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After more than a month on the run amid a nationwide manhunt, former Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins was found with his 15-year-old student, Elizabeth Thomas, in far northern California.
Cummins was arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor. Today, the FBI took custody of Cummins under a federal warrant, which supersedes all local charges. The FBI is expected to take him back to Tennessee.
Elizabeth will be reunited with her family in Tennessee today.
Here's what is known about the days leading up to her alleged abduction, her time spent on the run with Cummins and how authorities finally located them thousands of miles away.
One of Elizabeth's schoolmates reported seeing her and Cummins kiss in his classroom at Culleoka Unit School in Culleoka, Tennessee, on Jan. 23. Both denied the claim, but the school district in Maury County decided to investigate the allegation.
A report from the school district dated Jan. 30 stated that neither Cummins nor Elizabeth "admitted to behaving inappropriately towards the other."
Cummins said Elizabeth, a student in his forensics class, is "a really good friend" who sees him "when she needs someone to calm her down." He said he loved his wife and would never cheat on her, the report stated.
The report concluded that it "could not be confirmed" the alleged kiss happened. However, the report said Elizabeth would be removed from Cummins' class and that "Cummins will be reprimanded in regards to his duty to uphold his professional responsibility and behavior."
The school district wrote a letter to Cummins on Feb. 3, stating that Elizabeth was in the teacher's classroom that day, which the letter said violated a previous order by the school district.
The school district wrote another letter to Cummins on Feb. 6, telling him he is suspended without pay immediately "pending an investigation."
An attorney for the Thomas family wrote a letter to the school district superintendent on Feb. 6, claiming that Elizabeth's father was never alerted by the district about the alleged incident and found out about it on Jan. 31, more than a week after the kiss allegedly happened, when sheriff's deputies called to ask him questions.
The lawyer's letter also suggested the teen was communicating with the teacher through her cellphone. "Upon inspection of her cellphone the two are also having telephone communications," the attorney's letter stated.
Cummins, a married father and grandfather, researched "teen marriage" online, specifically the age of consent, on March 5, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Cummins conducted an online search about his car "to determine if certain features could be tracked by law enforcement," according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Elizabeth urgently woke up her sister Sarah on March 13 and made her promise to call the police if she's not home by 6 p.m. that night.
Sarah later told ABC News that Elizabeth sounded "serious," not happy.
"She's not a serious person," Sarah said.
Elizabeth was seen around 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m. local time at a Shoney's restaurant in Columbia, Tennessee, where she is dropped off by a friend, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. She never returned home that night.
Surveillance footage from a gas station near the restaurant appeared to show Cummins at about 8:30 a.m. filling up his silver Nissan Rogue.
Later that same afternoon, a cellphone ping placed the pair in Decatur, Alabama, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Cummins was officially fired from his teaching job at Culleoka Unit School.
An Amber Alert was issued for Elizabeth.
Surveillance cameras at a Walmart in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, captured Cummins and Elizabeth in the store on the afternoon of March 15.
Investigators later obtained and released images from the surveillance footage.
The footage showed the pair entering the Walmart together, where Cummins used cash to buy food. He didn't buy "anything else of significance," according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
In the video, Cummins has "an altered appearance to darken his hair" and indicated that "Elizabeth may currently have red hair," according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Cummins, wanted on allegations of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor, was added to Tennessee's 10 most wanted list.
Brent Cooper, the district attorney general for Giles, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne counties in Tennessee, asked members of the public to share the Amber Alert for Elizabeth with friends and family members in Mexico and Central America, adding that Mexican law enforcement had been notified and "it's possible that's where they are."
Cooper said Cummins "planned this in such a way that he had a 24-hour head start … easily enough time for him to make it to Mexico."
A lawyer for Cummins' wife, Jill Cummins, said she had filed for divorce after 31 years of marriage.
"Jill will attempt to move forward with her life," attorney Michael Cox said in a statement provided to ABC News. "Jill continues to pray for the safe return of Elizabeth Thomas and for a peaceful resolution to this ordeal."
Cooper told ABC News that Cummins is on medication to control his blood pressure and should need a refill. Pharmacists were asked to be on alert for customers who look like Cummins or Elizabeth.
Cooper also told ABC News that Cummins left a note for his wife the morning he vanished. Cooper didn't provide details on what was in the note, but said it appeared to have been a diversion to throw investigators off the trail.
Griffin Barry, a resident in far northern California, met Cummins and Elizabeth at a gas station in a very rural area of Cecilville.
Cummins told Barry, who lives on a property that includes the gas station, their names are John and Joanna and that they need money for gas, food and a place to stay.
Barry paid to fuel up their car, gave them an extra $40 in cash and set them up in a nearby cabin on the same property where he resides.
Barry didn't talk much with the pair, he said, but became increasingly suspicious the more he interacts with them.
"The girl wasn't really looking at me or anything and he was always dominating the conversation. That kind of clues people in," Barry later told ABC News' "Good Morning America."
After realizing who Cummins and Elizabeth really were, Barry called 911 on April 19.
"I had a photo of him that was the Amber Alert and I was like, that's definitely the guy, and then we saw the car as well and it matched up. Then we called the police right after that," Barry later told "GMA."
Around 11 p.m. local time on April 19, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation received a call to its tip line about a possible sighting of the duo, according to the bureau's public information officer, Josh Devine.
The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department in northern California, received a similar tip, according to Devine.
Investigators located a Nissan Rogue and were able to confirm through its VIN number that it belonged to Cummins. The car was kept under surveillance for several hours.
Authorities from the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department located Cummins and Elizabeth at a cabin in a rural area in remote Cecilville, nearly 2,500 miles from Elizabeth's home in Tennessee.
Authorities were deployed to the location around 2 a.m. local time and deputies set up a perimeter around the cabin. They elected to wait until daylight to arrest Cummins as he exited the residence, according to the sheriff's department.
Around 9:30 a.m. local time, Cummins exited the cabin and surrendered without incident. He was subsequently placed under arrest. Two loaded handguns were found in the cabin, according to the sheriff's department.
Elizabeth also exited the cabin and was safely recovered by law enforcement officers.
"After we placed them into protective custody, she was laughing, she was crying. She was kind of an emotional roller coaster, as you can imagine," Lieutenant Behr Tharsing of the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department later told "GMA."
Cummins was charged with aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor, according to Cooper.
The U.S. State Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee also filed a federal charge of transportation of a minor across state lines with intent of having criminal sexual intercourse against Cummins, according to U.S. attorney Jack Smith. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Cummins also faces charges in California's Siskiyou County for kidnapping and possession of stolen property, according to the sheriff's department. The charges are pending review by Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus.
Cummins was in the custody of the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department without bond, until today.
Cummins is in the custody of the FBI and is expected to be taken back to Tennessee.
ABC News' Elisabeth Bognar, William Gretsky, Michael Edison Hayden, Katie Kindelan, Dee Morales, Lauren Putrino, Glenn Ruppel, Emily Shapiro, Jason Volack, Kayna Whitworth, Nery Ynclan and Robert Zepeda contributed to this report.


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I'm excited about the LA screening of 140, little bummed that I wont be in attendance! Sounds like it's going to be a fantastic screening.
It's screening on September 11th as part of a Downtown event called 'Taco Cinema', where dozens of gourmet food trucks gather in an area called the Medallion (coincidently, last time I was in LA my good friend Trampas told me about this event and how great it was!)
(Some of the locations of the festival. Top Left: The Medallion Area. Above Right: LA Gourmet Food Trucks. Middle: the penthouse of the Roosevelt, where the Filmmakers reception is taking place.
Bottom: The Roosevelt.)
There will be a food festival all day, which will end at sunset (8:30pm) with an outdoor screening of 140! Sounds fantastic. I always though 140 would make a great out door movie! I'm sorry to miss it. But it should be well represented by the LA filmmakers, who I hope can all make it. They blimmin better, if I could afford it I'd fly across the world for this, thems lucky sods just have to trip out their back doors! ;)
Anyone in the area interested in attending tickets are only $10 for the entire day. Check out the listing on the Downtown Film Festival website.
Post a comment or send me an email if you do attend, I'd love to hear about it. Enjoy!

subset: commoncrawl


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Lets make $40k electric cars that nobody will buy.
I can't wait for the Biden/Ryan debate.
GM and Bin Laden!!!
I got nothin' else.
Meanwhile, many experts think GM will be bankrupt again sometime in the next year.
Lets make $40k electric cars that nobody will buy.
I can't wait for the Biden/Ryan debate.
General Motors Is Headed For Bankruptcy -- Again
President Obama is proud of his bailout of General Motors. Thats good, because, if he wins a second term, he is probably going to have to bail GM out again. The company is once again losing market share, and it seems unable to develop products that are truly competitive in the U.S. market.
Right now, the federal government owns 500,000,000 shares of GM, or about 26% of the company. It would need to get about $53.00/share for these to break even on the bailout, but the stock closed at only $20.21/share on Tuesday. This left the government holding $10.1 billion worth of stock, and sitting on an unrealized loss of $16.4 billion.
Right now, the governments GM stock is worth about 39% less than it was on November 17, 2010, when the company went public at $33.00/share. However, during the intervening time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by almost 20%, so GM shares have lost 49% of their value relative to the Dow.
Its doubtful that the Obama administration would attempt to sell off the governments massive position in GM while the stock price is falling. It would be too embarrassing politically. Accordingly, if GM shares continue to decline, it is likely that Obama would ride the stock down to zero.
GM is unlikely to hit the wall before the election, but, given current trends, the company could easily do so again before the end of a second Obama term.
In the 1960s, GM averaged a 48.3% share of the U.S. car and truck market. For the first 7 months of 2012, their market share was 18.0%, down from 20.0% for the same period in 2011. With a loss of market share comes a loss of relative cost-competitiveness. There is only so much market share that GM can lose before it would no longer have the resources to attempt to recover.
To help understand why GM keeps losing market share, lets look at the saga of the Chevy Malibu.
The Malibu is GMs entry in the automobile markets D-Segment. The D-Segment comprises mid-size, popularly priced, family sedans, like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. The D-Segment accounted for 14.7% of the total U.S. vehicle market in 2011, and 21.3% during the first 7 months of 2012.
Because the D-Segment is the highest volume single vehicle class in the U.S., and the U.S. is GMs home market, it is difficult to imagine how GM could survive long term unless it can profitably develop, manufacture, and market a vehicle that can hold its own in the D-Segment. This is true not only because of the revenue potential of the D-Segment, but also because of what an also-ran Malibu would say about GMs ability to execute at this time in its history.
GM is in the process of introducing a totally redesigned 2013 Chevy Malibu. It will compete in the D-Segment with, among others, the following: the Ford Fusion (totally redesigned for 2013); the Honda Accord (totally redesigned for 2013); the Hyundai Sonata (totally redesigned for 2011); the Nissan Altima (totally redesigned for 2013); the Toyota Camry (refreshed for 2013); and the Volkswagen Passat (totally redesigned for 2012).
Automobile technology is progressing so fast that the best vehicle in a given segment is usually just the newest design in that segment. Accordingly, if a car company comes out with a new, completely redesigned vehicle, it had better be superior to the older models being offered by its competitors. If it is not, the company will spend the next five years (the usual time between major redesigns in this segment) losing market share and/or offering costly incentives to move the metal.
Uh-oh. At this point, it appears that the 2013 Malibu is not only inferior to the 2012 Volkswagen Passat, its not even as good as the car it replaces, the 2012 Chevy Malibu.
If you follow the automobile enthusiast press, you know that, under the leadership of then product czar Bob Lutz, GM went all out to develop a competitive D-Segment car for the 2008 model year. The result was the 2008 Chevy Malibu, which managed to get itself named by Car and Driver magazine as one of the 10 Best Cars for 2008.
However, when tested head to head against six other D-Segment sedans in the March 2008 issue of Car and Driver, the 2008 Malibu came in third, behind the Honda Accord and the Nissan Altima. Adjusted to the points scale that Car and Driver uses today, the 2008 Malibu scored 187 points, 6% lower than the winning 2008 Honda Accords 198 points.
Still, third was a respectable showing. The previous generation of the Malibu, a darling of rental car fleets, would have come in dead last in any D-Segment comparison test.
Acknowledging the importance of the D-Segment to the companys future, GMs CEO, Dan Akerson, ordered that the introduction of the redesigned 2013 Chevy Malibu be advanced by six months, from the fall of 2012 to the spring of 2012.
In their March 2012 issue, Car and Driver published another D-Segment comparison test, pitting the 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco against five competing vehicles. This time, the Malibu came in dead last.
Not only was the 2013 Malibu (183 points) crushed by the winning 2012 Volkswagen Passat (211 points), it was soundly beaten by the 2012 Honda Accord (198 points), a 5-model-year-old design due for replacement this fall. Worst of all, the 2013 Malibu scored (and placed) lower than the 2008 Malibu would have in the same test.
Digging deeper, the picture just gets worse. Despite its mild hybrid powertrain, which is intended to provide superior fuel economy (at the cost of a higher purchase price and reduced trunk space), the 2013 Malibu Eco delivered the same 26 MPG in Car and Drivers comparison test as the Passat, the Accord, and the Toyota Camry.
In a recent speech, Dan Akerson admitted that GMs powertrain technology had fallen behind that of competitors in some cases. This is illustrated by the Malibu Ecos EPA gas mileage ratings. At 25 MPG City/37 MPG Highway, the Malibu Eco is not as fuel-efficient as the conventionally-powered 2013 Nissan Altima (27 MPG City/38 MPG Highway).
It might be possible for GM to give the Malibu a better powertrain during its five-year-product life cycle. Unfortunately, there is no way that they will be able to correct its biggest design flaw, which is its short wheelbase.
For years, automobile companies have been trying to design cars with the longest possible wheelbase (distance between the front and rear axles) for a given overall vehicle length. A longer wheelbase provides advantages in the areas of styling, ride, and legroom.
In developing the 2013 Malibu, GM decided to shorten the wheelbase by 4.5 inches from that of the previous-generation Malibu, from 112.3 inches to 107.5 inches. This gave the 2013 Malibu the shortest wheelbase in the entire D-Segment.
The Car and Driver comparison-test-winning Passat has a wheelbase of 110.4 inches, which gives it a unique selling proposition, the roomiest back seat in the D-Segment. The Passat has combined front and rear legroom totaling 81.5 inches, 3.5 inches more than the Malibu.
This may not sound like a lot, but, like baseball, automobile design is a game of inches.
For a 61 tall man, sitting in the back seat of the 2012 Passat behind a similar-sized driver is like sitting in a limo. His knees will be nowhere near the back of the front seat. In contrast, the same sized man would have to struggle to get into the back seat of the 2013 Malibu, and would have to sit with his legs splayed once he did.
Rear seat legroom is important in the family sedan market, not only for the comfort of adult passengers, but also for the ease of using childrens car seats. The 2013 Nissan Altima also has longer wheelbase and more rear seat legroom than does the Malibu.
Chevrolet is not a premium brand, like Mercedes or BMW. Since the 1920s, Chevys essential market positioning has been more car for your money. Unfortunately, the 2012 Volkswagen Passat is more car for the money than is the 2013 Malibu. There will not be anything that GM will be able to do about this for the next five years other than to reduce the price of the Malibu by offering incentives. This will eat into the companys profitability, which is already weak.
As a company, General Motors peaked in 1965, when it commanded 50.7% of the U.S. market, and made a stunning-for-the-time $2.1 billion dollars in after-tax profits. Adjusted by the GDP deflator to 2011 dollars, GM made $12.1 billion in after-tax profits on $117.9 billion in revenue.
In 1965, Volkswagen was tiny compared to GM. It produced only 1.6 million vehicles, about 22% of GMs 7.3 million. VWs total revenues were only 11% of GMs. The most powerful engine you could get in VWs volume family car, the Beetle, had 40 horsepower. The biggest engine you could get in GMs equivalent, the 1965 Chevy Impala, had 425 horsepower.
In the first half of 2012, Volkswagen sold almost as many vehicles as GM did, 4.6 million vs. 4.7 million. And, its total revenues were much higher, $119.2 billion vs. $75.4 billion for GM. Part of this is the result of currency exchange rates, but VW had a significantly higher operating profit margin than GM, 6.8% vs. 5.7%.
Under the leadership of Ferdinand Piech, who is kind of like a German-speaking, automobile industry version of Steve Jobs, Volkswagen is determined to become the biggest and most profitable car company in the world. And, right now, they are eating GMs lunch.
Not only has Volkswagen taken an important share of the U.S. D-Segment with their new Passat, but they are pulling away from everyone in the troubled European market, where GM is losing money on its Opel subsidiary. The headline in the current edition of Automotive New Europes Global Monthly is, Buried: VW Uses Europes Crisis to Crush Rivals. In this case, GM is one of the crushees.
Will GM be able to turn itself around, and save American taxpayers from losing $26.5 billion on Obamas bailout?
One way to answer that question is to compare the 2013 Chevy Malibu against the 2012 Volkswagen Passat, as Car and Driver did. Results: VW, first out of six; GM, dead last. However, additional insight can be obtained by looking at how GMs CEO, Dan Akerson (63), stacks up against Professor Doctor Martin Winterkorn (65), the man handpicked by Ferdinand Piech in 2007 to be his replacement as CEO of Volkswagen AG.
Akerson has an engineering degree, but he also has a Masters Degree in Economics, and his first big job was as CFO of MCI. Akerson was CEO of General Instrument, and then of Nextel, and then of XO Communications, which went bankrupt in June 2002. He joined the private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, in 2003.
Akerson got his first job in the automobile industry when he was named CEO of GM in late 2010. Recently, he has been hiring and firing top GM executives at an alarming pace, and he is understood to be working on a major reorganization of the company. Akerson recently gave a televised speech to GM employees on the need for integrity.
Martin Winterkorn has a PhD in Metallurgical Engineering, and he has spent his entire career in the automotive industry. At the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, Winterkorn was caught on amateur video sitting in, and studying Hyundais newly introduced i30, a competitor to VWs best-selling family car, the Golf. Here is an excerpt from a story about this incident published along with the video by The Truth About Cars, an auto industry blog:
(Martin Winterkorn) pulled on the adjuster of the steering column, and heard nothing. At Volkswagen, there is an audible (klonk!) feedback whenever the steering column is adjusted.
Immediately, Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen Brand Design was summoned. He pulled on the adjuster: No sound. Da scheppert nix, exclaimed Winterkorn in his heavy Bavarian accent. There is no rattle!
Winterkorn was livid: How did he pull that off? He, the blasted Korean. BMW doesnt know how. We dont know how. He, the blasted Korean, must have found out how to battle the dreaded Scheppern.
Tension is high. This could affect careers. Someone quickly explains that there had been a solution, but it was too expensive. That gets Winterkorn even more enraged. Then, why does he know how? For less money. He, the Korean. There is no answer. Hyundai has beaten Volkswagen at the Scheppern front.
Winterkorn measures the A-pillar, runs his hands over the plastic. He walks away, his entourage trots after him. Deeply in thought and very worried.
Uh-oh. While Dan Akerson is busy rearranging the deck chairs on GMs Titanic, Martin Winterkorn is leading VW to world domination via technical excellence.
The game isnt over until its over, but if President Obama wins reelection, he should probably start giving some serious thought to how he is going to justify bailing out GM, and its unionized UAW workforce, yet again. And, during the current campaign, Obama might want to be a little more modest about what he actually achieved by bailing out GM the first time.
Don't forget the theme of the convention:
"We all belong to the government"
The best thing is let GM go bellyup. Let competent management and have the union contract renegotiated. Get rid of GMC which is basically an over priced Chevy! Build the cars right the first time and people will buy them. A car belongs in the owners driveway not in the shop getting fixed!
Romney's plan is to cut 5 trillion in taxes, raise military spending, and gut discretionary domestic spending.
That's his "fiscally responsible" plan that will help "average Americans".
What we know with certainty is that democrats will never cut spending at all. They wont do it. The theme of the DNC convention was "we all belong to government". Their plan calls for more taxes and more spending. Obamacare carries a slew of new taxes and still runs up the deficit by almost 3 trillion in 10 years. How do you pass a new entitlement at a time when we need entitlement reform? It is counter to logic.
This reliable site does not question the 5 trillion dollar figure and notes that these tax cuts are heavily slated to benefit the rich...Barack Obama says Mitt Romney's tax plan gives millionaires an average tax cut of $250,000
President Barack Obama has repeatedly argued that his Republican rival Mitt Romney is pursuing policies that favor the rich. Recently, Obama offered a specific claim about how wealthier Americans would benefit from Romneys tax plan.
In a May 5, 2012, campaign speech in Columbus, Ohio, Obama said, "My opponent wont tell us how hed pay for his new, $5 trillion tax cut -- a tax cut that gives an average of $250,000 to every millionaire in this country."
We wondered whether Romneys tax proposal really would be so generous to millionaires. (The Romney campaign didn't respond to our inquiry for this story.)
First, some background on what Romney is proposing. Here are some of key elements of his plan, according to the campaigns website.
For individuals:
Cut marginal rates by one-fifth on a permanent, across-the-board basis
Eliminate interest, dividend, and capital gains taxes for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income below $200,000
Eliminate the estate tax
Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax
For corporations:
Cut the corporate rate to 25 percent
Make permanent the research and development tax credit
Switch to a territorial tax system
Repeal the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax
The Romney campaign's website states that lowering both individual and corporate tax rates will stimulate economic growth. High tax rates "discourage work and entrepreneurship, as well as savings and investment," the website states. "With 54 percent of private sector workers employed outside of corporations, individual rates also define the incentives for job-creating businesses. Lower marginal tax rates secure for all Americans the economic gains from tax reform."
And in a speech on March 30, 2012, Romney affirmed his plan to cut taxes for everyone: "Taxes should be as low as possible, in line with those of competing nations, and designed to foster innovation and growth. That's why I will cut marginal tax rates across the board. "
For an independent assessment of Romneys plan, we turned to the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, a think tank that, among other things, evaluates the tax proposals submitted by presidential candidates. While judging tax proposals is subject to some degree of interpretation, the Tax Policy Center has a significant degree of respect in tax circles.
The Tax Policy Center looked at two versions of Romneys tax proposal. We will use the analysis of the more recent of Romneys two plans, which the group published in March 2012.
Before we look at the centers analysis, we should note that the group ran two sets of numbers. One version, known as "current law," essentially gives Romney credit for extending the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush and for an annual adjustment in the Alternative Minimum Tax. Under this calculation, taxpayers savings from these two extensions are added to the total tax cuts from Romneys tax proposal itself.
The other version, known as "current policy," assumes that the Bush and AMT tax cuts will be extended, with or without Romney. This method only counts the taxpayer savings from the new proposals in Romneys tax plan -- a smaller amount of tax savings than Romney would see under the "current law" calculation.
It turns out that the "current policy" calculation is the one that backs up Obamas claim. The Tax Policy Center found that under Romneys proposal, people with $1 million or more in annual cash income will receive an average tax cut of $250,535. Those in the millionaire category will receive an 11.8 percent increase in after-tax income, easily the highest of any income group. Collectively, the tax savings for millionaires would amount to nearly one-third of all the tax benefits that result from Romneys plan.
The "current law" analysis shows even bigger gains for millionaires. By this method, the average tax cut for someone with cash income north of $1 million a year would be $390,876, according to the Tax Policy Center.
And the higher you go on the income scale, the bigger the tax cuts become. Under the centers more restrictive "current policy" method, the top one-tenth of 1 percent of taxpayers -- those earning $2,868,534 a year -- would get an average tax cut of $725,716. That accounts for 19.4 percent of all the tax cuts benefits.
Our ruling
Even using the more restrictive of the Tax Policy Centers two calculations, Romneys tax plan would save millionaires almost exactly what Obama said -- $250,535. We rate the statement True.
Reagan, Bradley and Gephardt got it done to some extent because they were men with balls. Ryan is a tool. He, like the President were the 2 most responsible for sabatoging the only real plan to bring the budget in line.
Last edited by Winstonbiggs; 09-08-2012 at 06:30 AM.
Informative video on the last thirty years of American tax policy:
They believe all wealth is inherantly the States, i.e. the Collectives/societies, wealth. Individuals have no inherant or basic right to the economic results of their own activities, as those activities can only occur because of the collective and State. They belive having too much wealth is evil, the State should step in, and take most of it to give it to the rest of us, providing a large and wide pool of "rights" paid for by society, with "societies" money, taken from individuals.
Basic Liberal Economic Collectivism 101.
I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!" Joe "fredo" Biden!
And quite simply, when the middle class shrinks, there are more poor people that do not make enough money to pay income tax.
That's not a sign to further cut taxes, "tax the poor and lower middle class more" and gut domestic spending.
There is a fundamental problem in our society that has become increasingly apparent over the past three decades. The rich are getting richer, the wealth is becoming more concentrated and middle class wages have remained stagnant and the middle class is shrinking.
You might not see it as a problem that the top 400 richest people in America have more wealth combined than the bottom 50% - 150 million Americans combined.
400 > 150,000,000
That's not a sign of a healthy society.


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Sunday August 25, 2019; 01:55 am EDT
Rockfish are biting, and you've got until December 15 to catch them
As December opened, we'd dropped anchor off the Hackett's can in 35 feet of water. I set up the chum bag off our stern and had cut some pieces of fresh alewife, when suddenly everything started going right — and wrong — at the same time.
My friend Mo had already baited and set out one rod and was casting his second when his first outfit got hit hard. He had neglected to set his bait running clicker. When the fish took off against the free spool, it created a wild bird's nest of line on his casting reel. That froze the spool as the loose loops of line collected and jammed. It also set the hook in the striper's jaw, and the rod arced over.
The rockfish bite has improved, but the difficult part is finding big fish. They are mixed in with the little guys, and you have to throw back lots of fish till the big ones decide to eat your baits. Best water depth seems to be 35 to 45 feet. Podickery, Hacketts, Tolley and Thomas Point are good places to start on the Western Shore. Love Point, Gum Thickets and south to Bloody Point are good to the east.
Hunting Seasons
Whitetail and sika deer, firearms: thru Dec. 8
Whitetail and sika deer bow season: Dec. 10-14
Light geese: Dec. 11-Jan. 30
Ducks: Dec. 11-Jan. 26
Brant: Dec. 11-Jan. 26
Common snipe: Dec. 11-Jan. 26
Canada geese: Dec. 11-Jan. 26
Whitetail and sika deer muzzle loading season: Dec. 15-29
Bobwhite quail: thru Jan. 15
Ruffed grouse: thru Jan. 31
Sea ducks: thru Jan. 31
Cottontail rabbit: thru Feb. 28
Mo slid the second rod into its holder — leaving its reel in gear — and picked up the first rod. Then the tip of his second rod dove down as another striper seized that bait and hooked itself.
I had my hands full assembling my tackle. I had to stifle my laughter as my friend struggled, looking first from one problem to the other while muttering a few choice expletives.
Finally he stopped trying to clear his reel and started pulling in the thin, slick line hand over hand. By then I had my gear together to a point I could lay it aside. The second fish was apparently satisfied to merely tug his rod in one direction, then another, so I got the net.
The rock he was hand-lining was not cooperating. It tried to wrap him on the motor, so Mo had to guide the line over our skiff's superstructure as the fish circled. After a great deal of effort, he worked the striper to where I could scoop it up. It was a fine, winter-fat fish and an obvious keeper.
I kidded Mo to slow down a bit or he'd limit us out before I could get a line in the water. But he was too busy fighting his second fish to reply. The striper had given an outsized account of itself, and in the net it was thick and heavy. But it was just short of legal size by an eighth of an inch.
Once settled, we missed a number of fish. They would grab baits only to drop them, then come back and hit once more, and we would miss the hook set. At last I landed a fish, then another. Mo soon pulled in a couple more. All were, again, just a fraction short of legal.
Eventually, after over an hour of constant though sometimes frustrating activity, the bite slowed. In the pause, we reflected on our day with amazement. Unable to fish for weeks because of the early November onset of wild winter weather, we found ourselves suddenly back in the thick of things on a calm, sunny day.
I had been preparing to winterize my outboard, thinking that the endlessly foul weather was going to close our rockfish season early. Then a prediction for a short warming spell.
The weather arrived as promised for once, and we were on the water by noon. The fish — small though many were — were cooperating. Hoping for some improvement in size, we fished until dark. As the sun fell, temperatures plunged and the light failed. But I hooked one last fish. It proved a good one, a 24-incher that provided a great closing battle for our day.
With a half-limit in the box and the skies black, we pulled anchor, dumped the last of our bait and chum, fired up the Yamaha and headed for home. The latest long-range forecast had hinted of a few more days of warmth and low wind before rockfish season closes December 15. On the way back to the ramp we plotted to take full advantage of them.


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Faculty & StaffPage address: https://www.mnsu.edu/access/faculty/
This portion of the web site contains information for faculty and staff. Hopefully, it will assist you in understanding the needs of students with disabilities and provide you with information about services, policies, and procedures. In addition, it can guide you as you assist and integrate students with disabilities into the classroom so they have equal access to classroom instruction.
We encourage and welcome healthy, constructive discussions. Please call or schedule time with the Director, Julie Snow, or Assistant Director, Beth Claussen, in Accessibility Resources to visit about a student concern or other disability-related issue.
Accessibility Resources is located in 132 Memorial Library and can be reached at 389-2825.
Academic Technology Services
Academic Technology Services is located in Memorial Library 88 and 3010 and provides accessibility services including:
- accessibility consulting
- media captioning support
- accessibility landscape monitoring and development services
In A Nutshell
In an effort to support students with disabilities, attention to the following by faculty is most helpful:
- Refer request for accommodations to Accessibility Resources
- Forward any documentation provided by students to Accessibility Resources (or return to the student, shred, etc… do not keep).
- Include the "accessibility statement" on your course syllabi.
- Announce at the beginning of the term: Students who may need accommodation for a disability can make an appointment to see me during my office hours to discuss your needs." This approach preserves students' privacy and also indicates the willingness of the faculty member to provide assistance as needed.
- Confidentiality of all disability information is essential. At no time should the class be informed that a student has a disability, except at the student's expressed request. All disability documentation must be stored in Accessibility Resources.
- Promptly recruit notetakers after receiving notice from Accessibility Resources.
- Contact Accessibility Resources at 389-2825 with questions, concerns, or clarification if needed.
Universal Design
Faculty/DO IT Faculty Room/Universal Design
"Universal Design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." (Center for Universal Design)
The Faculty Room is a space for faculty and administration at postsecondary institutions to learn about how to create classroom environments and activities that maximize the learning of all students, including those with disabilities.
Additionally the Faculty Room website offers ample information on faculty rights and responsibilities, disability resources, and strategies as you work with students with disabilities.


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Men go online more often, stay on for longer, and respond to ads more positively than women do, according to a new report from eMarketer. The firm looked at the Internet habits of men versus women, partially because men are (technically) in the minority online and also because gender "is a distinguishing factor of Internet use, informing online behavior and attitudes."
There are 95.9 million men online in 2009, according to eMarketer's estimation. When compared against the 103.2 million women, that puts men at 48.2 percent of the overall Internet population (those who access the Internet at least once a month from any location). The firm says that the US Internet population will grow steadily, but by 2013, men will only make up 47.9 percent of the group.
But just because they're in the (slight) minority doesn't mean they're not valuable as marketing
victims targets. According to eMarketer's data, not only do men spend more time online than women, they are also more active on social networking sites, reading/writing blogs, and listening to podcasts.
Men are supposedly not as bothered by "websites cluttered with ads" as women are, either. eMarketer claims that 56 percent of women in a study of 4,095 Internet users had negative reactions towards advertisers on sites that contain advertisements, compared with 48.3 percent of men. "Still, any negative reaction should be avoided—it is not what advertisers are paying for," cautions the report. (Tip: try to make it so that research firms don't describe your site as "cluttered" with ads.)
Additionally, the firm says that marketers who target men should diversify from the fart jokes and Maxim spreads aimed heavily at the 18-34 age group. The US male Internet population is evenly split between those under and over the age of 35, with the largest group falling between 35 and 44. "Marketers may be overlooking a valuable demographic if they target only 18-to-34-year-old males. Advertising messages steeped in college humor and sex do not resonate with the millions of male Internet users who are researching products and services—and jobs—while shopping and connecting with friends and family," writes eMarketer. "Ads that respect their roles as fathers, partners and friends will get the attention of men and women."
It's no secret that men and women use the Internet differently from one another, so eMarketer's data comes as no surprise. In 2008 alone, at least four reports came out comparing the behaviors of men and women online. For example, Nielsen Online found that men prefer user-generated video sites (like YouTube) while women take more of a liking to video streams of TV shows (such as those offered from Hulu). Social Web search company Rapleaf put out a report just a few months later saying that men are more likely to use social networks for business while women use them to build personal relationships. Men are also more likely than women to share their writings, photos, videos, and other creations online, according to Northwestern University, and men think they're the kings of Internet security (even though they're equally affected by security threats as women).


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Getting Back to Your Old Self
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"
I recently finished surgery and chemo for nscl cancer. My family seems to think I should be back to my old self- I am a stay at home mom, but that has a lot of responsibility- cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. I just don't feel ready or up to it. Am I unusual- do people really get right back to their old self?
Donna Lee Lista, Lung Cancer Survivor, Advocate and OncoLink Blogger, responds:
From a patient standpoint, I can share my perspective. I was a lot better physically, then I was mentally for a very long time and I think that your mental state can be just as important in getting back to your "old self". On one hand, the fact that people closest to you think you should be back to normal so quickly says that they believe you will be fine, on the other maybe they could be a little more sensitive as to the mental strain you have been through. You didn't say whether or not you are having actually physical symptoms, or are feeling depressed. In any case what I did was make sure I had a therapist I could talk to and I used massage and reiki as a part of my inner healing.
There will now be a new normal from this point forward, so in essence you will never "really" go back to your old life. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing at all. Please take a look at my blog "through the looking glass" I talk about life after lung cancer and how to face these exact issues.
As far as your family, maybe you need to let them read it too. Also, try to explain to them, that they need to help you in this process.
If you don't physically feel up to something, see if you can enlist some girlfriends or neighbors, they are usually more than willing to do whatever they can to help a friend when they are down and in need. Don't be too proud to ask for help. It can make all the difference in your progress.
This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series, Lung Cancer Q&A Webchat. View the entire Lung Cancer Q&A transcript.


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Attention Season Ticket Holders
October 26, 2010
By ODU Athletics
By ODU Athletics
Oct. 26, 2010
Oct. 26, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. - All season ticket holders for Old Dominion men's and women's basketball should expect delivery of their season ticket packages by Friday or Saturday of this week.
Season ticket packages are being mailed October 26-27.
Additionally, the Lady Monarchs Blue-White game is set for Friday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Constant Center. Admission is free.
The Monarchs take on Virginia State on Monday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. This will be a ticketed event.
For more information, or questions, please feel free to call the athletic ticket office at 757-683-4444, or the Big Blue Club at 757 683 6963.


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Yes, all systems are appropriate for outdoor use. In fact, Inform is still the most widely used random-access player at outdoor sites all over the world.
We'll help you select the appropriate technology based on your needs. If you wish to provide a rich multimedia tour that includes video footage, you will need Opus; if you would like to offer a self-guided or random-access program, you will need a digital platform such as the exSite or Inform.
Headset players offer an immersive experience, and wands offer users more opportunities to interact with their surroundings. In general, men and younger visitors prefer headsets, and women prefer wands. Acoustiguide is the only audio & multimedia tour company that offers both types of equipment that can be used alone or in combination.
Our staff can handle shipping and unpacking of the equipment. We can also provide signage to help visitors get the most out of the audio program. We test the system and lead walkthroughs for your employees. We also train your staff in basic maintenance.
The storage and recharging racks can be plugged into standard electrical outlets. In many cases, one standard, 20-amp breaker is sufficient for 100 units.
Producing an audio tour is a collaborative process and we will need to work with you in many ways, including the following:
Espro-Acoustiguide offers a range of staffing solutions. We can staff your site with our employees. We can also provide training and management for your own staff.


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Skip to Content
Inside the MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics
The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing & Poetics at the University of Washington Bothell (UW Bothell) is dedicated to helping each student develop their creative work through a course of study that encourages exploration and discovery. Through an emphasis on poetics, or why we write how we write, we invite students to participate in a forum and laboratory that focuses on the pursuit of creative writing in a rapidly changing society.
The intensive, first year curriculum is based on areas of inquiry, rather than genres, creating an alternative to most regional and national MFA programs. It asks: How is creative writing an ethical, political, and aesthetic endeavor? How does new media change the production, reception, and dissemination of creative works? What forms might creative writing take in an interconnected, transnational society?
In the second year, students pursue a thesis with an advisor and an individualized course of study. Some degree candidates may choose to write their thesis as a single genre; others may elect hybrid modes that utilize multiple genres or media. The second year is designed to give students access to a broad range of interdisciplinary courses so that they can develop an area of expertise pertinent to their written arts and career paths.
Each year there is a Fall Convergence in which our graduate students, UW Bothell faculty, and invited nationally and internationally renowned writers engage with each other. There are author readings and conversations, poetics panels and discussions, and open exchange. The Spring Festival concludes the academic year with all of the graduating MFA students reading from their thesis to the assembled MFA faculty and guests. Each graduating cohort selects one writer or artist apart from the MFA faculty to preside at this occasion.
In addition to its fall and spring events, the MFA sponsors multiple campus and course related author and artist visits to campus. UW Bothell is located in the Convergence Zone, a place of mixing weather fronts, that can create wild and unpredictable weather. We answer this weather with our own converging fronts of author readings, performances and talks.
If you would like to receive periodic updates on the MFA as more information becomes available, please fill out our graduate programs inquiry form.
Small Po[r]tions Journal: a new electronic and print journal focusing on short[er] works.
Now accepting submissions.
Inspired by Eleanor Antin's The Blood of a Poet Box (1965-68), the Blood of an Author Box project collected words from hundreds of poets, authors and citizens on microscope slides and uses them to generate new texts.
See all MFA news
Please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com with questions.


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The Engineers Club mission is to foster the advancement of business, education, engineering and science, and to promote the professional development of its members. The Engineers Club offers individual memberships, including special memberships for students and non-residents, as well as corporate and group memberships.
The Engineers Club Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to support education in engineering and business professions; and the restoration and preservation of the historic Engineers Club of Dayton
Visit Dayton Innovation Legacy, a multimedia website featuring Dayton innovators in their own words and pictures..
The same Club that played host to luminaries such as Orville Wright and Charles Kettering, as well as distinguished members and their guests from all segments of society, in available to host your unforgettable event. Steeped in history, the club invites visitors to enjoy an atmosphere rich in tradition yet still vibrant. Find out more.


text: Westeros #1 Posted October 18, 2010 The court in King's Landing has featured certain upheavals in the last month, following Lord Cargyll's stepping aside as Master of Coin. The office was, to no one's surprise, granted to Beron Buckwell, the King's Scales. Buckwell—son to the influential Lady Taria—had more or less fulfilled Lord Cargyll's duties when he was away from court, so this merey made the tacit situation official. Rumors claim Lord Cargyll's long absence from court had less to do with famiial concerns and more to do with arguments he had had with King Daeron over the cost of his efforts to hold Dorne. Of course, others lay Cargyll's departure at Lady Taria's feet…Regardless of the truth of matters, other notable changes at court were put into motion. Ser Dagur Saltcliffe was made Warden of Crackclaw Point, with old Ser Richard Harte coming back to resume command of the City Watch, and the Stormbreaker became Harbormaster of King's Landing while—to the surprise of not a few—the bastard knight Ser Luthor Rivers filled the now-vacant office of Warden of the Kingswood. In the days afterward, Ser Burton Crakehall was revealed to be the new King's Scales, reporting directly to Beron Buckwell. Other adjustments followed, many minor, though as Ser Dagur and Ser Luthor took the reins of their tasks, few failed to notice that Buckwell knights seeemed to be winning rather more than their share of commands in the new companies being raised by these wardens. Beron Buckwell, it seemed, was being much courted by men desperate to have funds released to them, and it seems he took full advantage of it under Prince Viserys's watchful eye.Since then, the court has settled into a careful new routine, with a scramble by younger men to fill vacancies and carve out spaces for themselves in the scramble to secure position while King Baelor is away. King Viserys has met with a number of great lords and ladies in this time, and some say the focus of these audiences has been to increase the stability of the realm. But in readiness for what? Does the Hand presume that peace with Dorne is an impossibility? Or is he concerned instead with the East, where Donalo Prestayn has been named Sealord of Braavos, and all the alliances among the Free Cities are changing with one common factor: few seem interested in being closely associated with the Seven Kingdoms, and some indeed may look to a different kind of relationship, one centered on the Stepstones and the pirates there.Yet others at court seem more sanguine about such things. Lord Whalon Rosby, for one, who came to host a pair of tourneys to satisfy his love of jousting, even if a personal complaint prevented his participation. The first day's jousting was an event that ended with the wonderous victory of Ser Ethos Mertyns against the new Harbormaster of King's Landing, Ser Sarmion Baratheon, for whom Ser Ethos once squired. A mystery knight, the Knight of Fetterlock, left the field still unmasked ... and was not seen again, leaving some to wonder if it had not been some noted member of the court in disguise. The next day's jousting also earned some gossip, for it was called the Joust of the Golden Goose . . . which was the sigil of the former Master of Coin, Lord Cargyll. Some might say it was mere coincidence, or thoughtlessness on the notoriously thoughtless Lord Rosby's part . . . but others had cause to wonder.Regardless, the tourney was a grand success, with many bold knights riding. In the end, the contest came down to two: Ser Conrad Arryn, the king's steward, and Ser Dagur Saltcliffe. The gods favored Arryn at the last, and gave him the victory. Such as a fine day's jousting ended, despite the gloom and fog.Visit the Site! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Most recent performance
There are currently no scheduled performances of Inside Wagner's Head. It was last on stage 2–28 September 2013 as part of the Autumn 2013/14 season.
Following the hugely successful one-man show Being Shakespeare, Olivier Award-winning actor Simon Callow presents an exploration of the life and legacy of Richard Wagner in his bicentenary year.
Wagner's life was fiercely passionate in every aspect: political exile, tempestuous love affairs, provocative writings and an astonishing operatic output that revolutionized the stage. This very special one-man show has been specially commissioned for Deloitte Ignite, this year curated by Stephen Fry.


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Jim Haney
Jim Haney assumed duties as the National Association of Basketball Coaches executive director in June 1992. He is only the fourth full-time executive director in the 75-year history of the NABC, following Clifford Wells (1960-73), William L. Wall (1973-75) and Joseph R. Vancisin (1975-92). The longest tenured executive director in NABC history, Haney spent four years as commissioner of the Big West Conference prior to leading the NABC. His college basketball portfolio includes more than 40 years of experience starting as a student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania.
Shortly after graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1971, Haney joined the University of Oregon coaching staff as an assistant under his former Penn coach, Dick Harter. Haney later succeeded Harter and coached the Ducks' basketball team for five years beginning with the 1978-79 season.
After leaving Oregon in 1983, Haney accepted a position with Larry Brown's coaching staff at the University of Kansas, but before the tip-off of the season, he moved on to start his athletic administrative career as assistant commissioner of the Metro Conference. In 1985, Haney began a three-year term as commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference before heading to the Big West Conference in 1988.
As executive director of the NABC, Haney has overseen the move of the association's headquarters from Branford, Conn., to Overland Park, Kan. In July, 2004, Haney moved the NABC's national headquarters to downtown Kansas City, Mo., to be close to the NABC's College Basketball Experience (CBE), which is also home to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The CBE, located adjacent to the Sprint Center arena is rated as one of the nation's top attractions, includes numerous experiential fan events, a detailed history of men's college basketball, and Mentor's Circle as a celebration of men's college basketball. Haney also created the NABC Congress for each division of NCAA Basketball to work more effectively with the NCAA® on issues relating to the welfare of the game.
Under Haney's guidance, the NABC has ventured into basketball events with the formation of two preseason basketball tournament's - the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the College Basketball Experience (CBE) Hall of Fame Classic with its championship round at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Haney took the annual NABC all-star game to a new level in Division I as the Reese's® College All-Star Game is now played on Final Four Friday® on the floor of the NCAA® Final Four® each year. The NABC also conducts annual all-star games in NCAA Division II and Division III, also asponsored by Reese's®.
Part of Haney's vision to further the growth and visibility of the NABC was adopting the national awareness and education program "Guardians of the Game." The goal of the program is to focus attention on the positive aspects of the game of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of their players through advocacy, leadership, service and education. During his leadership, the NABC formed its partnership with the American Cancer Society that launched the widely successful Coaches vs. Cancer program to champion awareness, education and prevention. In 2001, Haney oversaw the development of the One Nation, One People, One Flag initiative which has been adopted nationally from high school programs on up to all levels of college basketball.
Haney also serves as executive director of the NABC Foundation, Inc., which was organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, and to support the charitable and education purposes of the NABC, a Kansas non-profit corporation. The NABC Foundation is the founder and chief sponsor of TTRR, a national literacy program targeting middle school aged youth. In addition, the Foundation operates the College Basketball Experience (CBE) and the Court of Honor Gala, which honors individual national business leaders who have roots in men's college basketball.
A former member of the Board of Trustees of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Haney has also served on the Board of Directors for USA Basketball. Haney and his wife, Carol, reside in Kansas City, Mo. Their son, Jimmy, a graduate of the University of Texas, was a 2001 NCAA All-America doubles player in tennis.


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Real tree looks better
I think the county made the right decision to remove the artificial Christmas tree from the middle of the sidewalk on the Old Carroll County Courthouse lawn.
I can understand their concern about the safety hazard.
In this day and time of lawsuits, if someone tripped over one of the stakes or cables holding up the artificial Christmas tree, the county would have been held responsible.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The Gazette, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Courts & Crime
Utah petitions Supreme Court to retain same-sex marriage ban
Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a bid to preserve the state's same-sex marriage ban.
Reyes bluntly spelled out the stakes.
"It comes down to this," the petition states. "Thousands of couples are being unconstitutionally denied the right to marry, or millions of voters are being disenfranchised of their vote to define marriage. Either way, the court's review is necessary, and this case is the right vehicle to do so."
Calling it, without exaggeration, an "immensely important question," Utah's petition seeks review of a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that struck down the state's marriage restrictions.
"The issue has been percolating for 40 years," the petition notes. "Dozens of cases are challenging state marriage laws, and erratic use of stays has created legal chaos."
In its 2-1 decision in June, the 10th Circuit concluded Utah's same-sex marriage ban violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection. An amendment to the state's constitution adopted by 66 percent of voters in 2004 declares that "marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman" and that "no other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect."
"The protection and exercise of fundamental rights are not matters for opinion polls or the ballot box," Judge Carlos F. Lucero wrote.
Last month, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals likewise struck down a state's same-sex marriage ban, in Virginia.


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Inspired by: "Shades of Spring," By Designers Cori Dersksen and Myra Harder of Blue Meadow Designs
Fabrics used are a mix of the Peking Kids, Yoshiko, and Gilded Greenery collections, all from Blank Quilting.
2-1/4 yard green print (star, outer border, binding)
2/3 yard gold print (star, blocks)
3/4 yard coral print (star)
1/2 yard blue print (star, blocks)
1 yard tree print (background)
1/3 yard orange-and-gold print (inner border)
4 -- 1/3 yard pieces Asian florals and prints (blocks)
5/8 yard orange print (blocks)
5/8 yard light blue print (blocks)
3-3/4 yards backing fabric
67" square batting
Finished quilt: 60-1/2" square
Finished block: 6" square
Quantities are for 44/45"-wide, 100% cotton fabrics. Measurements include 1/4" seam allowances. Sew with right sides together unless otherwise stated.


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PSU to hold fall commencement Friday
Friday, December 13, 2013 2:00 AM
Pittsburg, KS
Pittsburg State University will hold two commencement ceremonies on Friday, Dec. 13, in John Lance Arena. Students from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Kelce College of Business will graduate at 5 p.m. Students from the College of Education and the College of Technology will graduate at 8 p.m.
According to the PSU Registrar, 539 students are eligible to participate in winter commencement.
The two ceremonies will be broadcast live for those unable to attend. The live feed will begin a few minutes before each ceremony is scheduled to begin and can be viewed on any computer with Adobe Flash.
The weather forecast for commencement evening includes rain and temperatures near freezing, so safety precautions are encouraged for everyone planning to attend the ceremony.
"We'd obviously prefer sunshine and warm temperatures for a day like this, but that's not always possible in December," said Bill Ivy, associate vice president of enrollment management and student success. "We strongly encourage everyone to be cautious and drive safely on their way to commencement. And, of course, we urge those who cannot attend to watch the live online broadcast."
Traffic, parking and weather updates will be posted throughout Commencement evening on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gorillagameday.
For information about fall commencement, including live streaming instructions, click on the commencement link at www.pittstate.edu/registrar.


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Can't Top These Tag Heuer Monaco Replica WatchesI've always had a secret love for big, sexy, Swiss watches. They just ooze prestige and sex appeal. I'm so excited that now I have a job where I get to write about them along with replica handbags, jewelry, and shoes! Club Couture is totally a dream job!
Replica Tag Heuer Watch
So, today I'm looking at the Tag Heuer Monaco 24 Calibre 36 Limited Edition watch and, true to form, we have both the original and the PV replica on hand. This replica Tag Heuer watch is basically a supped-up sport watch with gorgeous orange and teal details. It's a whole lot of fun without compromising prestige or luxury. If I met a man with this replica Tag Heuer watch on, I'd probably melt before I saw his face or heard a word from him!
Replica Tag Heuer Watch
In terms of execution, PV has done a typically incredible job here. The only disparity I can see between the original and PVs stunning replica Tag Heuer watch is a small splash of color that PV has added to the crown. There's a red stripe on the PV crown which, although I adore it, isn't found on the original. That said, I doubt you'll find replica watches this well made anywhere else. Check it out here!


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Herman Cain strides into the BeanTowne Coffee House in Hampstead, N.H., on Memorial Day morning, staffers in tow. The presidential contender – a tea party favorite and the only African-American in the Republican primary race – had advertised his visit, and folks are eager to shake his hand, snap a picture, and ask him a question or two.
"Is America Ready?" read the Cain buttons some are wearing.
"Ready for what?" I wonder. So I ask the candidate.
Mr. Cain, the former chief executive officer of Godfather's Pizza and a former talk radio host, has a ready answer, delivered with a hearty laugh: "for real problem solving and real leadership, which means the real Herman Cain. But if you ain't ready for leadership and you ain't ready for real problem solving, you ain't ready for Herman Cain!"
Cain is tall, bluff, and well-dressed, and it's not hard to see why he is catching on with some Republican voters, who like his private-sector success.
A 29-person focus group led by GOP strategist Frank Luntz deemed Cain the hands-down winner of the May 5 GOP debate in South Carolina. And he's shot up to second place in Iowa, behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and is tied at 15 percent with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the latest survey by Public Policy Polling (PPP).
But Cain remains the longest of long shots for the 2012 Republican nomination. He has never been elected to public office, and admits he knows little about foreign policy. "I don't pretend to know everything," he told the BeanTowne crowd, promising that a President Cain would surround himself with "the right people."
It would be easy to dismiss Cain outright, but in this oddball campaign cycle, anything is possible, it seems. The Republican field is forming slowly and in fits and starts, at times masquerading as a three-ring circus. Billionaire Donald Trump became a P.T. Barnum; smoked out President Obama's long-form birth certificate; then said, nah, I like making money better. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's campaign has imploded with the resignation of his top aides. Several potentially strong contenders have taken a pass – though one, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is now saying, well, maybe. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani may also jump in. He'll let us know by the end of the summer.
Then there's Ms. Palin. Her bus tour up the East Coast reminds us that nobody is better at grabbing the spotlight than the 2008 vice presidential nominee, and it's anybody's guess whether she will run. If she does, she could go all the way to the nomination. If not, Mr. Romney can stake a firmer claim as front-runner.
But it's still early. The first nominating contests, Iowa and New Hampshire, are at least seven months away. Here are five ways this campaign is unusual and why they matter:
So many candidates, so much dissatisfaction
For now, Romney leads the pack. But he's the weakest front-runner in modern Republican history. In Gallup polling since 1952, there was always a clear GOP front-runner in or about February of the year before a presidential election – and in most cases, that candidate went on to win the nomination.
This year is the exception. Romney has established himself as the clear front-runner only in the past week, now topping the GOP field in a Gallup poll released Monday with 24 percent of Republican voters. Palin places second at 16. The rest are in single digits.
But 24 percent is not a commanding lead, and many Republicans also seem determined not to fall into their usual pattern of nominating the candidate who's "next in line" – in part because this time, that person happens to be Romney, a runner-up to 2008 nominee John McCain. Romney has many pluses: a successful business career, a vast fundraising network and personal wealth he is willing to tap, a big attractive family. But he remains stiff on the stump, and he continues to defend his signature reform of the Massachusetts health-care system and its individual mandate to purchase health insurance, a model for Mr. Obama's reform and anathema to GOP orthodoxy. Romney's history of flip-flopping on issues and his Mormon faith also make some voters leery.
The public yearning by some Republicans for "better candidates" has had an almost unseemly quality to it. If only Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels had decided to run! If only Chris Christie, the blunt-spoken governor of New Jersey, would jump in! If only Marco Rubio, the charismatic young senator from Florida, had a little more experience!
The field of announced and likely candidates is already fairly large (10 people, not including Palin or Mr. Giuliani). Still more are thinking of getting in, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan. But of those already effectively in the ring, only a few are considered viable in the general election: Romney, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. So the "actual" field, if conventional wisdom holds, is pretty small.
"There aren't a whole lot of obvious possibilities out there," says William Mayer, an expert on presidential primaries at Northeastern University in Boston. "A good part of that, it seems to me, is that there was a Republican wipeout in '06 and '08, such that they lost a fair number of senators and governors."
The GOP gained a lot back in 2010, but it's too soon for those newly minted governors and senators to run, says Mr. Mayer, who has in mind people like Governor Christie, Senator Rubio, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. "It won't surprise me if the Republicans have a strong field in '16," says Mayer.
That is, if a Republican doesn't win this time around. Though Obama's reelection is far from guaranteed, especially with the latest spate of discouraging economic numbers, including a boost in unemployment to 9.1 percent. It's Obama's vulnerability that has so many Republicans salivating for a strong nominee and so many deciding to run.
Mr. Pawlenty and Mr. Huntsman, the two others with perceived top-tier potential, remain question marks over their ability to attract a significant primary following. Neither has much of a national profile – Gallup has Pawlenty at 6 percent, Huntsman at 2 – though it's early. They have both assembled their core teams, including major fundraisers. The trick for both will be to raise enough money to get their names out. But without much name ID, it may be hard to raise big money.
A rare chance for free national publicity comes on Monday, June 13, with the televised GOP debate in New Hampshire. Seven candidates will take part: Romney, Pawlenty, Cain, Mr. Gingrich (who insists his campaign is still alive), Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Huntsman, Palin, and Giuliani were invited but declined. Huntsman has indicated he will announce his presidential intentions soon after the debate.
The tea party roils New Hampshire
New Hampshire Republicans had a big year in 2010. They elected a new senator and two new House members, and won lopsided control of both houses of the state legislature. State House Republicans elected a tea party favorite as speaker. And in January, the tea party-backed candidate for state GOP chair, Jack Kimball, won an upset victory over the establishment favorite, Juliana Bergeron. If not for the reelection of Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, the GOP sweep would have been complete.
Some state political observers say the rise of the tea party has already affected the nomination race. "I think it contributed to the slow start," says Fergus Cullen, who chaired the state GOP during the 2008 election cycle. "Romney is realizing that this primary electorate is very different from the one he faced four years ago."
Both Romney and Pawlenty understand that tea partyers might be skeptical of quintessential establishment candidates like them, says Mr. Cullen, who sees Pawlenty's rhetoric getting more populist.
"I don't see any candidate making a direct appeal to the broad mainstream of the Republican Party in New Hampshire," says Cullen. "It's an opportunity for Huntsman. It's an opportunity for Romney. Eighty percent of the primary voters here are going to identify as conservative or Republican, but not tea party."
And because the New Hampshire Republican primary is "open" – that is, independents can vote in it – that will dilute the tea party's impact. Some 40 percent of New Hampshire voters are registered independent. Bottom line: So far, so good for Romney. A recent CNN/WMUR poll of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters showed Romney at 32 percent, with the libertarian Congressman Paul a distant second at 9 percent. Mr. Gingrich and Giuliani are at 6 percent; Palin is at 5; and Ms. Bachmann, Pawlenty, Cain, and Huntsman are all at 4 percent.
But there are warning signs for Romney, who has to win his home turf if he is to secure the nomination. (He came in second to Mr. McCain in 2008 and never recovered.) The CNN/WMUR poll found that only 4 percent of New Hampshire Republican primary voters are certain of their vote, with a whopping 87 percent saying they have no idea who they'll end up supporting. Forty-three percent say they're unhappy with the GOP field.
Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the poll, doesn't see the tea party having much impact on the outcome of the New Hampshire primary. After all, the core tea party goals of lower taxes and smaller government are basic Republicanism. "It's a difference without a distinction," says Mr. Smith.
In New Hampshire, a smaller percentage of tea partyers focus on social issues than in other states. So socially conservative tea party favorites like Cain, Bachmann, and Palin, if she runs, are likely not to get as much traction in New Hampshire as they might in other states.
Former Gov. John Sununu, the most recent former state GOP chair, also plays down the tea party's role. "It wasn't a takeover," says Mr. Sununu, whose choice to succeed him, Ms. Bergeron, lost by a slim margin. He notes that the same state party convention that elected Mr. Kimball chairman also gave Romney first place with 35 percent in a presidential straw poll.
Kimball says the Republicans have a "great field." "As a person out of the tea party, what we want to see is smaller government, lower spending, tax cuts, and getting back to constitutional values," he says in an interview at a GOP Memorial Day picnic in Dover, N.H., that featured Bachmann. "The vast majority of [presidential] candidates are there."
The difference between the tea party and establishment Republicans may be more a matter of style than substance. "We're unafraid to take the gloves off," says Kimball.
Iowa could end up not mattering
Since 1976, when Jimmy Carter burst from obscurity in Iowa, the state's "precinct caucuses" have played a pivotal role in determining whom the parties will nominate for president. But the experience of both Democrats and Republicans there in 2008 may change that calculation. Caucuses require an evening-long commitment, and are thus low-turnout affairs that skew toward more activist voters (and those without work conflicts and young children).
In 2008, if Hillary Rodham Clinton and Romney had skipped Iowa and put all their emphasis in the New Hampshire primaries, that would have made New Hampshire the first real test. As it turned out, Ms. Clinton came in third in Iowa and Romney came in second – thus establishing the winners, Obama and Mr. Huckabee, as significant contenders. McCain's fourth-place finish in Iowa, where he barely campaigned, did not prevent him from winning New Hampshire and, eventually, the nomination.
This cycle, Romney is playing down Iowa. He visited the state for the first time this year only on May 27. And he is skipping the Iowa straw poll in Ames on Aug. 13, a state GOP fundraiser and potential early indicator of candidate strength. But, as with the caucuses, if he doesn't compete, then its significance is diminished.
The latest Iowa poll shows Romney ahead among Iowa Republicans with 21 percent. But that number from PPP mainly reflects name recognition. The field is still forming and voters are just tuning in. If Palin runs, she could win Iowa, where social conservatives dominate the GOP caucuses. So, too, could Bachmann, who is from neighboring Minnesota and originally from Waterloo, Iowa, where she plans to announce her presidential plans. Pawlenty, the other Minnesotan in the race, has also been counting on doing well in Iowa. And don't forget Cain, who tied for second with Palin at 15 percent in the PPP poll.
If Romney remains the man to beat for the nomination heading into the fall, the question becomes, who is the alternative? Among the candidates who look, as of now, strongest to win Iowa, the only one with establishment GOP credibility is Pawlenty. If he wins Iowa, that sets him up for a showdown in New Hampshire against Romney. If a more tea party-oriented Republican wins Iowa, that candidate may need to wait until the third contest – South Carolina – to do well. New Hampshire is famous for looking at the Iowa results, then running the other way.
History has shown that the Iowa GOP caucuses are rarely predictive. Since 1976, in years when there wasn't an incumbent Republican president competing, the Iowa winner has gone on to win the GOP nomination only twice. And only once has the Iowa winner become president: George W. Bush in 2000.
McCain's fourth-place Iowa caucus finish in 2008 is particularly worrisome to Iowa Republicans. On June 4, Huntsman announced he is skipping the state altogether, saying he cannot support ethanol subsidies to farmers. Pawlenty, too, opposes ethanol subsidies, but is wooing Iowans anyway.
Sensing disinterest and declining clout, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) has been urging the 2012 contenders to visit his state. "I just want to make it clear that we're wide-open for all the candidates," he said last month.
The Obama race issue, Part 2
By definition, the 2012 election is unusual because Obama is the first black president. True, his race isn't the wow factor it was four years ago. Obama himself recognizes that. On the stump, he concedes that this campaign won't have the "mystique" the last one did. He will be judged as an incumbent, with a record – most significantly, a tough economy that could well deny him a second term.
But the Republican candidates are going to have to be careful, as they were four years ago, in how they approach him. The challenge comes in navigating between the "two Obamas" – Obama the man and Obama the cultural icon – writes black conservative author Shelby Steele.
"If the actual man is distinctly ordinary, even a little flat and humorless, the cultural icon is quite extraordinary," Mr. Steele wrote May 26 in a Wall Street Journal op-ed called "Obama's Unspoken Reelection Edge." "The problem for Republicans is that they must run against both the man and the myth. In 2008, few knew the man and Republicans were walloped by the myth. Today the man is much clearer, and yet the myth remains compelling."
The "cultural charisma" that Obama exudes comes from his representation of a "truly inspiring American exceptionalism: He is the first black in the entire history of Western civilization to lead a Western nation – and the most powerful nation in the world at that," Steele writes. "Thus his presidency flatters America to a degree that no white Republican can hope to compete with."
In practical terms, for Republicans hoping to unseat the president, that means steering clear of the iconic Obama. Mr. Trump lunged headlong into Obama the icon with his crusade over the president's birth certificate, an episode that many Republicans believe hurt the party. It shined a light on Obama's heritage and the insidious idea that Obama is not a loyal American, and did nothing to attack his real vulnerability, the economy.
"You have your establishment Republicans, your social conservatives, and your tea party candidates, and if the Republicans are going to beat Obama, they have to nominate an establishment Republican with executive experience who understands the economy backwards and forwards," says Ford O'Connell, chairman of the conservative Civic Forum PAC. "If you can do that, then you can run against Obama the candidate."
The tea party's image as having some racist elements would dog almost any candidate seen as coming from that movement. The candidacy of Cain, who is black and has growing tea party support, mitigates to a degree the movement's largely white profile. But until he shows signs of becoming a top-tier candidate, his impact is limited.
Some GOP activists argue that their party's candidates need not hold back in their critique of Obama simply because of the color of his skin. Obama's election in 2008 by a solid popular majority represented a major step by the nation toward overcoming its ugly racial past, they argue.
Obama's race "will be an issue only to the extent that the Obama campaign will attempt to exploit it as an issue, and only to the extent that liberals in the media cooperate in that exploitation," says Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative activist who ran for president in 2000. "I think they need to be called on it very aggressively."
Mr. Bauer says he begged the McCain campaign in 2008 to confront Obama over his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a black pastor with a penchant for inflammatory comments. But he says the McCain people told him it would be "so divisive."
The Palin factor
Will she run? That's the biggest question hanging over the GOP race. Her recent "One Nation" bus tour reignited speculation that she was ready to jump in. So has the impending release of a Palin-authorized documentary about her in Iowa sometime this month. If she does run, it's a game changer. Her star power could eclipse the other candidates, especially those in the "outsider," tea party-oriented column, like Bachmann and Cain. A Palin candidacy could also cause more establishment-oriented Republicans to rally around Romney, solidifying his position as front-runner.
Maybe the bus tour was really all about refreshing her brand as a conservative pundit on Fox, author, speaker, and political kingmaker. At one point during the tour, she said she loved the "freedom of not having a title and being a declared candidate" and she knows she can "make a difference as an individual."
Or maybe she really does plan to run for president, and is whetting her fans' appetite. She has bought a home in Arizona, an easier launch point than Alaska for a national campaign. She says she has the "fire in the belly." And with universal name ID and fundraising skill, she knows she can jump in late. Or maybe, in fact, even she still doesn't know what she's going to do. Maybe the bus tour was a dry run to see how her family would do in campaign mode.
Republicans are divided on Palin's intentions. The bus tour "doesn't seem like just a publicity stunt," says Cullen of New Hampshire. "She could raise the money quickly enough to hire good operatives, and within 30 days have a good organization in South Carolina, New Hampshire, probably Iowa if she chose." She'd be a top-tier candidate "immediately," he says.
Another GOP activist, speaking not for attribution, says all the speculation is missing an important reality. "Roger Ailes is no fool," he says, referring to Palin's boss, the head of Fox News. In order not to lose her Fox contract, as Gingrich and Mr. Santorum did when it became clear they were running, "she would have had to give him an iron-clad promise not to run. I can't believe she's going to break a promise."
Establishment Republicans mention Palin's decision to resign the Alaska governorship 2-1/2 years into her term as a blight on her record. Voters don't like a quitter, they say. But in chats with people in New Hampshire, that didn't come up. Instead, they worry that the media have already ruined her. Indeed, polls show that a majority of general election voters say they would never vote for her for president.
"I like Sarah Palin, but I don't want her to run," says Nancy Ford, a retiree from Wells, Maine, who came to Dover, N.H., to see Bachmann. "She's been cannibalized by the media, and there's no way back."
Brandon Stauber, a small-business man, also hopes Palin doesn't run. "I like her personally, but she's too much of a lightning rod," he says, speaking at a Cain event.
Karla Gallagher, an X-ray technician from Salem, N.H., says she finds Palin a little too "rah-rah." But if she won the nomination, Ms. Gallagher would support her. "Sarah Palin scares the daylights out of the Democrats," she says, also at the Cain event. "I love that!"
The latest New Hampshire poll shows Palin at only 5 percent among GOP voters. Clearly this isn't her strongest early state. But in the 2008 campaign, she showed she could draw a big crowd here. So there's no telling what would happen if Palin were to run.
In a way, the wide-open 2012 Republican nomination battle looks a lot like some recent Democratic contests. In 1988, the field was ridiculed as "Gary Hart and the seven dwarfs." Out of that process came a former Massachusetts governor, Michael Dukakis, as the nominee – and defeat at the hands of then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.
In 1991, around this time, President Bush looked unbeatable, and several high-profile Democrats chose not to run. It wasn't until October 1991 that a dark-horse contender opted in. His name: Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas.


text:
Kfar Shuba, Lebanon - In south Lebanon, where the 2006 summertime war between Israel and militant Shiite Hizbullah was played out, villages are abuzz with talk of another devastating conflict between the two archfoes.
Over the past few weeks, military activity on both sides of the border has contributed to war jitters as both Israel and Hizbullah are seemingly poised to strike.
The Israeli military just wrapped up a nationwide war drill it dubbed "Turning Point 2," and Hizbullah appears to have devised new battle plans that include cross-border raids into Israel and has mounted a sweeping recruitment and training drive, even marshaling non-Shiites and former Israeli-allied militiamen into new reservist units.
"The holy fighters are completely focused on the next war, even ignoring families and friends. They are just waiting for the next war," says Jawad, a Hizbullah fighter.
Still, many diplomats and analysts in Beirut say that neither side has an interest in coming to blows again, despite the buildup.
"The elements of conflict are still there, and it is possible that something small can get out of hand with neither side wanting it," says Timur Goksel, a university lecturer in Beirut and veteran observer of the Hizbullah-Israeli conflict. But, he adds, the heightened activity is "mainly posturing."
(The article is by Nick Blanford, BTW, and so well worth reading & heeding...]
I'm a bit surprised no-one's mentioned the brutal shitstorm currently going on in Gaza. Or maybe there's not actually much to say about it, beyond platitudes about how fucking awful it is? Peace on earth and goodwill to all men, indeed.
Doin' the Lambeth Warp New: DISSENSUS - THE NOVEL - PM me your email address and I'll add you
Yeah, I was thinking that. The situation's been analysed to death here and elsewhere anyway...
Some sort of peace deal involving a two-party state seems more remote now than ever.
Insane overkill, chest beating before Israeli election.
I had only put a comment onto the 'Global financial crash yah !' thread ,
to me this new shitstorm ices the bad cake , on top of many other things ...
News item now 'Israel refuses ceasefire', maybe now they want that one soldier taken hostage back ?
Of course they refused a ceasfire, they did after all break the 6 month ceasefire on November 4th by killing 6 Palestinians, this current attack came in the middle of a 48 hour truce, and of course they violated the 6 month ceasefire repeatedly with little or no reaction from Hamas.
This is just more of the usual Israeli bullshit - violate all agreements on the flimsiest of pretexts, murder scores of cilvilians and then blame the Palestinians. Its a 40 year old pattern which shows no signs of changing...
So, Israel's actions are pretty transparent, but what are Hamas's strategic goals?
And this looks good -- not had chance to do more than scan through it as of yet, though: http://www.bitterlemons.org/previous/bl291208ed46.html
Also, check the massive ongoing Israeli IO -- including an IDF YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/idfnadesk -- and the Israel Consulate's microblog at Twitter: http://twitter.com/IsraelConsulate. Lebanon '06 continues to resonate. Wonder if there will be ground excursions as well.
More resources: Andrew Sullivan round up; Josh Landis round up.
Some observations: Liberal Fatah (Mourid Barghouti faction) will not emerge as long as Abu Mazen and gang are subsidised by Israel and the US.
Gaza's supply lines are the central issue. Not just in the sense of Hamas and Israel's limited objectives, but also in that as formal economic activity is shut down, the tunnel economy is all that is left, and Gaza is locked into a mode of development that is ultimately incompatible to Israel's interests, but also incentivised and seemingly inevitable. There will be no end to Hamas's collapsing quasi-state while this dynamic remains in play.
thanks for those links Vim (i really rate bitterlemons i must say, and their International arm).
i read this recently; the author holds their hand up about partiality in the source he is using.
What happened during the ceasefire?