text:
Nation & World
Pentagon declined to answer questions about detainees
At the request of chief Pentagon spokesman Col. Gary Keck, McClatchy submitted 15 questions to the Department of Defense on Oct. 1, 2007. In addition to the list of questions, McClatchy provided a spreadsheet with the names, nationalities and internment numbers of 63 of the 66 former detainees whom its reporters had interviewed.
Keck responded with a short statement and said in a phone conversation that no Pentagon officials would be available to speak about past events concerning U.S. detention operations.
On Oct. 9, McClatchy responded with a list of three questions about current U.S. detention operations, none of which was answered.
McClatchy contacted Keck again shortly before publication of this project and was told "we don't feel that we can provide you with any specifics that would be of great value."
The following senior U.S. defense or White House officials are among those who declined, personally or through their representatives, or ignored McClatchy requests for interviews:
The 15 questions from Oct. 1, Keck's response and the three questions from Oct. 9, which were never answered, are listed below in their original forms. These don't include e-mails and phone conversations that took place during many other attempts to lobby Keck for interviews with defense officials.
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 10:11:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: "tom lasseter"
Subject: RE: RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
To: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
Col. Keck,
Thank you for your reply.
I am looking to have a pretty broad conversation about all three installations. We have interviewed more than 60 former GTMO detainees, and a large number of political/security officials in Afghanistan, NGO officials, etc.
That said, I'm listing several questions below to give you an idea of what sorts of things I'd like to talk about.
(Also — A list of former detainees interviewed is attached. I would look forward to any information about their cases. We have the CSRT/ARB transcripts for most of them. There is, of course, a wide gulf between what most of these former detainees say they were doing when detained, and what the charges in the CSRT/ARB transcripts reflect.)
1. I would like to discuss the evolution of the detention facilities at Kandahar, Bagram and Guantanamo. What were the discussions about setting them up? What was the initial thinking about how long the facilities would operate?
2. Once decisions were made to open these facilities, what sort of training was implemented for the units who would be assigned to those locations? Were there any reporting/supervisory mechanisms outside of the normal chain of command put in place to ensure that the installations operated appropriately?
3. In interviews with more than 60 former detainees, most said that they were hit, kicked or abused in other ways at Bagram or Kandahar. They described those two places as being far worse than Guantanamo in terms of physical treatment, especially in the early years of late-2001 to 2004. There are also many allegations of interrogators in those two places using guards to soften detainees before questioning. Was there any concern at the time about misconduct by guards and/or interrogators at those two installations?
4. How did practices such as hanging detainees by their wrists, and delivering knee strikes as a corrective measure, come to be SOP at Bagram?
5. Many detainees described instances in which guards threw Qurans into buckets used as latrines at Kandahar before the detention facility there was closed. Were there ever any formal allegations about this sort of behavior? If so, was there an investigation?
6. Why was the detention facility at Kandahar closed?
7. There appear to be several Afghans who were sent to Kandahar/Bagram and then to GTMO based on false allegations made by tribal/political rivals. What safeguards were in place to prevent this sort of thing in Afghanistan, a country notorious for deeply-rooted tribal and political conflict? Many political/security officials interviewed in Afghanistan pointed to this as a particular blind spot for U.S. forces there.
8. Many of the detainees spoke about Forced Cell Extractions by the IRF at GTMO, often describing pretty rough physical treatment. Have there been reviews of the SOP of the IRF? Were there ever concerns along those lines?
9. There appears to have been a relatively sophisticated network of religious leadership among the detainees at GTMO that called for hunger strikes and suicide attempts as forms of protest. Were there concerns about such leadership in the cell blocs?
10. Are there concerns that GTMO has served as a sort of intellectual Jihadi finishing school for detainees? That it in some cases took men who were criminals or low-level insurgents and turned them into something much harder/radical by the time they were released?
11. I would like to discuss the CSRT/ARB process — how the process was designed, the fact gathering behind the cases against detainees, the criteria for decisions re: whether a detainee was an enemy combatant, attempts to collect witness testimony from Afghanistan, etc.
12. Is there any concern about GTMO sliding into prison culture in which detainees and guards get locked into a back and forth struggle — detainees throw feces/urine/water, guards call the IRF, detainees throw more feces, etc.? Does that sort of situation open the door for detainees being held at GTMO as much for their behavior in the cell blocs as the allegations against them re: insurgent/terrorist ties?
13. There has been a broad range of allegations about Quran abuse, harassment during prayer times by guards, etc. at these three installations. Is there any truth to that? Has there been a concerted effort to exploit religious/cultural sensitivities of detainees to manipulate them for interrogation purposes?
14. What steps are taken to try to prevent detainees being subjected to abuse when they are transferred back to their home countries?
15. Also — In addition to Kandahar, Bagram and Guantanamo, several of the ex-detainees spoke about mistreatment at FOBs in eastern and southern Afghanistan where they were held before being transferred to Kandahar/Bagram. I would like to discuss this.
Thank you for your time, Tom
Subject: RE: RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 09:57:13 -0400
From: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
To: "tom lasseter"
Since we have had the same kinds of questions from many reporters over the years we have found it useful to provide the following responses on this general subject. You can certainly contact the GTMO or Afghanistan public affairs office for more information on either of their detainee operations if you would like. If you really want to have a process discussion on CSRT/ARBs while you are here next week, give me a call when you get to town.
You can attribute to a department of defense spokesman:
"The Department of Defense policy is clear — we treat all detainees humanely. The United States operates safe, humane and professional detention operations for unlawful enemy combatants at war with this country. These unlawful combatants have provided valuable information in the struggle to protect the U.S. public from an enemy bent on murder of innocent civilians. As instructed by Al Qaeda training documents such as the Manchester Manual, detainees have frequently made allegations of abuse while in detention in order to garner public support."
"There have been 13 major reviews conducted of detention operations over the past several years, none of which found there was any policy that ever condoned abuse. The reviews have resulted in numerous recommendations which have been implemented and have improved our detention operations. Any credible allegations of illegal conduct by U.S. military personnel are taken seriously and looked into in painstaking detail. If and when applicable, offenders have been punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
"Detainees who are cleared by the US Government for transfer from Guantanamo depart once their respective governments (1) provide credible assurances that they will be treated humanely and (2) that the countries will take tangible steps to mitigate the threat that these individuals pose to the United States and its allies. Detainees are not repatriated to countries where it is more likely than not that they will be tortured. Of the 445 who have departed, less than 10% were determined to be "no longer enemy combatants" (NLEC). While the vast majority of those who departed Guantanamo were still considered "enemy combatants," when repatriated, nations accepting them have agreed to manage their threat."
Subject: RE: RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2007 11:46:45 -0400
From: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
To: "tom lasseter"
I don't think we can really give you any help from the policy level on these types of questions beyond what I have provided. Almost everything you are asking about would be handled well below the OSD level. If you can narrow allegations to specific individuals then the service PA representatives might be able to track down action taken by a commander if warranted.
Gary L. Keck
COL, US Army
Director, DoD Press Office
(703) 697-2300
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 12:31:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: "tom lasseter"
Subject: Re: FW: Fwd: RE: RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
To: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
Col. Keck,
I am interested to speak with someone about current detainee operations at Bagram and Guantanamo.
I would like to ask them:
1. Are there currently any concerns about mistreatment of detainees at those installations?
2. What sort of intelligence value do the detainees at those installations represent? Are most detainees held in those two installations former commanders/high-level operatives of al Qaida or other terrorist organizations?
3. How many detainees are currently being held at Bagram and Guantanamo?
Thank you, Tom
Subject: RE: FW: Fwd: RE: RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2007 15:48:40 -0400
From: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
To: "tom lasseter"
Let me see what I can do.
Gary L. Keck
COL, US Army
Director, DoD Press Office
(703) 697-2300
On May 21, McClatchy sent a final note asking Keck whether the Defense Department would have any further comment:
From: tom lasseter
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 6:17 PM
To: Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA
Subject: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
Col. Keck,
Sir, this is Tom Lasseter from McClatchy. I wanted to submit a request againto discuss the questions I forwarded to you last year, which are listedbelow. (Refers to questions sent Oct. 1, 2007)
Thank you for your time, Tom
RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:36 PM
From: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
To: Tom Lasseter
I'll see what I can do. Much of your request is about allegations ofabuse. I doubt I can get anyone at the DoD level to discuss these asallegations of abuse are handled by the specific commands who haveresponsibility for facilities. Your questions about GTMO are best addressedby JTF GTMO as there have been many changes over the years. There have beennumerous investigations into allegations of abuse and when they weredetermined to have occurred then people have been held accountable. It maybe difficult to get folks who know the thought process for sure pertainingto decisions made in the early days of the War on Terror. Many officialshave changed since those days. We can give you current information only onour policy on detention operations.
Gary L. Keck
COL, US Army
Director - DoD Press Office
(703) 697-2300
RE: Media Request/McClatchy Newspapers (UNCLASSIFIED)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 2:21 PM
From: "Keck, Gary L Col OSD PA"
To: Tom Lasseter
I have had our folks take a look at these and we don't feel thatwe can provide you with any specifics that would be of great value. Therehave been lots of changes over the past 7 years. We have made every effortto conduct detention operations in a safe and humane manner. Specificquestions about GTMO should be addressed to them. Many reporters havevisited GTMO - you may consider requesting a visit with JTF-GTMO to learnmore firsthand. Since 2002, JTF-GTMO has hosted over 3,000 media visits,including roughly 70 from McClatchy/Miami Herald. Cmdr. Storum's number is(contact information removed).
I can provide you with this for your piece if you decide to write:
"Our policy is, and always has been, to treat detainees humanely."
"All credible allegations of abuse are thoroughly investigated andindividuals are held accountable for their actions."
"13 major reviews of detention operations have not found any policy thatever condoned or tolerated abuse of detainees. Recommendations resultingfrom those reviews have improved our operations over time."
"It should be noted that the Manchester Manual instructs al Qaeda members onthe legal and public relations benefits of publicizing mistreatment while indetention."
"The closing chapter of the Manchester Manual teaches al Qaeda operativeshow to operate in a prison or detention center. It directs detainees to"insist on proving that torture was inflicted" and to "complain ofmistreatment while in prison."
"We typically do not respond to each and every allegation of abuse made bypast and present detainees."
Gary L. Keck
COL, US Army
Director - DoD Press Office
(703) 697-2300


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
We are going to a friends place for dinner tonight, and this morning I am going to make some lasagna, with homemade noodles!
Below is my all purpose tomato sauce... keep in mind that I don't think cooking is all about rules and hierarchy... so when I don't have an ingredient, I go without or make up a new one!
All purpose tomato sauce
- olive oil to saute the onions and garlic
- 2 medium onions finely diced
- 2 cans of crushed tomatoes
- 5-8 garlic cloves crushed, and chopped finely
- dried oregano
- a few splashes of balsamic vinegar
- freshly ground pepper
- organic sugar a heaping tbsp
- sea salt..be generous with it, to taste!
saute onions and garlic and oregano. add the rest.
simmer for 10 minutes or 2 hours, the longer the tastier!
hint: use a little water in your empty canned tomatoes and give it a swish, and pour that into the sauce, no waste!


text:
MISCHA MAISKY Morgen Pavel Gililov 4777465
The cellist plunges heart and soul into this romantic-flavoured recital with the pianist Pavel Gililov. The pairżs passion helps to glue together the extravagances of Straussżs Cello Sonata . . . DGżs recording lets us feel Maiskyżs every throb and tear . . .
Mischa Maisky and Pavel Gililov wholeheartedly respond, going at the powerful first movement . . . [Dvorák's Sonatina]: Maisky takes it with a light touch . . . [Dvorák's Four Romantic Pieces]: . . . the Rondo . . . is charmingly played. An excellent recording . . .
Maisky's performance of these works could hardly be bettered. Strauss's Sonata has enormous youthful élan, and the arrangements of the Romance for cello and orchestra and "Morgen" are exquisite. The expertly made Dvorák arrangements fare equally well in fact, the performance of the Sonatina matches the finest violin readings with a superb sense of engagement and ensemble in the faster movements. Excellently recorded, this recital winds on all counts.
Mischa Maisky's warm, romantic tone and controlled vibrato are an excellent match for Strauss, and the pairing is even better in Maisky's own arrangement of "Morgen" -- I don't miss the human voice here at all. Pavel Gililov is definitely a capable partner . . . [Rondo]: Maisky and Gililov make the opening theme sound like a fan dance, with all their pushing and pulling at the tempo. Overall, I like the sounds that Maisky makes on this CD as much as I ever do . . .
Both composers require a Romantic, lyrical delivery, a style of playing that is the absolute domain of Mischa Maisky. Astutely partnered by Pavel Gililov in this warm and clear recording, he carefully reigns in the tempestuous invention of Strauss's first movement, contrasting a light and delicate articulation in the fugato passages with a boldly fervent presentation of the richly sumptuous melodies. This youthful sonata teems with freshness, a quality particularly well evoked in this Allegro con brio, while the intimate and atmospheric Andante has both poise an poetry, its hushed melodies unexpectedly making way for an eyquisitely soaring moment of melancholic intensity. In maximising the characterisation of Strauss's material, these artists produce a winning account of the Finale, which is full of the requisite whimsy. The Romanze unfolds in a similarly expressive manner. Transcriptions have long been part of Maisky's armoury and he perfectly conveys the painfully beautiful nostalgia of "Morgen" in his own arrangement of Strauss's song. Equally, Dvorák's Violin Sonatina transfers to the cello very effectively, and both artists grace the invention with a sure feeling for its Bohemian colouring. The Scherzo is playful and the concluding Allegro ha plenty of bravura. Maisky and Gililov both revel in the unbashed virtuosity of the Rondo, which audaciously oscillates between captivating melodies and cascading sequences, and the pyrotechnics never get in the way of simple charm
[R. Strauss]: . . . dans cette veine néoromantique, la sonate gagne une belle intensité doublée d'un élan maintenu sans chute de tension.


text:
However, two wins in as many games and it is off to Scotland with spirits high and Wales finally having solved their set-piece issues.
The scrum was a real problem against Ireland, if only because it was an area where we honestly felt that we would dominate the opposition. Then, against France, we failed to get a foothold on a difficult surface. Adam Jones put his hand up and amen to a player of his quality for doing that.
This, however, was much, much better and the reason why Wales were able to nullify the Italians and ease to a convincing victory. Jacques Brunel picked a kicking outside-half because he felt Italy would secure their own set-piece ball which would allow Kris Burton to kick his forwards into positions of promise. That platform never materialised and Wales deserve a pat on the back for that. They were outstanding from start to finish. Powerful, dominant and very effective.
We all know how good Adam Jones is, he has been consistently one of the world's finest tighthead props for many years now. But the real concern for Wales in recent times has been over the loosehead position where Gethin Jenkins has fallen from grace. On Saturday, however, I thought Gethin was excellent, he was the key figure in a pack that controlled the game from start to finish.
I am a great believer in match fitness and since Gethin has been in France, he has barely played a Top 14 game for Toulon. You can train all you like, but unless you play, you lose your edge. Gethin has now played three successive games in the Six Nations and is slowly but surely returning to his former self. I also think that his decision this week to return to Cardiff Blues where he made his name, will have helped him mentally ahead of the game.
It is always difficult to judge the conditions unless you are out there in the middle, but from what I could see, they were far from conducive to running rugby, hence the reason why we saw precious little from our backs.
That said, I was far from unhappy with the manner in which our half-backs played, in particular Dan Biggar. Admittedly, I thought that some of his kicking from hand was a little too short, but he did show far greater control in that pivotal position and kept his forwards on the move.
When James Hook came on, I thought we kicked it a little too long, so the message to that pair would be to find a happy medium!
What was also pleasing for me, was how the backs took their opportunities when they came their way. I am sure that when Jonathan Davies picked up and touched down after half-time, it was his first touch of the ball.
Still, through all of his chasing and tackling in the first half, he kept his focus and showed exactly what I have been saying for several seasons. He is a born try scorer and for all the stick he took for his passing against Ireland, he bounced back with a truly sound performance in Paris and another in Rome.
We are now edging ever closer to the end of the season and the time when Warren Gatland will have to start inking over a few of those name who have already been pencilled in for the Lions tour to Australia. I always hark on about Leigh Halfpenny, so on this occasion, I will just say one thing.
Regardless of an early error, that was out of character, I still felt he was the best player on the field by some margin. Incredible player. But away from my chosen position, I want to pay tribute again to Ryan Jones, who I believe has already done enough over the past three weeks to book his ticket Down Under.
He might not be the man to win his spurs in Gatland's first-choice side to face the Wallabies in the Test series, but at this moment in time, I can certainly not come up with a better name for midweek captain.
I know Ryan will not settle for that, just as he struggled to accept Rob Howley's decision to take him off in this game. But if the Lions are to go down there and win, they will not only need players pushing for places but individuals who can lead the midweek side to a string of victories. He was magnificent against Italy, as always.
So, it is off to Scotland now, with feet on the ground I hope. It is not inconceivable that Wales can make it three successive wins and set up a mouth-watering final game against the old enemy. Now, what a day that would be.


text:
Good Life
Wildlife Services' deadly force brings environmental problems
Like the prow of a ship, the Granite Mountains rise sharply from the creamy-white playa of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Here, in rugged terrain owned by the American public, a little-known federal agency called Wildlife Services has waged an eight-year war against predators to try to help an iconic Western big-game species: mule deer.
With rifles, snares and aerial gunning, employees have killed 967 coyotes and 45 mountain lions at a cost of about $550,000. But like a mirage, the dream of protecting deer by killing predators has not materialized.
"It didn't make a difference," said Kelley Stewart, a large-mammal ecologist at the University of Nevada, Reno.
For decades, Wildlife Services, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has specialized in trapping, poisoning and shooting predators in large numbers, largely to protect livestock and, more recently, big game.
Now such killing is coming under fire from scientists, former employees and others who say it often doesn't work and can set off a chain reaction of unintended, often negative consequences.
In biological shorthand: Kill too many coyotes and you open a Pandora's box of disease-carrying rodents, meadow-munching rabbits, bird-eating feral cats, and, over time, smarter, more abundant coyotes. You also can sentence the deer you are trying to help to slow death by starvation.
"There is a widespread perception that predators are the root of all evil and I'm tired of it," said Stewart. "More often than not, if you have predation on a mule deer population, you're going to have a healthier population."
Agency officials say controlling predators is a must, especially in the West where livestock graze large tracts of unfenced land. "The intent is not to prevent predation," said William Clay, deputy administrator of Wildlife Services. "All we're trying to do is remove the problem animals."
Killing predators is part of Wildlife Services' DNA, a mission it pursues – along with a wide range of other animal control work – largely outside public view.
Some details, though, can be gleaned from the agency's Web page, where it posts a sea of data showing – species by species – the millions of birds and mammals its employees kill each year. Sift through the numbers and you find that about 560,000 predators were killed across America from 2006 to 2011, an average of 256 a day.
The body count includes more than 25,000 red and gray foxes, 10,700 bobcats, 2,800 black bears, 2,300 timber wolves and 2,100 mountain lions. But the vast majority – about 512,500 – were coyotes.
"When they see a coyote, all they got is one thing in mind: killing it," said Gary Strader, a former Wildlife Services hunter in Nevada. "They don't know if it was a coyote that killed a sheep. It's just a coyote, and it's got to be killed."
While fewer bobcats are killed today, the numbers of three other major predators shot, trapped and snared by the agency have risen. In 1970, agency employees killed 73,100 coyotes, 400 black bears, 120 mountain lions. By 2011, the tally had climbed to 83,200 coyotes (up 14 percent), 565 black bears (up 41 percent) and 400 mountain lions (up 230 percent).
"If you look at their mandate, we could not have written it better for them," said Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife, who has worked with Wildlife Services employees to promote nonlethal control. "It's all about supporting wildlife conservation and promoting humane tools.
"That's not what is happening on the ground," Stone said. "Unfortunately, in parts of the western United States it just seems like they are still in the Dark Ages. They go at this as a kill mission. They are at war with wildlife."
Most surprising may be the fate of the agency's longtime adversary, the coyote, an animal that Mark Twain once called "a living, breathing allegory of Want."
After several decades of intense federal hunting, there are more coyotes in more places than ever.
"I call it the boomerang effect," said Wendy Keefover, a carnivore specialist with WildEarth Guardians. "The more you kill, the more you get."
In California, researchers have found that having coyotes in the neighborhood can be good for quail, towhees and other birds. The reason? They eat skunks, house cats and raccoons that feast on birds.
"The indirect effects (of predators) are often more important than the direct effects," said Reg Barrett, professor of wildlife ecology and management at the University of California, Berkeley. "We just don't know enough about what's going on."
The most dramatic example of how predators shape the land is playing out in Yellowstone National Park where wolves, after a 70-year absence, were returned in 1995 and began preying on one of the densest populations of elk in North America.
Before long, aspen, willows and cottonwoods that had been overgrazed by elk began to thrive again, attracting beavers, migratory songbirds and other wildlife.
Ravens, magpies, eagles and grizzly bears benefited, too, from a smorgasbord of elk carcasses.
But tracking the ecological effects of predators is a fine art not widely practiced. "We could sure use more research," said Barrett.
Last year, something curious caught Stewart's attention in Nevada: an email informing her that a mule deer had tested positive for the plague – a disease sparked by rodent outbreaks and potentially deadly to humans – in an area where Wildlife Services was killing predators.
"It makes you wonder," said Stewart. "In this area where we've been doing rampant predator control, we're seeing a disease show up. Frankly, I'd rather see a deer get eaten by a coyote than show up symptomatic for a disease like plague."
A few years back, Nevada rancher Marti Hoots noticed that jack rabbits were out of control. Then, while rounding up cattle on horseback, she spotted a Wildlife Services plane over her pasture. A man leaned out and began shooting coyotes.
"I was irate," said Hoots. "It was the dead of winter, and I found no reason for them to be shooting because the coyotes weren't bothering anything.
"The jack rabbits were everywhere," Hoots said. "So the coyotes were doing some good, and they were shooting them."
Aerial gunning is the agency's most popular predator-killing tool. Since 2001, more than 340,000 coyotes have been gunned down from planes and helicopters across 16 Western states, including California – an average of 600 a week, agency records show.
"When they take that plane up, they kill every single coyote they can," said Strader, the former Wildlife Services hunter who worked with aerial gunning crews in Nevada. "If they come back and say, 'We only killed three coyotes,' they are not very happy. If they come back and say, 'Oh, we killed a hundred coyotes,' they're very happy.
"Some of the gunners are real good and kill coyotes every time. And other ones wound more than they kill," Strader said. "Who wants to see an animal get crippled and run around with its leg blown off? I saw that a lot."
The agency does not disclose the specific locations where aerial gunning takes place, but records show coyotes are killed on public land in Nevada, including the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. In California, coyotes are hunted from the air in Calaveras, Glenn, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Merced, Modoc, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Siskyou and Stanislaus counties.
Clay, the agency's deputy administrator, defended the practice, calling it is a valuable preventive strategy to clear swaths of land of predators in the winter before livestock arrive to graze in the spring.
"If you can remove the predators, you can reduce the losses," Clay said.
But Carter Niemeyer, a former Wildlife Services district manager who scheduled coyote-killing flights in Montana, said the cost exceeds the value of livestock protected.
"It absolutely calls for a cost-benefit study," said Niemeyer. "Aerial gunning is very, very expensive. You are talking $700 to $1,000 an hour to be hunting these coyotes.
"If private landowners want every coyote on their property shot, you got no bone to pick with me. But go hire your own helicopter at 700 bucks an hour and do it yourself."
The practice remains popular, he said, because it keeps hunters busy during the slow winter months. "These guys don't have a heck of a lot to do in the winter, so to stay employed, they need to go fly around in a helicopter and shoot coyotes that might kill a sheep next spring," Niemeyer said.
"There is not enough money on earth to kill all the coyotes that might kill a sheep out there."
There is something else about the effort that made Niemeyer skeptical: the coyote itself. No matter how many were killed, there were always more of them.
Coyotes are known for their cunning. But their response to hunting takes craftiness to a new level: They are expanding their numbers and colonizing new territories.
"The more you shoot, the more you need to shoot," said Steve Searles, wildlife management officer in Mammoth Lakes. "We go easy on the gun because if you start shooting up the population, you're not part of the cure. You're part of the problem."
In Nevada, scientists found that when Wildlife Services began killing coyotes to protect deer south of Ely in 2004, the average coyote litter size jumped from one pup to 3.5. In 2007, one coyote killed by a Wildlife Services hunter in Nevada had 13 fetuses in its uterus.
Just how coyotes prosper amid persecution remains a mystery. But many believe they benefit from better dining opportunities that emerge over time as coyotes are killed and rabbits and mice begin to multiply.
"A lot of it comes down to nutrition and competition. When you have fewer animals (coyotes) on the landscape, you have more food available per individual. There is a ton of food on the landscape. Why not have a bigger litter?" said Stewart, the Nevada ecologist.
Many also believe killing coyotes en masse only makes them smarter, through natural selection. "I'm sure of it," said Barrett, the UC Berkeley professor. "How can an animal like that be so successful if there wasn't strong selection for individuals that take care of themselves under intense pressure? You've got to hand it to them. It's pretty amazing."
"We've raised a super race of coyotes," said Bill Jensen, a sheep rancher in Marin County. "There is nothing more cunning than these things now."
Wildlife Services spends about $30 million a year to protect livestock from predators – mostly coyotes. On its Web page, it says losses to predators top more than $127 million a year.
But Niemeyer said those losses, which are based on unverified reports from ranchers, are exaggerated. "To paint this picture that the whole livestock industry is under siege by predators is grossly misrepresented," he said. "There are individuals who sustain losses, but not everyone."
Sheep and lambs are most at risk. "They are easy to kill, and lots of animals key on them," Niemeyer said.
But cattle are less in danger.
"Calves, when they're small, are vulnerable," said Niemeyer. "But it doesn't take very many weeks before they outgrow coyotes. In my 33-year tenure, I have less than 20 calves that I would attribute to being killed by coyotes."
Like a crime scene investigator, Niemeyer journeyed into the field to inspect sheep and cattle that ranchers said had been killed by predators. Often, his verdict was not guilty.
"You start looking and you realize nothing killed this," said Niemeyer. "They died from a multitude of things: birthing problems, old age, bad hooves, cut by barbed wire. There were an awful lot of things attributed to predation that really were not."
Niemeyer is not the only former Wildlife Services employee to raise questions about agency practices. In California, biologist Mike Jaeger did, too, with studies in Mendocino County that showed most coyotes don't prey on sheep at all and those that do are the hardest to kill with nonselective traps and poison.
"The research showed quite clearly that nonselective control doesn't work," said Jaeger, who has since retired. "You can remove a lot of coyotes and have no effect at all. Absolutely none."
But his calls for more selective control often went unheeded, he said, because of a disconnect between the agency's scientific and field personnel – and its close ties to the livestock industry, which helps fund predator control.
"I think there is a lot of political pressure," Jaeger said. "They have to make the landowners happy. And many of them perceive the solution of the problem as population reduction."
Federal officials decline to disclose the ranches on which Wildlife Services employees work. Such information "would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," wrote Tonya Woods, director of the Freedom of Information & Privacy Act office for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "Also, disclosing this information will not shed any light on (federal) duties and responsibilities."
But a document obtained by The Bee provides a look at one Wildlife Services job in Nevada where predators were targeted indiscriminately, and innocent animals died.
The email by a Nevada Department of Wildlife biologist details work on the 3,200-acre Rafter 7 Ranch on the East Walker River in Nevada. "With no evidence of any kind that any predation had occurred Wildlife Services set snares around the area to kill any predators that may wander through," the biologist, Russell Woolstenhulme, wrote.
Officials concluded the snares killed at random, taking the lives of four bears and four mountain lions that had not harmed sheep.
The state is now demanding that Wildlife Services target predators more selectively. "We realize some of this stuff is not publicly acceptable," said Rob Buonamici, chief game warden for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
But Wildlife Services continues to kill nonselectively in many places, including the Granite Mountains north of Reno where the goal is protecting a big-game species – mule deer – and is funded by a predator control fee assessed on hunters.
Stark, majestic and isolated, the Granites loom like an island over the desert terrain. But that beauty is deceiving because the range is a place of rough justice for predators, internal Wildlife Services records show.
After slicing open a mountain lion killed in a federal neck snare in 2008, one agency hunter filled out a handwritten report: "Stomach contained deer hair and bone fragments," he noted. Eleven days later, he cut open another lion with different results: "He had nothing in his stomach."
In some cases, animals had rotted away by the time the agency hunter found them. "Only the skull was saved due to decay. Pelt not saved due to decay/slippage. Decomposition did not allow for accurate weight estimate," he wrote in a series of reports about mountain lions.
In 2009, the hunter found two lions dead in snares close to each other, "most likely" a mother and daughter, he wrote. Coyotes were targeted routinely, including four pups killed in their den in May 2011.
Has the killing been worth it? That is what scientists have asked as they've flown over the Granites, comparing the size and growth of deer herds where predators were killed with places where they were not.
The scientists have packaged their data and findings into reports and presentations filled with biological jargon and complex statistical analysis. But in plain English, it hasn't worked.
"There was no discernible difference," said Tony Wasley, a mule-deer biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife. "There were several different (population) variables we tested, and none were significantly different than adjacent areas with no predator control."
Two other factors generally have bigger impacts: harsh weather and poor forage conditions. When there is not enough to eat, saving a deer from predation may only delay death by starvation later.
"The simplicity of predator control has broad appeal," Wasley said. "The complexity of the problem is far greater."
A recent study in "Wildlife Monographs," a scientific journal published by the Wildlife Society, reported that most years, coyotes don't prey on deer at all. They're busy eating mice and rabbits. And even when a coyote does kill a mule deer, it generally doesn't have an impact.
"There is a contingent of mule deer that are going to die every year anyway. Often those are the first ones coyotes prey on," said Mark Hurley, a mule-deer biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and author of the study.
"The silver bullet isn't to run out there and kill all the coyotes or all the lions and boom – you get all the deer back," said Ken Mayer, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife. "It's way, way more complicated than that."
On occasion, Wasley has presented his findings to Wildlife Services managers in Reno. "I've been told my analysis is a morale breaker, that they don't like me because I'm doing objective analysis," he said.
"The director told me he's got a tough time keeping his guys' spirits up when they read what they're doing has yet to demonstrate any measurable benefit," Wasley said.
To read more, visit www.sacbee.com.


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Interested in Adoption? Talk to a Military OneSource Specialty Consultant Today!
(From the MILITARY ONESOURCE November 2016 Newsletter)
Adoption can be rewarding for everyone involved. It can also raise a lot of questions. How do I get started? Does it cost a lot of money? What is the adoption process like? Whether you are just starting out or pursuing a kinship or stepparent adoption, Military OneSource can help. Call Military OneSource any time at 800-342-9647 to ask for an adoption consultation.
A Military OneSource adoption consultant can:
Offer details on different types of adoptions, the costs and how to get started
Search for and provide resources for your domestic or international adoption, including but not limited to:
Private adoption agencies
Home study services
Adoptive family counseling
Foster-to-adopt programs
Family court services for private and kinship adoptions
Research state adoption regulations, such as mandatory length of stay and home study requirements, and contact information for your Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)
Refer you to adoption agencies that work specifically with overseas service members
Locate support groups for adoptive parents in your area
Send you information on financial assistance for adoption expenses, such as:
The United States Department of Finance and Accounting Services DoD adoption reimbursement program for eligible active duty service members, which can reimburse up to $2,000 per child and $5,000 maximum.
Low-interest loans and grants available through various organizations


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Sept. 8, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Kiki Bosio, Meagan Snell and Brittany Klein scored a pair of goals each to lead No. 3 Santa Clara women's soccer to a 7-1 upset of No. 2 Notre Dame Friday night in the second game of the 2007 Santa Clara adidas Classic at Buck Shaw Stadium. With the win, the Broncos improved to 2-0-0 on the season, while the Fighting Irish dropped to 2-1-0 overall.
Sophomore Courtney Lewis also added a goal for the Broncos. The seven goals scored by Santa Clara marked the most goals Notre Dame has allowed of its opponent since the 1989 season (the previous mark was six), as well as the Broncos grandest victory over the Irish since a 4-0 sweep in 2002.
"It has always been a good rivalry between Santa Clara and Notre Dame," said head coach Jerry Smith. "I have to give a lot of credit to the players. They really came together tonight. Before the game they told each other in order to have a great year they are going to have to be tough and they definitely played tough tonight. I'm really proud of them."
After taking a 3-1 halftime lead, SCU poured on four more goals in the second half to make a powerful statement to the rest of the country.
"Our backline was amazing tonight," said Smith. "The backline we have this year, is not what we expected it would be. Katherine [Reynolds], Anessa [Patton], Chioma [Igwe] and Lindsey [Johnson] are all playing new positions and they have really worked as a unified defensive unit to play against a very talented Notre Dame front line. To limit the star-studded front line that includes the 2006 National Player of the Year to just one goal is amazing."
Bosio netted the first goal for the Broncos just under the 16 minute mark. She sent the ball in from the sidelines in her usual flip fashion, to find it brush off the hands of Notre Dame goalkeeper Lauren Karas and hit the crossbar to send it into the goal. Not too long afterwards, Lewis stepped up to the box, receiving a cross from Bosio and sending the ball to the back of the net. SCU found itself in a bit of trouble in the box at the 23 minute mark, giving Notre Dame's Michelle Weissenhofer a penalty kick, which she sent right past junior Meagan McCray. McCray tallied seven saves on the night. Bosio found herself in a similar situation with 10 minutes remaining in the first period. Once again she threw the ball in, finding Lexi Orand's feet just left of the goal. Orand cross the ball to senior Snell who netted her first goal of the season.
Snell struck again in the beginning of the second half, putting the Broncos up by three, 4-1, with a left-footed shot into the upper corner. The Broncos leading scorer in 2006 took a pass from Klein on the right wing and ripped a shot to the far post upper corner for her second goal of the game.
The night wasn't over yet for the Broncos though as SCU continued to put pressure on Notre Dame. Klein netted back-to-back unassisted goals to give Santa Clara a 6-1 lead. Both shots were deflected by goalkeeper Kelsey Lysander right to the feet of Klein. Just as she opened the night for the Broncos, Bosio took a pass from freshman Patton to score the game-winning goal at the 79th minute.
Santa Clara takes on Virginia on Sunday, Sept. 9 at 1:30 p.m., PT in the finale of the Santa Clara adidas Classic. Prior to the Broncos game on Sunday, Stanford plays Notre Dame at 11 a.m., PT. Both games will be played at Buck Shaw Stadium.


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Time To Break The Ice…
On Tuesday, the Yankees were on top of the world
after defeating Doc Halladay and the Phillies…
Saed Hindash/The Star Ledger
Since then, all they have managed to do is to lose
the series to the Phillies and allow the New York Mets to win their 8th
game in a row. I am not quite sure how
you can from clubbing one of the best pitchers in baseball today to a total
inability to score runs. Good pitching
beat good hitting, I know. But still,
the Yankees have had their opportunities but the clutch hit just hasn't come.
Hats off to Javier Vazquez's performance on Friday
night despite the loss to the Mets. He
went 7 innings and only gave up 3 hits and 1 run. For the past month, he has been the team's
most consistent pitcher. Too bad the
bats weren't there to support him. I was
one of many who were booing Javy early in the season, but like they say, we
wouldn't boo if we didn't care. This is
the Javy that we had expected to see, and hopefully, this will be the Javy that
will take us to October.
Sipkin/NY Daily News
Last night's bullpen was disappointing. Chan Ho Park and Boone Logan allowed the Mets
to increase their lead from 1-0 to 4-0.
The Yankees still had their chances which included bringing the tying
run to the plate in the bottom of the 9th. Granted, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher failed
to bring home any runs, but if the gap had been closer, it is possible that the
players would not have been trying so hard and could have made something
Despite the losses, the Yankees remain tied atop
the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays who have encountered their own rough
patch. The only team winning these days
is the Boston Red Sox who have crept to within one game of the lead (two in the
loss column).
Today will be the battle of 9-1 pitchers as Phil
Hughes will face the Mets' Mike Pelfrey.
Pelfrey is 1-0 in this match-up so far this season so hopefully Phil
will be able to exact revenge. It would
be great for him to reach 10 wins today.
Noah K. Murray/The Star Ledger
Another wager with Julia of Julia's Rants, and yet
another win! We had bet on the NBA
Finals…Los Angeles Lakers versus Boston Celtics. My state against hers. Julia was so confident throughout the
series. She was sure the Celtics were
going to win the championship in six games.
She kept ranting that the Celtics would capture their 18th
NBA championship. She insisted that the
Lakers would not win and that Kobe Bryant would not be the MVP. Hey, Julia, how did that work out for
ya? 😉
LA Times
As a result of the loss, Julia is now obligated to
post photos of herself on her blog wearing the newest addition to her collection…a
Lakers championship locker room t-shirt.
The t-shirt was ordered through the Lakers website while the locker room
celebration was underway. I knew that
Julia would be very anxious to get her new shirt. She wouldn't want to miss out on the
celebration of the LA Lakers as the 2010 NBA Champions! Enjoy Julia! I look forward to the Lakers post on your blog! 🙂
P.S. The Lakers now have 16 NBA Championships. Isn't that just one less than the Celtics? Well, that's what we have next year for! Go Lakers!


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The ladies of Poppies & Posies have done it again with a fabulous science inspired wedding!
About the shoot…
We've been chatting about doing a science inspired wedding for some time now. It seems that every time we go antiquing (which is pretty often) we've come across vintage lab equipment and antique medicinal bottles that we couldn't pass up. They were just begging to be used in a tablescape and ultimately were the elements that inspired our vision for this shoot!
We chose to shoot the tablescape in an outdoor garden because it felt like the perfect natural environment. Each beaker, bottle, and science vile was filled with soft, delicate flowers such as blush dahlias, white scabiosa, garden roses, and vines to create a romantic atmosphere.
We brought Bryn of Paperfinger on-board to create the perfect seating cards and table numbers for the shoot. We're always blown away by her elegant calligraphy and attention to detail. Her table number was based on the periodic table and we used the mini glass science tube stoppers to hold her oh so sweet seating cards down.
No wedding is complete without delicious cuisine and neither of us would rather eat any other food than that cooked by Stuart and Welch catering. They prepared grilled ahi tuna with local corn, heirloom tomatoes and avocado. The vibrant colors of the dish perfectly 'popped' off our tablescape.
Jen Huang joined us for the day to photograph the spread and as always we were blown away by her talent! Her attention to detail and unique perspective really brought it all to life on film.
Jasmine Johnson of BridalBod wore a utterly breathtaking dress designed by Sarah Seven and provided by Lovely Bride. We adored the non traditional and super fun look that a short dress created. Small quirky touches, such as our anatomically correct heart boutonniere and a dinner menu designed using an antique periodic table finished off our science inspired wedding.
The possibilities for designing an entire wedding around this theme are endless. We imagine an entire seating chart painted on glass microscope slides and a dessert bar filled with jars of colorful "elements" (think gold leaf covered chocolates and blue rock h20 candy) would be just the thing to make any wedding unforgettable!
Flowers & Design Concept by Poppies & Posies
Photography by Jen Huang
Food by Stuart and Welch Catering
Calligraphy by Paperfinger
Sarah Seven dress provided by Lovely Bride
Models, Jasmine Johnson of BridalBod & Davraam
A special thanks to our intern, Annie Huang!
[images from Jen Huang Photography]
Poppies & Posies is a member of Brooklyn Bride's preferred vendor listings


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What's On | Support Us | Find Us
It is sometimes forgotten that The Bowes Museum is a charity and that it relies on funding and donations in order to continue caring for the collections, building and grounds as well as striving to display rich and diverse exhibition and education programmes.
The Charity's objectives are to advance the public's education and enjoyment of art, craft, design and history, in particular, but not exclusively, by acquiring, operating, and maintaining The Bowes Museum, its collections and associated grounds at Barnard Castle, County Durham. Over the last five years the trustees and staff have carried out a wide range of developments, including capital projects (significantly funded by Heritage Lottery Fund), partnership working, and consultation. This has helped to achieve and refine the original vision, all with the purpose of realising the Trust's charitable objectives.
We need your support in order to:
To find our more information or discuss how you can support us, please contact Alison Nicholson, Fundraising Officer firstname.lastname@example.com, 01833 690 606.


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"Ball by ball, over by over."
The statement is the mantra of the Harvard club cricket team. It means to take the game a play at a time and to avoid brash decisions. It's also the motto of team captain and founder Ibrahim Khan, one of the most important figures for the squad both on and off the field.
Despite his achievements, the senior from Lahore, Pakistan may not strike someone at first glance as a star cricket player who resurrected the Harvard program after two dormant decades.
"When you first see him, he looks kind of goofy," team member Vivek Jayaram said. "He's got long hair, a high school haircut. He's always making a lot of jokes on the field, making fun of people…. He's a very lighthearted person."
Despite the laid back appearance, Khan has almost single-handedly built a program which just three years ago did not exist into a national powerhouse, all while maintaining a humble perspective on what has been an incredible journey.
It all started with a desire to play and fully discover the sport which Khan had grown to love from a young age. Despite playing recreationally throughout his youth in Pakistan, there still seemed to be a personal gap that Khan felt he needed fulfill.
"When I was very young, I had a bit of an injury," Khan explained. "It was a minor injury, but my parents were always paranoid with the sport and thought if I played at a high level I'd get injured…. I had a sense I hadn't really explored the sport to the ultimate."
Just a year after forming the team as a recreational activity at Harvard, Khan took a big step forward by obtaining official club status for the team, allowing it to compete at a national level.
In order for the team to make further progress, however, a faculty adviser was necessary to back the club and provide support.
In came Professor Stephen Blyth, whose Statistics 123 class Khan was taking at the time.
After inviting Blyth to a Kirkland faculty dinner, Khan shared his vision and goals for the team.
Among those goals was making cricket a sport talked about on campus, competing at a high level, and winning a national championship within five years.
Khan's vision and boldness impressed Blyth, who had played cricket at Harvard from 1989 to 1990.
"It never seemed like it would not [work] when he was talking to me," Blyth said. "What was needed was someone to catalyze that, someone that's charismatic, someone that's got the energy, who can lead, and it never occurred to me that it would not be successful or well-run."
Read more in SportsMen's Lacrosse Travels to Notre Dame for NCAA Tourney


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In the golden age of American travel, the platforms of train stations were knee deep in what looked like fog. You see it all the time in black-and-white movies, these low-lying eddies of silver. I always thought it was steam from the engines, but now I wonder if it didn't come from cigarettes. You could smoke everywhere back then: in the dining car, in your sleeping berth. Depending on your preference, it was either absolute Heaven or absolute Hell.
I know there was a smoking car on the Amtrak I took from Raleigh to Chicago in 1984, but seven years later it was gone. By then if you wanted a cigarette your only option was to head for the bar. It sounds all right in passing, romantic even—"the bar on the Lake Shore Limited"—but in fact it was rather depressing. Too bright, too loud, and full of alcoholics who commandeered the seats immediately after boarding and remained there, marinating like cheap kebabs, until they reached their destinations. At first, their voices might strike you as jolly: the warm tones of strangers becoming friends. Then the drinkers would get sloppy and repetitive, settling, finally, on that cross-eyed mush that passes for alcoholic sincerity.
On the train I took from New York to Chicago in early January of 1991, one of the drunks pulled down his pants and shook his bare bottom at the woman behind the bar. I was thirty-four, old enough to know better, yet I laughed along with everyone else. The trip was interminable**—almost nineteen hours, not counting any delays—**but nothing short of a derailment could have soured my good mood. I was off to see the boyfriend I'd left behind when I moved to New York. We'd known each other for six years, and though we'd broken up more times than either of us could count, there was the hope that this visit might reunite us. Then he'd join me for a fresh start in Manhattan, and all our problems would disappear.
It was best for both of us that it didn't work out that way, though of course I couldn't see it at the time. The trip designed to bring us back together tore us apart for good, and it was a considerably sorrier me that boarded the Limited back to New York. My train left Union Station in the early evening. The late-January sky was the color of pewter, and the ground beneath it—as flat as rolled-out dough—was glazed with slush. I watched as the city receded into the distance, and then I went to the bar car for a cigarette. Of the dozen or so drunks who'd staggered on board in Chicago, one in particular stood out. I've always had an eye for ruined-looking men, and that's what attracted me to this guy—I'll call him Johnny Ryan—the sense that he'd been kicked around. By the time he hit thirty, a hardness would likely settle about his mouth and eyes, but as it was—at twenty-nine—he was right on the edge, a screw-top bottle of wine the day before it turns to vinegar.
It must have been he who started the conversation, as I'd never have had the nerve. Under different circumstances, I might have stammered hello and run back to my seat, but my breakup convinced me that something major was about to happen. The chance of a lifetime was coming my way, and in order to accept it I needed to loosen up, to stop being so "rigid." That was what my former boyfriend had called me. He'd thrown in "judgmental" while he was at it, another of those synonyms for "no fun at all." The fact that it stung reaffirmed what I had always suspected: it was all true. No one was duller, more prudish and set in his ways, than I was.
Johnny didn't strike me as gay, but it was hard to tell with alcoholics. Like prisoners and shepherds, many of them didn't care who they had sex with, the idea being that what happens in the dark stays in the dark. It's the next morning you have to worry about—the name-calling, the slamming of doors, the charge that you somehow cast a spell. I must have been desperate to think that such a person would lead me to a new life. Not that Johnny was bad company—it's just that the things we had in common were all so depressing. Unemployment, for instance. My last job had been as an elf at Macy's.
"Personal assistant" was how I phrased it, hoping he wouldn't ask for whom.
His last job had involved hazardous chemicals. An accident at Thanksgiving had caused boils to rise on his back. A few months before that, a tankard of spilled benzene had burned all the hair off his arms and hands. This only made him more attractive. I imagined those smooth pink mitts of his opening the door to the rest of my life.
"So are you just going to stand here smoking all night?" he asked.
Normally, I waited until nine o'clock to start drinking, but "What the heck," I said. "I'll have a beer. Why not?" When a couple of seats opened up, Johnny and I took them. Across the narrow carriage, a black man with a bushy mustache pounded on the Formica tabletop. "So a nun goes into town," he said, "and sees a sign reading, 'Quickies—Twenty-five Dollars.' Not sure what it means, she walks back to the convent and pulls aside the mother superior. 'Excuse me,' she asks, 'but what's a quickie?'
"And the old lady goes, 'Twenty-five dollars. Just like in town.' "
As the car filled with laughter, Johnny lit a fresh cigarette. "Some comedian," he said. I don't know how we got onto the subject of gambling—perhaps I asked if he had a hobby.
"I'll bet on sporting events, on horses and greyhounds—hell, put two fleas on the table and I'll bet over which one can jump the highest. How about you?"
Gambling to me is what a telephone pole might be to a groundhog. He sees that it's there but doesn't for the life of him understand why. Friends have tried to explain the appeal, but still I don't get it. Why take chances with money?
Johnny had gone to Gamblers Anonymous, but the whining got on his nerves, and he quit after his third meeting. Now, he confessed, he was on his way to Atlantic City, where he hoped to clean up at the blackjack tables.
"All right," called the black man on the other side of the carriage. "I've got another one. What do you have if you have nuts on a wall?" He lit a cigarette and blew out the match. "Walnuts!"
A red-nosed woman in a decorative sweatshirt started to talk, but the black fellow told her that he wasn't done yet. "What do you have if you have nuts on your chest?" He waited a beat. "Chestnuts! What do you have when you have nuts on your chin?" He looked from face to face. "A dick in your mouth!"
"Now, that's good," Johnny said. "I'll have to remember that."
"I'll have to remind you," I told him, trembling a little at my forwardness. "I mean . . . I'm pretty good at holding on to jokes."
As the black man settled down, I asked Johnny about his family. It didn't surprise me that his mother and father were divorced. Each of them was fifty-four years old, and each was currently living with someone much younger. "My dad's girlfriend—fiancée, I guess I should call her**—**is no older than me," Johnny said. "Before losing my job, I had my own place, but now I'm living with them. Just, you know, until I get back on my feet."
I nodded.
"My mom, meanwhile, is a total mess," he said. "Total pothead, total motormouth, total perfect match for her asshole thirty-year-old boyfriend."
Nothing in this guy's life sounded normal to me. Take food: He could recall his mother rolling joints on the kitchen counter, but he couldn't remember her cooking a single meal, not even on holidays. For dinner, they'd eat takeout hamburgers or pizzas, sometimes a sandwich slapped together over the sink. Johnny didn't cook, either. Neither did his father or his future stepmother. I asked what was in their refrigerator, and he said, "Ketchup, beer, mixers—what else?" He had no problem referring to himself as an alcoholic. "It's just a fact," he said. "I have blue eyes and black hair, too. Big deal."
"Here's a clean one," the black man said. "A fried-egg sandwich walks into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender looks him up and down, then goes, 'Sorry, we don't serve food here.' "
"Oh, that's old," one of his fellow-drunks said. "Not only that but it's supposed to be a hamburger, not a fried-egg sandwich."
"It's supposed to be food is what it's supposed to be," the black man told him. "As to what that food is, I'll make it whatever the hell I want to."
"Amen," Johnny said, and the black man gave him a thumbs-up.
His next joke went over much better. "What did the leper say to the prostitute? 'Keep the tip.' "
I pictured what looked like a mushroom cap resting in the palm of an outstretched hand. Then I covered my mouth and laughed so hard that beer trickled out of my nose. I was just mopping it up when the last call was announced, and everyone raced to the counter to stock up. Some of the drinkers would be at it until morning, when the bar reopened, while others would find their seats and sleep for a while before returning.
As for Johnny, he had a fifth of Smirnoff in his suitcase. I had two Valiums in mine, and, because I have never much cared for sedatives, the decision to share them came easily. An hour later, it was agreed that we needed to smoke some pot. Each of us was holding, so the only question was where to smoke it**—**and how to get there from the bar. Since taking the Valium, drinking six beers, and following them with straight vodka, walking had become a problem for me. I don't know what it took to bring down Johnny, but he wasn't even close yet. That's what comes with years of socking it away—you should be unconscious, but instead you're up and full of bright ideas. "I think I've got a place we can go to," he said.
I'm not sure why he chose the women's lounge rather than the men's. Perhaps it was closer, or maybe there was no men's lounge. One way or the other, even now, almost twenty years later, it shames me to think of it. The idea of holing up in a bathroom, of hogging the whole thing just so that you can hang out with someone who will never, under any circumstances, return your interest, makes me cringe. Especially given that this—the "dressing room" it was called—was Amtrak's one meagre attempt to recapture some glamour. It amounted to a small chamber with a window—a space not much bigger than a closet. There was an area to sit while brushing your hair or applying makeup, and a mirror to look into while you did it. A second, inner door led to a sink and toilet, but we kept that shut and installed ourselves on the carpeted floor.
Johnny had brought our plastic cups from the bar, and, after settling in, he poured us each a drink. I felt boneless, as if I'd been filleted; yet still I managed to load the pipe and hold my lighter to the bowl. Looking up through the window, I could see the moon, which struck me, in my half-conscious state, as flat and unnaturally bright, a sort of glowing Pringle.
"Do you think we can turn that overhead light off?" I asked.
"No problem, Chief."
It was he who brought up the subject of sex. One moment, I was asking if his mom gave him a discount on his drugs, and the next thing I knew he was telling me about this woman he'd recently had sex with. "A fatty," he called her. "A bloodsucker." Johnny also told me that the older he got the harder it was to get it up. "I'll be totally into it, and then it's, like, 'What the fuck?' You know?"
"Oh, definitely."
He poured more vodka into his plastic cup and swirled it around, as if it were a fine cognac that needed to breathe. "You get into a lot of fights?" he asked.
"No," he said. "I mean with your fists. You ever punch people?"
I relit the pipe and thought of the dustup my former boyfriend and I had had before I left. It was the first time since the fifth grade that I'd hit someone not directly related to me, and it left me feeling like a Grade A moron. This had a lot to do with my punch, which was actually more of a slap. To make it worse, I'd then slipped on the icy sidewalk and fallen into a bank of soft gray snow.
There was no need to answer Johnny's fistfight question. The subject had been raised for his benefit rather than mine, an excuse to bemoan the circumference of his biceps. Back when he was boxing, the one on the right had measured seventeen and a half inches. "Now it's less than fourteen," he told me. "I'm shrinking before my very fucking eyes."
"Well, can't you fatten it back up somehow?" I asked. "You're young. I mean, just how hard can it be to gain weight?"
"The problem isn't gaining weight, it's gaining it in the right place," Johnny said. "Two six-packs a day might swell my stomach**,** but it's not doing shit for my arms."
"Maybe you could lift the cans for a while before opening them," I offered. "That should count for something, shouldn't it?"
Johnny flattened his voice. "You're a regular comedian, aren't you? Keep it up and maybe you can open for that asshole in the bar." A minute of silence and then he relit the pipe, took a hit, and passed it my way. "Look at us," he said, and he let out a long sigh. "A couple of first-class fucking losers."
I wanted to defend myself, or at least point out that we were in second class, but then somebody knocked on the door. "Go away," Johnny said. "The bathroom's closed until tomorrow." A minute later, there came another knock, this one harder, and before we could respond a key turned and a conductor entered. It wouldn't have worked to deny anything: the room stunk of pot and cigarette smoke. There was the half-empty bottle of vodka, the plastic cups turned on their sides. Put a couple of lampshades on our heads and the picture would have been complete.
I suppose that the conductor could have made some trouble—confiscated our dope, had us arrested at the next stop—but instead he just told us to take a hike, no easy feat on a train. Johnny and I parted without saying good night, I staggering off to my seat, and he going, I assumed, to his. I saw him again the following morning, back in the bar car. Whatever spell had been cast the night before was broken, and he was just another alcoholic starting his day with a shot and a chaser. As I ordered a coffee, the black man told a joke about a witch with one breast.
"Give it a rest," the woman in the decorative sweatshirt said.
I smoked a few cigarettes and then returned to my seat, nursing what promised to be a two-day headache. While slumped against the window, trying unsuccessfully to sleep, I thought of a trip to Greece I'd taken in August of 1982. I was twenty-four that summer, and flew by myself from Raleigh to Athens. A few days after arriving, I was joined by my father, my brother, and my older sister, Lisa. The four of us travelled around the country, and when they went back to North Carolina I took a bus to the port city of Patras. From there I sailed to Brindisi, Italy, wondering all the while why I hadn't returned with the rest of my family. In theory it was wonderful—a European adventure. I was too self-conscious to enjoy it, though, too timid, and it stymied me that I couldn't speak the language.
A bilingual stranger helped me buy a train ticket to Rome, but on the return to Brindisi I had no one but myself to rely on. The man behind the counter offered me three options, and I guess I said yes to the one that meant "No seat for me, thank you. I would like to be packed as tightly as possible amongst people with no access to soap or running water."
It was a common request, at least among the young and foreign. I heard French, Spanish, German, and a good many languages I couldn't quite identify. What was it that sounded like English played backward? Dutch? Swedish? If I found the crowd intimidating, it had more to do with my insecurity than with the way anyone treated me. I suppose the others seemed more deserving than I did, with their faded bandannas and goatskin bags sagging with wine. While I was counting the days until I could go back home, they seemed to have a real talent for living.
When I was a young man, my hair was dark brown and a lot thicker than it is now. I had one continuous eyebrow instead of two separate ones, and this made me look as if I sometimes rode a donkey. It sounds odd to say it**—conceited, even—**but I was cute that August when I was twenty-four. I wouldn't have said so at the time, but reviewing pictures taken by my father in Athens I think, That was me? Really? Looks-wise, that single month constituted my moment, a peak from which the descent was both swift and merciless.
It's only three hundred and fifty miles from Rome to Brindisi, but, what with the constant stopping and starting, the train took forever. We left, I believe, at around 8:30 P.M., and for the first few hours everyone stood. Then we sat with our legs crossed, folding them in a little bit tighter when one person, and then another, decided to lie down. As my fellow-passengers shifted position, I found myself pushed toward the corner, where I brushed up against a fellow named Bashir.
Lebanese, he said he was, en route to a small Italian university, where he planned to get a master's in engineering. Bashir's English was excellent, and in a matter of minutes we formed what passes between wayfarers in a foreign country as a kind of automatic friendship. More than a friendship, actually—a romance. Coloring everything was this train, its steady rumble as we passed through the dark Italian countryside. Bashir was—how to describe him? It was as if someone had coaxed the eyes out of Bambi and resettled them, half asleep, into a human face. Nothing hard or ruined-looking there; in fact, it was just the opposite—angelic, you might call him, pretty.
What was it that he and I talked about so intently? Perhaps the thrill was that we could talk, that our tongues, flabby from lack of exercise, could flap and make sounds in their old familiar way. Three hours into our conversation, he invited me to get off the train in his college town and spend some time, as much as I liked, in the apartment that was waiting for him. It wasn't the offer you'd make to a backpacker but something closer to a proposal. "Be with me" was the way I interpreted it.
At the end of our car was a little room, no more than a broom closet, really, with a barred window in it. It must have been 4 A.M. when two dishevelled Germans stepped out, and we moved in to take their place. As would later happen with Johnny Ryan, Bashir and I sat on the floor, the state of which clearly disgusted him. Apart from the fact that we were sober and were pressed so close that our shoulders touched, the biggest difference was that our attraction was mutual. The moment came when we should have kissed—you could practically hear the surging strings—but I was too shy to make the first move, and so, I guess, was he. Still, I could feel this thing between us, not just lust but a kind of immediate love, the sort that, like instant oatmeal, can be realized in a matter of minutes and is just as nutritious as the real thing. We'll kiss . . . now, I kept thinking. Then, O.K. . . . now. And on it went, more torturous by the second.
The sun was rising as we reached his destination, the houses and church spires of this strange city—a city I could make my own—silhouetted against the weak morning sky. "And so?" he asked.
I don't remember my excuse, but it all came down to cowardice. For what, really, did I have to return to? A job pushing a wheelbarrow on Raleigh construction sites? A dumpy one-bedroom next to the IHOP?
Bashir got off with his three big suitcases and became a perennial lump in my throat, one that rises whenever I hear the word "Lebanon" or see its jittery outline on the evening news. Is that where you went back to? I wonder. Do you ever think of me? Are you even still alive?
Given the short amount of time we spent together, it's silly how often, and how tenderly, I think of him. All the way to Penn Station, hung over from my night with Johnny Ryan, I wondered what might have happened had I taken Bashir up on his offer. I imagined our apartment overlooking a square: the burbling fountain, the drawings of dams and bridges piled neatly on the desk.
When you're young, it's easy to believe that such an opportunity will come again, maybe even a better one. Instead of a Lebanese guy in Italy, it might be a Nigerian one in Belgium, or maybe a Pole in Turkey. You tell yourself that if you travelled alone to Europe this summer you could surely do the same thing next year and the year after that. Of course, you don't, though, and the next thing you know you're an aging, unemployed elf, so desperate for love that you spend your evening mooning over a straight alcoholic.
The closer we got to New York the more miserable I became. Then I thought of this guy my friend Lili and I had borrowed a ladder from a few months earlier, someone named Hugh. I'd never really trusted people who went directly from one relationship to the next, so after my train pulled into Penn Station, and after I'd taken the subway home, I'd wait a few hours, or maybe even a full day, before dialling his number and asking if he'd like to hear a joke. ♦


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Patterned after the OEM Bayliner wakeboard towers that were designed specifically for Bayliner boats.
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Fabricated using 1 7/8 inch diameter, brushed and anodized 6061 aluminum tubing, creating the ultimate light weight, corrosion resistant tower. The mounting base is custom designed and machined using polished billet aluminum removing the need for a large metal plate bolted to the hull. Every element of the New Dimension wakeboard tower is designed to enhance the look and performance of your boat.
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Sunday November 17, 2019; 10:48 am EST
Don't let road work spoil your trip
Memorial Day is the official start of summer and the unofficial start to traffic madness as everyone bolts to the beach.
The summer weather is also prime time for road work, making for a congested combination.
Beat the summer traffic with the Maryland State Highway Administration's e-Road Ready brochure, which lists all the work zones by county, and their expected finish date: www.roads.maryland.gov/oc/RoadReady2013.pdf.


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Pennsylvania Outdoors
Pennsylvania is a state of mind, yes, but it is also a lovely and endlessly fascinating place to roam and ramble in. We like finding guidebooks that tell us practical things and quirky things and unusual things. We strive to avoid propaganda and boosterism. Let a book be your inspiration!


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This video is compiled from still images taken by Curiosity's Front Hazard Avoidance Cameras, which allow the rover's operators to see obstacles in its path.
Karl Sanford built the timelapse using pictures taken from Sol 0 – Sol, being one complete day on Mars – to Sol 281.
In the video, which he uploaded to YouTube, viewers can see the rover's 7-foot robotic arm sweeping over the Martian landscape as it gathers samples during its hunt for evidence of microbes on the surface of the planet.
The project is Nasa's first astrobiology mission since the Viking probes of the 1970s, and the landing came as a much-welcome success for a space agency beleaguered by budget cuts and the recent cancellation of its 30-year-old space shuttle programme.


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Pistorius lawyer: Pathologist to open defense case
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- A pathologist will likely testify first when Oscar Pistorius' defense team starts calling witnesses at his murder trial next week, the double-amputee athlete's lawyer said Tuesday.
Brian Webber told The Associated Press in an email that "it is likely" that the defense will call Prof. Jan Botha as its first witness on Monday, after four weeks of prosecution-led testimony and a week's adjournment.
Pistorius is expected to testify to explain why he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year by shooting her multiple times through a toilet door.
The Olympic runner says he shot Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was a dangerous intruder who had broken into his bathroom. Prosecutors say the 27-year-old Pistorius killed the 29-year-old model intentionally after an argument in the pre-dawn hours and have charged him with premeditated murder.
In South Africa, defendants who indicate they will testify are usually expected to go first but Webber said it was his understanding that prosecutors had agreed to the defense's request that Botha give evidence first because of the pathologist's personal circumstances.
"It is likely that we will call Professor Jan Botha on Monday as he has personal difficulties and I believe that the state has agreed to him giving evidence first," Webber wrote to the AP.
Pistorius could go to prison for 25 years to life if convicted of premeditated murder for Steenkamp's shooting death.
Pistorius' testimony will likely be crucial, with the athlete under intense scrutiny to explain why he shot four times through a toilet cubicle door without knowing, in his version, who was on the other side and the location of his girlfriend.
Although some legal experts say Pistorius taking the stand is a risk for his defense, they say he has little choice because he has admitted killing Steenkamp unlawfully and therefore needs to explain his reasons.
"The only question is whether there was intent and intent is subjective," former state prosecutor and now defense lawyer Marius du Toit said. "That means the accused must come and dispel that."
Du Toit, who is following the trial but not involved in it, said Pistorius' testimony was "definitely the key."
The defense may use the expert forensic testimony of Botha, the pathologist, to combat the prosecution's claim that Steenkamp screamed during the gunshots that killed her and so Pistorius must have known who he was firing at with his 9 mm pistol.
Defense lawyer Webber also said that although lawyers for Pistorius and Steenkamp's family are still in negotiations over a possible out-of-court settlement for her death, nothing would be decided until after the trial.
Representatives of the parties have been in contact since last year. Both sides have declined to give details of any discussions but South African media has speculated that Pistorius might pay Steenkamp's family in the region of $200,000 to $300,000.
Gerald Imray is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeraldImrayAP
Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press
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On Monday, January 28, CCSD's Office of Teacher Effectiveness surprised the finalists for District Teacher of the Year with a bouquet of flowers. Each finalist had the opportunity to check out the Volvo from Rick Hendrick's Volvo of Charleston that the District Teacher of the Year will receive at CCSD Educator Night with the Charleston Riverdogs on May 10. Congratulations to each of the Teacher of the Year Finalists for this accomplishment!
Special thanks to Rick Hendrick's Volvo of Charleston for their partnership with CCSD in recognizing and rewarding our teacher leaders through the Teacher of the Year process! Follow Nancy Dabit, current CCSD Teacher of the Year, through the Volvo of Charleston website.
Angie B. Grimes is a Middle School Interventionist from Morningside Middle Middle School ARMS Academy in North Charleston, SC. Angie was awarded an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from Lander University and graduate degrees from The Citadel and Charleston Southern University. Since her early years of playing teacher with her then, four - year - old brother, Angie loved learning and creating. "I would sit with him and try to 'teach' him to read a book!"
Angie pursued a teaching career because she felt that it was a part of her identity. Her love for learning and children greatly influenced her to enter the field of education. She later found her personal calling as a reading interventionist.
Regardless of whether they are struggling or reluctant readers, helping her scholars find the "perfect" book was her special talent. Angie believes that being a teacher is a "cycle of evaluating and reevaluating yourself and your effectiveness." "An educator must be willing to change," and she does this by maintaining a positive attitude in a supportive environment.
To reach the many scholars beyond her classroom walls, Angie leads the 25 Book Challenge; students are able to track their individual progress through graphic organizers and data bulletin boards. She also conducts a very successful book club, Real Men Read, for the male scholars at Morningside. Angie's principal states that she has played a vital role in increasing student achievement. For the past three years she has "approached the difficult challenges from a creative standpoint. She came with a plethora of ideas on how to improve the reading scores of not only scholars in her class, but those in the entire school." Overall, Angie believes that education is a team effort. "Everyone wants the same final outcome: strong schools, strong children, and a strong community. Failure is not an option."
Kirk Lindgren, a 12th grade Physics and 9th grade Physical Science teacher at Charleston County School of the Arts in North Charleston, is a graduate of the University of Virginia. Kirk's passion for education was influenced by his eccentric Physics teacher, Tony Wayne. "I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen on the second day. He had me hooked!" That enthusiasm and passion made him realize what a profound affect a teacher can have on his or her students.
Once Kirk entered his very own classroom, he decided that his greatest contribution and accomplishment as an educator would be to engage his students. "I want to create a passion for studying science, help them develop life skills that will benefit them in and out of school, and encourage them to participate in community service."
He strongly believes that educators must be well - prepared, positive, and caring towards the students. "The best way to serve as a leader is to model for other teachers what you do best." To further that example, Kirk started Project Care, a program that "connected his students with programs in the community to help those in need." With his students, they were able to complete many hours of community service with programs like Crisis Ministries, Pet helpers, Habitat for Humanity, LEARN Horse Rescue, My Sister's House, and many more in the Lowcountry.
Kirk's principal recognizes that he makes a difference in the lives of the students at SOA. In addition to coaching wrestling and engineering competitions, "his ECO Club leads the recycling charge at SOA…we say they are saving the planet, one blue bin at a time" A student of Kirk's compliments his success as a teacher by the way he structures his classroom. "As a student, I am more oriented towards the humanities and I tend to struggle with math and science; however, when I found out that Mr. Lindgren was teaching physics this year, I decided to take the class because he was teaching it. He genuinely cares about his students-- he wants them to understand the material and ultimately succeed."
Paul A. Pallagi III, a 4th grade teacher at Ladson Elementary in Ladson is a graduate of Charleston Southern University. Paul attributes his success as an educator to a seventh grade teacher. What was first thought of as a punishment became a mentoring experience that not only created a successful student, but a future Teacher of the Year nominee. Paul believes that teaching is "not simply a profession; it's a way of life." In his eyes, educators must live and breathe the vision of their school and surrounding community.
Paul extends his belief in teaching and student achievement by supporting change and teacher evolution. He states that "teaching styles must adapt to new educational techniques and the various learning styles of students," ensuring meaningful instruction for each student.
Aside from his work as a 4th grade teacher, Paul created a 4th and 5th grade basketball team for the boys at Ladson and was awarded the Farm2School grant, dedicated to enhancing the overall health and wellness of the student body.
A colleague of Paul's describes him as a "walking example of Vision 2016" who fosters an open communication with parents and supports struggling learners above and beyond the normal duties of an educator. Paul's principal recognizes his contributions to Ladson Elementary through his willingness to go the extra mile for students. "Mr. Pallagi serves as a dependable and responsible role model that others admire and respect. He has created an image of what teachers are all about …the students and their welfare."
Lisa B. Trott, a 4th grade teacher from Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary School in West Ashley, is a two - time National Board recipient. A graduate of USC and College of Charleston, Lisa discovered teaching after starting her family. "Once I married and had my first child, I realized that my priorities had shifted, so I chose a career that more closely reflected my station in life at that time." From a Major in Journalism to a Retail Management Degree, she discovered education. Being around children rejuvenated her and she was able to experience life's moments through the eyes of children.
Lisa believes that "every child can learn and deserves to have the best education possible" She makes it her daily mission to know her content inside and out, stay informed on the lasted pedagogy and instructional tools/methods, and to always bring her "A" game each and every school day. "Outstanding teachers are continually evolving and growing. I am constantly analyzing the needs in my classroom and taking classes or researching new methods to reach my students."
With an emphasis in Fine Arts, Lisa constructed her 4th grade team's curricular units that promote strong reading and language arts skills. She was recognized multiple times as the Distinguished Reading Teacher of the Year and the Charleston Animal Society's award for Humane Educator of the Year.
Her principal recognizes her energetic and enthusiastic approach to her work. "Students in her room are often dancing to a Beatles tune while learning vocabulary words or re - enacting a Civil War Battle to demonstrate a timeline. She is innovative and approaches learning as a challenge that can be mastered."
Lisa's message to her fellow colleges in the educational profession and to the community is that "students must be actively engaged in their learning in order to derive meaning…arts are the vehicle for powerful learning!" At the end of each day and year, her goal is for her students to "expect more out of themselves, to challenge themselves, and be committed to being the very best humans they can be!"
Melissa Doscher Yarborough is a 3rd grade teacher at St. Andrew's School of Math and Science. She received her Bachelor's of Science at Clemson University with a Masters Degree from the University of Charleston and Charleston Southern University. Melissa's love for science and medicine created a path for her to work with Cardiothoracic Surgery Research at MUSC. "My ultimate goal was to get into medical school and practice pediatric medicine but things changed." She literally "woke up" and decided that she wanted to be a teacher. What she thought might be a huge mistake actually turned out to be the career she was meant to have.
Melissa was recently named a state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Math and Science. She attributes her success in education to her undergraduate degree in Biology. "The knowledge I've gained is still being incorporated into my daily science lessons, and I've had the pleasure of teaching other teachers how to successfully teach hands - on science lessons to their students."
Melissa believes there are many layers to being a teacher. "Parent, mentor, educator, leader, counselor…we are all of these and more each day. The profession can be one of the most difficult yet most rewarding jobs that anyone could ever have." She says it is possible for every child to be successful, but it takes hard work and creativity to meet the needs of each student.
Her principal recognizes Melissa as an "accomplished developer of hands-on, cross curriculum lessons" that produces significant results. "Our PASS results show that 97% of the third grade students scored met/exemplary in ELA and 83% in Math." Her hard work has "proven to meet the needs of all groups of third grade students." If given an opportunity to become Teacher of the Year, she would like the community to see the importance of supporting public education. "We have wonderful teachers, students, and families and I would do anything I could to let the public see that."
Early Childhood Rookie of the Year: Colleen Krumm is a Child Development/Preschool Intervention Blend teacher from Sullivan's Island Elementary in Mt. Pleasant. She received a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education at the College of Charleston. A colleague of Colleen describes her as a teacher who utilizes a variety of instructional skills that engage her students daily. She says of Colleen, "I continue to be amazed at how she seamlessly transitions from skill to skill and how much her students have progressed this year."
Elementary Rookie of the Year: Lauren Elizabeth Gudger is a 3rd grade teacher from Pinehurst Elementary in North Charleston. Lauren was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Education from The University of Georgia. Her principal states that she is an "invaluable resource to Pinehurst Elementary School and Charleston County School District." She has been an "exceptional teacher, professional, and advocate for all students."
Middle School Rookie of the Year: Kristine M. Peterson is an Art teacher at C.E. Williams Middle School for the Creative & Scientific Arts in West Ashley. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Alfred University in New York and a Masters in Arts Education at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. Her mentor sees Kristine as an exceptional Art teacher that has "built a diverse and positive community within her classroom and her school." Her mentor says, "Students leave her classroom with a global perspective of humanity and high critical thinking skills. It's an honor to teach with her."


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Imagine concrete that's two-thirds granulated plastic, but is as strong as the stuff currently in use. Architect/engineer Henry Miller figured out how to make it, not just on paper, but in a couple of real-life structures.
Concrete is usually 60% to 75% "aggregate", sand, gravel or crushed stone, according to people who should know. What this engineer did was grind up the "landfill-bound" plastic materials, and then mix them with pure concrete. Not only did he save the plastic from environmentally unfriendly alternatives (landfill or heat-related processing), he also avoided the use of mined gravel or sand. Once the bricks were made—allegedly to withstand 3000 to 5000 psi—he built the structures above.
I don't know what the Portland Cement Association will make of it, but if there's any chance these bricks float, I think members of the Concrete Boot Association, aka Cosa Nostra, could be mightily displeased. [Inhabitat]


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Product Description
This is a 4+2 drawer chest from the Julian Bowen Cameo range. The furniture is made of solid pine and is painted in a stone white lacquered finish. Inspired by the range of bedsteads by Julian Bowen, the Cameo Range of furniture has a striking & unique design.
This is part of the Cameo bedroom set, you can view the entire range here.
Please note ALL furniture is FLAT PACK.APPROX OVERALL DIMENSIONSwidth 83cm x depth 43cm x height 101cm
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Shipping: We deliver FREE within mainland UK on orders over £250. We deliver to UK and Scotland mainland addresses only. We regret that we cannot deliver to Northern Ireland, overseas addresses or the following postcodes: GY, JE, HS, PO30-PO41 (Isles of Wight), TR21-25 (Scilly Isles), IM1-9 (Isle of Man), BFPO, HS, IV, KW, ZE, KA27-28, PA20 - PA78, BT
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Meeting all your data deduplication challenges
Deduplication is one of the fastest growing segments in storage. Accordingly, every vendor is telling their version of the deduplication story. With emerging technologies, it is difficult for IT managers to determine what the true IT benefits vs. marketing spin are. This brief discusses several key areas of deduplication and uncovers six NetApp "challenges" customers should understand when evaluating HP StoreOnce Backup Systems and NetApp as their deduplication solution of choice.Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.


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Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin works for Vogue Paris
Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin are a Dutch fashion photographer duo, well known for their work for fashion magazines, advertising campaigns, and for their independent art work. Their work been published in magazines like French, British, Japanese, Italian, and American Vogue, as well as V Magazine, W Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, GQ, Self Service, Exit Magazine, Purple Fashion, Visionaire, Fantastic Man, Butt, VMAN, Arena Homme Plus, and 032c. Check out their Vogue Paris issue work after the break… [ Continue Reading ]