging Iran's nuclear program in 2010 with a malignant virus known as Stuxnet. The Iranians claim their systems were hit later by another virus they dubbed "Stars," and blamed Israel again.
Since then the Iranians have made a major effort to build up cyberdefenses and the capability to retaliate.
Little is known of the status of these efforts but the possibility of payback against Israel is clearly a strategic objective for Tehran in the emerging cyber battlefield.
Iranian Gen. Ali Fazli, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's paramilitary Basij organization, claimed in March that Tehran has launched attacks against the Web sites of "the enemies."
The Jerusalem Post reported in August that Israel's military had set up a cyberdefense division, primarily to counter any Iranian threat, within the C4I -- command, control, communications, computers and intelligence -- Directorate.
That move followed Netanyahu's announcement in July that a National Cybernetic Task Force had been established to defend the country's vital infrastructure from Internet strikes.


text:
Video Footage Surfaces Of Travis Scott Pulling Up To Fight Tory Lanez
Video footage just surfaced of recording artists Tory Lanez and Travis Scott about to scrap. WorldStarHipHop posted the exclusive clip and you definitely want to peep it.
Though it's about one minute long, viewers of the video can get a good idea about what was about to go down. In fact, Lanez previously spoke about the almost-altercation on "Hate To Say." Plus, in a previous interview with HotNewHipHop.com, Lanez gave further detail about the fight almost came to be. "I will do something bad to you," he told the news outlet. "I'm small, but my adrenaline level is at a different level. I'm in a crowd of ten thousand, twenty-thousand fans...It comes to a point where I get off stage, and I'm in a room...and Travis busts in the room like 'yo come talk to me blood, come talk to me outside.' I was going to talk to him, but I felt he was being too disrespectful. I didn't go talk to him outside."
Scott had a problem with Lanez tweeting, "I can't sound like anybody I wrote for." So, after this initial blowup, Scott left the room and soon returned to address it some more. "He came in the there, and he was charged up, and I was charged up, and it came to a point where I was like...let's fade it out!" the Memories Don't Die artist admitted.
So, on Tuesday (March 13), footage of the incident was released and it's beginning to spread across the internet like wildfire. Check out the clip below.
**WARNING: Explicit language**
Photo: Getty Images


text:
Microsoft .NET components and controls company Syncfusion has released its Metro Studio 1 suite of more than 600 vector-based Metro icons. Free to use and freely customizable, this release of comes just days after the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
Bemoaned by some industry observers who have accused Microsoft of trying to fit excessive tablet-focused styling into its new operating system, Windows 8 has frustrated many users at first touch due to its lack of "Start" button. Regardless, both Syncfusion and Microsoft call Metro "a fresh perspective on interfaces that have a simpler, more intuitive design" overall.
As developers now start building (and testing!) Windows 8 applications, Synchfusion's free icon offering may work to encourage this seemingly intangible intuitiveness that we have all been promised.
Syncfusion's Metro Studio 1 will allow programmers to quickly deploy test Metro applications in the Windows 8 Preview — and icons in Metro Studio 1 have been designed in accordance with Microsoft's guidelines for Metro user interfaces.
The icon suite contains images targeted to multiple industries including finance, and healthcare as well as general icons labeled as "essential" to all applications. The icons themselves are accessed through an interface (presumably an "intuitive" one) that allows icon color and size to be customized. Since all icons are vector based, modifications are said to be easy and output to various formats, including XAML, is described as quick.
"We strongly feel that this is an important package; we want to put it out there for the community to use," said Daniel Jebaraj, Syncfusion's vice president of product development. "When you're starting to develop Metro applications, you have to visually differentiate them. You need to have the right kind of Metro images to spruce up your app, and Metro Studio 1 will help you to do that," says Jebaraj.
In designing Metro Studio 1, Syncfusion felt it was imperative to provide it at no cost to the development community so applications could be quickly deployed and tested without calling on a graphic designer. By expediting application development, Metro applications are more likely to be ready and stable by the time the final version of Windows 8 is released.


text:
Our Best Economic Minds Are Failing Us
The most terrifying moment in modern economic history occurred two years ago this month. For several long days after the fall of Lehman Brothers on Sept. 15, 2008, the financial system was in danger of total collapse, and the United States seemed on the precipice of another Great Depression.
Hillary Clinton's Political Star Rises
The most powerful woman in American politics has kept her head down for most of the first 18 months of her tenure as secretary of state. She is also by far the most unscathed senior member of a badly battered administration. And the once defeated Democratic candidate may have the most promising political prospects of just about anyone in the administration.
'Time to Turn the Page'
In marking the end of America's combat role in Iraq, President Obama sought to shift his priorities to the United States' own deep problems at home. "We have met our responsibilities. It is time to turn the page," Obama told the nation from the newly refurbished Oval Office, seeking to open a new chapter in his troubled presidency.
Obama's Iraq Challenge
In his speech tonight, the president must do the impossible: plan a finish to a war without end.
How Obama Got Rolled by Wall Street
Why the 44th president is no FDR—and the economy is still in the doldrums.
How to Understand American Decline
America may be declining, but don't despair.
Has Obama Run Out of Economic Options?
As the grim jobs news continues, and with no hope for more government stimulus, the president finds himself without a solution.
Elizabeth Warren Could Boost Public Confidence
President Obama's economic team is the ultimate insiders' club, which is exactly why an outsider is needed to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
GOP Divisions Over Afghanistan
No one doubts that Michael Steele suffers from chronic foot-in-mouth disease. So when Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, declared recently that Afghanistan was a war that Obama had chosen, and that America shouldn't get bogged down in a place where "everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed," he initially encountered the usual reaction from conservatives leery of his leadership: derision and calls to resign.
Backroom Deals Weaken Financial-Reform Bill
The new regulations are a step in the right direction. But political concessions weakened the effort and left many important decisions unresolved.
Al Franken Gets Serious
The funnyman turned freshman senator has quietly made himself a force to be reckoned with in Washington.
The Man Who Would Convict Goldman Sachs
A prosecutor best known for putting terrorists behind bars is about to take on one of the biggest challenges of his career—proving Goldman Sachs committed fraud.
Financial Reform Makes Biggest Banks Stronger
Glass-Steagall, meet Dodd-Frank. The Wall Street reform bill makes big changes, but the too-big-to-fail monster still lives. The big banks are as essential as ever.
After McChrystal, What's Next for Afghanistan?
The abrupt dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal for making inappropriate remarks and the simultaneous announcement that he would be succeeded by his superior, CentCom Commander David Petraeus, papered over Obama's real problem: the counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy that McChrystal championed and Petraeus virtually invented may be fatally flawed, at least as it's practiced in Afghanistan.
A Politically Correct War
The Obama team may be overcompensating for the mistakes made by George W. Bush, who possessed a too-great eagerness to expand the idea of radical Islamism in order to gin up the war against Iraq—though it was unrelated to Al Qaeda—and to connect the "war on terror" to all extremist groups, including Hamas and Hizbullah.
On Iran Sanctions, Incrementalism Rules
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department announced the latest in a series of sanctions slapped against Iranian financial companies. But a question was put to Undersecretary Stuart Levey at the news conference: why not make Iran's choice suddenly and unmistakably, rather than "increasingly," clear?
The BP-Goldman Continuum
The reason you can't give regulators (of Wall Street or big oil) too much "discretion" is that they'll always be outsmarted by the private sector. That's why standards have to be spelled out in the law.
Obama's Mideast Strategy Implodes
Another misstep by Israel—a flotilla raid that brought Gaza back into focus—has tanked Washington's plan to stop Iran, advance peace talks, and heal the region. Why can't Israel focus on what really matters?
Obama's Strategy Looks Familiar
If Barack Obama and George W. Bush are like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—opposites in world view and approach—why do they share so many ideas about national security?
Financial Reform Bill Full of Loopholes
The financial-reform bill will do its part to save the economy—by creating jobs for accountants and lawyers.
Financial Reform—With a Giant Hole
When is a bill like a doughnut? When it has a huge hole in the center of it, one that is so critical to the success or failure of the bill that it becomes the legislation's defining characteristic. That appears to be the problem with the financial-reform bill that finally cleared "cloture"—closing off debate as it goes to a final vote—Thursday on a 60 to 40 vote that included three Republicans: Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe from Maine, and Massachusetts's newly minted senator, Scott Brown. ...
Dems Fall Out on Financial Reform
The biggest financial overhaul since the Great Depression—which has been flirting with incoherence for weeks—lurched backward yet again Wednesday, with a failed vote of 57 to 42 to close off debate in the U.S. Senate. The Democrats' inability to get the needed 60 votes for cloture was yet more evidence of a worsening state of disunity and confusion in the party. It was also only the latest evidence of what happens when the White House, which purports to champion tough reform of Wall Street, leaves all the hard dealing to legislators. ...
Global Economy: Can the Euro Be Saved?
When are the Europeans going to learn that appeasement doesn't work?
Karzai Like a Fox
Hamid Karzai, who is on his umpteenth visit to Washington, is a royal pain who has made no secret of his growing anti-Americanism, to the point of threatening to join the Taliban. President Karzai may also be, for that reason, the most critical asset Barack Obama now has in Afghanistan—and the main ticket home for thousands of American troops there. ...
Thank you, Goldman Sachs
Call it the Goldman effect. For whatever reason, it looks as if the Senate is holding firm, for the moment, on tough new regulations on Wall Street. The Street's lobbyists are no longer getting the traction they once did in congressional corridors paved with millions of lobbying dollars. While Senate banking committee chairman Chris Dodd had to throw out a provision mandating a $50 billion corporate-funded rainy-day fund that the ranking Republican, Richard Shelby, described as a "honey pot," other new restrictions remain as the overall financial-reform bill heads to a floor vote. Among them: a new rule inspired by the SEC charge that Goldman Sachs created a "synthetic CDO" designed to fail with secret advice from the short-selling maestro, John Paulson. The new rule gives the SEC and Commodity Futures Trade Commission discretion to ban swap transactions that look like mere gaming bets on whether deals—or countries—will fail, preserving the swap function for...
Legislating a Conscience on Wall Street
From J.P. Morgan to Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, the Street's sense of social responsibility seems to have nearly evaporated.
Hillary Interview: What Iran Needs to Understand
Hillary Clinton on Obama, Iran, and a world of troubles.
How Hillary Found Her Groove With Obama
Clinton's played the heavy with Iran, Russia, and even Israel—and her sometimes hawkish views are finding favor with the president.
Carl Levin: Another 'Big Shoe to Drop' on Goldman
Washington is suddenly looking very unkind to the firm that used to be known as "Government Sachs." Now the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, is planning to focus hearings scheduled for next week at least in part on Goldman Sachs's role in the financial disaster. Levin's staff has uncovered new documents "that link certain actions to specific people" at Goldman, according to a senior legislative official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official would not divulge the nature of the allegation but said that Levin believes it amounts to "another big shoe to drop on Goldman." Spokespeople for Levin said they were not prepared to discuss the nature of the probe, but his committee has been conducting several weeks of hearings and one is planned for April 27 on "the role of the investment banks." "We expect to have some information tomorrow," spokesman Bryan...
Is the SEC Opening the Floodgates?
The civil suit brought against Goldman Sachs by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday involved just a single transaction and a single executive, and in a conference call with reporters, SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami refused to say how widespread his investigation is. But that doesn't make the case any less significant. Securities-fraud charges related to the subprime debacle have been few and far between until now (plenty of mortgage originators have been indicted, but Wall Street has remained mostly unscathed). By naming the most prestigious firm on Wall Street and a world-famous hedge fund—Paulson & Co.—known for making some of the biggest profits by shorting subprimes, the SEC has signaled that there may be a lot more indictments to come. ...


text:
Belkin Says It's Lightning Fast With New iPhone Accessories
Apple's move to a new connector isn't just annoying for those of us with a million docks, speakers, car chargers and other add-ons.
It's also a huge challenge for the companies that make those accessories. Although there are plenty of cases and other non-electrical add-ons for the new iPhones, iPads and iPods, the move away from the dock connector has all but stalled the market for plug-in accessories.
Until now, anyway.
Belkin said on Monday that it will have both a car charger and a dock that work with Apple's new Lightning connector ready by mid-month. Both will sell for $30, about the same as Apple charges just for a cord that allows older accessories to work with the new connection.
When Apple made the move away from the old 30-pin connection, it said that it would work with peripheral makers to create officially sanctioned Lightning accessories. (Some unofficial ones have already cropped up, but given the highly sophisticated nature of the new connector, buyer beware on those.)
That Belkin is first out of the gate should not come as a surprise to Apple historians. As Belkin itself notes, the company was early with products that plugged into the original dock connector.
"Belkin was the first third-party manufacturer to develop accessories for the 30-pin connector back in 2003, and we are thrilled to be first to market again with solutions for the new Lightning connector," Belkin General Manager Martin Avila said in a statement.
But Belkin's history actually predates even that. Belkin helped Apple with the first-ever iPod accessories. Even before there was a dock connector, Belkin helped Apple with a microphone that plugged into the top of the early iPod.