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They were the people, despite the chaos of life, who were always looking for happiness and looking to do something better. Katie Stay was adamant about teaching her kids to do better every day and to treat people better every day. And because of that we all wanted to be better and wanted to be around them. —Tom Mixon
SPRING, Texas — Six white caskets containing the bodies of a suburban Houston couple and four of their five children were wheeled into a church Wednesday for funeral services not far from where the family was gunned down at their home a week ago.
Stephen Stay, 39, his wife Katie, 34, and their four youngest children were being buried in a private ceremony after services at their Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"It's a difficult reason that's brought us together today," said Bishop Scott McBride, who presided over the 90-minute funeral service. "It wouldn't be right if I tell you I don't ache in my heart and we don't feel pain and feel the loss."
The couple's 15-year-old daughter, Cassidy, who survived a gunshot wound by playing dead, sat in the front row with grandparents and other relatives, just a few feet from the caskets topped with sprays of flowers. Poster-size photos of her smiling parents and siblings looked back at her and more than 1,000 people attending the service.
Katie Stay's father, Roger Lyon, said in an invocation that the service was a celebration of Stephen and Katie's family and he prayed that "some good come out of this seemingly senseless tragedy."
"We are thankful for all the things they did for us," he said.
In a description of his loved ones' lives, Randy Cousins, an uncle, said the extended family was grateful for support from "friends, family and people we have never met."
"If there's one thing we've learned as a family, it is that the world is a good place," Cousins said. "If you watch the news all the time, you might not remember that."
"Families are forever," Jeff Stay, one of Stephen's brothers, said, his voice halting. "We know we will meet them again."
Cassidy Stay called police and identified her aunt's ex-husband, Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, as the gunman. Haskell had been divorced from Katie Stay's sister and records show he had a history of domestic violence. The family was shot when they refused to divulge his ex-wife's whereabouts, authorities said.
Haskell was arrested a few hours later after a police standoff and now faces multiple charges of capital murder.
"I don't know you ever prepare yourself for something like this because you don't expect this," Don Guthrie, 57, a family friend and fellow church member, said before the funeral. "This is a shock. This is incomprehensible."
Friends were wrestling with the loss of what one called an "anchor family," whose home was the place where neighborhood kids gravitated.
"They were the people, despite the chaos of life, who were always looking for happiness and looking to do something better," said Tom Mixon, 47, a father of three and scoutmaster to one of the Stay boys. "Katie Stay was adamant about teaching her kids to do better every day and to treat people better every day. And because of that we all wanted to be better and wanted to be around them.
"It's hard to wrap my head around it, when somebody that's so ensconced in your life like that is suddenly gone."
Investigators said Haskell tied up the family and put them face-down on the floor before shooting each in the back of the head. Besides Stephen and Katie Stay, also killed were Bryan, 13, Emily, 9, Rebecca, 6, and Zach, 4.
"It doesn't seem right that we have to bury our children first, our grandchildren," said Bradley Foster, one of the Mormon church's senior leaders who came from Utah to participate in the service.
Haskell's lawyers have said they will focus on his mental condition and whether he was legally responsible for the carnage. Prosecutors haven't yet decided whether to seek the death penalty against him.
Friends have said Katie Stay went to Utah last year to help her sister, Melanie, escape her relationship with Haskell. That couple was married in 2002 in California, separated last year and divorced in February.
Stephen Stay was the real estate broker for Moriah Davis, 32, who met the Stay family through their church and had almost daily contact with Katie Stay.
"You cry and talk about how wonderful they were and you move on a little bit at a time," the mother of three boys said.
Davis said her 5-year-old has been talking about 4-year-old Zach Stay and asked her: "Mom, do you think that Zach will like heaven?"
Mixon and Guthrie said their faith had prepared them to forgive Haskell.
"I'm not happy about it, but I'm not going to hold a grudge," said Guthrie.


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BW1039 Black and White Curtains
Made to measure Curtains by Clarke & Clarke
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per metre
BW1039 Black and White Curtains
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Give your room the elegance and prestige it deserves with our delightful BW1039 Black and White Curtains.
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The Alternative Comedy Experience
Curated by Stewart Lee, The Alternative Comedy Experience is unlike any other stand-up show on our screens.
Next on TV
Latest Clips
Tony Law: Why is Starbucks coffee so hot?
Andy Zaltzman: Political satire anyone?
Sam Simmons: Reindeer Thermometers
Fern Brady: How to make Embarrassing Bodies even more embarrassing
Kevin Eldon: "It's all in the past"
Tony Law: Half pirate, half Viking
David O'Doherty talks to Stewart Lee
Tony Law is Dangerous
Over thirty years ago, a new wave of stand-ups spearheaded the Alternative Comedy movement, marking themselves out as different from the safe television turns, the Oxbridge satirists, and the racist and sexist Working Men's Club comics of the time. The Alternative Comedy Experience captures that same schism happening again. An advance raiding party of modern day Alternative Comedians offering material too clever, thoughtful, radical, satirical, strange, or downright stupid to make it onto the stand-up outlets of contemporary television. Filmed in front of a real comedy club audience, with its fast-moving distinctive visual style and unique cast The Alternative Comedy Experience is original, unpredictable, and unlike any other live stand-up show on our screens. The Alternative Comedy Experience celebrates the past, the present and the future of the UK comedy circuit and the craft of stand-up comedy at its most original. Renew your faith in this vital live art form.


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Lott & Fischer is an intellectual property law firm in Coral Gables, Florida. The firm concentrates its practice exclusively in intellectual property law, including U.S. and international patent, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, Internet, and entertainment law and related litigation.
Resources > Leslie Lott and Ury Fischer have been listed as top attorneys in the 2016 edition of Florida Super Lawyers magazine


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Welcome to HIU's Admissions Application!
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interest in applying to Hope International University. Please
complete the brief form below to create your account and
select the application that matches the type of program to
which you are applying: On-Campus Undergraduate, Online Undergraduate,
or Graduate (On-Campus or Online).
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Rewriting .htaccess Files for SEF URLs in Joomla!
To enable Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs in Joomla!®, you must first enable
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Title VIII--Impact Aid Program
Impact Aid (VIII)
Impact Aid provides financial assistance to school districts affected by federal activities. Because federal property is exempt from local property taxes, Impact Aid helps to replace the lost revenue that would otherwise be available to pay for educating children who live on federal property or whose parents work on federal property.
How It Works
Impact Aid provides formula and competitive grants directly to eligible school districts. Funds flow primarily through Basic Support Payments on behalf of federally connected children (86 percent of all Impact Aid funds requested in the president's budget for FY 2003). Additional payments are made for federally connected children with disabilities, construction and renovation of school facilities, federal property removed from local tax rolls after 1938, and maintenance of school facilities owned by the U.S. Department of Education.
Basic Support Payments provide formula grants to about 1,400 school districts with federally connected children--that is, children who live on federal property with a parent who is employed on federal property; children who live on federal property with a parent who is on active military duty or is a foreign military officer; children who live on certain Indian lands; children who do not live on federal property but who have a parent who is on active military duty or is a foreign military officer; children who live in low-rent housing assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937; children who live on federal property but do not fit any of the above categories; and children who do not live on federal property but have a parent who is employed on federal property.
Payments for Children with Disabilities provide supplemental assistance to school districts that have certain federally connected children who have disabilities.
Construction funds include both formula and competitive grants to support the construction or renovation of school facilities in eligible school districts, which include districts with large numbers of children living on Indian lands or children with a parent in the uniformed services.
Payments for Federal Property provide aid to districts with significant amounts of federally owned property acquired since 1938, generally based on an estimate of the local revenue that the school district would have received if the property had remained on the tax rolls.
Facilities Maintenance funds support essential repairs to school facilities owned by the U.S. Department of Education. These schools serve large numbers of military dependents. The Department is repairing these schools so that local school districts will accept the transfer of title for these buildings.


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Pete Cherches blogs about food, travel, literary and music pursuits, the occasional dream and fugitive thoughts of all sorts.
posted by Peter Cherches at 3:58 PM
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is the author of Lift Your Right Arm (Pelekinesis, 2013), a collection of minimalist short prose sequences, as well as two previous volumes of short prose:
Condensed Book and Between a Dream and a Cup of Coffee, as well as several limited-edition artist's books. His work has recently appeared in the anthologies Poetry 180 and Up Is Up, But So Is Down: New York's Downtown Literary Scene, 1974-1992. His fiction and short prose work has been featured in a wide range of magazines and journals, including Harper's, Semiotext(e), Transatlantic Review, Fiction International, and Bomb. Sonorexia, the avant-vaudeville music-performance group he co-led with Elliott Sharp in the 1980s, appeared at such legendary venues as The Mudd Club and CBGB. Cherches is a two-time recipient of New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships in creative nonfiction.
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Canada: Not All Gay Blood Donors Pose Same Risk, Court Told
Canadian Blood Services wrongly assumes that every man who has had sex, even once, with another man since 1977 presents the same HIV risk, an attorney argued yesterday in an Ottawa courtroom. CBS' "blanket ban" on blood donations by men who have sex with men also applies to MSM who practice safer sex and might pose a "negligible" risk, Patricia LeFebour said in closing arguments of a civil trial.
"It doesn't matter whether you engage in anal sex at all; it doesn't matter if you use a condom; it doesn't matter if you're in a long-term monogamous relationship; or you're legally married as a gay man to your male spouse," said LeFebour, arguing on behalf of Kyle Freeman. Freeman, who was sued by CBS for repeatedly lying about his sexual history on donor-screening questionnaires, filed a countersuit alleging the CBS policy violates his Charter rights and those of other MSM.
The lifetime ban is "medically and scientifically unwarranted," LeFebour argued. "No one is saying throw out a deferral period altogether. There should be a deferral. It shouldn't be 32 years." For instance, Australia, Japan, and South Africa all have 12-month deferrals, she noted.
"Mr. Freeman requests simply that the court follow the path of previous decisions on sexual orientation and move to break down the insidious stereotype that all gay men are promiscuous carriers of disease including HIV," LeFebour said.
CBS does not reject donors for being gay but rather for engaging in behavior that puts them at significantly higher risk for contracting HIV, the agency's lawyer said in closing remarks on Monday. As a non-governmental entity, CBS is not entirely subject to Charter rights claims, attorney Sally Gomery said.
Freeman is seeking $250,000 (US $242,000) in damages.


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Song of the South I am not sure why Disney classified this film as racist. It' a good movie delivers a message and entertains as well. It's also a great mix between live and animated animals. The mix also make it more interesting. The movie might be slow for kids but you will notice they try to deliver the message, you will love the lively characters. Enjoy this film and let me know via comments what do you think about it.
How to Watch Song of the South (1946) Disney Movie For Free Without Download?
1- Click on the play icon in the middle of the screen
2- Wait 5-10 min for stream to load
To play Song of the South full movie at full-screen size, click the arrow button located at the far bottom-right corner of the stream (video). Please let us know via comments if the stream is working or not.


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Outclass your opponents before the match ever begins with this men's football presentation jacket. Lightweight Climalite sheds sweat to keep you dry throughout your travels. The zip pockets help secure essentials, while ribbed cuffs and hem keep it classic.
adidas Condivo 18 Presentation Jacket Black / White Men's Jackets Polyester dGjfQlHB


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By Freya Bellin
Fresh leafy greens are among spring's treasures. Arugula, mustard greens, and spinach all abound at the farmers market these days, and there's no better way to honor these flavorful greens than with a simple salad.
Summer fruits like raspberries and strawberries are great salad ingredients, but while we're still waiting for berries and stone fruit to grace us with their presence, you can use apples and pears or dried fruits for this salad. I tossed red mustard greens with thinly sliced apples and chopped dried dates. The combination was sweet, spicy, and quite refreshing. Try the cheese and nut variation if you're looking for a bit more heft. Recipe from The Food Matters Cookbook.


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The Advanced Metering System, mandated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, requires that all residential and commercial customers in Texas monitor their energy consumption with digital smart meters. These meters record the energy usage every 15 minutes, and customers can check their meter either online or with an in-home monitor. The meter information is transmitted to utility providers who then send it to retail electricity providers who use it to determine billing. Smart meters give Amigo Energy customers more control over their home's electricity usage, as they always know how much electricity they are using.
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If you'd like to learn more about the availability of Amigo electric service in Argyle neighborhood, simply click on your specific area in the list above. When shopping for electricity, it's important to consider all of your different options. See how Amigo Energy compares to other electricity providers in your area. Texas Electricity Providers supplies you with all of the information you need to make the right energy decision for your home in Argyle. Start benefiting from all of the energy solutions that Texas electricity providers give you today.
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In The State of Mind Called Beautiful, Burmese meditation master Sayadaw U Pandita lays out the breadth, depth, and wealth of the Theravadan tradition of Buddhism. U Pandita begins with the basic guidelines of Buddhism, and moves on to various practices: those that can be done for one minute a day, those that sweeten and strengthen the mind, those that heal societies and families, those that lead to liberation.
Also included are complete teachings on Vipassana or Insight meditation, from how to do it, to how to refine it, to how to deal with difficulties. Teachings on the development of mindfulness, wisdom, patience, and practice itself are all included, and the book is capped by an extremely helpful "Question and Answers" section—an FAQ for newcomers and established practitioners alike. Lastly, both Pali-to-English and English-to-Pali glossaries are included, with all such terms also being glossed in the text, ensuring that readers easily master the meanings of important terms.


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Latest Technology Motorcycle Suit made of top quality leather (grade A)Applied whereever protection is required. (Shoulders, Elbows, Knee and under knee leg portion, Back helmet support hump, beck seat portion of pant and suit sides) Fine quality Leather along with CE approved protectors provide 100% protection and makes the suit technically full protective one. PVC Coated Nylon Polyester (Specially made for biker Garments) used elsewhere, makes the suit less expensive and hense affordable. Also low weight and feels comfirtable. Durable and looking great. .
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On August 31, 1971, I resigned my job as production assistant and book designer at the University of California Press in Berkeley. We rented our house in Walnut Creek (a suburb of Oakland) to a fellow employee and moved to the old homestead where my wife, Ardis, grew up and spent about half her life. We're currently putting the finishing touches on planning a home and preparing a building site, since it's too late in the year to begin building a home in our area.
Our place is located approximately five miles from the towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City, two of the earliest and most important gold mining centers in California. We're about two and a half hours' driving time from Oakland and Berkeley and another 20 minutes from San Francisco. At our elevation of about 3,000 feet, we have a foot or two of snow in the winter (up to five feet in unusual years) and summer temperatures in the 90s.
The area - especially the towns - looks a lot like New England and is the scene of most of my watercolors. Although we had a large vegetable garden - about half an acre - last year and will continue to grow a good deal of our food, we don't intend to farm for a livelihood. Most of our income is from my free-lance work as a book designer and artist, done by mail for clients in California, Colorado and Hawaii. I'd expected to have only a modest amount of such employment when we moved to the country but the fact is that I've had to refuse assignments to leave myself time for other activities. Ardis (a newcomer to the graphic arts) has helped me on some of my jobs and says she enjoys even the tedious chores.
Several years ago we bought 9 1/2 acres bordering Tahoe National Forest, and in the spring of 1970 acquired a tract of the same size that adjoined our land on the south. That same year we had a well drilled on the first parcel (located water at 85 feet and carried on until we hit bedrock 110 feet down). In 1971, just before we moved up here, Ardis and I built a pump house over the shaft and installed the pump, storage tank and electrical generator. The flow from this system is hardly impressive (about 1 1/3 gallons a minute or 80 an hour) but it never falters . . . even after nine hours of steady pumping. We've had water here when other wells went dry. (Of course, we spent some time with pump experts beforehand to design a setup that wouldn't drain the well faster than it can fill. Happily, the right equipment - the smallest unit made - was also the least expensive.) Our 5 kw generator, which is mounted on a trailer, was purchased secondhand from a newspaper classified ad for $500 . . . and will not only power the water pump but provide enough electricity for our house both during and after construction.
In the summer of 1972, George, Ardis' next-to-oldest son, converted the machine from gasoline to propane. The conversion kit ($50.00 from the generator's manufacturer) took about two hours to install and worked perfectly on the first try. The propane is delivered by truck and is the only utility for which we pay . . . all others are derived from that source. The fuel is contained in two tanks - one 300-gallon and one 150 gallon - also purchased through classified ads for less than half their usual cost. Our heat will come from wood, of which we have ample supplies.
The articles in the November/December 1971 issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS helped us buy a used pickup truck at auction: Not what we want for the long run, but the price was right and it'll hold us until we come across the "perfect" vehicle. At another sale we found a Jeep with a dozer blade on the front and a trench digger on the back. (That's a great machine, by the way: In one pass it can carve out a ditch a foot wide and up to five feet deep.) George and his younger brother Mark kept the Jeep busy a good part of the summer digging foundations, leach lines and utility and road ditches . . . even the hole for the septic tank. One of those trenches is 300 feet long and will carry a plastic waterline from an underground water reservoir (a $40.00 plastic swimming pool with a 12-foot diameter and a capacity of 2,500 gallons) to a tent-cabin we built in a couple of weekends. That shelter will be part of a permanent campground for friends who want to visit during the summer months. We also put up another pool of the same kind to cool off in, and to serve as an emergency water supply in case of fire. It takes our well about 36 hours to fill each of the reservoirs.
Although we finally have a building permit for the house and managed to pry the plans away from the architect last week, it's already November as I write and too late to do anything this year. We've had 13 inches of rain since the beginning of October and the roads to our property are unpaved for the last five miles . . . which makes it pretty hard for a concrete mixer to get in and out. Even if we did the mixing ourselves we couldn't haul that much rock and sand (particularly over one stretch which is solid clay for a couple of hundred feet). We've tried to improve this section by putting in drainage ditches, but the rain started before we could finish and that, too, will have to wait for next year.
Our house-to-be is hexagonal, raised one story off the ground on telephone poles. Underneath, at the center, is a core containing a workshop and laundry room. Still under the house and extending away from this area - like a pointing finger - is an enclosed stairway and storage unit. The stairs bring you up into the middle of the hexagon where a hall opens onto each of the rooms (all more or less pie-shaped). Each room, in turn, has a sliding glass door leading to the deck that surrounds the outside of the house. To the south, an exterior stairway leads doom to the ground.
We had a time locating used telephone poles, but eventually picked up about half as many as we needed from here and there. Then we learned that Nevada City was undergrounding its utilities, removing the poles from the main street and installing gaslights in their place. (Grass Valley is now doing the same . . . both communities have economic development grants from the federal government for this project, which is supposed to make the towns more attractive to tourists!) Ardis checked and found that the procedure is as follows: [1] The electric company first removes its wires. Then the telephone company [2] takes out its lines and poles and [3] gives away the latter because it has no license to sell them (or anything other than phone services). To make a long story short, the telephone people cut the poles in two and gave the lower (stronger) halves to us and the tops to folks who wanted them for fencepost's. The utility even delivered the timbers to our house while we were on vacation in Canada.
This year, then, we're all set to start actually building a home. We plan to do the work ourselves, although I can see from the results of this season that I'll have to turn away jobs during the summer months in order to have enough time. Our food garden, like the business, has been an unqualified success. Ardis experimented with drying fruits and vegetables, all with good results. I need to design and build her some better equipment, though: So far she's had to make do with netting stretched across my surplus picture frames. She then covers the netting with the fruits and vegetables to be dried and suspends the loaded frames in the attic. One of her projects was to slice thousands of pounds - I'm sure - of zucchini and reduce them to no more than three or four pounds of dried slivers. Cooked up with some other dried, canned or frozen vegetables, they're a very satisfying dish and look just like fresh squash (although the texture is a little more on the chewy side).
Last year we grew popcorn for the first time. The kernels that do pop are delicious, and even those that don't are good eating . . . easy to chew, like nuts, and not tooth-crackers like the leftovers from the commercial product.
We also planted three 50-foot rows of soybeans. The beans are good, all right, but what a job to harvest and prepare that many by hand! Although each of us pitched in for a few hours now and then, Ardis worked hardest of all to get the crop picked, shelled and dried. (The rains and frosts arrived before most of the pods had cured naturally, so we had trays of beans in the ovens and all over the heaters for a couple of weeks.) We'll have to figure out a better way to deal with that vegetable: Dried soybeans, as Ardis likes to remind me, are only $0.29 a pound at Nevada City's natural food store.
Speaking of heaters, we swear by our Aladdin kerosene burners. We now own five . . . all purchased at garage sales, many new or practically new, from people who didn't know how to use them properly. When correctly adjusted, they burn with a silent, practically odorless blue flame and put out a lot of heat. They're also safer than most other portable heaters (including electric), use cheap fuel and can serve as cook stoves.
Another step in our efforts at gardening for food (and simple beautiful plants): Last week I enclosed the front porch with a double layer of 6mil plastic sheeting and installed a second glass door at the outer edge of the porch by the steps. Then I lit a kerosene heater and set a gallon ketchup can full of water on top. Result: a greenhouse, which provides a place for our tomatoes, camellias, ferns, gardenias, lemon tree, etc. When we come home on a cold wintry evening, the porch light-diffused by the double plastic walls-gives us a cheery welcome . . . which becomes a warm one when we step inside.
I put an automatic closer on the outside door of the greenhouse as I did on the back door last winter. With so many people going in and out with their arms or hands full, it saves not only heat but dispositions as well. As you can imagine, what I've told you is only a part of everything that's been going on. To tell it all I'd have to write a book (and someday I will . . . but later, when I have more time and perspective). Right now I'll close and go see what surprise the mailman has brought for us.


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Electric Cloud has expanded its ElectricAccelerator to include "Electrify", a feature that provides parallel processing for virtually any software production task, and subbuild technology, which helps developers avoid unnecessary builds altogether.
ElectricAccelerator uses patented technology to safely speed development tasks by running them in parallel on private or public compute clouds. ElectricAccelerator 5.0 brings the benefits of parallelization it first applied to software builds to a variety of new development tools and tasks. Its Electrify feature lets developers use parallel processing to improve the performance of many software production tools and tasks.
In addition to now supporting build tools like MSBuild, SCons and homegrown systems, Electrify creates an all-purpose private compute cloud. Developers can apply the power of parallel computing to new tasks like parallel testing or data modeling, and they can do it at their desktop, in a private cloud or on a dedicated server.
For example, teams standardizing on tools like SCons can apply the benefits of centralization to provide faster builds than individual multicore servers can offer, while at the same time reducing hardware costs and server sprawl by using fewer actual machines. Supporting multiple configurations also becomes demonstrably easier, as the virtualization capabilities of ElectricAccelerator permit zero-configuration support for changing developer environments. Development teams retain full control over their tools and environments, while IT is released from the headache of supporting a variety of configurations.
"Our goal is to remove the bottlenecks in software production wherever they exist," said Electric Cloud's Mike Maciag. "ElectricAccelerator speeds Make, NMAKE, Visual Studio and Ant builds by 10-20x. With Electrify we are broadening the technology to enable these benefits for virtually any compute-intensive development task."
ElectricAccelerator 5.0 also adds subbuilds, allowing developers avoid unnecessary work by automatically reducing a build to the smallest subset of critical changes. Its subbuild technology identifies and builds only the components that are essential to a developer's current focus. The result is fewer broken builds and the ability to compile and test frequently without affecting the rest of the team. Subbuilds are also part of Electric Cloud's free developer build tool, SparkBuild.


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* Ray Ban Sunglasses is synonymous with freedom and rebel spirit. This sport design Ray Ban RB4176 Sunglasses Brown Frame Light Brown Polarized Lens distinct top bar lines over the metal square shape add a certain appeal that is coveted by both men and women.
* This stylish Ray Ban RB4176 Sunglasses are one of the most unique Ray Ban frames.
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Home >> Course Descriptions >> College of Arts and Sciences
Administration of Justice
Three semester hours. (SP)
This course covers contemporary concepts, principles and theories of administration of justice in criminal justice agencies. This course is intended to introduce the student to the views of prominent writers on theories of management and relate them to the field of criminal justice administration. A central intent of this course is to enhance the student's ability to understand the art and science of organization and administration in criminal justice.
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For Release: Immediate
June 3, 2013
Contact: Lise Bang-Jensen
Director, Media Services and Public email@example.com
David M. Schraver of Rochester, a partner in the law firm of Nixon Peabody, assumed office June 1 as the 116th president of the New York State Bar Association.
Schraver will focus much of his one-year term on the future of legal education and the profession at a time when many law school graduates are shouldering six-figure student loans and facing uncertain job prospects. In response to the situation, Schraver plans to engage law school educators, practicing attorneys, judges and others in a year-long examination of how best to prepare new attorneys for a changing profession.
"New attorneys should have the opportunity to begin their careers without being overwhelmed by law school debt," Schraver said. "New attorneys must be prepared to adapt to a rapidly changing legal environment. At the same time, they must be faithful to the core values of the legal profession-fairness, integrity, civility, intellectual rigor, access to justice, respect for the rule of law, and competent service to their clients and communities," he added.
To assist new and veteran State Bar members in keeping current with developments in the profession, the association will offer them the latest technical, educational and professional resources, said Schraver, whose theme for his presidential year is "Serving the Profession, Serving the Public."
He plans to continue the work of his predecessors in areas such as human trafficking; gun violence; re-entry of previously incarcerated individuals; preventing wrongful convictions; promoting diversity in the legal profession; and advocating for access to justice, adequate funding for the courts and other public policy initiatives.
"It is critical that the State Bar continue the momentum we've gained on many issues, as well as be prepared to address other matters as they arise. Our association needs to be focused and flexible in dealing with issues within our profession and in the communities we serve," he said.
Schraver is the association's 11th president from Rochester since its founding at the state Capitol in 1876. He succeeds Seymour W. James, Jr. (The Legal Aid Society in New York City).
During his tenure, Schraver plans to work closely with the American Bar Association and its incoming president, New York attorney James R. Silkenat (Sullivan & Worchester). Silkenat will begin a one-year term as ABA president in August, the first New Yorker to head the organization since Robert MacCrate in 1987-1988. Silkenat and Schraver already have begun regular conference calls on issues of mutual concern, including human trafficking and an upcoming report from the ABA's Task Force on the Future of Legal Education.
Personal and Professional Background
Schraver, a member of the State Bar for more than 40 years, is immediate past co-chair of the President's Committee on Access to Justice. He has been a member of the Finance Committee since 2003 and its chairman for five years. He has served on the Executive Committee for seven years, as president-elect, vice-president for the Seventh Judicial District and member-at-large. He has served for 14 years in the House of Delegates and is a member of the Committee on Standards for Attorney Conduct and the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section.
At Nixon Peabody, Schraver's work encompasses complex business and commercial litigation in state and federal courts. He is a founding member of the firm's Indian law and gaming team. His practice also focuses on energy/utility litigation, contract litigation, and fiduciary and professional liability. He has served as managing partner of the firm's Rochester office.
He is a member of the ABA House of Delegates and the ABA Litigation Section. He also is a past president of the Monroe County Bar Association and the Metropolitan Bar Caucus of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. He has served on the boards of a number of community organizations in the Rochester area.
A native of Albany, Schraver graduated cum laude from Harvard University and magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was note and comment editor for the Michigan Law Review. After law school, Schraver was on active duty in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG).
Schraver will serve a one-year term as State Bar president. Glenn Lau-Kee of New York City (Kee & Lau-Kee) became president-elect on June 1. Lau-Kee will become president on June 1, 2014.
The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the country. It was founded in 1876.


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BORNS & Lana Del Rey Team Up On Dreamy 'God Save Our Young Blood'
BØRNS' sophomore album, Blue Madonna, is out in less than two weeks and the alt pop singer is back with yet another taste of the forthcoming set called "God Save Our Young Blood" featuring Lana Del Rey.
For the almost-four minute synth-heavy cut, the pair sing about late nights and young love over some dreamy production, courtesy of Tommy English, who also worked on the majority of BØRNS' debut album, Dopamine. While LDR doesn't have any solo verses, the soft allure of her voice appears through the track as prominent background vocals.
'"We met virtually before we met face to face I guess that's how it is these days. the first time we met we FaceTimed and then I started doing a lot of collaborations with her sister Chuck who's an amazing photographer," Børns recalled of beginning of their collaboration.
"Chuck shot all the photography for my album and we've been collaborating on some video projects and Lana was around and I showed her some stuff on the record. I really had her in mind when I was writing 'Young Blood' and I think subliminally I was trying to do background vocals that sounded like her I was trying to do my best Lana impression and she was like 'I feel like I'm already on this song' and I was like 'Yeah that's kind of what I was going for.'"
Blue Madonna drops on January 12th via Interscope.
Photo: Getty Images


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Hello all,
I had brought up this topic last year as well (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11125) and am revisiting it again this year.
It's been about ten years ago that I created this site to help the local kiteboarding community by fulfilling a need for something that did not yet exist and providing a means of sharing information, promoting safety, building community and discussing local access issues. It's been successful at doing that, has become one of the top forums and has likely been the single biggest resource here in the SF Bay Area to benefit and help the entire local kiteboarding community.
I've had great help from Kirk (WindMuch) as a co-admin who's helped administer the site, so I can't complain about the work load associated with the site, he's a gem for sure. As I mentioned last year, I never considered what an exit strategy would be, but as I did last year, I feel I've accomplished everything I set out to do with the site and more. I still enjoy kiteboarding, although work, family and other interests have reduced my participation both here and at the beach. In that vein, I feel like it's time to move on and find another owner and steward to bring the site forward in new ways while maintaining the content and intent of the site.
My hope is to find a buyer for the site to continue and move it forward for the future. It's become one the top domestic kiteboarding sites, serves as a great resource for many, so we will see what happens. If anyone is interested or has any inquires, PM me.


text:
Wayzata's Matthew Freytag (15) fires a shot on goal with Hill-Murray's Ryan Black chasing. Freytag had two goals as Wayzata knocked off No. 1-ranked Hill-Murray. Photo by Brian Nelson
A packed house, the top ranked team in the building and a No. 4 ranking itself, Wayzata had all settings in place potentially knock down No. 1 Hill-Murray
The picture was taking place until the Pioneers' Mitch Slattery scored 2 minutes, 12 seconds into the first period.
Would the wind be taken out of the sails for the Trojans?
For just about a blink of an eye.
Just 20 seconds after Slattery opened the scoring, Wayzata's Matthew Freytag scored the first of his two goals and the Trojans took down Hill-Murray 3-1 on Saturday, Jan. 12 at the Plymouth Ice Center.
The public address announcer did not even complete crediting Slattery's goal before Freytag found the back of the net with a wrist shot that beat Pioneers' goalie Jon Dugas.
Later in the first he beat Dugas again with another wrist shot that was placed perfectly in the upper shelf to give Wayzata a 2-1 lead.
Needless to say, the Trojans got over the opening goal.
"We didn't talk much about it after they scored," Freytag said. "It was pretty much business as usual."
"There is not much you can do, but just get to playing," Wayzata coach Pat O'Leary said. "They got a shot and put in the rebound. I was happy with how we bounced back after that and how it really didn't faze us to be down a goal."
Freytag, a sophomore, was joined together with freshman Max Zimmer and the young duo proved to be dynamic offensive tandem.
Along with his two goals Freytag had plenty of other opportunities to at the very least get a hat trick.
Zimmer assisted on Freytag's first goal and used his stellar ice vision to connect with him on several other occasions for quality scoring chances.
"We put them together a couple nights ago and for as young as they are, they are playing really well," O'Leary said. "Matt (Freytag) was feeling it today and Max (Zimmer) was getting him the puck and it was fun to watch them play."
In addition to its top line playing well Wayzata stuck to what has been a trademark of its play this season. Blocking shots.
Hill-Murray had two power plays and had a hard time getting anything going.
Wayzata collapsed the middle of the ice while the Pioneers tried to find its defensemen for shots at the point.
What was beginning to look like a replay the Trojans deflected shots, cleared the puck and got fresh players on the ice.
"They do a really nice job blocking shots," Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner said. "It's a big sheet of ice that they have, but they find ways to prevent a lot of puck movement and pucks getting to the net. You have to give them credit for doing that."
The Trojans have had plenty of big games this season, but no home game this year can match up to what they faced on Jan. 12 against Hill-Murray.
The Pioneers came in as the top ranked team in Class AA and the Plymouth Ice Center was filled to capacity.
Wayzata's student section was filled and boisterous while donning various NHL jerseys.
With every scoring chance and big hit the noise was more audible than any average regular season game.
"It was a lot of fun to play in front of them," Freytag said. "It was loud and really exciting and I think we fed off that energy. It was just a great atmosphere to play in."
It was a great crowd and I am just happy we played a really good game in front of them," O'Leary said. "At the beginning of the season, I am not sure if word was out about us, but now we are getting some big crowds in here and we love our home fans and playing in this place. We had the No. 1 team in the state tonight and we played a really good game in front of them."
Wayzata players celebrate sophomore Matt Freytag's second goal. Photo by Brian Nelson
Two nights before Wayzata's 3-1 victory against No. 1 Hill-Murray it had a 4-0 lead in the third period over Burnsville.
In the final six minutes of the third the Blaze scored three goals an nearly completed an impressive comeback.
The Trojans were in a similar situation heading into the final period against Hill-Murray, but the lead was only two and it was against the top ranked team in the state.
With the memory of nearly giving up a lead still fresh in its memory, Wayzata stuck to the style of play that worked in the previous two periods to control the third against the Pionners.
"Two nights ago against Burnsville we fell asleep and it nearly cost us," O'Leary said. "We know you can't do that, especially against these guys, so we just wanted to make sure we played for a full 51 minutes and I am proud to say that we did."
Wayzata did not sit back and try to just defend a two-goal lead.
It maintained its aggressive play and had the better scoring chances in the final period.
One of the more dangerous leads to have in the sport, the Trojans were persistent in the offensive zone kept Hill-Murray bottled up in its own zone.
"We played a lot better in the third tonight than we did against Burnsville," Freytag said. "What happened on Thursday is not something that we wanted to have happen again."
Hill-Murray's Zach Miller collides with Matt Freytag as the Pioneers tried to slow the Wayzata sophomore. Freytag leads the Trojans in scoring this season. Photo by Brian Nelson
The Pioneers fired 28 shots on goal, but Mitch Slattery's quick score in the first was the only one that went in. Photo by Brian Nelson
Matthew Freytag scored two goals, both in the first period as No. 4-ranked Wayzata defeated No. 1-ranked Hill-Murray 3-1 on Saturday, Jan. 12 at the Plymouth Ice Center.
Hill-Murray took a 1-0 lead when Mitch Slattery knocked in his own rebound past Trojans' goalie Aaron Dingmann.
Just 20 seconds later Freytag scored his first when he beat Pioneers' goalie Jon Dugas in the upper right corner.
Freytag scored his second on another wrist shot the found the upper shelf to give Wayzata a 2-1 lead.
In the second Chase Haller got a couple of cracks on Dugas and his second attempt went in to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
Late in the third, Hill-Murray did not get a chance to pull Dugas for the extra attacker because of two consecutive cross-checking penalties.
Dugas finished with 29 saves while Dingmann made 27.
Hill-Murray will drop to 12-2-1 and Wayzata will improve to 13-2-0.
The Pioneers will next host Lakeville North on Jan. 17 at Aldrich Arena.
Wayzata will take on Holy Family Catholic on Jan. 17 at the Plymouth Ice Center.
Wayzata's Jack Sorensen dishes a big hit on Hill-Murray junior Ryan Black. Photo by Brian Nelson
Trojan Aaron Dingmann makes a stick save. Dingmann stopped 27 of 28 Pioneer shots. Photo by Brian Nelson
1. Matthew Freytag, Wayzata
After Hill-Murray scored to open the first period, Freytag scored the first of his two goals just 20 seconds later. The sophomore would add his second later in the first period on a wrist shot that beat Pioneers goalie Jon Dugas for what would be the eventual game-winner.
2. Aaron Dingmann, Wayzata
After a 2011-12 season that was lost due to injury, the senior is making up for it with big performances and huge wins. He made 27 saves and again was solid against one of the state's best teams. Dingmann made all the saves that he was supposed to make and was a rock when the Trojans were put on their heels.
3. Jon Dugas, Hill-Murray
The Pioneers faced some furious rushes, but the senior goaltender kept his team in the game with 29 saves. In the first period the Pioneers could have been down by more than one goal, but Dugas made several huge stops and did not let Wayzata gain even more momentum.
Hill-Murray's John Dugas stopped 29 of 32 shots. Photo by Brian Nelson


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The 1993 Regal 300 Commodore has a large cockpit with bench seating at the helm and along the transom. The salon features a dinette and full galley with microwave, refirgerator and alcohol/electric stove. The large forward berth has plenty of storage beneath. The mid cabin has another double berth along with plenty of storage. The boat has twin 5.7L Volvo Penta drives with the popular duo-prop.
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text:
Friends of McMillan Park (FOM) held a Town Hall meeting on Saturday, September 14th in the sanctuary of St. Martin's Church in Bloomingdale. On a beautiful early fall afternoon, the meeting drew over 100 attendees. A wide variety of speakers described the Gray Administration's plan to destroy historic McMillan Park, discussed potential alternative solutions, and recommended ways for the community to join the fight. After formal presentations, everyone moved downstairs to the Pioneer Room for refreshments donated by local businesses—and for more conversation.
Over the course of the afternoon, FOM collected dozens of signatures on its petition to the city government to reject Mayor Gray's plan, bringing the total number of signatories opposing the plan to almost 4,800. The organization also did a brisk trade in sales of t-shirts, buttons, and stickers, netting hundreds of dollars to devote to the battle for the Park's preservation.
Hugh Youngblood, Acting Executive Director of Friends of McMillan Park, laid out FOM's mission: to preserve, restore, and adaptively reuse historic McMillan Park for the benefit of the public. John Salatti, a former Bloomingdale Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, introduced an oral history project in which the team has been documenting the stories of long-time residents who remember McMillan open as a public park. He played a clip from Ben Franklin, a 79 year-old Bloomingdale resident who reminisced about playing at the McMillan as a child and sleeping there when the weather was warm. "All this was in the '40s and '50s. You could walk or play in there. When my children came along this was all fenced in," said Mr. Franklin. His description highlights the importance of the Park as an early integrated public space in the District.
Tony Norman, Founder and Chairman of McMillan Park Committee (the precursor to FOM), reviewed the history of the site, beginning with its origin as a slow sand filtration plant designed to purify Washington's drinking water, and as a public park included in the "Emerald Necklace" of Olmsted parks designed to ring the city. Because of the Park's origins and its landmark status on the National Register of Historic Places, said Norman, the park is more than just part of the history of Ward 5; it's part of the history of all of Washington, and therefore of the nation. Norman also spoke in detail about one alternative plan to transform the site designed by a team led by Miriam Gusevich of GM2 Studio. Norman emphasized ways that the alternative plan works with McMillan Park's existing architecture and ecology, featuring an "urban beach" alongside the banks of a daylighted underground creek.
Gwen Southerland, a former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for the McMillan site, detailed ideas that members of the community have suggested that the park serve during the 30-plus years that the land has remained unused. Citing examples of possible uses—from a Washington, DC history museum to formal gardens and a state-of-the-art recreation center—Southerland asked the audience, "What will most improve the quality of your life: items from this list or the offices and townhomes that form the bulk of the Mayor's plan?"
Anna Simon, a Research and Instruction Librarian at Georgetown University, discussed how historical research on McMillan Park has provided insight into the site's cultural and civic importance to Washington, DC. For instance, Simon's research revealed that Eleanor Roosevelt planted a tree in the park in 1933. Simon also emphasized the continuity of the park over time, noting that Bloomingdale used to be filled with young families with children, and now that families are increasingly moving back, the area needs amenities to support them. "For those of us just joining the fight, it's harder to understand the long struggle that's been waged by the neighborhood against the city to keep the park open to people. The same issues we're dealing with today we were dealing with 30 years ago."
Kirby Vining, Treasurer of FOM, presented an overview of the Gray Administration's current plan for McMillan Park, which was developed by Vision McMillan Partners. He noted that the DC Historic Preservation Review Board described one of the plan's structures, a large black box, as "a mausoleum." Vining noted that the overall reaction to the lackluster official plan was very negative.
Philip Blair of Brookland, a longtime advocate for preserving McMillan Park, spoke about seven core issues concerning any development proposals for the landmark, including the problems that the Mayor's plan raises for storm water management, air quality, and traffic in the neighborhood. He also highlighted potential legal concerns with the current plan, as well as questions related to the lack of transparency in the process of public decision-making. He urged fellow activists to be conversant in all seven issues and to make themselves experts on at least one.
Jean-Christophe Deverines, a Bloomingdale resident and anti-trust economic analyst, walked attendees through a slide presentation that demonstrated how many other cities around the globe have handled adaptive reuse of existing parks and public works facilities. Ranging from the Parc de Bercy in Paris to the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul to the Seattle Gas Works Park, Deverines' presentation pointed out the potential for McMillan Park to become a truly world-class destination.
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Mark Mueller of Bloomingdale reviewed the results of a door-to-door community survey that he and others undertook in 2012 to formally assess public opinion regarding the park's future for the first time ever. Showing a host of slides with breakdown of the survey results, Mueller remarked on how consistent responses were: 85% of survey respondents want McMillan's surface to remain at least 50% park. Mueller's view is that such consistent results should carry a clear message to District politicians regarding what their constituents actually prefer.
The town hall meeting concluded by adjourning to the church's basement for pizza, pasta, cookies, and beer, all generously supplied by local businesses and artisans, and for discussion of what to do next. A few neighbors suggested holding quarterly town hall meetings to keep everyone abreast of political developments; several neighbors with legal experience signed up for the FOM legal team. During the discussion, residents raised serious concerns about the way that the proposed development would affect the neighborhood and objected to the plan's failure to preserve the unique qualities of the historic site. Specifically, they objected to the following:
- the lack of any coherent and comprehensive plan from the District or its development partners regarding transportation issues
- the absence of consideration of other pressures on the neighborhood, including development of the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Armed Forces Retirement Home
- the lack of ideas for creative reuse of the underground sand filtration cells and above-ground structures in the city's plan
- the problem of storm water management in an already flood-prone area
- the loss of unique historic vistas of Washington's iconic buildings that the plan would entail
- the inconsistencies in and incoherence of the various parts of the Mayor's plan, which throws elements together without seeming to consider their relationship
- the lack of affordable and senior housing in the plan
- the loss of a unique park designed by the Olmsted firm.
In addition to Father Michael Kelley of St. Martin's church, who has so generously opened the church's doors to both this and to many other community meetings, Friends of McMillan Park extends many thanks the following generous local businesses for providing food and drink:
- Bacio Pizzeria
- Big Bear Café
- Bloomingdale Wine & Spirits
- Boundary Stone Public House
- Capitol Food Mart
- Chef Adrien Marsoni
- Field to City
- Sunset Liquors
- Uncle Chip's
- Windows Café & Market
Additional information:


text:
Jose E. Castillo, Guillermo F. Miranda
Chapman and Hall/CRC
Published January 10, 2013
Reference - 260 Pages - 313 B/W Illustrations
Chapman and Hall/CRC
Published January 10, 2013
Reference - 260 Pages
January 10, 2013
by Chapman and Hall/CRC
Reference - 260 Pages
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To help solve physical and engineering problems, mimetic or compatible algebraic discretization methods employ discrete constructs to mimic the continuous identities and theorems found in vector calculus. Mimetic Discretization Methods focuses on the recent mimetic discretization method co-developed by the first author. Based on the Castillo-Grone operators, this simple mimetic discretization method is invariably valid for spatial dimensions no greater than three. The book also presents a numerical method for obtaining corresponding discrete operators that mimic the continuum differential and flux-integral operators, enabling the same order of accuracy in the interior as well as the domain boundary.
After an overview of various mimetic approaches and applications, the text discusses the use of continuum mathematical models as a way to motivate the natural use of mimetic methods. The authors also offer basic numerical analysis material, making the book suitable for a course on numerical methods for solving PDEs. The authors cover mimetic differential operators in one, two, and three dimensions and provide a thorough introduction to object-oriented programming and C++. In addition, they describe how their mimetic methods toolkit (MTK)—available online—can be used for the computational implementation of mimetic discretization methods. The text concludes with the application of mimetic methods to structured nonuniform meshes as well as several case studies.
Compiling the authors' many concepts and results developed over the years, this book shows how to obtain a robust numerical solution of PDEs using the mimetic discretization approach. It also helps readers compare alternative methods in the literature.
Continuum Mathematical Models
Physically Motivated Mathematical Concepts and Theorems
General 3-D Use of Flux Vector Densities
Illustrative Examples of PDEs
A Comment on the Numerical Treatment of the grad Operator
Notes on Numerical Analysis
Computational Errors
Order of Accuracy
Norms and Condition Numbers
Linear Systems of Equations
Solution of Nonlinear Equations
Mimetic Differential Operators
Castillo-Grone Method for 1-D Uniform Staggered Grids
Higher-Dimensional CGM
2-D Staggerings
3-D Staggerings
Gradient Compositions
Nullity Tests
Higher-Order Operators
Formulation of Nonlinear and Time-Dependent Problems
Object-Oriented Programming and C++
From Structured to Object-Oriented Programming
Fundamental Concepts in Object-Oriented Programming
Object-Oriented Modeling and UML
Inheritance and Polymorphism
Mimetic Methods Toolkit (MTK)
MTK Usage Philosophy
Study of a Diffusive-Reactive Process Using the MTK
Collaborative Development of the MTK: Flavors and Concerns
Downloading the MTK
Nonuniform Structured Meshes
Divergence Operator
Gradient Operator
Case Studies
Porous Media Flow and Reservoir Simulation
Modeling Carbon Dioxide Geologic Sequestration
Maxwell's Equations
Wave Propagation
Geophysical Flow
Appendix A: Heuristic Deduction of the Extended Form of Gauss' Divergence Theorem
Appendix B: Tensor Concept: An Intuitive Approach
Appendix C Total Force Due to Pressure Gradients
Appendix D: Heuristic Deduction of Stokes' Formula
Appendix E: Curl in a Rotating Incompressible Inviscid Liquid
Appendix F: Curl in Poiseuille's Flow
Appendix G: Green's Identities
Appendix H: Fluid Volumetric Time-Tate of Change
Appendix I: General Formulation of the Flux Concept
Appendix J: Fourth-Order Castillo-Grone Divergence Operators
Sample Problems appear at the end of each chapter.
We provide complimentary e-inspection copies of primary textbooks to instructors considering our books for course adoption.


text:
Johnny Manziel will get much of the credit, and deservedly so since the Texas A&M defense allowed 38 points in the first half, but Johnny Football doesn't do what Johnny Football did unless his D tightened up in the second half.
Manziel threw his fourth touchdown of the night, a 44 yard strike to Derel Walker, with just under six minutes left in the game. It cut the lead to three and as long as the Aggies defense got a stop, it was all but certain Manziel would win the game himself. But Johnny's night was done and the defense continued. On Duke's next possession, Toney Hurd, Jr. picked off Anthony Boone and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. It was A&M's first lead of the game and they would hold on to it for the remaining three and a half minutes, coming all the way back to beat Duke 52-48.
Duke had a few chances late to take the lead, but the Aggies defense shut them out. Deshazor Everett made a great play to swat away a deep touchdown strike with 1:25 left and then Nate Askew sealed the game with another interception of Boone.
Johnny Manziel will get the credit, because he is the quarterback, a Heisman winner and "Johnny Football," but for a unit that was 104th in the FBS in yards per play and 96th in points allowed, the A&M defense deserves some love, too. As Manziel and the offense racked up 28 second-half points, their teammates on defense added seven of their own while only allowing 10.


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Reaction to the horrific Arizona shootings, where six people were slaughtered including a 9-year-old girl, quickly congealed along clear-cut lines:
a) The left blamed the right, pointing to violent imagery and language from Sarah Palin to the Tea Party.
b) The right furiously denied blame, with some trying to pin the shooting on the left.
c) Among public officials, pundits and press, the common impulse was to draw the typical false equivalence between rhetoric on the right and left.
At least one person was not buying it:
"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry." – Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik
Dupnik added:
"We need to do some soul searching … It's the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business. People tend to pooh-pooh this business about the vitriol that inflames American public opinion by the people who make a living off of that. That may be free speech but it's not without consequences."
We do not yet know whether the Arizona massacre was directly fueled by rightwing rhetoric. But we do know this: one of the most dangerous myths promulgated by the media and political establishment is that there is a comparable level of extremism among conservatives and liberals, that left and right are mirror images.
Even the most cursory perusal of rightwing radio, television, blogs and assorted punditry illustrates a profound distinction: in large measure, the right's overarching purpose is to stoke hatred of the left, of liberalism. The right's messaging infrastructure, meticulously constructed and refined over decades, promotes an image of liberals as traitors and America-haters, unworthy of their country and bent on destroying it. There is simply no comparable propaganda effort on the left.
The imbalance is stark: Democrats and liberals rail against the right's ideas; the right rails against the left's very existence.
The result is an atmosphere where bigotry thrives, where science and reason are under assault, where progress (associated with progressivism) is frowned upon. And it's an atmosphere where violence becomes more likely. Pretending this is not the case is to enable it.
The deeply-etched themes that run through American politics reflect the right's successful framing: Democrats and liberals are wimps, Republicans and conservatives are gun-toting patriots; Democrats and liberals despise their country, Republicans and conservatives are the only ones willing to protect it; Democrats and liberals want to intrude on your freedom, tax you and bankrupt the nation, Republicans and conservatives want to give you freedom, liberty and wealth. The current of eliminationism infusing the right's worldview is an inevitable outcome of such contorted impressions – it's a natural impulse to want to destroy that which is (supposedly) destroying you.
Those who foist the false right/left equivalency ignore this reality. Their definition of extremism is necessarily warped, since they have to stretch logic to fabricate a sense of balance. If you want single-payer health care, you're a liberal extremist, but if you deny global warming, you're simply a conservative skeptic. As the national discourse moves further and further right, only the most unhinged rightwingers are tagged as extreme, while all it takes for a liberal to be labeled an extremist is to espouse a policy position that is out of the mainstream. That is not to say there are not violent individuals and extremists on the left, but that it is absurd to argue that left and right are comparable in the language of violence and incitement.
When center becomes right and right becomes far right, conservatives can get away with wilder and weirder behavior. Exhortations from radio blatherers to bash liberals are dismissed as "entertainment." Glenn Beck's bizarre rantings barely get a yawn.
This has been a long time coming and culpability lies not just with the haters but with those in the media and Democratic establishment who refuse to confront the hate-mongering when they see it. Here's something I wrote about Ann Coulter in 2006. It sums up everything I want to say about the ongoing demonization of the left and the resulting potential for violence:
NBC, a major U.S. media outlet, has given Coulter extended play in recent days. They have knowingly given a public forum to a woman who slandered 9/11 widows and who is now on the record identifying John Murtha, a U.S. Congressman, a Marine, as an ideal target for murder. Anybody who watched Ann Coulter's June 14th appearance on the Tonight Show had to realize that it was a watershed moment in the war between the establishment media and the progressive netroots. It was also a signal to Democrats that liberal ideology can be denigrated with impunity. Had the words "Jew" or "Christian" or "Conservative" been substituted for "Liberal" we'd be waking up to a national scandal.
Never mind that Jay Leno and George Carlin sat like trembling lambs while Coulter spewed gutter-level invective at millions of Americans – we've already seen the same obsequiousness from Larry King, Matt Lauer (who ended his faux-debate with Coulter by saying "always fun to have you") and others. The larger issue here is that despite an uproar from the progressive netroots, NBC saw fit to give Coulter a platform to continue her liberal-scapegoating and to slander women who lost their husbands on 9/11.
It's hard to deny that Coulter's words border on incitement. What she says is neither amusing nor smart nor humorous nor factual nor worthy of airing on a major media outlet. It treats a substantial segment of the population as sub-human, as creatures deserving of public scorn and worse (She said Jesus would say that "we are called upon to do battle" on liberalism). Careful not to violate Godwin's Law, I'll refrain from the obvious comparisons, but what we're dealing with here is a dangerous inflection point in American politics. When this kind of opprobrium is peddled by major media outlets, it's high time that the Democratic establishment and the larger progressive community understand that this is a make-or-break showdown with the media.
Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and their ilk have made an industry out of liberal-bashing. Coulter fits in perfectly with those hate-traffickers. And contrary to the false Michael Moore comparisons made by Leno and others, there is no progressive counterpart to these people on the national stage. The basic thrust of the left's critique is that George W. Bush and his administration are bad for America. It is in our tradition for citizens to defend the Constitution and to question the actions of their elected leaders. Rightwingers may characterize it as Bush Derangement Syndrome, but the progressive community, for the most part, is going after government corruption and lies, not vilifying an entire group of Americans as Bin Laden-loving traitors.
Nearly five years after I wrote that, only one thing has changed: the problem has gotten worse.
UPDATE: An essential post from Melissa McEwan:
This is not an argument there is no hatred, no inappropriate and even violent rhetoric, among US leftists. There is. This is evidence that, although violent rhetoric exists among US leftists, it is not remotely on the same scale, and, more importantly, not an institutionally endorsed tactic, as it is among US rightwingers.
This is a fact. It is not debatable.
And there is observably precious little integrity among conservatives in addressing this fact, in the wake of the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
And as long as we continue to play this foolish game of "both sides are just as bad," and rely on trusty old ablism to dismiss Jared Lee Loughner as a crackpot—dutifully ignoring that people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators; carefully pretending that the existence of people with mental illness who are potentially dangerous somehow absolves us of responsibility for violent rhetoric, as opposed to serving to underline precisely why it's irresponsible—it will be inevitable again.


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Orions: Legend of Wizards Released
Another Windows Mobile port, Orions: Legend of Wizards, was released unto the App Store on Dec 9. OLoW, developed by MoreGames Entertainment, is a card game (described by reviewers as being similar to Magic the Gathering) mixed with elements of exploration. Your goal is to explore the Orions, or connected islands, and defeat all the the Orion Lords. The world you explore along with the decks your enemies use are randomly generated, so even if you play the campaign mode multiple times it will always be different. Orions also features 75 different cards and 66 buildings of 6 different types.
The best part is that while it originally retailed for $20 on Windows Mobile, iPhone gamers can pick it up for only 10% of that price ($2) during the introductory period.
*If you plan on downloading it through your phone make sure you have an available Wi-Fi connection, because it's the only way you can download the 16 MB game.


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|Photo via BigStock
Can you guess how many charities are currently registered with the IRS? I bet you didn't think it was over one million!
The team from Charity Navigator, the nation's largest independent charity evaluator and leading donor advocate, shares their thoughts on emerging nonprofit-sector issues and offers tips to better inform your intelligent giving decisions.
|Photo via BigStock
The National Center for Charitable Statistics reports Total Revenue for registered nonprofits in the USA. There should be a special "Hobby" category for nonprofits who have revenue of less than $10K per year, not including Trusts.
Is the increase in non profits the reason IRS is investigating because some of them are partially political?
It's time to consider that all non-profits should not be allowed to pay anyone more money than the president of the U.S. gets. If they can't live on his pay they need to get into the private sector and try and go one on one with the Bill Gates and some kid who invented facebook. Bill Gates isn't that big, try him out if you want to rule the planet. Greed and non-profits are now walking hand in hand.
Not one penny from our Foundation goes to anyone on the board. Not one penny is spent on anything but the Charity. We pay our own travel expenses and our own hotel expenses. Our accountant donates her time to us bills so do not judge non-profits in the same way.
This data should be publicized widely during the current IRS scandal. The 501's causing the fury (C 4) only have to be groups primarily doing social work. The term 'Tea Party' is so political it seems obvious that they would be IRS targets - what is their charity work?
WHY doesn't gfaigen say what their "Charity" is? To quote IRS law 501(c)(4)you "should submit evidence ... that your organization will operate primarily to further the common good and general welfare of the community" Preaching bias and promoting the Right wing just doesn't fit!
It is a private Family Foundation that supports "last chance children" (straight out of the juvenile justice system called See Forever and a place for abused children called Child Help, and donates scholarships for others to go to go to college. You can look these up - they are wonderful and successful. I do not publish our name as we do not want to receive questions from massage people or others that do not make a difference in this world. I am a Liberal so I do not know what you refer to when you tell me I support the right wing - I am totally the opposite. Education and child care are my values for donations.


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Raising the minimum wage is the new call to help the low-wage person climb out of poverty, get them into the middle class and have a wonderful life.
To the editor:
Raising the minimum wage is the new call to help the low-wage person climb out of poverty, get them into the middle class and have a wonderful life.
Our president has stated he wants to raise wages again and tie it to cost-of-living increases. If you just listen to this and nothing else, you must agree with this point of view � that we all want everyone to succeed and prosper gives us all a great feeling.
That feeling is short-lived, however, when you start looking at the costs of raising minimum wages. First, every time you raise wages, the prices of products must go up. The hamburger, pizza, gas, rent or anything you can name will slowly rise to compensate for the higher cost of doing business. Just ask any business owner if they have to pay more for their employees, will they be able to keep prices the same? Will they also be able to raise wages for the employees who are making more than minimum wage and keep prices the same?
People who have been making a $10, $15 or more an hour � will their wages go up? Each year as wages go up, the cost to a business owner increases. The owner must raise prices, close their doors or sell out and retire. Another choice may be to fire workers and put more responsibilities on fewer people, or move their business to another county � thus taking more jobs overseas. Just look what happened to our clothing and furniture manufacturers when wages first started rising � millions of jobs in the United States were lost.
Our leaders say they want to help the low-wage person. I think it�s just more smoke and mirrors. Think about how the government gets its money. Think, for example, that every time you get more money, the government gets a percentage of it. The government gets an increase in taxes paid for every hour worked at the higher wage. They also take a percentage of every dollar in sales. As prices rise, the income from higher prices goes into government coffers. The cost of living increases for everyone. By tying minimum wage to the cost of living, there will be in a vicious cycle of more wages and more price increases. Only government gains by this.
I think if our elected officials really want to help minimum-wage employees, they could leave minimum wage where it is, but after a few months or a year of working for a company, the employer must give an increase in pay.
Minimum wage has and always will be a starting wage � a place to start learning. As you learn, you should be compensated more for that learning and performance or go somewhere else.
If we stay on this cycle of rising wages and rising prices, we will surely lose more jobs to other countries, owners of businesses will retire or just say I cannot keep doing business and close their doors which, in turn, loses more jobs and actually creates more poverty in our country.
Paul Lasky


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And please note: I am hardly a disinterested third party here. As my novel Shelf Monkey is in their rankings of the Top 40 Novels, I do have a somewhat vested interest in the contest.Canada Reads was launched ten years ago by CBC, an effort to bring to attention certain books that each year's jurors wished other Canadians would read. It has always been an imperfect contest, prone to pushing already popular novels out further into the spotlight, but has led to some interesting books receiving a level of public consciousness they might not normally have achieved (Fruit, Brown Girl in the Ring, Natasha and Other Stories etc.).
As some of you likely know, this year the organizers behind Canada Reads have altered its format, allowing Canadians to personally vote for the one book they wished everyone would read. From this list, the top 40 selections would be deemed 'The Top 40 Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade.' This decision to change format likely arrived as a result of public dissatisfaction with past years' selections as being a trifle too obvious. Suffice to say, when Oprah has already chosen a book for her club, it has reached a level undreamed of by most, and gets read all over the continent. Doing a Canada Reads debate on that book, regardless of its quality, seems a touch superfluous.
Already, this new format had major flaws, akin to any such lists. Voting in such a venue is a crapshoot at best, with already well-known novels likely to dominate, and smaller novels falling by the wayside unless the author/publisher makes a conscious decision to personally push a novel to get on the list.
And this is exactly what has happened; I'm proof of that. I did not go out of my way to solicit votes from strangers, I did not purchase billboard space, I did not launch attack ads against Joseph Boyden. I simply put up a public Facebook page and invited friends to vote for me, and put up a blog post as well (and if you did indeed vote for me, my deepest thanks to you and yours). If others wanted to join in, so much the better. But by focusing a group of willing participants to vote for one single novel en masse, I squeaked in and got on the list. The Top 40 is chock full of well-known, best-selling authors (and I do not mean to slight them, these are quality novels), but by virtue of a coordinated attack (the closest I'll ever get to reaching a level approaching competitiveness), both myself and number of other, lesser-known quantities such as Chris Benjamin and Leo McKay got ourselves prime positions on the list.
Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with this. In today's environment, it's increasingly hard to get recognized, and every little bit of publicity helps. I don't consider this hucksterism, or akin to prostitution (a charge leveled on me and others by a few bloggers); I consider it an opportunity, for free advertising if nothing else. Being that Canada has a few very large publishing companies that dominate the sales lists, us small-time hoods have to step up once in awhile to make ourselves heard. And besides, just being on the same list as Atwood, Boyden, Vanderhaeghe, Martel, and Shields is a thrill unto itself.
It's all silly anyway. Really, 'Top 40 Essential Novels?' Such a list is impossible to define, prone to massive subjectivity, and is far better used as a marketing ploy than a definitive collection. Which is what I suspect this all is; you can't deny, people are talking. At least, people who follow Canada Reads. If, as they claim, they had over 6000 votes, that's a sizable contingent of literary lovers.
From the Top 40, the original plan was for the five unnamed jurors to chose their Top 10, and then from those the five they would debate together on national radio in 2011. Now, at literally the last minute, Canada Reads has changed the conditions of the test, and left it to the public to decide the top 10. After the cutoff date of November 7, 2010, the as-yet-unknown jurors will be forced to choose their selections from that much smaller list.
This new decision has led to both enthusiasm and outright condemnation, and without meaning to appear wishy-washy, I do see both sides here and heartily agree with both arguments. By limiting the choices, presumably at least one of the jurors will end up with a novel he or she does not actually care about in the slightest, which could lead to a less-than-enthusiastic debate. And conceivably, as they were not declared verboten, the Top 10 could be made up entirely of past winners and nominees, leading to, again, a less-than-riveting chat about books we've all already read (or are at least familiar with).
This is a real risk, and I agree, the format this year is hardly ideal. The Top 40, while a very strong collection, is very possibly going to be whittled down to an unimpressive line-up of already popular titles. This is what happens when a large amount of people are polled, the result ends up rather homogenized in nature. I sometimes wonder, if this list included American novels, would Dan Brown have made the cut? I fear so.
But I cannot tell a lie (unless you count writing fiction as telling lies, in which case, I am an inveterate liar): I'd like to get into the top 10. I do not hold my breath on this possibility, I've already beaten the odds to get this far. But I like it when people read what I've written. I like it when people buy my book. Am I going to return the $4.00 in royalties I've made so far on Amazon.ca for sales since the Top 40 announcement? I am not, and to come out against the Canada Reads format this year would be supremely hypocritical on my part.
But what if? That's the question. Laying aside my own selfish concerns for a moment, what if we could get the list we want? Look at the Top 40 as it stands now: these are terrific fictions, and while some have arguably had their critical/commercial days in the sun (and not to take away anything from their accomplishments thus far - I think it part of the Canadian condition to distrust those who have achieved a certain level of success, but I will not succumb, I truly love many of these fine best-selling works), there are others so gawd-damned deserving of wider recognition that I salivate at the thought of a Canada Reads debate on their merits.
Think of a Top 10 like this:
- Inside by Kenneth J. Harvey
- Come Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant
- Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
- The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
- Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
- Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall
- Conceit by Mary Novik
- Elle by Douglas Glover
- The Fallen by Stephen Finucan
- Moody Food by Ray Robertson
Do I wish that the overall list was different? Of course. I wish desperately that past winners and nominees were ineligible, to lend more space to deserving books. I wish Minister Faust has made the list; ditto John McFetridge, Peter Darbyshire, Andrew Kaufman, Emily Schultz, and Jonathan Bennett, amongst many, many others.
But I don't make the rules, I only work within them, so all I can do is work my small part of the world and hope that it is enough, and enjoy whatever fame/notoriety I can.
So if you want, please ignore Canada Reads this year, it won't hurt my feelings one bit. But if you are going to vote, vote wisely. Start up your own campaigns for your favourite novels. Let's do our best to sneak a few outsiders on the list.
And if I turn out to be one of the outsiders, I won't complain.


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Von Freeman was revered as a tenor saxophonist but was never a major star, worshiped by critics but perpetually strapped for cash. He seemed to purposely avoid commercial success. When trumpeter Miles Davis phoned Freeman in the 1950s looking for a replacement for John Coltrane, Freeman made a typical move — he never returned the call.
His refusal to leave his native Chicago during most of his career cost him incalculable fame and fortune but also enabled him to create a body of distinctive and innovative work. This year he received a Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, regarded as the nation's highest jazz honor.
He had mentored countless younger jazz musicians, including his son, Chico Freeman, who became more famous than his father as a tenor saxophonist.
Freeman died Saturday of heart failure at Kindred Chicago Lakeshore care center, said another son, Mark. He was 88.
His relative obscurity was a blessing, according to Freeman. It enabled him to forge an unusual but instantly recognizable sound and to pursue off-center approaches to his music.
When his "weird ideas" were criticized, it didn't matter, Freeman told the Chicago Tribune in 1992: "I didn't have to worry about the money — I wasn't making" much. "I didn't have to worry about fame — I didn't have any. I was free."
He represented the quintessential jazz musician, forging a unique and influential musical voice. He staked out an exotic but alluring artistic territory, merging elements of down-home blues, R&B honking and brazenly avant-garde techniques. He was an utter master of bebop, the predominant jazz language of the 20th century.
"You hear one note, you know that's his sound," Fred Anderson, another noted Chicago tenor saxophonist, once said. "He took a lot from a whole lot of people and created Von Freeman."
He was born Earle Lavon Freeman on Oct. 3, 1923. His mother played the guitar, and his policeman father was an amateur jazz trombonist who brought jazz musicians home from the club where he moonlighted as a bouncer.
After 7-year-old Von pulled the arm off the family Victrola, bored holes in it and turned it into a crude horn, his father bought him a saxophone.
By age 12, Freeman was playing professionally. When he debuted at a nightclub, his mother sent along a note that read in part: "Don't let him drink, don't let him smoke, don't let him consort with those women…."
At Chicago's DuSable High School, Freeman studied under the venerated band director known as Captain Walter Dyett, who was training a new wave of jazz talent that included Nat King Cole and Dinah Washington.
In 1940, Freeman played with Horace Henderson's Chicago band before being drafted during World War II. He was soon performing with a Navy jazz band.
After the war, Freeman and his two jazz-playing brothers — guitarist George Freeman and drummer Eldridge "Bruz" Freeman — spent several years as the house band at Chicago's Pershing Hotel. Von also played with future free jazz pioneer Sun Ra in the late 1940s.
By then, Freeman was a fluid improviser, a brilliant technician and, as always, a singular voice with a focused intensity.
At 49 in 1972, Freeman cut his first record as bandleader, "Doin' It Right Now." Like other Freeman releases of the '70s and '80s — "Have No Fear" and "Serenade and Blues" — "Doin' It Right Now" captured the piquant quality of Freeman's tone and the majesty of his soliloquies yet failed to find a broad audience.
His only taste of major-label success came in 1982, when Columbia Records released the album "Fathers and Sons," featuring Ellis Marsalis with sons Wynton and Branford on Side A and Von and son Chico on Side B.
By the early 1980s, Freeman — who was nicknamed "the great Vonski" — was focusing purely on jazz and developing a cult following of fans who trekked to Chicago to hear the jazz giant once called "tragically under-recorded."
Freeman is survived by his brother George; his sons Mark and Chico; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.


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Aberdeen Beef Plant Clears Final Financial Hurdle
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - A beef processing plant in South Dakota that has struggled to begin operations says it has enough finances to get to full production.
The Northern Beef Packers plant in Aberdeen began production on a limited basis last fall. Land for the $109 million plant was secured in 2006, but numerous problems including financial issues, lawsuits and flooding repeatedly pushed back the opening date.
Spokeswoman Laure Swanson tells the American News Northern Beef Packers has now raised more than $150 million, an amount that includes the working capital the plant needs for full operation. The plant eventually will process 1,500 cattle a day from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.
Northern Beef has hired more than 350 workers and eventually will employ 500. It also is continuing to add customers.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.