text:
- Thank you for visiting the Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site.
Our privacy policy is simple: we do not automatically collect personal information (like names or addresses) when you visit our website. If you choose to provide that information to us, it is only used to fulfill your request for information or a service.
- Technical Information Collected and How It is Used
We do collect some technical information when you visit in order to make your visit seamless. The following section explains how we handle and collect technical information when you visit our website.
Information Collected and Stored Automatically
When you browse, read pages or download information on Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site, we automatically gather and store specific technical information about your visit. This information (listed below) never identifies who you are.
The Internet Protocol address and domain name used but not the e-mail address. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the Internet Protocol address to download the pages you request to your computer;
- The type of browser and operating system and the connection speed;
- The date and time you visited this site;
- The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and
- The web site you visited prior to coming to this web site.
The information we automatically collect or store is used to improve the content of our web services and to help us understand how people are using our services. The Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department analyzes web site logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our sites. Web site logs are not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link them with the individuals that browse the Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site.
- E-mail and Forms
If, during your visit to the Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site, you fill in a form or send an e-mail to Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department via the web site, the following additional information will be collected:
- E-mail Correspondence – The e-mail address and contents of the e-mail; and
- Forms – Any information you volunteered in response to a request for a service.
The information collected is not limited to text characters and may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us. The information is retained in accordance with Idaho Open Records Law.
We use your e-mail address to respond appropriately. This may be to reply to you, to address issues you identify, to further improve our web site, or to forward the e-mail to another agency for appropriate action. Forms information is used only for the purpose designated.
- Personal Information and Choice
"Personal information" is information about an individual that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes personal identifiers, such as an individual's name, address, and phone number. Domain names and Internet Protocol addresses are not considered personal information.
We collect no personal information about you unless you voluntarily participate in an activity that asks for information (i.e. sending an e-mail or filling in a form). If you choose not to participate in these activities, your choice will in no way affect your ability to use any other feature of Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site.
If personal information is requested on the web site or volunteered by the user, Idaho State law and the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 may protect it. However, this information is a public record, once you provide it, and may be subject to public inspection and copying if not protected by federal or state law.
Users are cautioned that the collection of personal information requested from or volunteered by children online or by e-mail will be treated the same as information given by an adult and may be subject to public access.
- Public Disclosure
In the State of Idaho, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by State government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records that serve various needs: the privacy of individuals is included among these exceptions in both state and federal laws.
We strive to protect personally identifiable information by collecting only information necessary to deliver our services. All information collected at this site becomes a public record that may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exemption in law exists. In the event of a conflict between this Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department Privacy Notice and the Idaho Open Records Law, or other laws governing the disclosure of records, the Idaho Open Records Law or other applicable laws will control.
- Cookies
We DO NOT use cookies to track your visit to our website.
- Security
Appropriate security measures are used by the Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department to protect the integrity of the Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site.
Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site has links to other websites, including links to web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private businesses. When you link to another site, you are no longer on Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site and this Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site Privacy Notice will not apply; you are subject to the privacy policy of that new site.
- Contact Information
To offer comments about Bear Lake County Sheriff's Department web site or this Privacy Notice, please contact …
Sheriff Bart Heslington
30 North Main Street
Paris, Idaho 83261
(208) 945-2121
You can also send comments using the Contact Form links in the footer section below.


text:
Our Sponsors
Rauhut retires from the U.S. Army
After 30 years of distinguished service, GMC Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Brig. Gen. Curt A. Rauhut officially retired from the Army Friday. The ceremony, led by GMC President Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell (Ret.), included Corps of Cadets processional, presentation of colors, casing of the General Officer Flag and pass in review. Rev. Stephanie Caldwell delivered the opening and closing prayer.Read More

subset: commoncrawl


text:
RALEIGH, N.C. (RNS) The throngs of demonstrators who flock to the grassy knoll outside the North Carolina Statehouse each Monday know the drill.
They listen to a fiery speech denouncing the Republican majority's legislative actions. They sing freedom songs and chant civil rights slogans. Then they march two by two into the legislative building to be handcuffed by police and arrested for failing to obey orders to disperse.
Leading them in this weekly rite of nonviolent civil disobedience is the Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the state's NAACP chapter. Since assuming the state presidency eight years ago, he has waged numerous battles challenging local and state governments to extend educational opportunities, broaden the voting base, provide health care and more generally lift up the poor.
At a time when the country is becoming less religious and liberal politicians shy away from faith-based rhetoric, this Disciples of Christ minister, steeped in the activist traditions of the black church, has emerged as a galvanizing force in North Carolina's pushback against the Republican-dominated legislature.
And with his bearlike stature and thundery oratory, he has towered over his secular political counterparts.
Over the course of nearly two months, he has prodded 480 North Carolinians to get arrested during weekly "Moral Monday" demonstrations. At Monday's (June 24) demonstration, Barber expected nearly 300 more at what is billed "Mass Moral Monday."
"He communicates the message of the South with a power I had heard only in recordings of Dr. Martin Luther King," said Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, a Christian writer and activist in Durham who has known the preacher since he was in high school.
With Barber steering the opposition to cuts in unemployment benefits, health care funding, voting rights and environment regulations, the movement has taken on the feel of a church revival. Each demonstration begins with a call to join hands and pray. Barber's speech is inflected with biblical references to Pharaoh, Goliath, good and evil. Then there are the folksy civil rights refrains: "Woke up this morning with my mind set on justice," and "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around."
With his photo in the newspapers and on TV, the 49-year-old Barber has become as well known as Gov. Pat McCrory and Republican leaders of the House and Senate.
At a Durham coffee shop last week, web developer Jim McManus walked up to Barber to say, "Thank you for all you're doing with Moral Monday."
"I'm really alarmed at what's happening," said McManus, of Durham. Barber encouraged his visitor to attend Moral Mondays and stop by and say hello.
To outsiders, North Carolina is often indistinguishable from a host of Southern states with equally conservative social and fiscal agendas. But in fact, it has long been a moderate state in which Democrats controlled the governor's office for 20 years, and until last year, controlled at least one body of the legislature since the 1800s.
No one knows this better than Barber, an avid student of the state's history. Barber talks incessantly of his vision for "fusion politics" modeled after a period in the late 19th century when the state's Populist and Republican parties, blacks and whites, joined forces to govern the state.
He points out he's not wedded to the Democratic Party but rather to coalitions that are willing to fight for just causes.
"Narrow-minded, isolated agendas aren't going to hold themselves up as meaningful in the changing demographics of our country," he said. "A regressive agenda doesn't fit."
To that end, he rises at 6 a.m. each day and spends countless hours crisscrossing the state in a black GMC Yukon, meeting with various constituencies and building an ever-growing coalition.
After speaking to a conference of United Church of Christ ministers, he climbed into his car, got on his cell phone and joined a conference call with ministers, rabbis and academics. By 10 p.m., he set off for the 90-minute commute back to Goldsboro where he lives with his wife and five children.
The feverish activism is something he learned from his father. Barber was born in Indianapolis on Aug. 30, 1963 — two days after the Rev. Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His father, William, a minister and an activist, was so swept up by the civil rights movement, he decided to move his family back to North Carolina and enroll his only son in a segregated school.
North Carolina's public school began to desegregate in the early 1970s, and Barber's parents helped lead the charge.
Barber picked up the mantle early. He was elected president of the NAACP's youth council at age 15, president of his high school's student body at 17, and student government president at North Carolina Central University at 19.
He worked for the Rev. Jesse Jackson's failed 1984 presidential bid, and succeeded in opening a voting precinct on campus.
After completing a master's at Duke Divinity School, he settled into the life of a pastor but very quickly found himself fighting on behalf of his congregants for clean water or the right of labor groups to organize.
"There's no one who works harder," said Rob Stephens, the field secretary for the NAACP chapter. "You can never do as much as what he's going to do."
All that activism hasn't won him many friends among Republicans in Raleigh, some of whom have dubbed the protests "Moron Mondays" and labeled the demonstrators "mostly white, angry, aged former hippies."
"They're counterproductive," said Rep. Craig Horn, a Republican who represents Union County outside Charlotte, referring to the demonstrations. "I appreciate the concerns many people are voicing, and the desire to be heard on a number of issues. But the way they're going about it serves no good purpose. It's all show and no go."
There's no question Barber is a polarizing figure to some, and that may be the reason there haven't been any serious face-to-face conversations between the lawmakers and the demonstrators.
"I think intelligent black men scare people," said the Rev. Nancy Petty, pastor of Raleigh's Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, a liberal congregation active on many social justice issues.
Barber, too, may recognize there's little maneuvering space with the current legislature. He's focused on legal challenges and voter registration drives intended to stop the government's actions in its tracks.
"We may not sprint forward," he acknowledged, "but there's a resistance to going backward." That's why he's picked the slogan for his campaign: "Forward together. Not one step back."
And then there are the arrests. On Monday morning, Barber was in court to challenge them on constitutional grounds. But on Monday night, many will proudly wear a gray and white pin. It reads: "I went to jail with Rev. Barber."


text:
Even the flailing NY Times felt obliged to admit the IG report was not all roses and chocolate for Hillary supporters and Trump bashers.
Report Gives Trump an Opening, but Undercuts His Narrative
WASHINGTON — The report that had much of Washington buzzing on Thursday required 500 pages to outline its findings, but to President Trump, three words mattered most — "we'll stop it."
Those were the words that a senior F.B.I. agent texted in August 2016 to a colleague who was worried that Mr. Trump would win the election. For the president, that text seemed to validate his claim of a "deep state" conspiracy out to get him.
But the same inspector general report also undercut Mr. Trump's narrative. Whatever the agent, Peter Strzok, meant, the F.B.I. did not "stop" Mr. Trump, nor did the inspector general find evidence it tried. To the extent that the F.B.I. and its director at the time, James B. Comey, did anything wrong in 2016, according to the report, it was to the disadvantage of Mr. Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Yeah, yeah. This will not satisfy either side. Not to suggest I have any idea what would.


text:
APPLE iPhone 7 (Rose Gold, 32 GB)
Take your iPhone experience to the next level with iPhone 7. Featuring new camera systems, a better battery-life, an efficient processor and powerful stereo speakers, this smartphone will drastically enhance your iPhone experience. With a sharp and vibrant display, and a sleek water-resistant body, this phone is as powerful as it is attractive.
The iPhone 7 features a unibody design that is easy to hold. Bead-blasted aluminum is used to give this phone's body an elegant matte finish. The enclosure of the phone is water and splash resistant, so you don't have to worry about spills, splashes and dust.
The Home button is also re-engineered to be more responsive, durable and pressure sensitive. It works in tandem with the Taptic Engine to provide you with precise tactile feedback every time. The advanced Touch ID fingerprint sensor makes using your phone safer, easier and faster.
Featuring a six-element lens, an ƒ/1.8 aperture and a Quad-LED True Tone flash, the 12MP primary camera of this smartphone lets you shoot excellent photos and up to 4K videos, even in low-light conditions. The rear camera also features wide color capture and optical image stabilization, so your Live Photos and regular images look more vivid and vibrant. The 7MP FaceTime HD camera, with Retina Flash and wide color capture, allows you to take beautiful, portrait-worthy selfies. The iPhone 7 is equipped with slo-mo support in 1080p and 720p HD.
The A10 Fusion chip of the iPhone 7 is equipped with an Apple-designed image signal processor that powers over 100 billion operations to make your photos look more beautiful.
Organize and share your photos in an easier and better way with the Photos app. It will sort your photos and videos into albums based on your preferences.
The 11.93 cm Retina HD display brings your images to life. It features 3D Touch, which makes the touchscreen more intuitive and responsive.
Thanks to the four-core design, the CPU of the A10 Fusion chip of this smartphone offers you a powerful performance, making multitasking a breeze. It also boosts your battery's life, so it can keep up with your active lifestyle.
This smartphone comes with 32GB internal storage capacity to offer you more room for all your favorite video clips, songs, applications and high-definition photos.
With powerful stereo speakers, the iPhone 7 offers you an immersive audio experience. The EarPods of this smartphone have a Lightning connector. You can also use the 3.5 mm headphone jack adapter when the need arises.
This smartphone supports VoLTE (high-quality wideband calls) to enhance the quality of your calls. It also allows you to answer calls over a Wi-Fi connection.
Apart from introducing a bold look, the iOS 13 provides major updates to apps that are used every day, new ways to safeguard your privacy, and improvements across the entire system that give you a faster and more delightful iPhone experience.
|In The Box
|Model Number
|Model Name
|Browse Type
|SIM Type
|Hybrid Sim Slot
|OTG Compatible
|SAR Value
|Display Size
|Resolution Type
|Display Type
|Other Display Features
|Operating System
|Processor Type
|Internal Storage
|Phone Book Memory
|Call Log Memory
|SMS Memory
|Primary Camera Available
|Primary Camera
|Primary Camera Features
|Secondary Camera Available
|Secondary Camera
|Secondary Camera Features
|HD Recording
|Full HD Recording
|Video Recording
|Video Recording Resolution
|Digital Zoom
|Frame Rate
|Video Call Support
|Phone Book
|Network Type
|Supported Networks
|Internet Connectivity
|3G Speed
|Pre-installed Browser
|Bluetooth Support
|Bluetooth Version
|Wi-Fi Version
|USB Connectivity
|Map Support
|GPS Support
|SIM Size
|Removable Battery
|Voice Input
|Graphics PPI
|Predictive Text Input
|Supported Languages
|Other Features
|Important Apps
|GPS Type
|Audio Formats
|Video Formats
|Battery Type
|Warranty Summary
Great product
Nitin Singh
Certified Buyer, New Delhi
Mar, 2020
Great product
Flipkart Customer
Certified Buyer, Mumbai
Oct, 2016
Great product
Neeladri V
Certified Buyer, Lucknow
Jul, 2020
Kishore Gagan
Certified Buyer, Adilabad District
Feb, 2020
Amazing service from Apple & Flipkart
Flipkart Customer
Certified Buyer, New Delhi
Oct, 2016
Umesh Yadav
Certified Buyer, Ponda
Feb, 2017
Must buy!
Flipkart Customer
Certified Buyer, Alappuzha District
Jan, 2020
Terrific purchase
Sameer Sharma
Certified Buyer, New Delhi
Jan, 2017
Sudhanshu pathak
Certified Buyer, Chennai
Dec, 2019


text:
A Basic Shopping Guide for Keto Beginners
This blog does not intend to provide diagnosis...
In this article:
- The Basics of the Keto Diet
- Helpful Supplements for Keto Beginners
- Essential Multivitamins, Electrolytes, Proteins, and More
- Easy Ways to Increase Fat Intake
- Essentials Include Avocado, MCT, and Peanut Butter
- Substitutes for Baking While Eating Keto
- Staples Include Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, and Stevia
The ketogenic diet requires a careful balance of fat, carbs, and protein. To maintain this balance with ease be sure to stock your keto pantry with a few essentials.
The key to the keto diet is that it changes the way the body uses fuel. By creating a deficit in carbohydrate consumption the metabolism switches to ketosis, a state where fat is burned for energy instead of carbohydrates. This diet has shown to be helpful for managing symptoms for some autoimmune disorders, monitoring blood sugar and improving muscle growth.
It can take a bit of time to rethink old cooking habits and figure out keto friendly meals that work for a person's individual needs. There is always a bit of a learning curve when a person starts keto, but trips to the grocery store don't have to be super overwhelming. This basic guide will share details about the key food groups that a person on the keto diet should look for while shopping.
The Basics of the Keto Diet
Before diving headfirst into the keto diet, it is important to understand which types of foods are recommended. In addition, one should be familiar with the essential guidelines of a ketogenic diet. The exact amount of food a person will eat depends on his or her current weight and fitness goals.
Generally, on the keto diet, people should get between 60 to 75 percent of their calories from fat, 15 to 30 percent from protein, and 5 to 10 percent from carbohydrates. To maintain a diet that fits in with these macronutrient counts, some common food staples will be meat, poultry, fish, full-fat cheese, grass-fed butter, plant oils, and low-carb vegetables. However, turning these basic staples into actual meals may require a few more necessities.
Helpful Supplements for Keto Beginners
There may be a bit of an adjustment period when first starting out on the ketogenic diet. Until the body makes the switch to ketosis, the lack of carbs can leave people feeling groggy, tired, and achy. This condition is often referred to as "the keto flu." In fact, it feels quite similar to having the regular flu. The keto flu will eventually go away on its own, but this does not mean that a person has to be stuck feeling miserable for days. There are some useful supplements that can help support energy levels when starting the diet.
Essential Multivitamins, Electrolytes, Proteins, and More
It is perfectly possible to be on the keto diet without being deficient in any vitamins and minerals. However, this requires careful tracking of all the nutrients consumed throughout the day. Taking a multivitamin can help to ensure proper nourishment and fill deficiencies that might leave the dieter feeling tired or grumpy.
A major reason why people lose a lot of weight immediately on the keto diet is that carbohydrates hold onto a lot of water. When a person stops eating carbohydrates, they immediately begin losing water weight which can be unpleasant. If it goes too far, dehydration can lead to a more severe case of the keto flu. Electrolyte powders can help the body to properly balance water intake so that a person gets the water they need.
There are also ways to get the keto process started right. For example, dehydroepiandrosterone is a type of hormone produced by certain glands in the body. Taking a DHEA supplement is not necessary for everyone, but it can help to jumpstart weight loss and muscle growth. DHEA works by boosting metabolism and increasing thyroid gland activity in the body.
It's important to note that many protein powders have the wrong balance of protein and carbs for people on the keto diet. Try a protein made from bone broth to meet the necessary protein macro needs each day. Bone broth protein is made from broth created from animal bones and contains healing collagen and amino acids. This can be an easy way to keep feeling energetic and alert even when dealing with the keto flu.
Easy Ways to Increase Fat Intake
The high fat intake associated with keto might seem indulgent and many dieters find that it becomes tricky to still make healthy choices. It is key to not choose fatty, greasy foods and opt for plant-based fats. These fats tasteless oily and heavy than fatty cuts of meat, and can easily be added to meals without affecting the overall taste or texture.
Essentials Include Avocado, MCT, and Peanut Butter
Many keto dieters like to add avocado to everything because it is loaded with healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. All of these healthy fats are concentrated even further in avocado oil. Another benefit of avocado oil is that it tastes delicious. It works well when mixed into salad dressings, meat marinades, and vegetable stir-fries.
MCT oil is made up of the medium chain triglycerides found in coconut oil. This vegan oil is very light and flavorless so it can be added to keto fat bombs and smoothies without changing the taste. It is also nice to have on hand because a person can easily take a shot of it when they just want to increase fat intake without having to cook. Overall, MCT oil is a great source of quick and easy energy.
It can be tricky to find peanut butter without added sugars in grocery stores. However, this product is useful enough to be worth a search around health food stores. Most of the calories in peanut butter come from fat. It can be mixed into baked goods, blended into smoothies, or eaten as a basic snack. Peanut butter can even be used in savory recipes to make things like a peanut dipping sauce for meat. However, it's important for dieters to find low-glycemic peanut butter.
Substitutes for Baking While Eating Keto
Although it may take a little more effort to find the right products, once a person has the right items, they can still bake favorites like biscuits, bread, cookies, pancakes, waffles, and cake while on the keto diet. The key is trying these useful substitutes.
Staples Include Almond Flour, Coconut Flour, and Stevia
Made from ground, dried nuts, almond flour is ideal for replacing wheat flour. Since it only has 1 gram of net carbs, dieters can do a one-to-one substitute in many recipes calling for wheat flour. Almond flour has a very neutral flavor that works well in foods. Plus, it is made from nuts, and it also has a small amount of helpful protein.
High in fiber and low in carbohydrates, coconut flour is another great option for keto baked goods. It is slightly fluffier and less dense than almond flour. Therefore, it is ideal when a person is baking something with a lighter texture. Keep in mind that coconut flour absorbs more moisture than wheat flour, so using it as a substitute may require adding extra liquids.
For sweetness, go for stevia. This is a nutrient-free extract made from the leaves of the stevia plant. It is very sweet, yet it has no carbs or calories. Stevia is 200 times as sweet as the same amount of sugar, so a person can use a little bit to get a big impact. There are plenty of great stevia products on the market. One can find-stevia based sweeteners for coffee or use powdered stevia in place of confectioners sugar to make an icing.


text:
To save this item to your Favourites, please sign in or register.
Spend $140.00 more and get free shipping!
Your cart is empty
We currently have 7 in stock
Your toddler will jump with joy when you make her these darling jumpers. Jumper have square necklines, lined yokes and tucks on the front and back. View A: Ribbons and bows accent the yoke, pockets and pleated ruffle at the lower edge, which buttons in the back. View B: Yoke and pockets contrast charmingly with the purchased piping. Jumper buttons at shoulder and pockets have flaps with buttons. Show your creativity and embellish the front with flowers made from scraps and covered buttons with ribbon or rick rack stems.Pattern includes ¼" (6 mm) seam allowances.
These Jumpers are designed for lightweight to medium-weight woven fabrics such as cotton, cotton types, twill, corduroy, denim.
Designer: Ellie Mae


text:
[fr] Je m'organise: pas de nouveaux mandats de formation ou de conférences avant mi-mars 2012 (priorité à mes engagements existants, l'agenda est plein!), utiliser la Technique Pomodoro sur la semaine pour mieux évaluer la charge de travail que représente les affaires courantes et mes mandats existants, et travaillers sur des conférences et formations "standard" plutôt que de tout faire à partir de zéro à chaque fois!
I'm trying to figure out how to get organized over the next six months to do everything I need/want to do without working myself into the ground. Or behind the sofa, cowering.
This is part of the ongoing "how to improve the way I run my business" thinking.
One thing I have clearly pinpointed is the following:
- almost all the work I do (including training and talks) is bespoke
- when the financial means of my clients are limited (e.g. many schools and small companies) I need to find a more rational way of using my time
This means I need to get to work on the dirty little secret of successful businesses and freelancers: reduce, recycle, reuse (thanks for that one, Suw). I need to work on preparing a certain number of "standard" talks and training sessions, rather than doing everything from scratch each time.
Until the end of the year, I already have a significant amount of commitments (or commitments-in-the-making, because we're still hashing out details or agreeing on a formal proposal). The good news around this is that I'm not too worried about paying my bills (I still have a way to go before I can relax completely about finances, though… but who can?). The bad news is that looking at my calendar for September/October/November is already making me feel stressed. (That's the calendar including future and probable gigs, though, it's not that bad.)
The other thing is that (probably overcompensating for too many years with almost no holidays) I am actually taking a large number of weeks off this year. I've counted, and I will not release the number, because it is somewhat indecent. It makes me feel a little better about being overworked when I'm here, though. And it does bring to my attention the fact I probably need to seek a little more balance between my "working time" and "holiday time".
Holidays play two roles for me:
- allow me time off from work to recuperate
- allow me to see people I love and who don't live in Lausanne or nearby
The first type of holiday clearly requires no working while I'm away. The second doesn't. There's no reason I can't go and spend a week in London with Suw and Steph, work while I'm there and hang out with them. This would also have the advantage of giving me a week clear of meetings and phone calls and visits, where I can concentrate on "office work". So, I'm going to plan some of those for 2012.
So, all that considered, if I look at my calendar now it's pretty clear to me I don't really have space for new speaking/training engagements until mid-March 2012 (except if they're paid well enough to make me happy to sacrifice my week-ends — never say never).
That's the wide-angle view for the year ahead.
On a more micro level, I've mentioned elsewhere (and in another language) that I've been using the Pomodoro Technique recently and it's really helping me. Here's how it helps:
- it gives me a clear amount of time to put my head down (like my "dashes" do)
- it makes me take breaks
- as I write down my Pomodoros, it helps me plan what I'm going to get done in the day/morning and adjust my expectations
The last bit is crucial. Specially when I have lots to do that is not deadly urgent, I have trouble setting priorities and get frustrated at how slowly I make progress. Now, if I know that during a 9-12 morning session I can do 5 pomodoros (= 5 times 25 minutes of actual work), it allows me to plan what I'm going to use them for. I might use one to make progress in my accounting backlog, one to make progress in a report I really don't want to write, two to write a blog post, and one to deal with some e-mail, get back to people, and plan the next day.
Used this way, the Pomodoro Technique is a very simple planning tool that takes a lot of stress away from me and allows me to put my energy in actually working.
There is less overhead than Getting Things Done, too: even if you want to do things well, reading the free ebook that explains the Pomodoro Technique takes about an hour. And you can dive right in: just get a timer, set it on 25 minutes, work non-stop on something, then take a five-minute break, and start again. It's deadly simple and is designed to be implemented in progressive steps (instead of degrading gracefully it upgrades gracefully). Check out the cheat sheet if you're impatient.
I should be able to fit 12 Pomodoros in a full day of work, but to play it safe, I'm counting on 10 right now. That means I have 50 Pomodoros available on a five-day week. The Pomodoro is a unit of time that my brain can work with, specially after a few days of working in Pomodoro-length bursts. It's much simpler than the hour, which is (a) longer and (b) divisible. (There is a rule that says "The Pomodoro is indivisible.")
This is helping me see what I can get done in a day, and therefore, a week. For example, I might estimate that I need on average one Pomodoro a day to get organized, do my accounting/invoicing, pay bills, sort through e-mails. Not the same mix every day, but roughly one a day. Right, five a week.
Then, I estimate that on one of the projects I'm working on, I need 3 Pomodoros a week. On another, two. Another might take up a day of my time each week, which means my weeks actually have closer to 40 Pomodoros than 50.
If you do project planning, you're familiar with this. It's nothing new. But in my case, the ability to think "in Pomodoros" has been the key to allowing my brain to do this kind of exercise. As I write down my Pomodoros in advance and check them off as they're done, within a few weeks I'll be easily able to see if my estimates are off and adjust them.
One thing I've been terribly bad at this last year is protecting a sufficient number of "office days" where I'm not interrupted by errands and meetings.
So, in summary, what's the plan?
- plan "working abroad" visits for 2012 to reduce the number of non-working holidays while still seeing non-local friends and family
- moratorium on new speaking/training engagements until mid-March 2012
- continue working in Pomodoros and gain a better sense of how much time I need for my regular "ongoing" tasks and projects so that I have a "weekly framework of Pomodoros" to get organized from
- work on standard talks and training offers (which will in the long run allow me to be more proactive and less reactive about finding clients)
- block an "office day" per week (monthly average)
Off I go!


text:
Original story follows.A new report says that the director for Star Wars: Episode VII has been found and it's none other than J.J. Abrams. The Wrap is reporting the huge news, saying that Abrams has agreed to direct the highly-anticipated film (to say the least) after months of being courted by new Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy. Just last month, Abrams specifically said he was not going to do the film (indicating he had been asked), but as The Wrap puts it, "The lure of the Jedi was too strong."
The Wrap goes on to say that Ben Affleck was also in contention for the Episode VII directing gig and speculate how Abrams taking the job might complicate Abrams' relationship with Paramount, where he's been directing the Star Trek series, with the second film in the new series, Star Trek Into Darkness, opening this summer. In addition, Abrams has been a producer on the Mission: Impossible series at Paramount, since directing the third film.The Wrap is a very reliable source for news of this sort, and credit "an individual with knowledge of the production" as their source. They note they reached out to Lucasfilm spokeswoman Lynne Hale, who declined to immediately comment.
The one note of caution here is the recent story about Zack Snyder directing a separate, stand-alone Star Wars film, which was first reported by the also-credible Vulture – only for Snyder's reps to say it wasn't true, even as Vulture stood by their sources. Lucasfilm is obviously being secretive with the Star Wars films as negotiations have been going on with directors, so we'll all be waiting to see when they officially comment on this report that Abrams is the guy making The Movie We're All Waiting For.


text:
Black Hole Exploits Kit. Another crimeware in addition to criminal supply
In this case, it's Black Hole Exploits Kits, a web application developed in Russia but also incorporates for the English language interface, and the first version (beta at the moment) is trying to fit into the black market since early September 2010. Its cost is determined based on a number of features that attempt to differentiate from the rest.
This module offers a quick view of the most relevant information for a botmaster: number of computers that are part of the network and their respective countries, exploits with higher success rates and other information processing.
The trend marks a slight but gradual increase in committed operating systems that do not belong to the family of Microsoft. This includes crimeware *NIX based platforms such as GNU/Linux and Mac OS. Others, such as Siberia Exploit Pack and Eleonore Exploits Kit includes platforms for high-end mobile devices and gaming consoles.
To carry out this verification, is used more often VirTest, the private service of Russian origin that has become a favorite of criminals to control the reputation not only malware but also spread exploits of the pack. There are several crimeware packages that have recently joined VirTest module, including the latest version of SpyEye.
As for the exploits, which incorporates all of the time are public and widely used by most current crimeware. However, these exploits have the highest rate of success in exploitation.
Through this module displays the statistical data on the ability of success that has every one of the exploits that are part of crimeware.
Also has a self-defensive module means which can block access to certain security websites by URL or IP address ranges. In the next image is set to block access to websites Kaspersky Antivirus:
Through this module can also import or export a list of addresses to block.
Related information
Crimeware-as-a-Service and antivirus evasion schemes
Criminal activities from BKCNET "SIA" IZZI / ATECH-SAGADE - Part one [Whitepaper]
Founder & Director of MalwareIntelligence
Crimeware & Intelligence Analyst Researcher


text:
Last summer's big hit for CBS, Under the Dome will return for its sophomore season Monday, June 30th (10/9C); this season's new CBS event series, Extant – starring Halle Berry – will premiere Wednesday, July 2nd (9/8C).
The press release follows the jump.
"Under the Dome" Returns Monday, June 30, 10:00 PM With the Premiere Episode Written by Stephen King
"Extant," Starring Academy Award Winner Halle Berry, Premieres Wednesday, July 2, 9:00 PM
CBS today announced premiere dates for its two scripted summer event series—UNDER THE DOME and EXTANT, both produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television.
UNDER THE DOME returns for its sophomore season on Monday, June 30 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). The premiere episode will be written by Stephen King, whose bestselling novel the series is based on. UNDER THE DOME was last summer's #1 program, averaging 15.06 million viewers and 3.9/11 in adults 18-49, ranking as the most-watched scripted summer series in 21 years.
UNDER THE DOME tells the story of a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. The town's inhabitants must deal with surviving the post-apocalyptic conditions while searching for answers to what this barrier is, where it came from, and if and when it will go away.
EXTANT, starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry, premieres Wednesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT).
EXTANT is a mystery thriller about a female astronaut trying to reconnect with her family when she returns after a year in outer space. Her experiences lead to events that ultimately will change the course of human history.
UNDER THE DOME is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Amblin Television. Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, Neal Baer, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Stacey Snider, Jack Bender and Brian K. Vaughan are executive producers.
EXTANT is a co-production of CBS Television Studios and Amblin Television. Steven Spielberg, Greg Walker, Mickey Fisher, who wrote the script, Brooklyn Weaver, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank will serve as executive producers. Halle Berry will serve as co-executive producer. The series will be distributed domestically by CBS Television Distribution and worldwide by CBS Studios International.
Photos Courtesy of CBS


text:
Two living rooms with black ceiling pendant lights hanging directly over the coffee tables.
One is a large oversized drum pendant light…in the other living room, a cluster of smaller black pendants is used.
The question is…which do you prefer?
So what do you think? I definitely like the large drum pendant light the best. Makes a bold statement.
Happy Friday!
P.S. As I mentioned, we did a big photo shoot with fab photographer Hugh Hamilton right before Christmas for the new COCOCOZY 2013 catalog. We shot at sis DS's house here in Los Angeles. Here are some photos I took at the shoot – a sneak peek of a few of the shots that are being considered for the cover. These shots feature the COCOCOZY Classic Collection of linen pillows. We'll be introducing a whole new line in 2013 named COCOCOZY Light (I will show you those pillows soon…not yet…but soon). That is JW, who assists over at COCOCOZY, arranging the pillows in the second shot! This was the first time we shot during the day and the first time we finished within 8 hours!
|COCOCOZY textile collection at our most recent catalog shoot! (above)
|JW primping pillows from the COCOCOZY Collection at the photo shoot! (above)
P.P.S. Hope you have a great weekend!
Photos: Skona Hem; Coco of COCOCOZY


text:
Decisions concerning the products we buy, the Web sites we click on, the movies we watch and even where we send our children to college are all affected by rankings. But did you ever wonder who or what is making all these rating decisions? Are they subjective opinions, or is something else going on under the covers?
Put yourself in Mark Zuckerberg's place when he rated and ranked the women of Harvard University for his Facemash site that evolved into Facebook. The most straightforward method would be to ask people to vote for their favorite; a coed's rating would simply be the number of votes received. But this doesn't work well, because rarely are all votes equal. For example, an uninformed vote is usually not as valuable as one from a knowledgeable person, or, in the case of Facemash, a voter's gender might matter.
But assigning weights to voters is often not feasible, especially when voters' identities are unknown, so you might try the Bowl Championship Series approach used to rate college football teams. Applied to a top-10 list of coeds, it would work in this way: Ask voters to assign a score of 10 to their favorite, 9 to their second favorite, and so on. Add up the scores for each woman to arrive at a rating.
Most football fans, however, prefer that their sports teams be ranked according to how well they fare in head-to-head competition. In fact, the pressure from fans has become so great that college football commissioners announced in April that they are contemplating play-off games for the 2014 season. Zuckerberg instinctively knew that implementing head-to-head matchups is a better way to establish ratings. He implemented pair-wise comparisons by displaying a pair of photographs and asking, "Which is hotter?" Scoring is easy. Each matchup is scored by allotting one point to the winner and zero to the loser (each gets half of a point in case of a tie).
But how does this get turned into ratings? Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born physicist and avid chess player, theorized that a reasonable approach would be to establish a mean performance level for each player as competition ensues. Once ratings are assigned, they should be changed only in proportion to the degree to which a player performs above or below his or her mean. Elo's idea was later refined by replacing each player's overall mean performance by a relative measure that reflects the expected performance when one player is matched specifically against another player. The logic is that the difference between two players' ratings before they meet should suggest what to expect when they are matched against each other.
Elo's elegant idea has become ubiquitous throughout the gaming world, as well as in soccer and American football. But in each case, the scheme is tweaked to suit the specifics of the competition. We still cannot say that it is the best way to rate and rank things—because there is no best way. In 1951 Kenneth Arrow, a mathematical economist, proved that there can be no optimal ranking system that also satisfies certain fairness criteria. Thus, the controversy lives on, keeping raters and rankers in business by continually tweaking and tailoring their systems to fit specialized needs.


text:
The National STEM Video Game Challenge is a competition for students, in grades 5-12, to develop video games for prizes and national recognition.
As community anchor institutions, museums and libraries offer the right mix of staff, technology, and facilities to serve as ideal venues for creative game design learning. With support from IMLS, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media host youth game-design workshops and staff webinars for museum and library professionals. They also provide tools and dynamic online museum- and library-specific content to expand the capacity of these institutions to help students create games and participate in the Challenge.
The Challenge website features a mentor resource kit, a hands-on workshop guide, resources on game design and STEM skills, and information on STEM Challenge events.
For more information about game design workshops:
- Gaming for Libraries (PDF, 2.9 MB)
- Gaming for Museums (PDF, 2.6 MB)


text:
1. Look them in the eyes Eye contact is a definite must. There's a reason we're taught to do it from an early age. It helps build trust between you and whoever you're talking to. If they do it too, then the trust only builds more. 2. Have a firm handshake Having a firm handshake shows that you have strength – sounds a little obvious now, doesn\'t it? It lets the other person that you are capable of being friendly as well as assertive and in charge. 3. Be polite We have covered the e...
Most of us want to be good employees -- and most of us want to excel at our jobs. To be a ...
Perception is reality. We have only to listen to two distinct descriptions of the same workplace confrontation to know that people in conflict view the same event entirely differently. The most astonishing thing about these opposing versions of the same event is that neithe...
Don't Leave Your Desk Without Your Cell Phone Leaving your cell phone on your desktop can be very disruptive to your colleagues, if it rings. Keep your cell phone along with you, or put it on ...
Here are some ways in which interpersonal relationships in the workplace can be improved: ...
This site is owned by Generacity, Inc. This Privacy Policy is designed to tell you about our practices regarding collection, use, and disclosure of information that you may provide via this site. Please be sure to read this entire Privacy Policy before using, or submitting information, to this site. This site is governed solely by applicable Federal and State laws and governmental regulations in the United States. Use of this site constitutes your consent to application of such laws and regulations and to our Privacy Policy.
By using this site, you agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy. Whenever you submit information via this site, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
This site is not intended for children under the age of 13. We will not knowingly seek site visitors in this age group. We encourage parents to talk to their children about their use of the Internet and the information they disclose to Web sites.
Like many Web sites, this site actively collects information from its visitors both by asking you specific questions and by permitting you to communicate directly with us via e-mail, feedback forms, and/or chat rooms. Some of the information that you submit may be personally identifiable information (that is, information that can be uniquely identified with you, such as your full name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and so on). Some areas of this site may require you to submit information in order for you to benefit from the specified features (such as members only live or on-demand videos and subscribing to channel RSS feeds) or to participate in a particular activity (such as providing feedback or CME testing). You will be informed at each information collection point what information is required and what information is optional.
When you join Generacity.com you will be given the option of receiving recurring informational/promotional newsletters via email from Generacity, its affiliates and/or directly from the content providers of the content you view. These emails will not contain Personal Information. At the time you sign up for our email newsletters or any time thereafter, you can choose to Opt-In or Opt-Out to receiving additional promotional emails from Generacity.
As you navigate through a Web site, certain information can be passively collected (that is, gathered without your actively providing the information) using various technologies and means, such as Internet Protocol addresses, cookies, Internet tags, and navigational data collection (e.g., the page from which you accessed our site).
This site may collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. An IP Address is a unique number assigned to your computer by your Internet service provider so you can access the Internet. We use this IP address to diagnose problems with our server, report aggregate information (e.g., how many site visitors have we had during a Webcast), determine the fastest route for your computer to use in connecting to our site, and administer and improve the site.
A "cookie" is a small text file that a Web server sends to your PC, which helps the site retain information about you and your preferences, so that you do not have to manually reenter these when you return to our site.
"Session" cookies are temporary cookies that are erased once you exit your Web browser window or otherwise turn your computer off. Session cookies are used to lend continuity to navigating our site and to collect aggregate statistical information. This site uses session cookies.
"Navigational data" ("log files," "server logs," and "clickstream" data) are used for system management, to improve the content of the site, for market research purposes, and to communicate information to visitors. This site uses navigational data.
Any information shared (including Personally Identifiable and Personal Health Information) that you reveal in a blogs, article, forums and chat room or message board, is by design open to the public and is not a private, secure service. You should think carefully before disclosing any Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information in any public forum. What you have written may be seen, disclosed to or collected by third parties and may be used by others in ways we are unable to control or predict, including to contact you for unauthorized purposes.
Sponsors or advertisers on Generacity may use their own Cookies, Web Beacons or other online tracking technologies in the banner advertisements served on Generacity and in emails, special promotions or newsletters we send you. Some advertisers use companies other than Generacity to serve their ads and to monitor users' responses to ads, and these companies ("Ad Servers") may also collect Non-Personal Information through the use of Cookies or Web Beacons on our Web site. In certain situations, information collection may be facilitated by momentarily directing your browser to the Web site of an Ad Server or other third party acting on behalf of the sponsor, partner, or advertiser before re-directing your browser to its selected destination (e.g., back to Generacity to show the ad, or to the advertiser's website); this re-direction process will not be apparent to you. Certain Ad Servers allow you to prevent them from collecting data through the use of cookies. In order to do so, you must opt-out of such data collection with each individual site. Currently, you can Opt-out of Cookies for several Ad Servers by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative gateway Opt-out site. This website will also allow you to review the Ad Server's privacy policies.
Regardless of how information about you is gathered or used on this site, we have made every effort to conform with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which, among other things, protects the privacy of a person's health history and current medical condition.
Except as otherwise stated, we may use your information to improve the content of our site, to customize the site to your preferences, to communicate information to you (if you have requested it), for our marketing and research purposes, and for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy.
If you provide personally identifiable information to this site, we may combine such information with other actively collected information unless we specify otherwise at the point of collection. We will take reasonable measures to prevent personally identifiable information from being combined with passively collected information, unless you consent otherwise.
We may disclose your personally identifiable information to our associates worldwide that agree to treat it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. In addition, we may disclose your personally identifiable information to third parties, located in the United States and/or any other country, but only
In addition, we will make full use of all information acquired through this site that is not in personally identifiable form.
To keep your personally identifiable information accurate, current, and complete, please contact us as specified below. We will take reasonable steps to update, remove or correct personally identifiable information in our possession that you have previously submitted via this site.
We take reasonable steps to protect your personally identifiable information as you transmit your information from your computer to our site and to protect such information once it is in our possession from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. You should keep in mind that no Internet transmission is ever 100% secure or error-free. In particular, e-mail sent to or from this site may not be secure, and you should therefore take special care in deciding what information you send to us via e-mail. Moreover, where you use passwords, ID numbers, or other special access features on this site, it is your responsibility to safeguard them.
This site may contain links or references to other Web sites. Please be aware that we do not control other Web sites and that, in any case, this Privacy Policy does not apply to those Web sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every Web site you visit.
Your use of this site is subject to our Legal Notice.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the information practices of this site, please contact us as follows:
Privacy Director Generacity, Inc. 1 Mercantile Street, STE 560 Worcester, MA 01608
If this Privacy Policy changes, the revised policy will be posted on this site. Please check back periodically, and especially before you provide any personally identifiable information. This Privacy Policy was last updated on November 1, 2012.
These Terms of Use ("Terms") apply to your access to www.Generacity.com and to websites of Generacity, Inc. and its affiliates ("Generacity", "Advans" or "we") that are linked directly or indirectly from this Website (the "Subsites"). Your access to a Subsite is also subject to that Subsite's terms of use. To the extent that any provision of these Terms conflict with the Subsite's terms, the Subsite's terms prevail.
All contents on this Website or the Subsites and all copyrights, trademarks and any other intellectual property rights related to these contents are owned by Generacity or the owner of such contents. Except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law, no contents on this Website or the Subsites may be used, copied, modified, translated, distributed or otherwise utilized without the prior permission of Generacity or the owner of the contents. Generacity reserves the right to add, delete, or modify these Terms or the contents of this Website or the Subsites at any time without notice.
The contents on this Website or the Subsites are provided "AS IS" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied (including, but not limited to, any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, or non-infringement of third parties' rights). Generacity does not warrant that the contents are error-free. Generacity will use reasonable efforts to place accurate and up-to-date information on this Website but makes no warranty of its accuracy, completeness and/or timeliness.
Except for this Website and the Subsites, Generacity does not operate or maintain contents on websites that are directly or indirectly linked from this Website or the Subsites (the "Linked Sites"). Any reference to a Linked Site or to a specific third party's product or service on the Website, the Subsites, or a Linked Site, is not a recommendation by Generacity. Generacity disclaims liabilities for access to and use of Linked Sites.
Generacity is not liable for direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, or other damages (including, but not limited to, economic losses, lost profits, lost revenues, or lost data) arising out of the access to or inability to access to this Website, the Subsites or the Linked Sites, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Any materials, information, or ideas that you transmit to or post to the Website or the Subsites ("Transmitted Material") is deemed non-confidential and non-proprietary and Generacity has no obligations including without limitation confidentiality obligations in connection with the Transmitted Material.


text:
…at least, some of them. I've been working on the program for the CM Summit next month, and it's turning from good work to fun work. I just got off the phone with a major brand (whose name I'll protect) who promised to pull no punches when it comes to the issue of measurement in digital media, for example. Join him and scores of other senior marketing execs at the CM Summit in San Francisco. And expect a few more surprises in the next couple of weeks….Register here!
Here's the release.


text:
Rule Interchange Format (RIF)
The goal of RIF is to define a standard for exchanging rules among rule systems, in particular among Web rule engines. RIF focuses on exchange rather than defining a single one-fits-all rule language because, in contrast to other Semantic Web standards, such as RDF, OWL, and SPARQL, it was immediately clear that a single language would not cover all popular paradigms of using rules for knowledge representation and business modeling. Even rule exchange alone was quickly recognized to be a daunting task. Known rule systems fall into three broad categories: first-order, logic-programming, and action rules. These paradigms share little in the way of syntax and semantics. Moreover, there are large differences between systems even within the same paradigm.
The approach taken by the RIF Working Group is to design a family of languages, called dialects, with rigorously specified syntax and semantics. The family of RIF dialects is intended to be uniform and extensible. RIF uniformity means that dialects are expected to share as much as possible of the existing syntactic and semantic apparatus. Extensibility here means that it should be possible for motivated experts to define a new RIF dialect as a syntactic extension to an existing RIF dialect, with new elements corresponding to desired additional functionality. These new RIF dialects would be non-standard when defined, but might eventually become standards.
Recommended Reading
The official RIF documents include a RIF Overview that provides a high-level explanation of RIF concepts and architecture as well as a general survey of RIF documents.
A number of textbooks have been published on Semantic Web in general, including the theory and practice of rule languages on the Web. Please, refer to a separate page listing some of those, as maintained by the community. That list also includes references to conference proceedings and article collections that might be of general interest.
Tools that are listed as relevant to RIF
(Note that you can browse tools per tool categories or programming languages, too.)
Last modified and/or added
The description of the following tools have been added and/or modified most recently.
All relevant tools
This is a list of all tools listed on this wiki, and that are marked as relevant to RIF.
|http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/#rdf +
|The goal of RIF is to define a standard for exchanging rules among rule systems, in particular among Web rule engines. +
|http://www.w3.org/2002/01/tr-automation/techs#rdf +
|http://www.w3.org/standards/techs/rdf +
"Date" is a type and predefined property provided by Semantic MediaWiki to represent date values.
|June 22, 2010 +


text:
Apple has used Intel chips in their products since 2006 (and things have gone pretty well). But according to AppleInsider, Apple is in high-level discussions with AMD to adopt other processor tech.
In fact, Apple has been doing more than just talking; they've even been testing AMD chipsets in their labs.
How could this be, especially when Intel chips are currently outperforming AMD at a noticeable margin? A while back, DigiTimes reported that Apple was upset with Intel over chip shortages that forced MacBook Pros into a later than anticipated Core i5/i7 refresh. Plus, Apple is now settling for Intel integrated graphics in MacBook Pros following Intel's disputes with NVIDIA. AMD, eager for the business, could treat Apple as a grade-A client while simultaneously providing them with a cheaper product as well as superior ATI-based GPU solutions (since AMD owns ATI).
But—and this is just a hunch—while AppleInsider's intelligence sounds perfectly believable, the idea that Apple would really jump ship to AMD does not. If anything, these discussions could be nothing more than a threatening bargaining chip to gain better treatment for Intel. Well, that, and maybe a parachute for if and when things get worse. [AppleInsider]


text:
In four days, the President will deliver his annual State of the Union address before both houses of Congress, his Cabinet, the Ambassadorial Corps, the Supreme Court, and a worldwide television audience.
Congresswoman Jane Harman
Ranking Democrat, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Los Angeles World Affairs Council
Remarks as prepared
January 16th, 2004
"The Intelligence on Iraq's WMD: Looking Back to Look Forward"
Almost one year ago, on January 28th, 2003, the President devoted one-third of his State of the Union address to what he described as "a serious and mounting threat to our country" posed by Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. He spoke, in those famous 16 words, about efforts by Iraq to secure enriched uranium from Africa. He talked about aluminum tubes "suitable for nuclear weapons production." He described stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and said, "we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs."
One week later, on February 5th, Secretary of State Colin Powell, with Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet sitting behind his right shoulder, used charts and photographs to elaborate on the Administration's WMD case. "These are not assertions," Powell said, "these are facts corroborated by many sources." Among Powell's claims were:
Powell has subsequently said that he spent days personally assessing the intelligence. He included only information he felt was fully supported by the analysis. Hence, no mention of enriched uranium from Africa, no claim that al Qaeda was involved in 9-11.
- That "we know, we know from sources that a missile brigade outside Baghdad was dispersing rocket launchers and warheads containing biological warfare agent to various locations…"
- That "there can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more."
- Pictures of what he called "active chemical munitions bunkers" with "sure signs that the bunkers are storing chemical munitions."
The effect was powerful. Veteran columnist for the Washington Post Mary McGrory, known for liberal views and Kennedy connections, wrote an op-ed the following day entitled "I Am Persuaded". Members of Congress, like me, believed the intelligence case. We voted for the resolution on Iraq to urge U.N. action and to authorize military force only if diplomacy failed. We felt confident we had made the wise choice.
But as the evidence pours in…
we are finding out that Powell and other policymakers were wrong, British intelligence was wrong, and those of us who believed the intelligence were wrong. Indeed, I doubt there would be discussions of David Kay's possible departure if the Iraq Survey Group were on the verge of uncovering large stockpiles of weapons or an advanced nuclear weapons program.
- the Intelligence Committee's review of the pre-war intelligence;
- David Kay's interim report on the failure to find WMD in Iraq;
- an impressive study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
- the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board's critique;
- thoughtful commentaries like that of Ken Pollack in this month's Atlantic Monthly;
- and investigative reporting including a lengthy front page story by Barton Gellman of the Washington Post on January 7,
Let me be clear. There were good reasons to support regime change in Iraq - which was the policy of the Clinton Administration and was supported by an over-whelming vote in Congress in 1998. It is also true that Iraq violated 16 UN resolutions by failing to prove it had dismantled its WMD and continuing efforts to deceive UN inspectors.
But if 9/11 was a failure to connect the dots, it appears that the Intelligence Community, in the case of Iraq's WMD, connected the dots to the wrong conclusions. If our intelligence products had been better, I believe many policymakers, including me, would have had a far clearer picture of the sketchiness of our sources on Iraq's WMD programs, and our lack of certainty about Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear capabilities.
Let me add that policymakers-including members of Congress -- have a duty to ask tough questions, to probe the information being presented to them. We also have a duty to portray that information publicly as accurately as we can.
A far clearer picture of the true nature of the intelligence information could have led to more policy options -- more time for diplomacy to work, and more time to build international support for military action, which was likely inevitable given the ruthless, deluded characters of Saddam and his sons.
With more time, there would have been a greater ability to learn the lessons for the post-war from five prior nation-building efforts in the last decade -- more time to prepare a careful strategy and build an effective budget for the real costs of winning the peace.
Finally, if the threat from Iraq was less urgent, we could have continued to focus more heavily on the threat from Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda. Instead, we diverted attention and resources to a war in Iraq in the midst of our hunt for the true villains of September 11.
The October 2002 NIE on Iraq's WMD Programs
The intelligence community communicates its judgments to senior officials in many ways - in verbal briefings, in short memos, and in longer reports. The cornerstone document on Iraq's WMD before the war was the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's WMD published in October 2002. NIEs are the most carefully written, methodically coordinated products of the intelligence agencies.
Having studied the 19 volumes of source materials that went into the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, and having read that NIE carefully, my conclusion is it was a significantly flawed document.
While the Intelligence Community has portrayed that NIE as consistent with judgments throughout the 1990s, in fact, it included at least two important new statements:
These were centerpieces of the NIE and of the case for war and it appears likely that both were wrong.
- First, that Baghdad possessed chemical and biological weapons;
- And second, that Baghdad was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program.
Recently, I met with the senior analysts who wrote the October 2002 NIE. Describing their mindset at the time, they believed the decision to go to war had already been made. They wrote as if they were advising the military commanders on the likely status of Iraq's weapons as they prepared for a war. It was a mindset that, according to the analysts, focused on "making the case" and "making the tough calls". They felt they had to come down on one side or the other - did Saddam have chemical and biological weapons or didn't he? Would he use them on our troops?
I think the intelligence community misunderstood its audience and its role. Let's remember that this NIE was requested by Congress -- by my colleague Senator Bob Graham, then head of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- in order to inform Members' decisions about the timing and need for military action. It was published a few days before the key vote in the Senate to authorize the use of force. This is a very different audience - and purpose - than the military commander preparing to fight.
Almost twelve years ago, departing DCI Robert Gates, a Rebublican who served in the first Bush Administration, articulated standards to ensure intelligence analysts and managers stayed free from political pressure or personal bias. Gates said it is not the analyst's job to make the tough calls. Their job is to describe as accurately as possible what is known, "make explicit what is not known, and clearly distinguish between fact, inference, and judgment."
Gates insisted that dissenting views receive prominence: "we must not dismiss alternatives or exaggerate our certainty under the guise of making the 'tough calls'. We are analysts, not umpires, and the game does not depend on our providing a single judgment…"
In testimony before our Committee last fall, former Deputy Secretary of Defense and CSIS President John Hamre underscored another of Gates' warnings: to protect against "groupthink," an institutional mindset that fails to challenge arguments which take on the patina of "truth".
A troubling example of groupthink, as we are coming to learn, was the unquestioned assumption that the failure to prove that Saddam Hussein destroyed weapons of mass destruction after 1991 was proof that they still existed. That tautology infected intelligence reporting around the world, and was the centerpiece of Colin Powell's UN address.
The Intelligence Community in a State of Denial
Four months ago, Republican Committee Chairman Porter Goss and I sent a bipartisan letter to the DCI outlining shortcomings we had identified in pre-war intelligence. Subsequently, questions have also been raised by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which, like our Committee, plans to issue a report. We said that collection had not provided sufficient insights into an admittedly very tough intelligence target. In addition, the departure of the U.N. weapons inspectors from Iraq in 1998 ended the world community's best window into what Iraq was doing. Analysis failed clearly to present alternative hypotheses or contrary information, such as claims that Iraq had destroyed weapons, or that its WMD programs were hollowed out by deception, corruption and deceit among players in the regime. The Chairman and I have yet to receive a serious substantive response to our letter.
I believe that unanswered questions regarding U.S. intelligence have left the nation in a precarious position and endanger our ability to understand and deal with threats posed over three administrations since the end of the Cold War.
Last month, the Los Angeles Times ran a detailed piece casting doubt on the Intelligence Community's judgments about North Korea's nuclear program. A recent Washington Post piece suggested that China is also skeptical of the assessment that North Korea has a uranium enrichment program in part because of questions regarding the credibility of U.S. intelligence in Iraq. Several days ago, the North Koreans claimed their own statements had been exaggerated. Our intelligence community has been vocal about the North Korea threat: how good are its assessments?
Libya's recent decision to abandon its WMD programs provides the intelligence community with the chance to compare its assessments with the truth on the ground. These should be viewed as opportunities for lessons learned rather than a time to circle the wagons.
Policymakers, too, should be learning lessons from the Iraq and Libya experiences to improve strategies to combat WMD proliferation. Libya seems to have recognized that relinquishing WMD is a surer path to security than possessing WMD. Sanctions and patient diplomacy - backed by the threat of military force - appear to have worked. Patience was something notably lacking in the Administration's approach to building a coalition for Iraq.
The Imperative of Intelligence Community Reform
Why does all this matter? I often say it is important to look back in order to look forward. The lessons of our pre-war intelligence on Iraq must inform and shape the intelligence community over coming years.
Leadership. There is no reform as important as ensuring that the right leadership sets the right tone. It is essential to have a work environment that welcomes constructive criticism and opportunities for lessons learned.
Leadership also requires the power and institutional structures necessary to get the job done and be held accountable. We ought to be thinking seriously about reorganizing the intelligence community and creating a Director of National Intelligence, a cabinet position with full statutory and budget authority, to run it.
This idea has long had bipartisan support. Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft has recommended it, and the bicameral Joint Congressional Inquiry on 9-11, on which I served, endorsed it. The current structure is a mess. The Director of Central Intelligence only has direct authority over the CIA. The bulk of the community's technical signals and imagery collection efforts are in agencies that report to the Secretary of Defense. The FBI is part of the Justice Department. And Congress recently reorganized 22 agencies into a mammoth Department of Homeland Security that is both an important new customer of intelligence and contains its own intelligence function.
Collaboration. We also need to build stronger collaborative capabilities to take on the new threats. The new Terrorist Threat Integration Center, a joint venture of intelligence agencies to fuse intelligence analysis, and the new Terrorist Screening Center to strengthen watchlisting, are potential bright spots in devising new capabilities.
More traditional targets, such as proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, also require greater collaboration across the intelligence community. Technical experts and regional experts must work hand-in-glove. And we will never effectively penetrate and understand foreign targets without greater emphasis on language skills and a more diverse workforce.
"Virtual reorganization." A DNI may be far off. Meanwhile, several distinguished groups, such as the Markle Foundation Task Force, have identified important steps that could be taken toward a "virtual reorganization,"using today's business models and information technology tools. Make it easier for analysts in different agencies to find each other and compare notes in real time. Facilitate the capability to "surge" and create "task forces" by changing personnel policies and providing virtual workspaces. Move from a "need to know" culture to a "need to share" culture. Create career incentives for community assignments. All of these steps could significantly enhance intelligence capabilities.
For another model, we should look at how the Defense Department has been transformed by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 and the "jointness" that it instilled across fiefdoms. Goldwater-Nichols sorted out the Defense Department's capabilities. It assigned the Services to "organize, train, and equip" forces, and assigned the various commands called "CINCs" to run operations. Similarly, the intelligence community might focus the directors of agencies like NSA on organizing, training, and equipping intelligence forces, while stronger community "CINCs" are established to manage joint operations against specific targets.
Laws. Finally, the new missions and new threats require an appropriately strong and effective legal framework to guide them. That framework must recognize, as the Founding Fathers did, that security and liberty are mutually reinforcing. To remain strong, we need both.
The U.S. military is stretched dangerously thin, relationships with key allies seriously strained, and the costs of war and homeland security are contributing to a budget deficit which has broken all previous records. In these circumstances, the Intelligence Community's responsibilities are staggering. There is no margin of error and no room left for surprises in the coming year - and, if there's one thing we can count on, it's surprises.
The good news is the quality and courage of the professionals in the Intelligence Community who work so tirelessly to keep us safe and to protect our national interests. I've met and thanked hundreds of them all around the world. They put the country ahead of their own safety and comfort, and deserve our gratitude and our respect.
They clearly share our desire for the best intelligence possible. To get it, things must change, starting with the Intelligence Community's acknowledgement of deficiencies in the pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
Quite frankly, this willingness to learn lessons should start at the top. The President should lead the effort to improve his intelligence on weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. I urge him in his State of the Union address next Tuesday to acknowledge the problems and outline specific steps to fix them.
Chiseled on the main entrance to the CIA are the words "And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Freedom depends on accurate, timely, and actionable intelligence. It is the point of the spear in the war on terrorism. We must do better.


text:
John Trenchard on the real nature of political parties (1721)
Found in Cato's Letters, vol. 1 November 5, 1720 to June 17, 1721 (LF ed.)
The English Radical Whig journalist John Trenchard (1662-1723) warned that the true nature of political parties was to offer its members an opportunity to plunder the ordinary taxpayer by seeking plush jobs for themselves and kick-backs for their friends:
A very great authority has told us, that "'Tis worth no man's time to serve a party, unless he can now and then get good jobs by it." This, I can safely say, has been the constant principle and practice of every leading patriot, ever since I have been capable of observing publick transactions; the primum mobile, the alpha and omega of all their actions: They all professed to have in view only the publick good; yet every one shewed he only meant his own; and all the while the great as well as little mob, the procerum turba mobilium, contended as fiercely for their leaders, as if their happiness or misery depended upon the face, the clothes, or title of the persons who robbed and betrayed them. Thus the highwayman said to the traveller, "Pray, Sir, leave your watch and money in my hands; or else, by G —, you will be robbed."
We are publishing this quote on February 11 some 293 years after it first appeared in February 1721. It seems that some truths are timeless in nature, especially those concerning the way political parties and their members operate. Trenchard was part of a duo of radical whig journalists (which included Thomas Gordon (1692-1750)) who were thorns in the side of the British government during the 1720s criticising the rampart corruption within British politics and the policies of mercantilism and empire outside the country. In this letter from Cato's Letters Trenchard makes a number of observation which are very "public choice" in nature, such as the claim that people seek political office in order to get themselves good jobs, that they trade favours with each other in order to better their positions, that both sides in politics share a common interest in the spoils of office, that members of a party will defend even more corrupt members for the sake of party unity, and so on. Trenchard wishes to expose these practices for what they are and to warn the ordinary taxpayer that they are being duped when the various parties attempt to enroll them in their battles and that they have been betrayed too often in the past to trust anybody again in the present. He concludes with the warning that "Let us not therefore, for the time to come, suffer ourselves to be engaged in empty and pernicious contentions; which can only tend to make us the property and harvest of pickpockets (i.e. party politicians)."


text:
All depository institutions should be required to provide an adequate level of banking services to individuals, including customers with low incomes.
Policymakers should conduct robust oversight and enforcement related to scams and fraud.
Higher education institutions should set tuition and fees in a manner that ensures affordability and increases educational opportunities for all.
All financial aid, including grants and federal student loans, should be exhausted before a student is offered an ISA.
During declared emergencies, federal student loan providers should defer payments automatically without penalty or interest.
People who seek to take out or cosign student loans should receive clear information on their responsibility for repaying the loan.
Policies should be in place to avoid unnecessary foreclosures.
Public and private employers should provide more flexible work options.
Public and private employers should offer phased-retirement programs and retiree reemployment programs that encourage employees to stay in the workforce beyond the time they
Companies should disclose age data on their workforce and for new hires.


text:
[j_tenkely] wanted to do his own powder coat painting at home so he built everything he needed, including a coating booth and baking oven. The oven is double walled and built around a frame of steel building studs. Electric oven elements are controlled by a digital control panel and thermostat.
A spray booth is fashioned from a large storage bin. The powder coat gun used in this setup is a commercial project. But don't fret, this is something you can build rather than buy.
[Thanks goat]


text:
Loans for the little guys
'Microlending' evokes programs to aid high-risk entrepreneurs abroad. Why it may show up on your street.
Starting a business was the last thing on Jason Salfi's mind in 1996, when he sat on a dock in Sausalito, Calif., and started making "long board" skateboards.
All Mr. Salfi wanted was a board to replace the outdated 1970s model he'd been using, which, he recalls, "was just a big oak plank."
Little did he know that he was on the way to becoming a "micro- entrepreneur" success story - joining the ranks of a growing number of Americans who have become part of a "microenterprise" movement
The movement is based on grass-roots financial principles developed in the 1960s to help the poorest of the poor start their own businesses in third-world countries. America's microenterprise sector boasts an array of entrepreneurs, including immigrants, women, senior citizens, and small inventors.
"It's amazing who's involved," says Mark Cousineau, executive director of the Connecticut Community Investment Corp., a nonprofit microloan lender. "It could be your neighbor. It could be you."
Small microlending programs, run by churches and other socially active organizations, have been around in the US for at least the past 20 to 30 years.
But the movement didn't begin to formalize until the early 1990s, when several programs took shape. For example, the Small Business Administration's microloan program, which has loaned some $200 million since it began in 1992.
According to a 2000 study commissioned by Accion USA, a nonprofit organization and the largest microlending network in the US, there are some 13.1 million microentrepreneurs across the country.
By definition, a microentrepreneur runs a business with fewer than five employees, has a strong personal involvement in the business, and likely has no credit record or assets.
Microenterprises generally require less than $35,000 to launch, and microloans usually run from $500 to $50,000.
Banks routinely reject loan requests from such businesses because the costs involved are too high and the returns too low, leaving many would-be entrepreneurs locked out of the traditional financial system.
Microenterprise lenders are filling this gap. These nonprofit institutions use private or government funds, or a mix of both, to help the smallest of small entrepreneurs who would otherwise have no access to capital.
Microlenders charge interest rates higher than those charged by banks - around 12 percent to 16 percent - but they also provide technical assistance in how to plan, market, and manage a business.
"We're really providing a hand up to people who are on the bottom of the economic ladder," says Christianna Beebe, director of communications for Accion USA. "The building blocks that so many of us consider fundamentals, such as savings, insurance, and assets, are out of reach for many of these people."
In Salfi's case, his business grew gradually out of making skateboards for his friends. He built "long boards," designed to bomb down hills at speeds as high as 65 m.p.h. As word spread about his product, he began selling a few to San Francisco stores, eventually starting Comet Skateboards with his best friend, Jonathan Reese.
"We financed it with money out of our own pockets, we had a couple of thousand dollars," says Salfi of the business's early days. "We'd be excited if we sold 20 boards ... in a month."
With a small loan from a friend and a credit card borrowed from a girlfriend, the two gradually grew the business up to two employees and sales of 50 to 60 custom boards a month, plus another 200 to 300 made for other manufacturers.
But when they were ready to expand again in 2001 and needed money to do so, they ran smack into the problem faced by most microentrepreneurs: They were turned down by a bank for a loan because they didn't have enough of a credit history or enough assets in their business.
Through the grapevine, Salfi heard that the nearby city of Oakland was offering tax incentives to businesses willing to relocate there.
In addition, when he called the Oakland Business Development Corp., a nonprofit group contracted by the city to administer loans and aid to small businesses, he learned that microloans were also available.
With the OBDC's help, Salfi and his partner qualified for a $40,000 loan, obtained the money in less than 90 days, and moved their business from its old 2,000-square-foot location to a 7,000-square-foot warehouse in Oakland.
"I don't think we'd still be in business without them," says Salfi. "We needed the capital to move to Oakland and we couldn't have pulled it off without them. They were an asset in advising us, and in providing us with the capital."
The OBDC loan enabled Salfi and his partner to take the business one step further. They leveraged the $40,000 loan into a $225,000 loan through another City of Oakland program, and used those funds to attract another $675,000 from private investors.
With production of Comet brand skateboards totaling several hundred a month, the partners recently stopped making boards for other companies and now concentrate solely on refining and developing the Comet brand.
Their aim is to raise another $250,000 to help them reach their goal of selling 1,500 boards a month by next year.
They also hope to expand into a clothing line and capture a 3 to 5 percent share of a fiercely competitive skateboard market. (There are some 100 skateboard companies, but fewer than 10 make their own boards.)
Salfi's plans for positioning his product include an aggressive ecologically conscious approach based on the fact that his boards are made from environmentally sustainable materials such as woods from "specially managed and certified" forest.
"I hadn't planned it would turn out like this," he says, looking back to when he started making a few boards by hand. "But I always had the dream to pull something like this together."
Microenterprise advocates say that that's the point - allowing people to fulfill their dreams.
While Salvi is doing so on a relatively large scale, many microentrepreneurs work on a much smaller basis. But they still still manage to make substantial gains.
A five-year study by the Self Employment Learning Project of the Aspen Institute, found 57 percent of microenterprise businesses surviving after five years, with average revenues increasing 27 percent and profits doubling in that period.
Some 72 percent of poor microentrepreneurs increased their household income during those five years, and more than half, 53 percent, moved above the poverty line.
"The microloan program both supports the American dream and makes that dream available," says Jody Raskind, chief of the microenterprise development branch of the SBA. "It's a grass-roots development program that allows for the development of business and the development of personal wealth based on self-employment.
"It's one everyone can look at." he adds, "and see something positive from it."
Juana Perez can't read or write. But she definitely knows her numbers.
A former migrant farm worker, she wanted a better life for herself and her husband. So Ms. Perez started a business in 1991 with $50. She bought a few cases of soda and set up shop inside her trailer home in a poor unincorporated section of McAllen, Texas.
Perez sold the sodas to children in her neighborhood. With her profits, she invested in more sodas and snacks, and began making jello and tortillas for sale as well.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I just loved business," says the Spanish-speaking Perez through an interpreter.
But when she asked a bank to lend her a few hundred dollars to grow the business a few years later, she was turned down. It wasn't until Perez met a loan officer from Accion Texas, a nonprofit microlender, that she found the help she needed.
With a $500 loan from Accion in 1998, she bought an adding machine and more inventory for her store. Her excellent repayment record - with loan payments often made with the quarters children used to pay for treats - qualified her for a second loan of $1,200 in 2000. She used that money to build a small carport and buy picnic tables so that her customers could eat outside and not in her kitchen. Last November, she took out a $3,500 loan to add a small building, which now serves as her store. Its inventory ranges from yo-yos and fans to sodas and bicycles.
"Because of Accion, I've been able to grow my company," she says. "Nobody ever had wanted to help me before. I started out small, and look what I've got now. I'm an example of what can be done."
For as long as she can remember, Eve Wolk wanted to own a store.
With a degree in fashion merchandising and marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, she felt confident as she cashed in some investments and opened a small boutique called "Chatchka's" on Chicago's north side in 1999.
"Here I am thinking I had everything figured out, and what I discovered is you don't really know anything until you're doing it," says Ms. Wolk.
Soon after launching her store, she discovered how difficult it was to get a business loan from a bank. "I had no credit whatsoever," she says. "I went from bank to bank to bank to bank. And no one would lend me any money."
Through a local women's business development center, she learned about Accion Chicago, and its microenterprise loan programs. With a business plan in hand and support from loan officer Alan Lane-Murcia, she received a $10,000 loan at 12 percent interest. That loan helped her establish a credit record, which in turn allowed her to go to her own bank and secure a $25,000 loan at a more competitive interest rate. She then paid off the Accion loan and had $15,000 left to build her business and inventory of accessories and clothing.
As Wolk's business expanded, doubling each year (annual sales now total just under $300,000), she continued to build her relationship with Accion. Not only does the organization make repeated loans to clients with good repayment records, it also helps them develop other business relationships. In Wolk's case, Accion stepped in as a second on another bank loan of $30,000 and provided the young entrepreneur with a $15,000 loan last fall to buy inventory for the holiday shopping season. She also has a close relationship with her loan officer, drawing regularly on his experience and insights.
"You can't get that at a bank," says Wolk. "You just can't get that kind of support anywhere else.... I'm not saying this isn't hard work, but it's more rewarding than anything I've ever done."
Back in 1996, social worker Reggie Hayes decided he had to do something after the day-care center at a local YMCA in New Haven, Conn., closed, leaving many low-income mothers in the lurch.
"I knew there was really a need here for affordable day care for mothers," he says. "I had always thought of opening a center, but when that crisis came along, I decided it was time."
Mr. Hayes found a good site in the basement of an apartment complex in a low-income neighborhood. Using several thousand dollars of his own money, he rehabbed the room and opened a center licensed by the state to care for 18 children. The center expanded gradually, becoming licensed for 25 children, and eventually grew so popular, says Hayes, that he knew, "I really needed to move."
Although he'd been turned down by several banks, on the grounds that his salary as a social worker wasn't enough to cover his own needs and to run a day-care center, Hayes says: "I just kept on plugging. I knew I'd get a loan somewhere."
Eventually, a bank connected him with the Connecticut Community Investment Corp., a nonprofit organization that works as the lender for a special state program which offers microloans to day-care providers - the first of its kind in the nation.
CCIC wound up giving Hayes a $25,000 loan in 2000. The money enabled him to lease and renovate an empty building, creating a bright, colorful space for 43 children. What's more, says Hayes, CCIC recently volunteered to help him buy the building so he can accommodate even more children.
"That kind of sent chills through me," says Hayes of CCIC's offer. "They came to me, and said, 'We want you to buy, and we're going to finance the purchase for you.' That isn't something that just happens in life every day."