text:
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text:
A team from Sheboygan North High School won the 24rd annual Lakeland College Michael J. Devaney Math Meet, held Oct. 21 at Lakeland. It's the fourth straight title for a team from North, and their 17th title in the last 18 years.
Members of the winning North team were seniors Samuel Wang, Jonathan Cook, Molly Knoedler and Trenton Sarnowski; juniors Morgan Ross and Claire Andreasen; sophomore Angelica Drees; and freshman Brooklyn Landgraf.
Second place went to team No. 1 from Kohler and third place went to Sheboygan County Christian team No. 1 and North No. 2. Teams from Plymouth and South placed fifth and sixth, respectively, among the 35 teams entered.
Cedar Grove-Belgium, Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah and Howards Grove also had teams in the competition, which included 262 students.
Wang from North won a medal for the top individual score with 36 out of a possible 40 points. Second place went to Yuxiang Zi from Kohler with a score of 35. Tied for third with a score of 30 were Sarnowski, Ross and Gabby Tauscher, all from North. Tied for sixth place with a score of 29 were John and Nick Cook from North and Cooper Ebbott from Plymouth. Ninth place went to Nathan Waniorek from Kohler with a score of 27. Tenth place went to Nick Steenwyk from Sheboygan County Christian.
Nine other students won honorable mention awards: Matt Seider from Sheboygan County Christian, Knoedler, Andrew Suscha and John Masse from North, Logan Wright and Andrew Grose from Kohler, Sean Reinemann from South and Haley Olson and Matt Primozic from Plymouth.

subset: commoncrawl


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Get Your Medals
Get Your Medals
How to obtain your Military Service Records, Military Medical Records, or Medals and Awards.
In order to recieve your Military Service Records/Medical Records or Medals and Awards, you should visit one of the following sites and update yourself on the information that is requested. Then download the correct form (SF-180). When completing the form fill in as much information as possible and if possible do not leave any lines blank.
Note: All forms are in PDF format. This means that you will have to download *Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read and print these files
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
NARA's Military Personnel Records - Military Medals and Awards
NARA's Regional Records Services Facilities
National Personnel Records Center (NPRC)
You may download the Form - SF-180 at the following locations:
SF-180 Request Pertaining To Military Records - DVA
Forms used by VBA (Veterans Benefits Administration)


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Just before the feds arrested financial swindler Bernard Madoff, he received a massive influx of cash - $250 million - from one of his oldest friends as he attempted to save himself and his failing firm, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Carl Shapiro, 95, an entrepreneur who The Journal described as "one of Mr. Madoff's oldest friends and biggest financial backers" gave the confessed schemer the $250 million around Dec. 1, about 10 days before Madoff was arrested and charged with masterminding a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
It's not clear if Shapiro, who lost roughly $400 million from the Madoff scam, gave his old pal the money as a loan or investment, but sources told The Journal that Madoff promised to pay back Schapiro quickly with interest. None of the money was paid back.
Shapiro "might have seemed like the ideal savior," according to The Journal, which reports:
Mr. Shapiro helped Mr. Madoff launch his investing career, in 1960 giving Mr. Madoff -- then 22 years old -- tens of thousands of dollars to invest. Mr. Madoff did well with the investments, and Mr. Shapiro invested more over time. The two became friends. They often ate lunch together at the Palm Beach Country Club.
A defense lawyer for Madoff was expected to submit written arguments as soon as today to a judge who is probing whether the disgraced Wall Street financier should be jailed before trial.
The judge said he wants to know whether the ability to commit economic harm can make someone like Madoff a danger to others. The businessman has been under house arrest at his Manhattan penthouse.
Prosecutors have asked for Madoff's immediate jailing, arguing that he and his wife violated a court order by sending gifts to relatives and friends. A defense lawyer says Madoff's wife sent the valuables. He says she was not subject to the court order.
Prosecutors contend that Madoff sent the valuables to family and friends over the past week, with a note enclosed. Lawyers did not disclose what's in the note, but the implication was that Madoff might be trying to transfer funds that could later be used to pay restitution.


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The quality of Mexican products is a competitive differential against the hard actual competition at Mexican Fashion market. With this in mind, Dassault Systemes and IQ Innovation, got together for a unique event to discuss the role of technology in the Fashion industry. Cristina Pineda, co-founder of Pineda Covalin, was our special guest.
At the W Hotel in Mexico , more than 40 attendees from fashion brands and retailers joined this breakfast to listen to Cristina's story, and how Dassault Systemes and IQInnovation help the Fashion industry gain visibility across the globe, having shorter product lifecycle, improving sales with Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE business Platform.
Enrique Marin from IQ Innovation provided an overview of the Mexican Fashion Market.
The quality of Mexican product is an important competitive edge regarding the fierce competition we have to face, Dassault Systèmes is a powerful tool to improve product quality
(La calidad del producto mexicano es un diferencial competitivo tiendo en cuenta el mercado competitivo que enfrentamos, Dassault ofrece una herramienta poderosa para mejorar la calidad de los productos)
Then Aurore Furnaletto, Sales Manager Consumer Goods and Retail from Dassault Systèmes took over. She introduced two 3DEXPERIENCE solutions for Fashion brands and retailers: Fashion Collection for SMB and My Store, or how fashion brands and retailers can leverage technology in all processes from design to production to store operations. Then Aurore kept audience's attention with Guess customer case. She presented the different stages Guess went through to adopt Dassault Systèmes' solutions.
Cristina Pineda, co-founder of Pineda Covalin powerful Mexican luxury brand, with stores in Mexico, Colombia, New York and China, showed how technology complements creativity and the design at market.
To stay competitive in this market, we have to be local, to be able to guarantee our product quality.
(Para sieren competitivos en esto mercado teren que ser locales, para garantizar la calidad de los produtos.)
To close this breakfast Aurore took the audience to the future of fashion with a presentation of FashionLab, Dassault Systèmes technology incubator dedicated to fashion designers. Attendees had also the surprise to discover Paris 3D, with 3D reconstructions of monuments showing the Fashion capital at various times.
Special thanks to Cristina and our guests, we are very proud to have held this fascinating Industry Breakfast alongside our partner IQ Innovation,
Stay tuned for our next event and see you again soon! 🙂


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By Moni Basu, CNN
(CNN) - Before 2000, you had to pick one: White, black, Asian, American Indian, Alaska Native or some other race. But now you can tick multiple boxes on the U.S. Census Bureau's race category.
The 2010 census provided the first glimpse of trends in multirace reporting since it was the second time such an option was available. And what it shows is that people who say they are a mix of races grew by a larger percentage than people who reported a single race, according to the data released Thursday.
People who reported a background of mixed race grew by 32% to 9 million between 2000 and 2010. In comparison, single-race population increased 9.2%.
In all, the U.S. population increased by 9.7% since 2000. Many multiple-race groups increased by 50% or more.
But that does not necessarily mean there are many more children of interracial couples.
Sociologist Kris Marsh said that it could be that many people who checked only one box in 2000 have decided to celebrate their diversity and checked multiple boxes this go-around. Say you are white but you know that you have some Asian blood in you. Or take the example of Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts. She says she has Native American ancestry and could have ticked two boxes in the census.
Elizabeth Warren: Is she, or isn't she Native American?
Multiple-race category celebrates American diversity. But it could have consequences, said Marsh of the Maryland Population Research Center.
It could lower the number of people who are counted solely as African-American or Native American, said Marsh, and take away from political representation for those minority groups.
"I don't want to discount this (multiracial) group," she said. "But I do think there are some challenges."
The largest multirace groups in the 2010 census were white and black (1.8 million); white and "some other race" (1.7 million); white and Asian (1.6 million); and white and American Indian and Alaska Native (1.4 million).
The white and some other race responses mainly reflect people who reported white with a Hispanic origin. Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic, not racial, category in the census.
Of the 50 million people who self-identify as Latinos, more than 18 million checked the some other race box in the 2010 Census, up from 14.9 million in 2000.
The multirace groups that grew the most were the white and black population (by 134% to more than 1 million people) and the white and Asian population (by 87% to about 750,000).
The census showed 16 states where the people who reported more than one race exceeded 200,000 or more. The top three were California, Texas and New York. Each of those states reported a multiple-race population of 500,000 people or more.
What do you think imigrations long term plan was, to do exactly that.
umm, no. Modern science most certainly does not agree on that. In fact, the genetic evidence is clear that there were never fewer than around10,000 human ancestors at any time, and that humans evolved gradually from other primates over the course of millions of years. Please educate yourself.
According to a Pew Hispanic survey, 36% of Latinos identify their race as white. Remember, Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity, not a race.
No one is solely African American you moron...they are both African and American as their name implies. when did Americans stop learning reading comprehension?
After thousands of years walking the surface of this earth, claiming to be of a pure white race or black race could be totally unfounded. Maybe the Maori in Australia before the British porked it all up, or the lost tribes in Brazil, the Africans way deep in the jungle, the nomad tribes in central Asia could be a genetic treasure of the human race. But Arians and Blacks living in the Americas are already kind of diluted.
As for us the Hispanics, proudly carry on our genetic mix made up of native American and Spaniard or European bloods, at least. Of course, many of us can also brag about our African ancestry. Yes sir.
I hear you, Cacique. I drive through the black neighborhoods with my white skin and Spanish face, playing my Salsa while I laugh at the haters who give me dirty looks, not knowing that my father's father was black and well off in the Caribbean. I go home from work, and kiss the "india" who gave me my beautiful children and serves me a delicious plate of garlic yucca and stewed salt cod, a mix of foods with Native American and Norwegian roots that is part of my heritage. At work, I smile inwardly at the Anglos who leer when they hear my last name for the first time, not knowing that were it not for the military aid of my Spanish creole ancestors, George Washington would have lost the state where they live. I know who I am, I live it, breathe it, taste it, hear it in my favorite music, and I LOVE IT.
Hispanics are white Europeans my friend. not a mix of euro and west Indian blood. Hispanics are people from hispania ....which means Spain. Im cherokee and Irish and there is no special racial same for me.
Racial name
Although i do prefer my keetowah roots and culture to my Irish roots...and why...because this is not Ireland its America.
Wrong again Hispanics are multicultural and we have african and european blood which is what makes us so damn gorgeous!
Right on Maria. Hispanics are all mixed, we have blonds, red heads, blue eyes, green eyes, brown skin, white skin and black. We are everyone in one.
I find it hilarious that these "race" boxes exist when in reality it has nothing to do with race but skin tone. I say for every census we hold out or arms and have our skin tone determined Home Depot style. Then maybe the absurdity of this crap will be realized.
Now that Warren is a Native American, because someone in her family wrote a "biography" that says she is, we can all be anything we want!
"..I am not gonna spend my life being a color" MJ Black or White
I look forward to the day when then only check box on a form that is available when it asks you what race you are is
few more of these and they can knock out the white race box!
not in the Ukraine though!
the truth always hurts
dems are such hypocrites
"the truth always hurts"
It does!? ALWAYS?
Is your ignorance painful?
Here's an idea, how about we stop having the census ask about our race. If we are truly going to achieve Dr. King's dream of a world where we judge the content of a man's character rather than his skin color then we will need to stop worrying about a person's skin color.
there should be ONE box to check...HUMAN race.
Very well said johnny.
Whoever started this race thing way back then was beyond syupid ! there was,is now,and always will be one race:HUMAN you are exactly correct!
Or who they can BEST identify with, I guess. The average American cannot identify with the current lifestyle of anyone in political office today, Obama and Romney included.
...the US race to the lowest denominator accelerates.
That's a rather ignorant post. People tend to vote for who they identify with so its no surprise that many blacks vote for Obama. Its not racism. More Latinos probably bought Selena records than Madonna records. Is that racist? No. People of all races gravitate towards situations or people they can relate to. That is why Republicans generally vote for republicans and Democrats generally vote for Democrats.
Its racist ONLY if white people dont embrace and buy black and Latino people stuff. We have to have their culture rammed won our throats but they can keep staying with their own ways. Thats how it works.
From the map, it looks like the most racially "pure" state is Mississippi.
Gerry O'bama, really? African Americans have been voting in those numbers for Democrats for years, but I guess that didn't bother you as much since until now, those votes were for white men and if you think most are unaware that the president is mixed you need to crawl out from that rock and get a clue.
On the 2010 census I check "other" for race and wrote down "Human" for both my wife and myself 🙂
The above comment was suppose to be a response to yours 🙂
I think it's time to do away with the race question. We'll all be better off when we can simply identify ourselves as Race: Human.
didn't see your post...great minds think alike!
In this country it doesn't matter if you are "mixed" people only see us as black; just axe The President.
Yep. One drop rule definitely still applies in this country, although application of it varies state by state.
Could use please cite an actual time when anyone from the republican party has referred to people of mixed race as "mongrels"? Or is that just something you believe republicans say because it makes it easier for you to hate them?
In reality leaders do not want an educated, armed, and united populace becuase they resist tyranny and dictatorship. They use left right, race, have's and have nots, etc to seperate us from each other. They have dumbed down schools and denied our republics history. They keep us fighting. They want our guns.
Then why did Obama choose Black and say there was no place to check bi-racial? The story says 2010 census. Why do bi-racials, choose to be black when it helps them? I know of a person who chose black to get help to get into college.
One drop. Soon and very soon the generation that hate produce, the so called "baby boomers" will all be dead in hell somewhere and peace will reign in America. We will be able to get along in about twenty years.
Thats crap! People base what color you are on how you look. Checking Black doesn't give you anything more than checking hispanic or white.. get a clue!
Actually, Obama has not chosen Black, he chose African-American.
Obama knows that he is not going to get many votes if he states that he is Mulatto. However, he knows that by being the son of an African father, and an American mother, he can put down African-American and no one will question it.
On the very first interview that he gave as president, he stated in his own words that the dog he was looking for "must be a mutt like me".
On your second point about bi-racials choosing Black to get into college. They do so because it is convenient, it is only one piece of paper, that is going to help them get a degree, however, in their private arenas they know that they are mixed race.
I thought all of us are american?? Why the silly race classifications. I thought King Had a Dream? King didn't want skin color to be an issue. Now the hand out crowd hyphenates their American status, fly oppressive foreign flags, and does their very best to not fit in Americana.
Now Jim, when you say hyphenated crowd, are you referring to Irish-americans, italian-americans or german-americans? Because I've seen those terms a lot.
I guess you didn't get the memo that the majority of the 'handout' crowd are of european decent. Or don't you care to know the actual facts and numbers?
"I guess you didn't get the memo that the majority of the 'handout' crowd are of european decent. Or don't you care to know the actual facts and numbers?"
If two groups receive handouts and for every 10 of one group there are 70 of another group, the larger group will probably receive more handouts, even if by percentage they receive less handouts. Your real error isn't the misleading statistics barely hiding your prejudice against a particular racial group. It is in dividing the human race into racial groups and assigning them separate attributes in the first place.
Perfectly said!
I find it ridiculous that "Race" even matters anymore. We're just people.
We are all "mixed-race," so the category could potentially see a lot of use. Genetic testing shows that all of us are descendants of a single woman who lived around 150,000 years ago (although not necessarily by the same guy, and yes, there were other people around at that time, too, but their descendants died out).
Finally, the beginning of the end of segregation in the real world.
It's time to become truely post-racial, and have the census departmetn stop asking this silly question. We are all mixed race, it's just a matter of how much.
well most people are multiracial just ask grandma...
Hyphenated Americans signals people who dont believe in a united America
"Hyphenated Americans" was fine while it was Irish, German, Italian-Americans. Now when its Mexican-American or African-American its a sin. For years, America was "united" as long as it was the United White States of America. The people who ran the country, for the most part white, did their best to exclude non-whites. They didn't accept their cultures or their histories and diminished their value as people. Now when these "non-whites" take it upon themselves to show pride in their heritage; a heritage gladly left out by the once white majority, you say that they don't believe in America. More accurately, America didn't believe or accept FIRST.
Man you are on point! Some Americans either don't know their history or don't accept it. 'Hyphenated-Americans' is just the same old code and rethoric that has always exsisted in this country.
Well said Bryan, well said.
So you are saying it has been done wrong all along? The census bureau didn't start collecting housing data until 1940. Anyways, if you know something is wrong (as you implied) , why would you personally continue you to do it? Doesn't sound very intelligent.
The ancient Egyptians displayed a process for 'The Carrying of the Eye'.
That Eye contained the power to perceive Truth.
Truth beyond shape or color, beyond opposing forces, beyond hype and bias.
You can see/perceive beyond this mixed puzzle, you can do it. I know you can do it.
Stop the insanity.
Are ther really any purebloods?
Black and White, really.. This page is black and white, and does not come close to my skin tone.
No matter how I mix White and Black, it doesn't make brown or pink.
Our country is a melting pot of diversity in race and culture. This is to be expected and not news, lol.
Yea and look its not going so well either this gloriuos melting pot!! I prefer a lot more monogomous racial make-up and its a fact people of like kind get along a whole lot better so you can take your melting pot and shove it.
Yeah – not really working out too good, is it? The melting pot theory is a failed experiment. Most races of people cant stand the other races no matter what they say in public. Behind closed doors, whites dont like blacks, blacks dont like whites, and Latinos dont like either and vice-versa. Its the way it is. I dont care how goody-goody people make it sound: The talkl at the dinner table remains the same. Sure, there are exceptions but in general most races dislike other races. Ironically, its minorities that tend to hate whites even more than the other way around. They get away with it though. Sorry to rain on the diversity parade but it is what it is.
Mike, true Sociologist you are (Enter sarcasm here).
Hmmm, Mike you are sounding pretty racist, might want to tone it down. Most people born after 1975 don't buy into this bs about "white people" and "black people". Welcome to America. It is diverse because the very people who live here are diverse. You got a problem, go to North Korea (DRNK) I'm sure you won't see any problems with majority and minority. PS I'm a Black Jewish with a "white" sister and I'm dating a thai girl. GOD BLESS AMERICA 🙂
Mike...your sheet is flapping, It's people like you we don't like. It's people like you we (as all races) hoping twenty years pass on by so peace can come to our country. You are one of the haters than hate produced. Die
I got over race in pre-k..94'...The holy people have been resurrected again....
I check all of them now.
It's the glamour of it that I think has caught on. So many film stars and supermodels are from a multi-race/multi-ethnic background. It's that accessibility and mass appeal that casting and booking agents look for. So, the result is that more Americans, who are always trying to define themselves in "special" ways, see the glamour in identifying in multi-race categories and want to be part of that. I have a friend who is barely an 8th Cuban, but she strongly identifies as a "Latina". Personally, I see no downside to an America that will eventually look collectively like Keanu Reeves, Derek Jeter, Selena Gomez and Jessica Biel. It will be a very, se-xy place.
Cuban or Latina is not a race. You can have white Cubans like Cameron Diaz, Andy Garcia or Eddie Cibrian and plenty of black Cubans too like the baseball players or even Asian or Jewish Cuban. Most Latinos I know are TOTALLY white. Argentina is whiter than the USA!!
Cool, does that mean people will stop getting government sponsored privileges to enter college?
LOL...is that the best you got?
Another fine example of how regressive our Government is. The ability to deny reality must be an American trait.
In light of DNA evidence and fossil remains, a person, or group of persons, that can see the origins of humanity, and simultaneously deny those origins in favour of their current skin tone, has to be quite regressive in order to put out a form for people to report their condition on based on inaccuracies and out-and-out falsehoods, and then report it as "demographics" fully knowing that it is a distortion of the facts.
Case in point, there was a television program in which DNA samples were collected and analysed and there geographic origins were revealed in stages. For the most part, and unbeknownst to most participants, the results swirled about the map of the world and ultimately ALL returned to one area of very close proximity, Africa.
Well, that sort of makes us all Afro-American, doesn't it?
Good point. You are speaking of tracing the midochondrial DNA which is carried by the mother. Yes, every human's ancestors migrated out of Africa at some point. But don't forget there were others that we may have mixed with – even back then. Neanderthal for instance. They were a contemporary of cro-magnon man and it has been recently discovered that traces of neanderthal DNA has been found in some living humans today.
Yeah, and they all starred and/or made guest appearences on "Jersey Shore."
Aron, I'd be very careful about ancisucg GG about having any link with Iraq's oil for food programme.He's made some very robust defences against accusations of impropriety and frequently resorts to court action to defend his reputation.If I were you I'd either cite some evidence or prepare for a knock on the door.Perhaps the mods might want to think about this as well.After all, George has been accused of many things but I've never seen him linked to global warming before.
I come from a mixed marriage; my dad's male and my mom's female.
Mars & Venus – lol.
I'm half Aryan, half Jew. Every time I witness the insanity of war I want to stick my head in the oven.
(Your heritage is something to be proud of, just don't take yourself too seriously.)
السلام عليكم
Peace be with you.
i find that whole box checking thing a huge waste of time.
Well liberals are all for limiting us to small boxes
Get rid of affirmative action!
You better hold on to affirmative action dude. The demographics are changing rapidly, soon your whiteness, you will be in the minority.
In 2050 America, less than 40 years from now, the "in" look will be to look Chinese.
Because by that time China will be the ruling super power of the world.
So mommas, don't let your daughters grow up and marry anyone but an asian.
Get rid of affirmative action. Once racist liberals and obama are for such discrimination
The only reason why affirmative action ever existed is because you good 'ol boys didn't want any person of color to infiltrate your ranks. You started doing this after the Emancipation Proclaimation freed millions of slaves who, after 400 years of doing all the labor, were now the most qualified to go into cities and get all the jobs. Labor unions were established and European immigrants were invited in to help prevent the freed slaves from getting jobs.
Actually I am all for this. With more people identifying as black, their overplayed race card is finally getting worn out plus with some white and Asian genes injected into that tepid pool, some of them will actually do something with their lives – like become president!
Despite this, I would still never let my daughter marry a black guy – LOL!
Better my white daughter marry a good black man who will treat her well than a white redneck one that will beat her down. You cannot judge a person's character by their skin color. And if you can't get past how different someone looks than you, how will you ever get to know some of the truly amazing people in your world? Why limit your humanity that way?
You're a good person – love your post!
I have three daughters and that has always been my stand. Good for us.
Good luck stopping her if/when she falls in love with a black or biracial man...Love is love. I am so lucky and thankful to have open-minded, loving parents that accepted my boyfriend, who became my husband, and eventually the father of our children...
Yep! HAW HAW HAW *spitooey!* *scratch scratch* Gud wun, Konrad! A'tll show 'em!
asian + latino nice too
black: best skin tone, ass and lips
white: best nose
asain: best eyes and legs
hispanics: best hair
That is your opinion; my opinion:
Whites have the best skin tones, hair and features.
Blacks have the behind, only.
Asians, by statistics, are the smartest.
Hispanics have no specific "look."
I guess those women who are having their lips injected never got the memo about your opinion.
yeah, whites have the best skin tone...... Whites don't even believe that because if you did, you wouldn't be running to tanning beds and beaches trying to darken your skin like blacks and hispanics. Every summer its the same thing. Some white person will come up and say "I'm almost as dark as you...heh heh".
Is that why Whites Tan to look like hispanics and blacks which both have the lovely skin tones!!
Most Hispanics I know are WHITE!! They also come in blacks, Asians and Jews and plenty of brown Native American Indians.
I'm sure many people don't realize the extent to how mixed their ethnicity is. I'm sure in reality these numbers are much higher.
I agree. But when people self-identify in this manner (on a survey) they may say that if their own parents didn't call themselves mixed race it means that they aren't either.
Hey Smart Black Guy, What are you talking about? Do you care to elaborate? If you're really smart like your name implies explain yourself. You should stop generalizing people. If you even know what that means.
Gee, that's odd, I prefer the term multi-ethnic since genetically there is only one race of human. I am an old mulatto and have always believed we would take over America eventually. Statistical evidence is abundant; a new world is coming soon, maybe even before I move along.
Its not race, it is ethinicity, the race is human.
Actually, it is race. Human is a species. Learn your stuff.
Err... Professor??? ...the previously held concept of three races of humans has been dismissed by the academic community for many years... there is only one race and one (living) species (as proven by DNA).
Nope, the professor is correct. As much as I hate mixing genetics and race due the controversy and ethical issues, not all populations of humans have the same hominid ancestry (ie Neanderthal ancestry is limited to Europeans, Denisovan ancestry limited to Australian aborigines). Even though we've all got different ancestry, we're all human beings, though.
Scientists everywhere have reject the theory of race for decades. It's taking forever for the US Government to get its thinking out of the 19th century. Legal recognition of the existence of 'races' is the surest way to enable the practice of racism.
Perhaps it is time to eliminate the check boxes and begin identifying ourselves as American.
Well said. I've go even further and saw we should eliminate all race based aid as well.
Edit button please, CNN.
quit being logical and telling the truth,it annoys some folks
Yea race based aid isn't needed, it's not like a large percentage of Blacks live in ghettos. People who argue for this do it because they hate to see their tax money helping black people or people of other races than their own, or they want to keep other races left behind so that white can always dominate. Hate to break it to you but America will one day no longer be white. I would bet that in the south parts of America will attempt to secede and form their own white nation through violent means. White people will be the downfall of this country because alot of them just refuse to unite with their fellow man, they think they're the perfect race.
Um, the census doesn't just track Americans. It tracks everyone living here.


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PARIS — Viktor and Rolf brought their avant-garde vision down to size for their Fall 2013 collection, which they showed Saturday afternoon during Paris Fashion Week.
The look: Ladylike with a bit of an edge. A study in black and white, with nods to mod and punk in a refined way. A focus on large, decorative bows, which were incorporated into the bodices or sleeves of crisp white shirts, single-sleeve cocktail dresses and one good-looking black leather jacket. Sixties-inspired, drop-waist jumper dress. Quilted nylon skater skirt. Coats and gowns with haute lace holes, fraying rips and tears.
The verdict: Not a major fashion moment by any means, but some perfectly pretty clothes.
Paris Fashion Week fall 2013: Isabel Marant review
Paris Fashion Week Fall 2013: Vanessa Bruno review
Paris Fashion Week Fall 2013: Haider Ackermann review


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Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan
Executive Summary
The Hudson River flows from its source in the Adirondack Mountains to its confluence with New York Harbor at the Battery in Manhattan, a distance of about 315 miles. The Hudson River has provided important natural resources and services to the residents of the Hudson River Valley since the earliest days of human settlement. The earliest European exploration was by Henry Hudson in the early seventeenth century. The Hudson River provided a travel corridor to facilitate westward exploration of New York by European settlers and was a focal point during the Revolutionary and French and Indian Wars. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made his home along the Hudson River near Hyde Park, New York. Because of its rich resources and heritage, the Hudson River has been formally recognized as an American Heritage River and serves as the site of a National Estuarine Research Reserve.
The river has been used as a transportation corridor for commercial and recreational traffic, and has supported commercial and recreational fishing, as well as swimming and boating. Also, the river has been used in the direct generation of electricity, and as a source of cooling water for other forms of power generation. Many river communities have depended on the Hudson River as a source of potable water. Over time, ever-increasing urbanization and industrialization began to degrade the river and its natural resources.
In the early 1970s, a group of toxic compounds known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were discovered in the water, fish, and sediment of the Hudson River below General Electric Company's (GE's) plants at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward. As a result of PCB contamination, fishing was banned in the Upper Hudson River from Hudson Falls to Troy between 1976 and 1995, and fishing in that river reach is currently restricted to catch and release only (1). In addition, the Hudson River below the Federal Dam at Troy was closed to commercial fishing for almost all species of fish, and fish in that part of the river have been the subject of "no consumption" or restrictive consumption advisories due to PCB contamination. The discovery of PCBs in the Hudson River and other locations also prompted many scientists to study the effects of these compounds on wildlife. Years later, this research indicates that PCBs can cause serious injuries to wildlife and other natural resources.
The Trustee Role
The responsibility for restoring natural resources that have been injured by hazardous substances belongs to Federal, State, and Tribal Trustees for fish, wildlife, other living resources, water, lands, and protected areas. Trusteeship is derived from Federal and Tribal treaties, Federal and State statutes, and other laws. For the Hudson River, the Trustees are the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), and the State of New York (collectively "the Trustees"). These entities have each designated representatives that are responsible for evaluating the injuries associated with hazardous substance contamination of natural resources and determining appropriate actions to restore those resources. For the Hudson River, the organizations that have been designated to perform these evaluations are the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which represents the concerned DOI agencies (USFWS and the National Park Service), and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).
The process by which the Trustees evaluate the injuries associated with hazardous substance contamination in natural resources is known as a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). The ultimate objective of a NRDA is to restore natural resources that have been injured by hazardous substance contamination to baseline, or the condition that would have existed if the hazardous substances were not released. In addition, the Trustees may obtain compensation for natural resource injuries and the loss of the services they provide between the onset of the injury and full restoration.
The U.S. Congress enacted the Superfund law to assign responsibility for the cost of cleaning up hazardous substances that threaten human health and the environment, and for restoring or replacing any public natural resources that are harmed by hazardous substance releases. It is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) responsibility to select a remedy that is intended to reduce or eliminate current and future threats to human health or the environment. It is the Trustees' responsibility to restore or replace the natural resources that are harmed. Congress determined that, rather than requiring the taxpayers to bear the costs of cleanup and restoration, it was fairer and more reasonable that entities that profited from the generation and inexpensive disposal of hazardous substances, or had other significant connections to a site containing hazardous substances, be responsible for addressing the harms caused by those substances. Natural resource damages are therefore not penalties or fines. Rather, they provide a means to restore the injured public resources to the condition they would have been in but for the release, and to compensate the public for lost services provided by those resources.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment - How it Works
General guidelines for performing a natural resource damage assessment involving hazardous substances such as PCBs are described in regulations written by the U.S. Department of the Interior and appear in the Code of Federal Regulations at Title 43 Part 11. These guidelines describe methods for (1) deciding to conduct a damage assessment, (2) establishing that hazardous substance contamination has injured natural resources, (3) determining the quantity of injured natural resources, (4) determining the amount of restoration required to fix or replace the injured natural resources and compensating the public for the lost functions, and (5) planning and conducting projects designed to restore the injured resources.
The first phase of a NRDA is the preassessment phase, during which the Trustees organize and assess available information about the area of concern and summarize their findings in a document called a Preassessment Screen Determination (PSD). The Trustees issued a PSD in October 1997, formalizing their decision to proceed with a NRDA for the Hudson River. The Preassessment Screen Determination documents the following: PCBs were released to the Hudson River; Trustee resources have been or are likely to have been adversely affected by the PCBs; the concentration of the PCBs is sufficient to potentially injure natural resources; the data necessary to conduct a NRDA are available or can be obtained at a reasonable cost; and, the completed or planned response actions would neither completely remediate the injuries to natural resources nor compensate for the public's lost use.
About the Damage Assessment Plan
Following issuance of the Preassessment Screen Determination, the Trustees determined that development of a Damage Assessment Plan was appropriate. The Trustees then issued, for public review and comment, a "Draft Scope for the Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan." That scoping document, which contained a preliminary outline of the potential contents of a Damage Assessment Plan for the Hudson River, formed the basis for subsequent development of this document.
This document, known as a Damage Assessment Plan, is part of the Hudson River NRDA. The purpose of this Assessment Plan is to structure the NRDA to ensure that it is performed in a planned and systematic manner and at a reasonable cost. Reasonable cost means that the anticipated cost of the assessment is expected to be less than the anticipated damage amount determined in the assessment. This Assessment Plan describes the activities that constitute the Trustees' currently proposed approach. These efforts are designed to provide more information on the nature and extent of the injuries associated with PCB contamination in the Hudson River.
This Assessment Plan documents that natural resources of the Hudson River have been exposed to contamination by PCBs. Those natural resources of the Hudson River for which exposure to PCBs has been confirmed are:
- Biota, including fish, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates
- Surface water resources, including river sediments
- Groundwater resources
- Geologic resources, including floodplain soils, and
- Air resources
This Assessment Plan provides information regarding three major steps in the assessment: pathway and injury determination, injury quantification, and damage determination and restoration. This framework is consistent with the DOI regulations and provides an effective means of considering the impacts of PCB contamination in the Hudson River environment. Within each of these steps, the Trustees propose individual investigations (listed below) that, together, will define the nature and extent of injuries caused by PCBs in the Hudson River environment. Investigations may be added or removed as determined appropriate by the Trustees based on additional information developed by the Trustees. This is an iterative process which may take several years to complete.
During the pathway determination phase of the assessment, the Trustees will document how PCBs move through the environment. The Trustees' currently proposed approach to pathway determination entails three studies, as follows:
- PCB sources to sediment and water
- Food web pathway evaluation, and
- Floodplain evaluation
The studies listed above are preliminary investigations. Should the Trustees determine, based on such preliminary investigations, that a full pathway determination study is warranted, the Trustees will develop a study plan for that effort that will be peer reviewed and released to the public for comment.
During the injury determination and quantification phase of the assessment, the Trustees undertake investigations to determine the injuries to natural resources resulting from exposure to PCBs, and then quantify those injuries, including how long each resource has been or will be injured, and the reduction in services that has resulted from the injury. This Assessment Plan identifies procedures that are appropriate to evaluate the injuries to natural resources associated with exposure to PCBs.
The Trustees are considering conducting injury determination and quantification for the following Hudson River resources: fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, surface water, groundwater, geologic resources, and air. The Trustees' currently proposed approach to injury determination and quantification entails the following specific investigations:
- Fish consumption advisory
- Fish - FDA evaluation
- Preliminary fish evaluation
- Fish health reconnaissance survey
- Effects of PCBs on early life stages of fish
- Waterfowl consumption advisory
- Waterfowl - FDA evaluation
- Preliminary avian evaluation
- Breeding bird survey
- Bird egg study
- Evaluation of avian exposure from feeding on floodplain organisms
- Bald eagle monitoring
- Mink and otter health
- Bat exposure
- Snapping turtle consumption advisory
- Snapping turtle health
- Water quality evaluation
- Sediments characteristic of solid waste
- Sediments injury: pathway and biota
- Groundwater quality evaluation
- Geologic resource evaluation
- Air quality evaluation
The studies listed above can be categorized as either preliminary investigations or injury determination/quantification studies. Many of the studies listed above are preliminary investigations, designed to improve the Trustees' understanding of exposure of Hudson River resources to PCBs. Data from these preliminary investigations will then be assessed by the Trustees to determine whether injury determination/quantification studies are warranted, or whether a particular resource should not be assessed further for injury. Should the Trustees determine, based on such a preliminary investigation, that an injury determination study is warranted, the Trustees plan to develop a study plan for that effort that will be peer reviewed and released to the public for review and comment. The results of any study conducted pursuant to such a study plan will be peer reviewed upon completion of the study, and the results then released to the public.
Based on the results of the injury determination and quantification, the Trustees will establish the total quantity of injured natural resources that must be restored or replaced, or for which the equivalent must be acquired. The Trustees will also calculate the total reduction in services that has resulted from the injury. The Trustees will then determine how to restore, replace, or acquire those resources. The Trustees will also determine the compensable value of services lost to the public from the time of the release to full restoration. This can be done by establishing the value of the injured resources or by calculating the cost of the restoration projects that will compensate the public for the injuries. This is done in the damage determination and restoration phase of the assessment. The Trustees' currently proposed approach to damage determination and restoration entails four studies, as follows:
- Recreational fishing lost use study
- Habitat equivalency analysis
- Assessment of lost navigational services
- Assessment of impacts to National Park Sites and Affiliated Areas
The results of any of these, or other, studies undertaken by the Trustees will be contained within the Report of Assessment to be issued by the Trustees at the conclusion of the assessment. The Report of Assessment will be released to the public.
This Assessment Plan is a living document that the Trustees will continue to develop and refine as the NRDA progresses. As Trustee investigations proceed and as new study plans are proposed, the Trustees intend to issue updates, including fact sheets, so that all interested individuals can remain apprised of ongoing and planned NRDA activities. As additional opportunities for public involvement arise, the Trustees plan to advertise those opportunities in newspapers, direct mailings, and on the Trustees' internet sites, and to provide information on how to participate. The internet sites for NOAA, USFWS, and NYSDEC are available at:
- http://www.darp.noaa.gov/neregion/hudsonr.htm
- http://contaminants.fws.gov/restorationplans/HudsonRiver.cfm
- http://www.dec.ny.gov/
The Trustees will consider all public comments and input on the Assessment Plan, and will prepare a responsiveness summary to the comments. Based on the public's comments or other information, the Trustees may modify the Assessment Plan at any time. Any modifications will be made available for review by the public, including the party or parties responsible for the contamination. At the conclusion of this assessment, the Trustees will prepare a Report of Assessment that includes this Assessment Plan, as well as any comments and responses to comments on plan modifications and subsequently developed study plans and any additional information relevant to the assessment. The Report of Assessment will be released to the public.
How You Can Help
The Trustees are interested in receiving feedback on this Assessment Plan. To facilitate this process, the Trustees are asking the public and the party or parties responsible for the contamination to review the Assessment Plan and provide feedback on the proposed approach and studies. Comments should be submitted by November 1, 2002. These comments will help the Trustees plan and conduct an assessment that is scientifically valid, cost effective, and that incorporates a broad array of perspectives. To that end, the Trustees request that you carefully consider this Assessment Plan and provide any comments you may have to:
Contact for Public Comments
Sean Madden
Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233
fax: 518-402-8925
- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations, iii
- Executive Summary, 1
- Chapter 1 The Natural, Cultural, and Economic Significance of the Hudson River, 7
- Ecological Communities of the Hudson River, 9
- Hudson Falls to Troy, 10
- Troy to Newburgh, 11
- Newburgh to Manhattan, 12
- Historical Significance of the Hudson River, 15
- Recreation and the Modern Economy, 17
- Further Economic Significance of the Hudson River, 18
- Ecological Communities of the Hudson River, 9
- Chapter 2 PCB Contamination in the Hudson River, 19
- History and Effects of PCBs in the Hudson River, 19
- Cleaning Up PCBs in the Hudson River, 21
- Chapter 3 The Role of The Trustees, 27
- Preliminary Determination of the Recovery Period, 30
- Coordination with Other Government Agencies, 31
- Importance of Public Participation, 32
- Invitation for Cooperative Assessment, 33
- Chapter 4 The Hudson River NRDA: Assessment and Restoration, 35
- Pathway Determination, 36
- PCB Sources to Sediment and Water, 37
- Food Web Pathway Evaluation, 37
- Floodplain Evaluation, 38
- Injury Determination and Quantification, 38
- Biological Resources, 39
- Surface Water, 50
- Groundwater, 52
- Geologic Resources, 53
- Air, 53
- Damage Determination and Restoration, 54
- Recreational Fishing Lost Use Study, 54
- Habitat Equivalency Analysis, 55
- Assessment of Lost Navigational Services, 55
- Assessment of Impacts to National Park Sites and Affiliated Areas, 56
- Pathway Determination, 36
- References, 57
- Glossary, 63
- Appendix A: Quality Assurance Management, 67
- Appendix B: Fact Sheets, 71
- Assessing Fish Health, 73
- Preliminary Investigations of Bird Injuries, 75
- Preliminary Investigation of Snapping Turtles, 77
- Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Summary of the NRDA Plan, 79
- Exhibits
- Exhibit 1-1, Hudson River Below Corinth, New York, 8
- Exhibit 1-2, Endangered, Threatened, Special Concern or Rare Species Identified in or Near the Hudson River by the State of New York or as Potentially Occurring in or Near the Hudson River by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 13-14
- Exhibit 1-3, Selected Events in the Recorded History of the Hudson River, 16
- Exhibit 2-1, Basic Chemical Structure of PCBs, 20
- Exhibit 2-2, PCB Concentrations in Selected Hudson River Natural Resources, Regulatory Criteria and Guidelines, and Threshold/Effects Identified in the Literature, 22-24
- Exhibit 2-3, Selected Chronology of Events Related to the Discharge, Discovery, and Removal of PCBs in the Hudson River,25
- Exhibit 4-1, Pathway Determination, 37
- Exhibit 4-2, Injury Determination and Quantification, 40-41
- Exhibit 4-3, Damage Determination and Restoration, 55
- Exhibit A-1, Project Quality Assurance Organization, 68


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Everyone knows Ferrari has two unrevealed front-engined custom cars in the works, the SP FFX and the SP Arya. Now they're teasing a new reveal tomorrow. Oddly, it doesn't look like these match up.
Here's the full graphic and caption provided by Ferrari Magazine and retweeted and reposted by Ferrari itself.
Ferrari Magazine, it should be said, was the first to reveal that the people at Maranello were working on the SP Arya, a custom 599 GTO for a Dubai-located Indian businessman.
Curiously, the side profile in Ferrari's teased image doesn't match up with leaked images of the SP Arya. Nor does it quite match the side profile of the SP FFX, which has three GTO-style vents in the place of a fender swoosh.
The design looks something like a cross between an FF, an F12, and a 599 indicating we're either looking at a custom one-off built by Ferrari's Special Projects program, or we're looking at the much-awaited new Ferrari California. I'd bet on the former.
UPDATE: Reader Mers has given some pretty compelling evidence that this is almost certainly going to be an updated Ferrari California, based on some behind-the-scenes messages from Ferrari. You can read the whole explanation right here, but I'll leave this excerpt.
Most believe it to be the new California, including those who received the private e-mail from their dealers referring to the car as the F 149 M Project. F149 was the chassis code for the California. M as usually employed by Ferrari means "Modified" (yes they say it in Italian but I'm not gonna go there). Cars with the M designation have usually been improvements to earlier models, though not on an entirely new platform.
Photo Credit: Ferrari


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Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Sepia Saturday 218 : 8 March 2014
25 comments:
- Jo Featherston said...
Starting the ball rolling this week, before i play around n the backyard any longer.
- 5 March 2014 at 12:35
- ScotSue said...
Quick off the mark here. I am trying to keep ahead with posts as I face the mammoth A-Z challenge in April of one p0st per day.
- 5 March 2014 at 18:56
- Postcardy said...
I have an advertising card and a photo of a young me in front of a fence.
- 5 March 2014 at 23:29
- B. Rogers, Living in Black Mountain said...
I have backyards and kids, er children, including a biological father (who kind of snuck in with the thatch roof).
- 6 March 2014 at 16:45
- La Nightingail said...
I didn't know I had so many photos of fences till I went looking!
- 6 March 2014 at 19:07
- Kristin said...
A backyard, glimpses of a wooden fence, 2 men in hats and more without.
- 6 March 2014 at 21:45
- Brett Payne said...
Sneaking in by the back door this week
- 7 March 2014 at 02:10
Start in the back yard and go out the front door to see what you can see.
- 7 March 2014 at 08:58
- Little Nell said...
No last minute posting this week!
- 7 March 2014 at 09:45
- Alex Daw said...
The great circle of life....
- 7 March 2014 at 10:53
- Bob Scotney said...
You just have to 'go' this week.
- 7 March 2014 at 11:09
- Wendy said...
Come play in my yard.
- 7 March 2014 at 11:29
- Lovely's Blot said...
Bubonic plague, Europe and China
- 7 March 2014 at 12:23
- irisheyes jennifer said...
Thanks for the inspiration image. The image reminded me of what was going on in my great-grandparents' 'backyard', i.e. their neighbourhood, in the year in which Ireland was visited by the Flu Pandemic of 1918-1919.
- 7 March 2014 at 17:33
- Jackie van Bergen said...
I found some fences in the time of Australia's polio epidemics and asked my parents their memories of that time.
- 7 March 2014 at 23:27
- Anne Young said...
Happy memories of my grand parents' back garden
- 8 March 2014 at 00:33
- Doug Peabody said...
I'm left standing on a fence post with this one. Check it out! :)
- 8 March 2014 at 01:04
- Boobook said...
Not inner city but it is a backyard.
- 8 March 2014 at 02:06
- Tattered and Lost said...
Fences. Don't like 'em, never will.
I am still trying to get around to visit folks from last week. I apologize for being so slow. Life keeps getting the way.
And I still have to apologize to those who have Google + accounts. Curse Google for not letting people without + accounts to make comments.
- 8 March 2014 at 05:36
- Sharon said...
It is a long weekend here in Australia and I am not working this weekend so I am very happy to be contributing again.
- 8 March 2014 at 06:04
- TICKLEBEAR said...
On this Women's Day,
Grandma in her garden,
circa 1940s.
- 8 March 2014 at 12:44
- Karen S. said...
Ah yes, the things that go on behind fences! Nice theme, thank you Wendy!
- 8 March 2014 at 16:35
- Mike Brubaker said...
This was a tough theme for me but I found a small photo that sort of fits. Another micro-story.
- 8 March 2014 at 17:00
- Joan said...
At least it is not 11:59 pm on March 8th!
- 9 March 2014 at 02:12
- Lisa said...
This cue image is fascinating! I guess I don't know that much about Bubonic plague... but I'm guessing the fences couldn't have made much of a difference! But, then... I had no idea there had been a Bubonic plague outbreak in Sydney in 1900! So much history to learn, so little time... Always good stuff to be learned over here!
- 9 March 2014 at 02:35


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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – UMBC women's soccer's Rachel McKee (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) notched the Retrievers' first goal of the 2012 campaign, but it was not enough to overcome two first half goals by Navy, as UMBC fell, 2-1, in Saturday afternoon's non-conference game at Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
UMBC falls to 0-1-1 following the first weekend of action, while the Mids (1-1) pick up their first victory of the season.
Navy jumped out in front with back-to-back goals early in the first half. Junior midfielder Taylor Batye took advantage of a scramble in front of the net, knocking in a loose ball from eight yards out 14:11 into the contest. Less than a minute later, sophomore forward Morgan Dankanich gathered a cross from junior forward Paloma Perez and slotted a shot into the nearside post for a quick 2-0 lead.
UMBC junior goalkeeper Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) (0-1-1) made seven first-half saves on 17 faced shots. She ended the contest with a season-best 10 stops.
The Retrievers' settled in a bit in the second half, as a McKee penalty kick beat net minder Elizabeth Hoerner (1-1-0) at the 58:35 mark brought the Retrievers within one. However, UMBC was unable to put away the equalizer, as Navy held on for the victory. Hoerner finished with two saves on the afternoon.
"We fought hard against a good Navy team today," head coach Leslie Wray said. "We got better as the game went along and had some quality chances to tie the game late in the second half."
The Mids held a 27-6 shot advantage and placed 12 shots on goal.
The Retrievers return to action on Saturday, Aug. 25 when they host American at 1 p.m. inside the Retriever Soccer Park, as part of a UMBC soccer doubleheader. The Retrievers' men's soccer team will host Radford at 7 p.m. Live stats will be provided byumbcretrievers.com while live streaming links can be found on umbcretrievers.tv.


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Across the country, numerous companies continue to dump far more pollution than the law allows into our air and water. These polluters have exposed the people who live nearby to pollutants that cause cancer, trigger asthma attacks, disrupt the body's hormone system, and cut lives short. They have harmed wildlife, and degraded their habitat.
And yet in these cases, state and local government officials have done nothing, or too little too late, to stop the pollution and hold the polluters accountable.
Fortunately, the law gives citizens a chance to act directly to stop the pollution. Under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws, citizens are empowered to file suit against violators.
Acting on behalf of citizens, and often working in tandem with other national and local environmental groups, our national litigation team has done just that. Together, we've won more than $250 million in court-ordered penalties and pollution-reducing actions, from San Francisco Bay to Boston Harbor, from the Great Lakes to the neighborhoods abutting the nation's largest chemical refineries in Texas.
In the past year, our national litigation team has focused on these major cases:
- Two cases, one against ExxonMobil and one against a subsidiary of Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company, for thousands of Clean Air Act violations at their Texas refineries. In April 2017, a federal judge ordered Exxon to pay a $19.95 million fine, believed to be the largest civil penalty ever imposed in an environmental citizen suit, for committing 16,386 days of violation of the Clean Air Act at the company's Baytown, Texas, refinery and chemical plant complex. U.S. District Judge David Hittner found that Exxon profited by more than $14 million by delaying implementation of necessary pollution control measures, and released more than 10 million pounds of illegal air emissions. ExxonMobil has appealed the decision.
- Against Pilgrim's Pride, the world's second largest chicken producer, for polluting Florida's Suwannee River. In November 2017, the company reached an agreement to make equipment upgrades, investigate the possibility of eliminating or significantly reducing all discharges to the Suwannee River, and pay what is believed to be the largest Clean Water Act penalty in a citizen enforcement suit in Florida history.
- Against ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company, for showering Pittsburgh-area neighborhoods with emissions of soot, acidic gases and noxious odors. In December 2017, the company agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty (another state record) and spend an estimated $2 million on air pollution controls.
- Against Casella Waste Systems, a trash hauler with operations in 40 states, for landfill pollution that has contaminated Massachusetts drinking water supplies with heavy metals and a suspected carcinogen. our sister group Environment Massachusetts is seeking an injunction that would require Casella to contain or remediate the pollution, hook up residents' homes to a clean water supply, and obtain a Clean Water Act discharge permit or stop its discharges to the wetlands, and an order directing Casella to pay a civil penalty for the company's Clean Water Act violations.
- Against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in order to force the agency to regulate the intake of cooling water at large power and manufacturing plants, a practice that kills billions of fish and other organisms. Our team also has filed amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in support of the Clean Water Rule rescinded by the Trump administration.
We're always on the lookout for other cases of illegal pollution. Now, however, we're concerned the number of these cases may soon be on the rise. Since President Trump took office, penalties collected by the EPA are down 60 percent.
With the support of our members and in partnership with local citizens and environmental allies, we continue to:
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