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- In/Out processing for ACS, AER & EFMP
- Make appointments for ACS services & classes
- Information & Referral services
- New to the Community? / Relocation Readiness
Information & Referral Program
A comprehensive resource file provides information on both military and civilian agencies to Soldiers, family members and DA civilians. Trained personnel will assist clients to find the appropriate and available resources.
Where available, this program offers a special Host Nation Services which includes un-certified translations of host nation language correspondence and bills.
Relocation Readiness Program
Welcome to Relocation Readiness! Moving is a part of life for Soldiers, Government Civilians and their Families. The Army Community Service Relocation Readiness Program provides assistance to the Total Army Family. We are dedicated to ensuring our clients are capable of surviving and thriving through the PCS and ETS processes. We have developed this program to assist you in finding information and resources to make you more resilient and agile as you navigate your next move.
Your first stop once you are notified of a pending PCS or ETS move should be your local ACS (Family Center) where you can meet with a Relocation Readiness Program Manager who will serve as a subject matter expert in assisting you through the process.
Lending Closet
When relocating to a new installation, you can borrow basic household goods from your ACS Lending Closet. Keep in mind that item availability varies from garrison to garrison. Some of the items you may find at your location are:
- Pots and pans
- Dishes
- High chairs and car safety seats
- Pre-paid cell phones (Only at some locations / please call first)
- Kitchen appliances
*Items vary based on installation availability
Adjusting to My New Country*
Host Nation Orientation, where applicable, offers all in-processing personnel and their Families orientation on the local culture, language, transportation and tourism offerings.
ESL materials are available at Army Libraries around Europe. A catalog of all books, audiotapes, and videos can be found here. For additional ESL assistance please contact your ACS.
*If applicable.
Sponsorship Program
This Sponsorship Program is designed to help service members, civilian employees and family members plan their move from a duty station somewhere else in the world to their new duty station in Europe. Below are several links that can assist you during each step of your move.
Pre-Arrival: Planning your move after receipt of your assignment/orders
Post-Arrival: Must-know & nice-to-know information after you get to your new duty station
- Driving In Europe
- Practice USAREUR Driving Test & Study Guide
- SATO Leisure Travel Office
- Europe and Garrison MWR Websites
- Newcomers to the USAREUR Community
For more information on the above services and programs please feel free to give us a call!
The USAG Stuttgart ACS Lending Closet features four-person and six-person kits, as well as individual items to include baby items and small kitchen appliances.
ACS also offers a German Language Class for free on a weekly basis. The classes are self-paced and open to students of all levels of understanding.
- Want to Learn about Army Life and How to Contribute More to the Community?
Look no further! AFTB and AFAP are here for you!
Army Family Team Building (AFTB)
AFTB is a series of training modules taught through your local Army Community Service or Family Program's office that cover topics such as basic information about the Army, personal growth skills and leadership skills. AFTB improves personal and Family preparedness which enhances overall Army readiness and helps America's Army adapt to a changing world.
AFTB helps you to not just cope with, but enjoy the military lifestyle. Many of the courses can be applied toward resume' and career building, self-development and leadership skills. AFTB provides the knowledge and self-confidence to take responsibility for yourself and your Family. The training is available to Soldiers, Family members of all Soldiers, Department of Defense civilians and volunteers.
My Army OneSource: Army Family Team Building
Contact your AFTB Program Manager more information!
Army Family Action Plan (AFAP)
In addition to learning through the AFTB program, the Army Family Action Plan is your platform to voice your quality-of-life issues, ideas, or suggestions and contribute to help better your community. It's the best way to let Army leadership know about what works, what doesn't, and how you think problems can be resolved. We give Active and Reserve Component Soldiers, Army Civilians, Retirees, Survivors, and Family members a primary tool to help identify issues and concerns and shape your standards of living.
You can submit issues at your garrison's Army Community Service office or to a unit Family Programs liaison. Army OneSource also facilitates AFAP issues online and makes sure your concerns get the attention they deserve. The information you submit gives Army leadership insight and helps foster a satisfied, informed, and resilient Army Community.
AFAP makes a meaningful difference. Since AFAP was created in 1983, 698 issues have been submitted, resulting in 128 legislative changes, 186 Department of Defense or Army policy changes, and 210 improved programs or services.
Here's a sample of AFAP results:
- Dedicated Special Needs Space in Child, Youth, and School Services (CYSS)
- Distribution of Montgomery GI Bill benefits to dependents
- Annual Leave carryover increase from 60 to 75 days
- Extended educational benefits for Spouses
- Dental and visual insurance coverage for Federal Employees
- Medical Coverage for Activated Reserve Component Families
- Military pay table (targeted pay raises)
- Military Thrift Savings Plan
- TRICARE for Life for eligible Retirees
- Funding for Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (B.O.S.S.)
- Active Duty Enlisted Soldier Compassionate Reassignment Stabilization
- SGLI increases
- Minimum standards for Army Child Care
- In-state tuition for Military Dependents
To submit an issue or suggestion, go to your local Army Community Service office or Army OneSource.
Army Family Team Building and the Army Family Action Plan both welcome participation from Service Members from all branches of military service, retirees, civilians, contractors, and their Family members.
- Employment, Volunteer, & Training Opportunities
Employment Readiness Program (ERP)
The Employment Readiness Program provides information and referral services on employment, education, training, transition, and volunteer opportunities to give Family members the competitive edge needed to secure meaningful employment. ERP offers up-to-date information on available employment opportunities, market and job trends, education, and volunteer resources to help individuals make informed decisions when seeking employment. Services offered by the ERP include classes and seminars related to employment:
- Career exploration
- Resume writing
- Interviewing techniques
- Dressing for success
- Networking
- Entrepreneurship
- Individual career assessment and counseling
Army Volunteer Corps (AVC)
The Army Volunteer Corps plays a crucial role in community involvement and development. Volunteers make a meaningful difference in the lives of Soldiers and their Families every day. Army Volunteer Corps is designed to help you find local volunteering opportunities with organizations that benefit the Army community and allows you to obtain ongoing training and advancement.
The AVC has redefined volunteering within the Army. We embrace existing volunteer programs, unite all volunteers who support Soldiers and Families, including the Active Force, National Guard and Army Reserve, and formalize the Army's commitment to volunteerism.
No matter where people volunteer in the Army community, they usually want to contribute to Soldiers and their Family members. We recognize this common goal and want to help you find the right opportunity for you.
Volunteering helps your community and helps you as well. When you participate with AVC, you'll:
- Gain a sense of satisfaction/achievement by meeting challenges
- Learn about the Army, our sister services, and the community
- Acquire new skills and/or expand old ones
- Obtain work experience
- Build new friendships and become a cohesive part of the community
For more information regarding employment, volunteering, or training opportunities please contact your ACS location!
For more information regarding volunteering opportunities please visit https://vmis.armyfamilywebportal.com/
- In Need of Financial Assistance or Advice?
Financial Readiness Program (FRP)
The Financial Readiness Program is your resource for information on money matters. We can help you better understand financial topics like:
- Military pay
- Checkbook/debit card management
- Financial responsibility
- Credit reporting
- Debt elimination strategies
- Saving
- Investing
- Budgeting
ACS also has Financial Counselors available for advice, guidance, and support. In times of emotional distress, figuring out what to do about finances can create a heavy burden. Survivor Outreach Services Financial Counselors provide professional financial information and services in areas such as investing, estate planning, tax issues and basic budgeting. Our Financial Counselors will be there when you need them, for as long as you need them. They are committed to assisting you in creating your financial security and ensuring you receives the necessary information to make sound financial decisions.
We can also help you learn about other financial services, including:
For more information about how the Financial Readiness Program can help you, contact your nearest Army Community Service Center.
Other helpful financial readiness links include:
- Thrift Savings Plan: A Federal Government-sponsored long-term retirement savings and investment plan, available for both Federal civilian employees and members of the uniformed services.
- U.S. Savings Bonds: A shorter-term savings option with competitive interest rates and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
- Money Matters: A mobile-optimized resource with calculators for savings, debt reduction and other reference material in one location.
- Financial Literacy Game: A great way to learn about finances, integrating creativity, education and fun in a virtual world.
- Housing Resources for Military Members: The National Military Family Association has compiled a great list of resources to help Military Families who are struggling with the pitfalls of the housing crisis.
- Army OneSource: Network of the services and delivery of support to Soldiers and their Families.
- Military OneSource: A Department of Defense-funded program that provides comprehensive information on every aspect of military life at no cost to active duty, National Guard, reserve members, and their Families.
- Office of Servicemember Affairs: A component of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau helps to educate and empower military members, veterans, and their Families in the consumer financial marketplace.
- Saveandinvest.org: A project of the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, a free, unbiased resource dedicated to your financial health. Helps you make informed decisions through easy-to-use tools and resources, and arms you with the information you need to protect yourself from investment fraud.
- Better Business Bureau Military Line: Provides specialized education and support services, which meets the needs of active and retired military personnel and their Families.
Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA) Pre-screening
Pre-screening and counseling for Soldiers who qualify for the FSSA entitlement. FSSA is an entitlement authorized by Congress in 2001 and created to supplement the Soldier's Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS). This entitlement will not exceed $1100 per month. The application for FSSA is web-based and can be found at: https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/fssa/.
Army Emergency Relief (AER)
Army Emergency Relief (AER) is a private, non-profit organization established to assist Soldiers and their Family members in emergency financial situations due to no fault of their own. Financial assistance is given in the form of an interest-free loan, grant, or combination of the two. Loans are repaid by an allotment.
To apply for AER assistance, the Soldier should be seen by the Unit Commander/1SG for interview/counseling to determine if the situation can be resolved through the chain-of-command or some other source. After determining that the Soldier has a valid emergency, the unit commander would then authorize the individual to seek AER assistance. Soldiers should create an online account with AER to apply for assistance.
Services & Assistance
Army Emergency Relief (AER) is a private, non-profit organization established to assist Soldiers and their Family members in emergency financial situations due to no fault of their own. Financial assistance is given in the form of an interest-free loan, grant, or combination of the two. Loans are repaid by an allotment.
To apply for AER assistance, the Soldier should be seen by the Unit Commander/1SG for interview/counseling to determine if the situation can be resolved through the chain-of-command or some other source. After determining that the Soldier has a valid emergency, the unit commander would then authorize the individual to seek AER assistance.
AER is a private nonprofit organization that provides emergency financial assistance to Soldiers and their Families. AER helps with emergency financial needs:
- Food
- Rent Utilities
- Emergency transportation & vehicle repair
- Funeral expenses
- Medical/dental expenses
- Personal needs when pay is delayed or stolen
- Other emergency financial needs.
AER partners with other military aid societies to enable local assistance for service members from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. AER also provides scholarships toward education. AER gives spouses and dependent children of Army Soldiers great opportunities for their first undergraduate degree (some scholarships can reach $4,000 annually)! Application information can be found online at www.aerhq.org. Contact the Army Emergency Relief Program Manager.
Education Programs
AER's Education Program is a secondary mission to help Army Families with the costs of education. The three separate scholarship programs are:
Stateside Spouse Education Assistance Program
- Applicant must be the Spouse or widow(er) of an active duty or retired Soldier and reside in the United States.
- Stateside applicants must be full time students.
- First undergraduate degrees only.
- Active duty military personnel are not eligible.
Overseas Spouse Education Assistance Program Major General James Ursano Scholarship Fund for Dependent Children.
Overseas Spouse Education Assistance Program
- Applicants must be a Spouse of an active duty Soldier assigned in Europe, Korea, Japan, or Okinawa.
- Applicants must physically reside with the Soldier at the assigned location.
- First undergraduate degrees only.
- Off post students are not eligible.
- Spouses may be part time or full time students.
Major General James Ursano Scholarship Fund for Dependent Children
- Dependent children, stepchildren, or legally adopted children of Army Soldiers on active duty, retired or deceased while in active duty or retired status.
The children of Grey Area Reservists/National Guard are eligible as well.
Scholarship awards will be awarded up to half the cost of tuition. Scholarship awards are based on financial need, as evidenced by income, assets, Family size, and special circumstances.
Applications and instructions are available for all the scholarships on the AER website at www.aerhq.org
Resources & Forms
AER Form 600 Commanders Referral
- Family Advocacy Program (FAP)
Family Advocacy Program in Europe (FAP-E)
The FAP-E outreach and prevention program is designed to strengthen and improve the quality of life for our military Families by increasing self-sufficiency, resiliency and community cohesion for active duty, Family members, civilians and retirees. Together with garrison and host nation agencies, FAP-E provides a multitude of programs and services designed to build individual and Family strengths as well as advocate for non-violent communities. The goals of the FAP-E are:
- Leverage individual and Family strengths
- Overcome behaviors that may contribute to Family maltreatment
- Value Family member differences
- Enhance behaviors that foster healthy military lifestyles
FAP-E professionals strive to create command and community awareness of the unique challenges associated with living in Europe, provide information on existing services to eliminate child abuse and domestic violence, and to develop specific educational programs at no cost to active duty. Our services include seminars, workshops, and individualized intervention.
FAP-E is dedicated to helping Soldiers and Families address the unique challenges of military life, living overseas and understanding how unmanaged stress can lead to child abuse and domestic violence. Services focus on prevention, education, prompt reporting, investigation, intervention, and treatment. If you need help, please call your garrison's Family Advocacy Program for more information.
Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate Program (DAVA)
The Domestic Abuse Victim Advocate (DAVA) provides comprehensive support services to adult victims of domestic abuse including: crisis intervention, safety planning, help obtaining medical treatment for injuries, information on legal rights and proceedings, referral to military and civilian shelters, and other resources.
DAVA's provide information so clients can make informed choices in reporting an assault and how they choose to proceed. DAVA's are available to accompany adult clients to medical visits, court proceedings, and other appointments as requested. DAVA's provide services 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week. Victims are not alone, help and support are available.
New Parent Support Program (NPSP)
The New Parent Support Program is a voluntary program that assists military Families who are pregnant or have children birth through age three years understand the process of delivering a baby overseas and adapt to parenthood in healthy and resilient ways.
The primary focus of NPSP is providing individualized home visitation services in the parent and child's natural learning environment however services can occur in an office, hospital or community setting. Classes and groups are available which provide information on pregnancy, nutrition, parenting newborns and toddlers, problem solving and coping, discipline issues, social isolation, and military stressors. Services are available outside normal duties hours so working parents can participate.
Each NPSP Home Visitor has a Masters degree in Social Work or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and is Licensed to practice Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, or Nursing in a US state.
For assistance or information on any of these Family Advocacy Program – Europe services, call your garrison Army Community Service (ACS) Family Advocacy Program. You can also call Military OneSource for more information and referrals. Call collect with operator assistance OCONUS: 484-530-5908.
USAG Stuttgart Family Advocacy Key Telephone Numbers
Family Advocacy DSN Civilian Family Advocacy Program Manager (314) 596-3328 +49(0) 9641-70-596-3328 Domestic Violence DSN Civilian Domestic Violence Victim Hotline (24/7) +49(0) 1725-774927 Domestic Violence Victim Advocate (314) 596-3113 +49(0) 9641-70-596-3113
You can also contact the the organizations and agencies below for assistance:
Law Enforcement DSN Civilian Military Police Desk (24/7) (314) 431-3102 +49 (0)7031-15-3102 Military Police Emergency (24/7)) 114 Off-Post Emergency, Polizei (24/7) 110 Medical DSN Civilian On-Post Fire / Ambulance
112 +49 (0)711-680-116 Stuttgart Army Health Clinic,
Patch Barracks
(314) 590-5762 / 2900 +49 (0)6371-9464-5762 or +49 (0)6371-9464-2900 Off-Post Emergency,
Fire / Ambulance (24/7)
112 Social Services & Counseling DSN Civilian Behavior Health (314) 590-1615 +49 (0)06371-9464-1615 Family Advocacy Program Clinic (314) 590-1616 +49 (0)06371-9494-1616 Spiritual Assistance DSN Civilian On-Call Chaplain (24 hrs) (314) 431-3079 +49 (0)7031-15-3079
- Family Members with Special Needs (EFMP)
Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)
Military Families with a special needs Family member, also known as an Exceptional Family Member (EFM), often require additional help in meeting the EFM's needs. The Army designed the EFMP to be a comprehensive, coordinated, multi-agency program that provides community support, housing, medical, educational, and personnel services to military Families with an EFM.
The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) is a mandatory enrollment program that works with other military and civilian agencies to provide comprehensive and coordinated community support, housing, educational, medical, and personnel services to Families with special needs. Soldiers on active duty enroll in the program when they have a Family member with a physical, emotional, developmental, or intellectual disorder requiring specialized services so their needs can be considered in the military personnel assignment process.
Family members must be screened and enrolled, if eligible, when the Soldier is on assignment instructions to an OCONUS area for which command sponsorship/Family member travel is authorized, and the Soldier elects to serve the accompanied tour. This screening consists of medical records review for all Family members, and developmental screening for all children 72 months of age and younger.
Soldiers are responsible for keeping their EFMP enrollment current as exceptional Family member (EFM) conditions change or at least every three years, whichever comes first.
Use these resources, tools, and articles to learn more about EFMP and the families it serves.
- Enrollment and Screening Information
- Basic Information (All Branches of Service)
- Army EFMP Basic Information
Special Needs Accommodation Process or now known as the Multi-disciplinary Inclusion Action Team (SNAP/MIAT)
The Special Needs Accommodation Process or now known as the Multi-disciplinary Inclusion Action Team (SNAP/MIAT) is a team established to ensure the most appropriate placement of children with special needs. The team meets to review any new applications for Child, Youth and School Services (CYSS) programs that indicate any possible special needs, review the needs of children already placed in the CYSS program and determine if those needs can be met. Military Members are mandated to enroll in EFMP for most of these conditions and if they are not enrolled, the EFMP Manager will contact the Service Member and suggest that an enrollment screening into EFMP be initiated.
So what is considered a special need?
Basically anything that would requires special attention from a caretaker. It can be illnesses and conditions such as allergies, asthma, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, autism, epilepsy, down's syndrome, seizure disorder as well as physical challenges, learning disability, sensory impairment (hearing/vision), developmental delays, speech/language impairment, food allergies/intolerances and many more.
The team is comprised of the Exceptional Family Member Program Manager, the Army Public Health Nurse, CYSS Coordinator/CYSS Program Directors, Parent Outreach Coordinator and the Parents/Sponsors/Caregivers. Other appropriate Experts may be able to attend as augmenters if needed/requested. At the meeting the child's needs are discussed to see if accommodations are necessary and if there are any activity restrictions. Also addressed at the meeting will be the expectations of the service to be provided by the CYSS staff, as well as educational and developmental intervention program information regarding developmental evaluations, and programs and services offered by CYSS.
The goal is to ensure that the child has the very best experience at CYSS and that staff are trained to provide the care that a particular child needs. If your child presents a special need that is new to the staff, they will receive specialized training before your child is entrusted to their care. This training will be in addition to their periodic training that addresses special needs topics that all School Age Care staff receive.
Army EFMP Respite Care
For Active Army and Active Guard and Reserve Families who are responsible for regular care of persons with disabilities, the Exceptional Family Members Program Respite Care Program provides a temporary rest period. Care may be provided in the Family's home or other settings such as special needs camps and enrichment programs.
The Army EFMP put respite care in place to give eligible Families, especially now with multiple deployments, the opportunity to receive respite care when it's needed. Families apply for the Respite Care Program at the nearest installation Army Community Service (ACS) EFMP Office.
Eligibility for Respite Care Program is based on EFMP enrollment and the medical or educational condition of the Family member requiring care. Qualifying Families are eligible to receive up to 40 hours of funded EFMP respite care monthly for each certified Family member.
Respite care decreases Family stress, increases Family stability and reduces costly out-of-home placements, thereby contributing to Soldier readiness. Due to increase in mobilization and deployments because of Global War on Terrorism, remaining parent/sponsor has sole responsibility for all Family support needs.
OCONUS, Respite care services can be requested and reviewed by contacting your local ACS EFMP office.
The team is comprised of the Exceptional Family Member Program Manager, the Army Public Health Nurse, CYSS Coordinator/CYSS Program Directors, Parent Outreach Coordinator and the Parents/Sponsors/Caregivers. Other appropriate Experts may be able to attend as augmenters if needed/requested.
Do I have to come in person to in-process or out-process?
You can in and out process in person, over the phone, or virtually. Contact EFMP Family Support to make an appointment. The email is: email@example.com
I am still waiting to get my orders because the overseas travel screening isn't done. Who can help me?
The EFMP medical case coordinator at your departing command is your point of contact for information on the status of your EFMP Travel Screening.
Can my secondary dependents (parents or parents-in-law) get medical care and their prescriptions filled at the local MTF?
Please contact the Stuttgart Army Health Clinic to ask if TRICARE Plus is offered and what services are available to your secondary dependents. Please be advised, services are limited. https://www.tricare.mil/FindDoctor/MTF/View?ID=224&FacilityName=Stuttgart-Army-Health-Clinic
I have a concern about my child's development and school success and whether or not they might have special needs. How can I find out my first steps?
The EFMP System Navigator ready to help. From an unbiased overview of your options to attending IEPs with you to offering resources on a wide range of diagnoses and concern, they are standing by to assist. Call, come by or email to find out more.
- Mobilization, Deployment, and Support Stability Operations
The Mobilization, Deployment, and Support Stability Operations (MDSSO) helps support community readiness during deployments and emergencies. We help make sure installation programs align with unit deployment cycles, provide pre- and post-deployment support, and help unit Commanders with their Family Readiness plans and deployment support services for Service Members and their Families. We're responsible for operating an Emergency Family Assistance Center in the case of an all-hazards event, and supporting Service Members and Families during Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) and Repatriation. We also act as a case manager for all requests for assistance through the Army Disaster Personnel Accountability and Assessment System (ADPAAS).
Some of our resources include:
- Pre- and Post-Deployment Support: Help prepare Soldiers and Families for Deployments and Reintegration by providing trainings and resources throughout the Deployment Cycle in a variety of settings.
- Family Readiness Groups: Designed to make sure Families have information you need and develop a military support group while your Soldier is deployed. Virtual Family Readiness Groups also provide secure environments in which the commander can communicate directly with Soldiers and Families 24 hours a day no matter where you are.
- Emergency Family Assistance: Your link to continuous support and assistance as well as authoritative and accurate information in a sensitive, timely, and effective manner.
- Army Disaster Personnel Accountability and Assessment System (ADPAAS): Ensures all Army personnel and their dependents are accounted for during emergency situations.
- NEO/Repatriation: We help the State Department help those who have been displaced after national emergencies and disasters.
For more information on Mobilization, Deployment, and Support Stability Operations support in your community, contact your local Army Community Service office and ask for the Mobilization and Deployment program manager or specialist.
Other helpful links:
- Operation READY: "READY" stands for "Resources for Educating About Deployment and You." It's a training and information resource developed from lessons learned in the Persian Gulf War and used in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The training covers learning about the types of military separation, planning and preparing personal documents, and completing family financial arrangements.
- Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2): Provides hands-on training and self-development tools so that members of the Army Family are better able to cope with adversity, perform better in stressful situations, and thrive in life.
- Taking Care of Business: This video shares information that helps deploying Soldiers make necessary arrangements to ensure that loved ones will be taken care of if the worst happens. It explains which forms and documents to complete before deploying to ensure final wishes are observed.
- PDHealth.mil: A post-deployment resource to help ensure the highest-quality healthcare for those who make sacrifices in the world's most hazardous workplaces.
For more information and assistance, please contact the program manager at your garrison location.
- Survivor Outreach Services (SOS)
Survivor Outreach Services (SOS)
Our Fallen Warriors have paid the ultimate sacrifice. The Army has a commitment to their Families. Families deserve our respect, gratitude and the very best we can provide.
Survivor Outreach Services is a "one" Army program. Regardless of your loved one's Army component, duty status, location, or manner of death, Survivor Outreach Services Support Coordinators and Financial Counselors are here to provide dedicated outreach and support when, and for as long as you desire.
SOS offers support through:
Benefits Coordinators. No one is ever fully prepared to lose a loved one, which is why we have Benefits Coordinators. Benefit Coordinators are located at the Casualty Assistance Center and are there to assist and guide you as you make the many decisions necessary following the death of a Soldier. Benefits Coordinators help identify your specific benefits and entitlements and ensure you receive what is legally yours. They assist you in completing paperwork and navigating the various agencies Survivors encounter. Benefits Coordinators remain current on changes in the law and have a wealth of information available to support you during this very difficult time.
Financial Counselors. In times of emotional distress, figuring out what to do about finances can create a heavy burden. Survivor Outreach Services Financial Counselors provide professional financial information and services in areas such as investing, estate planning, tax issues and basic budgeting. Our Financial Counselors will be there when you need them, for as long as you need them. They are committed to assisting you in creating your financial security and ensuring you receives the necessary information to make sound financial decisions.
Support Coordinators. The Survivor Outreach Services Support Coordinator provides long term support to you and is your link to the Army Family for as long as your desire. Wondering what direction to go in now? Your local Support Coordinator is happy to sit down with you as you journey through this transition by providing direct services as well as information, referrals and recommendations. They can also connect you with support groups, bereavement and financial counselors, as well as help you request copies of documents obtain answers to questions and direct you to additional Survivor resources.
For more information contact your local SOS Support Liaison!
In 1947, Congress* approved the use of the Gold Star Lapel Button as a way to recognize the families of service members who lose their lives while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States. In 1977, the Army approved issue of the Lapel Button for the Next of Kin of Deceased Personnel to honor those who lose their lives while serving on active duty or while assigned in a Reserve or National Guard unit in a drill status. Issue of the button is retroactive to 29 March 1973."
These small lapel buttons, or pins, as they are commonly called, are normally presented to eligible family members prior to the military funeral service. Although they are less than an inch in size, they are packed with great meaning and emotion. They are not awards. They are symbols of honor. Here is how you can tell them apart.
This symbol consists of a gold star on a purple background, bordered in gold and surrounded by gold laurel leaves. It is designated for eligible survivors of service members who lose their lives during any armed hostilities in which the United States is engaged, dating back to World War I. This includes service members who lose their lives while deployed in support of military operations against the enemy or during an international terrorist attack.
This symbol consists of a gold star within a circle that commemorates his or her honorable service. The gold star is also surrounded by sprigs of oak that represent the branches of the Armed Forces. It is designated for eligible survivors of service members who lose their lives while serving honorably under circumstances not defined above. This includes service members who lose their lives while assigned to a Reserve or National Guard unit in a drill status. It is authorized for issue retroactive to March 29, 1973.
Who can wear the pin?
The family members entitled to receive and wear these symbols are the widow or widower; each child, stepchild, and child through adoption; each brother, half brother, sister, and half sister; and each of the parents (this includes mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, mother through adoption, father through adoption, and foster parents in loco parentis).
I did not receive a pin, where do I get one?
If you are an eligible family member, but did not receive the lapel button to which you are entitled, you can request one through the National Archives. You can also apply for a replacement should yours ever be lost or damaged. If you would like help applying for a new or replacement Lapel Button, contact Army Survivor Outreach Services.
*The descriptions on this page are intended to provide an overview of the public law governing the distribution of Gold Star lapel buttons. To view the law in its entirety, click here.
For more information on the Gold Star and Next of Kin Lapel Buttons please visit Gold Star and Next of Kin Lapel Buttons information
Symbols of Honor: Blue Star and Gold Star Service Flags
The Blue Star Service Flag
Blue Star Service Flag: Patented by retired Army CPT Robert Queissner in 1917, the Service Flag, also known as a Blue Star Flag or Service Banner, represents a family member serving in the Armed Forces during a time of conflict.
The Gold Star Service Flag
The Gold Star Service Flag: Created in 1918 after President Woodrow Wilson approved a suggestion allowing mothers who lost a child serving in the war to wear a gold gilt star on the traditional black mourning arm band.
Service Flags were officially authorized by Congressional Act 36 U.S.C. 179-182 (1967), the Service Banners are usually displayed in a window of a home where an immediate Family member of a service member resides. Service flags may be displayed for the duration of the conflict.
For more SOS Information, please visit the links below:
- Sexual Harassment/Assault Response Prevention Program (SHARP)
Provides awareness and prevention, training and education, victim advocacy, response, reporting and follow-up for sexual harassment/assault issues. Army policy promotes sensitive care, advocacy, treatment, reporting options for victims of sexual harassment/assault and accountability for those who commit these crimes.
Sexual Harassment Complaints
One-third of sexual assault cases begin as incidents of sexual harassment. As a military community, it is important to address sexual harassment complaints immediately when they occur. The SHARP office will assist in finding the appropriate method for addressing the situation. For military personnel and their family members, the SHARP office can assist in the following areas:
- Guidance on how to address sexual harassment issues
- Formal sexual harassment complaint intake
- Informal sexual harassment case intake
- Advocacy in dealing with sexual harassment
- Referral to other agencies and resources as required
Sexual Assault
SHARP office provides advocacy services to victims of sexual assault who are in the military and their immediate family members who are over the age of 18. Victim advocates are certified by the Department of Defense through the National Organization Victim Assistance (NOVA) in Alexandria, VA every two years. Installation SHARP victim advocates (VAs) are well trained and highly educated in the social services field. Advocates can provide sexual assault victims assistance in the following areas:
- Sexual Assault Reporting Options
- Safety Planning
- Resources available for sexual assault victims
- Administrative, legal, and medical process in sexual assault cases.
- Accompaniment to administrative, medical, and legal proceedings
- Referral to counseling services.
For further assistance and information on the Army Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP) program call DOD Safe Helpline-Sexual Assault Sexual Assault Support for the DOD Community 1-877-995-5247 Live 1-on-1 help. Confidential. Worldwide 24/7. www.safehelpline.org
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are there individual and/or group counseling available?
Army Community Service does not offer counseling services. However, Behavioral Health, the Chaplain at the Family Life Center, as well as the Military and Family Life Consultants provide individual counseling. Group counseling is available through the Army Substance Abuse Program in the form of Alcoholics Anonymous, however, no other group counseling is offered
2. Where can I find the phone numbers?
The phone number for Army Community Service (ACS) can be found on the ACS page of the Stuttgart Family and MWR Web site, http://stuttgart.armymwr.com/europe/stuttgart/programs/army-community-service/. For programs and services at USAG Stuttgart, phone numbers are located on the USAG Stuttgart Web site, in the Community Resource Guide, located at http://www.stuttgart.army.mil/pdf/CommunityResourceGuide.pdf. USAG Stuttgart also has a Phone Directory located online at http://www.stuttgart.army.mil/phonebook.html. USAG Stuttgart directory assistance, the operator, may be reached by calling DSN 113 or Commercial +49 (0)711-680-113.
3. What are the signs of child abuse and neglect?
Some of the more common signs of child abuse and neglect are:
- Behavior changes such as fear, anxiety, depression, aggression or withdrawal, not wanting to go home, or appearing afraid of certain individuals
- Overly sexualized behavior or use of explicit sexual language that's inappropriate for the child's age
- Changes in sleeping patterns including frequent nightmares, difficulty falling asleep. Both may result in the child appearing tired or fatigued
- Changes in school performance and attendance, such as being unable to concentrate in class or frequent absences
- Eating habits that lead to extreme weight gain or loss
- Visible unexplained injuries such as burns, bruises, or broken bones
- Use of drugs or alcohol
- Trouble walking or sitting
4. What are the signs of domestic abuse?
Some of the more common signs of domestic abuse are:
- Partner accuses you of cheating and being disloyal
- Partner makes you feel worthless
- Partner hurts you by hitting, choking or kicking you
- Partner intimidates and threatens to hurt you or someone you love
- Partner threatens to hurt themselves if they don't get what they want
- Partner tries to control what you do and who you see
- Partner isolates you
- Partner pressures or forces you into unwanted sex
- Partner controls your access to money
- Partner stalks you, including calling you constantly or following you
5. Do I have to enroll my family member in EFMP?
Yes, EFMP is a mandatory enrollment program for Service Members and their families. The Army Community Service EFMP Family Support Office services/resources are, however, voluntary.
6. What jobs are available?
There are over 33 government contracting firms offering various positions on the installation. These positions can range from administrative, medical, academia, counseling, information technology (IT), banking, business, planning and operations, management, engineering, logistics to marketing. There are a variety of federal jobs available in the Stuttgart area ranging from administrative and teaching positions to working at the Commissary, CYSS, Plans and Operations, Program Managers, Engineers, Maintenance Workers, IT, Logistics, and Finance. Positions vary, so it is important to check www.usajobs.gov for the latest opportunities.
7. What classes are available?
USAG Stuttgart Army Community Service (ACS) offers a variety of classes on topics to include employment and career development, personal financial readiness and consumer affairs, marriage and family enrichment, parenting, domestic violence and child abuse prevention, managing emotions, family readiness, sponsorship and spouse sponsorship, resilience, English as a Second Language, German language and culture, volunteerism, and personal and professional growth. ACS class offerings can be found on the Stuttgart Family and MWR Calendar at www.stuttgart.armymwr.com, and hard copies of class listings are available at ACS.
8. Are there AA classes?
The Army Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) maintains a list of English-speaking open and closed Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, to include dates and times, in the Stuttgart area. The link to the ASAP Web site with meeting times and locations, available for download, is https://home.army.mil/stuttgart/index.php/my-garrison/all-services/army-substance-abuse-program. ASAP may be reached at DSN 431-2530/2835 or Commercial +49 (0)7031-15-2530 or +49 (0)7031-15-2835 for additional information on AA.
9. What kind of support programs are available?
Army Community Service support programs include the Family Advocacy Program which includes the New Parent Support Program for new parents and parents to be and Domestic Violence Victim Advocate, and the Exceptional Family Member Program supporting individuals and families with special needs. The USAG Stuttgart Community Resource Guide, located at http://www.stuttgart.army.mil/pdf/CommunityResourceGuide.pdf, also provides information on support programs addressing a variety of concerns such as alcohol and substance abuse, health and wellness to include tobacco cessation and nutrition, sexual harassment and assault, grief and loss, marriage and family difficulties, and parenting concerns.
10. Is the lending closet only for Service Members and their families?
No, the lending closet is open to all personnel who are ID cardholders and are in or out-processing and can provide a copy of their PCS orders.
11. Can ACS provide services to any Service Member of any military branch?
Yes. USAG Stuttgart is a purple community and ACS can provide services to all military Service Members.
12. Can children attend the Host Nation Orientation?
Only children 13 years and older are allowed to attend HNO.
13. Can AER provide assistance for initial rent and deposit during PCS move?
Yes, AER can assist qualified individuals with initial rent and deposit upon arriving to their new duty station.
14. Does the financial readiness program provide information on the new retirement plan?
Yes, the financial readiness program offers classes or one-on-one counseling on the military's blended retiremen
15. Who is eligible for SHARP services?
The SHARP office provides services for adults who have experienced a sexual crime by a person other than a spouse, domestic partner or individual with whom the affected person shares a child. Military personnel and adults who are 18 years and older are eligible for a full range of SHARP services. Other services and referral are available for DoD civilians, contractors and local nationals.
16. Who is allowed to use NPSP services?
Anyone with base access is allowed to use our services, this includes Service Members, Civilians, such as GS, DOD, and Family Members.
17. Do I need to in -process EFMP if I am not a Soldier?
If you have an Exceptional Family Member (someone enrolled into EFMP) in your household, you must in-process through ACS EFMP, no matter branch of service.
18. Can EFMP help my child who is receiving special education services?
If you are looking for resources, family support programs or special education guidance/ support that includes assistance with IEP's and 504 plans, the USAG Stuttgart Systems Navigator is here to help.
19. Is there a service to assist spouses and family members to find employment while stationed in Stuttgart?
Yes. ERP can assist military spouses as well as civilian spouses to update their resumes, navigate USAJOBS and be added to an email distribution roster when employment opportunities are announced.
Check USAG Stuttgart ACS out on Facebook!
Army in Europe Child and Youth Supervision Policy
From Family readiness to financial health—and much more— Army Community Services (ACS) delivers programs tailored to your needs. We help maintain community readiness and resiliency through a wide range of educational opportunities, special events, individualized counseling services, and other offerings.
We help Soldiers from their first assignments all the way to separation or retirement, as well as Families, veterans, wounded warriors, survivors, and retirees. ACS supports the entire Army community.
Learn more about what ACS offers at your installation!
ACS values your privacy and security. Learn more about ACS customers' rights and responsibilities.
* Not all programs are available at all garrisons.
NEW! Army Community Service (ACS) Annex is now available on Patch Barracks in Bldg. 2330. Open by appointment only with the following services:


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Gay marriage Supreme Court rulings: Reactions
Here are photos from the scene outside the Supreme Court on June 26, when justices handed down major rulings on two gay marriage cases.
California's Proposition 8 plaintiffs, Kris Perry and Sandy Steir walk into the Supreme Court.(Photo: AP Photo | Date: Jun. 26, 2013)
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Easy Rider is the 1969 watershed movie that dismantled the studio way of doing things. Executives thought they'd tapped the youth market by making Juvenile Delinquency films, Rock 'n Roll musicals, Beach Party pictures, Biker films, and finally Acid Head movies, but Easy Rider threw them for loop - this movie about a pair of drug dealers' aimless wanderings through the South packed audiences into theaters. There wasn't a single thing in it that a production chief could imitate for a knock-off follow-up. They threw their hands up and started replacing old pros with guys with long hair and bell-bottomed pants. It was a time of clueless opportunity. As seen in the extras on THX 1138, Warners opened their doors for Francis Coppola's Zoetrope pictures to make eight movies - only to slam them shut after the first flop.
Easy Rider has good qualities (mainly Jack Nicholson) but is far better known for what it's not rather than what it is. It wasn't made by the establishment (check), it accepted drugs as a lifestyle (check) and its only message was that America was Evil (double check). In 1969, that was all that disaffected youth needed to know. 1
Easy Rider started as a project by two Hollywood insiders trying to find the next rung on a career ladder. Promising actor Dennis Hopper was reduced to doing an occasional bad-guy appearance in big pictures (True Grit) while struggling in the AIP trenches with Peter Fonda, a pretty boy with no discernable acting ability but blessed with a fine Hollywood name. Along with their co-star Jack Nicholson, they'd been scraping by, name talent lacking a career springboard.
Easy Rider has good writing and a little style but mostly was the right movie in the right place at the right time. The style can be attributed to the camera of László Kovács and the writing to willing scribe Terry Southern, a man-on-fire liberal looking for an opportunity to work without studio interference. On that score Columbia ended up being much more reasonable than American-International; the house of Arkoff was not seeing big profits with sex and drugs and interfered with Roger Corman's movies so much that he just quit directing a couple of years later. Easy Rider went out with all of its drug use and nudity intact.
Is the movie any good? Fonda and Hopper free-form the road movie aspect with nice travelling shots backed by their favorite songs from the period - Easy Rider is noted as the first movie to use hit singles as soundtrack material rather than stop-the-show musical numbers. Since any song sounds good over a pair of motorcycles on the open road it's a smart gambit, if not great filmmaking. Four years later George Lucas and Walter Murch would set the standard for sound-tracking with greatest hits in American Graffiti. 3
Terry Southern reportedly ceded sole script authorship to Fonda and Hopper (no humble souls, they) and his dialogue is only as good as who is saying it. Jack Nicholson bursts forth as a great interpreter of Cassavetes-like character material, completely overturning his earlier ten years as one of the youth movement's least-promising talents; time and again he came off as stiff, forced and silly. He nails his character, the film's sole 'normal' hero who earns the respect of his too-hip road buddies.
Dennis Hopper delivers his fast-talking BS brand of patter acceptably, even though his character isn't as a coherent as Nicholson's. Wyatt and Billy are unknowing prophets, man, voyagers on the highway of life .... they don't explain themselves, man, it's, like your job to get into their heads.
Although Peter Fonda strikes the perfect pose as Wyatt, aka Captain America, in a leather outfit with the American flag on his back, he has the same empty and clueless face that's dogged him throughout his career, and can't handle dialogue to save his soul. Every word he speaks comes out like a lead ingot, especially the 'far out' phrases. He does look convincingly stoned now and then. Doubtless many a critic more savvy than I can reach into Easy Rider and come out with an analysis that elevates the movie to the status of The Odyssey. When looked at objectively, it's a road film with three or four okay dialogue scenes, some bad escapades in a commune (although the wonderful Luana Anders is there, neglected as usual) and several very credible run-ins with Southern rednecks. Toni Basil and Karen Black enliven the New Orleans stopover but the LSD party in the graveyard is no great showcase for acting. I'm told many that viewers think it's the best presentation of an acid trip on film, however.
There's nothing particularly cinematic happening here. I'm not moved by Hopper's visuals in the graveyard acid trip or his comical stagger-cut scene transitions (do I detect the influence of The Monkees here? There are a few serendipitous visuals on the road and one near-miraculous shot of Fonda's chopper disintegrating as it flies by the camera at high speed, but that's it. What the movie neatly avoids is the usual "it's happening" baloney found in the AIP losers like Psych-Out and parts of the not-bad The Trip. It drops any notion of explaining itself through exposition or other audience-friendly techniques. It doesn't provide a road map for its own content, or a viewer surrogate character to interpret events for us.
I was only 17 when an older cousin, a real biker type, took me to Easy Rider. I had the typical teen reaction of the time - I liked it but couldn't say why. My cousin wasn't very hippie-friendly and had no use for it. I still like the film in a way, but there's definitely something missing in this 'too hip' road trip by a pair of egotistical Hollywood boys. Wyatt's final utterance, "We blew it man, we blew it" is as fake as phony "right on" movie dialogue gets.
So Easy Rider is much more significant than it is 'good.' There was The Graduate a couple of years before, but this is the movie that made Nixon's Silent Majority decide that there was a thing called The Generation Gap.
Columbia TriStar's 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Easy Rider appears to be a repackaging of older special edition goodies in a sleeve that includes a second CD with six or seven songs from the soundtrack 4, and one of those cool BFI pamphlet-film books with an excellent extended essay by Lee Hill. I never realized that those books were the same size as DVDs, very clever.
Charles Kiselyak's 1999 docu Shaking the Cage is an uncritical but beautifully constructed opportunity for Fonda and Hopper to tell the tale of their coup de cinema. Fonda is gratingly full of himself and his accounts of drug use on the road are nowhere near as amusing as he thinks they are. But Hopper allows other testimony to affirm that he was a director on a power trip and an unforgivable control freak. He says that after cutting the film for a year (!) (!!!) Fonda, Nicholson and others took over and whittled it down to its final modest running time. At least the film is not an overblown endurance test. Hopper told his friends to never let him cut a movie again! 2
The enhanced transfer looks fine and the audio has been remixed in 5.1 for those with a yen for the mellow lyrics of Bob Dylan sung by Roger McGuire, The Band, Jimi Hendrix, etc.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
Easy Rider rates:
1. This wisdom is from William Bayer's
great book Breaking In, Selling Out, Dropping Dead, and not this author. I love America.
2. I think his assessment is true. I saw dailies for two months on
The Hot Spot and thought Hopper was directing a potentially great movie. The final edit of
the picture throws out most of what was good and wastes time on all kinds of annoying and unnecessary
material. So let me re-cut it, Dennis ... there's a great picture there. Really. I love America.
3. Song Lyric from I Wasn't Born to Follow: "And if you think I'm
ready .... you may lead me to the chasm ... where the rivers of our vision ... flow into one
another." At age 18, I thought that was the greatest sex come-on ever committed to vinyl.
4. ... and some cover-version replacements and a from-left-field Moody Blues
NOTE: Steve Johnson does an excellent cultural autopsy on Easy Rider in his Easy Rider Essay at DELIRIOUS.
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Labels dont care about Hip-Hop culture no more, they care about success and dollars, so everyones following a formula rather than being original. First everybody started wearing suits and making those R&B friendly songs. Now people are going too far to the left with it. Its played out. The producers started using the sped up vocals on their production and MCs even started singing. If thats the case, we may as well be R&B singers with it. What happened to the knocking bass and the 808s? And really, what happened to the DJ with scratches and stuff like that? Mike Tyson used to come out to Public Enemy. The s**t thats out right now dont get you hyped like how that Boom Bap s**t did back in the day. People play Rap for their kids now. There was a time when songs used to come on in the club, and you would just want to fight. It was adrenaline filled. People are scared to make those kinds of records.
That Boom Bap was an era of greatness. It was like watching an NBA All-Star Game. Gilbert Arenus made the team this year. Lets just say you take it back to when Jordan and Bird and Barkley, certain people couldnt be an All-Star during those eras. Jay-Z is able to shine during this age because he has flow. Rap is all about who has the dopest flow right now. Rakim and Kane are from the era when it was about what you were saying. You f**kin with a Hip-Hop historian. Thats where the term wack MC comes from. You cant say wack MC today, because its all about flow. If you look at flow, Vanilla Ice had a dope f**kin flow. The record that Pharell produced with Fabolous rappin on it, he used Vanilla Ices flow. I know this for a fact because Pharell told me himself. Mase had a dope ass flow. But The Message by Melle-Mel isnt the record it is because of the flow, it is the record it is because of what he was saying. Nas is one of the last rappers from the say-something era. If I was A&R a Kane or a G Rap, Id say, dont follow the formulas of these rappers today, because youre downsizing yourself. These guys are more accomplished financially. But as far as great artists, theyve yet to catch up to you guys.
When KRS-One did Return of the Boom Bap, I think he was just trying to bring it back and step it up. At that time, a lot of rappers on the East Coast was going into the Jazz sound. There was a lot of experimentation going on. That smooth G-Funk was dominating too. Also around that time was Black Moon. That is Boom-Bap too! If you look at it nowadays, all the artists that were trying to represent Hip-Hop as an art form arent getting the love they deserve.
Of course its the MCs responsibility to keep it Boom-Bap too. A lot of MCs dont have balls. Everybody wants to accommodate the radio. Everybodys running out to get a Kanye West beat or a Lil Jon beat because theyre the hot producer right now rather than using a new producers whose beats are crazy or working producers like DJ Premier and Large Professor whose sound is why we fell in love with Hip-Hop in the first place and now we treat them like theyre less of a priority. On every album, I show love to a new producer. So far I introduced Sha Money XL, J Love, and Emile to the industry and now theyre big producers in the Hip-Hop. I didnt chose them because they had a name, but because their s**t was hot.
Right now, were extracting all the juice out of Rap. Its getting to the point where its so wack, so boring, so predictable that people tend to forget what made Rap what it was. The sped R&B vocals tracks producers are using is played out. When I did that on The Testament, it was the early 90s. Now Im trying to get away from all that because its overused. Im trying to make music thats timeless, classic Hip-Hop. Thats one of the reasons why people are still able to listen to my album The Testament which we just put out in February. It was recorded nearly a decade but it doesnt sound like the typical record you hear today. They all have the same formula. I dont ride with what everyone else is doing.
Rap has been very abusive to its pioneers. I told Large Professor, hes dope Im definitely going to put him on the album. Hell look at me like, word word? So many people tell him that, but dont do it. Take MC Shan. When we did the QBs Finest album, I told him, Dont try to do what we do. Do what you did. Because what you did, made us want to do what we doing. The way you rapped is timeless. Its not played out. Thats one of the reasons why I like Soul music because its classic. Marvin Gayes album, Whats Going On, is a classic that you can listen to even a hundred years from now and it still has relevance and meaning.
In a way, when they first introduced the term old school, it was cute. It was a fun term. It was a piece of slang that some of the older people used to use. It was actually a term of endearment. But now, its almost a term of ridicule. Youll hear a younger dude say, Oh, he old school. If a throwback jersey comes out, they dont call it an old jersey. Its vintage, or its retro. When the old Jordans come out, they dont look down on those.
When I made The Testament and The True Meaning, it was a debatable topic as to which is better. To have that argument in itself is a compliment to both albums especially because The Testament wasnt released when it should have come out. If it had been, it would have been crazy. Im just happy its finally out. Now the challenge is to try and outdo them both on my next solo album, and fill what might have been missing from them and from Rap music at the same time. Whats missing from Hip-Hop is that Boom-Bap sound.
In 1992, I made a record called Sex, Drugs, B######, and Money. Its just like Biggies Dreams of F**kin an R&B B*tch. I didnt have an album up, but back in the day that music would circulate. It was a hit record in Queensbridge projects. Grandmaster Vic would make mixtapes in Jamaica, Queens. I was making songs like that. I had a song called Set It Off with a group called PHD on Tuff City Records. This album is called Without Warning, and its out there from 1991.
I know somebodys gonna try and bite me, but on my next album, Urban Legend, I have a track with PMD, Grand Puba, KRS-One, and Big Daddy Kane. Its my greatest accomplishment. Its not even a Boom-Bap record, its a feel-good record and my way of paying tribute to the MCs who came before me. I didnt ask them to give me 16 bars on any kind of topic, I just told them to be themselves. I also told them how much I appreciate them as artists. Urban Legend is my solo third album coming soon and it's gonna be a challenge to myself. I dont even include The Testament; thats more of a collectors album, or Legal Hustle which was a collaborative album. A third album is a defining moment. The one that can make you or break you. A lot of artists only get two or three albums. This one will prove if Im going to stay or leave. So Im going hard with it and I gotta bring back that loud Boom Bap s**t. Enjoyable, but loud. I want to f**k up peoples speakers. I want people to complain. I also want n***as to respect what Im saying.
Reprinted with permission from Elemental Magazine issues #68.


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Browse Newsroom
December 19, 2013
Helping Small Businesses Make a Trade Impact
Recently, USDA announced that U.S. agricultural exports for fiscal year 2013 finished at another record level, continuing the strongest five-year period for such exports in our nation's history. Much of this success is due to small businesses, which...
After more than two decades of exporting U.S. agricultural products, Good Life Foods is thriving internationally with support from USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). Before starting the company, Good Life Foods' president Emil Font served as...


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Each set contains 12 cards. Cost per set: $40.00 (plus shipping)
Each ecru card is hand made with an Epson ultra premium luster photo paper image matted on a folded high quality Italian paper. Envelopes included, measuring 3.5 x 5.5
To place your order, please contact Phyllis at email@example.com and specify which card gallery you are ordering.


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3mm Blue Sapphire Dewdrop Studs
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Delicately designed and perfect for everyday, these sterling silver Dewdrop stud earrings are set with deep blue sapphires. Stones - 0.20pt (total).
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Sacrament of Baptism
Source: catholic.org
Sacrament of Baptism
Baptism is the sacrament that frees man from original sin and from personal guilt, that makes him a member of Christ and His Church. It is thus the door to a new and supernatural life.
This sacrament has been undisputed in the Church since the beginning of Christian tradition. It has never been rejected by any heresy intending to remain on a Christian basis. Doubts could arise only about the ways and means of administering it and on its effects and way of operation. These things are therefore in essence what Church documents about baptism deal with.
Baptism is a true sacrament instituted by Christ. It is administered by washing with natural water and at the same time invoking the Most Holy Trinity. Anybody, even an unbeliever or a heretic can validly administer baptism. Since it confers grace by the signs' being properly carried out children can and should be baptized even while still infants. Baptism is necessary for salvation. Baptism effects the remission of original sin and actual sins and of all punishment due to sin; it confers sanctifying grace, membership in Christ and in the Church and the obligation to obey the Church's laws, and give an indelible character.
Note: from Pope Innocent III AD 1201. The baptism of young children is not profitless. As circumcision made men members of the People of Israel, so baptism gives them entry to the kingdom of heaven..


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Our Verdict
Boggle has entertained generations of word game players and now it's available for the iPhone and iPod touch thanks to Electronic Arts. Unfortunately, EA has foisted a mediocre product on the public hoping to sell it with a brand name—a trend for the company's casual game line.
In Boggle, you shuffle 16 six-sided dice, each imprinted with letters, in a tray that holds the dice in a 4-by-4 grid. You must find words in sequences of letters on adjacent dice. You can go up, down, left, right, or diagonally. In the desktop game, you're timed using a sand-filled hourglass; each turn is three minutes.
Boggle for iPhone features three game modes: Classic, which adheres to the three-minute rule; Advanced, which lets you set your own time limit, features "Portal Cubes" that swap first and last positions when a word is formed, and has a "Panic Flip" that lets you find words using a new roll of the dice in the last 20 seconds of the game; and Self Score mode, a sandbox mode in which you play by your own rules and score yourself however you want.
Making a word in Boggle for iPhone is as simple as touching the appropriate die. The game recognizes the tap and will circle the letter. Touching an adjacent letter elicits an arrow to show you where you tapped; a bar at the top of the window displays your emerging word.
Once you're done tapping the dice, you tap the final die again to create the word. If it's in Boggle's dictionary you'll be rewarded with points and a "ding" sound, a screen flash and an unobtrusive animation showing the word go into your word list. If you make a mistake while you're tapping out a word, just retrace your steps in reverse order by retapping the dice. Each word must be three letters or longer.
If you've tapped out nonsense, Boggle responds with a honk. If you try to tap the same word twice in the same game, Boggle responds with a non-judgmental humming buzz and a red flash: handy feedback for someone playing with the sound turned down, or for someone with a hearing disability.
Sometimes a fresh perspective helps you find words you might have missed—it's a common strategy for Boggle players to rotate the tray of dice 90 degrees to see if new words jump out at them. You don't have to rotate your iPhone to make this happen—just use put two fingers on the upper right and lower left hand corners of the virtual tray (where there are arrows pointing in a clockwise direction) and turn. Boggle makes use of the iPhone and iPod touch's accelerometer, too: Shake the device at the start of your game to shake up the dice, which hop around for a moment before they settle into the tray.
Once your three minutes is up in Classic mode, Boggle shows the total word list for that particular puzzle, with the words you've made highlighted in green. A small map of the game board is included, with each words circled on the dice, so you can see where they were in case you missed them. You can replay the same puzzle over again if you want to try to get more words, or you can play a new game.
An achievements screen shows you statistics about how much you've played, the longest word, what letters you use most frequently, best words and more. You also get to see a gallery of in-game achievements you've tallied. (For example, you get an achievement for scoring 25 points in the Classic game.)
Boggle for the iPhone runs great, and that's to developer Tricky Software's credit. But the game is bereft of the one thing that would make Boggle worthwhile—there's no multiplayer mode.
You can "challenge a friend," which simply creates a custom e-mail that tells your friends your score and encourages them to buy the game, with a link to the App Store.
The absence of any sort of actual multiplayer mechanism—even a "pass and play" feature—dooms this game to the dustbin—particularly on a platform bulging with worthwhile Boggle alternatives.
Boggle is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.2.1 software update.
[Senior editor Peter Cohen would gladly take on all comers in Boggle.]


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TUPELO, MS: To commemorate Black History Month, Robert Bruce Smith will present a fascinating program entitled From Prince to Slave to Freedom at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 16, 2013, at the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center, near Tupelo.
Smith, a technological consultant who enjoys researching topics about science, agriculture, and Mississippi, will present the story of Prince Abdul-Rahman. In Africa, he was heir to a throne, in Natchez he was purchased as an enslaved person by a cotton and tobacco farmer. He eventually became the overseer of a plantation, was later freed, and returned to Africa.
Smith has presented several popular programs at the Parkway Visitor Center in the past, including one on the Old Natchez District and one on the Barber of Natchez. In 2004, Smith published a book, Madness and the Mississippi Bonds, about the Mississippi bond scandal that became a worldwide cause célèbre in the decades immediately preceding the Civil War. For several years, he has led a walking tour of historic Faulkner sites during Ripley's annual Faulkner Festival.
This program is free to the public. The Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center is located along the Parkway at milepost 266, just north of Tupelo, Mississippi. For more information about this and other Parkway programs, please visit our website at www.nps.gov/natr, or call 1-800-305-7417.


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This is a fun, colorful and joyous music is perfect for children's parties, cartoons or computer games. The track uses a lot of funny sounds.
Included are a loopable version as well as a version with an ending chord:
- fun tune.wav (0:54)
- fun tune ending.wav (0.56)
I would be grateful if you send me a link to your work featuring my music – at your own discretion, of course.


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Catholic and non-Catholic moviegoers alike should be concerned about a new film that purports to document decades-old abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, created by HBO Productions, attempts to chronicle the Church's response to the crimes of the notorious pedophile priest Lawrence Murphy, who is alleged to have abused dozens of innocent boys at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin from the 1950s to the 1970s. The episode was the subject of a series of high-profile articles by the New York Times' Laurie Goodstein during Lent of 2010.
The film also recounts the criminal episodes from a while back involving Irish priest Tony Walsh and Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ.
Indeed, the abusive crimes committed by the profiled priests were abominable. Murphy, Walsh, and Maciel wreaked immeasurable damage to their victims and brought tremendous shame to the Church. We always must be mindful of this.
In fact, one redeeming aspect of Mea Maxima Culpa is that the film allows the victims themselves to effectively describe the grievous harm and criminal activity that was perpetrated upon them and the devastating impact that the abuse had on their lives. The stories from Murphy's victims are at the same time stomach-turning, heart-rending, and maddening. In this sense, the film has delivered an important service to viewers.
The agenda creeps in
However, the film takes the unfortunate yet predictable turn in simply using the scandals as a tool to advance a nasty anti-Catholic agenda.
As media outlets have widely reported, in 1973 victims of Father Murphy—former students of St. John's School for the Deaf—became more vocal in their anger at the abuse committed over the years by the cleric. At least one victim actually went to the police, and other victims took their complaints to Milwaukee's district attorney, putting a flyer directly on his car.
A victim also filed a civil lawsuit against Murphy in 1975 (it was settled out-of-court in 1976). And according to a recent interview with Father Thomas Brundage, former judicial vicar for Milwaukee (more on him below), the archdiocese actually reported Murphy to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office around the same time.
But what did the police and the D.A. do? They did nothing.
While the film certainly recounts the victims' episode with Milwaukee police, the film ultimately gives law enforcement a pass, even though an arrest and conviction of the abusive priest would have halted his crimes against children immediately.
Criminal charges against the priest would have protected the innocent. However, as the film unravels, the viewer sees that the ultimate aim of the film is not to tell the full story, but to lambast the Catholic Church.
Swift action taken
In May of 1974, at the urging of victims from St. John's, Milwaukee Archbishop William Cousins met with Father Murphy and a number of those whom the priest had abused. The session was reportedly quite contentious, as the meeting was also attended by teachers at the school, who defended Murphy.
Very notably, the film forwards the claim that the victims "got nowhere" with the archbishop following the gathering. It also portrays Archbishop Cousins as being more concerned about the financial well-being of the school—Murphy had been quite successful as a fundraiser for the institution—than about the abuse allegations.
However, a review of events suggests something entirely different: a swift and firm response by the archdiocese to the wretched stories of abuse by Murphy. The contentious meeting with victims took place on May 4, 1974; the May 18 issue of the archdiocesan newspaper was already reporting that Cousins had relieved Murphy "of all teaching and pastoral duties as they relate to the students" at St. John's. And by September, Murphy was gone from St. John's completely.
In other words, Archbishop Cousins' discipline of Father Murphy was forceful and immediate, especially by the standards of the 1970s, when the awareness of the scourge of child abuse was not nearly as heightened as it is today. In contrast to the claim that victims "got nowhere" with the Church, the facts reveal that the Church actually took strong action against Murphy, although the film certainly does not suggest this.
Following his removal in 1974 to his death in 1998, Murphy lived with family members in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, nearly 300 miles away from St. John's. The archdiocese gave Murphy no formal assignments, although it appears that Murphy assisted in some capacity at some local area parishes, which violated the restrictions that the Church had placed on him.
Mea Maxima Culpa argues, nevertheless, that the Church could have done more to punish the abusive priest. Specifically, the film laments the fact that the Catholic Church never formally laicized Father Murphy.
However, the film ignores a very important aspect of the act of laicization. Had the Church laicized the abusive priest back in 1974, or even earlier, it would no longer have had any control over Murphy's life activities whatsoever. With the police already having decided not to pursue criminal charges, Murphy would have been as free as any regular citizen to go and work wherever he pleased. The man would have been free to prey indefinitely on unsuspecting, innocent boys.
The film, blinded by its ardent efforts to attack the Church, does not address this glaring difficulty.
The definitive source—ignored by the filmmakers
Father Thomas Brundage is the former judicial vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He probably knows as much about the Murphy case as anyone. From 1995 to 2003, part of his job was interviewing Murphy's victims as the Church worked for the cleric's permanent removal from ministry.
"The case was a tremendous tragedy," Father Brundage said in a recent telephone conversation. And, as he wrote in 2010, the interviews with Murphy's innocent victims were "gut-wrenching."
"These were the darkest days of my own priesthood, having been ordained less than 10 years at the time," Brundage wrote. "Grace-filled spiritual direction has been a Godsend."
But contrary to claims in the media and in the film that the Church was indifferent to the plight of victims, Brundage reports that the archdiocese "pushed hard" to punish Murphy and that they had done "everything within Canon Law" to sanction the abusive priest. Unfortunately, Murphy's passing in 1998 meant that he "escaped [laicization] by death."
And while the film portrays a number of deaf victims as being justifiably angry towards the Church for its response to the Murphy case, Brundage insists that he has been thanked by many victims for the efforts that he and others made to hear their stories and to take action against Murphy.
"They knew we were sincere," says Brundage of those victims.
But did the makers of Mea Maxima Culpa contact Father Brundage to speak with him about the Murphy case, or extend an offer for him to provide his first-hand perspective? No, they did not. Neither did they speak to any of Murphy's victims who were grateful for the Church's efforts.
Such an omission speaks volumes about the film's true motivations. The producers committed the exact same exclusions that the New York Times' Laurie Goodstein did when she reported the case in 2010. While Brundage had more intimate knowledge of the Murphy affair than anyone other than the victims themselves, Goodstein never even bothered to telephone Brundage until after she had published her first attack on the Church about the episode.
Bringing in the usual suspects
Mea Maxima Culpa capitalizes on the painful episodes of abuse, portraying the Church as insensitive, secretive, and callous to victims. In doing so, the film recruits a number of long-time critics of the Church, some of whom have established records of deceit and misinformation when discussing the scandals.
The film interviews a number of individuals who have frequently appeared in the media to bash the Catholic Church. Veteran Church-suing lawyer Jeff Anderson, dissident priest Tom Doyle, former monks Patrick Wall and Richard Sipe, and atheist author Geoffrey Robertson are just few of the subjects that the film profiles.
There is also the New York Times' Laurie Goodstein, who has a long history of biased reporting against the Church.
Meanwhile, the average moviegoer will have no idea of the anti-Catholic agenda that many of these subjects harbor.
A vicious attack on Pope John Paul II
It was first reported by the media in 1997 that former Legion of Christ seminarians had accused the order's founder Marciel Maciel of sickening sexual abuse. It is disputable what level of knowledge Pope John Paul II had of the crimes perpetrated by Maciel. By the late 1990s the Pontiff was in declining health and suffering from Parkinson's disease, and it is unclear how much information the Pope's advisers provided him.
Indeed, Maciel's crimes and his double life inflicted unfathomable pain upon victims and grave scandal upon the Church.
However, Mea Maxima Culpa cynically manipulates this truth by smearing the late John Paul II. Recounting the appearance of reports in the late 1990s and early 2000s about the abusive Maciel, the narrator announces to the audience: "And even when stories in the press began to emerge about Maciel, John Paul did not investigate it. He celebrated it."
That's right. The film actually claims that the late pontiff "celebrated" the reports that Maciel was abusing people. At the screening that this author attended, the line actually elicited audible gasps from the audience, who genuinely believed the film's wild claim. "Oh, my God," one woman responded.
While Church leaders can be rightfully criticized for their responses to reports about Maciel, the film's claim that John Paul II "celebrated" the cleric's abusive ways not only crosses a line of decency, but also clearly reveals a blatant disregard for honesty in order to advance an anti-Church agenda.
A missed opportunity
Considering the vast media coverage that the issue has received in the past two decades, the topic of sex abuse in the Catholic Church is certainly worthy of an honest and compelling documentary. Sadly, Mea Maxima Culpa does not qualify as one.
Mea Maxima Culpa is presented in a very similar manner to the 2006 Oscar-nominated documentary Deliver Us From Evil, which attempted to chronicle the sickening narrative of Oliver O'Grady, the notorious serial pedophile priest who abused numerous children in California. Unfortunately, both films are so overwhelmed by their desire to browbeat the Catholic Church that basic facts, honesty, and perspective are dismissed.
Mea Maxima Culpa was directed by Alex Gibney, a much-heralded documentary filmmaker. Repeated efforts were made to Gibney's publicist to interview him about his film, but were unsuccessful.
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God has a limited theatrical release in the coming months, and will then debut on HBO in early 2013.
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SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Georgia graduate student fighting a rare flesh-eating infection has been looking at her ravaged hands and asking about the damage, all without tears, her father said Wednesday.
What Aimee Copeland still doesn't know is that doctors plan to amputate her all of her fingers, just as they had to remove most of her left leg in order to save her life.
"Her fingers are basically mummified. The flesh is dead," Andy Copeland said in a phone interview from Doctors Hospital in Augusta more than two weeks after a zip-lining accident left a gash in his daughter's leg that developed into the infection.
Copeland's father said she held one of her hands close to her face Wednesday and asked family members about it. He said they told her "your hands have been damaged … and we're trying to bring back as much of the life into the hands as possible."
"She was well accepting," Andy Copeland said. "No tears or anything."
The 24-year-old student from an Atlanta suburb remains in critical condition as she battles an infection called necrotizing fasciitis. Doctors initially feared they might have to remove her remaining foot and both hands. But her father said she now faces losing only her fingers after two days of treatment using a hyperbaric chamber, in which patients breathe pure oxygen to boost white blood cells and accelerate healing. Flesh on her palms that had been purple was turning pink again, he said.
Copeland's father said she was still unaware of plans to amputate her fingers, an emotional disclosure that will likely require a counselor's help.
"We don't know if she's aware of her (amputated) leg yet," he said. "We're in a don't ask, don't tell policy."
The flesh-eating bacteria, Aeromonas hydrophila, emit toxins that cut off blood flow to parts of the body. The affliction can destroy muscle, fat and skin tissue.
Copeland contracted the infection days after she suffered the deep cut May 1 when the zip line snapped over rocks in the Little Tallapoosa River near the University of West Georgia, where she studies psychology.
The bug is found in warm and brackish waters. Many people exposed to these bacteria don't get sick. When illnesses do occur, it's often diarrhea from swallowing bacteria in the water. Flesh-eating Aeromonas cases are so rare that only a handful of infections have been reported in medical journals in recent decades.
In addition to the damage to her extremities, Copeland is on a respirator and a dialysis machine as her lungs and kidneys recover. Doctors also had to remove much of the skin from her torso to keep the infection from spreading, her father said.
Though still heavily medicated, Copeland has become more alert and communicates with her parents and older sister despite the breathing tube in her throat. Her father said Wednesday doctors were removing that tube and inserting another directly into her trachea to make her more comfortable.
"If they take the tube out, I believe reading her lips is going to be a lot easier," he said. "And she might be able to actually cover the tube up and be able to talk."
Andy Copeland said his daughter has been asking for her cell phone, her laptop and a book to read, but is still in no condition to use any of those things. He said her sister, Paige, has been reading to her from a book on meditation.
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Pig bladders have a long and illustrious history in sports, having made up the inflated innards of the earliest footballs and rugby balls. Now, a scientist named John O'Shea has taken the pig bladder element to a new level, creating what he has dubbed the world's "first bio-engineered football." (Here's another look at the ball from a different angle.)
From Wired UK:
"The origins of football are multiple," he says, using the term the rest of the world uses for the game Americans call soccer. "I'm not convinced that a global monoculture is the best or most interesting way football can develop. The fully synthetic football is a 30-year blip in history."
Twelve months of laboratory work in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, funded by the Wellcome Trust, has yielded proof of concept balls. Smaller than the standard size-five balls FIFA uses, the proof of concept models are made from a 3D-printed organic polymer and show the first signs of cell growth onto the scaffold structure.
The process, greatly simplified, involves harvesting the cells, which O'Shea collected from bladders taken from recently slaughtered pigs, and culturing stem cells. O'Shea then designed a ball-shaped "scaffold" or matrix on which the cells would grow, then printed that matrix on a Makerbot Cupcake 3D printer.
Here's a quick video showing how O'Shea constructed his matrix using a home 3-D printer. (Make sure your volume is turned down.)


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BobbiJeanK: Baubles & Designs
Jesus Engraved Wood Cross Earrings: Choose From 2 Wood Options
Jesus Engraved Wood Cross Earrings: Choose From 2 Wood Options
Please note this style is currently only available in Stainless Steel ear wires as this works best with the wood & acrylic earrings.
- Cross measures 1.75 inches long
- Backside is the same same/similar pattern or color to the front
- Made using only the highest quality acrylic, wood, resin, metal, etc. components
- Hypoallergenic Stainless Steel ear wires and posts with rubber backs or ear nuts (ear wires add approximately a half inch to length of earring)
- Please note you will only receive one pair of these earrings (any additional photos show more options, colors, shapes, etc.)
PLEASE NOTE: Each pair will vary slightly with the wood grain or acrylic pattern, but each will look very similar to the photos shown here.
Before purchasing, please be sure to read the Care Instructions, Exchange & Return Policy, Shipping Policy, and other policies located under the "About Us" tab. By purchasing, you agree you have reviewed these policies.
Pictures are taken to represent as close to the true colors as possible, however, slight variations in color may occur due to different computer and mobile phone screens.
BobbiJeanK: Baubles & Designs is a small shop based in Fort Mill, SC. Thank you for choosing to shop small and support small business. Be sure to join our Facebook Community for first dibs on new releases, exclusive preorders and giveaways, contests, and more.


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Time For an Oil Change
How Important is an Oil Change?
An oil and filter change involves draining out the old motor oil and replacing it with fresh, new motor oil. The oil filter also gets replaced at the same time.
Should I get an oil change when it's recommended?
In general, yes. Changing your vehicle's oil is one of the most important things you can do to avoid bringing large bags of money to your mechanic later on.
However, there's a lot of controversy about exactly when engine oil gets old and how often it should be replaced with new oil. Because there are many factors at work — how you drive, the condition and age of the engine, the external environment you drive in, and stop-and-go versus highway driving — it's an inexact science. Owner's manual recommendations for when to get an oil change vary from 3,000 to 10,000 miles.
We recommend that you get an oil change every 5,000 miles. That's our best estimate. It may be too soon for many people and too late for a few, but for the vast majority, 5,000-mile oil changes will help your engine last to a ripe, old age.
You may want to consider getting an oil change more frequently if:
- You drive like a knucklehead: jackrabbit starts, heavy acceleration or high-speed driving
- You live where the climate is extremely hot or cold
- You often drive on dirt roads
- Your engine is old and burns oil
- You frequently carry heavy loads (several mothers-in-law or other cargo)
Why do I have to do this?
Oil undergoes thermal breakdown due to high operating temperature. When this occurs, the oil becomes less effective as a lubricant. And without a good lubricant (read: expensive), parts of the engine rub together and wear each other out.
Oil also contains additives that have the ability to neutralize acids. Over time, these additives get used up and stop being effective.
Finally, oil can absorb water, dust and combustion byproducts and also hold them in suspension. Eventually, the oil gets saturated with this stuff and can't absorb any more. Then that stuff remains in the engine and can cause corrosion.
What happens if I don't do this?
Your engine won't last as long as it could. Oil serves many crucial functions, and clean oil performs those functions better than dirty oil. Oil is relatively cheap, and changing your oil every 5,000 miles is a very cheap insurance policy against major repairs down the road.
Is there any maintenance required between intervals?
Yes, you need to check the oil level every few hundred miles. With your car parked on a level surface, remove the oil dipstick, clean it on your brother's best shirt and then reinsert it. Remove it again, and check the oil level.
Ideally, it should be right at the full mark. If it's at or below the add mark, that means you're a quart low and should add a quart of oil to the crankcase. If it's in between the two marks, you can add part of a quart to bring it up to the full mark (the distance between add and full represents a quart, so use that to estimate how much of a quart you need). Be aware, however, that since oil flows slowly when it is cool, the dipstick may not immediately reflect any oil you just added. So estimate the amount of oil you need based on your first dipstick reading, and then check it again later that day or the next day to be sure you're near the full mark.
A word of caution: Be careful not to overfill your car's crankcase with oil. If you put in too much oil, the engine's crankshaft can actually come in contact with the oil. And because the crankshaft is turning at several thousand revolutions per minute, it can quickly whip your oil into a froth — like the steamed milk that sits on the top of a cappuccino. Why is that bad? Well, the oil pump can't pump froth very well, and as a result, it can't get oil to the parts of the engine that need lubrication. The result … a hefty boat payment to your mechanic.
If you are low on oil, you can add any grade of engine motor oil you like — though we advise you to use the grade of oil recommended in your owner's manual.
If you regularly run low on oil, be sure to report it to your mechanic. You may have a leak or may be burning oil — signs that you might be gearing up for a major boat payment to your mechanic.
Car Talk Tip: At some point, every engine starts to burn oil. Get in the habit of checking the oil from time to time, and you just might avoid having your engine melt down one day.


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Acadia National Park
Land ActivitiesWater Activities
About Us
People have been drawn to the rugged coast of Maine throughout history. Awed by its beauty and diversity, early 20th-century visionaries donated the land that became Acadia National Park. The park is home to many plants and animals, and the tallest mountain on the U.S. Atlantic coast. Today visitors come to Acadia to hike granite peaks, bike historic carriage roads, or relax and enjoy the scenery.
NewsRelease Date: September 22, 2023