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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
My Proposed- but very likely half baked- Way To Fix Game Journalism/Criticism
Let's vote on the top 10 game journalists that we feel genuinely offer us great reporting and- more importantly- great game criticism.
There are more than this for sure, but off the top of my head I'll throw the following names in the ring: Ben Kuchera, Garnett Lee, Adam Sessler, Jim Sterling, and Brian Crecente. Are there more, fuck yeah. But it's just a start.
Hell, let's throw in Leigh Alexander as well. I can't stand the woman but to show that this should not be a popularity contest and that we should do our best to pick the reporters who genuinely seem to care for the medium of interactivity. Much as I don't care for Leigh, I do think she cares about the medium and offers a valuable voice to some gamers.
Oh and I gotta throw in that guy who does the fantastic podcast A LIFE WELL WASTED- that thing is amazing!
Ok so anyway- we get a bunch of names of people doing great work in game journalism and then we- as a game community- vote and whittle it to 5 names.
Then we do a yearly Kickstarter to raise 175K.
125 K goes to pay 1 of the 5 reporters (pulled randomly from a hat or voted on by the folks who contributed to the Kstart) a yearly salarty. The remaining 50K goes to pay for expenses (games, travel).
The reporter posts whatever they want on a blog. There is no editor, no advertising/sales group to worry about, and they can update when they want and write about whatever they want. The only harm for doing a bad job (and I define a bad job as simply filing way too few stories) is looking terrible in the public eye that funded them and wiping out their chances of being included in next year's list.
Every time we raise another 175K, we pull another name from the hat/vote on the next reporter. Ideally every year we can raise enough that all 5 reporters get to work.
I think good reporting is important. And good criticism is crucial to move this medium forward.
And given that I've offered over and over to pay a subscription to great gaming sites, they never seem to want to offer subscriptions/paywalls, this seems like a possible good solve.
Or am I fucking high?
Seriously, I'm in for 500 bucks if the rest of y'all are.
Thanks for reading-
ps. I have zero idea if game reporters make well over 125K and if they do, they may scoff at this. I don't mean them any disrespect- 125k seems like a good salary to me is all :).
41 comments:
- Jimmy Lee said...
Out of curiosity what's the career turnaround rate for game journalism? Is there anyone who worked on magazines in the 90's who are still in the business today? I looked through some old GamePro and tips and tricks magazines and couldn't find any names I recognized. Just food for thought...
- Daniel Eavenson said...
What would be the motivator for game companies to offer the usual assistance they do to games journo people to this chosen one? There's no ad revenue to be had from them. The person essentially becomes a notable blogger without the benefit of some commercial body behind him with ad revenue to suck in.
Actually no "assistance" (free games, travel, exclusive contnent) probably makes the idea better.
- Paddy Vercoe said...
Giant Bomb is essentially like this, they have a $50/year subscription model and are able to give good quality criticism because we know their personalities through all the video/podcast/text content on the site. Jeff Gerstmann, the guy who was fired from gamespot about four years ago for giving a game they were advertising a bad review, is Editor in Chief and they are keen to get through the kind of bullshit you are talking about in the industry.
- da criminal said...
Daniel- I see this being more for criticism and analysis and less about going to game junkets and doing previews for games- there's plenty of the latter, way too little of the former (done well).
- Steve Haske said...
125k would pay three or four journalists a year. Comfortably. Realistically it would pay five or six.
- Jon Cole said...
@Steve Haske
It would realistically pay five or six if they lived in the middle of nowhere. $25k/21k is not even close to enough to live in SF or a similar area.
- Steve Haske said...
To clarify, it would realistically pay five or six in terms of expectations, not what's actually needed. In terms of what one journalist actually makes, $125k would cover the wages of probably close to eight or 10.
- Martin Healy said...
Hey Jaffe, where's Patrick Klepek at?
- Dartastic said...
Dave... game journalists make nowhere near that. I have freelance friends who write quality articles for good publications that literally can barely pay their rent at a 600 dollar apartment month to month.
...the fact that nobody pays them on time doesn't help things either.
- coffeewithgames said...
"rough state of internet journalism"
I fixed that for you. When games "journalist" like some you mentioned can't find the time to respond to emails, but have time to tweet random things, why would anybody pay a dime toward this?
When I see articles like the one this post is about, from those very same people that ignore emails/won't reply to emails, and go out of their way to block "customers" (see: readers) on Twitter, because they can't/won't answer for their actions, why would I put a dime toward it?
- James said...
Game Journalists make significantly less than $125k. Fark, those on a salary make less than $50k in most cases.
The sheer majority of paid journos are contractors who earn around $100-$150/feature.
- Tylerr Rietze said...
This would be a great idea. As someone who writes for a small site for free, I know I wouldn't be up for this, but I definitely would do my best to push videogame journalism into realms of legitimacy and quality not seen before just to get my name into the hat for this Kickstarter. Hell, if I knew I could make that much if I focused on being a journalist instead of getting review copies of games and hits, I'd be the best.
- Holly Green said...
Props to you Jaffe for only being able to name a single female journalist, and taking an entire paragraph to insult her.
And they wonder why we don't feel welcome...
- da criminal said...
Holly, are you a journalist? Clearly not a good one if you are choosing to- instead of doing any research at all- go off on me for going off on Leigh without taking into account I do not like her because she tweeted mean things about the team I worked with to make Twisted Metal. I have zero issues that she may not dig our game- but to attack the people personally who made it? Yeah, I don't like her. From your comment, I don't think I like you much either.
And I have zero idea why anyone would wonder why people like you don't feel welcome. Assuming 'people like you' means jerks. Cause yeah, I don't know anyone who really digs jerks.
- Joshua Wirtanen said...
The one year I lived entirely off games journalism, I made $22k.
- Holly Green said...
I consider myself a reporter Jaffe and nonetheless I do not consider it part of my job to be on the up and up about Twitter spats. While Leigh may have been rude and started a disagreement, the details I'm not familiar with, you seem to be interested in keeping that drama alive in perpetuity.
I think the last thing anyone would describe as is a jerk. However, I think it's all our responsibility to act like adults and set positive examples, and continuing this nasty back and forth is not it. I apologize that you do not appreciate my approach, but perhaps you should consider how your comments will be perceived by those unfamiliar with that situation, which is the majority if your audience.
- Holly Green said...
(I should add that I do find it inappropriate to attack people on Twitter for almost any reason, so I'm with ya on that! I too have a fierce loyalty to my own employees and team and become protective when I see them attacked.)
- da criminal said...
Holly, while it's not your job to be up on every twitter 'spat', would you say that it then IS your job to not jump to conclusions and insult someone with implications that you have zero evidence to support? You came at me, friend and for what? Because I openly admitted to disliking Leigh while still saying she should be included in the mix because I get she does provide a voice that folks out there do like?
You painted the whole thing with a sexist angle without bothering to get facts or talk to me at all. Why are you accusing ME of being the one not acting like an adult? Please.
It's a good thing I chose to not mention how another reason Leigh grates on me is her talking about how sexy she finds men dressed as Nazis (yeah, she did this too). I'm assuming if I did you would find a way to say I was a sexist because I was insulting how she chooses to express her sexuality (versus the way she chooses to express her- oh I dunno- love for men dressed as FUCKING NAZIS)...So crazy.
- Holly Green said...
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- Holly Green said...
(sorry,typo in the last)
Hm, well, to be honest I think there's a big difference between leaving a blog comment and "doing my job": I'm not about to write a news post about this or anything, that wasn't my intent. I'm still allowed to have opinions, to react to things, and to express myself. When someone in your position mentions only one female journalist and it's a woman he truly dislikes, in the current climate of the tech industry, it's hard to not view that with a raised eyebrow. But of course you're of course allowed to dislike her personally and I take you at your word.
I can understand where you're coming from too. I apologize if I've assumed the worst of you. Please just consider how it looks from the outside looking in. Your words carry a lot of weight.
- da criminal said...
Holly, I appreciate you not jumping to conclusions- thank you :).
I can see how it may look a certain way looking in but I like to think most folks are willing to look a little deeper to find the truth. Or at least engage in a chat to try to find the truth. Glad you took the time to do that with me- thank you! :)
- Scully1888 said...
Hi David
As a write for a popular website I was surprised to see how much you think we're getting paid to do our jobs. I understand that, like you confess, you don't actually know what our average salary is but I can assure you that (at least in the UK) we just about make enough money to break even.
If any of us were doing this job for the money, almost all of us would be looking for different jobs. As clichéd as it sounds, we're literally all in this for the love of the game(s). It's our love and passion for video games (including yours - I lost hundreds of hours playing my brother at Twisted Metal 2: World Tour) that keeps us in this career, even though many of those in our line of work get paid less than 15% of what you estimated (not an exaggeration).
I'm not the sort to throw insults around, so all I'll say is that your Kickstarter idea is a little flawed in my opinion (and that's all it is) because it could potentially create an elitist situation in which a select few journalists are held up on an even higher pedestal while others are all but ignored.
I feel that getting people to vote on their favourite journalists to decide who gets to put food on the table is a horrible way to do things, because it shouldn't be a popularity contest. Most of the best games writing I've seen in recent times has come from writers that most people probably wouldn't even know, let alone be part of a list they could call off the top of their heads, because they haven't been fortunate enough to make it yet to a high-profile website (something that's incredibly difficult to do with so few around).
I would never in a million years put myself alongside the ranks of other great writers, but I would wager that since I spent six years at the UK Official Nintendo Magazine and since the vast majority of the online audience are American (and many think Nintendo is a dirty word!) I'd wager that despite my seven years of hard, honest work in this industry and the fact that I can proudly say I've never been involved in any shady score-changing or ad pressure, I wouldn't even be in a longlist for this Kickstarter, let alone a shortlist.
There are many others like me - many of whom are better writers than me - who also wouldn't feature in such a vote, simply because a lot of gamers haven't heard of them because they aren't 'personalities'. As a result, that's why I feel narrowing them down to a mere five writers and expecting them to cover the entire games industry - reviews, previews, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Apple, Android, PC indie, financials, analysis, hands-on, gameplay videos, features, etc. - while the others are disregarded for having ads on their site is clearly a bad move in my opinion.
I think the problem here is a lack of communication across the board. You've made your views on games journalism clear in the past and while I strongly disagree with many of them, in no way would I try to stop you from continuing to make those views. However, in my opinion this blog today shows a lack of understanding of how our business works, much like some developers tend to claim that we have no idea how their business works. Maybe if both sides were a bit more transparent with each other then we'd be able to understand each other a little more.
Sorry if that sounded snarky or sarcastic, I really didn't mean it to! I'll probably stop there because I've probably taken up enough of your time as it is. In short, I respectfully disagree with your idea, we get paid much, much less than you think we do, and Twisted Metal 2 was the tits.
Thanks for your time, David.
Chris Scullion
Games Editor
- Matthew Dickinson said...
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- Matthew Dickinson said...
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- Matthew Dickinson said...
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- Matthew Dickinson said...
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- Matthew Dickinson said...
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I don't think Leigh does care about video games. She has stated againa dn again how she thinks systemization is the enemy and that videogames should be whollely passive media that tells you a story instead of involving any play. She sounds like a college girl who played some jrpg as a kid and decided that since she isn't smart enough to be taken seriously in literary criticism she'll remake herself as an avante-garde game critic.
She's an interloper with no interest in the development of video-games as gamers understand them.
- Thomas Ella said...
I get Holly's point about how you only mentioned one female journalist and that's kind of weird, but honestly, my problem is that nobody ever throws out names themselves in these situations. They just criticize without offering suggestions.
Like people got so upset with Sony about the PS4 reveal because there were no women, right? But who were they missing? Patricia Hernandez at Kotaku wrote two articles about it and never mentioned a single name. Personally, I would've liked to see Amy Hennig of Naughty Dog up there, but she had nothing to announce, so oh well. It's not like they excluded her on purpose because SEXISM.
So can I think of other prominent female game journalists I would include on that list? Not off the top of my head. All my favorite female game journalists like Jenn Frank are off doing other things now, and I certainly wouldn't throw out Patricia Hernandez's name. Tina Amini, also at Kotaku, is decent, but I wouldn't put her on equal footing as the names David mentioned.
Kirk Hamilton is a name I would put up there though. Another man, I know. I guess I'm a sexist. Oh well.
"it could potentially create an elitist situation in which a select few journalists are held up on an even higher pedestal while others are all but ignored"
That's cute that you think that's not how things are now.
No one gives a toss about Computerandvideogames.com (the worst hamster dance era website name imagineable) or Holly's Gameranx.
Games journalism as a commercial enterprise is hopelessly corrupt. If you honestly have a passion for game then do something other than just write critiques (especially ones that are indistinguishable from the average Amazon review). Make videos, make skits, create communities. You can still whore for money with Ben Kuchera's sainted upskirt images but instead of providing hot air and disappointment you would actually be producing something gamers want. And instead of simply lecturing gamers on what horrible people they are you would be engaging gamers as if you were one of them (shocking I know).
Or just get a real job and put your opinions where they belong, on livejournal.
- Evercaptor said...
You can find Will Smith, Norm Chan and Gary Whitta, (old PC Gamer heads) at Tested.com, the guys at Giant Bomb have all had a bit of experience of that too. Off the top of my head.
- Evercaptor said...
But they become known immediately as a blogger with enough influence as to be WORTH $175k. For a plane ticket a room and a meal, a game publisher can invite $175k worth on interest. It's probably a better idea than you're giving it credit.
- KirbyKid said...
I'd like to add a few things to the discussion. Recently, I've also been thinking about ways to improve/elevate the level of games criticism. I've interviewed many non-gamers, gamers, games writers, games PhD candidates, and industry professionals about this topic to try and get a sense of what can be done and why we should do it.
Money seems to be a key problem here. Time is money, and writing quality critiques requires lots of time. But beyond the time commitment there's the issue of what people value in games and how to increase this value. I believe that understanding games more deeply and talking about them more clearly helps all of us appreciate games more. The trick is, assuming that's true, convincing people to care about criticism/discussion/the discourse.
I'll say that I've been blogging for the past 5 years, talking about games and game design on a level I've seen few others attempt. (http://critical-gaming.com/about/). Some games writers are currently great, but there are many we commonly think of as being good who either don't talk about game design or they don't make strong/persuasive arguments.
I've been searching for a way to use an exacting language for game design through a range of multimedia outlets (articles, podcasts, videos, and beyond)
We should talk.
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Instructor Kenneth Miller, BA in Anthropology, Psychology, and Religious Studies from University of Colorado: Boulder; MA in Eastern and Western Traditions: The History, Philosophy and Transmission of Astrology from Kepler College; American College of Vedic Astrology: Level II certification; Council of Vedic Astrology: Jyotish Kovid certification. Kenneth is currently on the Board of Trustees of Kepler College. He loves astrology and is eager to serve the Jyotir Vidya (Goddess/Knowledge of Astrology).
After years of having his newspaper horoscope read to him by his mom, Kenneth D. Miller made the shocking discovery that all the planets were involved in astrological judgments. At age 13 he taught himself how to cast a chart by hand. This began a lifelong interest in astrology and astrological traditions. He remained an amateur western astrologer studying with various teachers until the mid-1990s, when he was exposed to Indian (Vedic) astrology, and after a few years decided to make a mid-life career switch to become a professional astrologer.
Kenneth transitioned from amateur to professional astrologer in 2005. Since then he has been active seeing clients, researching, and recently received his Master's degree in the history of astrology. In addition to receiving American College of Vedic Astrology's Level II and the Council of Vedic Astrology's certificate of Jyotish Kovid , Kenneth has also studied in India where he earned the title of Fellow of the Institute of Vedic Astrology (FIVA) and was awarded the title Jyotish Medha Shri by the Indian Council of Astrological Sciences. He is a lifetime member of the Council of Vedic Astrology, NCGR, and AFAN, and maintains membership in ISAR and the AFA. He loves astrology and is eager to serve the Jyotir Vidya (Goddess/Knowledge of Astrology).
In addition to Indian astrology, Kenneth has studied Modern western astrology with Helena Elizabeth Ruhnau, Hellenistic astrology with Demetra George and Robert Schmidt, Medieval astrology with Robert Zoller, and Renaissance astrology with Lee Lehman. He is one of the few professional astrologers with a working knowledge of all of these traditions.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We are shocked and saddened to read the news over on Core77 that NY's iconoclast product designer Tobias Wong passed away over the weekend at the age of 35. We were big fans of Tobi's wit and willingness to break molds, and it is clear that Wong will be dearly missed. Tobias had been the charming enfant-terrible / provocateur of the NY design scene for years, never shying away from pushing buttons and challenging design conventions.
We first came across Tobi's playful design sense with the cheerful Sun-Jars and Moon-Jars, the solar-powered LED lamps that are reminiscent of firefly jars. Wong was a fixture at the HauteGreen New York eco design exhibition in 2006-2007, which we were grateful to have the opportunity to participate in while it lasted. Some pics of Tobi at HauteGreen below:
Design critic Aric Chen had this to say about Tobi's career:
Through his work, Wong helped bring forth much of what is now taken for granted in contemporary culture. Influenced by Dada and, especially, Fluxus, he questioned authorship through appropriation; held a mirror to our desires and absurdities; upended the hierarchy between design and art, and the precious and the banal; and helped redefine collaboration and curation as creative practices. Working within what he termed a "paraconceptual" framework, Wong prompted a reevaluation of everything we thought we knew about design: its production, its psychological resonance, its aesthetic criteria, its means of distribution, its attachment to provenance, its contextualization and its manner of presentation. Wong was a keen observer, an original mind, a brilliant prankster, and an unerring friend.
Tobi Wong's work was widely exhibited, including at MoMA, Cooper-Hewitt, Colette, Prada, and more, and he was named Young Designer of the Year by Wallpaper* magazine (2004) as well as the Brooklyn Museum of Art (2006). The designer is survived by his family and partner Tim Dubitsky. Wong will be missed terribly, and will be not be forgotten.


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text:
All Code references are based on the 2005 NEC. The grounding and bonding requirements in this column apply to solidly grounded systems that operate at not more than 600V, such as 120/240V, 120/208V, and 277/480V.
What little outbuilding was a badly-needed addition, but now you need to supply power to it from the service of another building. You've sized the disconnecting means (subpanel) and breakers correctly, but you're unsure about the grounding. If you're smart, you'll ask yourself the following questions:
What are the grounding and bonding requirements for that subpanel?
What are the grounding and bonding requirements for the building itself?
Do you ground and bond the equipment in this building any differently based on the fact that the building disconnect is powered from the service of another building?
The benefits of proper bonding include clearing faults, preventing shock, and reducing fires. Grounding provides a low-impedance path for lighting, and properly grounded systems operate as intended. Improperly grounded systems create fertile ground for power quality problems.
So how do you provide these benefits to a building or structure that doesn't have its own service? The answer lies in complying with 250.32, and for that purpose let's first look at the disconnecting means.
Disconnecting means. The purpose of grounding (earthing) the building or structure disconnecting means to the earth is to limit elevated voltages on the metal parts caused by lightning [250.4(A)(1)] (Fig. 1). Keep in mind that grounding doesn't:
Provide a low-impedance fault-current path to clear ground faults. In fact, the Code prohibits the use of the earth as an effective ground-fault current path since it's such a poor conductor of current [250.4(A)(5) and 250.45(B)(4)].
Protect electrical or electronic equipment from lightning voltage transients.
You don't need a grounding (earthing) electrode where only one branch circuit serves the building or structure [250.32(A)]. For the purposes of 250.32(A), you can consider a multiwire branch circuit to be a single branch circuit.
To quickly clear a ground fault and remove dangerous voltage from metal parts, the building or structure disconnecting means must be bonded to an effective ground-fault current path [250.4(A)(3)]. To establish this path when your disconnecting means is supplied by the service of another building, your installation must comply with either 250.32(B)(1) or 250.32(B)(2) (Fig. 2).
Equipment grounding (bonding) conductor. You can bond the building or structure disconnecting means to an equipment-grounding (bonding) conductor (as described in 250.118) that's installed with the circuit conductors. Size this equipment-grounding (bonding) conductor per 250.122, based on the rating of the feeder protection device [250.32(B)(1)].
Grounded conductor neutral. Be sure not to bond the grounded conductor (neutral) to the disconnecting means or to the building because doing this violates 250.6(A), and the resulting ground loop (parallel neutral current paths) will allow dangerous objectionable current to flow onto metal parts of the electrical installation (and onto metal piping and structural steel) (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4).
What if an equipment grounding (bonding) conductor isn't run to the building or structure disconnecting means? In such a case, you can bond the disconnecting means to the circuit grounded conductor (neutral). But this is only permitted where there's no continuous metallic path between buildings and structures and ground-fault protection of equipment isn't installed.
Neutral as effective ground path. Where the grounded conductor (neutral) serves as the effective ground-fault current path, you must size it no smaller than the larger of:
The maximum unbalanced neutral load, per 220.61.
The available fault current, per 250.122.
But maybe the size of this conductor should be your last concern because using the grounded conductor (neutral) as the effective ground-fault current path can have dangerous consequences.
Even if the initial installation doesn't result in dangerous objectionable current on metal parts, the possibility remains for a future installation of metal piping or cables between the buildings or structures that could create ground loops. Thus, you should allow this only after careful consideration, and only as a last resort.
The preferred practice is to not use the grounded conductor (neutral) as the effective ground-fault current path. Instead, you should install an equipment grounding (bonding) conductor with the feeder conductors to the building or structure in accordance with 250.32(B)(1).
Grounding electrode conductor. The grounding (earthing) electrode conductor (GEC) for a separate building or structure disconnecting means must terminate to the grounding terminal of the disconnecting means. And you must size it per Table 250.66, based on the largest ungrounded feeder conductor.
Try the following practice question to reinforce these concepts. What size grounding (earthing) electrode conductor is required for a building disconnect that's supplied with 3/0 AWG?
The answer is 4 AWG. If you look at Table 250.66, you'll see this clearly. And what if you supplied the disconnect with 500 kcmil cable? Then once again, you'd look at Table 250.66. The answer, in this case, would be 1/0. However:
Where the GEC is connected to a ground rod (or two, in a typical installation), that portion of the conductor that's the sole connection to the ground rod isn't required to be larger than 6 AWG copper [250.66(A)].
Where the GEC is connected to a concrete-encased electrode, that portion of the conductor that's the sole connection to the concrete-encased electrode isn't required to be larger than 4 AWG copper [250.66(B)].
Lightning. With its vast power and potential for destruction, lightning demands special attention. This is one reason for the existence of NFPA 780 "Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems." You can sum up Chapter 2 of the 2004 edition by simply saying, "Refer to the NEC." Much of what you need to know is in Art. 250. Another applicable standard is IEEE-142 "Grounding of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems" — also known as "the Green Book."
Lightning is a high-frequency, multi-million volt electrical discharge that obligates you to provide a path to the earth so it can dissipate there rather than damage property or endanger people. To provide this path, you must ground (earth) the building or structure disconnecting means to one of the following electrodes [250.50 and 250.52(A)]:
Metal underground water pipe [250.52(A)(1)]
Metal frame of the building or structure electrode [250.52(A)(2)]
Concrete-encased grounding (earthing) electrode [250.52(A)(3)]
Ground ring [250.52(A)(4)]
Although such electrodes are usually available, that's not always the case. For example, you might not have access to a metal underground water pipe anywhere near your installation. Or you might need to do extensive damage to finished surfaces to access one of these electrodes. So what are you supposed to do? Fortunately, the NEC makes an allowance for this. Where you don't have access to one of these other grounding (earthing) electrodes — or they simply don't exist on your site — use a ground rod [250.52(A)(5)] or a metal underground systems electrode [250.52(A)(7)]
Now you have answers to those questions you had when you were trying to figure out the grounding and bonding for that little outbuilding. And you should understand how to properly ground and bond any structure when the power for that structure comes from the service of a separate building or structure.
The key to keeping a clear head about this concept is to think about the purpose grounding and bonding serves, and what kind of a path you're providing for the electricity. Remember that electrons that leave a power supply are trying to get back to their source, not back to the earth. However, lightning is trying to get to earth. Drawing the return path on paper will help you see if your installation plan allows for what electricity is trying to do. Ensuring your installation conforms to 250.32 will allow it to clear faults, prevent shock, and provide a safe path for lightning.


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a series of concessions proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry with the aim of kick starting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Israeli media.
Netanyahu will reportedly set free 120 Palestinian terrorists jailed prior to the signing of the "Oslo" peace accords in 1993. The Palestinian insist that because these men carried out their crimes prior to the signing of any agreements, they must be viewed as prisoners of war, not criminals, despite their attempts to mass murder Jewish men, women and children.
Of course, the Palestinian regime also insists that terrorists jailed after the signing of the peace agreements are, in fact, not terrorists either, since they merely killed Jews who were "occupying" their land.
Netanyahu is also said to be ready to halt all Jewish construction outside of major settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria, the so-called "West Bank" that the Palestinians claim for their future state. Israeli officials have already acknowledged that a de facto construction freeze is in place.
The goal of these concessions is to give Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas something he can present as a "victory" in order to entice him back to the negotiating table.
According to Palestinian reports, it was only partly successful.
While Abbas is reportedly ready to drop his preconditions for renewing talks, he will only do so temporarily. In essence, according to Palestinian media reports, Abbas will come to the negotiating table with the intent of blackmailing Netanyahu.
If Netanyahu fails to make a proposal that meets all Arab demands right away, Abbas has threatened to again turn to the United Nations to unilaterally recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Despite what many in the region recognize as the same old intractable positions, Kerry is hailing the deal as a historic opportunity and is expected back in the region shortly.
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Difference between revisions of "Building a Live CD"
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{{Note|As of version 2.6.39, the vanilla kernel no longer supports aufs, making a custom kernel a necessity.}}
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== poison-livecd-creator ==
== poison-livecd-creator ==
Revision as of 00:05, 27 October 2012
Having a bootable version of Arch Linux running totally off of a CD is useful in many ways. It can be used to rescue your system, test new machines and check if the hardware is Linux compatible, keep an updated installer with the latest packages, make a demo CD to show your projects, and much more.
This article will give an overview of some methods available for creating your own Arch Linux-based live media. Please refer to the respective article for detailed information.
Archiso is the official tool used to build Arch Linux release images. It strongly follows the KISS principle and is easy to use. If you want to build your own updated Arch Linux live installation images, this tool will get you to your goal quickly, as the Git repository contains the exact profile used to generate these installation images. However, it can also be used for completely customizing your live medium. It relies on an Arch Linux host system.
larch aims to provide a more desktop-based approach, and it does not require an Arch Linux host system.
It is a very simple live CD creator. It uses just a Makefile to build live CD images, and uses pacman to install base and additional packages to the live CD. You can choose your packages and build them into a live CD. Moreover, it uses GRUB to boot the live CD in order to add more flexibility. This means that it is much easier to make a live USB stick without formating it. For that, you just need to install GRUB into your USB pen drive and copy the files in the ISO to your root directory in the pen drive. It relies on an Arch Linux host system and pacman.
It supports aufs among other things, making it an option for live CDs.


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U.S. Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission
About EEOC
The Commission & the General Counsel
Meetings of the Commission
Open Government
Laws, Regulations, Guidance & MOUs
Budget & Performance
Enforcement & Litigation
Task Forces
Interagency Programs
Outreach & Education
Legislative Affairs
Doing Business with EEOC
Jobs & Internships
EEOC History
Office of Inspector General
235 Former Employees Terminated at End of Workers' Compensation Leaves of Absence to Share Settlement Proceeds After Participating in Claims Process
CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced court approval of the distribution of a $6,200,000 compensation fund in the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) litigation between the EEOC and Sears, Roebuck & Co. The distribution is being carried out pursuant to the terms of a consent decree approved by Federal District Judge Wayne Anderson on September 29, 2009. In its lawsuit against Sears, the EEOC had alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers' compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA. The case resulted in the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history.
Under the terms of the decree, the EEOC provided claim forms to certain Sears employees who had been terminated under Sears' workers' compensation leave policy. The claimants were asked to report to the EEOC, among other things, the extent of their impairments, their ability to return to work at Sears, and whether Sears had made any attempt to return them to work. Based on these criteria, the EEOC found that 235 individuals were eligible to share in the settlement. The average award was approximately $26,300. More than twenty claimants were found to be ineligible by the EEOC. As with all EEOC litigation, none of the settlement fund will retained by the EEOC; all of it will be distributed.
"It is a satisfying day indeed when victims finally receive compensation for the wrongful discrimination they have endured," said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. "The EEOC is pleased and proud that we fought long and hard on this case to protect the rights of workers with disabilities, and that many Sears employees will now benefit from our law enforcement efforts."
Chicago Regional Attorney John Hendrickson said, "The Sears case has been a long haul, but now it's over—this is it. The court has enjoined future discrimination by Sears and approved the amount of money each class member will receive for the particular discrimination he or she suffered. Their day for compensation is here, and as far as the EEOC is concerned, that makes it a good day for everyone involved."
EEOC Trial Attorney Aaron DeCamp noted that, in addition to the disbursement of settlement funds, the EEOC is seeing positive effects from the consent decree. "As a result of the decree, we believe Sears has an improved workers' compensation leave process, and it has posted notices regarding the decree. We know that employees have been seeing the notices because we've been receiving inquiries as a result. So we think it's pretty clear that our lawsuit genuinely benefited the employees of Sears and strengthened the company's human resources processes."
The lawsuit, filed in November 2004, was assigned to Federal District Court Judge Wayne Anderson of the Northern District of Illinois and Magistrate Judge Susan Cox, and is captioned EEOC v. Sears Roebuck & Co., N.D. Ill. No. 04 C 7282. Judge Anderson entered the order approving the monetary distributions on February 4.
The EEOC litigation team included, in addition to Hendrickson and DeCamp, Supervisory Trial Attorney Gregory Gochanour and Trial Attorneys Ethan Cohen, Deborah Hamilton and Laurie Elkin.
The EEOC Chicago District Office is responsible for processing charges of discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency's web site at www.eeoc.gov.
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | USA.Gov


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Coming back off a short hiatus, the quarterly Grape Nuts wine tasting social for female members of Santa Rosa Beach Club is back. The ladies gathered at The Vue last Tuesday night and enjoyed a variety of French wines selected and served by Southern Wine & Spirits' Kathy Fly Bridges. Betty Krika, Ann Kief, Karen Schoonover, RoseAnn Knight, Debra Cannon, Nan Sroufe, Karen DesJardins, and Nan Ream were some who enjoyed. Chef Gio's tapas were tasty as usual.
Doug and Jane Anderson, Beverly and Greg Schmitt, and Lahrye and Nancy Radford enjoyed dinner at The Vue that night.
I hear that Chan and Laura Cox hosted a big victory celebration at their Destin Wine World location following FSU's big win.
Last Wednesday night was the Cultural Arts Alliance's kick off for the 30A Songwriter's Festival with a free concert and social for CAA members at WaterColor. Joan Vienot, Susan Alfieri, Joyce Hogue, and Shelly Swanger were some who attended.
Our Juan Adaro's artwork is hanging at Giovanni Rossi Fine Art gallery in Fort Lauderdale. His artwork also was a backdrop at one of the 30A Songwriter's Festival venues and graced the front of T-shirts.
JoAnn Graham visited the Tampa Museum of Art. Her son, Marcus, created the artwork on notebooks for the Augustan Producers Tour. They loved it and then commissioned him to do 30 pieces of art representing each individual vineyard from California to Argentina to Spain to be auctioned off for charity. The show was a three-day tour starting in Miami, then Naples, and ending in Tampa. This was Marcus' first art show and a huge success for him.
Robin and Charles Wiesneth enjoyed the snow in Idaho, where they, with the aid of a parachute, jumped off the top of Baldy Mountain � 3,300 vertical feet � and reached a speed of 37 mph. Crazy!
Jacque Castle enjoyed snow in Ohio.
Miles and Chelsea Neiman and their two children have embarked on a year-long adventure in Italy. Wow!
Marie and Jane Soloman visited to Mexico.
Ron and Gena Bolton went to Birmingham with their son David before he leaves for California.
Tricia Northcutt visited Savannah.
And by the time you read this, I will be returning from a vacation on the high seas to Jamaica.
Wish a "happy birthday" Saturday to Wild Olive's Ivy Trovas.
Sunday to Sylvia Forbes, and Lil Jackson.
Monday to Susan Adams, and Tall Tom Hopkins.
Tuesday to Jack Abbit, For the Health of It's Rachel Morgan, and artist Betty Cork.
Wednesday to Angela Ragsdale, Judy Heninger, and sportsman Dennis Dumler.
Thursday to Kit Little.
And Friday to Alaqua's Laurie Hood.
Deborah Wheeler is the arts and entertainment reporter for The Walton Sun. She may be reached at 654-8443 or email firstname.lastname@example.com. Her Party Line column appears weekly in The Sun. Contributions are accepted.


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You are here:
Lycoming College's Department of Marketing and Communications is an internal, full-service unit that strategically plans and executes programs and tasks related to communication, marketing and promotion. The department works to tell the story of the College and helps Lycoming's departments and programs identify their own reputation-defining distinctions within the Lycoming College community. The office consults with campus offices and departments on media relations, strategic communication strategies and Web communications to promote faculty, staff, students, programs and events to external audiences and the news media.
We also plan communication and marketing strategies, assist with Web communication, and produce printed materials. We collaborate with campus partners to produce, or provide guidance on, the creation of all types of communication.


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Advertising on Emmas Designblogg
Advertising info:
I have limited the number of advertisers to 10/month, to make sure that everyone gets the attention they are paying for and won't get lost in the crowd. When you get a Top or Premium spot, you also get the opportunity to sponsor a giveaway for my readers. If you are interested in getting a banner spot, you can purchase one directly below!
Please note:
Submission of an ad through the form below does not guarantee placement on Emmas Designblogg. All ads must be approved by me before they will show on the blog. Approval will take place within 24 hours of submission, and is based on whether the goods or services are in keeping with my own aesthetic outlook. If your ad is not approved your transaction will of course be returned.
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(stats from March 2014)
If you want more info on statistics, demographics etc, contact me for a Press Kit.
Ps. You can not get included in my blogroll on request, I don't do link exchanges. Neither do I sell text links, or allow any blog posts where the content is controlled by anyone but me.


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Heartland Mill Tour
Lest any of you consider that my life is all flights across the Pacific and raw squid for breakfast, I recently found myself in driving (in my little green convertible - top down - adorned with my "I Love Okinawa" magnet) from Colorado's Front Range to the great wheat growing region of Kansas for a tour of the Heartland Mill in Marienthall, KS.
Some of you may know Heartland Mill (www.heartlandmill.com) as the producer of Golden Buffalo flour - a high extraction organic flour. And so here comes the first of my shameless plugs. Heartland Mill mills a variety of flours - all organic - either stone ground or on their long-flow roller mill. They also produce oat products and sell whole grains. Why shamelessly plug them? Because the mill is farmer owned and they are very interested in producing flours that support the artisan bread baking community . I believe in supporting businesses like these that can make decisions not only on profitability (as I am a great believer in making a profit) but on what they think will support their employees and their community. So that's my first plug. If you are interested, they sell directly to the consumer - their small bags are very lovely cloth bags - for use after emptying for small sewing projects.
So I will now give the second of my shameless plugs. This tour was sponsored by the Bread Baker's Guild of America (BBGA) (www.bbga.org) (Hello, Laverne! It's me again!) without whose hard work I would not have had such a marvelous opportunity. I have said before that the educational opportunities they provide are well worth the membership fee - even for this raggedy home baker - and I mean it sincerely. So, that being said, I don't think it is fair to try and write a "tell-all" of the tour because I don't want to give the impression that folks who hunger for this kind of education just need to wait long enough and I will post it all here, and that there is no need to join. I support a lot of their efforts and membership fees support those.
But some highlights are well worth sharing with other bread baking and milling enthusiasts.
First, for all that I have been out and about in the world, my travels have neglected actual drives through what is often referred to as "the flyover zone." Since my trip started from Denver in the pre-dawn hours, I got to see the sun rising over the fields of Eastern Colorado, the magenta clouds reaching down to the frost covered fields, a gentle mist making the entire scene something out of a fantasy. Yes, our mountains are beautiful, but I have never been so struck by the beauty of our plains. I believe someone once wrote a song about it.
Then I hit the great wheat growing region. For those of you in coastal states, or countries with less acreage, the scale of these farms is quite striking. They are immense. Not big, not really big - immense. I was not exactly driving slowly and it took quite a while to drive between any areas where I could spot houses. I cannot help but wonder how these immense farms could ever become the small farms that so many food enthusiasts promote, but this trip was not about that.
After five hours of driving, I arrived at Heartland Mill. it is a very small operation both in size and staffing. Their head miller said that he had no particular expertise but was just "an old farm boy." I instinctively put my hand to my wallet... :>) They had the mills shut down so we could both tour the mill and talk. (So sorry about no pictures, but not only are my photography skills not up to the task, but only pictures by the official photographer were allowed. )
We talked a great deal about the millstones themselves. There is a type of millstone called a French millstone that is constructed of stones that are only 2 hardness points softer than diamonds. What was discussed was that this type of millstone (which is not yet in operation in the mill) will produce a caramelization of the flour that is the "ultimate" in flour taste - or so it is according to B.W. Dedrick's "Practical Milling". Also interesting is that this type of millstone is not a monolith, but is pieced together so that there the hardness and composition of the stone is more consistent.
We then moved on to the stone milling area where we took a look at the Meadows mills. To get their high extraction flour, Heartland is milling in one pass and bolting the flour (through a number 40 mesh sieve). Of course I had to ask questions about this. They found that grinding un tempered wheat (9-10% moisture) was most successful, but then the miller similarly claimed that it was a characteristic of stone milling itself that made this possible. No one seems think about burr milling with steel, but our exchanges lead me to believe that my approach of treating my process similar to the roller milling process might (and I emphasize "might") be a good one.
We also discussed stone milling vs. roller milling and how the difference in the processes might influence the flavor profile of the flour. While there is one school of thought that the stones themselves impart a better flavor, Craig Ponsford put out the thought that the fact that the parts of the grain were never separated (as they are in roller milling) created a better flavor profile. All were in agreement that in blind tests, bread made with stone ground flour tasted "better."
We also had an interesting discussion about the words "stone ground" when applied to flour and how various labeling regulations made it imperative to "know your miller" so that you know that the flour was really 100% stone ground, not just run through stones to meet the labeling requirements.
We went over the tempering process (for roller milling) in detail. I have some things to think about...
The long flow roller mill is run at speeds where the flour comes off "cool." They had experimented with milling very "un aggressively" and found that they did not create enough starch damage in the flour for it to be used in baking.
We talked a bit about aging flour. The maxim of "use right away or wait two weeks" was discussed. Thom Leonard tells me that this is true - because there is enzymatic action that takes place soon (but not immediately) after milling that will impact baking qualities until oxidation takes place. However, we also discussed that for whole wheat flours this impact is negligible and that he has used whole wheat flour at various ages with little impact on the final product. (Thom- if you are listening in, please log in and fill in the exact details - there are people here who want to know...)
On the whole, I came away with the feeling that I have a lot more research to do on milling and that that even though I have taken a lot of factors into account in my process, I have a lot more things to consider.
We then spent a little time in the lab to watch the alveograph. I've read a lot about these tests and how to interpret them, but I've never seen the thing in operation. Essentially this machine blows a bubble (think bubble gum) from a specially prepared disk of dough and measures the pressure required to blow the bubble and the time it takes the bubble to burst. If you've made it this far in the blog, and you are not familiar with this test, you need to look up source material in any one of the excellent books available to home bakers that discuss rheological testing for flour. In short, the pressure gives an indication of elasticity and the time an indicator of extensibility. We, as home bakers, care about this because it is the perfect balance of extensibility and elasticity that give us well shaped, but open crumbed breads that we so seek. (More about this later.) The importance of the results of this test cannot be overemphasized (for white flours - the bran in whole wheat flours cuts the gluten so that the bubble pops prematurely). I want one of those bad boys. Bad. (They talk about "boys and their toys" - I'm possibly worse - and for those that don't know - I'm a girl.)
At lunch I had the opportunity to chat with P. Stephen Baenziger of the University of Nebraska. He works on selective breeding and improving small grains (including my favorite - triticale. "You probably haven't heard of it," he said. "Actually, I've milled it and baked with it..."). We talked about the local heirloom wheat - Red Turkey. We discussed that while these heirloom breeds try to keep their genetic lines pure, the various diseases that attack them keep evolving and eventually a once disease resistant variety needs to be crossed with other plants to produce reliably, especially in an organic situation (heirloom breed enthusiasts - hold off! He is dealing with very, very large commercial operations. Results on a smaller scale will be different.) I did have to agree with him somewhat because my own experience with heirloom plants in my home garden (which sometimes gets less than optimal care because of my work/travel schedule) has been very similar and I've begun to love my hybrids for reliable, yet still tasty production.
We did have a more formal presentation on wheat breeding and what it takes to get a new breed to the point where it can be released for large scale planting. Now here is where even I began to glaze over a bit, for truthfully little me and little you (unless "little you" are a professional artisan baker) have little influence in this process. But the overall takeaway was pretty profound. He discussed that various strains of wheat - that might have better baking qualities for the artisan baker - were being abandoned because there is no perceived market for them. In the context of a BBGA educational event, the discussion wound around to how such an organization can change this (back to the second shameless plug.)
We talked a bit about alveograph tests and how to compensate for a flour that was not ideal. Here's where I want to put some emphasis - yes, hydration was mentioned (proper fermentation is a given in this company) - but another factor for correcting flour properties was the amount of flour pre fermented. I found this out for myself when I was tuning up my baguette formula, but it gets very little play on these pages - I wish it would get more.
This winds me around to our last discussion. We talked a bit about "protein levels" in wheat and how American bakers are all about the absolute number and not how the flour actually performs under the conditions of artisan bakers. Professional bakers who have baked in Europe expressed that the absolute protein number was not as important as how the flour acted as far as its baking qualities. Unfortunately the industry accepted tests are not designed for the kind of breads being produced by artisan bakers. It was expressed that Heartland would like to mill these lower protein flours, but there is no market for them because bakers have been trained to look for certain protein numbers. A lot of this was discussed within the context of how the BBGA might help, but my takeaway was this: It is not that Europe is a superior place to produce wheat; it is not that we don't have wonderful millers; it is that there is no perceived market for these flours. I have considered this for a long time. Maybe it was the sight of those immense fields of wheat. North America is a great place to grow wheat - but we, as consumers and bakers don't show enough demand for these flours to make production economically viable. Back to my shameless plug - here is where organizations like BBGA can make changes.
(I also had a lively discussion about the difference in economic incentives for small businesses/farms in Europe/Canada vs. the US, but do- not - get - me - started. Really.)
My last memorable quip was a gentleman who asked me why a raggedy home baker would know so many technical details about wheat, milling, and flour. "Was it that your bread didn't turn out well and you decided to find out why?" "No, I was always a pretty good baker," I replied. "The bread was always good. It's just that I - can't - help - myself."
I decided rather than stay for the dinner that I had spent enough time away from home and drove back to watch the sun set over the Rockies. To wrap up this long, long post, as I drove I pondered that this had been one of the most satisfying days that I had had in a long time. (A long drive on clear roads in nice weather in a sports car might have had something to do with it, but the mill tour played a large part.) And I thought of those words uttered by that most famous Kansas girl:
"...if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with.."
Dorothy Gale
Happy Baking!


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Welcome to WASCA!
WASCA is the Washington Area Square Dancers Cooperative Association. It is an organization run by dancers for dancers.
In this context square dance is an inclusive term that describes Western square dance, traditional square dance, round dance (now commonly know as choreographed ballroom), and clogging. This website is intended to be a resource for all of these dancers.


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Battle Between Rockwall-Heath and Longview Highlights Football This Weekend
There is no better way to spend a fall evening than under some Friday night lights! There are plenty of big games to go around in East Texas. Here's a few big stories to look at from our friends at ETSN.fm:
- District 12-5A Battle Between Rockwall-Heath and Longview is the ETSN.fm + Dairy Queen Game of the Week
- Undefeated Jefferson + Troup Square Off In District 9-2A D-I Opener
- Defending Class 4A Semifinalists John Tyler + Corsicana Get Things Going in District 16-4A
- Lufkin Could Take Command of District 14-5A Race with Win vs. The Woodlands
- Pine Tree Takes Two-Game Win Streak into District 14-4A Opener at Texas High
You can also check out the volleyball roundup for the week which includes wins from Carthage and New Diana.
For all high school sports updates visit ETSN.fm.


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This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Go to the summaries' table of contents
This summary has been archived and will not be updated, because the summarised document is no longer in force or does not reflect the current situation
Commission Opinion [COM(1997)2001 final - Not published in the Official Journal]
Commission report [COM(1998)700 final - Not published in the Official Journal]
Commission report [COM(1999)505 final - Not published in the Official Journal]
Commission report [COM(2000)705 final - Not published in the Official Journal]
Commission report [COM(2001) 700 final - SEC(2001) 1748 - Not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2002)700 final - SEC(2002)1404 - Not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2003)675 final - SEC(2003)1205 - Not published in the Official Journal]
Treaty of Accession to the European Union [Official Journal L 236 of 23.09.2003]
In its Opinion of July 1997, the Commission considered that in the field of justice and home affairs the necessary structures had been created but that it was difficult to assess their impact and effectiveness. Hungary was well placed to conform to the rules imposed by the European Union (EU) in the next few years, as long as the momentum of progress was maintained and effective training and institutional development programmes were implemented in the major justice and home affairs institutions. In addition, the Commission stressed that priority should be given to effective border management including a visa system increasingly modelled on that of the European Union and an asylum policy without geographical reservations and with sufficient resources.
The November 1998 Report noted that Hungary was capable of making progress towards enactment of the Community acquis in this area and, in particular, of focusing its efforts on the two major deficiencies affecting the short-term priorities of the Accession Partnership identified in the July 1997 Opinion: border management and an asylum policy with no geographical limits.
The October 1999 Report found that Hungary had made some progress in the area of justice and home affairs, particularly as regards police matters and the fight against corruption, with more measured progress on immigration, drugs and justice. However, no real improvement could be reported on border control or asylum.
In its November 2000 Report, the Commission noted that some progress had been made as regards visas, border control, immigration policy and the right to asylum. No significant progress had been made with regard to bringing judicial cooperation into line with the acquis.
In its November 2001 Report, the Commission noted that significant progress had been achieved in Hungary in numerous fields such as visa policy, immigration, asylum, judicial cooperation and the fight against organised crime.
The October 2002 Report notes that Hungary has reinforced the necessary administrative structures and has pursued the alignment of its legislation, notably as regards visa policy, measures to combat fraud and corruption and the Schengen Action Plan. Overall, Hungarian legislation is almost entirely in line with the acquis.
In its November 2003 Report, the Commission noted that Hungary had now completed the alignment of its legislation, but it criticises delays in relation to external border surveillance and the right of asylum.
Free movement of persons
The principle of free movement and the right to residence of all European citizens is provided for by Article 14 (former Article 7a) of the Treaty as well as by the provisions on European citizenship (Article 18, former Article 8a). Among the matters of common interest to the Member States, the Maastricht Treaty included asylum policy, the crossing of the external frontiers of the Union and immigration policy. The Amsterdam Treaty, which came into force on 1 May 1999, incorporated these into the EC Treaty (Articles 61 to 69), while making provision for a transitional period of five years before Community procedures would be applied to the full. In the long term " an area of freedom, security and justice " will be created without checks on persons at internal frontiers, irrespective of their nationality. At the same time, common rules must be laid down relating to checks on the external frontiers of the Union, visas, asylum and immigration policies. The action plan of the Council and the Commission of 3 December 1998 sets out a timetable for the measures to be adopted in order to achieve these objectives within five years.
Some Member States already apply common rules in these areas under the Schengen Agreements, the first of which was signed in 1985. These intergovernmental agreements have been incorporated into the European Union following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty and now constitute part of the Community acquis to be adopted by the applicant countries.
Poland has stated that it wants to comply with the provisions of the Schengen Agreement. It has begun to prepare for this and has asked the Member States for assistance, in particular with regard to the strengthening of checks at the external frontiers.
Asylum policy
European asylum policy, a matter of common interest to the Member States since the Maastricht Treaty, is based mainly on instruments without legal force such as, for example, the London resolutions of 1992 on requests for asylum manifestly unfounded and the principle of "host third countries" or on international conventions such as the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees.
On 15 June 1990, under the Schengen Agreements, the Member States signed the Dublin Convention, which came into force on 1 September 1997, determining the State responsible for examining applications for asylum lodged in one of the Member States of the European Union. This matter had not been settled by the Geneva Convention but various implementing measures were subsequently adopted by the Committee that it set up.
In addition to the Council and Commission action plan of 3 December 1998, a comprehensive strategy is necessary. Hence the task force on asylum and migration set up by the Council.
Immigration policy
Immigration policy, a matter of common interest since the Maastricht Treaty, comes under intergovernmental cooperation in the field of home affairs but does not yet really exist as a European policy. No rules have been drafted relating to the entry into the Community and the right of residence of nationals of non-member countries. However, the action plan of 3 December 1998 does provide for the adoption of specific measures in this area.
Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Few measures have been adopted in the area of judicial cooperation in civil matters, an area in which the EU can act since the Maastricht Treaty. To date, the most important measure is the Convention on the service of documents in civil or commercial matters in the Member States of the European Union. Following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, there is now a proposal for a Regulation to replace this Convention. The main instruments to facilitate civil judicial cooperation have been drafted at international level (the Brussels and Rome Conventions, for example).
In addition, in December 1998, the Council and Commission action plan listed the objectives to be attained in the medium term (two years) and the longer term (five years) and set out the list of measures to be adopted for that purpose.
Police, customs and judicial cooperation in criminal matters
The existing legislation in these fields stems mainly from the cooperation framework defined in Title VI of the European Union Treaty or the " third pillar ". The Amsterdam Treaty amended the legal provisions in the matter by creating a link with the " area of freedom, security and justice ". Now Title VI deals mainly with police cooperation, the fight against organised crime, the fight against drug trafficking, the fight against corruption and fraud, judicial cooperation in criminal matters and customs cooperation.
The existing legislation relating to justice and home affairs presupposes a high degree of specific cooperation between government departments as well as the preparation and effective application of rules and regulations. To this end, the first "Octopus" programme was financed by the European Commission and the Council of Europe between 1996 and 1998. The aim of "Octopus II" (1999-2000) is to facilitate the adoption of new legislative and constitutional measures by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and also by some Newly Independent States along the lines of the rules in force in the EU by providing training and assistance for all persons responsible for the fight against corruption and organised crime. In addition, a pact to combat organised crime was signed by the EU and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe on 28 May 1998.
Within the Union, the Council and Commission action plan of 3 December 1998 sets out the various measures to be adopted in the short term (two years) and the medium term (five years) in order to establish a genuine area of freedom, security and justice. These measures include the setting up of the European Police Office (Europol), the organisation of relations between the Office and the judicial authorities of the Member States, the incorporation of the Schengen acquis relating to police and customs cooperation, and the organisation of the gathering and storage of the requisite information concerning transborder crime.
The Europe Agreement and the White Paper on the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the internal market
The Europe Agreement with Poland includes provision for cooperation in the fight against drug abuse and money laundering.
The White Paper does not deal directly with third-pillar subjects, but reference is made to first-pillar matters such as money laundering and freedom of movement of persons, which are closely related to justice and home affairs considerations.
In the area of data protection, Hungary completed the alignment of its legislation with a new Data Protection and Public-interest Disclosure Act passed in June 2003. The National Supervisory Body set up to supervise NEBEK (the counterpart authority for Europol) became operational in November 2001 and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection was appointed for a six-term in December 2001.
Following the introduction of new visa requirements for nationals of Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Russia, Hungary has also introduced visa requirements for nationals of Cuba, the Seychelles and the Republic of South Africa. Visa requirements have been abolished for the special administrative regions of Macao (December 2001) and Hong Kong (February 2002). However, Hungary must continue its efforts as regards visa requirements and visa exemptions. A new visa sticker with higher security standards has been introduced under the new Aliens Entry and Residence Act, which entered into force in January 2002. Considerable progress was made in 2003 as regards administrative capacity (staffing and computer systems to establish a consular network).
A strategy on the integrated development of border crossing points was adopted in January 2001. It provided for the participation of all bodies concerned by external border controls, inter alia the Border Guard and the Customs and Finance Guard During 2001 the Border Guard received training and new equipment.
This modernisation has continued, in line with Schengen requirements. A revised version of the Schengen Action Plan was presented in July 2002 and is now being put into effect. Hungary is currently modernising its border control posts and is constructing and renovating border crossing points on its eastern border.
Overall, Hungarian legislation is broadly in line with the Community/Schengen acquis, particularly since the adoption of the Law on the protection of national frontiers and on border guards of January 2001. In May 2001, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a law distinguishing between internal and external borders in line with the Schengen requirements. Simplified border-crossing agreements have been entered into with Slovakia (2002) and Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania and Ukraine (2003). Negotiations are in progress for cooperation agreements with neighbouring countries on border controls and crime prevention.
As far as immigration policy is concerned, the legislation is substantially aligned and the requisite administrative structures are in place.
Hungary is a target country for asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Bangladesh. In May 2001, the new Asylum Act brought Hungary into line with the Schengen acquis as regards the definition of unaccompanied minors. Recently amended, the Act entered into force in January 2003. Immigration and naturalisation services increased their capacities, and the renovation of reception centres proceeded, even though in 2003 there were still some asylum-seekers held in detention centres for more than a year. Further efforts are needed to promote the social integration of refugees. A strategy to improve refugee integration is currently being worked out.
A central unit has been set up to establish the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which will be compatible with EURODAC.
Hungary has continued to develop police cooperation with its neighbouring countries and the EU Member States. Hungary needs to continue its efforts to establish a responsible, reliable and coordinated police force before the date of accession and to develop new techniques.
Since April 2002, the centre for international cooperation between police forces has been providing backing for police cooperation at international level and implementation of the cooperation agreement with Europol.
Hungary established a body responsible for coordinating the fight against organised crime under the supervision of the Minister of Interior in April 2001. Its brief is to collect, analyse and process information relating to organised crime, to coordinate investigations and to prevent duplication between the various departments involved. But the Commission suggests that there should be better sharing of information on economic and organised crime and a substantial injection of financial resources to give effect to the measures that are provided for.
Hungary continues to be a country of transit and destination for trafficking in human beings. On the basis of the Aliens Entry and Residence Act, which has been in force since January 2002, detected traffickers may be expelled immediately. A package of amendments to the penal code, in force since April 2002, has brought about alignment with the acquis and the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo Convention). But Hungary still needs to ratify the Convention and its protocol. It also needs to sign and ratify the protocol to the Protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components and ammunition and to ratify the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.
As regards the fight against terrorism, Hungary has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. Hungary is a party to all other terrorism-related UN conventions. Hungary also joined the EU common positions on the fight against terrorism. A special unit has been set up within the police to freeze financial assets of suspected terrorists and terrorist organisations. Its purpose is to ensure effective implementation of the policy on counter-terrorism.
Further progress has been made in the fight against fraud and corruption. Overall, the legal framework is almost entirely in line with the acquis. In January 2003, Hungary ratified the Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption. In addition, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure have been amended to align the country's law on the acquis. Negotiations are under way with 17 countries for bilateral agreements on terrorism, organised crime and corruption. A national central office to analyse bank notes and coins must be designated. In December 2001, a new law was adopted on the criminal liability of legal persons.
To help safeguard the financial interests of the Community, Hungary set up an anti-fraud interministerial coordination committee in November 2001. In addition, various bodies have been set up to make the fight against corruption more effective.
As regards corruption, Hungary is one of the best-placed former communist countries. The strategy to combat corruption, adopted in 2001, has prompted many improvements to the legislation through the "glass pocket programme" adopted in April 2003. But there are still serious problems here. In its report published in March 2003 the GRECO (Group of Countries against Corruption) points out among other things that corruption in relation to political funding seems to be a particular problem.
With the entry into force of its legislation on money laundering in 2003, Hungary's law is now fully aligned on the Community acquis. The OECD Financial Action Task Force has removed Hungary from its list of non-cooperative countries. Furthermore, the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority is a particularly competent body. It recently set up a financial intelligence unit.
In September 2003 the Hungary aligned its legislation on the fight against drugs. A new comprehensive strategy was approved in 2000 and a plan of action followed in November 2002. Despite progress made in implementing the strategy, more financing is necessary for prevention programmes. A National Contact Point for Cooperation and Information Exchange with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has not yet been established.
In the area of customs cooperation, Hungary has concluded bilateral mutual assistance agreements with a number of Member States. Hungary also concluded customs cooperation agreements with Argentina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kyrgyzstan in 2001 and with Latvia in 2002.
Judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters must continue so as to ensure implementation of Community instruments. In particular, Hungary must deal with the 2002 legislation on the European arrest warrant. With a view to Hungary's participation in European networks and institutions (European Judicial Network, EUROJUST), the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor General have been designated as contact points. Provisions on international private law were adopted in 2000 in accordance with the Brussels Convention in the areas of jurisdiction, mutual recognition and enforcement of judgements.
All human rights judicial instruments (which form part of the Justice and Home Affairs acquis) have been ratified.
Last updated: 10.08.2005


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In the end, I made 42 spirals*. Then I laid them out on the kitchen table, pinned them and linked it all together with a boarder made of a deep-red wool. The MC is a variegated boucle I bought at Avril in Japan (don't ask any more details - I don't have them and when I did they were in Japanese), the CC is Rowan's pure wool aran (with the disturbing colourway-name of "blood"). I used a mix of 4.5mm and 6mm hooks.
I then spent several evenings weaving in ends. This is the key problem with crochet blankets.
It was one of the Christmas presents for my mother, which is why I've kept it secret so far. She turned 60 this year, so I thought an (ironic) "old lady blanket" would be a good idea; the crochet spirals are meant to be a twist on the traditional granny square. Because she's no square, she's my momma (plus, neither me or my brother aim to make her a granny for a while). It's based on one of my favourite scarves, which itself is inspired by some of Ruth's amazing hat creations.
I was aiming for a lap blanket, but I realised I didn't quite have enough of the spirals to cover the required area and I didn't want to space them out with too-large a red boarder. So instead I plumped for a giant wrap. As it turns out, Mum seems to find the extra warmth around the shoulders really good, and she's been wearing it loads while she works from home. This picture gives an idea of how it hangs over the shoulders (and a clue as to scale).
Plus, apparently it reminds her of a bed jacket her mother made her years ago. One of the unexpected outcomes of my adventures in yarn is it reminds mum of her own mother. She loves saying "I dreaded that thing about turning into my mother, turns out my daughter did it for me" and I enjoy haunting/ poking fun at her with it. It's that odd thing about being the kid of 50s/60s teenagers. They rebelled against their parents and made a big fuss of it. So do we follow them in such rebellion (which, if you think about it, isn't really that rebellious, as you're doing what they did), or find other ways of bugging them, like aping their parents? The delights of postmodern generational relations. That said, it probably isn't just a matter of post/late/ liquid modenity; it's not as if notions of revolutionary generational change are especially new. Still, its nice how craft often weaves links accross time, whilst allowing generations their own take on things (as evidenced by book titles like this). I wonder what my Granny would have thought of Ravelry?
* This number wasn't deliberate, but I'm a geek so it pleased me.


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LAKE FOREST – The idea that the Chicago Bears' offense will match its jaw-dropping defense this season just might be a little far-fetched.
So says quarterback Jay Cutler.
"We're not going to catch the defense this year," Cutler said. "It's not going to happen. We're 8, 9 years behind those guys. They've been in the same system a long time. We've just got to focus on ourselves."
For all the hype coming into the season, the offense remains a work in progress.
That hasn't stopped the Bears (7-1) from grabbing the NFC North lead heading into Sunday's showdown with AFC South leader Houston (7-1).
It just hasn't happened quite the way they envisioned. Now, they're going against a dominant defense in a matchup between two of the league's best teams.
"I think you guys have to understand we're not going to look like the New England Patriots," star receiver Brandon Marshall said. "We're not going to look like the New Orleans Saints offense. We're the Chicago Bears offense."
And it might not be as shiny and flashy. At least not this season.
That didn't stop Marshall from pointing out that the offense scored 37 points in last week's 51-20 win at Tennessee, even though three of that group's touchdowns came on drives of 16 yards or fewer. The offense really didn't do much in that game until the second half.
He mentioned that the Bears have an elite quarterback in Cutler and running back in Matt Forte.
"We're going to do it our own way," Marshall said.
So when will it really click?
"I'm thinking 2015," he said in jest, before turning serious. "We have goals. We want to win now. We want to win now. We're doing a good job of it and will we be a No. 1 offense this year? I don't know. It doesn't look like it, but what we're doing is effective. We just have to be a little bit more productive and start a little bit faster."
The Bears rank 25th overall on offense and 29th in the passing game, a surprise considering how dominant Marshall has been.
Now, they're about to meet a defense that might be overshadowed a bit this week even though it ranks among the league's best. For all the publicity the Bears' defenders are getting, consider what the Texans are doing.
They're third overall on defense, second against the run and fourth against the pass.
They're tied with Chicago for third with 25 sacks along with the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks, including a league-leading 101/2 by J.J. Watt, and they're going up against a team with well-documented issues when it comes to protection. Cutler has been sacked 28 times and is second only to Aaron Rodgers in that category.
"He has been sacked a lot," Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus said. "They're having a lot of difficulty in pass protection. Any defensive players likes that, so the thing is, we're going to work our best moves and try to get to him as best we can."
And yet, the Texans also realize they could be in for a tough time.
No one needs to remind them about Cutler's mobility and arm strength, Forte's versatility in the backfield or Marshall's sheer dominance so far. The Bears' prized offseason acquisition, he's second in the league with 797 yards receiving on 59 receptions.
"Everybody knows the type of player he is," said Houston safety Danieal Manning, who played in Chicago from 2006-10. "He's been targeted much now that he's back with his guy [Cutler]. Those guys are hooking up a lot. Brandon has been catching it well, he's a big-body guy who can run routes and stretch the field. Wherever he is, you'd be crazy not to pay attention to where that guy is. Not only him, they do have other playmakers on that team."


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Dems done hiking tax rates?
The fiscal cliff deal handed Democrats a tax victory years in the making, but it also means the party will need a new playbook for the budget battles that lie ahead.
That's because many Democrats readily acknowledge that they've exhausted their ability to raise taxes on the richest Americans by jacking up their rates.
Story Continued Below
The historic tax agreement passed by Congress this week raises rates on top earners from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. Meanwhile, provisions from the 2010 health care law kicked in Jan. 1, increasing rates on investment income from 15 percent to almost 24 percent for the most affluent taxpayers.
Winning these levies was hard enough. With Republicans licking their wounds in the wake of the fiscal cliff deal, Democrats know that politically speaking, there's virtually no way to keep increasing marginal tax rates.
"This does settle the issue of rates for individuals," Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) told POLITICO. "That's good. That certainty and predictability is one of the gains" of the fiscal cliff legislation.
Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, agreed. When asked whether more rate increases are in the offing, he responded, "I don't foresee that."
It's a significant policy evolution for a party that has been screaming about raising rates on top earners ever since President George W. Bush started slashing taxes in 2001.
But the new tone from Democrats doesn't mean the brutal tax fights of the past few years are about to die down. With the focus in Washington already shifting to looming debates over raising the debt ceiling, replacing the so-called sequester and keeping the government funded past March, Democrats say other types of tax revenue will still be a key element of future budget negotiations.
"The push continues for balance and fairness," said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.).
The fiscal cliff deal established an important precedent for negotiations, according to Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee. The legislation, he noted, delays the so-called sequester for two months and pays for the postponement by both raising revenue and cutting spending.
And though President Barack Obama's speech on New Year's Eve on the fiscal cliff deal was mocked roundly as a pep rally for tax increases, Van Hollen said it was an important event because the president highlighted that principle and said it must be honored going forward.
"The thing at the White House? Yeah, it was part rally," Van Hollen told POLITICO. "But the important part of it was laying down and establishing the … principle that we still need to take a balanced approach going forward — meaning we've got to make some cuts going forward, but we also need additional revenue."


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Moderators: GOLDEN-ARM, cjl330, mikec
sean3f wrote:All
I spotted 19 at the Delaware water gap in front of the tower . To make things more interesting, she was dropped of by a Union Pacific engine (and a NS). After the drop, the pair went towards Scranton which is not what I expected. Too bad my phone died or I would have posted some pix. Possibly she was coming back from having the wheel fixed or going on a new assignment.
Any case good to see her on the road and also see an historic locomotive in an historic location.
Best, Sean...
Teutobergerwald wrote:The #18 was purchased by the Illinois Railway Museum, confirmed on their website.
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Hex Mug Set Of 4 - Fade
A range of 4 mugs with hexagon related designs. Intricate black hexagon based patterns make these mugs a stylish addition to any modern home. They stand well on their own or as part of a set. The hexagon cells become more random in shape towards the top.


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Sofia Vergara's 'Machete Kills 2′ Poster Proves Her Breasts are Indeed Lethal Weapons
Sofia Vergara is in 'Machete Kills', the sequel to the successful Robert Rodriguez flick staring Danny Trejo and a whole lot of blood. In the sneak peek posters, Vergara lets the world know her breasts have a featured role in the film. Check out the cannons attached to those cannons.
In the sequel, Machete (Danny Trejo) is recruited by the government "to take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet." The 'Machete Kills' plot is very similar to the plot of 'The Bridges of Madison County.'
The packed cast list includes Michelle Rodriguez, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Mel Gibson.
Here are the official posters of Danny Trejo and Lady Gaga with a dead animal.