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Appellee district exists for the purpose of acquiring, storing, and distributing water for farming in the Tulare Lake Basin. Only landowners are qualified to elect the district's board of directors, votes being apportioned according to the assessed valuation of the lands. A three-judge District Court, against challenge by appellants, held that the limitation of the franchise to landowners comported with equal protection requirements. Held:
REHNQUIST, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C. J., and STEWART, WHITE, BLACKMUN, and POWELL, JJ., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 735.
Thomas Keister Greer argued the cause for appellants. With him on the briefs was C. Ray Robinson.
Robert M. Newell argued the cause for appellee. With him on the brief was Ernest M. Clark, Jr. *
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed by Denslow Green for Irrigation Districts Association of California, and by George Basye for California Central Valleys Flood Control Association.
[ Footnote * ] Melvin L. Wulf, Sanford Jay Rosen, Joel M. Gora, and David Hall filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union et al. as amici curiae urging reversal.
MR. JUSTICE REHNQUIST delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is another in the line of cases in which the Court has had occasion to consider the limits imposed by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment on legislation apportioning representation in state and local governing bodies and establishing qualifications for voters in the election of such representatives. Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), enunciated the constitutional standard for apportionment of state legislatures. Later cases such as Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474 (1968), and Hadley v. Junior College District, 397 U.S. 50 (1970), extended the Reynolds rule to the governing bodies of a county and of a junior college district, respectively. We are here presented with the issue expressly reserved in Avery, supra:
It was not enough therefore, for individual farmers or groups of farmers to build irrigation canals and ditches which depended for their operation on the natural flow of these streams. Storage dams had to be constructed to impound in their reservoirs the flow of the rivers at flood stage for later release during the dry season regimen of these streams. For the construction of major dams to facilitate the storage of water for irrigation of large areas, the full resources of the State and frequently of the Federal Government were necessary. 1
But for less costly projects which would benefit a more restricted geographic area, the State was frequently either unable or unwilling to pledge its credit or its resources. The California Legislature, therefore, has authorized a number of instrumentalities, including water storage districts such as the appellee here, to provide a local response to water problems.
Some history of the experience of California and the other Western States with the problems of water distribution [410 U.S. 719, 723] is contained in Fallbrook Irrigation District v. Bradley, 164 U.S. 112, 151 -154 (1896), in which the constitutionality of California's Wright Act was sustained against claims of denial of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. While the irrigation district was apparently the first local governmental unit authorized to deal with water distribution, it is by no means the only one. General legislation in California authorizes the creation, not only of irrigation districts, but of water conservation districts, water storage and conservation districts, flood control districts, and water storage districts such as appellee. 2
Appellee district consists of 193,000 acres of intensively cultivated, highly fertile farm land located in the Tulare Lake Basin. Its population consists of 77 persons, including 18 children, most of whom are employees of one or another of the four corporations that farm 85% of the land in the district.
Such districts are authorized to plan projects and execute approved projects "for the acquisition, appropriation, diversion, storage, conservation, and distribution of water . . . ." Calif. Water Code 42200 et seq. 3 Incidental to this general power, districts may "acquire, improve, and operate" any necessary works for the storage [410 U.S. 719, 724] and distribution of water as well as any drainage or reclamation works connected therewith, and the generation and distribution of hydroelectric power may be provided for. 4 Id., 43000, 43025. They may fix tolls and charges for the use of water and collect them from all persons receiving the benefit of the water or other services in proportion to the services rendered. Id., 43006. The costs of the projects are assessed against district land in accordance with the benefits accruing to each tract held in separate ownership. Id., 46175, 46176. And land that is not benefited may be withdrawn from the district on petition. Id., 48029.
Governance of the districts is undertaken by a board of directors. Id., 40658. Each director is elected from one of the divisions within the district, id., 39929, and each must take an official oath and execute a bond. Id., 40301. General elections for the directors are to be held in odd-numbered years. Id., 39027, 41300 et seq.
It is the voter qualification for such elections that appellants claim invidiously discriminates against them and persons similarly situated. Appellants are landowners, a landowner-lessee, and residents within the area included in the appellee's water storage district. They brought this action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief in an effort to prevent appellee from giving effect to certain provisions of the California Water Code. They allege that 41000 5 and 41001 6 unconstitutionally deny to them the equal protection [410 U.S. 719, 725] of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, in that only landowners are permitted to vote in water storage district general elections, and votes in those elections are apportioned according to the assessed valuation of the land. A three-judge court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2284, and the case was submitted on factual statements of the parties and briefs, without testimony or oral argument. A majority of the District Court held that both statutes comported with the dictates of the Equal Protection Clause, and appellants have appealed that judgment directly to this Court under 28 U.S.C. 1253.
In Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (1968), a case in which the Ohio legislative scheme for regulating the electoral franchise was challenged, the Court said:
It is first argued that 41000, limiting the vote to district landowners, is unconstitutional since nonlandowning residents have as much interest in the operations of a district as landowners who may or may not be residents. Particularly, it is pointed out that the homes of residents may be damaged by floods within the district's boundaries, and that floods may, as with appellant Ellison, cause them to lose their jobs. Support for this position is said to come from the recent decisions of this Court striking down various state laws that limited voting to landowners, Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, 399 U.S. 204 (1970), Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U.S. 701 (1969), and Kramer v. Union School District, 395 U.S. 621 (1969).
In Kramer, the Court was confronted with a voter qualification statute for school district elections that limited the vote to otherwise qualified district residents who were either (1) the owners or lessees of taxable real property located within the district, (2) spouses of persons owning qualifying property, or (3) parents or guardians of children enrolled for a specified time during the preceding year in a local district school. Without reaching the issue of whether or not a State may in some circumstances limit the exercise of the franchise to those primarily interested or primarily affected by a given governmental unit, it was held that the above classifications did not meet that state-articulated goal since they excluded many persons who had distinct and direct interests in school meeting decisions and included many persons who had, at best, remote and indirect interests. Id., at 632-633.
Similarly, in Cipriano v. City of Houma, supra, decided the same day, provisions of Louisiana law which gave only property taxpayers the right to vote in elections [410 U.S. 719, 727] called to approve the issuance of revenue bonds by a municipal utility were declared violative of the Equal Protection Clause since the operation of the utility systems affected virtually every resident of the city, not just the 40% of the registered voters who were also property taxpayers, and since the bonds were not in any way financed by property tax revenue. 395 U.S., at 705 . And the rationale of Cipriano was expanded to include general obligation bonds of municipalities in Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, supra. It was there noted that not only did those persons excluded from voting have a great interest in approving or disapproving municipal improvements, but they also contributed both directly through local taxes and indirectly through increased rents and costs to the servicing of the bonds. 399 U.S., at 210 -211.
Cipriano and Phoenix involved application of the "one person, one vote" principle to residents of units of local governments exercising general governmental power, as that term was defined in Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474 (1968). Kramer and Hadley v. Junior College District, 397 U.S. 50 (1970), extended the "one person, one vote" principle to school districts exercising powers which.
The appellee district in this case, although vested with some typical governmental powers, 7 has relatively limited authority. Its primary purpose, indeed the reason for its existence, is to provide for the acquisition, storage, and distribution of water for farming in the Tulare Lake Basin. 8 It provides no other general public [410 U.S. 719, 729] services such as schools, housing, transportation, utilities, roads, or anything else of the type ordinarily financed by a municipal body. App. 86. There are no towns, shops, hospitals or other facilities designed to improve the quality of life within the district boundaries, and it does not have a fire department, police, buses, or trains. Ibid.
Not only does the district not exercise what might be thought of as "normal governmental" authority, but its actions disproportionately affect landowners. All of the costs of district projects are assessed against land by assessors in proportion to the benefits received. Likewise, charges for services rendered are collectible from persons receiving their benefit in proportion to the services. When such persons are delinquent in payment, just as in the case of delinquency in payments of assessments, such charges become a lien on the land. Calif. Water Code 47183, 46280. In short, there is no way that the economic burdens of district operations can fall on residents qua residents, and the operations of the districts primarily affect the land within their boundaries. 9
Under these circumstances, it is quite understandable that the statutory framework for election of directors [410 U.S. 719, 730] of the appellee focuses on the land benefited, rather than on people as such. California has not opened the franchise to all residents, as Missouri had in Hadley, supra, nor to all residents with some exceptions, as New York had in Kramer, supra. The franchise is extended to landowners, whether they reside in the district or out of it, and indeed whether or not they are natural persons who would be entitled to vote in a more traditional political election. Appellants do not challenge the enfranchisement of nonresident landowners or of corporate landowners for purposes of election of the directors of appellee. Thus, to sustain their contention that all residents of the district must be accorded a vote would not result merely in the striking down of an exclusion from what was otherwise a delineated class, but would instead engraft onto the statutory scheme a wholly new class of voters in addition to those enfranchised by the statute.
We hold, therefore, that the popular election requirements enunciated by Reynolds, supra, and succeeding cases are inapplicable to elections such as the general election of appellee Water Storage District.
Even though appellants derive no benefit from the Reynolds and Kramer lines of cases, they are, of course, entitled to have their equal protection claim assessed to determine whether the State's decision to deny the franchise to residents of the district while granting it to landowners was "wholly irrelevant to achievement of the regulation's objectives," Kotch v. River Port Pilot Comm'rs, 330 U.S. 552, 556 (1947). No doubt residents within the district may be affected by its activities. But this argument proves too much. Since assessments imposed by the district become a cost of doing business for those who farm within it, and that [410 U.S. 719, 731] cost must ultimately be passed along to the consumers of the produce, food shoppers in far away metropolitan areas are to some extent likewise "affected" by the activities of the district. Constitutional adjudication cannot rest on any such "house that Jack built" foundation, however. The California Legislature could quite reasonably have concluded that the number of landowners and owners of sufficient amounts of acreage whose consent was necessary to organize the district would not have subjected their land to the lien of its possibly very substantial assessments unless they had a dominant voice in its control. Since the subjection of the owners' lands to such liens was the basis by which the district was to obtain financing, the proposed district had as a practical matter to attract landowner support. Nor, since assessments against landowners were to be the sole means by which the expenses of the district were to be paid, could it be said to be unfair or inequitable to repose the franchise in landowners but not residents. Landowners as a class were to bear the entire burden of the district's costs, and the State could rationally conclude that they, to the exclusion of residents, should be charged with responsibility for its operation. We conclude, therefore, that nothing in the Equal Protection Clause precluded California from limiting the voting for directors of appellee district by totally excluding those who merely reside within the district.
Appellants assert that even if residents may be excluded from the vote, lessees who farm the land have interests that are indistinguishable from those of the landowners. Like landowners, they take an interest in increasing the available water for farming and, because the costs of district projects may be passed on to them [410 U.S. 719, 732] either by express agreement or by increased rentals, they have an equal interest in the costs.
Lessees undoubtedly do have an interest in the activities of appellee district analogous to that of landowners in many respects. But in the type of special district we now have before us, the question for our determination is not whether or not we would have lumped them together had we been enacting the statute in question, but instead whether "if any state of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify" California's decision to deny the franchise to lessees while granting it to landowners. McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 426 (1961).
The term "lessees" may embrace the holders of a wide spectrum of leasehold interests in land, from the month-to-month tenant holding under an oral lease, on the one hand, to the long-term lessee holding under a carefully negotiated written lease, on the other. The system which permitted a lessee for a very short term to vote might easily lend itself to manipulation on the part of large landowners because of the ease with which such landowners could create short-term interests on the part of loyal employees. And, even apart from the fear of such manipulation, California may well have felt that landowners would be unwilling to join in the forming of a water storage district if short-term lessees whose fortunes were not in the long run tied to the land were to have a major vote in the affairs of the district.
The administration of a voting system which allowed short-term lessees to vote could also pose significant difficulties. Apparently, assessment rolls as well as state and federal land lists are used by election boards in determining the qualifications of the voters. Calif. Water Code 41016. Such lists, obviously, would not ordinarily disclose either long- or short-term leaseholds. [410 U.S. 719, 733] While reference could be made to appropriate conveyancing records to determine the existence of leases which had been recorded, leases for terms less than one year need not be recorded under California law in order to preserve the right of the lessee. Calif. Civil Code 1214.
Finally, we note that California has not left the lessee without remedy for his disenfranchised state. Sections 41002 and 41005 of the California Water Code provide for voting in the general election by proxy. To the extent that a lessee entering into a lease of substantial duration, thereby likening his status more to that of a landowner, feels that the right to vote in the election of directors of the district is of sufficient import to him, he may bargain for that right at the time he negotiates his lease. And the longer the term of the lease, and the more the interest of the lessee becomes akin to that of the landowner, presumably the more willing the lessor will be to assign his right. Just as the lessee may by contract be required to reimburse the lessor for the district assessments so he may be contract acquire the right to vote for district directors.
Under these circumstances, the exclusion of lessees from voting in general elections for the directors of the district does not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
The last claim by appellants is that 41001, which weights the vote according to assessed valuation of the land, is unconstitutional. They point to the fact that several of the smaller landowners have only one vote per person whereas the J. G. Boswell Company has 37,825 votes, and they place reliance on the various decisions of this Court holding that wealth has no relation to resident-voter qualifications and that equality of voting power may not be evaded. See, e. g., Gray v. Sanders, [410 U.S. 719, 734] 372 U.S. 368 (1963); Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966).
Appellants' argument ignores the realities of water storage district operation. Since its formation in 1926, appellee district has put into operation four multi-million-dollar projects. The last project involved the construction of two laterals from the Basin to the California State Aqueduct at a capital cost of about $2,500,000. Three small landowners having land aggregating somewhat under four acres with an assessed valuation of under $100 were given one vote each in the special election held for the approval of the project. The J. G. Boswell Company, which owns 61,665.54 acres with an assessed valuation of $3,782,220 was entitled to cast 37.825 votes in the election. By the same token, however, the assessment commissioners determined that the benefits of the project would be uniform as to all of the acres affected, and assessed the project equally as to all acreage. Each acre has to bear $13.26 of cost and the three small landowners, therefore, must pay a total of $46, whereas the company must pay $817,685 for its part. 10 Thus, as the District Court found, "the benefits and burdens to each landowner . . . are in proportion to the assessed value of the land." 342 F. Supp. 144, 146. We cannot say that the California legislative decision to permit voting in the same proportion is not rationally based.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the three-judge District Court and hold that the voter qualification statutes for California water storage district elections [410 U.S. 719, 735] are rationally based, and therefore do not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
[ Footnote 2 ] 4 Waters and Water Rights 345.3 (R. Clark ed. 1970).
[ Footnote 3 ] The actual adoption of district projects is long and involved. After a district undertakes a project, it must be approved by the California Department of Water Resources. Calif. Water Code 42200 et seq. A report and the estimated cost of the project must be submitted to the California State Treasurer, who undertakes an independent investigation before declaring the project abandoned or approving the report. Id., 42275 et seq. If the report is approved, a "special election" is called. Id., 42325 et seq. In order for the project to be finally adopted, a majority of the votes and a majority of the voters must approve it. Id., 42355-42550.
[ Footnote 4 ] There is no evidence that the appellee district engages in the generation, sale, or distribution of hydroelectric power.
[ Footnote 5 ] Calif. Water Code 41000 provides:
[ Footnote 6 ] Calif. Water Code 41001 provides:
[ Footnote 7 ] The board has the power to employ and discharge persons on a regular staff and to contract for the construction of district projects. Calif. Water Code 43152. It can condemn private property for use in such projects, id., 43530-43533, and may cooperate (including contract) with other agencies, state and federal. Id., 43151. Both general obligation bonds and interest-bearing warrants may be authorized. Id., 44900-45900.
[ Footnote 8 ] Appellants strongly urge that districts have the power to, and do, engage in flood control activities. The interest of such activities to residents is said to be obvious since houses may be destroyed and, as in the case of appellant Ellison, jobs may disappear. But Calif. Water Code 43151 provides that any agreement entered into with the State or the United States must be "for a purpose appertaining to or beneficial to the project of the district. . . ." And the statute which assertedly gives support to the flood control activities, id., [410 U.S. 719, 729] 44000, simply states that a district "may cooperate and contract with the state . . . or the United States" for the purpose of "flood control." Id., 44001. Thus, any flood control activities are incident to the exercise of the district's primary functions of water storage and distribution.
[ Footnote 9 ] Appellants point out that since the flood of 1969, the district has received about $250,000 in flood relief funds from the Federal Government and that the residents, like other American citizens, have paid their share of that money and are therefore entitled to vote. Cf. Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, 399 U.S. 204 (1970). But their status as district residents bears no more relation to the flood relief money than that of any other United States citizen and would seem to provide no more compelling reason for granting such residents the right to vote than the citizenry at large.
[ Footnote 10 ] As was pointed out in n. 3, small landowners are protected from crippling assessments resulting from district projects by the dual vote which must be taken in order to approve a project. Not only must a majority of the votes be cast for approval, but also a majority of the voters must approve. In this case, about 189 landowners constitute a majority and 189 of the smallest landowners in the district have only 2.34% of the land.
MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS, with whom MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN and MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL concur, dissenting.
The vices of this case are fourfold.
First. Lessees of farmlands, though residents of the district, are not given the franchise.
Second. Residents who own no agricultural lands but live in the district and face all the perils of flood which the district is supposed to control are disfranchised.
Third. Only agricultural landowners are entitled to vote and their vote is weighted, one vote for each one hundred dollars of assessed valuation as provided in 41001 of the California Water Code.
Fourth. The corporate voter is put in the saddle.
There are 189 landowners who own up to 80 acres each. These 189 represent 2.34% of the agricultural acreage of the district. There are 193,000 acres in the district. Petitioner î Salyer Land Co. is one large operator, West Lake Farms and South Lake Farms are also large operators. The largest is J. G. Boswell Co. These four farm almost 85% of all the land in the district. Of these, J. G. Boswell Co. commands the greatest number of votes, 37,825, which are enough to give it a majority of the board of directors. As a result, it is permanently in the saddle. Almost all of the 77 residents of the district are disfranchised. The hold of J. G. Boswell Co. is so strong that there has been no election since 1947, making little point of the provision in 41300 of the California Water Code for an election every other year.
The result has been calamitous to some who, though landless, have even more to fear from floods than the ephemeral corporation. [410 U.S. 719, 736]
In Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, 399 U.S. 204, 209 , we set out the following test for state election schemes which selectively distribute the franchise:
Assuming, arguendo, that a State may, in some circumstances, limit the franchise to that portion of the electorate "primarily affected" by the outcome of an election, Kramer v. Union School District, supra, at 632, the limitation may only be upheld if it is demonstrated that "all those excluded are in fact substantially less interested or affected than those the [franchise] includes." Ibid. The majority concludes that "there is no way that the [410 U.S. 719, 737] economic burdens of district operations can fall on residents qua residents, and the operations of the districts primarily affect the land within their boundaries."
But, with all respect, that is a great distortion. In these arid areas of our Nation a water district seeks water in time of drought and fights it in time of flood. One of the functions of water districts in California is to manage flood control. That is general California statutory policy. 1 It is expressly stated in the Water Code that governs water districts. 2 The California Supreme Court ruled some years back that flood control and irrigation are different but complementary aspects of one problem. 3
From its inception in 1926, this district has had repeated flood control problems. Four rivers, Kings, Kern, Tule, and Kaweah, enter Tulare Lake Basin. South of Tulare Lake Basin is Buena Vista Lake. In the past, Buena Vista has been used to protect Tulare Lake Basin by storing Kern River water in the former. That is how Tulare Lake Basin was protected from menacing floods in 1952. But that was not done in the great 1969 flood, the result being that 88,000 of the 193,000 acres in respondent district were flooded. The board of the respondent district - dominated by the big landowner J. G. Boswell Co. - voted 6-4 to table the motion that would put into operation the machinery to divert the flood waters to the Buena Vista Lake. The reason is that J. G. Boswell Co. had a long-term agricultural lease in the Buena Vista Lake Basin and flooding it would have interfered with the planting, growing, and harvesting of crops the next season.
The result was that water in the Tulare Lake Basin rose to 192.5 USGS datum. Ellison, one of the appellants [410 U.S. 719, 738] who lives in the district, is not an agricultural landowner. But his residence was 15 1/2 feet below the water level of the crest of the flood in 1969.
The appellee district has large levees; and if they are broken, damage to houses and loss of life are imminent.
Landowners - large or small, resident or nonresident lessees or landlords, sharecroppers 4 or owners - all should have a say. But irrigation, water storage, the building of levees, and flood control, implicate the entire community. All residents of the district must be granted the franchise.
This case, as I will discuss below, involves the performance of vital and important governmental functions by water districts clothed with much of the paraphernalia of government. The weighting of votes according to one's wealth is hostile to our system of government. See [410 U.S. 719, 739] Stewart v. Parish School Board of St. Charles, 310 F. Supp. 1172, aff'd, 400 U.S. 884 . As a nonlandowning bachelor was held to be entitled to vote on matters affecting education, Kramer v. Union School District, supra, so all the prospective victims of mismanaged flood control projects should be entitled to vote in water district elections, whether they be resident nonlandowners, resident or nonresident lessees, and whether they own 10 acres or 10,000 acres. Moreover, their votes should be equal regardless of the value of their holdings, for when it comes to performance of governmental functions all enter the polls on an equal basis.
The majority, however, would distinguish the water storage district from "units of local government having general governmental powers over the entire geographic area served by the body," Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474, 485 , and fit this case within the exception contemplated for "a special-purpose unit of government assigned the performance of functions affecting definable groups of constituents more than other constituents." Id., at 483-484. The Avery test was significantly liberalized in Hadley v. Junior College District, 397 U.S. 50 . At issue was an election for trustees of a special-purpose district which ran a junior college. We said.
Water storage districts in California are classified as irrigation, reclamation, or drainage districts. 5 Such state agencies "are considered exclusively governmental," and their property is "held only for governmental purpose," not in the "proprietary sense." 6 They are a "public entity," just as "any other political subdivision." 7 That is made explicit in various ways. The Water Code of California states that "[a]ll waters and water rights" of the State "within the district are given, dedicated, and set apart for the uses and purposes of the district." 8 Directors of the district are "public officers of the state." 9 The district possesses the power of eminent domain. 10 Its works may not be taxed. 11 It carries a governmental immunity against suit. 12 A district has powers that relate to irrigation, storage of water, drainage, flood control, and generation of hydroelectric energy. 13
Whatever may be the parameters of the exception alluded to in Avery and Hadley, I cannot conclude that [410 U.S. 719, 741] this water storage district escapes the constitutional restraints relative to a franchise within a governmental unit.
When we decided Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 , and discussed the problems of malapportionment we thought and talked about people - of population, of the constitutional right of "qualified citizens to vote," (id., at 554) of "the right of suffrage," (id., at 555) of the comparison of "one man's vote" to that of another man's vote. Id., at 559. We said:
It would be a radical and revolutionary step to take, as it would change our whole concept of the franchise. California takes part of that step here by allowing corporations to vote in these water district matters 16 that entail performance of vital governmental functions. One corporation can outvote 77 individuals in this district. Four corporations can exercise these governmental powers as they choose, leaving every individual inhabitant with a weak, ineffective voice. The result is a corporate political kingdom undreamed of by those who wrote our Constitution.
[ Footnote î ] ERRATA: "Petitioner" should be "Appellant".
[ Footnote 1 ] Calif. Stat. 1921, c. 914, 58.
[ Footnote 2 ] Calif. Water Code 44001.
[ Footnote 3 ] Tarpey v. McClure, 190 Cal. 593, 213 P. 983.
[ Footnote 4 ] Since 1938, sharecroppers have been included in federal regulations defining "farmers" who are entitled to vote on referenda concerning marketing quotas under the Agricultural Adjustment Act.
[ Footnote 5 ] Calif. Water Code 39060.
[ Footnote 6 ] Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District v. Ohrt, 31 Cal. App. 2d 619, 623, 88 P.2d 763, 765.
[ Footnote 7 ] Calif. Govt. Code 811.2.
[ Footnote 8 ] Section 43158. See also id., 39061.
[ Footnote 9 ] In re Madera Irrigation District, 92 Cal. 296, 322, 28 P. 272, 278.
[ Footnote 10 ] Calif. Water Code 43530.
[ Footnote 11 ] Id., 43508.
[ Footnote 12 ] Calif. Govt. Code 811.2, 815.
[ Footnote 13 ] Calif. Water Code 42200, 43000, 43025, 44001.
[ Footnote 14 ] Minneapolis & St. Louis R. Co. v. Beckwith, 129 U.S. 26, 28 .
[ Footnote 15 ] Pembina Consolidated Silver Mining & Milling Co. v. Pennsylvania, 125 U.S. 181, 188 -189; Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific R. Co., 118 U.S. 394, 397 .
[ Footnote 16 ] Calif. Water Code 41004. [410 U.S. 719, 743]
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Age Group: Babies Type: Dinnerware Material: Bamboo Wood Function: Bowl Certification: CE / EU, CIQ Pattern Type: Cartoon Material Feature:
Bamboo Stay-Put Suction Plate/Bowl With Matching Spoons
REMARKABLE SUCTION grips the high chair tray or kiddie table to prevent spills, flips and throws ALL NATURAL BAMBOO and food-grade silicone
Bamboo Baby Bowl (3 Piece Set)
Type: Dinnerware Function: Dinnerware Set Certification: CIQ Material Feature: Nitrosamine Free, PVC Free, Latex Free, Phthalate Free, BPA Free Function:


text:
Spiced Tongue With Raisin Sauce
(Lissan w'Zbeeb)
1 cow's tongue (about 2 pounds)
1 onion
1 cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs)
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
12 peppercorns
One 15-ounce can tomato sauce
One 8-ounce can pineapple chunks
Including liquid
3/4-cup seedless raisins
1/2-cup brown sugar
To prepare the meat, cover the tongue with water in a
medium stockpot over medium- high heat. Add the onion,
celery, cloves, bay leaf, and peppercorns to the pot. Bring
to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer over low heat,
allowing 1 hour for each pound of tongue.
Remove the tongue from the water. Cut the membrane
and peel it off carefully. Remove the bone and gristle at the
thick end. Let cool.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Slice the tongue crosswise. Place the slices in a shallow
ovenproof casserole, overlapping the slices.
To prepare the sauce, in a medium saucepan over medium high
heat, mix the tomato sauce, pineapple, raisins, and
brown sugar in 1_2 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce
the heat to low. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture
bubbles and thickens. Pour the sauce over the tongue.
Cover and bake the tongue in the oven for 20 minutes,
or until caramelized.
Approximately: 6 to 8 servings
Recipe: Kosher, meat, Rosh Hashanah


text:
Estrogen dominance is a primary cause of almost all female health problems, including fibrocystic breast disease, PMS, mood swings, excessive bleeding, endometriosis, fibroids, infertility, and ovarian cysts. Peri-menopause is the time when hormone levels begin to shift in preparation for menopause. It is not so much the decrease in hormones that produces the uncomfortable symptoms associated with peri-menopause, but rather the changing ratio between estrogen and progesterone. Chronic or episodic depression, severe mood swings, and anxiety are frequent manifestations of these midlife fluctuations.
Estrogen refers to a group of female "sex" hormones, produced primarily in the ovaries, and to a lesser extent in the body's fat cells. It is important for adolescent sexual development and for regulating the menstrual cycle. Estrogen prepares the uterus for receiving the fertilized egg by stimulating the uterine lining to grow. During days 10 - 14 in a woman's cycle, the uterus is mainly under the influence of estrogen, which begins to climb right before ovulation, which is usually between days seven to fourteen, peaking at ovulation in preparation for a fertilized egg. Estrogen also improves skin tone and reduces vaginal dryness. There are three main types of estrogen that a woman makes: Estradiol (E2), which accounts for 80% of her estrogen, Estriol (E1), and Estrone (E3), each accounting for 10% of the remaining estrogen.
Progesterone is another female "sex" hormone, produced in the ovaries, that prepares the uterus for a fertilized. Its sudden withdrawal causes the uterus to shed its lining if pregnancy does not occur. While estrogen is high (during days 1-10 of the menstrual cycle), progesterone is at its lowest level. Its levels climb to a peak between days 14 - 24, and then dramatically drop off again just before the start of menstruation. Ideally, women should have five to ten times more progesterone than estrogen in the blood and 40 to 150 times in the saliva. The lower the ratio of progesterone to estrogen, the higher the risk of health problems. Progesterone has the unique ability to change its structural form to become other hormones, allowing it to be converted and utilized by the body to the point of depletion.
Testosterone is responsible for much more than defining sexual characteristics in men or influencing sex drive. Testosterone is essential for life since it helps to regulate basic metabolism. Testosterone also facilitates protein synthesis and the building of body tissues. Testosterone is produced by small groups of specialized cells within the testicles and is also secreted, to a lesser extent, by the ovaries. The production of testosterone is triggered by luteinizing hormone (LH), produced in the pituitary gland. In the absence of LH, testosterone production ceases. With age, blood levels of testosterone slowly decrease.
Research conducted by the National Institute of Health has shown a 2% reduction per year from age 30 to age 70.
Every man or women over 30 should seriously consider putting their body on an ongoing hormonal balancing program.
This is a guide to raise awareness of suboptimal sex hormone levels. It may also help you determine whether you should have further discussions with your healthcare practitioner.
Download Free FEMALE Assessment »
Download Free MALE Assessment »


text:
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|The blockbuster fantasy epic that renewed Hollywood's faith in media blitzing. The Caped Crusader (Keaton) is back in Gotham City, where even the criminals are afraid to walk the streets alone. There's a new breed of criminal in Gotham, led by the infamous Joker (Nicholson). Their random attacks via acid-based make-up are just the beginning. Keaton is surprisingly good as the dual personality hero though Nicholson steals the show with his campy performance. Basinger is blonde and feisty as photog Vicki Vale, who falls for mysterious millionaire Bruce Wayne (and the bat). Marvelously designed and shot. Followed by three sequels.
|Directed by:
|Tim Burton
|Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Tracey Walter, Billy Dee Williams, Pat Hingle, Michael Gough, Jack Palance, Jerry Hall


text:
Media and education group PRODIREKT, with its Verbalists Language Network, will be responsible for rolling out innovative online entertainment-based approach to English-language learners in seven markets.
Paris, France – June 6, 2012 – Entertainment Learning, the European leading education-via-entertainment company, announced its partnership with PRODIREKT LLC (www.prodirektgroup.com) today for the launch of its flagship language learning service, English Attack!, (www.english-attack.com) in Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and in Bulgaria.
"Our innovative media and entertainment-based approach to learning English was designed to be as accessible and affordable as possible, so our policy is to work with partners not just in the world's main markets for English learning, but everywhere. In Southeast Europe, we have been delighted to find a partner PRODIREKT, that, with its fast growing Verbalists Language Network, offers innovation, market knowledge, skills, credibility and marketing platforms not only in the area of language education, but in media, travel, and youth marketing as well. We are confident that they will be very successful in introducing English Attack! to the millions of learners of English in these rapidly developing markets," said Paul Maglione, co-founder of Entertainment Learning.
Dejan Trpkovic, managing director, PRODIREKT, added: "The partnership with Entertainment Learning ideally complements our business strategy, while their English Attack! will expand our portfolio of experience-based educational programs. As part of our commitment to motivate, educate and keep the professionals in Southeast Europe in tune with the latest trends in communication and personal development, our network Verbalists has been supporting major cultural events, regional music and film festivals, as well as conducting interviews with successful business people and celebrities. English Attack! is a valuable addition to our content that stands out for its originality, high quality and is aimed at learning through experience and entertainment.
The full impact of the Internet revolution has yet to be seen in the field of education, and in particular most online language-learning sites are still based on exercises and structures typical of early 20th-century pedagogy, far removed from the interests and motivations of today's learners. English Attack! aims to propel language learning into the 21st century with an innovative, social approach.
English Attack! allows learners of English to improve their language skills contextually with video clips from blockbuster movies, hit TV series, music videos and television news reports; online games ; and thematic visual dictionaries. They can also practice their developing English language skills within the site's global social network of learners of English. Users have a choice between an English-language interface and a version with navigation, help texts, tutorials, a dictionary, and other resources in 19 other languages, including Spanish, allowing easier access to the site's unique pedagogical approach.
About Entertainment Learning/English Attack!:
Entertainment Learning was founded in 2009, based on the vision of transforming education via web 2.0 principles and the power of online entertainment. It is represented by Marketing Partners in 12 countries covering 15 markets, with offices in Paris, Dusseldorf, Warsaw, Prague, Istanbul, Barcelona, Chicago, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Seoul and Bangkok.
Its first online service, English Attack!, was developed in partnership with a range of English-teaching professionals, and emerged from large-scale worldwide Beta-testing in July 2011. English Attack delivers a truly innovative approach to language learning, based on cognitive neuroscience and the use of learning concepts derived from the latest language learning pedagogy as well as principles based on learning games.
The service is available to both consumers and, via a multi-user license, to schools, language institutes, universities and companies.
English Attack! is available in 20 languages. These include French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and Korean, allowing easier beginner-level access to the site's unique pedagogical approach.
About PRODIREKT LLC and Verbalists (Verbalisti) Language Network
PRODIREKT's innovative solutions for corporate management, marketing and international business communication offer a bridge between strategy and education, while its Verbalists Language Network and business group, dedicated to language studies, professional training, translation and interpreting services, help young professionals and corporate clients achieve their objectives in international communication.
The Verbalists Language Network has been created for language lovers and all those wishing to improve their communication skills. Furthermore, Verbalists are the answer to the growing demand for the regional standardization in foreign language studies. That language network offers quality language courses for students of all ages and levels according to their various budget needs.


text:
When you buy a book, we plant a tree
When you buy a book, we plant a tree
19.90 € Price incl. VAT
fairy tales German
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From an order value of 60,00 €, we deliver shipments to foreign countries free of cost.
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Please note that deliveries are not made on Sundays and other holidays.
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text:
Deborah Frisch, who emails using the addresses email@example.com and email@example.com (and firstname.lastname@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com and "Jim Lawson") has criminal convictions for assault, stalking, harassment and threatening. Here are links to information:
- Deb Frisch [firstname.lastname@example.com] 2009 criminal conviction for assaulting a female who spurned Frisch's desperate and violent sexual advances
- Deborah E. Frisch [firstname.lastname@example.com] 2011 conviction on charges of Criminal Impersonation and harassment
- Other visits Deb Frisch [email@example.com] has received from police for her threatening, stalking and harassment--including RESTRAINING ORDERS and small-claims lawsuits (Frisch is also being eyed by Lane County authorities for fraud).
the Lane County Victims Services Department (541-682-4523). They're both VERY
well acquainted with Deb Frisch's criminal record. Reference Frisch's Oregon Criminal
ID number (1675174)
Deborah Frisch
86574 N Modesto Drive
Eugene OR 97402


text:
Iron Heel, The

 CHAPTER XVII

 THE SCARLET LIVERY

With the destruction of the Granger states, the Grangers in Congress disappeared. They were being tried for high treason, and their places were taken by the creatures of the Iron Heel. The socialists were in a pitiful minority, and they knew that their end was near. Congress and the Senate were empty pretences, farces. Public questions were gravely debated and passed upon according to the old forms, while in reality all that was done was to give the stamp of constitutional procedure to the mandates of the Oligarchy.

Ernest was in the thick of the fight when the end came. It was in the debate on the bill to assist the unemployed. The hard times of the preceding year had thrust great masses of the proletariat beneath the starvation line, and the continued and wide-reaching disorder had but sunk them deeper. Millions of people were starving, while the oligarchs and their supporters were surfeiting on the surplus.* We called these wretched people the people of the abyss,** and it was to alleviate their awful suffering that the socialists had introduced the unemployed bill. But this was not to the fancy of the Iron Heel. In its own way it was preparing to set these millions to work, but the way was not our way, wherefore it had issued its orders that our bill should be voted down. Ernest and his fellows knew that their effort was futile, but they were tired of the suspense. They wanted something to happen. They were accomplishing nothing, and the best they hoped for was the putting of an end to the legislative farce in which they were unwilling players. They knew not what end would come, but they never anticipated a more disastrous end than the one that did come.

* The same conditions obtained in the nineteenth century
 A.D. under British rule in India. The natives died of
 starvation by the million, while their rulers robbed them of
 the fruits of their toil and expended it on magnificent
 pageants and mumbo-jumbo fooleries. Perforce, in this
 enlightened age, we have much to blush for in the acts of
 our ancestors. Our only consolation is philosophic. We
 must accept the capitalistic stage in social evolution as
 about on a par with the earlier monkey stage. The human had
 to pass through those stages in its rise from the mire and
 slime of low organic life. It was inevitable that much of
 the mire and slime should cling and be not easily shaken
 off.

 ** The people of the abyss—this phrase was struck out by
 the genius of H. G. Wells in the late nineteenth century
 A.D. Wells was a sociological seer, sane and normal as well
 as warm human. Many fragments of his work have come down to
 us, while two of his greatest achievements, "Anticipations"
 and "Mankind in the Making," have come down intact. Before
 the oligarchs, and before Everhard, Wells speculated upon
 the building of the wonder cities, though in his writings
 they are referred to as "pleasure cities."

I sat in the gallery that day. We all knew that something terrible was imminent. It was in the air, and its presence was made visible by the armed soldiers drawn up in lines in the corridors, and by the officers grouped in the entrances to the House itself. The Oligarchy was about to strike. Ernest was speaking. He was describing the sufferings of the unemployed, as if with the wild idea of in some way touching their hearts and consciences; but the Republican and Democratic members sneered and jeered at him, and there was uproar and confusion. Ernest abruptly changed front.

"I know nothing that I may say can influence you," he said. "You have no souls to be influenced. You are spineless, flaccid things. You pompously call yourselves Republicans and Democrats. There is no Republican Party. There is no Democratic Party. There are no Republicans nor Democrats in this House. You are lick-spittlers and panderers, the creatures of the Plutocracy. You talk verbosely in antiquated terminology of your love of liberty, and all the while you wear the scarlet livery of the Iron Heel."

Here the shouting and the cries of "Order! order!" drowned his voice, and he stood disdainfully till the din had somewhat subsided. He waved his hand to include all of them, turned to his own comrades, and said:

"Listen to the bellowing of the well-fed beasts."

Pandemonium broke out again. The Speaker rapped for order and glanced expectantly at the officers in the doorways. There were cries of "Sedition!" and a great, rotund New York member began shouting "Anarchist!" at Ernest. And Ernest was not pleasant to look at. Every fighting fibre of him was quivering, and his face was the face of a fighting animal, withal he was cool and collected.

"Remember," he said, in a voice that made itself heard above the din, "that as you show mercy now to the proletariat, some day will that same proletariat show mercy to you."

The cries of "Sedition!" and "Anarchist!" redoubled.

"I know that you will not vote for this bill," Ernest went on. "You have received the command from your masters to vote against it. And yet you call me anarchist. You, who have destroyed the government of the people, and who shamelessly flaunt your scarlet shame in public places, call me anarchist. I do not believe in hell-fire and brimstone; but in moments like this I regret my unbelief. Nay, in moments like this I almost do believe. Surely there must be a hell, for in no less place could it be possible for you to receive punishment adequate to your crimes. So long as you exist, there is a vital need for hell-fire in the Cosmos."

There was movement in the doorways. Ernest, the Speaker, all the members turned to see.

"Why do you not call your soldiers in, Mr. Speaker, and bid them do their work?" Ernest demanded. "They should carry out your plan with expedition."

"There are other plans afoot," was the retort. "That is why the soldiers are present."

"Our plans, I suppose," Ernest sneered. "Assassination or something kindred."

But at the word "assassination" the uproar broke out again. Ernest could not make himself heard, but he remained on his feet waiting for a lull. And then it happened. From my place in the gallery I saw nothing except the flash of the explosion. The roar of it filled my ears and I saw Ernest reeling and falling in a swirl of smoke, and the soldiers rushing up all the aisles. His comrades were on their feet, wild with anger, capable of any violence. But Ernest steadied himself for a moment, and waved his arms for silence.

"It is a plot!" his voice rang out in warning to his comrades. "Do nothing, or you will be destroyed."

Then he slowly sank down, and the soldiers reached him. The next moment soldiers were clearing the galleries and I saw no more.

Though he was my husband, I was not permitted to get to him. When I announced who I was, I was promptly placed under arrest. And at the same time were arrested all socialist Congressmen in Washington, including the unfortunate Simpson, who lay ill with typhoid fever in his hotel.

The trial was prompt and brief. The men were foredoomed. The wonder was that Ernest was not executed. This was a blunder on the part of the Oligarchy, and a costly one. But the Oligarchy was too confident in those days. It was drunk with success, and little did it dream that that small handful of heroes had within them the power to rock it to its foundations. To-morrow, when the Great Revolt breaks out and all the world resounds with the tramp, tramp of the millions, the Oligarchy, will realize, and too late, how mightily that band of heroes has grown.*

* Avis Everhard took for granted that her narrative would be
 read in her own day, and so omits to mention the outcome of
 the trial for high treason. Many other similar
 disconcerting omissions will be noticed in the Manuscript.
 Fifty-two socialist Congressmen were tried, and all were
 found guilty. Strange to relate, not one received the death
 sentence. Everhard and eleven others, among whom were
 Theodore Donnelson and Matthew Kent, received life
 imprisonment. The remaining forty received sentences
 varying from thirty to forty-five years; while Arthur
 Simpson, referred to in the Manuscript as being ill of
 typhoid fever at the time of the explosion, received only
 fifteen years. It is the tradition that he died of
 starvation in solitary confinement, and this harsh treatment
 is explained as having been caused by his uncompromising
 stubbornness and his fiery and tactless hatred for all men
 that served the despotism. He died in Cabanas in Cuba,
 where three of his comrades were also confined. The fifty-
 two socialist Congressmen were confined in military
 fortresses scattered all over the United States. Thus, Du
 Bois and Woods were held in Porto Rico, while Everhard and
 Merryweather were placed in Alcatraz, an island in San
 Francisco Bay that had already seen long service as a
 military prison.

As a revolutionist myself, as one on the inside who knew the hopes and fears and secret plans of the revolutionists, I am fitted to answer, as very few are, the charge that they were guilty of exploding the bomb in Congress. And I can say flatly, without qualification or doubt of any sort, that the socialists, in Congress and out, had no hand in the affair. Who threw the bomb we do not know, but the one thing we are absolutely sure of is that we did not throw it.

On the other hand, there is evidence to show that the Iron Heel was responsible for the act. Of course, we cannot prove this. Our conclusion is merely presumptive. But here are such facts as we do know. It had been reported to the Speaker of the House, by secret-service agents of the government, that the Socialist Congressmen were about to resort to terroristic tactics, and that they had decided upon the day when their tactics would go into effect. This day was the very day of the explosion. Wherefore the Capitol had been packed with troops in anticipation. Since we knew nothing about the bomb, and since a bomb actually was exploded, and since the authorities had prepared in advance for the explosion, it is only fair to conclude that the Iron Heel did know. Furthermore, we charge that the Iron Heel was guilty of the outrage, and that the Iron Heel planned and perpetrated the outrage for the purpose of foisting the guilt on our shoulders and so bringing about our destruction.

From the Speaker the warning leaked out to all the creatures in the House that wore the scarlet livery. They knew, while Ernest was speaking, that some violent act was to be committed. And to do them justice, they honestly believed that the act was to be committed by the socialists. At the trial, and still with honest belief, several testified to having seen Ernest prepare to throw the bomb, and that it exploded prematurely. Of course they saw nothing of the sort. In the fevered imagination of fear they thought they saw, that was all.

As Ernest said at the trial: "Does it stand to reason, if I were going to throw a bomb, that I should elect to throw a feeble little squib like the one that was thrown? There wasn't enough powder in it. It made a lot of smoke, but hurt no one except me. It exploded right at my feet, and yet it did not kill me. Believe me, when I get to throwing bombs, I'll do damage. There'll be more than smoke in my petards."

In return it was argued by the prosecution that the weakness of the bomb was a blunder on the part of the socialists, just as its premature explosion, caused by Ernest's losing his nerve and dropping it, was a blunder. And to clinch the argument, there were the several Congressmen who testified to having seen Ernest fumble and drop the bomb.

As for ourselves, not one of us knew how the bomb was thrown. Ernest told me that the fraction of an instant before it exploded he both heard and saw it strike at his feet. He testified to this at the trial, but no one believed him. Besides, the whole thing, in popular slang, was "cooked up." The Iron Heel had made up its mind to destroy us, and there was no withstanding it.

There is a saying that truth will out. I have come to doubt that saying. Nineteen years have elapsed, and despite our untiring efforts, we have failed to find the man who really did throw the bomb. Undoubtedly he was some emissary of the Iron Heel, but he has escaped detection. We have never got the slightest clew to his identity. And now, at this late date, nothing remains but for the affair to take its place among the mysteries of history.*

* Avis Everhard would have had to live for many generations
 ere she could have seen the clearing up of this particular
 mystery. A little less than a hundred years ago, and a
 little more than six hundred years after the death, the
 confession of Pervaise was discovered in the secret archives
 of the Vatican. It is perhaps well to tell a little
 something about this obscure document, which, in the main,
 is of interest to the historian only.

 Pervaise was an American, of French descent, who in 1913
 A.D., was lying in the Tombs Prison, New York City, awaiting
 trial for murder. From his confession we learn that he was
 not a criminal. He was warm-blooded, passionate, emotional.
 In an insane fit of jealousy he killed his wife—a very
 common act in those times. Pervaise was mastered by the fear
 of death, all of which is recounted at length in his
 confession. To escape death he would have done anything,
 and the police agents prepared him by assuring him that he
 could not possibly escape conviction of murder in the first
 degree when his trial came off. In those days, murder in
 the first degree was a capital offense. The guilty man or
 woman was placed in a specially constructed death-chair,
 and, under the supervision of competent physicians, was
 destroyed by a current of electricity. This was called
 electrocution, and it was very popular during that period.
 Anaesthesia, as a mode of compulsory death, was not
 introduced until later.

 This man, good at heart but with a ferocious animalism close
 at the surface of his being, lying in jail and expectant of
 nothing less than death, was prevailed upon by the agents of
 the Iron Heel to throw the bomb in the House of
 Representatives. In his confession he states explicitly
 that he was informed that the bomb was to be a feeble thing
 and that no lives would be lost. This is directly in line
 with the fact that the bomb was lightly charged, and that
 its explosion at Everhard's feet was not deadly.

 Pervaise was smuggled into one of the galleries ostensibly
 closed for repairs. He was to select the moment for the
 throwing of the bomb, and he naively confesses that in his
 interest in Everhard's tirade and the general commotion
 raised thereby, he nearly forgot his mission.

 Not only was he released from prison in reward for his deed,
 but he was granted an income for life. This he did not long
 enjoy. In 1914 A.D., in September, he was stricken with
 rheumatism of the heart and lived for three days. It was
 then that he sent for the Catholic priest, Father Peter
 Durban, and to him made confession. So important did it seem
 to the priest, that he had the confession taken down in
 writing and sworn to. What happened after this we can only
 surmise. The document was certainly important enough to
 find its way to Rome. Powerful influences must have been
 brought to bear, hence its suppression. For centuries no
 hint of its existence reached the world. It was not until
 in the last century that Lorbia, the brilliant Italian
 scholar, stumbled upon it quite by chance during his
 researches in the Vatican.

 There is to-day no doubt whatever that the Iron Heel was
 responsible for the bomb that exploded in the House of
 Representatives in 1913 A.D. Even though the Pervaise
 confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt
 could obtain; for the act in question, that sent fifty-two
 Congressmen to prison, was on a par with countless other
 acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the
 capitalists.

 There is the classic instance of the ferocious and wanton
 judicial murder of the innocent and so-called Haymarket
 Anarchists in Chicago in the penultimate decade of the
 nineteenth century A.D. In a category by itself is the
 deliberate burning and destruction of capitalist property by
 the capitalists themselves. For such destruction of
 property innocent men were frequently punished—"railroaded"
 in the parlance of the times.

 In the labor troubles of the first decade of the twentieth
 century A.D., between the capitalists and the Western
 Federation of Miners, similar but more bloody tactics were
 employed. The railroad station at Independence was blown up
 by the agents of the capitalists. Thirteen men were killed,
 and many more were wounded. And then the capitalists,
 controlling the legislative and judicial machinery of the
 state of Colorado, charged the miners with the crime and
 came very near to convicting them. Romaines, one of the
 tools in this affair, like Pervaise, was lying in jail in
 another state, Kansas, awaiting trial, when he was
 approached by the agents of the capitalists. But, unlike
 Pervaise the confession of Romaines was made public in his
 own time.

 Then, during this same period, there was the case of Moyer
 and Haywood, two strong, fearless leaders of labor. One was
 president and the other was secretary of the Western
 Federation of Miners. The ex-governor of Idaho had been
 mysteriously murdered. The crime, at the time, was openly
 charged to the mine owners by the socialists and miners.
 Nevertheless, in violation of the national and state
 constitutions, and by means of conspiracy on the parts of
 the governors of Idaho and Colorado, Moyer and Haywood were
 kidnapped, thrown into jail, and charged with the murder.
 It was this instance that provoked from Eugene V. Debs,
 national leader of the American socialists at the time, the
 following words: "The labor leaders that cannot be bribed
 nor bullied, must be ambushed and murdered. The only crime
 of Moyer and Haywood is that they have been unswervingly
 true to the working class. The capitalists have stolen our
 country, debauched our politics, defiled our judiciary, and
 ridden over us rough-shod, and now they propose to murder
 those who will not abjectly surrender to their brutal
 dominion. The governors of Colorado and Idaho are but
 executing the mandates of their masters, the Plutocracy.
 The issue is the Workers versus the Plutocracy. If they
 strike the first violent blow, we will strike the last."

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text:
If an oasis is located within your kingdom or borders it, you can occupy it with troops and conquer it thereby. In wild oases, all animals need to be defeated first. Occupied oases always belong to the kingdom that has the most troops stationed in them. An occupied oasis gives a resource production bonus to up to five players of your kingdom. For this to work the oasis needs to be within the 7x7 of your village and a free oasis slot needs to be available in the Embassy. The first five players with the most troops in the oasis can then use the bonus in one of their villages. The upkeep of stationed troops will still be deducted from their home village. Bonus on resource production by rank:
- 25 percent
- 20 percent
- 15 percent
- 10 percent
- 5 percent
Stationing troops at an oasis is not only required to reach as high a bonus as possible, but also in order to prevent it from being conquered. To conquer an oasis for your kingdom, you have to defeat all troops in it and afterwards use it in one of the following ways:
- reinforce it with at least one unit
- assign it in your embassy
There is one additional requirement to conquer it for the kingdom: It has to be located within or next to the border of your kingdom. If all defending troops within an oasis have been killed, it will once again become a wild oasis. What are the basic requirements in order to be able to assign an oasis to your village?
- The oasis must be within your kingdom's borders (the square must be yellow) to use it by reinforcing it with troops
- The oasis must be within your area of reach (7x7), reaching a maximum of 3.61 squares away from your village, to assign it in your embassy Available oases are seen in your embassy.
What are the possibilities of acquiring an oasis? How is that done?
- If the oasis is within your kingdom's borders you can either attack it and defeat all nature troops there or capture them with cages. After you have cleaned the oasis, send reinforcement there or assign it in your embassy. This can be done by kings and governors
- If the oasis is within your 7x7, you can assign it in your embassy. Available oases are seen there.
How does bonus production work? After you have gained an oasis you will receive the following bonuses:
- 1 unit per troop stationed in oasis in your kingdom per 25% oasis bonus. This means that if you have 10 troops stationed in a 25% crop oasis you will receive 10 bonus crop/hour . If you have 10 troops stationed in 25% crop + 25% clay oasis you will receive bonus production of 10 clay and 10 crop per hour.
- According to the influence over the oasis you will receive a bonus on your hourly production as follows. To get this % bonus, you have to assign it in your embassy.
|Rank (see above)
|50 % crop
|25 %
|25 % + 25 %
|50 %
|20 %
|20 % + 20 %
|40 %
|15 %
|15 % + 15 %
|30 %
|10 %
|10 % + 10 %
|20 %
|5 %
|5 % + 5 %
|10 %
NOTE: This is not the same influence, kings have on their governors. It is only the influence of one specific player on the oasis. How to collect resources? Once the resources are available to collect, this button will become clickable. The resources will be sent to all players, who produced resources in the oasis. If no player collects the resources for 6 hours, they get collected by an NPC and are delivered to the different players in the same way. Powróć to previous page Back to Top


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I've talked to a number of people on the Surface team over the last few months, and the decision to hinder their beautiful new piece of hardware still boggles the mind. The Surface Laptop is really nice — in fact, it's quite possibly the best piece of hardware to carry the Surface name. But for some reason Microsoft saw fit to use the product to showcase Windows 10 S, a stripped-down version of its operating system targeted primarily at schools.
Microsoft has since told me it recognizes that the Laptop's messaging was confusing. Launching the device at an education event made it look like the company was releasing a $999 Chromebook competitor. And it told me back in late-May that a version of the Laptop with full Windows 10 is coming at some point. Meantime, it's waiving the upgrade fee through the end of the year.
So definitely do that. And if you buy a Surface Laptop next year, grit your teeth and spend the $50. I'm not saying there's no place in the world for Windows 10 S — I'm just saying that if you're reading this, there's a pretty good chance it wasn't built with you in mind. The new version of the operating system is for K-12 students and, perhaps, people gifting older parents a device for which they'd rather not have to perform regular tech support.
Windows 10 S is defined mostly by its limitations: it's a locked-down version of the operating system, most notably in the case of apps, which are limited to what you download from the Windows Store. It kind of feels like Windows Phone all over again. It's easy to see why teachers might embrace those restrictions — it keeps students' focus and weeds out potentially malicious apps. It's also clear how Windows 10 S is useful on those new $189 education systems that were launched alongside the operating system. It puts less of a strain on the system, so you'll get more out of low-end devices.
But the Surface Laptop is not that. It's a very good and nice device. It's the first Surface device that can truly be considered a MacBook competitor.
Just the other week, I was reviewing the new Surface Pro and lamenting the fact that it wasn't the Laptop. And now I have one in my possession and stand by that statement. The device takes the lessons learned from previous Surface products and applies them to a more familiar and universal form factor.
Sure, there are things you can't do on the Laptop that are standard fare for other Surfaces. The screen doesn't detach and it can be opened 180 degrees, so if you're in the relative minority that relies on the Surface Pen, this isn't the form factor for you. But the permanent keyboard is much sturdier than its detachable counterpart — in fact, the keys feels better and deeper than recent MacBooks. And the fabric that surrounds the keyboard looks and feels nice to the touch — though if you tend to use your laptop while eating, be wary. It's harder to clean than your standard laptop palm rest.
The screen is quite nice, too. I don't find touch to be super easy to use in a laptop form factor, but no one's going to argue with offering up the option — well, aside from Apple, I guess. Like the MacBook, the port situation leaves something to be desired: you get power, headphones, MiniDisplay and one USB 3.0 port.
That last one represents one of the pretty clear distinctions between Microsoft and Apple's respective approaches. USB-C represents a path to the future paved in dongles. In a couple of years, you'll probably be happy to have it on your laptop. For the moment, however, chances are that you own a lot more cables that will plug into Microsoft's product.
It's clear the company put a lot of thought into the product, and along with recent additions, it represents the ongoing evolution of the Surface line from proof-of-concept Windows devices to some of the best products in their class. The Surface Laptop is a nice and well-designed product at a reasonable $999 starting price. But if you buy one after December 2017, budget an extra $50 for an OS upgrade. Trust me on this one.


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Category Archives: Blamoh Nelson
Liberia revisited (3)
Monrovia, Saturday, May 19 Much has changed, much is the same. This is my major observation when revisiting Monrovia, after 32 years. I left in the wake of the 1980 coup of master-sergeant Samuel Doe, I left a country where … Continue reading
Posted in Africulture, Alhaji Kromah, Amos Sawyer, Barclay, Blamoh Nelson, Charles Taylor, Chuck Taylor, Civil War(s) Liberia, Debt relief, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Famous Liberians, George Boley, INPFL, Justice, Kimmie Weeks, LeRoye Urey, Liberia, Liberia Education, Liberian Demography, Liberian Economy, Liberian History, LPC, Monrovia, national budget, Prince Y. Johnson, Reconciliation, Ritual Killings, Samuel Kanyon Doe, Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Special Court, Tipoteh, Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC), ULIMO, University of Liberia, UNMIL, Varney Sherman, William R. Tolbert Jr., William V.S. Tubman Leave a comment


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Apple has delivered – or so it says – on its promise to provide a Flashback malware removal tool.
The new update is packaged in two flavours:
* Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 8, documented in HT5243.
* Java for OS X Lion 2012-003, documented in HT5242.
Both updates claim that "this Java security update removes the most common variants of the Flashback malware. "
The one for Lion goes a little further:
This update also configures the Java web plug-in to disable the automatic execution of Java applets. Users may re-enable automatic execution of Java applets using the Java Preferences application. If the Java web plug-in detects that no applets have been run for an extended period of time it will again disable Java applets.
The updates also include the latest Java version all over again, 1.6.0_31.
So if you missed the previous update, jumping to this one will effectively patch against Exp/20120507-A and fix problems with the Flashback malware (e.g. OSX/Flshplyr-D) in one go.
If you're using Snow Leopard, disabling Java in your browser won't happen automatically. It looks as though the Java applet autodisabler is Lion-only.
I'd love to tell you more about the Flashback remover supplied by Apple, but I'm afraid I don't know how.
There's no documentation about it; there's no information about how to run it by hand in the future, or how it works, or what variants of the malware it finds; and – at least on my uninfected 10.6 computer – it didn't give any visual indication that it had run at all. (Three words for Apple about security bulletins: promptness, clarity and openness.)
(Update. HT5247 has a bit more story about the removal tool. It's documented to say nothing if it finds nothing. Thanks to François for pointing this out.)
Also, of course, it won't protect you against reinfection, and it won't protect you against any other Mac malware.
So there you have it. Apple's Java distribution and the Flashback malware addressed in one go. Unless you have OS X Leopard (10.5) or earlier. If you do, you're still out of luck – no patches for you.
PS. See how I resisted the urge to mention the free Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition, complete with detection, prevention and remediation of Flashback and heaps of other malware, at any point in the above article 🙂


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Jane Dawson
Virginia Eason Weinmann '51 Professor of Government and Environmental Studies
Joined Connecticut College: 2001
M.A., Harvard University
M.A., Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
International environmental politics
Comparative environmental activism and politics
Jane Dawson continues to conduct ambitious global study, examining in greater detail how environmentalism may be linked to a variety of subgroup identities across a broad spectrum of political settings and the implications of this linkage for the achievement of domestic and international environmental policy objectives.
To this end, in 2007 she was a participant in a SIT Faculty Development Program on The Mekong Delta: Natural and Cultural Ecology, visited the College's SATA Vietnam program in Hanoi, and developed courses to incorporate her research.
Professor Dawson's courses include Environmental Activism and Its Impact Around the Globe (GOV/ES/SS 251); International Environmental Cooperation (GOV/ES 326) and Environmental Studies as a Social Science (ES 111). She developed a new freshman seminar, Environmental Challenges and Politics in the Developing World (FYS 145), in which students traced commodities back to their sources in developing countries and considered the environmental and social impacts of first-world consumption practices. She also teaches a senior seminar on global environmental justice (ES/GOV 494u).
She serves as faculty adviser for government, international relations and environmental studies majors. She also supervises seniors' integrative projects for the College's interdisciplinary centers and student honors theses, such as "Climate Change and the Clean Development Mechanism," "Globalization and African Attitudes Toward GMOs: The Cases of Kenya and Zambia," and "An Exploration of Ecotourism Development in Madagascar."
She is Director of the College's Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment.
Professor Dawson is the 2016 recipient of the Helen Brooks Regan Faculty Award for Excellence in Leadership. The award recognizes faculty members who exemplify the College's commitment to shared governance, democratic process and campus community development.
Her dissertation,"Social Mobilization in Post-Leninist Societies: The Rise and Fall of the Anti-Nuclear Power Movement in the USSR," is a fascinating study of the emergence of environmental activism in the USSR in the Gorbachev period, which offers an intriguing explanation of how and why it ultimately took the form of nationalist mobilization against Soviet rule. The dissertation was published as a book titled Eco-Nationalism: Antinuclear Activism and National Identity in Russian, Lithuania, and Ukraine, and was awarded the 1997 Marshall Shulman Book Prize.
In addition to this book, she has published a number of articles in refereed journals, and has been an active presenter and participant at professional conferences.
Recent publications, resulting from her work with a co-researcher from University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Robert Darst, on a joint project funded by the National Council for East European and Eurasian Research:
- "Meeting the Challenge of Permanent Nuclear Waste Disposal in an Expanding Europe: Transparency, Trust, and Democracy," Environmental Politics 15, n. 3 (Fall 2006), coauthored with R. Darst.
- "Baptists and Bootleggers, Once Removed: The Politics of Nuclear Waste Internalization in the EU, accepted for publication in Global Environmental Politics 8, n. 2 (2008), coauthored with R. Darst.
- In progress: "The German Nuclear Waste Disposal Debacle: A Comparison of Waste Siting Processes in Germany, Sweden, and Finland," with R. Darst.
Professor Dawson was formerly an Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Russian and East European Studies Program at the University of Oregon. Prior to that, she held a tenure-track position in the political science department at Wellesley College. She was awarded the William Piche Prize in recognition of her teaching and research record.
Visit the government department website.
Contact Jane Dawson
Mailing Address
Jane Dawson
Connecticut College
Box # GOVERNMENT & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS/Fanning Hall
270 Mohegan Ave.
New London, CT 06320
314/Fanning Hall


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Content on this page was developed during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic and has not been updated.
- The H1N1 virus that caused that pandemic is now a regular human flu virus and continues to circulate seasonally worldwide.
- The English language content on this website is being archived for historic and reference purposes only.
- For current, updated information on seasonal flu, including information about H1N1, see the CDC Seasonal Flu website.
2009 H1N1 Flu Situation Update
September 25, 2009, 1:30 PM ET
Map: Weekly Influenza Activity Estimates Reported by State and Territorial Epidemiologists
(Activity levels indicate geographic spread of both seasonal and 2009 influenza A [H1N1] viruses)
(Posted September 25, 2009, 1:30 PM ET, for Week Ending September 19, 2009)
For more details about the data in the map above, see the FluView Surveillance Report for the week ending September 19, 2009. For information about how this map is updated, see Questions & Answers About CDC's Online Reporting.
Percentage of Visits for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) Reported by the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet), National Summary 2008-2009 and Previous Two Seasons
(Posted September 25, 2009, 1:30 PM ET, for Week Ending September 19, 2009)
Cases Defined by
|Influenza and Pneumonia Syndrome*
|Influenza Laboratory-Tests**
*Reports can be based on syndromic, admission or discharge data, or a combination of data elements that could include laboratory-confirmed and influenza-like illness hospitalizations.
**Laboratory confirmation includes any positive influenza test (rapid influenza tests, RT-PCR, DFA, IFA, or culture), whether or not typing was done.
This table is based on data from a new influenza and pneumonia hospitalizations and deaths web-based reporting system that will be used to monitor trends in activity. This is the third week of data from this new system. The table shows aggregate reports of all influenza and pneumonia-associated hospitalizations and deaths (including 2009 H1N1 and seasonal flu) since August 30, 2009 received by CDC from U.S. states and territories. This table will be updated weekly each Friday at 11 a.m. For the 2009-2010 influenza season, states are reporting based on new case definitions for hospitalizations and deaths effective August 30, 2009.
CDC will continue to use its traditional surveillance systems to track the progress of the 2009-2010 influenza season. For more information about influenza surveillance, including reporting of influenza-associated hospitalizations and deaths, see Questions and Answers: Monitoring Influenza Activity, Including 2009 H1N1.
The number of 2009 H1N1 hospitalizations and deaths reported to CDC from April – August 2009 is available on the Past Situation Updates page.
For state level information, refer to state health departments.
International Human Cases of 2009 H1N1 Flu Infection


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All-22: What We Saw From the Eagles' Offense
Here's the weekly look at what we saw from the Eagles' offense after having looked at the All-22 tape from the Steelers game.
Play 1: As we've discussed, the Eagles' offense the past two games has looked different than the version we saw in the first three. Part of that is giving Michael Vick options to get rid of the football quicker. But the big plays downfield are still important, given Vick's skill set and the weapons he has to work with on the outside. Since the Eagles are attempting fewer of those big plays, it's crucial that they hit on them when they have a chance. And I think they missed one early on against Pittsburgh. The key to the play was a fake that got Troy Polamalu taking a couple steps towards the line of scrimmage. The other safety, meanwhile, turned to help on Maclin.
As you can see, DeSean Jackson's behind Polamalu and headed for open field, but Vick goes to Maclin, who has two defenders on him by the time the ball gets there, and the play results in an incompletion.
Play 2: Way too many breakdowns on the offensive line. Here's one example. Take a look at the pre-snap shot. Brett Keisel (No. 99) is going to drop back into coverage. Lawrence Timmons (No. 94), who gave the Eagles fits all game, is going to blitz between Todd Herremans and Danny Watkins.
The Eagles even keep an extra blocker in here. They've got six blockers to handle four Steelers defenders, yet Timmons rushes untouched, and Vick ends up getting sacked.
The Eagles have three guys blocking one rusher on the left, although Evan Mathis is ready to help Dallas Reynolds. The culprit here (and of course, there's always a bit of guesswork involved) appears to be Watkins. He's blocking, well, no one. He's ready to help Reynolds, but has no idea Timmons blitzed. Herremans is handling the pass-rusher off the edge. Vick gets away from Timmons, but takes a sack.
The talent level on the offensive line is certainly an issue, but it's mishaps like this one that the Eagles need to avoid to shore up protection going forward.
Play 3: More offensive line confusion. Here, pre-snap, Watkins is expecting to block Timmons. The Steelers show six at the line of scrimmage, but Timmons drops back into coverage.
When the ball is snapped, Watkins looks to his right and clearly expects Reynolds to block Steve McLendon (No. 90). Reynolds, meanwhile, is double-teaming another defender with Mathis.
Watkins ends up blocking nobody. McLendon sacks Vick and forces a fumble. The Eagles have six blockers against five pass-rushers, but Vick has no chance on the play.
Play 4: So as not to just pick on Watkins, here's another breakdown – this time on the left side. James Harrison twists behind the defensive tackle, but nobody picks him up.
Mathis sticks with his man, and Dion Lewis releases into his route. Harrison gets a shot on Vick and forces an incompletion.
Play 5: The very next play was ugly too. The Steelers show a heavy blitz look with seven defenders at the line of scrimmage.
But they only end up rushing four. The Eagles have six to block four, yet somehow three players – Mathis, Bell and Lewis – end up blocking nobody. Keisel rushes unblocked, chases Vick out of the pocket and forces a third-down incompletion.
Play 6: Alright, let's turn to some positives. Not sure if we saw a lot of this earlier in the season. If we did, I missed it. But take a look at the unbalanced line with two tight ends to the left of Bell.
We often talk about blocking and attribute successes and failures to the offensive line. But tight ends and running backs play a role too. Here, Brent Celek takes care of the defensive back, and Clay Harbor does an outstanding job on Harrison.
LeSean McCoy has a nice lane to run through and picks up 10 yards.
Play 7: One more to this point. Look at Celek on Harrison in the first.
Not an easy assignment, but he delivers a really good block and opens up room for McCoy to get to the edge and pick up 6 yards. I thought Celek was really good blocking in the run game against Pittsburgh.
Play 8: Much of the talk this week has been about Vick's fumble down near the goal line. But the other one was costly too. It looked like Vick's first read on the play was to Jason Avant, who was open.
Not sure why Vick didn't pull the trigger. He hitched a couple times and then took off, losing the ball when Timmons hit him. Protection was pretty good on the play, as the Steelers only rushed four. Had Vick gotten to his next read, the Eagles might have had a big play.
Harbor is matched up with a Steelers linebacker and appears to have a step. There's no safety in sight, but Vick doesn't get him the ball. A missed opportunity for the offense.
Play 9: Two good-looking back-to-back plays on the Eagles' scoring drive in the third. On the first one, the Steelers blitz six, but rather than picking up the blitzer off the edge, McCoy runs right past him (on purpose).
Jason Worllds gets a free shot at the quarterback, but Vick has two options to get rid of the ball quickly. One is to McCoy in the flat (keep that one stored away), and the other is Avant over the middle. He goes to Avant and picks up 10, standing in the pocket, absorbing a hit and getting rid of the ball on time. Well-done.
The very next play on the drive will look familiar. Once again, McCoy releases into the flat and lets Worllds go right past him. Vick gets rid of the ball quickly, and Steelers linebacker Larry Foote has to hustle over to account for McCoy.
That's a matchup the Eagles will take every time. McCoy jukes him and races for the end zone for the 15-yard touchdown.
Play 10: On their fourth-quarter touchdown drive, the Eagles converted a big 3rd-and-10 for 24 yards to Jackson. The play looked similar to one we saw the previous week against the Giants. This time, there was no help to that side, although a safety was dropping in the middle of the field. Jackson gave Ike Taylor a little inside move at the 25, looking back at the quarterback as if he was getting ready for the football, and then made his way to the sideline.
The Steelers rushed six on the play, but the Eagles kept eight in to block. Bell and McCoy did a good job on the safety who was blitzing from Vick's front side. Once again, the Eagles hit on a big play even though they had two wide receivers going up against five defenders in coverage.
Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at email@example.com.


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The targeting of teachers in the port city of Acapulco is a symptom of the increasing victimization of civilians by Mexico's drug gangs, and could spark a backlash.
The extortion demands against the Acapulco teachers were first made known through a "narcomanta," or banner hung by drug gangs, found in late August. The message demanded that teachers hand over half of all their salaries, and that schools give a list of staff and their current pay scale.
In response to the threat, and the government's perceived inability to protect them, thousands of teachers refused to show up for work, forcing hundreds of schools to close. According to El Universal, some 50,000 students have had their studies interrupted as a result.
After weeks of pleas for help from local officials and growing media attention, the federal government has dispatched more than 100 federal troops to patrol the rougher areas of the city. While authorities claim that 90 percent of the shuttered schools have reopened, a minority remain closed.
This is not the first time teachers have been subject to threats from organized crime. A handful of reports have surfaced over the past couple of years -- such as in Monterrey in 2008, or last year in Juarez -- of demands that teachers hand over their "aguinaldo," the Christmas bonus (worth one paycheck) that formal employees receive in Mexico. However, the Acapulco threats were more extensive, and have had bigger consequences.
Teachers may not seem like a logical target for extortion, but for a small-scale criminal group operating in a poor area without many profitable commercial enterprises, they serve as an enticing source of cash. Experienced teachers often make 15,000 or 20,000 pesos a month (currently a range of roughly $1,100 to $1,450), so if everyone in a school with a teaching staff of 30 handed over 5,000 pesos, it would represent a significant haul.
The Acapulco upset reflects a couple of broader trends in Mexican security. The first is the growing role of extortion. Reliable figures regarding extortion are hard to come by, but a recent report using data from Mexico's Justice Department said that there had been 24,000 extortion complaints during the administration of President Felipe Calderon, with more than 200 of them involving physical attacks stemming from a refusal to pay. Guerrero was among the states with the largest number of extortion complaints; Chihuahua, the border state that houses Juarez, came in first. Other reports indicate an even more widespread problem. In 2009, the Secretariat of Public Security reported 50,000 extortion complaints on an annual basis.
With either figure, however, the true extent of the problem is likely understated, as neither victims nor perpetrators have much of an incentive to report crimes.
The Acapulco school closures also demonstrate organized crime's growing impact on Mexican civilians, as demonstrated by the general rise in extortion and kidnapping. The specific targeting of teachers is not entirely new, but it does represent a clear step beyond the targeting of wealthy businessmen, more traditional victims for kidnappers and extortionists. Furthermore, teachers are more reflective of the society as a whole, and more likely to provoke sympathy than, for instance, the owners of the Casino Royale, which suffered an attack in August that left 52 people dead.
The teachers are also more organized; with an estimated 1.4 million members, the teacher's union in Mexico is the largest union of any kind in Latin America, and one of the most powerful political forces in the country. Should teachers continually suffer extortion attempts, it will likely generate a significant backlash against the groups responsible.
The threats against the teachers comes amid a broader decline in security in Acapulco. As InSight Crime has noted, Acapulco is among a few famous tourist areas wracked by organized crime violence, with 650 murders in the city through July. Earlier this month, five severed heads were placed outside of an elementary school in Acapulco in what some believe to be part of the campaign against the teachers.
The city has long been a target for different drug gangs. For much of the Calderon administration, the two principal groups fighting for the area were the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas. However, infighting within those organizations, especially the breakdown in relations between the Sinaloa bosses and the Beltran Leyva Organization, have helped open the field to a number of new players. The two best known of the newly emerging gangs are the Independent Cartel of Acapulco and the South Pacific Cartel.
It is not clear which gang is behind the extortion threats; the banners initially threatening the teachers were not signed by any group, which fed suggestions that the authors were not part of the largest networks. While many of the most notorious Mexican gangs rely on extortion, smaller bands also take advantage of the climate of insecurity, sometimes by passing themselves off as larger gangs.