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Ranking member on House Ag Committee gives spirited comments on key issues
NOTE: This column is copyrighted material, therefore reproduction or retransmission is prohibited under U.S. copyright laws.
I have covered the business of agriculture from a Washington, D.C., perspective for over thirty years. Every once in a while I interview someone, whether a lawmaker, Cabinet member, industry official, or someone else, who has the ability to capture the essence of key but complex issues. And better yet, to explain such matters in a way that sometimes makes you laugh. One such person is Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee. His homespun views clearly reflect his roots in rural Oklahoma and translate into him being a very effective communicator for U.S. agriculture. I and Roger Bernard, news editor for Pro Farmer, sat down with Lucas earlier this week in his Capitol Hill office to discuss some major issues.
Describe your relationship with House Ag Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), and do you expect the need to draw lines of differentiation with him on any issues?
Lucas: I think the key always to remember is that the Agriculture committee is one of the most bipartisan or least partisan committees. In my 15 years, I've watched chairman Kika de la Garza (D-Texas) and ranking member Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), then Chairman Roberts and ranking member de la Garza; I've watched Larry Combest (R-Texas) and Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas). I've watched the kind of relationships that exist between the chairman and the ranking member without regard to party. Always good. Always solid. Always productive. I think that I am developing that kind of relationship with Chairman Peterson. Collin is a good conservative Blue Dog Democrat. I like to kid him that if he lived in the land of the Okies, he'd be a Republican. He rolls his eyes and declines to answer that and I respect that non-response always. But I think we have the makings of a good relationship.
So far, the things that we've worked on I think we've worked on together. CFTC reform would be a classic example -- an issue that should be and is in my opinion a primary responsibility of the Ag Committee with such an impact on both ag and energy and a variety of industries around the country. That's one of those areas where the challenge is not so much what we do in the Ag Committee -- we passed our measure with a voice vote -- it's what will the Majority leadership do in regard to giving final authority to a committee to put this together. I also serve on Financial Services. Clearly, Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has the ear of the entire leadership in Congress. This is going to be an example of working with Collin -- how we manage to impact the ag perspective.
Has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) weighed in yet?
Lucas: I know Collin has in my conversations with him indicated that for some time he's had discussions with the Speaker about this and other issues. Collin has the advantage of having been one of the early-on supporters of the Speaker in her effort to become Speaker and that provides him access that is very important for the Agriculture Committee. Since unfortunately as hard as it might be to believe back home that agriculture is not always the top priority in this place, nor has it been for many decades, this means Collin and I and the committee have to work that much harder to meet the needs of rural America and production ag.
What about issues like food safety and cap and trade to make sure that agriculture has a seat at the table?
Lucas: The first step I think, and the committee has worked aggressively on this and I give Collin much credit, is beginning our hearing process looking at food safety issues by bringing up folks from FDA, USDA and the affected groups out there to build a case for what has worked. There are some in this body who would basically strip all the authority for a variety of things away from USDA and shift it over to FDA. The hearings we've had, and I think will continue to have, make a strong case for how complicated and complex the process is and the good job that our friends in the various agencies at USDA have done -- not just in recent times but historically have done. This is a body where you use the hearing process to focus attention, to get questions answered, to move the bureaucracy sometimes, and I think the Ag Committee has done a good job of that so far this year -- food safety being one of those. How that evolves, we'll see.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is really consumed by a little issue called cap and tax -- that's my definition of the bill. It's kind of like CFTC. Chairman Frank has been consumed by housing issues, the integrity of financial institutions, credit card issues... when those things are completed, then I expect Financial Services to take up the commodity futures trading issues, the regulation issues. At the same token, when Chairman Waxman completes or is hopefully compelled to back off on cap and tax, then I suspect they will get into the food safety issues with both feet.
Do you see cap and trade this year?
Lucas: Up until the last few days, I would have said absolutely. Now, with a few comments made by senior Democrats, there's a little more uncertainty. Remember, cap and tax, as I like to refer to it, by the President's own projections, would generate at least $646 billion in new revenues. Now I've been around the legislative process long enough to know that tax increases are almost invariably underestimated on revenue -- nobody wants to tell you fully how big the bill is going to be. So I suspect it's going to be substantially more than that. I think they have to pass something, as that's the revenue stream that drives national health care in the fall. In recent weeks, there have been statements referenced to the Energy and Commerce leadership, maybe a bill by Memorial Day and then if everything worked out, a bill to the floor by the time we leave in August. If that's the case, then I could see moving into national health care in the fall. And they've got to have a big revenue stream to pay for national health care. That's a big part of this -- a cash cow for national health care. That's my opinion.
Have you seen impacts like what Rep. Collin has done with the questionnaire in terms of impacts on agriculture, both crops and livestock, regarding climate change, because impacts have been hard to pin down?
Lucas: That's the key challenge as the verbiage we've seen from the committee or the indications given, it's worded in such a loose way, you can't tell. But before a bill comes to the floor and hopefully before one leaves the committee, they're going to have to flesh out the details.
I will tell you as a farmer by trade, an aggie by education and a member of the {Ag) Committee for 15 years, agriculture is one of the most intense consumers of energy. Whether its the 50 or 150 or 200 gallons of diesel at a time that go in the tractor tanks to cultivate with, or the energy required to produce our fertilizer, our petrochemicals, our seed; the energy for harvesting, processing, transportation -- the energy required to keep those wonderful products in the cooler both healthy and appetizing for the consumer, we're energy intensive. So if they levy this tax broadly across the spectrum, we're going to be hit with intensity. And ultimately, the consumer will pay more, which will cause the consumers to buy less or to purchase lower-value products to make up their budget, and that will drive the effect all the way back down the line.
Secretary Vilsack says agriculture is 7 percent of the problem relative to greenhouse gasses/climate change, and 25 percent of the solution....
Lucas: (Whistled and then said...) We're going to fix four times our weight of the problem! Bless us! I know there's been a lot of discussion out in the countryside and certain optimistic folks in Congress that we in agriculture should be and could be able to be rewarded for our good efforts. We are the original environmentalists of the world. We are the people who with the way we farm, the way we raise our livestock, that we sequester incredible amounts of carbon. I'm confident of that. The track record of Congress, at least in recent years and in particular the last couple years, has not been to reward production agriculture and rural America for the good things they do. Think back to what was a symbolic requirement that we cut direct payments to farmers by $100 million. That's not a dramatic amount of money, but it had to happen so that someone could say, 'We cut the payments to farmers.' That's not a good sign. And in the President's budget this time, proposing the movement of $10 billion of direct payment money... I'm confident Chairman Peterson and myself and the Ag Committee will be able to prevent those kind of things from happening.
But the fact the administration said take $10 billion out, and don't forget my friends, we're having tough times in America, yes a recession. But look at the cash price of cattle and grain and pork and poultry (taps finger on the table for emphasis with each commodity mentioned) the second week of July last summer and look at the price now. We've taken our bite or our kick in the shins or however you want to describe it -- we've suffered too. And at the same time, we had the highest input costs in the history of the world last fall for fertilizer, fuel -- all the inputs. So we've got some challenges too. So taking away direct payment money right now just (pause), that's going past an insult, that's more of an injury.
With the budget deficits rising now and in the future, sooner or later lawmakers and the administration are going to have to deal with that.
Lucas: I wholeheartedly agree. Now the challenge for us is they have dramatically increased the baseline, except for defense and agriculture -- non-nutrition program agriculture I should say -- they have dramatically increased the baseline spending everywhere else. They have not increased it for what you and I would call the core production programs or for that matter in rural development, conservation and ag research. If they have increased everyone else's baseline spending and held us flat or proposed cuts, and they decide to have broad across-the-board cuts, think about what the effect will be there on rural America. We didn't get the big increase but we're going to take the chop down like everybody else?
The pattern is set for some very tough ag policy votes over the course of the next two, three, four or five years. My statements back home to my neighbors in the third district of Oklahoma is that I hope we can defend the resources in the 2008 Farm Bill. I look at all the big spending in so many other areas of agriculture, I say to my friends, 'Defending what we have is what we need to work for right now. The people who made these spending priority decisions are the ones who wanted to reduce your direct payments the last farm bill and did so by a token amount and the ones that proposed in the budget to reduce them more this time around.' We just have a tough fight ahead.
It's like the 1996 Farm Bill where you had to defend what you had.
Lucas: When we came in 1996 with Pat Roberts, the battle cry in the hallways was there will never be another farm bill. In all fairness to Mr. Roberts and Mr. de la Garza, it was a long, hard grind, but we produced a farm bill that would pass, was signed into law and many ways when it came to flexibility of production decisions and commitment of resources, has actually served us well. And while there were changes in the 2002 Farm Bill and the 2008 Farm Bill, the principle of flexibility in your production decisions and the principle of certainty in payment -- knowing what you're going to get when you sign up for the bill -- both those concepts have held firm since 1996. Setting weather issues aside, rural America has generally prospered since 1996.
On cap and trade, some farmers and ranchers fear without adequate research on the impacts and unintended consequences, they harken back to 2005 and the lack of analysis relative to the energy bill and the increase in the renewable fuels mandates. Not that they're against renewable fuels, the analysis was not there on the impact to their entire industry. Is that a fair statement?
Lucas: I wholeheartedly agree. That's a fair statement. My example is that with EPA defining methane now as one of the five toxic gasses to be regulated, whether we pass a bill or not, EPA is headed in that direction. When it comes down to choice between providing some exemptions on emissions, who's going to get them? Municipal sewer systems or dairy farmers? Who can afford the methane digester? I know we have dairy farms that vary from 5,000 to 50 cows, but go and ask the 50-cow dairy farmers in New York or Vermont or anywhere in the country, how they are going to pay for some way to control methane issues. I give you that as an example about when the policymakers make decisions at a different level than mine, and if there are exemptions and they have to pick between milk cows in Minnesota or Vermont or wherever, and municipal sewer systems, I have a feeling who is going to win. And that will put the extra costs, as an example, on producers.
So are these some of the reasons why you think it will be an uphill battle to get climate change legislation approved?
Lucas: Exactly. Because I think if this process moves slowly enough that we as members of Congress can figure out the details and the folks back home figure out the details and people come to understand what it's going to do to the price of their electric bill in the summer, their gas bill in the winter or their home heating oil bill, when they figure out what it's going to add to the price of a gallon of gasoline when they fuel up to go to work each week, the backlash in the countryside will be incredible. There are numbers of all sorts moving around from high-ball to low-ball numbers, I just know that the amount of revenue they have to have if they move a national health care -- nationalized health care bill, however you describe it -- this fall, they have to have a huge amount of revenue.
Remember, if you look at what Mr. Waxman has said so far, he's not talking about flat-lining the production of these gasses, he's talking about reducing -- dramatically reducing -- these gas productions. Most of these greenhouse gas is produced from energy-related consumption, so the way to reduce gas consumption is turn down energy consumption and the easiest way to raise the cost to the consumer. Now I am not an advocate of that. But I think that's where they are going. It's not a carrot. It's not even a stick -- it's like a baseball bat. You've seen the stats -- down 20 percent by 2020 and maybe 80 percent by 2050, those are dramatic numbers. You're talking not only dramatic change in industrial production but the lifestyle of people.
And your state would get hit hard?
Lucas: Oklahoma is an example where it nails us going and coming. Not only are we production agriculture, especially in the third district, but we also produce a lot of gas. But if you reduce consumption, that means there will be less need for domestic energy sources so not only will it be a higher expense and input cost for farmers, and a higher net food product cost-wise for consumers, but in my own home-state area, that's jobs.
A Democratic member of Congress would counter and ask what's your solution relative to the energy side?
Lucas: That's a fair question. My perspective goes back to the whole issue of global warming. If you want to assume the climate is changing and if you further want to assume that the gas emissions of the people of this planet are driving this climate change, then you have to next assume -- and we've got several assumptions to get here -- you've got to assume that by changing human patterns, conduct and industry, you can change the weather or change the global patterns.
The next question is how do you do it in a way where you get the whole planet to make enough of a difference to change things. In good faith, I cannot impose a tax regime on the American people that dramatically raises their cost of living, dramatically reduces the industrial activity in our country and their standard of living perhaps, while at the same time whether it is mainland China or India they belch out more crud in the air and offset what we reduce. That's just a transfer of wealth, a transfer of standard of living. I know my idealistic colleagues say, 'You've got to set a standard for the world.' But I will not make my citizens poor -- poorer -- so someone else can get richer, and then once they have achieved whatever standard they want, they decide to play with us. I can't jump off the cliff by myself.
It goes back to the old discussion years ago on the great economic pie of life. Do you want to reslice the pie or do you want to grow the pie? I'm in favor of growing the pie. I think we could aggressively address these issues through positive incentives -- expansion of wind power, solar power, putting more dollars into clean coal... those kinds of things.
Nuclear energy?
Lucas: Nuke is a part of it. Even though the leadership of the House seems to be intensely opposed, atomic energy is a part of any source of domestic energy. We have enough fuel to run our atomic plants, we have enough coal to run our power plants. One of my constituents, T. Boone Pickens, talks about shifting public transportation and many automobiles over to natural gas, there are a lot of things where using a carrot to encourage instead of using a baseball bat. (Note: Pickens wants to replace 20 percent of the electricity generated by natural gas with wind and solar power, and modernize the grid to more easily move electricity across state lines. Then use the natural gas as a substitute for crude oil-based diesel in 350,000 trucks and buses.)
So if we're reading you right, you're not sure all this with cap and trade is going to work, especially relative to the structure of the industry?
Lucas: Exactly. I'm not sure they can craft a bill that will not do more harm to American industry and the American standard of living than it will do good for the environment.
Is Collin Peterson in that camp?
Lucas: You better ask Collin that! Collin and I ... the discussions we've had basically center around the leadership is going to do this, so how do you come up with a way to minimize the pain to agriculture, how do you come up with a way for agriculture to benefit from carbon sequestration and from the good things we do.
You have a lot of CRP ground in Oklahoma. Will they get credit for this in any climate control legislation?
Lucas: They should. But in the drafts I've seen so far, I don't see any exemptions for agriculture, nor do I see any rewards in the present language. Now these bills change from day to day, bear that in mind -- this is a moving target.
Has the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) given any estimates on these bills?
Lucas: Not that I've seen. I suspect there are numbers floating around, but some things are held close to your chest.
What do you see as the Ag panel's timeline to put its climate change bill in as a marker on what agriculture can do on this front?
Lucas: Every day this process goes a little slower than the day before. Ten days ago, I would have told you it would be hard to get anything done ahead of Chairman Waxman. I'm just not sure. And I'm having ongoing conversations with Collin.
Is this similar to the Clean Air Act where it took many years to get through? This has similar shades of arguments.
Lucas: If we're lucky, this will take some time to allow the legislative process to work and to become transparent for everyone to see. If the American people decide they want to do something like this, then in a democracy, this will happen. But I believe they should be given the opportunity to understand in the name of what's being done for them what actually might be about to be done to them.
How about the ag groups that visit with you. What are they saying? Some say they have been relatively slow to come up to the implications....
Lucas: They're making comments to me. The challenge is, much like myself, they've not had enough definitive details to work off of. Remember, on the first blush, the impression was given that between carbon sequestration and exemptions and certain production areas like methane, ag would be kind of held harmless. But as the process has gone on, that's turned out to be more of a theory than a fact. And I think my groups back home are starting to wake up. It's as we discussed earlier. It's like the huge amount of energy consumed in most industries and most regions of the country, when we have enough information to project what the extra costs will be for a gallon of diesel or a kilowatt of electricity, we can factor these things in, then I think you'll see the ag groups come alive with intensity. They don't enough to be frightened yet!
On the 2008 Farm Bill implementation. Are you happy so far?
Lucas: I wish the Bush administration had put more focus on completing the process. They did not. So now we have a whole new cast of faces slowly coming into place. The Secretary is a good guy and he's putting his next tier of people into the structure. But there's a lot of things like state FSA directors, rural development directors -- they've just not worked down through the process to do those positions. And in my perspective where I work with day-to-day producers as well as the administration here, you have to have this intermediate group of decision makers or policy implementers to make things happen. I just wish they would speed up.
I know in the modern world, and perhaps in this administration, USDA might not be the most exciting assignment. But if you look at what's covered, from all the nutrition programs to conservation, there is just a tremendous amount of important work to be done by people in these positions. I want them in place so I can work with them and help educate them.
So you want to see the new group come in and see what they do?
Lucas: I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because I didn't always agree with everything the Bush appointees did either. It took us one override in the House and Senate to get the 2008 Farm Bill passed and I proudly voted for that override!
On the IRS tax information issue relative to making sure U.S. farmers are eligible for farm program payments. It's still being worked out but you jumped on that issue right away....
Lucas: It's a classic example that the 2008 Farm Bill had a very carefully crafted compromise where all the parties involved agreed where providing a letter from your tax preparer that you would attest to as well, putting both of you in jeopardy if you were not accurate and honest. By the way, my constituents are always honest. I don't know about anybody else, but my constituents are! But that letter I thought was sufficient to create enough jeopardy. Now when the Secretary determines through his enforcement authority that he can take this next step... I agree with my folks back in the countryside -- I don't think I want my IRS records floating around through any other federal agency. I don't think it's necessary and it is contrary to a carefully worked-out compromise passed by two-thirds of the House and Senate.
You've seen Vilsack's response on this matter... and they're saying they don't see the data themselves -- that FSA would send IRS a list of farmers and IRS would respond that these producers are okay and these should be checked out.
Lucas: The point is, we worked through a very carefully crafted 2008 Farm Bill. If this administration or future administrations agree dramatically with the principles there, I'm willing to begin the process to discuss the 2013 farm bill. And we can do things differently in the 2013 farm bill. But don't reinvent the wheel, because this one is rolling along nicely... generally.
On trade issues, such as one like country-of-origin labeling (COOL), Canada has now said they will pursue an effort at the WTO on what was a pretty carefully crafted compromise in the 2008 Farm Bill.
Lucas: Oh... it was an amazing compromise. I observed the final negotiations between the Chairman and the two groups to put that together. Once again, we need to implement what's on the books and we'll let our neighbors fight it out in the courts and we'll go from there.
What the Canadians are saying is they want clarifications on this as they view Vilsack's comments as interpreting the legislation. Have you talked to the Secretary about this? We know Peterson has, telling us he told Vilsack he should have just banged the heads of those involved together and told them to reach a deal.
Lucas: I'm not going to argue with the Chairman! (laughter).
What folks in Canada are saying is that this will likely be a potential jobs program in Canada as they are putting more focus on sending processed products to the United States and to other country, especially Japan. Are you concerned about that?
Lucas: (pause). I'm concerned about any deviation away from the policy principles established in the 2008 Farm Bill. I think the potential consequences, intended and unintended, may cause us more grief in the future than we can imagine now. Simply put.... this is the kind of peril you get into when the implementers of policy decide to rewrite the policy. That's about as close as you're going to get to a nasty line!
How have you voted over the years on trade agreement proposals?
Lucas: With the exception of the Australia Free Trade Agreement, I voted for all of the others. I take them on a case-by-case issue. I came after NAFTA.
What was your issue with the Australia agreement?
Lucas: I come from HRW wheat country. There's a group called the Australian Wheat Board (AWB)....
The AWB was not in the trade deal to be negotiated.
How about other trade deals pending like Colombia and Panama and South Korea. How would you vote on those?
Lucas: I would vote on the affirmative side because as best as I can determine with those other trade agreements, they improve our access in most of those places. We've already given them access to our country. It's a shame that Colombia hasn't already occurred. That's gotten tied up in some labor issues and some campaign rhetoric.. it's more rhetoric than fact.
How about Cuba?
Lucas: I don't know that I'm really going to have an opportunity to vote there. I think the administration is headed in the direction of opening up trade with them by internal action. My Oklahoma wheat farmers would be very happy and we'll let things run their course.
So you don't see Cuba coming to a vote on opening up ag trade?
Lucas: I don't know. I have my suspicions -- I don't know the administration will want to engage in a really intense hot debate which that would lead to on the floor.
Some in opposition to the Colombia trade deal are saying they want more open ag trade with Cuba while others see that as a disconnect. Is that a fair statement?
Lucas: I think that's a fair statement. I think there could be an argument there. I'm not going to be hypocritical about it. Cuba to me is a communist dictatorship still. They don't have freedom of the press, freedom of religion and free speech. When Fidel is gone, I would hope, like Eastern Europe, society would open up. I am not opposed to selling ag products to Cuba. I would like them to pay cash. If you note my record, when the Bush people went to great lengths to make it more difficult to do business with Cuba, I was opposed to that. But I'm not prepared to open up the credit bank to support the last true remaining communist dictatorship.
Now we have other problems in the hemisphere than Cuba. There's a very interesting fellow that runs Venezuela right now.
Cuba with oil?
Lucas: Exactly.
Regarding the H1N1 situation....
Lucas: I know... a sanitary excuse to keep our products out of other countries. Raw pork is not a product that is consumed -- it is always cooked, processed or prepared. There's no indication or scientific basis for excluding pork from the United States or any other county for that matter. This is just an excuse by certain countries to protect their markets a few days longer.
Is the Ag Committee going to do anything about this?
Lucas: Since it has bubbled in the last 24 to 36 hours, I have not had a chance to visit with the Chairman yet. All we can do is scream and shout and jump up and down! And, I'm happy to do it.
Farmers are saying where are these WTO members who subscribe to fair trade and the first chance they get, they put up a barrier, including Russia who wants to get in. Is that a fair statement?
Lucas: That's a fair statement. I do have a substantial pork industry in northwest Oklahoma. We sell something like four million pigs out of the country each year. So it's a bread-and-butter issue.
How is the ag sector in your state -- from the farmland market to the credit market?
Lucas: Credit seems to be adequate. There's not been many land sales to speak of in the last sixth months. I've been watching it closely as an old farmer -- all farmers watch each others' property sell, that's just a sport of life. Nothing is moving in my immediate area.
We had a good wheat crop last year. The cattle market began to fall off from July on, but we've had basically three decent years back home -- setting some weather issues aside. That's always a problem somewhere in any given season. We've had three decent years. Some of my folks in much of my best wheat area took a hammering with a late-winter freeze. A lot of my issues now fall around how quick you can get the adjusters out and call it lost and get on with it. So we're waiting to see. We had a relatively dry winter in much of my district. Certain areas have picked up moisture in the last three weeks so we have to see hold the summer unfolds. You have to remember in my part of Oklahoma and for most of my state, we measure soil in inches not feet. And I was probably 20 before I knew you could have a prayer that didn't involve a request for rain -- it's just the nature of our agriculture.
Sounds like it is at least stable in your district?
Lucas: We're stable now, depending on the moisture this summer, and the same could be said for the entire country. If the economy will pick up, we'll see an upward pull on commodity and energy prices that will put us in dramatically better shape, but we just need the national media and my majority leadership in Congress and to that degree a part of the administration to look past the constant use of the "d" word. Coming from Oklahoma where we suffered the Great Depression and drought of the 1930s, the drought of the 1950s and in effect an ag depression in the 1980s, I don't like those words!
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On Saturday, 20 October 2012, the NCAR/CISL Data Center will be shut down to facilitate preventive maintenance on select infrastructure support systems. This is the normal fall season downtime for this purpose. Please note that this activity is a complete shutdown scheduled from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some computing systems, depending on their function will begin their shutdown Friday afternoon.
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Big Local App - AberdeenThe Big Local?App is a mobile app developed for the local community by AppHouse UK. It is a dedicated local resource directory bringing together businesses, local news, events and information to provide real value to users in a way that national directories cannot.In BLA, each listed partner and business becomes an important facet of the app, bringing fresh, up-to-date information and -a real reason for users to keep opening and exploring its content.- View up-to-date local headlines, council and tourist information- Find local businesses, such as pubs, shops, restaurants and taxis - via a simple few taps- Using your GPS, the app will also let you search by distance from your location and provide maps and directions.This local directory will provide a business listing exclusively for companies trading in the local area. Companies can subscribe to the app, giving them a listing in up to two business categories at different service levels.Whether searching for local event information, council contact details, or entertainment reviews, the Big Local App provides useful reasons for users to open and interact with the app.
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Dreams as a conduit of power: The Dreamer Cult teaches that dreams are conduits of power, for only in reality (in dreams) can true power be harnessed. While most sages scoff at this assumption, none can deny the power of dream rituals performed by some of the major witches' covens. Neither can it be denied that Cultist dream nectar is a valued commodity, sought after by mages and warlocks alike.Through controlled dreaming you can unlock doors, open conduits of power which will strengthen your connection to the elemental essences (used by mages and priests as well as shamans). In dreams you can collaborate to create powerful magic, even though the members of the rituals are far apart.Dreams as a force of prophecy: The entity known as the dreamer speaks to us through dreams where he reveals the true meaning of our existence. This phenomenon has become known as dream prophecies, which differ clearly from the waking prophecies of the false deities known as the Dreamer's Emotions and Baser Instincts. When your mate talks at night, it is the will of the dreamer that he does so and his words are holy. Furthermore the dreamer might directly speak through a dreaming host. When doing so the speech of the dreaming host will become faint, almost monotone. Then the dreamer will deliver his prophecy, usually in short rhythmic verses. Dreams as a means of existing: The dreaming can travel physically within another person's dreams and even live within them. While the dreamworld is the only reality, it is shaped by the sentient being whose subconscious dream about a particular location. This means that controlled dreaming, as practiced by the dreamer cultist, can shape any location by the strength of their will. This might be countered by the dreaming host, especially if he is practiced in dream channeling. The Dreamworld exists in a timeless state where everything is connected to everyone, so there is a chance that a host might be from the future or the past. So it is that a young warrior might seek out his ancestor for advice and counsel.Some powerful mages are rumoured to be able to remain in the dreamworld, even though their host is awake. This is a special kind of stasis where the mage in effect disconnects from our reality and bonds with the dreamworld. He can only re-enter our reality through the original host. This will cause recurring dreams for the host; he will experience the same strange dream over and over until the arch mage relinquish his bond with the host's subconscious. Should the host die; the mage will be lost within dreams. If the host should awaken while other dreamers are travelling within his dreams, both he and the traveller might suffer a trauma possibly resulting in death.
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2" faux wood blinds are made pvc composite material. The slats have a textured look and come in several colors. 1 1/2" Cloth tapes are available for accent color if desired, only on 2" slats. These blinds are warranted to keep their color and prevent warping for as long as our customers own their blind. The working materials for this blind tilt control and lift controls are warranted for existing customer. Cording is warranted for a period of three years, after one year the customer is responsible for shipping to manufacturer for cording replacement.
Based upon a size of 24x36
Note: This product comes with the Crown valance free of charge standard. No other valance is available on this product at this time.
Check Here Before Ordering!!!! Click here for Specifications
Tips To Remember:
Use a steel measuring tape
Round down to the nearest 1/8" for width
Round up to the nearest 1/8" for height
See Product Specifications for more specific product info.
Sizes should always be provided in this format: Width x Height
On any measurement given, the factory does have a +/- 1/8 of an inch variance allowance.
Measure For Wood or Faux Wood Blinds
Inside Mount Width
• Measure the exact width (left to right) of the inside edge of the window frame in three places (top, middle and bottom).
• Take the smallest of the three measurements to the nearest 1/8 of an inch.
• The factory will take an approximate 1/2 of an inch deduction from the total width to a lot for brackets and correct installation.
Inside Mount Height
• Measure the exact height (top to bottom) from the top inside edge down to the window sill in three spots across window.
• Take the largest of the three measurements.
Outside Mount Width
• Measure the exact width (left to right) of the wooden or metal window frame (outer edge) OR how wide you want the product to be.
• Be sure to measure wide enough as to cover the entire window plus offer enough coverage to avoid light or privacy gap. 2 inches past the opening on EACH side is suggested if you do not have molding/trim.
• An Outside Valance with returns will be wider than the ordered width to accommodate covering the headrail and mount.
Outside Mount Height
• Measure the top and bottom edge of window frame/trim. If no trim, be sure you provide the height you want the shade to be from top of the headrail to bottom of the bottom rail.
• Be sure to allot for coverage for light control and mounting hardware if mounting above window opening to wall surface. You will need 2 inches of surface area to mount above opening. Call us for further instruction if needed.
Installation Instructions>>>>Installation with Reg clips.....Installation with Magnet Valance


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Posts tagged: chicana
December 13, 2014: Third Place Game – Nuts vs. Pissahs
The Wicked Pissahs faced off against the Nutcrackers in their last bout of the home team season on December 14th. After a hard-fought game, the Pissahs took home the win.
Posted in Bout Recap, News Tags: badonkey kong, boston, boston derby, boston derby dames, Bout Recap, chicana, dottie danger, estrogeena davis, evabyn slapt, flighty aphrodite, golden fez, hard times, hex o skeleton, maully o'ffender, moxie moonwalk, neurotic tendency, nutcrackers, rock, roller derby, senora slaughter, stevie nixher, sweet enemy, truant, wftda, wicked pissahs, womanimal


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Petzl 12.5mm (1/2") x 183M (600') Vector Static - REDR12183R
Please share!
Product Details
Petzl 12.5mm (1/2") x 183M (600') Vector Static - RED w/ Black and Yellow TracerVector 12.5 was designed specifically to address the needs of modern Fire Rescue Teams. Block-creel kernmantle construction with 100% virgin nylon fiber core and polyester sheath for resistance to acids and other chemicals. Proprietary Fusion Process for superior handling, shape retention, knotability, and stable performance.
- Meets NFPA 1983-2001 Edition (UL certified).
- Diameter: 12.5mm
- Colors: red, bright orange, blue, bright yellow, white
- Stocked in lengths of 46m (150'), 61m (200') and 183m (600')
- Weight: 7.7 lbs/100' MBS: 9000 LBF (40.1 kN)


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I really should be sleeping instead of writing this post but I really wanted to update all of you on how I'm doing. I'm finally past all of my illnesses and I'm feeling great. I have been going to the gym everyday before work and although it is hard to get out of bed at 5:45am it feels so good when I'm done exercising. It's a wonderful way to start my day.
The past two days I have gone on the elliptical for an hour straight. I burned about 500 caleries each time. I think I am going to try to stick to the hour as long as time allows.
I finally made it to my loss of 10 pounds this week and I was able to get my much needed hair cut. :) I am now at 186 pounds! It feels so good to be back down to this weight but it felt even better to get my hair cut and colored. I will post pictures of my new cut once I take some with my camera. The ones from my phone didn't turn out that well.
Not only am I working out everyday but I am also using MyFitnessPal to log everything that I eat. The best part is that it all syncs to my fitbit site and allows me to compare what I ate to the amount of calories I burned. It's been so helpful and simple. You have to check it out!
Now I'm off to bed but I knew if I didn't share this news now I wouldn't ever get it posted. Night all!!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
10 Pound Cut
Posted at 7:29 PM
2 comments:
- fancy nancy said...
I'm so glad you're feeling better!!! Oh and CONGRATS on your weight loss!!! I need a hair color big time!! End of the school year gift to me!
- May 24, 2012 at 5:51 AM
- AngieG2000 said...
Nice job!
- May 24, 2012 at 11:47 AM
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Thank you for your interest in helping Repair PDX! We are a 100% volunteer-run organization. Our volunteers are typically people who:
- Love tinkering, repairing small appliances/electronics, fixing bikes, mending garments, or fixing other items we haven't mentioned yet
- Helping with event support
- Enjoy getting to know new people
- Get satisfaction from helping others in our community through meaningful service
Volunteer FAQ:
How often do you hold events?
We generally host one or two events per month.
Where do you hold events?
Repair PDX partners with community organizations to host repair events at different venues all around Portland. Before each event, we email our volunteers with details about date, time and place so you can choose which events you'd like to participate in and how you want to help.
Are there other groups doing this that are closer to me?
There are several groups in our region that have started over the past couple years! If you are interested in connecting with another group, here are the contact details:
Oregon City/Gladstone/West Linn: Stacy Ludington, sludington
Milwaukie: Colleen, colleenrecycles
Beaverton/Hillsboro: Heather Robinson, heather_robinson
Gresham: Carol or Diane, firstname.lastname@example.com
Vancouver: Julie Gilbertson, julie.gilbertson
Also, check out the regional calendar on our website for dates and location of regional events!
Should I bring my own tools and if so which ones?
Yes, we ask all our volunteers to bring their own tools. It's always a challenge to know what to bring because we never really know what's going to come through the door! It's a good bet though to bring the tools that you use the most often and we always find that if you don't have something, one of the other volunteers will have that exact thing that is needed.
If you'd like to become one of our volunteer fixers or help with event support, email email@example.com with your contact information and what you'd like to do. We welcome you to join us!


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Beignets are slightly sweet fritters, deep fried and sprinkled with a generous dousing of powdered sugar. Best when served with a strong New Orleans chicory coffee.
Beignet DoughnutsAt this writing, it's Shrove Monday, or the Monday before Ash Wednesday, now mostly just referred to as Lundi Gras, meaning that Carnival season is winding down and the Lenten season is about to begin. It is the time that certain Christian denominations, in particular Catholic, Episcopal and Lutheran, begin to reflect, prepare for confession, and seek penance to obtain absolution for our sins. It is, in essence, the day before the final blowout - Fat Tuesday. No better appropriate time to bring you my final recipe to add to the Mardi Gras brunch and party foods list for New Orleans Style Café au Lait and French Market Beignets!
Oh my gosh, the memories associated with beignets for me are many and they are all associated with one place, the Café du Mondé coffee stand, in the Old Jackson Square area of the French Market in downtown New Orleans.
Café du Mondé, established in 1862, is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except for Christmas (and the occasional hurricane threat) and sells primarily two things - chicory coffee and beignets. Beignets are essentially deep fried, only slightly sweet fritters, that are sprinkled with a generous dousing of powdered sugar and served straight out of the fryer. At the coffee stand they come in orders of three, which is just the right amount.
Grabbing a plate of these hot beignets and a cup of café au lait after a long night out and about in town - and more specifically, the French Quarter - was just the ticket to wind down the night, and we did it often. Served primarily al fresco, though they do have a teeny, tiny indoor seating area, it didn't matter whether it was 40 degrees outside or 100, 5:00 o'clock at night, or 3:00 o'clock in the morning, I can never remember being there where this place was not busy. It was and remains a tradition when in New Orleans, along with the silly practice of blowing the powdered sugar off onto one another, a practice everyone hates, but which always seems to happen.
Beignets, like any doughnut, are best served hot and fresh out of the fryer and with a hot cup of café au lait. This batch makes about 30 to 40 squares, depending on how thick you roll them, perfect for a Mardi Gras brunch before the parades. Still looking for some Mardi Gras party food ideas? Click right here and grab some inspiration.
Just want a few beignets or in a hurry? Scroll down to the very bottom and check out my Cheater Beignets too!
Check out more of my dessert recipes and sweet treats on Pinterest!
If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!
Recipe: French Market Beignet Doughnuts©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 minYield: About 30 doughnuts
- 1 envelope (2-1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
- 1/3 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1 large egg, beaten
- Powdered sugar, sifted
Dissolve the yeast and a pinch of the sugar in the warm water and set aside. Whisk the flour and set aside. Pour the boiling water over the shortening and stir until the shortening is melted.
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the sifted flour with the sugar and salt, melted shortening, milk, egg, and yeast mixture. Add enough additional flour to form a shaggy dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll thin - somewhere between 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch thick. Using a pizza wheel, square off the dough, reserving all pieces; cut dough into 2-inch squares. Let dough rest while you preheat oil in a deep pot or deep fryer to 360 degrees F.
Drop into hot fryer and brown on one side until golden, flip and brown on the other side. Remove and drain on a rack over a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar and serve immediately with a piping hot cup of café au lait.
Cook's Notes: Makes between 30 and 40, depending on how thick you roll them. Sometimes you will need all of the flour, sometimes you'll need less - depends on the weather, rain, humidity, etc. in my opinion!
Sopapillas: Omit powdered sugar and dust these generously with a cinnamon sugar mix as soon as they exit the fryer and again as they cool slightly. Serve with honey.
Source: http://deepsouthdish.com
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©Deep South Dish
Lagniappe: Easy Cheater Beignets
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
1 or 2 cans of regular (small) refrigerator biscuits
Powdered sugar, sifted
Preheat fryer to 360 degrees. Roll out the biscuits until they are thin. Cut in quarters or halves and drop in the hot oil, browning on one side until golden, flip and brown on the other side. Remove and drain on paper towels, sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar and serve immediately.
☛ Are you on Facebook? If you haven't already, come and join the party! We have a lot of fun & there's always room for one more at the table.
Check These Recipes Out Too Y'all!
Old Fashioned Coffee Cake
Hot Cross Buns
|Photo Credit Fuzzy at Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0
Posted by Mary on February 15, 2010Images and Full Post Content including Recipe ©Deep South Dish. Recipes are offered for your own personal use only and while pinning and sharing links is welcomed and encouraged, please do not copy and paste to repost or republish elsewhere such as other Facebook pages, blogs, websites, or forums without explicit prior permission. All rights reserved.
Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline..


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I installed DB2 Express-C on a PC with 2 GB RAM and running Windows Server 2008 R2 OS. While creating a new database, there is an option to set Buffer Pool size with default set to 4K.
How much is the recommended pool size for the above mentioned configuration?
I also want to know whether to use default Buffer Pool or a separate Buffer Pool for every database.


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HONG KONG - The director of China's biggest box-office hit says "Lost in Thailand" succeeded by showing a rarely seen subject: modern Chinese life.
The historical epic, fantasy, action and thriller genres have long filled China's domestic movie screens. But "Lost in Thailand" was a low-budget and light-hearted road-trip tale about an ambitious executive who goes to Thailand to get his boss's approval for a business deal. Along the way he's pursued by a rival co-worker and encounters a wacky tourist who helps him rethink his priorities.
"There is hunger from the audience for movies that talk about the real-life situation in China. That's why the movie rocked," said Xu Zheng, the film's director, writer and star.
"There is a lack of films that talk about things that are related to the life of ordinary people" in China, he added.
Unusually for a Chinese release, the movie was a moral comedy whose characters reflect stressed-out, overworked, wealth-obsessed China.
Xu said his character, businessman Xu Lang, "represented the majority of the people, who are chasing after fame and desire, then becoming successful. That's what most of us do."
The movie starts with the executive hardened by cutthroat business competition and worn out by family troubles. He and a wacky tourist, co-star Wang Baoqiang, experience a series of capers and mishaps in scenes heavy with slapstick humor. In the end, Xu Lang realizes he's had his priorities all wrong.
"Lost in Thailand" smashed domestic box-office records, raking in 1.26 billion yuan ($200 million) last year, an especially surprising tally since it was not released until December. It edged out "Avatar" to become the biggest-grossing Chinese movie ever as China became the world's second-biggest movie market last year.
Most other Chinese-made hits last year were in traditional categories, such as Jackie Chan's action flick "CZ12," which was the second-highest-grossing Chinese movie in 2012.
The blockbuster success of "Lost in Thailand" may spur a wave of copycats. Xu has no plan yet for a sequel, but the state-run Xinhua News Agency has reported studios are lining up to "chase the craze" and a burst of such films could hit Chinese screens this year.
With such a huge return from its $2.2 million budget, "some filmmakers have begun pondering how to replicate the film's box office miracle," Xinhua said. It did not mention any specific projects, but other Chinese news sites have been buzzing about Raymond Yip's upcoming film about two brothers on a road trip.
Yip directed 2010's "Lost on Journey," a sort of prequel to "Lost in Thailand" also starring Xu and Wang. The plot of his new film, "Along Crazy All The Way," which has a different cast, is being kept under wraps. But a hint can be found in the title, which is the same as one of two Chinese names given to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," the 1987 Hollywood comedy starring Steve Martin and John Candy about a man trying to get home for Thanksgiving accompanied by an obnoxious salesman.
Xu has acted in more than a dozen movies, but "Lost in Thailand" is his directorial debut. He said the film was greatly influenced by a few of his favorite Hollywood movies.
"I did a lot of research before making the film and I used some films as reference, such as `Rain Man,' (the Belgian film) `The Eighth Day' and `Midnight Run,'" Xu said. "These are movies about two people becoming friends along the way on a journey."
Xu cited "Midnight Run" in particular as one of his favorites, and the parallels between the two are evident. The 1998 film stars Robert DeNiro as a bounty hunter taking an ex-mob accountant played by Charles Grodin from New York to Los Angeles to collect a payment and trying to avoid the Mafia and the FBI along the way.
Xu said he hasn't yet decided what his next project will be. He said he's had some offers to remake his movie but for now his priority will be on Chinese audiences. He might return to acting but is taking his time before making any decisions.


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While the Supreme Court's decision to forbid patents on human genes knocked out Myriad Genetics' long-guarded patent on two genes linked to breast cancer, the Utah-based company's stock still rose soon after the news broke. That bit of investor optimism may have been due to the court's decision to allow patenting of cDNA, which they called "synthetically created" – though it's unclear if that optimism is warranted, doctors pointed out.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that although "naturally occurring" DNA like the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 could not be patented, the company could still patent the cDNA version of these two genes, classifying those as man-made products. Complementary DNA, or cDNA, copies the parts of a particular DNA strand that code for proteins (exons) while excluding the bits of non-coding DNA (introns).
Dr. Cy Stein, chair of medical oncology at City of Hope in Duarte, applauded the two separate aspects of the Supreme Court decision. Forbidding the patenting of human genes would allow more researchers to explore targeted therapies for genes linked to breast and other cancers, he said.
"It's just a fantastic thing, and it has released a serious chill that we were all feeling," Stein said.
At the same time, allowing companies to patent cDNA as a man-made product threw a bone to companies looking to protect their work.
"You have to have some protection. … People have to be able to make a profit somehow," Stein said.
But UCLA medical geneticist Dr. Wayne Grody said that the cDNA provision didn't amount to much protection in light of technological advances since the patents were filed. Researchers no longer need to copy a strand of DNA in order to get its sequence, he said.
"The modern technology will give us the DNA sequence of anything that's in the test tube," Grody said. "We don't need to have any prior knowledge of its sequence."
Thus, the cDNA protections may not have been as much cause for celebration among Myriad's supporters as they initially seemed, he added.
"It's almost a moot point. … It doesn't stop the rest of us from now using our own techniques to examine these genes," Grody said.
Follow me on Twitter @aminawrite.


text: Hey all, I've got a bucket (my first) that's just finished the filling and sanding stage. I'm ready to prime and paint (using AFFO$ RotJ spraypaint list, layered paint job w/ masking fluid method) I just wanted to know if anyone has any tips for a guy who's never used spraypaint before. All tips are welcome, no matter how basic. Especially tips/tricks that have been learned "the hard way." Thanks. (...and I swear to god, I see it coming a mile away... If anyone plans to say: "You need to shake the can," don't bother! )


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Welcome to Calligraphy Qalam—we're glad you're here. On this website you'll find a variety of interactive tools and information to help you learn more about calligraphy in the Arab, Ottoman and Persian traditions.
Frequently-asked questions
Watch the introductory video
This video gives an overview of how to learn calligraphy. It introduces the art of calligraphy in the Arab, Ottoman and Persian traditions and discusses the unique features of the Arabic alphabet.
Where to start
- Look at images of calligraphy
- Learn about the Arabic alphabet
- Watch calligraphy being written
- Learn about different calligraphy styles
- Test your script recognition
- Find a calligraphy teacher near you
- Learn about key master calligraphers
- Discover the calligraphy process
- Start a discussion or ask a question
- Get tips on reading calligraphy
- Get the most recent calligraphy news
- Check out answers to common questions
Calligraphy gallery
Calligraphy Qalam has an online image gallery of over 300 pieces of calligraphy, with more added all the time. Check out the gallery.
Recent blog posts
Read our most recent blog posts on the blog.


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Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 6, by Edward Gibbon, [1788], at sacred-texts.com
Proud of his victory and his royal prize, the Bulgarian advanced to relieve Adrianople and achieve the destruction of the Latins. They must inevitably have been destroyed, if the marshal of Romania had not displayed a cool courage and consummate skill; uncommon in all ages, but most uncommon in those times, when war was a passion, rather than a science. His grief and fears were poured into the firm and faithful bosom of the doge; but in the camp he diffused an assurance of safety, which could only be realized by the general belief. All day he maintained his perilous station between the city and the Barbarians: Villehardouin decamped in silence at the dead of night; and his masterly retreat of three days would have deserved the praise of Xenophon and the ten thousand. In the rear, the marshal supported the weight of the pursuit; in the front, he moderated the impatience of the fugitives; and wherever the Comans approached, they were repelled by a line of impenetrable spears. On the third day, the weary troops beheld the sea, the solitary town of Rodosta, 27 and their friends, who had landed from the Asiatic shore. They embraced, they wept; but they united their arms and counsels; and in his brother's absence, Count Henry assumed the regency of the empire, at once in a state of childhood and caducity. 28 If the Comans withdrew from the summer heats, seven thousand Latins, in the hour of danger, deserted Constantinople, their brethren, and their vows. Some partial success was overbalanced by the loss of one hundred and twenty knights in the field of Rusium; and of the Imperial domain, no more was left than the capital, with two or three adjacent fortresses on the shores of Europe and Asia. The king of Bulgaria was resistless and inexorable; and Calo-John respectfully eluded the demands of the pope, who conjured his new proselyte to restore peace and the emperor to the afflicted Latins. The deliverance of Baldwin was no longer, he said, in the power of man: that prince had died in prison; and the manner of his death is variously related by ignorance and credulity. The lovers of a tragic legend will be pleased to hear, that the royal captive was tempted by the amorous queen of the Bulgarians; that his chaste refusal exposed him to the falsehood of a woman and the jealousy of a savage; that his hands and feet were severed from his body; that his bleeding trunk was cast among the carcasses of dogs and horses; and that he breathed three days, before he was devoured by the birds of prey. 29 About twenty years afterwards, in a wood of the Netherlands, a hermit announced himself as the true Baldwin, the emperor of Constantinople, and lawful sovereign of Flanders. He related the wonders of his escape, his adventures, and his penance, among a people prone to believe and to rebel; and, in the first transport, Flanders acknowledged her long-lost sovereign. A short examination before the French court detected the impostor, who was punished with an ignominious death; but the Flemings still adhered to the pleasing error; and the countess Jane is accused by the gravest historians of sacrificing to her ambition the life of an unfortunate father. 30
In all civilized hostility, a treaty is established for the exchange or ransom of prisoners; and if their captivity be prolonged, their condition is known, and they are treated according to their rank with humanity or honor. But the savage Bulgarian was a stranger to the laws of war: his prisons were involved in darkness and silence; and above a year elapsed before the Latins could be assured of the death of Baldwin, before his brother, the regent Henry, would consent to assume the title of emperor. His moderation was applauded by the Greeks as an act of rare and inimitable virtue. Their light and perfidious ambition was eager to seize or anticipate the moment of a vacancy, while a law of succession, the guardian both of the prince and people, was gradually defined and confirmed in the hereditary monarchies of Europe. In the support of the Eastern empire, Henry was gradually left without an associate, as the heroes of the crusade retired from the world or from the war. The doge of Venice, the venerable Dandolo, in the fulness of years and glory, sunk into the grave. The marquis of Montferrat was slowly recalled from the Peloponnesian war to the revenge of Baldwin and the defence of Thessalonica. Some nice disputes of feudal homage and service were reconciled in a personal interview between the emperor and the king; they were firmly united by mutual esteem and the common danger; and their alliance was sealed by the nuptials of Henry with the daughter of the Italian prince. He soon deplored the loss of his friend and father. At the persuasion of some faithful Greeks, Boniface made a bold and successful inroad among the hills of Rhodope: the Bulgarians fled on his approach; they assembled to harass his retreat. On the intelligence that his rear was attacked, without waiting for any defensive armor, he leaped on horseback, couched his lance, and drove the enemies before him; but in the rash pursuit he was pierced with a mortal wound; and the head of the king of Thessalonica was presented to Calo-John, who enjoyed the honors, without the merit, of victory. It is here, at this melancholy event, that the pen or the voice of Jeffrey of Villehardouin seems to drop or to expire; 31 and if he still exercised his military office of marshal of Romania, his subsequent exploits are buried in oblivion. 32 The character of Henry was not unequal to his arduous situation: in the siege of Constantinople, and beyond the Hellespont, he had deserved the fame of a valiant knight and a skilful commander; and his courage was tempered with a degree of prudence and mildness unknown to his impetuous brother. In the double war against the Greeks of Asia and the Bulgarians of Europe, he was ever the foremost on shipboard or on horseback; and though he cautiously provided for the success of his arms, the drooping Latins were often roused by his example to save and to second their fearless emperor. But such efforts, and some supplies of men and money from France, were of less avail than the errors, the cruelty, and death, of their most formidable adversary. When the despair of the Greek subjects invited Calo- John as their deliverer, they hoped that he would protect their liberty and adopt their laws: they were soon taught to compare the degrees of national ferocity, and to execrate the savage conqueror, who no longer dissembled his intention of dispeopling Thrace, of demolishing the cities, and of transplanting the inhabitants beyond the Danube. Many towns and villages of Thrace were already evacuated: a heap of ruins marked the place of Philippopolis, and a similar calamity was expected at Demotica and Adrianople, by the first authors of the revolt. They raised a cry of grief and repentance to the throne of Henry; the emperor alone had the magnanimity to forgive and trust them. No more than four hundred knights, with their sergeants and archers, could be assembled under his banner; and with this slender force he fought *_0013 and repulsed the Bulgarian, who, besides his infantry, was at the head of forty thousand horse. In this expedition, Henry felt the difference between a hostile and a friendly country: the remaining cities were preserved by his arms; and the savage, with shame and loss, was compelled to relinquish his prey. The siege of Thessalonica was the last of the evils which Calo-John inflicted or suffered: he was stabbed in the night in his tent; and the general, perhaps the assassin, who found him weltering in his blood, ascribed the blow, with general applause, to the lance of St. Demetrius. 33 After several victories, the prudence of Henry concluded an honorable peace with the successor of the tyrant, and with the Greek princes of Nice and Epirus. If he ceded some doubtful limits, an ample kingdom was reserved for himself and his feudatories; and his reign, which lasted only ten years, afforded a short interval of prosperity and peace. Far above the narrow policy of Baldwin and Boniface, he freely intrusted to the Greeks the most important offices of the state and army; and this liberality of sentiment and practice was the more seasonable, as the princes of Nice and Epirus had already learned to seduce and employ the mercenary valor of the Latins. It was the aim of Henry to unite and reward his deserving subjects, of every nation and language; but he appeared less solicitous to accomplish the impracticable union of the two churches. Pelagius, the pope's legate, who acted as the sovereign of Constantinople, had interdicted the worship of the Greeks, and sternly imposed the payment of tithes, the double procession of the Holy Ghost, and a blind obedience to the Roman pontiff. As the weaker party, they pleaded the duties of conscience, and implored the rights of toleration: "Our bodies," they said, "are Caesar's, but our souls belong only to God. The persecution was checked by the firmness of the emperor: 34 and if we can believe that the same prince was poisoned by the Greeks themselves, we must entertain a contemptible idea of the sense and gratitude of mankind. His valor was a vulgar attribute, which he shared with ten thousand knights; but Henry possessed the superior courage to oppose, in a superstitious age, the pride and avarice of the clergy. In the cathedral of St. Sophia he presumed to place his throne on the right hand of the patriarch; and this presumption excited the sharpest censure of Pope Innocent the Third. By a salutary edict, one of the first examples of the laws of mortmain, he prohibited the alienation of fiefs: many of the Latins, desirous of returning to Europe, resigned their estates to the church for a spiritual or temporal reward; these holy lands were immediately discharged from military service, and a colony of soldiers would have been gradually transformed into a college of priests. 35
The virtuous Henry died at Thessalonica, in the defence of that kingdom, and of an infant, the son of his friend Boniface. In the two first emperors of Constantinople the male line of the counts of Flanders was extinct. But their sister Yolande was the wife of a French prince, the mother of a numerous progeny; and one of her daughters had married Andrew king of Hungary, a brave and pious champion of the cross. By seating him on the Byzantine throne, the barons of Romania would have acquired the forces of a neighboring and warlike kingdom; but the prudent Andrew revered the laws of succession; and the princess Yolande, with her husband Peter of Courtenay, count of Auxerre, was invited by the Latins to assume the empire of the East. The royal birth of his father, the noble origin of his mother, recommended to the barons of France the first cousin of their king. His reputation was fair, his possessions were ample, and in the bloody crusade against the Albigeois, the soldiers and the priests had been abundantly satisfied of his zeal and valor. Vanity might applaud the elevation of a French emperor of Constantinople; but prudence must pity, rather than envy, his treacherous and imaginary greatness. To assert and adorn his title, he was reduced to sell or mortgage the best of his patrimony. By these expedients, the liberality of his royal kinsman Philip Augustus, and the national spirit of chivalry, he was enabled to pass the Alps at the head of one hundred and forty knights, and five thousand five hundred sergeants and archers. After some hesitation, Pope Honorius the Third was persuaded to crown the successor of Constantine: but he performed the ceremony in a church without the walls, lest he should seem to imply or to bestow any right of sovereignty over the ancient capital of the empire. The Venetians had engaged to transport Peter and his forces beyond the Adriatic, and the empress, with her four children, to the Byzantine palace; but they required, as the price of their service, that he should recover Durazzo from the despot of Epirus. Michael Angelus, or Comnenus, the first of his dynasty, had bequeathed the succession of his power and ambition to Theodore, his legitimate brother, who already threatened and invaded the establishments of the Latins. After discharging his debt by a fruitless assault, the emperor raised the siege to prosecute a long and perilous journey over land from Durazzo to Thessalonica. He was soon lost in the mountains of Epirus: the passes were fortified; his provisions exhausted; he was delayed and deceived by a treacherous negotiation; and, after Peter of Courtenay and the Roman legate had been arrested in a banquet, the French troops, without leaders or hopes, were eager to exchange their arms for the delusive promise of mercy and bread. The Vatican thundered; and the impious Theodore was threatened with the vengeance of earth and heaven; but the captive emperor and his soldiers were forgotten, and the reproaches of the pope are confined to the imprisonment of his legate. No sooner was he satisfied by the deliverance of the priests and a promise of spiritual obedience, than he pardoned and protected the despot of Epirus. His peremptory commands suspended the ardor of the Venetians and the king of Hungary; and it was only by a natural or untimely death 36 that Peter of Courtenay was released from his hopeless captivity. 37
The long ignorance of his fate, and the presence of the lawful sovereign, of Yolande, his wife or widow, delayed the proclamation of a new emperor. Before her death, and in the midst of her grief, she was delivered of a son, who was named Baldwin, the last and most unfortunate of the Latin princes of Constantinople. His birth endeared him to the barons of Romania; but his childhood would have prolonged the troubles of a minority, and his claims were superseded by the elder claims of his brethren. The first of these, Philip of Courtenay, who derived from his mother the inheritance of Namur, had the wisdom to prefer the substance of a marquisate to the shadow of an empire; and on his refusal, Robert, the second of the sons of Peter and Yolande, was called to the throne of Constantinople. Warned by his father's mischance, he pursued his slow and secure journey through Germany and along the Danube: a passage was opened by his sister's marriage with the king of Hungary; and the emperor Robert was crowned by the patriarch in the cathedral of St. Sophia. But his reign was an aera of calamity and disgrace; and the colony, as it was styled, of New France yielded on all sides to the Greeks of Nice and Epirus. After a victory, which he owed to his perfidy rather than his courage, Theodore Angelus entered the kingdom of Thessalonica, expelled the feeble Demetrius, the son of the marquis Boniface, erected his standard on the walls of Adrianople; and added, by his vanity, a third or a fourth name to the list of rival emperors. The relics of the Asiatic province were swept away by John Vataces, the son-in-law and successor of Theodore Lascaris, and who, in a triumphant reign of thirty-three years, displayed the virtues both of peace and war. Under his discipline, the swords of the French mercenaries were the most effectual instruments of his conquests, and their desertion from the service of their country was at once a symptom and a cause of the rising ascendant of the Greeks. By the construction of a fleet, he obtained the command of the Hellespont, reduced the islands of Lesbos and Rhodes, attacked the Venetians of Candia, and intercepted the rare and parsimonious succors of the West. Once, and once only, the Latin emperor sent an army against Vataces; and in the defeat of that army, the veteran knights, the last of the original conquerors, were left on the field of battle. But the success of a foreign enemy was less painful to the pusillanimous Robert than the insolence of his Latin subjects, who confounded the weakness of the emperor and of the empire. His personal misfortunes will prove the anarchy of the government and the ferociousness of the times. The amorous youth had neglected his Greek bride, the daughter of Vataces, to introduce into the palace a beautiful maid, of a private, though noble family of Artois; and her mother had been tempted by the lustre of the purple to forfeit her engagements with a gentleman of Burgundy. His love was converted into rage; he assembled his friends, forced the palace gates, threw the mother into the sea, and inhumanly cut off the nose and lips of the wife or concubine of the emperor. Instead of punishing the offender, the barons avowed and applauded the savage deed, 38 which, as a prince and as a man, it was impossible that Robert should forgive. He escaped from the guilty city to implore the justice or compassion of the pope: the emperor was coolly exhorted to return to his station; before he could obey, he sunk under the weight of grief, shame, and impotent resentment. 39
It was only in the age of chivalry, that valor could ascend from a private station to the thrones of Jerusalem and Constantinople. The titular kingdom of Jerusalem had devolved to Mary, the daughter of Isabella and Conrad of Montferrat, and the granddaughter of Almeric or Amaury. She was given to John of Brienne, of a noble family in Champagne, by the public voice, and the judgment of Philip Augustus, who named him as the most worthy champion of the Holy Land. 40 In the fifth crusade, he led a hundred thousand Latins to the conquest of Egypt: by him the siege of Damietta was achieved; and the subsequent failure was justly ascribed to the pride and avarice of the legate. After the marriage of his daughter with Frederic the Second, 41 he was provoked by the emperor's ingratitude to accept the command of the army of the church; and though advanced in life, and despoiled of royalty, the sword and spirit of John of Brienne were still ready for the service of Christendom. In the seven years of his brother's reign, Baldwin of Courtenay had not emerged from a state of childhood, and the barons of Romania felt the strong necessity of placing the sceptre in the hands of a man and a hero. The veteran king of Jerusalem might have disdained the name and office of regent; they agreed to invest him for his life with the title and prerogatives of emperor, on the sole condition that Baldwin should marry his second daughter, and succeed at a mature age to the throne of Constantinople. The expectation, both of the Greeks and Latins, was kindled by the renown, the choice, and the presence of John of Brienne; and they admired his martial aspect, his green and vigorous age of more than fourscore years, and his size and stature, which surpassed the common measure of mankind. 42 But avarice, and the love of ease, appear to have chilled the ardor of enterprise: *_0014 his troops were disbanded, and two years rolled away without action or honor, till he was awakened by the dangerous alliance of Vataces emperor of Nice, and of Azan king of Bulgaria. They besieged Constantinople by sea and land, with an army of one hundred thousand men, and a fleet of three hundred ships of war; while the entire force of the Latin emperor was reduced to one hundred and sixty knights, and a small addition of sergeants and archers. I tremble to relate, that instead of defending the city, the hero made a sally at the head of his cavalry; and that of forty- eight squadrons of the enemy, no more than three escaped from the edge of his invincible sword. Fired by his example, the infantry and the citizens boarded the vessels that anchored close to the walls; and twenty-five were dragged in triumph into the harbor of Constantinople. At the summons of the emperor, the vassals and allies armed in her defence; broke through every obstacle that opposed their passage; and, in the succeeding year, obtained a second victory over the same enemies. By the rude poets of the age, John of Brienne is compared to Hector, Roland, and Judas Machabaeus: 43 but their credit, and his glory, receive some abatement from the silence of the Greeks. The empire was soon deprived of the last of her champions; and the dying monarch was ambitious to enter paradise in the habit of a Franciscan friar. 44
In the double victory of John of Brienne, I cannot discover the name or exploits of his pupil Baldwin, who had attained the age of military service, and who succeeded to the imperial dignity on the decease of his adoptive father. 45 The royal youth was employed on a commission more suitable to his temper; he was sent to visit the Western courts, of the pope more especially, and of the king of France; to excite their pity by the view of his innocence and distress; and to obtain some supplies of men or money for the relief of the sinking empire. He thrice repeated these mendicant visits, in which he seemed to prolong his stay and postpone his return; of the five-and-twenty years of his reign, a greater number were spent abroad than at home; and in no place did the emperor deem himself less free and secure than in his native country and his capital. On some public occasions, his vanity might be soothed by the title of Augustus, and by the honors of the purple; and at the general council of Lyons, when Frederic the Second was excommunicated and deposed, his Oriental colleague was enthroned on the right hand of the pope. But how often was the exile, the vagrant, the Imperial beggar, humbled with scorn, insulted with pity, and degraded in his own eyes and those of the nations! In his first visit to England, he was stopped at Dover by a severe reprimand, that he should presume, without leave, to enter an independent kingdom. After some delay, Baldwin, however, was permitted to pursue his journey, was entertained with cold civility, and thankfully departed with a present of seven hundred marks. 46 From the avarice of Rome he could only obtain the proclamation of a crusade, and a treasure of indulgences; a coin whose currency was depreciated by too frequent and indiscriminate abuse. His birth and misfortunes recommended him to the generosity of his cousin Louis the Ninth; but the martial zeal of the saint was diverted from Constantinople to Egypt and Palestine; and the public and private poverty of Baldwin was alleviated, for a moment, by the alienation of the marquisate of Namur and the lordship of Courtenay, the last remains of his inheritance. 47 By such shameful or ruinous expedients, he once more returned to Romania, with an army of thirty thousand soldiers, whose numbers were doubled in the apprehension of the Greeks. His first despatches to France and England announced his victories and his hopes: he had reduced the country round the capital to the distance of three days' journey; and if he succeeded against an important, though nameless, city, (most probably Chiorli,) the frontier would be safe and the passage accessible. But these expectations (if Baldwin was sincere) quickly vanished like a dream: the troops and treasures of France melted away in his unskilful hands; and the throne of the Latin emperor was protected by a dishonorable alliance with the Turks and Comans. To secure the former, he consented to bestow his niece on the unbelieving sultan of Cogni; to please the latter, he complied with their Pagan rites; a dog was sacrificed between the two armies; and the contracting parties tasted each other's blood, as a pledge of their fidelity. 48 In the palace, or prison, of Constantinople, the successor of Augustus demolished the vacant houses for winter fuel, and stripped the lead from the churches for the daily expense of his family. Some usurious loans were dealt with a scanty hand by the merchants of Italy; and Philip, his son and heir, was pawned at Venice as the security for a debt. 49 Thirst, hunger, and nakedness, are positive evils: but wealth is relative; and a prince who would be rich in a private station, may be exposed by the increase of his wants to all the anxiety and bitterness of poverty.
27 The truth of geography, and the original text of Villehardouin, (No. 194,) place Rodosto three days' journey (trois jornees) from Adrianople: but Vigenere, in his version, has most absurdly substituted trois heures; and this error, which is not corrected by Ducange has entrapped several moderns, whose names I shall spare.
28 The reign and end of Baldwin are related by Villehardouin and Nicetas, (p. 386 - 416;) and their omissions are supplied by Ducange in his Observations, and to the end of his first book.
29 After brushing away all doubtful and improbable circumstances, we may prove the death of Baldwin, 1. By the firm belief of the French barons, (Villehardouin, No. 230.) 2. By the declaration of Calo-John himself, who excuses his not releasing the captive emperor, quia debitum carnis exsolverat cum carcere teneretur, (Gesta Innocent III. c. 109.)
Note: Compare Von Raumer. Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, vol. ii. p. 237. Petitot, in his preface to Villehardouin in the Collection des Memoires, relatifs a l'Histoire de France, tom. i. p. 85, expresses his belief in the first part of the "tragic legend." - M.
30 See the story of this impostor from the French and Flemish writers in Ducange, Hist. de C. P. iii. 9; and the ridiculous fables that were believed by the monks of St. Alban's, in Matthew Paris, Hist. Major, p. 271, 272.
31 Villehardouin, No. 257. I quote, with regret, this lamentable conclusion, where we lose at once the original history, and the rich illustrations of Ducange. The last pages may derive some light from Henry's two epistles to Innocent III., (Gesta, c. 106, 107.)
32 The marshal was alive in 1212, but he probably died soon afterwards, without returning to France, (Ducange, Observations sur Villehardouin, p. 238.) His fief of Messinople, the gift of Boniface, was the ancient Maximianopolis, which flourished in the time of Ammianus Marcellinus, among the cities of Thrace, (No. 141.)
*_0013 There was no battle. On the advance of the Latins, John suddenly broke up his camp and retreated. The Latins considered this unexpected deliverance almost a miracle. Le Beau suggests the probability that the detection of the Comans, who usually quitted the camp during the heats of summer, may have caused the flight of the Bulgarians. Nicetas, c. 8 Villebardouin, c. 225. Le Beau, vol. xvii. p. 242. - M.
33 The church of this patron of Thessalonica was served by the canons of the holy sepulchre, and contained a divine ointment which distilled daily and stupendous miracles, (Ducange, Hist. de C. P. ii. 4.)
34 Acropolita (c. 17) observes the persecution of the legate, and the toleration of Henry, ('Eon, as he calls him).
35 See the reign of Henry, in Ducange, (Hist. de C. P. l. i. c. 35 - 41, l. ii. c. 1 - 22,) who is much indebted to the Epistles of the Popes. Le Beau (Hist. du Bas Empire, tom. xxi. p. 120 - 122) has found, perhaps in Doutreman, some laws of Henry, which determined the service of fiefs, and the prerogatives of the emperor.
36 Acropolita (c. 14) affirms, that Peter of Courtenay died by the sword, but from his dark expressions, I should conclude a previous captivity. The Chronicle of Auxerre delays the emperor's death till the year 1219; and Auxerre is in the neighborhood of Courtenay.
Note: Whatever may have been the fact, this can hardly be made out from the expressions of Acropolita. - M.
37 See the reign and death of Peter of Courtenay, in Ducange, (Hist. de C. P. l. ii. c. 22 - 28,) who feebly strives to excuse the neglect of the emperor by Honorius III.
38 Marinus Sanutus (Secreta Fidelium Crucis, l. ii. p. 4, c. 18, p. 73) is so much delighted with this bloody deed, that he has transcribed it in his margin as a bonum exemplum. Yet he acknowledges the damsel for the lawful wife of Robert.
39 See the reign of Robert, in Ducange, (Hist. de C. P. l. ii. c. - 12.)
40 Rex igitur Franciae, deliberatione habita, respondit nuntiis, se daturum hominem Syriae partibus aptum; in armis probum (preux) in bellis securum, in agendis providum, Johannem comitem Brennensem. Sanut. Secret. Fidelium, l. iii. p. xi. c. 4, p. 205 Matthew Paris, p. 159.
41 Giannone (Istoria Civile, tom. ii. l. xvi. p. 380 - 385) discusses the marriage of Frederic II. with the daughter of John of Brienne, and the double union of the crowns of Naples and Jerusalem.
42 Acropolita, c. 27. The historian was at that time a boy, and educated at Constantinople. In 1233, when he was eleven years old, his father broke the Latin chain, left a splendid fortune, and escaped to the Greek court of Nice, where his son was raised to the highest honors.
*_0014 John de Brienne, elected emperor 1229, wasted two years in preparations, and did not arrive at Constantinople till 1231. Two years more glided away in inglorious inaction; he then made some ineffective warlike expeditions. Constantinople was not besieged till 1234. - M.
43 Philip Mouskes, bishop of Tournay, (A.D. 1274 - 1282,) has composed a poem, or rather string of verses, in bad old Flemish French, on the Latin emperors of Constantinople, which Ducange has published at the end of Villehardouin; see p. 38, for the prowess of John of Brienne. N'Aie, Ector, Roll' ne Ogiers Ne Judas Machabeus li fiers Tant ne fit d'armes en estors Com fist li Rois Jehans cel jors Et il defors et il dedans La paru sa force et ses sens Et li hardiment qu'il avoit.
44 See the reign of John de Brienne, in Ducange, Hist. de C. P. l. ii. c. 13 - 26.
45 See the reign of Baldwin II. till his expulsion from Constantinople, in Ducange, Hist. de C. P. l. iv. c. 1 - 34, the end l. v. c. 1 - 33
46 Matthew Paris relates the two visits of Baldwin II. to the English court, p. 396, 637; his return to Greece armata manu, p. 407 his letters of his nomen formidabile, &c., p. 481, (a passage which has escaped Ducange;) his expulsion, p. 850.
47 Louis IX. disapproved and stopped the alienation of Courtenay (Ducange, l. iv. c. 23.) It is now annexed to the royal demesne but granted for a term (engage) to the family of Boulainvilliers. Courtenay, in the election of Nemours in the Isle de France, is a town of 900 inhabitants, with the remains of a castle, (Melanges tires d'une Grande Bibliotheque, tom. xlv. p. 74 - 77.)
48 Joinville, p. 104, edit. du Louvre. A Coman prince, who died without baptism, was buried at the gates of Constantinople with a live retinue of slaves and horses.
49 Sanut. Secret. Fidel. Crucis, l. ii. p. iv. c. 18, p. 73.


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The Fabulous Baker Brothers' Wheaten bread
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Try this recipe for delicious Wheaten Bread from 'The Fabulous Baker Brothers Glorious British Grub' book, out on 28 February.
450g strong wholemeal flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g oats, plus extra for the tin
20g butter, plus extra for the tin
100ml black treacle
200ml full-fat milk
200ml buttermilk
1. Heat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3. If you have one, place a baking stone in the oven to heat for 10 minutes.
2. Put the flour, salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and oats in a bowl, and mix to combine.
3. Gently heat the butter and treacle in a pan until melted. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients, along with the milk and buttermilk.
4. Mix well until you reach a soft, wet dough. This may seem too wet but don't worry, it's just right, and it makes fantastic bread.
5. Grease a large (2lb) non-stick loaf tin with butter and dust with a sprinkling of oats. Place the wet dough in the loaf tin. If you want a loaf that doesn't rise too much in the centre – such as if you want a regular square for making sandwiches – then gently indent the centre of the dough with wet knuckles, so it's lower than the edges. It will rise up to meet the edges as it bakes.
6. Sprinkle the top with a light scattering of oats and cover with foil. Bake in the oven, on the hot baking stone, for 35 minutes, then remove the foil and bake it for a further 10 minutes to get some colour on top. Remove from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.


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Nutrition Facts
Ingredients and Preparation
- Heat oil in medium saucepan. Add celery, onion, and green pepper, and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add corn, potatoes, water, salt, pepper, and paprika. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook covered for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Place 1/2 cup of milk in jar with tightfitting lid. Add flour and shake vigorously.
- Gradually add milk-flour mixture to cooked vegetables. Then add remaining milk.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to boil and thickens. Serve garnished with chopped, fresh parsley.


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Giant Squids Land at Dover Air Force Base
By Air Force Master Sgt. Veronica A. Aceveda and Airman 1st Class Shen-Chia Chu
Special to American Forces Press Service
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., July 14, 2008 - A 326th Airlift Squadron aircrew landed at Dover Air Force Base, Del., July 11 with two giant squids in its cargo compartment.
The two sea creatures were transported in a C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft from Europe and will be delivered to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The female preserved specimen, which will become the largest on display in the United States, measures 24 and a half feet long. The male is 9 feet long.
"My daughter is going to think I am the coolest dad ever," said Air Force Master Sgt. Phillip Vicker, a 326th AS loadmaster whose mission was to load and balance all of the cargo, including the squids, onto the aircraft.
Even though none of the aircrew or passengers could physically see the squids, Vicker said, everyone could still see the long box labeled with 'giant squids' stickers.
"They were really pumped up about it; they kept asking, 'Are those really squids in there?'" he said. "Even we didn't believe it when we first saw it on the cargo manifest."
The shipping container for the pair of squids was not as long as the actual bodies inside. The project manager at the Smithsonian, Elizabeth Musteen, said this was because the specimens' arms and tentacles were folded over the top of their mantles. However, when on display, the female will be fully expanded horizontally, and the male will be encased in a vertical state, she added.
"These specimens, brought up in deep-sea fishing nets off the coast of northern Spain, are expected to be a main attraction," Musteen said.
The giant squids will make their public debut Sept. 27, when the Smithsonian opens its new Sant Ocean Hall, an exhibition area designed to support ocean education.
"I can't wait to take the family to the display," said Air Force Maj. Mark Chagaris, one of the C-17 pilots who brought the deep ocean dwellers to the United States. "I can say, 'Your daddy helped bring that over here.'"
After unloading the squids from the C-17, four 436th Aerial Port Squadron airmen prepared the squids for transport to the Smithsonian by truck.
"There's nothing we can't handle," said Air Force Airman 1st Class David Strong, one of the four ramp services specialists who moved the 10-tentacled creatures. "If there's anything that needs to be shipped, we take care of it."
Dover's porters work for the world's largest aerial port, and are trained to load or unload cargo weighing 5 to 2 million pounds, and many have experience moving odd objects.
Air Force Senior Airman Michael Goicoechea, a ramp services specialist who helped to move the giant squids, said he has moved cargo ranging from submarines and Stryker vehicles to helicopters and Humvees.
"I was stationed previously at Kadena Air Base, Japan," he said. "But, I've moved more cargo working at Dover Air Force Base in five months than my two years in Kadena, and this is my first squid!"
While not trained to receive every single package, aerial port airmen here deal with all kinds of unexpected cargo.
"That is why our job is never boring," said Tech. Sgt. Steven Braddick, ramp services specialist shift supervisor, who has seen Air Force jets transport dolphins and parts for the space shuttle. "We're always learning and training throughout our career field, because who knows what else we'll be loading?"
(Air Force Master Sgt. Veronica A. Aceveda serves with the 512th Airlift Wing, and Air Force Airman 1st Class Shen-Chia Chu serves with the 436th Airlift Wing.)
*Related Sites:*
Dover Air Force Base [ http://public.dover.amc.af.mil/ ]
C-17 Globemaster III [ http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=86 ]
Giant Squids Land at Dover Air Force Base [ http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50498 ]


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Black Knights of the Hudson Book II: Boots and Saddles
Black Knights of the Hudson is a series of books about a fictional U.S. Army family from 1860 through World War II. The audiobooks should appeal to listeners who enjoy historical fiction, family sagas, and military fiction. Book II: Boots and Saddles (1868 to 1883) is the second installment in the story of the MacKendrick Army family, who live by West Point's motto of "Duty, Honor, Country".
With the Civil War over, James seeks a return to the cheerful fatalism of the professional soldier, and is even willing to serve in the hated Cavalry. Timothy, cooling his heels in a Staff position, has his hands full with his willful wife who has yet to learn that a good Army wife does not hesitate to follow her husband - even to dismal outposts in the Western territories. She pays a heavy price for her obstinacy and independence in the glittering social whirl of post-Civil War New York.
Gwyneth O'Donnell, a young Army brat at an Arizona post, has learned the role of a true Army wife at her mother's knee and is prepared to throw herself into a passionate love for a professional soldier in a way that Timothy's wife cannot match. In Arizona and the turmoil of the Plains, James and Timothy face Apache, Cheyenne, and Sioux in the great Indian wars of the post-Civil War era as they come to terms with a military policy that in one breath wants to protect Indian treaty lands and, in the next, seeks to conquer them in the name of Manifest Destiny.


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TULSA, Okla. (AP) Dwayne Davis and Jerrold Brooks scored 11 points each, and Jonathan Mills grabbed 11 rebounds as Southern Mississippi won its ninth game in a row, beating Tulsa 62-59 on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles (17-4, 6-0 Conference USA) have won 11 of their last 12. They owned a 44-29 rebounding edge and outscored the Golden Hurricane 24-10 in the paint.
Southern Miss led for the final 12 minutes, but Tulsa pulled within 58-57 on Pat Swilling Jr.'s 3-pointer with 1:48 left. Neil Watson made a free throw with 19 seconds left for the Golden Eagles, and Jonathan Mills made three free throws in the final 8 seconds. Tulsa got off one last shot but missed before the buzzer.
Swilling led Tulsa (12-9, 4-3) with 14 points. James Woodard had 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals, Kauri Black scored 12 and Scottie Haralson added 11 points for the Golden Hurricane.