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4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Worst flooding: Tropical Storm Gaston drops 10 inches of rain on Richmond August 30, wrecking Shockoe Bottom and leaving five dead in its wake. Governor Mark Warner declares a state of emergency in the capital.
Ugliest recurrence: Police confirm a seventh attack by the serial rapist, who punches and sexually assaults a woman August 18 in her Webland Drive home. [See story, page xx]
Worst decision for Sheriff Willy: Former Greene County top cop William Morris is convicted August 25 of the assault and battery of a prisoner last June and sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence and $500 fine, Olympia Meola reports in the Daily Progress. Morris's lawyer vows to appeal.
Least order in the court: Convicted drug dealer and killer Gregory Antonio Bates "Capone" Felton spews profanities at Judge Norman K. Moon before being sentenced to life in prison August 30, according to Liesel Nowak in the Progress. Tadashi Keyes, another member of the Ninth and Estes gang, also receives a life sentence.
Best break for murder suspect: The prosecution can talk about former UVA student Andrew Alston's knife-wielding habits but cannot use his juvenile felony record during his November trial for the stabbing death of firefighter Walker Sisk, WINA reports.
Most-botched justice (tie): Two wrongfully convicted men are released after spending decades in prison. Michael McAlister is paroled August 19 after serving 18 years for an attempted rape that even the prosecutor and lead detective don't believe he committed. And DNA evidence clears Arthur Lee Whitfield after he spends 22 years imprisoned for a rape he didn't commit.
Graceful exit: Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, author of On Death and Dying and former UVA professor, dies in her Scottsdale, Arizona, home of natural causes August 25 at age 78. She owned a farm in Highland County, where she wanted to care for AIDS babies, a plan unwelcomed by her neighbors. When the house burned in 1994, arson was suspected.
Worst loss for pro-choicers: Dr. Herbert Claiborne Jones, 77, the man for whom Planned Parenthood's new health center on Hydraulic is named, dies August 25 from lung cancer.
Worst loss of a public servant: Bill Finley, who served eight years on both the Albemarle County School Board and Planning Commission, also dies August 25.
Best car seat testimonial: Two tots are left hanging upside down in their car seats when their mother falls asleep and flips her minivan on I-64 August 25, according to the Progress.
Best of/worst of times: The median household income in Virginia– $52,587– makes the state the seventh wealthiest, according to a U.S. Census report, but the same report shows an increase in the number of Virginians living in poverty to 9.3 percent, and 12.5 percent don't have health insurance.
Most well-endowed: UVA, with $1.8 billion, is tops in Virginia, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Biggest gathering of Republicans: Their convention kicks off August 30 in New York.
Biggest protest: 200,000 demonstrators take to the streets in New York August 29 to let the GOP convention-goers know how they feel.
Best way to protect John-Boy's home: The Hamner house in Schuyler, where Waltons creator Earl Hamner grew up, is being considered for both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.


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Unfriended: Dark Web R
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When a 20-something finds a cache of hidden files on his new laptop, he and his friends are unwittingly thrust into the depths of the dark web. They soon discover someone has been watching their every move and will go to unimaginable lengths to protect the dark web.
1 hr. 28 min.
Opened July 20th, 2018
Rated R for some disturbing violence, language and sexual referencesCastBetty Gabriel, Colin Woodell, Andrew Lees, Connor del Rio, Stephanie NoguerasDirectorStephen SuscoWriterStephen Susco

subset: commoncrawl


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What do Prairie Dunes Country Club (ranked #23 in the world) and Southern Hills Country Club (ranked #41 in the world) have in common? Both were designed by Perry Maxwell during the depression era and both are located in the dust bowl region of the United States. Prairie Dunes in the flatlands of Kansas and Southern Hills in Tulsa Oklahoma. Maxwell must have been at the height of his creative genius in 1935, when both were built.
Perry Maxwell
The first green at Prairie Dunes
Prairie Dunes was the Sand Hills of its day - that is, the depression era. It was built on an ancient salt sea near the town of Hutchinson, Kansas. Hutchinson's claim to fame was as a salt mining town. I found Hutchinson, Kansas to be a very depressing town. The vistas in the city consist of big ugly cement grain elevators. The downtown is a rundown, boarded up and dying group of old traditional stores. Before there was either salt mining or golf in Hutchinson, there were prisons, which date back to 1885. The main employers in town are the two prisons. The high security penitentiary defines the western border of the town and the lower security reformatory defines the eastern border. Of Hutchinson's 40,000 residents, 1,800 sleep in cell blocks. Sadly, like a lot of towns in America today, the most vibrant part of town is the edge where big box chains have invaded - Wal-Mart and Home Depot interspersed with IHOP pancake houses and Applebee's fast food restaurants. In many cities, hotels where the door to your room is directly from the parking lot and charge $69, are for hire by the hour.
In Hutchinson, the premier hotel in town, The Grand Prairie, charges $69 per night including breakfast. Certainly, a true bargain on the quest to play the top 100. The hotel, which we were worried about, actually worked out fine. It was clean and we were able to have drinks with two members we didn't know who we met at the bar, who gave us some insight into the greatness of the course. They were so nice that one member actually drove back to his house and came back to give us a copy of the USGA Senior Open program that was recently held at Prairie Dunes so we could appreciate the holes. While the town was depressing, the golf course certainly was not.
The scorecard says the course is a Perry Maxwell Masterpiece and I would have to fully agree. Ben Crenshaw, the designer of Sand Hills has said of Prairie Dunes "this is golf on the first order." Jack Nicklaus called it the Pine Valley of the West. I was lucky to play Prairie Dunes on a nice day and with a two club wind, which is enough for you to get a good feel for how the course should play, without being overbearing. As compared to Southern Hills, the greens, while not large by conventional standards, are not quite as small. The greens almost all have at least two tiers so placement of your ball on the correct spot on the green is of paramount importance.
I can see the similarities in the two Perry Maxwell designs - lots of sharp doglegs and intelligent use of the terrain, particularly the uphill shots required into the greens. In almost no instance on the course is your shot to the green a level approach. Maxwell also took a minimalist approach to fairway bunkers which works out very well since the rough is quite penal and you don't need additional hazards. Joe Dye, former head of the U.S.G.A. once wrote that "a golf logo to symbolize the course would be a golfer standing deep in the rough looking for his ball." We hit into the rough a couple of times in our group and each time it was a lost ball.
Two holes in particular are truly world class - the 8th hole, which is the #1 handicap hole is a 430 yard dogleg right that plays uphill all the way. The feature that makes it unique are the massive ripples in the fairway that look like waves coming in from the ocean. You can see in the pictures above, with a golfer present for perspective, how severe the slope and rippling both are.
The 12th hole (pictured above) is a 390 yard par four and is also one of the best I've had the privilege to play. You hit your tee shot from an elevated tee to the fairway below. The strategy of the hole comes from two large cottonwood trees that are on either side of the fairway about 75 yards from the hole. These force you to either lay well back off the tee and then hit a high shot over them to the green or more typically to have to hit a low trajectory shot to a well protected and difficult green. It's too bad you don't see more holes like this. I guess this is because most golfers feel it is their right to have a clear shot at the green if they have a good drive in the fairway and architects generally agree. But I think this hole proves that there are exceptions (a very good exception in this case) to every rule. Also, in a stroke of brilliance, a really good drive hit precisely long enough and between the trees favoring the left side leaves an easy wedge shot between the trees. Great risk/reward!
I did some reading on Prairie Dunes prior to traveling to the course and was expecting the 10th hole to be a really exceptional hole. Maxwell himself said of the par three 10th hole - "this is the most beautiful par three ever constructed. Cypress Point, St. Andrews, Pinehurst and Augusta have nothing to compare with it." I don't agree with Mr. Maxwell on this point. The 10th is a fine golf hole but I actually thought that the 2nd (pictured below) and 4th hole, also par threes, were as good or better.
In an unfortunate incident at Prairie Dunes, on the 9th green the threesome riding behind us hit up on us while our threesome was on the green. Not just one golfer - all three players. For my regular readers you will know that I play fast - in fact we were playing at a good clip and most of the time were waiting for a twosome in front of us to move before we could hit. Being guests to the club we didn't make a big deal out of it. We let the assholes play through on the 10th tee. I'm not sure whether the three were just angry at living in a two-prison town or whether they had too much to drink, but this kind of behavior is not acceptable. God forbid they hit someone in the eye or the head with the ball - hitting up on people is a very bad idea. We mentioned the incident to the cart girl who was roaming the course with beverages. She said that this particular group has a reputation for hitting up on people while drinking. This is a commercial for not having a beverage cart circulate on a golf course, especially since this course had water on almost every tee box anyway. I'm sure most of the members of Prairie Dunes are delightful people but they should not tolerate this type of bad behavior. The cart girl apologized to us as did the assistant-pro whom she told as well. I don't see a place in golf for morons like these, though. If you would like to play through, all you have to do is ask. I hope the course has a good liability insurance policy in place while these guys remain members. Oh, and in what I think is complete poetic justice, to just prove the lack of intelligence of these fools, one drove out of the course after the round in a Hummer. In any event, I don't want to end on a negative, the place is great.
Kudos to the superintendents and green staff at both courses, which were in great condition. Prairie Dunes is a private club and access to play the course is through a member. You can visit their website for more history. The same for Southern Hills which will play host to the 2007 PGA Championship.


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East Bentleigh Company to make parts for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft
Member for Hotham Simon Crean and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today congratulated East Bentleigh based company Cablex on signing an order to supply components for the ejector seat on the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
Cablex has secured an order to supply parts to ejector seat manufacturer Martin-Baker.
"This is a big win for manufacturing in our community. Cablex already employs about 160 people locally and as a result of this order I hope they will be able to employ even more," Mr Crean said.
"Winning this work proves that local companies like Cablex have the skills and expertise needed to win work on big international projects. This is good news for the Hotham electorate and a boost for employment prospects in the local area," Mr Crean said.
The Joint Strike Fighter is an advanced stealth aircraft being built by Lockheed Martin in the United States. The Program is expected to deliver about 3,000 aircraft to the US and the other eight international partners over the coming years.
Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare said that Cablex is one of a growing number of Australian defence companies working on the global Joint Strike Fighter Program.
"This is a great example of the kind of work Australian companies can win on international defence projects," Mr Clare said.


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A Brief History of the Germans from Russia
(The following history is taken from the book, Researching the Germans from Russia, compiled by Michael M. Miller, published by the Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota State University, Fargo, 1987, pages xvii-xix.)
The story of the Germans from Russia had its beginning in 1763 while Catherine II, a former German princess of the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, was Empress of Russia. The Czarina found herself in possession of large tracts of virgin land along the lower course of the Volga River in Russia. Catherine was determined to turn this region into productive, agricultural land as well as to populate the area as a protective barrier against the nomadic Asiatic tribes who inhabited the region.
Then on July 22, 1763, Catherine issued a manifesto inviting foreigners to settle in Russia, in the vast uncultivated lands of her domain. As an inducement to encourage emigration to Russia, the manifesto offered the following rights and privileges to incoming foreign settlers:
- Free transportation to Russia.
- The right to settle in segregated colonies.
- Free land and the necessary tax-free loans to establish themselves.
- Religious freedom and the right to build their own churches. (Implied in this was the right to establish their own schools).
- Local self-government.
- Exemption from military or civil service.
- The right to leave Russia at any time.
- Therefore mentioned rights and privileges were guaranteed not only to incoming settlers but also to their descendants forever.
These rights and privileges offered a chance for a better life and many thousands of people emigrated to Russia from the Germanic states and principalities of Central Europe. The reasons that so many Germanic people took up this Russian offer were many. The Seven Years' War had just ended in 1763. Whole regions in Germany lay devastated and poverty was widespread. Many Germans emigrated at this time to other lands, including the New World, in order to make a new start in life.
The first German-speaking colonists who responded to Catherine's manifesto were directed to lands along the Volga River in the years 1764 to 1767. Later, as Russia acquired the Ukrainian lands north of the Black Sea from Turkey, colonists were invited to settle in those areas. Similarly, when the Crimean Peninsula and Bessarabia were added to the Russian Empire at Turkey's expense, colonists settled there. These later emigrations occurred 40 to 50 years after the great Volga emigration. The Black Sea Germans responded to an invitation that was issued in 1803 by Alexander I, the grandson of Catherine. Since so many responded to the Czar's invitation, the Russian Crown feared that unsuitable immigrants might enter Russia. Accordingly, in 1804, a restrictive decree was issued that embodied the generous terms of Catherine II but required that all future immigrants must possess cash or goods worth at least 300 guilders, be skilled in farming or handicrafts, and be people with families. No single fortune hunters were desired.
The colonists of 1804-1818 had either a long and difficult overland journey or had to travel by river barge down the Danube. (Those in 1804 to 1812 could not use the Danube River because of the 1806-1812 Russo-Turkish War.) Those who traveled to Russia in 1817 went by boat down the Danube and, due to inexperience, many thousands died of disease and exposure.
Approximately 300 mother colonies were founded throughout Russia during the settlement years and as the population grew, more acreage had to be acquired for the landless. Thus, numerous daughter colonies were founded. Eventually there were more than 3,000 ethnic settlements in Russia.
Their schools and churches provided instruction in their native language, German. Life was generally good for the colonists and they maintained the distinct customs, dress, musical tastes, and dialects of their ancestral homelands. Many adjustments to Russian ways, however, were inevitable.
In 1871, Czar Alexander II revoked the preferential rights and privileges given to the colonist settlers by the manifestoes of Catherine II and Alexander I. The colonists, as a result, were reduced to the level of the Russian peasants and under the same laws and obligations to which they were subject. In 1874, the colonists' sons were drafted into the Czar's army for the first time.
The natural result was that the colonists were dismayed and angry, feeling that the Russian Crown was guilty of a breach of contract. As there was nothing they could do, their thoughts turned toward leaving Russia. But where could they go? To return to Germany did not enter their minds, for when their ancestors had left Germany years before, they had no intention ever to return to their native country.
During the summer of 1872, Ludwig Bette, a former colonist, who had led a party of 83 friends from the Black Sea to the United States in 1849, decided to visit relatives and friends in the Black Sea colonies. Noting the unrest and dissatisfaction among the colonists for having lost their privileged status, he extolled the virtue of the United States, urging emigration there. Shortly after his return to the United States, an emigration movement to the United States, Canada, and South America was set in motion which continued more or less unabatedly until the outbreak of World War I halted further emigration.
Alexander III came to the throne of Russia in 1881 after his father, Alexander II, had been assassinated. Russification became the official policy and greatly affected the former colonists. Classes later had to be taught in the Russian language and business was required to be transacted in Russian. Also, it became increasingly difficult for the German-speaking colonists in Russia to purchase the land necessary for their expanding numbers. All of the rights of self-government in their villages were lost by the colonists under the changed conditions.
Hesitating to make the long journey over the ocean, many colonists decided to stay in Russia in spite of the Russification policy. In actual number, perhaps more of the German colonists remained in Russia than emigrated to the countries of North America and South America.
Because of the requirements of the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862, the German-Russians who took up homesteads in the United States were required to live on their 160-acre farms. They could not live in villages or colonies as they had in Russia. Many Volga Germans settled in cities in the Middle West of the United States, while the Black Sea Germans acquired land and homesteaded in Nebraska, Kansas, and the Dakotas. Others settled in western Canada by purchase and homesteading. The Volga Germans became closely associated with the sugar beet industry in Colorado and western Nebraska, while most Black Sea Germans became wheat growers in the Dakotas and in Canada; some later became orchard and grape growers in California. Today descendants of those early Germans from Russia are now living in Colorado, California, Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington, as well as Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan in western Canada. Some also emigrated from Russia to South America.
A large number of German-Russians, descendants of those who elected to remain in Russia, still live in the Soviet Union. The census of 1959 counted over 1,600,000 Germans living in the Soviet Union and that number grew to 2,300,000 by 1983.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 caused great difficulty for the ethnic Germans in Russia. Although they fought and died in Russian military campaigns, they, as a class, were accused of being spies and saboteurs. The German language was forbidden in their schools and churches, and German-language newspapers were prohibited. Innumerable German-Russians were deported to Siberia for "crimes against the state."
With the Russian Revolution of 1917, a period of lawlessness prevailed throughout Russia for several years. Robber bands raided the German villages, ruthlessly murdering many of the Germans. Germans living on estates were driven from their homes with only an hour's notice. Russian regiments revolted, killing their officers, and the Russian soldiers added to the period of lawlessness. The Russian Revolution brought much misery to the German-Russians with many displaced to Siberia and Middle Asia.
Those in Bessarabia were spared the hardships and chaos of the Russian Revolution. When the revolt of the army's soldiers took place, Bessarabia appealed to Romania to restore law and order. This was done and later Bessarabia voted to be annexed by Romania.
Russia never acknowledged the legality of this annexation and in 1940 (since Stalin and Hitler were allied) Hitler agreed that Stalin could have the return of Bessarabia providing he would agree to the resettlement of all ethnic Germans to Germany. This was agreed upon and the Germans packed their suitcases, abandoning all else, and returned to Germany. As there was no place for most of them in Germany, those who were unskilled were settled in the Warthegau, an area along the Warthe River in western Poland.
When the war broke out between Germany and the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the already planned displacement of all Germans was executed without any exception. Thus the presidency of the Soviet Union released the decree (August 2, 1941) "The Resettlement of the Germans of the Volga Region."
The chairman of the Landsmannschaft der Russlanddeutschen in Germany described these true facts in the journal Volk auf dem Weg, August/September, 1985. He writes: "The forced displacement spread, however, not only to the Volga Germans. The German settlement areas on the Crimean peninsula, the Caucasus, and in the Ukraine were as equally affected as the Germans living in the cities. In connection with the forced resettlement, family and home communities which existed up to then were systematically split. Generally men between the 16th and the 60th birthdays were separated from their families and held in the so-called Trudarmija (a special kind of prison camp) where they were treated as enemies of the state. Women and children received poor residences among Russians, Kazachs, and other nationalities. All Germans were told, with threat of punishment, not to return to their former settlements. They had to give up any claims to their possessions, which were confiscated at their former settlements. They lived separated among other ethnic groups in areas of Siberia and central Asia, cut off from contact with the German culture, robbed of the chance as a group to preserve their own cultural heritage, to educate their children in German schools, and to confess their faith."
When the Red Army advanced toward Berlin in World War II, there began for the displaced Russian-Germans in the Warthe region a hasty flight in the wintry cold and snow. Vehicles and train cars, as well as personnel for organizing proper transportation, were missing. One could not stop at protective shelters, so many died along the way from exposure, exhaustion, and starvation. The rapidly advancing Red Army caught up with thousands, captured them, put them in cattle cars, and took them on a long journey without supplies to the northern regions of Russia or to Siberia.
Fortunately, some 70,000 were able to make their way to Germany where they and their descendants are living today. Most of the German-Russians who lived on the Volga and in areas not coming under Hitler's reach were evacuated to the far away Asiatic portions of the USSR. According to the census of 1979 in the Soviet Union 1,936,000 people claimed to be Germans and thus ranked fourteenth among the more than one-hundred nationalities in the USSR.
The very first settlement of the German-Russians in the Middle West, specifically Dakota Territory, occurred in the spring of 1873. This settlement was a direct result of Ludwig Bette's visit to the colony Johannestal in 1872 when he influenced four groups from the Black Sea area to emigrate to the United States. The four groups, numbering 175 men, women, and children, were united at Sandusky, Ohio, where they spent the winter. In the spring, scouts were sent out in search of land who determined that Dakota Territory was the place for them to settle. They loaded their belongings on a special freight train, possibly one or two passenger cars, and a few box cars, and took off for Yankton, Dakota Territory. They arrived there in one of the worst blizzards on record, and many thought the country was worse than Siberia. This is known as the Easter Sunday Blizzard, occurring in April of 1873. After the weather cleared, they searched for suitable land on which to homestead, finding land where Lesterville, South Dakota, is now located, about eighteen miles northwest of Yankton.
Following the settlement near Lesterville, thousands of Germans from the Black Sea areas of Russia poured into Dakota Territory in the years following. Their homesteads spread westward and northward until most of the arable land was homesteaded in what later became South Dakota in 1889. As more and more immigrant Black Sea Germans continued to arrive in Dakota Territory in search of land, their homesteads spread in 1884 into what is now North Dakota. Eventually, their homesteads were located in all arable parts of North Dakota. As a result, North Dakota numbers twice as many Germans from Russia than does any other state in the United States.
By 1920, it was estimated that 116,539 German-Russians were in the United States. The largest concentration was in North Dakota, where some 70,000 lived in 1920, coming from the Black Sea region and Bessarabia. Other large settlements were in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska who came primarily from the Volga region. Today, the families of Germans from Russia are spread throughout the United States and Canada concentrating in the Great Plains states, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington as well as the prairie provinces of Western Canada.
Finally, with the major political changes in the former Soviet Union beginning in 1991, a significant immigration trend began of ethnic Germans receiving permission to immigrate to Germany. Since 1991, an estimated more than two million Germans have immigrated to Germany from the former Soviet Union. Immigration to Germany has become more difficult but continues.
Permission to reprint or to use the information, "A Brief History of the Germans from Russia" from the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection website is not permitted without the written permission of Michael M. Miller, Germans from Russia Bibliographer, NDSU Libraries, Fargo. For contact, email to: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Fast and Slow
It was inspiring, eloquent, uplifting, and captivating. Curt Witcher is a bundle of focused energy, with years of experience and many insights to share. He made a number of points that could have evoked disagreement and controversy in some corners of the genealogy community, but were delivered in such a beguiling and matter-of-fact manner - "It's fact!" "Get real!" - as to be doubly persuasive for all their upending of time-honored genealogical wisdom.
Witcher said many things that need to be said. Genealogy is not just the esoteric pursuit of a privileged coterie, but an activity that should and must include the participation of many people at many different levels. The changes that have taken place over the past couple of decades in the means, methods, and resources that can be used to pursue genealogy have made this broader involvement possible. They have also changed the expectations of people who take up genealogical research, and Curt Witcher described and advocated for this tectonic shift very effectively and persuasively.
One of the points made by Witcher was that people have come to expect greater speed and immediacy of results in their research, or, as he characterized it, "fun and success" and "real-time results." This speed, in fact, is what has attracted people to genealogy in far greater numbers than ever before.
This is how I was lured into genealogy. A simple Google search to demonstrate to a colleague the uniqueness of my maiden name led me to information that confirmed family stories of our connection to a founding family of Texas. It didn't stop there; during the next year I would find all kinds of information unearthed by other researchers as well as make new discoveries of my own. The pace was very fast. I went from knowing nearly nothing about my ancestors to having so many possible avenues of research that I did not know where to start.
So I can confirm Witcher's assertion about the lure of speed, the desire to find things quickly, the attraction of fun and [quick] success.
And yet ... and yet ...
That's not all there is.
I am now at a point where I have tons of tantalizing leads on the Moores, enough material on my great-great-uncle William Henry Lewis to write a book, a slew of Fichtelmanns to figure out, an entire soap opera on the Floyds. And much, much more.
I have done too much "spending 10 minutes finding lots of documents." I cannot absorb everything or even comprehend it. There is just too much.
It is time to slow down, and to do the evaluating and analyzing that Witcher said would come with the faster pace of discovery. I don't need any more projects, nor am I interested in looking into gadgets, apps, or doodads, unless they will truly make me more productive - not fast, but productive.
I want to look at everything slowly and carefully. Often this means transcribing materials. My piles of untranscribed materials have been sitting there, staring at me accusingly. So I finally got off my duff and dug into them.
And my method of transcribing is labor-intensive (= slow). For the census, I transcribe the information from the digital image to a blank census form, which is then typed into a Word or Pages document, and then copied and pasted to the Notes section on my Reunion program. (And I haven't even felt silly about doing it this way after I heard Lou Szucs speak - she does much the same thing.)
Court transcripts, newspaper articles, and the like get transcribed at a similarly slow pace. Every time a new piece of information turns up, I enter it into a document called "Clues from [family name] Materials." This is then converted into a point to be followed up on my "Weekly To-Do" list. In this way I am still making "finds," but they tend to be smaller finds, ones that fill in little gaps in my information.
At the same time, I have been spiffing up source citations in my genealogy program and cleaning up my genealogy bookmarks. I am also entering information, one person at a time, into Ancestry Public Member trees (now no longer just "cousin bait), which I use to cross-check with my Reunion database to make sure that both have the full list of sources for each item. Again, I have deliberately chosen the methodical and laborious way of doing something.
The source citations and transcriptions should be deadly dull work, but they are not. They are peaceful and calming, and they seem to clear my mind. Research Zen, if you will.
So researchers are not always in pursuit of speed and fast results. And in my case this is not because I am a prissy source-citer or genealogical snob. I'm not even particularly industrious. It is simply because I need to go slowly and carefully right now, else I am in danger of losing control over all the data I have. I know that this information will lead to discoveries, but it needs to be organized and carefully studied. Too many times I have discovered that the clue I needed for a breakthrough was in my hands all along.
Curt Witcher is right: people want "real-time results" - it's just the way people are. However, I believe that people do not necessarily want things to move fast all of the time. Instant information may beget the need for instant gratification, but the latter need not be a permanent condition. It's sort of like romance versus love and marriage: the former comes with fun and excitement, but the latter brings the real payoff. Oh, and the passion is still there.
10 comments:
One bite at a time.ReplyDelete
Review, review, review.
Lots of short little often repeated phrases fit this post.
Greta, Congratulations on being one of Family Tree Magazine's 40 Best Blogs!! It's more than well deserved. Keep doing what you do best!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMarch 10, 2011 at 12:05 PM
Congratulations, Greta!!!! GOOD JOB!ReplyDelete
This post touches on so many things that go through my mind. The thrill of the chase and find (instant gratification) vs. the need to slow down and understand what you have found. It's a constant tug of war isn't it?
Congratulations to one of my favorite bloggers! You are so deserving of the honor.ReplyDelete
Congratulations on your Top 40 honor.ReplyDelete
Congratulations on your FT Top 40! Well deserved! Love your blog!ReplyDelete
Congratulations, Greta! Well deserved!ReplyDelete
Carol - Yup, that's the drill. I'm surprised at how often I miss something on the first round.ReplyDelete
Michelle - Thank you! And you're right, slowing down goes against the grain, but eventually it starts to pay off.
Yvonne, Janice, Brenda, Lisa, and Bill - thank you!
I love this post, Greta. You proved just what Curt Witcher was teaching us. We want to get into the research results quickly and be able to feed our curiosity and interest, but then the real work comes as we become more dedicated as (good) genealogists. Thank you for your wonderful article!ReplyDelete


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Saving to the Web frees you from worrying about where you stored your workbook. All you need is the link to get to it from wherever you are, with whatever device you want. And you can choose to share the same link with coworkers, which means you can all work on the same file, instead of emailing around different versions and making sense of it later.
To save to the Web, you'll need a Microsoft account. If you use Hotmail, Messenger, or Xbox Live, you already have one. And if you don't have one, you can create one when you save your workbook.
Click File >Save As.
Click Add a Place.
Under Add a Place, click OneDrive.
Click Microsoft account to sign in with your Microsoft account.
Enter your Microsoft account and password, and click Sign In.
Tip: If you use Hotmail, Messenger, or Xbox Live, you already have a Microsoft account. If you don't have one, click Sign up at the bottom of the window to create a new Microsoft account. You might have to scroll down in the window to see the Sign up option.
As soon as you sign in, your OneDrive will show up under Places. Select it, and then under Recent Folders, pick your OneDrive Documents folder. If you don't see it, click Browse for Additional Folders.
Type a name for your file and click Save.
Next step for sharing your workbook
After you save your workbook to OneDrive, you can share it with other people.
Click File > Share.
Select the type of sharing you want to do. For example, to send an email message with a link to your workbook, click Email, and then click Send a Link.


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Online Training
The Texas General Appropriations Act requires all state agencies and institutions of higher education to provide training on Preventing Sexual Harassment and Preventing Employment Discrimination to all faculty, administration and staff. This training is to be completed within the first 30 days of employment.
The Training and Development Department has a convenient and timesaving way for Blinn College employees to complete the state-mandated trainings online. Please visit each link below to complete these self-paced online trainings. Upon completion, print out your certificates and send to the HR department via campus mail.
Thank you so much for your help in ensuring that all faculty, administration and staff fall within state mandated guidelines.
It is our pleasure to offer the following self-paced online trainings.


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Civil cases
This information has been filed in civil division of Marion County District Court.
Jack Branson vs. Stephanie Jacobson; status hearing Aug. 27, telephone status conference set for Sept. 10.
SRS vs. Bobby D. Lammon; dismissed Sept. 26 after genetic testing shows Lammon not the father of child.
SRS vs. Matthew E. Krause; default judgment made Sept. 26 in favor of SRS; Krause determined to be the parent of three minor children, ordered to pay $907 monthly child support and $3,628 arrears, ordered to maintain maximum health insurance coverage for the children.
Tidwater Finance Company vs. Jeremy T. Sears, 308 ½ N. Walnut St., Peabody; judgment of $9,989.66 made in favor of plaintiff Sept. 26.
Estate of Agnes Peters; decree of descent Sept. 24 declares Annie Peterson and Jacob Janzen heirs of the deceased.
Estate of Phyllis E. Meisinger; Gary Whalen ordered Sept. 26 to complete 2010, 2011, and 2012-to-date accounting and show why he shouldn't be removed as trustee; hearing set for Nov. 5.
Estate of Anita Irene Elam; final settlement Sept. 26; heirs Michelle Flaming of Hesston, James Heath of Hesston, and Bobbie Elam of Overland Park each awarded an undivided one-third share of the estate.
Last modified Oct. 11, 2012


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The posts in « turquoise »
September 26th, 2012
2013 Trends: Colour2013 trends, colours, colors, style, decor, orange, Bright turquoise, turquoise, green, kelly green, fresh leaf green, bright colours, bright colors, add punch, add pop, pop of colour, wallpaper, geometric wallpaper, geometric design, accent colour, accent colors
With 2013 getting closer I thought I'd start introducing some of the top trends in décor. (It never hurts to look to the future!) Lets start with colours. Bright strong colours are very popular for 2013 and the three colours that top my list will be sure to add punch and pop to your home.>
Janette Ewen has been one of Canada's leading décor and lifestyle experts for more than a decade, passing on her passion for design and fashion to avid fans through magazines, newspapers and television.
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Ranfurly Art Deco Party Weekend
In Central Otago the drive alone is thrilling due to the fabulous scenery but to get the most out of it go to the Art Deco Weekend in Ranfurly or Cavalcade
It has been a summer of mixed routes and a variety of destinations. As one may imagine, by virtue of the fact we are on the road constantly, a great deal of New Zealand has been covered several times. We made it a point to be in Ranfurly the week of the Rural Art Deco Weekend and were so glad we made that decision.
The weekend was marvelous beginning with the usually grand Maniototo weather.
The Ranfurly population of 957 swelled to bursting with locals and visitors alike dressed in the art deco theme and motoring along in fantastic automobiles of the era.
The history of the Art Deco buildings began in a re-building of the town in the early 1930's. In 1999 the Ranfurly community, headed by Edna McAtamney, began the process of developing the town into a Rural Art Deco theme. It is a small town with a big identity now thanks to the earlier initiative. Thank you Edna, and all those who have been there, for all those energetic years.
I find it wonderful when a town closes down its entire main street and turns it into a giant party. There was also a very large group of marathon runners on the RailTrail that passes through town. The RailTrail opened in 2000 and is maintained by DoC for all walkers, mountain bikers and occasionally horse riders. It is an improved site that once was occupied by the railway that brought the gold miners to Central Otago from Dunedin now a great new track for anyone wishing to have a go. You can involve yourself in as little or as much as you like along its length. Have a look at their website at www.otagocentralrailtrail.co.nz for more information.
We learned while in Ranfurly the famous Cavalcade was to end just down the road at Patearoa the following weekend. Now this was an event we had heard a lot about so made it a point to be there for the grand finale of their trip. Talk about a thrill watching over 500 individuals who had just spent an arduous time following the old gold trails throughout Otago and northern Southland in a re-enactment of the early pioneers walking, riding horses and driving wagons and carts. They all finished at Patearoa in a long parade that ended at the grounds set aside for their welcome and the evening's party. It was like stepping back in time to watch the people involved pass by with a proud wave and very satisfied smile. They certainly deserved the praise and welcome they received. The Cavalcade is an annual event.
I met Kay Dundass at the Cavalcade and she invited us to visit the Museum at Naseby. Kay has had a large part in promoting the town and especially the Museum. On Sunday when we got there she was at the Museum where we were given a personal and most fascinating tour. What a history! Naseby was once the heart of gold mining in the region. It is a most wonderful town to visit and stroll around. The houses have been refurbished to exemplify the town's historic past.
If you have a need to learn a family genealogy that was a part of this region Kay is the one to contact.
We also had the pleasure of stopping by the newly refurbished Royal Hotel and received a personal tour through by Christopher Spears who introduced himself as the owner's partner. They have spent a great deal of time bringing this building back to the way it was in the beginning. Sunday evening it was packed with locals and visitors alike enjoying a real pub evening. This is a town and a place we will definitely go out of our way to enjoy again. I recommend you do the same. Check out www.naseby.co.nz.
Last year we took the drive over Dansy's Pass to Naseby from Duntroon and noticed the Dansy's Pass Coach Inn when we came through but didn't take the time to stop so this time we drove the 16kms from Naseby and had a good look. Built in 1862 it still appears as if it is almost the same today and well worth a drive out to experience.
When in the area take the short drive to St. Bathans to visit the Hotel and the Blue Lake. We have stayed overnight at their expansive Domain outside of town. To continue the drive around the region continue on to have a look at Ophir assuming you began your tour from the north coming from Palmerston turnoff on Route One or maybe the road from outside Dunedin through Middlemarch.
The whole trip is exhilarating. Great place to take your campervan for a spin. You may want to extend your trip along the entire Otago Goldfields Heritage Trail that includes the route from Alexandra through Roxburgh and Lawrence back to Milton or go from Alexandra on to Cromwell continuing to Glenorchy, Queenstown, Arrowtown and Wanaka. 140 years ago the hills began ringing with the sounds of gold recovery and thousands descended upon this region to get rich. I am sure many Kiwi's can trace their family's history to these origins. Still gold being discovered by the way.
Because of the climate many of the old buildings still stand and add a dimension of understanding to how the early pioneers existed. Don't miss this area in your travels and try to do it so you can enjoy the Ranfurly Festival and, best of all, the Cavalcade.


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Have you started the Christmas shopping countdown yet? It may sound crazy, since we are still enjoying the hot days of summer, but with only about 100 shopping days left, it is time to start thinking about a holiday budget. To avoid the holiday crunch on your wallet at the end of the year, plan for holiday expenses throughout the year.
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Editor's note: What should you expect in USDA's March 31 Prospective Plantings report? AgWeb.com editors are providing you in-depth looks at six key regions that will affect this year's acreage mix.
The Delta farmer's ardor for corn has cooled in the face of lower prices and stubbornly high input costs, according to a recent canvass of extension agents serving the states of Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas. Planting of soybeans, cotton and rice should gain as a result.
Mississippi farmers, for instance, were gung ho on corn this time last year, though late rains prevented many from planting as much corn as they would have liked. This year, Erick Larson, Mississippi State University Extension professor, expects corn acreage to be down considerably.
"I think we'll have 500,000 to 600,000 acres planted this year," says Larson, noting that that level of planting would be well below the historical average. "We've been averaging about 800,000 acres each year since 2007."
"Our growers may lean a little harder on soybeans this year," says Larson, noting that Mississippi soybean plantings typically exceed corn by 2.5 or 3 to 1. Overall Larson expects acreage to increase for rice, cotton, sorghum and soybeans, while wheat and corn will decline.
"We've had cooler-than-normal conditions that have delayed plantings," says Larson. Farmers hope that the ground will dry out soon. "We can't have wet, rainy conditions down here; it really limits the planting window," he says.
Planting is behind schedule in Louisiana well, according to Dan Fromme, a corn specialist with Louisiana State University's AgCenter. Farmers are just starting to see daytime temperatures in the 70s and nighttime lows in the 50s, the optimal condition for planting.
"We always talk about planting corn when the soil temperature reaches 50 degrees. We're now just starting to see some of that," Fromme says, noting that the window for planting corn will close in mid-April.
Fromme expects corn plantings to fall slightly this year to about 600,000 acres, though if temperatures continue to be cooler than normal, some farmers may elect not to plant corn. They may switch to grain sorghum or cotton.
Wet conditions have prevented farmers from ridding their fields of weeds. "That gives cutworms in the soil something to feed on," Fromme says. "We like to have that vegetation destroyed a minimum of four – preferably six – weeks before we plant."
Jason Kelley, an agronomist with the University of Arkansas, notes that farmers would prefer to plant corn early because it may result in higher yields, less damage from insects and disease and an earlier harvest. But planting corn too early runs may impair the uniformity of emergence, increase blackbird feeding and risk freeze damage, he says.
It won't be long before the ground warms up and winds dry out fields, notes Kelley. At that time, he says, Arkansas farmers "will be off and running."
A similar scenario is playing out in Tennessee, where expensive input costs and $4 corn prices have dissuaded farmers from planting corn. "We expect corn acres to be down in Tennessee by at least 25% from 2013 based on seed sales," says Angela Thompson McClure, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee. McClure expects soybean and cotton acreage to gain at corn's expense.
Planting typically doesn't start until late March in Tennessee. It really gets rolling during the first two weeks of April. Whether that pattern holds up will depend, of course, on the weather. Temperatures were still below normal through late March.
What worries Tennessee farmers most about this planting season? "Getting started," says McClure, adding controlling resistant weeds to the list of worries. Meanwhile, farmers are "praying for decent rain in June and July."
AgWeb's Ongoing Prospective Plantings Preview Reports
What will you plant this year? Submit your crop plans to AgWeb Crop Comments by emailing email@example.com.


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In the summer of 2001, when David Cameron had only been an MP for a matter of weeks, he went to see Iain Duncan Smith in his office at Westminster. In that year's general election, Tony Blair had just wiped the Conservatives off his shoe for a second time, securing another landslide victory. Dazed Tories wondered what on earth to do next.
When in doubt, the modern Conservative Party tends to have a leadership contest. So it was that IDS, Ken Clarke, Michael Portillo, David Davis and Michael Ancram came to compete for the right to succeed William Hague. IDS, now Work and Pensions Secretary in Cameron's Cabinet, would eventually draw the short straw, but in July, the leadership election was still ongoing. "Raging" would be too strong a word for such a desultory campaign, taking place against a backdrop guaranteed to depress Tories: Tony Blair was triumphant, the Iron Chancellor, Gordon Brown, said boom and bust had been ended, and it was fashionable to wonder whether the Conservatives could ever win power again.
In search of inspiration, Mr Cameron, like many of his colleagues, toured the offices of the leadership hopefuls, sizing them up in an effort to decide which one to back. There would be various ballots involving MPs before the final choice went out to almost 300,000 party members. (That is not a misprint: relatively recently, the Conservative Party really did have 300,000 members.)
As the highly confident MP for Witney waited to be ushered in to see IDS, a veteran rebel of the wars over Maastricht, he fell into conversation with various others in the outer office. Cameron said he wanted the new leader to be someone who could put a stop to the party's infighting on subjects such as Europe, in order that it might concentrate on winning again. Why, he asked, can't we all just get along?
It is in that pragmatic spirit that Mr Cameron has conducted his European policy since he himself became leader more than seven and a half years ago. It turns out to have been a naive hope. Put that question to more excitable Tory MPs – why can't we all just get along? – and the answer turns out to be: how long have you got?
But the events of the past 48 hours have marked a new low in Mr Cameron's leadership. In particular, there has been a serious erosion of the Prime Minister's authority. Mr Cameron did not want a Bill in this parliament on an EU referendum. Then, in a sudden effort to encourage Tory MPs to soft-pedal on an amendment critical of the Queen's Speech's failure to mention a referendum, he gave way while on a trip to visit President Obama.
Life is too short to explain fully what the backbenchers' amendment is about. Suffice to say, the PM hoped that by publishing a Bill, he would calm the situation and assuage the rebels. No such luck. Within hours of No 10 announcing that it, or rather the Tory party, was publishing a draft Bill that would commit the next parliament (a constitutional impossibility) to an in-out referendum, some were pushing for more. The Bill should get Government time, came the demand. Not possible: there's a Coalition. Have a referendum before the election, they cried. How, with no majority in the Commons? The opinion polls also suggest the public is divided: any such campaign could easily result in a vote to stay in.
While some Tory MPs have gone on record to say they are pleased that the referendum Bill has been published, those who are enthusiastic about staying in the EU (there are about 30) are appalled. Several others I spoke to just seemed to be trying to keep up, hour by hour, with the Prime Minister's evolving position.
Some Conservatives complain that this is all unfair. This trouble is all got up by the Europhile media – can't you see that there is total harmony and no Tory split? They act as though saying this repeatedly, with a smile, will somehow make it true. That is Panglossian piffle. I am a Eurosceptic and I know a Tory shambles when I see one. This is definitely a Tory shambles.
The irony, and the tragedy for Mr Cameron, is that before this latest farcical episode of The Muppet Show, he had arrived at a perfectly sensible policy. In January, he declared that if elected in 2015, he would commit himself to renegotiating the terms of British membership of the EU. He would then put the results to the country in an in/out referendum.
This was an entirely logical and coherent position, around which all members of the Tory tribe should have been able to unite. More importantly, the electorate might even like it. Those who believe in getting out could look forward to a vote. Those who want to try renegotiation could be reassured that it would be attempted. Those who want to stay in could go into the election knowing that the issue had been parked, but that they would get the chance to campaign for Brussels. Crucially, this policy meant that voting Tory at the next election would be the only serious way to get a referendum. It also made practical sense, with the euro crisis unresolved.
It had, admittedly, taken Mr Cameron a long time to get to such a sensible position. Initially, he was merely determined that the party should, as he put it, stop "banging on about Europe", and that his leadership would not be dominated by the rows that have disfigured the Tory party since the fall of Margaret Thatcher.
Mr Cameron set out to change the broken record, hoping that voters who think the Tories weird for their fixation on Europe would take another look. Being David Cameron, he hoped to make Europe go away mainly by relying on his charming personality, and did not think too much about the details.
At first, this got him into terrible difficulty, chiefly over his abandonment of a cast-iron guarantee to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. (He pointed out, in vain, that the treaty had long since been ratified.) Eventually, with the aid of William Hague, he set out to craft the compromise of renegotiation and then a referendum.
The beauty of this policy was its simplicity. It acknowledged clearly that the EU is important and that the Tories mean to do something about it if they get a majority. But it created space in which they could also talk about other matters, such as welfare, the economy and Labour's suitability, or otherwise, for office. It also gave Eurosceptics time to construct a case for withdrawal that goes beyond standard-issue rhetoric and baseless assertions.
For a while, it seemed that the overwhelming bulk of the parliamentary party understood this. Yet just four months later, the panic induced by the rise of Ukip seems to have so frightened some MPs that they have moved back to negotiating live on air, on a daily basis, with the Prime Minister. Bizarrely, he seems prepared to go along with this, and to offer concessions rather than holding the line.
The sorry result is that his policy is no longer simple. It is confusing. It has a Bill attached, to be introduced immediately (or perhaps not), and there is a row about how ministers would vote if there was a referendum today, which there won't be. The matter is being reduced to a traditional Tory squabble, which will baffle many watching voters.
Once again, under pressure, the Conservatives are getting themselves lost in the politics of the student union; of Eurosceptic angels dancing on the heads of pins; of men (almost always men) having arcane arguments about motions, timetables and Private Members' Bills. They have lost the plot.


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A football player for the University of Minnesota's football team announced he quit this week after the coach allegedly subjected him to years of mental abuse and an assistant coach even hurled a homophobic slur at him, Out Sports reports.
According to a letter that was posted on the social media website Tumblr, Minnesota Golden Gophers A.J. Barker says he quit the team after his lead coach Jerry Kill subjected Barker to years of mental abuse and even called him a "faggot."
"But don't be confused by this explanation into thinking this is a quick/irrational decision based solely around Thursday's event," Barker has been reported saying. "Last spring before the spring game I was called a faggot for my spiritual views by Coach Reeves where other players on the team heard him say it."
Barker tweeted that he is an atheist. Out Sports noted that being an atheist "is even worse than being gay" on some college football teams.
The St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reports that Kill says he doesn't remember using the homophobic epithet.
"The only thing that I recall, again, is about the training, that it's important that everything you're doing has to be on the same page," Kill told the newspaper. "We have to answer to (head trainer) Ed (Lochrie). It's no different than me having epilepsy and having to go see three different neurologists; you get so many people in the loop, you don't know what's what. You have to keep people in the loop."
Kill has forcefully defended himself. He told AP, ''I feel bad for A.J. I feel bad that that's the way he feels about the situation,. I'll do anything I can to help him in the future, whatever he decides to do. I'm all in it for the kids. I want to see kids be successful and do well.''
There's also a controversy over an injury Barker received in a game. He injured his ankle twice in two consecutive games. Barker claims Kill forced him to practice, despite an MRI that showed ligament tears and a bone bruise. Kill denies he made Barker participate in practice and counters that Barker was disruptive.
''I'm not here to win any popularity contests,'' Kill told AP. He added that he ''doesn't treat our players any differently than I treat my two daughters.''
The sports world has become stricter when it comes to athletes spewing anti-gay rhetoric. In September, the Associated Press reported that Yunel Escobar, a shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, was suspended after wearing eye-black that displayed a homophobic slur in Spanish during a game in Boston. Although the athlete said he meant it to be a joke and as something he didn't "intend to be offensive," the suspension was still carried through, which resulted in Escobar losing about $82,000.
From our media partners at EDGE


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I just got a new CD today. I pop it into my comp and some nifty program starts up. "Oh cool" I figure...but after looking at it I realized it was just the bonus material. Hmm, that's not what I want. I closed that and explored the CD some...I couldn't even find music to play. WTF m8. I stuck it in a CD player to make sure it had music...somewhere, and it did. I looked thoroughly through the CD and the program that started up. No luck. I think I narrowed the problem down. I think all the MP3s are compressed into a .CDQ file, and I have no idea how to get them out of that cage, nor how to even play them. Anyone have any solutions?


text: AOSIS OpenJournalshttp://email@example.com://www.koedoe.co.za1683-75842071-078XNew plant records for Tankwa Karoo National Park, South Africa The Tankwa Karoo National Park has been enlarged from 27 064 ha to 143 600 ha. This whole area is severely under-collected for plants in general and therefore it was an obvious target for the South African National Parks (SANParks) Programme, a component of the Pretoria National Herbarium (PRE) Plant Collecting Programme. This programme not only aims to survey national parks that have been poorly surveyed, but also inadequately known taxa, unique habitats, remote and inaccessible areas and plant species flowering at irregular times, especially after events such as fire or unusual timing of, or high, rainfall. General collecting in the Tankwa Karoo National Park has already led to the description of two new taxa, from two families. It furthermore resulted in new distribution records for the park and for the Northern Cape Province. These are reported on here. Conservation implications: Although the Tankwa Karoo National Park falls within the Succulent Karoo Biome (a biodiversity hotspot of international importance), information on its plant diversity is insufficient because it is an under-collected area. Results of this study will guide conservation and supply occurrence and distribution data required to compile management plans for the park. Stoffel P. Bester1,2 1National Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa 2School of Environmental Sciences and Development, North-West University, South Africa Ronell R. Klopper3,4 3Biosystematics Research & Biodiversity Collections Division, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa 4Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa Hester M. Steyn1 1National Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa Hugo Bezuidenhout5,6 5Scientific Services, South African National Parks, South Africa 6Applied behavioural ecology and ecosystem research unit, University of South Africa, South Africa Hester Steyn firstname.lastname@example.com Private Bag X101, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 106654110.4102/koedoe.v54i1.1066 13 Oct. 201107 Aug. 201212 Nov. 2012Bester, S.P., Klopper, R.R., Steyn, H.M. & Bezuidenhout, H., 2012, 'New plant records for Tankwa Karoo National Park, South Africa', Koedoe 54(1), Art. #1066, 9 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v54i1.1066 © 2012.The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.Introduction The Tankwa Karoo National Park (TKNP) is a relatively new addition to South Africa's treasure of National Parks and was only declared a national park in 1986 (Rubin 1998). The original park consisted of eight farms amounting to 27 064 ha, which comprised mainly long gentle slopes to low-lying plains and isolated hills (Rubin 1998). By 2011 the park was extended to 143 600 ha. The South Africa National Parks (SANParks) plant collection programme is a facet of the larger National Herbarium (PRE) Plant Collecting Programme, where priority is given to collecting in national parks that contain under-collected areas (less than 200 species known within a quarter degree squared [QDS] grid according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute [SANBI]'s plant database PRE Computerised Information System [PRECIS]). This programme officially started in 2005 with collecting efforts in the Tankwa Karoo and Namaqua National Parks. The work within these parks not only targets the under-collected areas, but also inadequately known taxa, unique habitats, remote and inaccessible areas and plant species flowering at irregular times, especially after events such as fire or unusually high rainfall. The aim of such surveys in under-collected areas, such as the TKNP, is to enhance our knowledge and general understanding of these conservation areas in terms of their floristic component. General collecting in these areas will enable us to compile comprehensive species checklists for the areas that will, in turn, inform decisions regarding the conservation and monitoring of these conservation areas and the plants which they contain. Research method and design Tankwa Karoo National Park is situated in the southern section of the Succulent Karoo Biome (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) and stretches from the plains in the south-west to the escarpment of the Roggeveld Mountains in the east (Figure 1). For details on the vegetation of the Tankwa Karoo and the TKNP in particular the reader is referred to Rubin (1998 [for major plant communities]), Van der Merwe, Van Rooyen and Van Rooyen (2008a [Fynbos related vegetation]) and Van der Merwe, Van Rooyen and Van Rooyen (2008b [Succulent Karoo vegetation]). All the QDS grids in the park are regarded as under-collected, and therefore the whole park was targeted for general collecting. This entails collecting herbarium specimens of all plants that are flowering or fruiting at the various collecting sites that were chosen. Collecting sites were selected to represent the variety of habitat types, for example hill slopes, plains and so forth, found within the specific QDS. Collecting trips targeted different areas of the park and were carried out at various times of the year (July–October), to reflect the floristic component of the park as best as possible. A total of seven collecting trips were conducted within the park in 2005–2010 with collecting efforts concentrated in the six QDSs that comprised the park in 2005. The collecting was carried out by 10 collectors (all staff of the National Herbarium in Pretoria), including the first three authors. Most trips included two or three collectors at a time, with one large trip where six collectors were involved. Information accompanying each specimen includes the standard information recorded on herbarium collecting labels, such as locality, habitat, substrate, lithology, exposure, aspect and slope. Global positioning system (GPS) readings were taken, but these mostly represent a few general readings for a collecting site as a whole, and are not necessarily specific for each individual plant collected. Fertile herbarium specimens were collected and identified mainly at the National Herbarium in Pretoria (PRE). Cuttings were taken from sterile stapeliads and these were grown at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden's nursery until flowering. Flowers were then added to the herbarium sheets with sterile stems. Specimens are housed at PRE and duplicates, when available, were distributed to the Kimberley South African National Parks Herbarium (KSAN), the Compton Herbarium in Cape Town (NBG), and McGregor Museum Herbarium in Kimberley (KMG). Herbarium acronyms follow Holmgren, Holmgren and Barnett (1990). Specimen information was incorporated into the main database, the Pretoria National Herbarium (PRE) Computerised Information System (PRECIS), to allow analysis of distribution data. New specimen records were compared to existing records in PRECIS. Where a first record for a taxon in TKNP was indicated, the existing checklist for the area (Rubin 1998) was consulted to verify the novelty of the record. All relevant specimens acting as vouchers of the new records reported on here, are cited under each taxon in Appendix 1. The citation of these voucher specimens are listed in the following format: PROVINCE.– Grid latitude and longitude (Grid name): Locality description where the specimen was collected (–QDS indicator), Date, Collector & collector's number (Acronym of herbaria where the specimen and its duplicates are housed) Ethical considerations Ethical consideration has been given to the collection of plant specimens by not collecting indiscriminately and taking care not to damage plants. Results and discussion During recent field trips targeting the Tankwa Karoo region and especially the TKNP, approximately 1500 specimens were collected by staff from the National Herbarium (PRE). This substantially increased our knowledge of the floristics of the region: at the start of the programme the lowest number of species per QDS was 16 (3219BA); this number was raised to 108 (3219BA) by 2011 (Table 1). Many significant collections were made as part of this programme: new distribution records were added to the PRE collection, for example Bulbine triebneri Dinter (first record for the Northern Cape, Klopper et al. 2008); first records for the park were collected, for example Dioscorea elephantipes (L'Hér.) Engl. (collected on the Gannaga Pass); a new species (Moraea tanquana Goldblatt & J.C.Manning) was described from Leeuberg (Goldblatt & Manning 2009) and a new monotypic genus in the Apiaceae (Scaraboides Magee & B.-E. van Wyk) was described from Elandsberg (Magee et al. 2009). Further significant range extensions and new park and provincial records from within the park are provided (Table 2) with additional information on each species (Appendix 1). In the checklist of species for the TKNP (Rubin 1998) only two stapeliads were listed, namely Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne. and a Stapelia species. Stapeliads, in general, are poorly represented in herbaria because it is usually difficult to locate these plants. Many are obscured and hidden amongst nurturing plants that provide shade and shelter or they may grow in inaccessible habitats. Furthermore, because of their collector's value, many plants are collected and kept in living collections without making representative herbarium specimens. The correct preservation of herbarium specimens of Stapeliads is also perceived to be difficult. Cuttings collected in the park were grown until they flowered which made positive identification possible – the list was extended to include six more taxa (Table 2). No aloes (Asphodelaceae) or ferns (Pteridophyta) were represented on the previous checklist (Rubin 1998) and general collecting led to three taxa being added from each of these plant groups (Table 2). Although records of Aloe microstigma Salm-Dyck from the Calvinia area has been known since the 1920s, this species has not been collected in the TKNP until 2006 when a few individuals of this aloe were found growing on the Gannaga Pass. Apart from Moraea tanquana (Vulnerable) and Nemesia suaveolens K.E.Steiner (Rare), the only other taxon with a Red List status of conservation concern is Lachenalia ameliae W.F.Barker (Near Threatened) (L. von Staden pers. comm., February 2010). Following the new records and range extensions resulting from this study, the extent of occurrence could be re-determined and the statuses of these species were revised. All other taxa reported on here are listed in the latest Red List (Raimondo et al. 2009) as Least Concern, and these new records have no influence on their status. Conclusion The general collecting carried out thus far in the TKNP has increased our knowledge of the flora of a severely under-collected and unique habitat significantly. Knowledge of the full distribution of taxa, especially taxa with limited distribution ranges, is imperative in helping us fully understand these plant species; for instance, without this information the assessment of Red Data List status of such taxa cannot be carried out accurately. Data generated by the SANParks Programme in TKNP will be used for better informed decisions regarding the conservation of this unique area and also will assist SANParks with management of these plant species. The data are essential in conservation and monitoring actions within the park and will be taken up in the Park Management Plan and Conservation Development Framework. Furthermore, it is useful in terms of ecotourism to show visitors which species occur in the park and to highlight the importance of the park in the conservation of these plants. The occurrence of rare and threatened plants in the TKNP will also focus the attention of researchers working on these groups on the park and will thus stimulate further research in the area. Acknowledgements We would like to thank our colleagues for helpful comments and suggestions on this manuscript. Cape Nature and Northern Cape Nature Conservation provided collecting permits, and Lize von Staden assessed the threat status of species. We also acknowledge with appreciation the two anonymous referees for suggesting improvements to the manuscript. Furthermore, we would like to thank SANParks for permission to work in the Arid Parks with a special mention of Conrad Strauss, Letsie Coetzee and the staff of Tankwa Karoo National Park. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) which may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this paper. Authors' contributions S.P.B. (South African National Biodiversity Institute), R.R.K. (South African National Biodiversity Institute) and H.M.S. (South African National Biodiversity Institute) were equally responsible for data collection and analyses used in this study, as well as compiling the manuscript. H.B. (South African National Parks) provided the team with logistical support for field work and made valuable contributing comments and improvements to the manuscript. 1.Brown, N.E., 1909, 'Stapelia surrecta', in W.T. Thiselton-Dyer (eds.), Flora capensis, vol. 4(1), pp. 970–971, Reeve, London.2.Bruyns, P.V., 2005, Stapeliads of southern Africa and Madagascar, vol. II, Umdaus Press, Hatfield3.Crouch, N.R., Klopper, R.R., Burrows, J.E. & Burrows, S.M., 2011, Ferns of southern Africa: A comprehensive guide, Struik, Cape Town.4.Goldblatt, P. & Manning, J.M., 2009, 'New species of Moraea (Iridaceae: Iridoideae), with range extensions and miscellaneous notes for southern African species', Bothalia 39, 1–10.5.Holmgren, P.K., Holmgren, N.H. & Barnett, L.C., 1990, Index herbariorum, part 1: The herbaria of the world, 8th edn., New York Botanical Garden, New York.6.Klopper, R.R., Klopper, A.W., Baijnath, H. & Smith, G.F., 2008, 'Bulbine triebneri, an earlier name for Bulbine alba, as well as additional and new localities in Eastern and Northern Cape, South Africa', Bothalia 38, 67–184.108.40.20685/1070-0048(2007)13[38:TGAAAI]2.0.CO;28.10.2985/1070-0048-16.1.169.Leach, L.C., 1985, A revision of Stapelia L. (Asclepiadaceae), Excelsa Taxonomic Series No. 3, Aloe Books, Johannesburg.10.10.1600/03636440978927121811.Mucina, L. & Rutherford, M.C. (eds.), 2006, The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, Strelitzia 19, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.12.Raimondo, D., Von Staden, L., Foden, W., Victor, J.E., Helme, N.A., Turner, R.C. et al. (eds.), 2009, Red List of South African plants, Strelitzia 25, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.13.Rubin, F., 1998, 'The physical environment and major plant communities of the Tankwa Karoo National Park', Koedoe 41, 61–94.14.Steiner, K., 2009, 'Two new species of Nemesia (Schrophulariaceae) from arid areas of the Northern Cape, South Africa', Bothalia 39, 67–72.15.Van der Merwe, H., Van Rooyen, M.W. & Van Rooyen, N., 2008a, 'Vegetation of the Hantam-Tanqua-Roggeveld subregion, South Africa. Part 1: Fynbos Biome related vegetation', Koedoe 50(1), 61–71.16.Van der Merwe, H., Van Rooyen, M.W. & Van Rooyen, N., 2008b, 'Vegetation of the Hantam-Tanqua-Roggeveld subregion, South Africa. Part 2: Succulent Karoo Biome related vegetation', Koedoe 50(1), 160–183.Appendix 1: Detailed information and relevant specimens for new plant records from Tankwa Karoo National Park Apocynaceae Quaqua acutiloba (N.E.Br.) Bruyns This species was discovered by Robert Templeman in 1898 and described by N.E. Brown in 1909 (Bruyns 2005). Quaqua acutiloba has a relatively wide distribution range, occurring from south of Laingsburg on the edge of the western escarpment northwards to the vicinity of Aus in Namibia (Figure A-1). In the TKNP this species is associated with rocky and gravelly plains and foot slopes of hills, but also grows on the lower plateaux (for instance the Elandsberg plateau). These plants are usually associated with various species of Ruschia which, in most cases, act as nurturing plants to this species (Bruyns 2005). The stems can become ± 2 cm in diameter (usually 4-angled) and up to 300 mm long. The plants form clumps of up to 0.3 m in diameter. The flowers are about 1 cm in diameter and are extremely variable in the expression of colour that ranges from plain yellow-green to dark maroon with various degrees of maroon-spotted on yellow-green background forms. The flowers are open, rotate, sometimes with a shallow basal cup (Figure 2a). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP. Plato above Elandsberg (–BB), 07 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7792 (PRE); On the road between Potkleiberg and Pramberg. South-western foot slopes and flats at Potkleiberg. Farm: Folmoesfontein (–BD), 05 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7731 (PRE), S.P. Bester 7732 (PRE). Quaqua parviflora (Masson) Bruyns subsp. gracilis (C.A.Lückh.) Bruyns The material from which Lückhoff described this taxon was collected between Calvinia and Pakhuis Pass (Bruyns 2005). Compared to the previous species the flowers in Quaqua parviflora subsp. gracilis are much smaller and the stems generally much thinner. The flowers are characteristic with long narrow segments that are constricted more or less in the middle, ending in a thickened apical part. The apical section is usually homogenous in colour in contrast to the rest of the corolla that are maroon-spotted on a cream background. Based mainly on this apical swelling and somewhat longer segments of the corolla, it is possible to distinguish it from the typical subspecies. This taxon has a much more restricted distribution than the typical species, occurring from the Ceres Karoo north-westwards to the west of Garies (Figure A-1). Plants are usually confined to the lower foot slopes of mountainous areas along the escarpment in stony and rocky soils. Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP. Langkloof Gorge (–AA), 07 August 2006, S.P. Bester 7139 (PRE). In the TKNP Quaqua and Stapelia can be distinguished from each other in the sterile state based on the hairiness of the stems. In Quaqua the stems are always glabrous compared to Stapelia where it is velvety pubescent (there are, however, some exceptions in Stapelia that are also glabrous, but these do not occur in TKNP). Stapelia arenosa C.A.Lückh. Joseph Archer was the first to collect this species which came from the northern Cederberg. It was later described by C.A. Lückhoff (Bruyns 2005). In the distribution range of this species it is encountered only sporadically. It has been recorded from the Kamiesberg southwards to the Karoo Poort in the Ceres Karoo (Leach 1985) (no specimens in the database). In August 2007 it was collected in the Elandsberg area (Figure A-2). The plants form few-flowered inflorescences with short pedicels causing the flowers to be held quite close to the stems. With repeated formation of flowers in inflorescences the stem may become irregularly thickened. As the stems develop, flowers may occur all along the stem, from its base to the tips. The stems are diffuse and form lax clumps. Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP. Southern slopes of Elandsberg, (–BB), 06 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7749a (KSAN, PRE); Plato above Elandsberg, (–BB), 07 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7795b (KMG, KSAN, NBG, PRE). Stapelia surrecta N.E.Br. This species was first collected by Rudolph Marloth and later described by N.E. Brown in Flora capensis (1909). Stapelia surrecta (Figure 2b) is one of few species in the genus that carries flowers with long pedicels concentrated at the tips of the stems (another example is some forms of Stapelia kwebensis). This species has a restricted range and is only known from the Ceres Karoo. It occurs from Karoo Poort in the south to Bloukrans Pass in the north (Figure A-2). In the TKNP plants were collected in rocky and sandy soils in the Langkloof, but according to Bruyns (2005) it is restricted to shale and tillite. This species can only be distinguished from Stapelia arenosa when flowering because the vegetative stems are indistinguishable. Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP. Langkloof Gorge (–AA), 07 August 2006, S.P. Bester 7161a (KSAN, PRE); 7163a (PRE). Tridentea parvipuncta (N.E.Br.) L.C.Leach subsp. truncata (C.A.Lückh.) Bruyns The subspecies was originally discovered by James Lückhoff in 1931 and described by C.A. Lückhoff in 1937 (Bruyns 2005). It is distinguished from the typical subspecies in that the outer corona lobes are truncate and emarginate and not deeply bifid with two lobes diverging as in the typical subspecies (Figure 2c). Tridentea parvipuncta subsp. truncata are found from the western section of Karoo Poort to Botterkloof (Figure A-1). It is separated from the typical subspecies which is found south of Merweville westwards. Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP. On the road between Potkleiberg and Pramberg. South-western foot slopes and flats at Potkleiberg. Farm: Folmoesfontein (–BD), 07 November 2007, S.P. Bester 7730a (KMG, KSAN, PRE). Tromotriche thudichumii (Pillans) L.C.Leach Although this taxon was already discovered in 1937 and re-collected in 1940 by Marthinus Malherbe, it was only described some 20 years later by N.S. Pillans in 1959 (Bruyns 2005). Despite a manuscript name that was given to it in the Bolus Herbarium (Stapelia malherbei), it was eventually named after Jacques Thudichum (curator of the Karoo Botanical Garden at the time), who found a number of these plants in cultivation at the garden which he could not identify. The plants grow in rocky and gravelly soils on the flats of the Tanqua Karoo and Roggeveld escarpment (Bruyns 2005), mainly in the Ceres Karoo (north of Karoo Poort) and Calvinia Districts (Figure A-2). Characteristic of this species is the corolla that is so strongly reflexed that the flowers usually seem to be clasping the stem (Figure 2d). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP. Southern slopes of Elandsberg (–BB), 06 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7749 (KMG, KSAN, PRE); Plato above Elandsberg, (–BB), 07 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7795a (KMG, KSAN, PRE); On the road between Potkleiberg and Pramberg. The south-western foot slopes and flats at Potkleiberg. Farm: Folmoesfontein (–BD), 05 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7730 (PRE). Asphodelaceae: Alooideae Aloe microstigma Salm-Dyck Aloe microstigma occurs fairly widespread in the western parts of the Eastern Cape, the central areas of the Western Cape and just into the Northern Cape, with a disjunction to south-western Namibia (Klopper & Smith 2010). Although records from the Calvinia area has been known since the 1920s, this species has not been collected in the TKNP until 2006 when a few individuals of this aloe were found growing on steep slopes in Tankwa Escarpment Shrubland (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) on the Gannaga Pass. This population represents the yellow flowering form of A. microstigma, previously known as Aloe brunthallerii A.Berger ex Cammerl. and is one of the northernmost records of this colour form (Figure 2e and Figure A-3). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP, top of Gannaga Pass, Farm Kleinfontein 1027, near the viewpoint, (–AA), 05 August 2006, R.R. Klopper 321 (KSAN, PRE); 10 July 2010, R.R. Klopper & A.W. Klopper 336 & 337 (PRE). Aloe falcata Baker Aloe falcata is known to occur from the Richtersveld south to the Klawer area and inland to around Calvinia (Klopper & Smith 2007). It was first observed on a rocky ridge in the Tanqua Karoo vegetation type (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) during a general collecting trip in TKNP in August 2006, but was not in flower and no material was collected. The significance of this population was only realised afterwards: it is the most south-eastern record known for this aloe to date. Subsequently, during a specialised collecting trip focussing on aloes in 2010, a herbarium record from this population was collected (Figure A-4). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP, Farm Roodewerf 1091, Houtkraalkloof, (–AA), 10 July 2010, R.R. Klopper & A.W. Klopper 339 (PRE). Aloe variegata L. This very widespread and small aloe, with its cryptically mottled and camouflaged leaves (Klopper & Smith 2007, 2010), is very inconspicuous when not in flower. It is thus not surprising that it has not been collected in the TKNP before 2006, even though it occurs at several localities within the park, all within the Tanqua Karoo vegetation type of the Rainshadow Valley Karoo Bioregion (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) (Figure A-5). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP, hill east of Leeuberg, (–BB), 04 August 2006, H.M. Steyn 888 (KSAN, PRE); Grasberg South 1103, (–BC), 16 August 2008, H.M. Steyn 1457 (PRE); Foot of slope west of Potklysberg, (–BD), 05 August 2007, A.C. Mudau 254 (PRE). 3220 (Sutherland): TKNP, border of farms Manus Zyn Dam and Roodewerf 1019, Remhoogte, (–AA), 08 August 2006, R.R. Klopper 361 (KSAN, PRE); Maansedam, on the plain surrounding the house, south of the house, (–AA), 06 August 2006, H.M. Steyn 941 (KSAN, PRE). Hyacinthaceae Lachenalia ameliae W.F.Barker Lachenalia ameliae was thought to be endemic to the Western Cape, occurring mainly in the Montagu and Touws River areas. The northernmost specimen was collected in 1921 at Gansfontein in the Ceres Karoo (Marloth 10479, PRE). During August 2006, 2008 and 2011 four populations were found in three adjacent grids in the north-western parts of TKNP. These populations comprise several plants growing on shale-derived soils on gravel plains in the Tanqua Karoo vegetation type (Mucina & Rutherford 2006), at altitudes between 352 m and 407 m. This represents a northward extension of the known distribution range by ± 50 km and a new record for the Northern Cape (Figure 2f and Figure A-3). Because of the new records, the extent of occurrence changed from 4000 km² to 17 696 km², but this is still within the Near Threatened (NT) range and the status remains unchanged (L. von Staden pers. comm., February 2012). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP. Sandy wash West of Leeuberg, (–BB), 03 August 2006, H.M. Steyn 863b (PRE); TKNP, between Varsfontein and Prambergfontein, (–BB), 17 August 2008, H.M. Steyn 1459 (KSAN, PRE); TKNP, Grasberg South 1103, (–BC), 16 August 2008, H.M. Steyn 1452 (KSAN, PRE); TKNP, track between Luiperdskop and Varsfontein, (–BD), 15 August 2011, H.M. Steyn 1864 (PRE). IridaceaeMoraea tanquana Goldblatt & J.C.Manning As a result of general collecting, a previously unknown, blue flowering Moraea species was collected in TKNP in August 2006 (Figure 2g). It was subsequently described as M. tanquana (Goldblatt & Manning 2009). When described, this species was only known from the type locality, but during follow-up field trips to different parts of the park, three more populations were found. In August 2008, a population was found on the lower north-eastern slopes of Leeuberg (no specimens were collected), as well as on a plateau to the southeast of Grasberg. In August 2009, yet another population on the eastern side of the same plateau was discovered. All three populations were found in Tanqua Karoo vegetation (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) on dolerite-derived stony or rocky soil. The populations were estimated to consist of between 80 and 120 plants each and the maximum range extension is between 13 km and 15 km (Figure A-6). A preliminary threatened status of VU D1 (Vulnerable) was assigned to this species based on the localised distribution and relatively small population sizes (L. von Staden pers. comm., February 2010). Relevant specimens: TYPE.–Northern Cape, 3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP, small koppie east of Leeuberg, (–BB), 04 August 2006, H.M. Steyn 872 (NBG, holo.; KSAN, PRE, iso.). NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): Grasberg South 1103, (–BC), 16 August 2008, H.M. Steyn 1431 (PRE); Hill west of track between Varsfontein and Luiperdskop, (–BD), 06 August 2009, H.M. Steyn 1524 (PRE). Scrophulariaceae Nemesia suaveolens K.E.Steiner A number of Nemesia specimens with yellow and purple or pink flowers were collected (Figure 2h). This species was usually found on gravelly sand in the Tanqua Karoo vegetation type (Mucina & Rutherford 2006). At the time, these specimens could not be matched to any Nemesia species at PRE and they were only recently identified as N. suaveolens K.E.Steiner. This is an annual species known from a very limited area of the central Tanqua Karoo. The flowers have a straight spur and a pleasant spicy fragrance (Steiner 2009). With this new information the national threatened status of this species was determined as Rare, because it has a restricted range (EOO 478 km2) and is potentially vulnerable to grazing and population fluctuations in response to rainfall. Subpopulations, however, are large and a large proportion of the population is protected in the TKNP (L. von Staden pers. comm., February 2010). The known distribution of this species is shown in Figure A-6. The original localities are included in this map, not only to highlight the new records, but to rectify the original map (Steiner 2009:70). In the original map all the collections were plotted in 3219 (–BC), although specimens were listed from (–BA), (–BC), (–BD), (–DA) and 3220 (–AC) (Steiner 2009). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3219 (Wuppertal): TKNP, Western end of park. Dry riverbed, (–BA), 02 August 2007, S.P. Bester 7687 (PRE); TKNP, between Varsfontein and the gate at the Ceres-Calvinia road, (–BA), H.M. Steyn 1434 (PRE); Calvinia District, TKNP, gravel plains west of Leeuberg, (–BB), 03 August 2006, B. Sachse 31B (PRE); Calvinia District, TKNP, Biesjesfontein (–BB), 15 August 2011, S.P. Bester 10713 (PRE); TKNP, Grasberg South 1103, (–BC), H.M. Steyn 1442 (PRE); Calvinia District, TKNP, Luiperdskop farm SE of the koppie (–BD), 15 August 2011, S.P. Bester 10712 (PRE). WESTERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): Along the road between Paulshoek and Oudebaaskraal (–AC), 05 August 2009, M. Koekemoer 3752 (PRE); Ceres District, TKNP, between Roodewerf and Oudebaaskraal, Platfontein farm (–AC), 13 August 2011, S.P. Bester 10706 (PRE). Pteridophyta: Sinopteridaceae Cheilanthes parviloba (Sw.) Sw. This fern is widespread from the Western Cape, through the Eastern Cape to the south of KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Lesotho, North West and Limpopo, with a disjunction to central Namibia, and also occurs in southern Zimbabwe (Crouch et al. 2011). It was first collected in the TKNP in 2006 in the Tankwa Escarpment Shrubland (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) near the top of Gannaga Pass. It had not been collected in the Northern Cape previously; thus this collection represents a range extension of ± 150 km from the nearest known record in the Western Cape (Figure A-7). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP, Farm Kleinfontein 1027. Plateau at top of Gannaga Pass, at the top edge of the pass, (–AA), 05 August 2006, R.R. Klopper 319 (KSAN, PRE). Cheilanthes induta Kunze Cheilanthes induta is a fairly distinctive species, characterised by long, reddish hairs on the stipe, rachis and abaxial lamina surface, as well as its unusual convoluted stipe (Crouch et al. 2011). It occurs widespread in the Western Cape and adjacent parts of the Northern Cape, as far north as Springbok, and the Eastern Cape, extending into the isolated mountains of the Great Karoo (Crouch et al. 2011). It was first collected in the TKNP in 2007 in the Roggeveld Shale Renosterveld (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) (Figure A-8). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP, Klipfontein Farm, (–AA), 14 September 2007, M.S. Mothogoane 736 (PRE). Cheilanthes namaquensis (Baker) Schelpe & N.C.Anthony Cheilanthes namaquensis is a rare fern that occurs from southern Namibia, through Namaqualand in the Northern Cape, into the Western Cape (Crouch et al. 2011). It is easily confused with Cheilanthes deltoidea Kunze subsp. deltoidea that has a very similar, although slightly wider, distribution range. Cheilanthes namaquensis can be distinguished by its narrower fronds with basal pinnae that are not basiscopically developed and its rachis that is only winged in the apical portion of the frond and not winged throughout, as in the broadly triangular fronds of C. deltoidea with its basiscopically developed basal pinnae (Crouch et al. 2011). This fern was first collected in TKNP in 2006 in Tankwa Escarpment Shrubland (Mucina & Rutherford 2006) (Figure A-5). Relevant specimens: NORTHERN CAPE.–3220 (Sutherland): TKNP, Farm Langekloof 60. Langkloof, ± 1.5 km – 2 km north of Malansgat River, (–AA), 07 August 2006, R.R. Klopper 353 (KSAN, PRE).


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Bridgecorp was insolvent from at least February 2006 - a year and a half before it collapsed, its receiver alleges in civil action against three former directors.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the failed finance firm's receiver, has filed a $442 million claim against former Bridgecorp directors Bruce Davidson, Gary Urwin and Peter Steigrad.
The legal action is believed to be one of the biggest civil cases in New Zealand's history.
PwC's statement of claim against the directors alleges that from at least February 2006 the liabilities of the Bridgecorp companies would have exceeded their assets if properly recorded in financial statements.
PwC claims the three directors breached their duties to Bridgecorp by allowing it to carry on business past this date.
"If the Bridgecorp companies had ceased trading from at least February 1, 2006, they would have avoided losses to investors of up to $442 million," PwC said.
PwC's statement of claim filed with the High Court at Auckland alleges eight "causes of action" against the defendants for aspects of the Bridgecorp group's operations in New Zealand and Australia.
The receiver claims that from 2006 the defendants failed to put policies in place to ensure a number of Bridgecorp's loans were properly managed and monitored.
According to the statement of claim, it was clear by February 2006 that a "substantial amount of Bridgecorp's New Zealand borrowers" were unable to repay their loans at maturity.
Instead of recording these loans as "non-performing", Bridgecorp rolled them over, in some case for more than two years, PwC said.
The directors would or should have known borrowers were unable to pay back these when they fell due and should not have recorded the maturing loans at full face value in financial statements, PwC said.
Bridgecorp also refinanced a number of its loans with companies such as Hanover Finance and St Laurence.
PwC said the directors would or should have known that the only purpose of this refinancing was to generate cash flow for Bridgecorp when it could not do so from its normal operations.
As well as this, the refinancing was not done at market rates and delayed the appointment of receivers, PwC alleged.
Steigrad's lawyer, Brian Keene QC, said last month that Davidson, Steigrad and Urwin had filed statements of defence in response to the allegations.
Bridgecorp former managing director Rod Petricevic and its financial controller Rob Roest have been declared bankrupt and are exempt from proceedings.
Davidson and Urwin last year pleaded guilty to 10 Securities Act charges for misleading investors.
Petricevic and Roest were found guilty of 18 Securities Act and Crimes Act charges this year.
Steigrad was found guilty of six Securities Act charges and acquitted on four.
Bridgecorp's 14,500 investors, who were owed $459 million when the company went into receivership in July 2007, have to date got back 8c in the dollar.


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After Four Years Feds Finally Get Around To Prosecuting Ten Mod Chip Sellers
from the to-jailbreak-or-not-to-jailbreak deptOver four years ago, ICE ran an investigation into mod chip sellers in the US titled "Operation Tangled Web". During this investigation, ICE agents raided 32 locations in 16 states. Very little information was released at the time regarding who was targeted and if any charges were brought up. Since then, almost no information has been released about the operation. Thankfully, an eagle eyed John Doe found a press release from April 10 that details the names of ten individuals officially indicted on charges of violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention clause. The charges are as follows:
The indictments generally charge that the defendants knowingly manufactured, imported, offered to the public, or otherwise trafficked in technology, products, services, devices, components or parts thereof, which were primarily designed to circumvent technological measures designed to effectively control access to a work copyrighted under Title 17 of the United States Code, for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain.Other than this information and the list of names, there is no other publicly available information on any of the ten cases. What really makes this announcement interesting is its proximity to the US Copyright Office considering proposals that would provide a jailbreaking exemption for game consoles. If that proposal is accepted by the Copyright Office, then the actions performed by these ten individuals would be legal for others to perform for the next three years. However, it is unclear how such an exception would effect the charges brought against these individuals. It is really sad to see ten people's lives being dragged through criminal courts for performing an action that should be perfectly legal.
Filed Under: anti-circumvention, dmca, ice, mod chip, operation tangled web