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Argument recap: Contending with old precedent
on Nov 14, 2011 at 9:18 am
Imagine having to contend with precedent the Court has followed, repeatedly, over the course of eighty-five years. That was the predicament faced by counsel for the petitioners during Wednesday's oral arguments in Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp., which I previewed earlier this week.
At issue in Kurns is whether the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) preempts state-law torts relating to locomotive repairs. The petitioners in the case are the widow and estate of George Corson, who died as a result of his exposure to asbestos at his job repairing locomotives. The question is whether their failure-to-warn and negligence claims against the manufacturers of the locomotives are preempted because Congress, in the LIA, "clearly manifested" its intent to "occupy the entire field of regulating locomotive equipment."
The key disagreement between the parties is whether the Court's 1926 decision in Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line R.R. Co. applies to this case. Both the Justices and the parties spent significant time at the oral argument haggling over the significance of one sentence from Napier, in which the Court explained that preemption "extends to the design, the construction, and the material of every part of the locomotive and tender and of all appurtenances."
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, David C. Frederick argued that the Court's language in Napier was limited to state-law claims that only implicate a locomotive's "fitness for service." The Chief Justice and Justice Scalia were unconvinced, as was Justice Breyer, who emphasized that "however this might come out today if Napier were decided again, it did come out the way it did. And Justice Brandeis did write it, and it's been the law a long time." When asked by Justice Breyer for a "reasonable way" to distinguish Napier, Frederick explained that the failure-to-warn claims do not affect how locomotive equipment is designed; rather, the warning claims went only to how to use the equipment safely.
Assistant to the Solicitor Sarah E. Harrington argued on behalf of the federal government, which appeared as an amicus in support of the petitioners. She maintained that failure-to-warn claims are not subject to field preemption because they arise from injuries incurred during the repair, rather than use, of the locomotives. That view prompted Justice Scalia to ask whether "one of the purposes of the legislation, which everybody understood, was to enable engine manufacturers to be able to construct their engines without having to worry about a variety of different State requirements?" Harrington responded that the LIA's requirements go to the design, construction, and materials of a locomotive that is actually used; to the extent that petitioners' claims diverge with from LIA, they are subject to conflict, rather than field, preemption. Moreover, she pointed out, petitioners' claims would not fall within the LIA field because the LIA's substantive standard of care only applies to locomotives that are in use. Finally, as a side note, Harrington reminded the Court that the only question before it was that of field preemption, and she argued that any conflict preemption issues should therefore be dealt with first by the lower courts – an argument that no Justice questioned.
Arguing for respondents, Jonathan D. Hacker quickly jumped on the Court's hesitancy to overrule its longstanding decision in Napier. Hacker rejected the other side's efforts to limit Napier's scope to the use of locomotive use on the line, and to distinguish this case as involving only locomotives at the repair shop. Instead, Hacker argued, Napier makes clear that the occupied field is the physical elements of the locomotive itself. He emphasized that "what States cannot do, what [Department of Transportation] has exclusive authority over is the design, the materials and the construction of the locomotive." Because petitioners' claims go to the physical elements of the locomotive, they were preempted by the LIA.
In between the discussion of Napier's scope, Justice Kagan asked Hacker whether the Court "would decide Napier the same way if it came to us today." Hacker responded in the affirmative, explaining that parties and courts have relied on Napier for eighty-five years, and that there is every reason to think it would be decided the very same way –leaving regulatory authority for the field to federal administrative agencies, not states.
In rebuttal, Frederick attempted to cast doubt on Hacker's assertion that the Court would still decide Napier the same way today, emphasizing that the Court's "approach to field preemption is so different after the New Deal era than it was before the New Deal era," when Napier was decided. Moreover, he concluded, Napier defined the scope of the field to be preempted "in an historical context that we just don't live in anymore . . . and there is no reason to give manufacturers a complete pass from liability to advise . . . railroads and railroad workers on how to work on their equipment in a safe way without exposing their workers to unnecessary risks."
A decision in the case is expected by next June at the latest.


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Shilling: Why Renters Rule U.S. Housing Market (Part 1)
By A. Gary Shilling Feb 21, 2012 5:01 PM MT Bloomburg
The collapse in housing and the 33 percent plunge in house prices since 2006 are favoring renting over homeownership. This trend will dominate the housing market for the next four or five years, and put additional pressure on a weak economy.
Policy makers in Washington continue to have a soft spot for homeownership. Many recent government actions can be viewed as attempts to keep people in their homes, even owners who clearly can't afford them. In addition to specific plans such as the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, and the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, the Obama administration is trying to revive the moribund housing sector by encouraging mortgage lenders and servicers to refinance loans at lower rates.
This reduces interest income for banks, which are now compelled by the Dodd-Frank law to retain 5 percent of the credit risk on lower-quality residential mortgages that are securitized and sold to others. Furthermore, banks are reluctant to refinance loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (NMCMFUS) then guarantee and put back to the lenders if they find any defects. The White House plan is a tough sell.
Refinancing Woes
As banks deleverage and mortgage activities increasingly involve unwanted loans, the ability to deal with refinancing has diminished. Four banks now control more than 60 percent of the mortgage market, and many mortgage servicers have reduced staff or been slow to gear up to handle delinquent mortgages and refinancings. Except for those who qualify for HARP, refinancing is highly unlikely for 8 million owners who are underwater -- owing more than the value of their homes -- because new terms are treated as new loans. Those who have positive home equity face dramatically tightened lending standards, a clogged refinancing system and new fees that can wipe out the savings from refinancing.
Almost 90 percent of mortgages today are only originated because of guarantees from Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Authority, and all three have raised their fees substantially. As a result, many of the 20 million borrowers who could cut their mortgage rates by more than one percentage point through refinancing are unable to benefit.
-- Second Mortgages: Refinancing underwater borrowers is tough when they have second mortgages that also have to be renegotiated, or if mortgage insurers have to agree to the new loans. Many borrowers can't qualify for refinancing because of tightened lending standards. Fannie, Freddie and the FHA have strengthened their requirements because of pressure from the administration to avoid more losses on bad mortgages. High credit scores are needed to refinance outside HARP, along with two years of tax returns, proof of income and recent evidence of assets such as retirement and brokerage accounts.
During the housing boom, appraisals for house purchases were generous. (And why not? Everyone was certain that house prices would rise indefinitely.) Cooperating appraisers were often recommended by real-estate brokers and mortgage lenders who wanted the deals to go through. After the house-price collapse, however, appraisals became very conservative, as lenders pressured appraisers to make low estimates.
-- Postponed Foreclosures: Foreclosures (HOMFCLOS) have been curtailed for several years, mainly because the administration essentially told lenders and servicers to hold off while they attempted mortgage modifications. Those efforts largely failed. Then the industry voluntarily imposed a moratorium while it was caught in the robo-signing flap, in which documents were approved without proper examination. More recently, lenders and servicers have been trying to avoid throwing people out of their homes as the industry worked out the recently announced restitution with the federal government and state attorneys general for troubled mortgages. As a result, foreclosures in 2011 fell significantly from 2010, and in the third quarter were the lowest since 2007.
Sadly, these efforts to keep people in houses they can't afford are simply prolonging the process of repairing the housing mess and getting rid of excess inventories.
These measures are the opposite of the successful program led by the Resolution Trust Corp. to clean up the savings-and- loan mess two decades ago, when loans, other assets and whole financial institutions were sold off quickly to private buyers, at very low prices. As we discovered then, large inventories of distressed assets overhang the market and depress prices. To rejuvenate markets, initial sales at low prices are needed to attract buyers and lead to higher prices.
-- Sagging Homeownership: Despite all the efforts to keep people in their houses, homeownership is falling. It dropped to 66 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with a peak of 69.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004. Meanwhile, the 33.5 percent drop in median single-family house prices is the first nationwide decline since 1930s.
Growing Delinquencies
Foreclosures, high unemployment, tight lending standards and lack of money for down payments are playing a role. In the second quarter of 2011, at least 3.6 million mortgages were delinquent and at risk of foreclosure; that could climb to 5 million with further house-price declines and if the recession I forecast for this year takes hold.
The FHA reported that 711,082 single-family loans it insured were seriously delinquent in December 2011, up 3.2 percent from November, and up 18.9 percent compared with December 2010. That pushed the seriously delinquent rate to 9.59 percent in December from 9.34 percent in November and 8.65 percent in December 2010.
Many people who are technically homeowners are really renters. They put little if anything down. In many cases, the equity is negative when, for example, home-improvement loans piggybacked on first mortgages and brought total indebtedness to more than 100 percent of the house value. Many also planned to refinance their mortgages with cash-outs due to appreciation before their mortgage rates reset upward or, in some cases, even before they skipped enough monthly payments to be foreclosed.
-- Rent-Free Renters: Since 2006, 3.1 million people are essentially living rent-free by not paying their monthly mortgage payments. Assuming a monthly mortgage bill equivalent to the national average of $1,721 per person, these nonpayers have increased their purchasing power for other items by $65 billion at annual rates, or the equivalent of 5.6 percent of after-tax income.
That is a big number, but then 12.5 percent of residential mortgages are past due or in foreclosure. This may be an important reason that consumer spending has held up as well as it has in this recovery, despite all the pressure to increase the saving rate and reduce debt. Nevertheless, as heavy foreclosures resume and ex-homeowners are forced to pay rent, this free money will evaporate.
-- Ripple Effect: When house prices were rising, Americans were eager to keep their houses. So the mortgage was the first bill they paid each month, even if that meant they postponed payment on credit cards, cars and student loans. Now, with house prices falling, mortgages are paid last or not at all, especially by the mortgage-holders who are underwater and may be strategically defaulting.
If historical trends hold, the total homeownership rate will return to its earlier base level of 64 percent by the fourth quarter of 2016. Continuing the average annual growth in households over the last decade of 891,000 would increase the total number by 4.5 million by the fourth quarter of 2016. This is enough to increase the number of new homeowners by 550,000 even with that further drop in the homeownership rate.
But it also means the addition of 3.9 million new renters, or 780,000 per year. This doesn't suggest that we are becoming a nation of renters. Instead, it reflects the elimination of the widely held belief that house prices always rise and the end of loose lending practices that drove the homeownership rate to its 2004 peak. In fact, the reversal to falling prices and the extraordinarily tight lending standards may push the homeownership rate below that 64 percent norm; it would now be 60.9 percent if all those with mortgages that are delinquent or in foreclosure become ex-homeowners.
-- Affordability (AFFD): There are many, including the always bullish National Association of Realtors, who believe that homeownership is bound to rise because houses are now so affordable. In calculating its housing affordability index, the association assumes that a family with median income buys a median-priced single-family house with 20 percent down and finances at the current 30-year fixed mortgage rate. The collapse in house prices and decline in mortgage rates in recent years have more than offset the weakness in median family income, which, according to the Realtors' group, dropped from $63,366 in 2008 to a $60,824 average for the first 11 months of 2011.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to compare the current attractiveness of buying a home and the conditions in the 1990s and early 2000s. Unemployment rates were much lower then, and house prices were rising as they had been since the 1930s. Financing a mortgage was easy with little or nothing down and spotty credit. Then, huge house-price declines and widespread foreclosures were unthinkable.
-- Weak Earnings: Furthermore, real weekly earnings are falling in what is supposed to be an economic recovery, even as payroll employment growth has been modest. Long-term unemployment is now becoming common, with 43 percent of the unemployed out of work 27 weeks or more and the average length of joblessness at 40 weeks. Job openings have been rising, but hiring is little changed because many of the long-term unemployed, and the newcomers to the job market, don't have the required skills. Manufacturing output has revived, but it has been accompanied by the resumption of rapid growth in output per employee, which means production advances have arrested but not reversed the long-term downtrend in manufacturing employment.
Realistic housing affordability is also subdued by the 10.7 million underwater homeowners who cannot move to different, perhaps more expensive houses and thereby free up starter houses for new homebuyers. A recent study reveals that underwater borrowers are 30 percent less likely to move than renters or those with positive home equity.
-- Expensive Houses: Despite the collapse in prices, homeownership is still expensive relative to rentals, even as apartment rental rates rise and vacancies decline. Moody's Analytics Inc. calculates a ratio of home prices to yearly rents at 11.3, down from the bubble peak of 18.5, but still higher than the 1989-2003 average of 10. You'd expect house prices to be lower than average in relation to rents, not higher, now that prices are falling.
Rents have to be higher for landlords to offset the eroding value of their properties. The decline in a rental house's price is just another cost like taxes and maintenance. In any case, the house price-to-rent ratio is only relevant to the few who can qualify to buy.
In past decades, houses have sold for about 15 times rental income. That was true of the post-World War II years, when owners of rental properties expected inflation to enhance their 6.7 percent return, not including maintenance costs and property taxes. If I'm right about the outlook for slow economic growth and falling house prices, houses and apartments are more likely to sell below 10 times rental income.
The consumer retrenchment and recession I foresee for this year will only add to the lack of affordability of owning houses and to the attractiveness of renting. With it, unemployment will rise, while incomes will fall further. As employment drops, the duration of unemployment will rise, labor force participation will fall and median single-family house prices will decline an additional 20 percent. That will definitely make ownership less attractive even if it raises the Realtors' housing affordability index.
(A. Gary Shilling is president of A. Gary Shilling & Co. and author of "The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies for a Decade of Slow Growth and Deflation." The opinions expressed are his own. This is the first of a three-part series.)

subset: commoncrawl


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Tintin Cements Spielberg's Reputation
- Christian Hamaker Contributing Film and Culture Writer
- 2011 21 Dec
DVD Release Date: March 13, 2012
Theatrical Release Date: December 21, 2011 (3D/2D theaters and IMAX 3D)
Rating: PG (for adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking)
Genre: Action Adventure, Animation
Run Time: 107 min.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Cary Elwes, Toby Jones
Steven Spielberg had an amazing year in 1993. Labeled a great entertainer but not a serious filmmaker, the director delivered a landmark film with Schindler's List, forever proving to his naysayers that he could do drama as well as anyone. And, just to remind everyone of how great a commercial director he still was, he unleashed Jurassic Park on a public that was hungry for the kind of thrills Spielberg had shown earlier in his career. The result was a double-whammy, cementing Spielberg's reputation as one of the world's great artists.
The final week of 2011 again brings the release of two Steven Spielberg-directed films: The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse. The results are not as uniformly excellent as they were in 1993, but the double whammy of Spielberg films in the same year—indeed, in the same week—qualifies as a major event for lovers of skillful commercial filmmaking.
The closeness in release dates between the two movies also lends itself to comparisons between the two Spielberg works, so there's no use in dancing around the discussion of which film is superior. That would be The Adventures of Tintin, a spectacular, kinetic motion picture that brings the Tintin comics of Belgian creator Hergé to eye-popping life. Based on three Tintin adventures, the film adapts the stories of the intrepid young journalist/adventurer and his dog Snowy, translating the still images of Hergé's comics into a rollicking, animated roller-coaster that feels wildly alive. The characters aren't deep, but the movie is so filled with visual thrills and treats—and the promise of more Tintin adventures to come—that to dwell on such matters seems almost churlish. Watching The Adventures of Tintin is a blast—a hopeful sign that movies made in a spirit of fun, and without any pretense to seriousness, can still deliver a delightful experience on the big screen.
Tintin (the voice of Jamie Bell, Jane Eyre) is a young journalist who stumbles onto a big story when he buys a model ship in a bottle—just before two other men, including the villainous Sakharine (Daniel Craig, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), can lay their hands on the ship. They offer Tintin much more than he paid for the ship, alerting Tintin to the possibility that he's just acquired something extremely valuable.
That suspicion is confirmed when Tintin's apartment is ransacked and the ship stolen. But the crooks leave behind the most important thing: a piece of paper that had been contained in the ship's mast. It's a clue—one of three that, when gathered together, will lead the owner of the clues to a great treasure. But the person essential to the task of piecing the clues together, Capt. Haddock (Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), is a drunk who can't remember the necessary details. Tintin's major challenge throughout the film is to distract Haddock from his near constant focus on where he might find his next drink.
Haddock's alcoholism is played for laughs—an anachronism that might not sit well with contemporary viewers. But although Haddock is the object of our laughter as he bumbles and forgets crucial information, his behavior isn't approved. It's Tintin who tells Haddock, "There are worse things than sobering up," and who congratulates Haddock when he finally dries out.
Tintin and Haddock, along with Tintin's dog Snowy, pursue their adventure on the ground, over the ocean and through the air via several amazing set-piece sequences. These wondrous sequences fill the screen—foreground and background—with visual information to the point of overload, but stop short of exhausting the viewer. There's always another swooping camera movement, another approaching threat, another death-defying moment to keep the audience on the edge of its seat, grinning and delighted with what's unfolding.
Don't be surprised if, in reaching for points of comparison to Tintin, you find yourself thinking of Spielberg's great Raiders of the Lost Ark, a film with an adventurous spirit that Tintin shares. Bonus points go to Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) for putting the much derided motion-capture technology—put to controversial use in director Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol, among others—to great use in this computer-animated, 3D adventure.
The Adventures of Tintin shows that Spielberg still hasn't lost his boyhood sense of wonder. He's made one of the most adventurous, entertaining films of the year, showing that, sometimes, they do make 'em like they used to.
- Language/Profanity: "Swear to God"; "holy snakes!"
- Alcohol/Smoking/Drugs: Reference to drinking, and later, many shots of the captain imbibing and longing for liquor; a dog drinks whiskey; Tintin says, "There are worse things than sobering up."
- Sex/Nudity: None.
- Violence/Crime: Many guns are brandished, pointed and fired; pick-pocketing; Tintin's apartment is vandalized; a man falls down, dead; a character is chloroformed; cars nearly run Tintin over; a man points a sword at Tintin; sword fights; dynamite is detonated; a threat to "make him talk … break every bone in his body"; a man falls off a ship and into the sea; a plane flies through an imposing cloud of darkness called the "wall of death"; an expressed desire for vengeance; the Captain is hit in the back of the head with a bottle.
- Religion: A sculpture of St. John the evangelist is shown.
Questions? Comments? Contact the writer at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Aeaiz Rehman Kutty
Realtor Aeaiz Rehman Kutty (Aeaiz)
New Zealand
Former name:
Also known as: Aeaiz
Licence number: 10016010
Licence type: Individual
Licence class: Salesperson
Current status: Suspended voluntarily
Date first entered in register: 17 Nov 2009
Current licence period:
Expiry date: 31 Mar 2016
There is no disciplinary history for this licensee. Only disciplinary history for the last three years is recorded on the public register.
Suspended voluntarily: The licensee is not actively engaged in real estate agency work and has chosen to put their licence on hold.


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Omron Presents FHV7-Series Smart Camera That Eliminates the Need for Manual Lens Adjustments
Press Release Summary:
The FHV7-Series Smart Camera is used for vision inspections on high-mix production lines. The camera is offered with a multi-color light and an autofocus lens that respond to the changes in color and size of the object to be inspected. The product features dual-core CPU, high-speed imaging and image data compression algorithm. The autofocal lens of the camera covers a focal distance ranging from 59 and 2,000 mm.
Original Press Release:
Omron Launches FHV7-Series Smart Camera with World's First Multi-Color Light and High-Resolution Image Sensor
Industrial automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas recently announced the release of a new FHV7-series smart camera with an all-new multi-color light and high-resolution image sensor for advanced vision inspections on high-mix production lines.
Omron Automation Americas, a global leader in innovative, end-to-end solutions for industrial automation, recently announced the release of a brand-new FHV7-series smart camera featuring the world's first multi-color light alongside a range of best-in-class image sensors (0.4MP to 5MP, with 12MP coming in the near future). This unique technology is designed to achieve the industry's highest standards of precision in vision inspections on high-mix production lines.
Consumers' quality and safety expectations are becoming increasingly strict, and corporate social responsibility is growing in importance. Manufacturers face the need for stricter quality control checks in order to maintain and improve product quality and safety while promptly identifying the causes of defects. The need to produce different products on a single production line is also increasing, and this in particular requires quality inspections of products in different colors, shapes and sizes. The FHV7 smart camera is designed to help manufacturers meet these inspection needs while minimizing downtime for product changeover.
High-performance smart cameras like the FHV7 make it possible to easily adopt vision inspection into flexible manufacturing processes. Equipped with a multi-color light and an autofocus lens, the FHV7 can respond flexibly to changes in the color and size of objects to be inspected. This eliminates the need for multiple cameras or manual lens adjustments and ensures compatibility with wide-ranging inspection criteria on lines producing many different types of products in varying quantities.
The smart camera's image processing reaches industry-leading speeds, while its camera delivers industry-leading resolution for achieving higher precision in inspections and maintaining quality without slowing production down. Added to these features is a high-speed image compression algorithm that compresses data at double the typical speed, enabling all image data to be saved while in parallel inspecting a second image. This facilitates complete traceability in production processes where quality control is paramount.
Features of the FHV7 include:
- Multi-color light that solves the issue of changing lighting when product designs are changed or new products are added to the production mix
- High-resolution image sensor that enable high-precision inspections for wider areas of view, eliminating the need for installing multiple cameras or a mechanism to move a camera to capture different inspection points on different products within the same production line
- Autofocus lens that covers a focal distance between 59 and 2,000 mm, ensuring that even when differently sized products are created, the focal range can be changed easily by altering parameters rather than moving the camera
- Modular structure that allows the user to freely combine the lens and lighting variants available for use with the camera
- Dual-core CPU that provides the fastest image processing speed among smart cameras (four times faster than the previous generation)
- High-speed image logging that enables image inspection to be conducted while image data is being saved
- High-speed image data compression that facilitates data storage enabling complete traceability
About Omron Automation
Omron Automation is an industrial automation partner that creates, sells and services fully integrated automation solutions that include robotics, sensing, motion, logic, safety and more. Established in 1933 and currently headed by President Yoshihito Yamada, Omron's 36,000 employees help businesses solve problems with creativity in more than 110 countries. Learn more at omron247.com.
Contact Information
Maggie Liu
Omron Automation Americas


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SECTION 1. FORMS OF ACTION ABOLISHED. The distinctions between actions at law and suits in equity, and the forms of all such actions and suits, are hereby prohibited; and there shall be in this state but one form of action for the enforcement or protection of private rights or the redress of private wrongs, which shall be denominated a civil action; and every action prosecuted by the people of the state as a party, against a person charged with a public offense, for the punishment of the same, shall be termed a criminal action.
Feigned issues are prohibited, and the fact at issue shall be tried by order of court before a jury.
SECTION 2. JUDICIAL POWER – WHERE VESTED. The judicial power of the state shall be vested in a court for the trial of impeachments, a Supreme Court, district courts, and such other courts inferior to the Supreme Court as established by the legislature. The courts shall constitute a unified and integrated judicial system for administration and supervision by the Supreme Court. The jurisdiction of such inferior courts shall be as prescribed by the legislature. Until provided by law, no changes shall be made in the jurisdiction or in the manner of the selection of judges of existing inferior courts.
SECTION 3. IMPEACHMENTS – WHERE AND HOW TRIED. The court for the trial of impeachments shall be the senate. A majority of the members elected shall be necessary to a quorum, and the judgment shall not extend beyond removal from, and disqualification to hold office in this state; but the party shall be liable to indictment and punishment according to law.
SECTION 4. IMPEACHMENTS – WHERE AND HOW TRIED – CONVICTION – IMPEACHMENT OF GOVERNOR. The house of representatives solely shall have the power of impeachment. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds (2/3) of the senators elected. When the governor is impeached, the chief justice shall preside.
SECTION 5. TREASON DEFINED AND LIMITED. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against it, or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. No conviction of treason or attainder shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
SECTION 6. SUPREME COURT – NUMBER OF JUSTICES – TERM OF OFFICE – CALLING OF DISTRICT JUDGE TO SIT WITH COURT. The Supreme Court shall consist of five justices, a majority of whom shall be necessary to make a quorum or pronounce a decision. If a justice of the Supreme Court shall be disqualified from sitting in a cause before said court, or be unable to sit therein, by reason of illness or absence, the said court may call a district judge to sit in said court on the hearing of such cause.
The justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the electors of the state at large. The terms of office of the justices of the Supreme Court, except as in this article otherwise provided, shall be six years.
The justices of the Supreme Court shall, immediately after the first election under this constitution, be selected by lot, so that one shall hold his office for the term of two years, one for the term of four years, and one for the term of six years. The lots shall be drawn by the justices of the Supreme Court, who shall, for that purpose, assemble at the seat of government, and they shall cause the result thereof to be certified to by the secretary of state and filed in his office.
The chief justice shall be selected from among the justices of the Supreme Court by a majority vote of the justices. His term of office shall be four years. When a vacancy in the office of chief justice occurs, a chief justice shall be selected for a full four year term. The chief justice shall be the executive head of the judicial system.
SECTION 7. JUSTICES PROHIBITED FROM HOLDING OTHER OFFICES. No justice of the Supreme Court shall be eligible to any other office of trust or profit under the laws of this state during the term for which he was elected.
SECTION 8. TERMS OF SUPREME COURT. At least four (4) terms of the Supreme Court shall be held annually; two (2) terms at the seat of state government, and two (2) terms at the city of Lewiston, in Nez Perce county. In case of epidemic, pestilence, or destruction of court houses, the justices may hold the terms of the Supreme Court provided by this section at other convenient places, to be fixed by a majority of said justices. After six (6) years the legislature may alter the provisions of this section.
SECTION 9. ORIGINAL AND APPELLATE JURISDICTION OF SUPREME COURT. The Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction to review, upon appeal, any decision of the district courts, or the judges thereof, any order of the public utilities commission, any order of the industrial accident board, and any plan proposed by the commission for reapportionment created pursuant to section 2, article III; the legislature may provide conditions of appeal, scope of appeal, and procedure on appeal from orders of the public utilities commission, of the industrial accident board. On appeal from orders of the industrial accident board the court shall be limited to a review of questions of law. The Supreme Court shall also have original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, and habeas corpus, and all writs necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its appellate jurisdiction.
SECTION 10. JURISDICTION OVER CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE. The Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear claims against the state, but its decision shall be merely recommendatory; no process in the nature of execution shall issue thereon; they shall be reported to the next session of the legislature for its action.
SECTION 11. DISTRICT COURTS – JUDGES AND TERMS. The state shall be divided into five (5) judicial districts, for each of which a judge shall be chosen by the qualified electors thereof, whose term of office shall be four (4) years. And there shall be held a district court in each county, at least twice in each year, to continue for such time in each county as may be prescribed by law. But the legislature may reduce or increase the number of districts, district judges and district attorneys. This section shall not be construed to prevent the holding of special terms under such regulations as may be provided by law.
SECTION 12. RESIDENCE OF JUDGES – HOLDING COURT OUT OF DISTRICT – SERVICE BY RETIRED JUSTICES AND JUDGES. Every judge of the district court shall reside in the district for which he is elected. A judge of any district court, or any retired justice of the Supreme Court or any retired district judge, may hold a district court in any county at the request of the judge of the district court thereof, and upon the request of the governor, or of the chief justice, and when any such request is made or approved by the chief justice it shall be his duty to do so; but a cause in the district court may be tried by a judge pro tempore, who must be a member of the bar, agreed upon in writing by the parties litigant, or their attorneys of record, and sworn to try the cause. Any retired justice or district judge may sit with the Supreme Court and exercise the authority of a member thereof in any cause in which he is requested by that court so to do, and when requested by the chief justice shall perform such other duties pertaining to the judicial department of government as directed. Compensation for such service shall be as provided by the legislature.
SECTION 13. POWER OF LEGISLATURE RESPECTING COURTS. The legislature shall have no power to deprive the judicial department of any power or jurisdiction which rightly pertains to it as a coordinate department of the government; but the legislature shall provide a proper system of appeals, and regulate by law, when necessary, the methods of proceeding in the exercise of their powers of all the courts below the Supreme Court, so far as the same may be done without conflict with this Constitution, provided, however, that the legislature can provide mandatory minimum sentences for any crimes, and any sentence imposed shall be not less than the mandatory minimum sentence so provided. Any mandatory minimum sentence so imposed shall not be reduced.
SECTION 14. SPECIAL COURTS IN CITIES AND TOWNS. The legislature may provide for the establishment of special courts for the trial of misdemeanors in incorporated cities and towns, where the same may be necessary.
SECTION 15. CLERK OF SUPREME COURT. The clerk of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the court, and shall hold his office during the pleasure of the court. He shall receive such compensation for his services as may be provided by law.
SECTION 16. CLERKS OF DISTRICT COURTS – ELECTION – TERM OF OFFICE. A clerk of the district court for each county shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof at the time and in the manner prescribed by law for the election of members of the legislature, and shall hold his office for the term of four (4) years.
SECTION 17. SALARIES OF JUSTICES AND JUDGES. The salary of the justices of the Supreme Court, the salary of judges of the court of appeals, the salary of the judges of the district court and the salary of magistrate judges shall be as provided by statute, and no justice of the Supreme Court, judge of the court of appeals, judge of the district court or magistrate judge, shall be paid his salary, or any part thereof, unless he shall have first taken and subscribed an oath that there is not in his hands any matter in controversy not decided by him which had been finally submitted for his consideration and determination, thirty days prior to the taking and subscribing such oath.
SECTION 18. PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS – TERM OF OFFICE – QUALIFICATIONS. A prosecuting attorney shall be elected for each organized county in the state, by the qualified electors of such county, and shall hold office for the term of two years, and commencing with the general election in 1984 shall hold office for the term of four years, and shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by law; he shall be a practicing attorney at law, and a resident and elector of the county for which he is elected. He shall receive such compensation for services as may be fixed by law.
SECTION 19. VACANCIES – HOW FILLED. All vacancies occurring in the offices provided for by this article of the Constitution shall be filled as provided by law.
SECTION 20. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURT. The district court shall have original jurisdiction in all cases, both at law and in equity, and such appellate jurisdiction as may be conferred by law.
SECTION 21. JURISDICTION OF PROBATE COURTS. Repealed General Election November 6, 1962, HJR No. 10, Session 1961.
SECTION 22. JURISDICTION OF JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. Repealed General Election November 6, 1962, HJR No. 10, Session 1961.
SECTION 23. QUALIFICATIONS OF DISTRICT JUDGES. No person shall be eligible to the office of district judge unless he be learned in the law, thirty (30) years of age, and a citizen of the United States, and shall have resided in the state or territory at least two (2) years next preceding his election, nor unless he shall have been at the time of his election, an elector in the judicial district for which he is elected.
SECTION 24. JUDICIAL DISTRICTS ENUMERATED. Until otherwise provided by law, the judicial districts shall be five (5) in number, and constituted of the following counties, viz:
SECTION 25. DEFECTS IN LAW TO BE REPORTED BY JUDGES. The judges of the district courts shall, on or before the first day of July in each year, report in writing to the justices of the Supreme Court, such defects or omissions in the laws as their knowledge and experience may suggest, and the justices of the Supreme Court shall, on or before the first day of December of each year, report in writing to the governor, to be by him transmitted to the legislature, together with his message, such defects and omissions in the Constitution and laws as they may find to exist.
SECTION 26. COURT PROCEDURE TO BE GENERAL AND UNIFORM. All laws relating to courts shall be general and of uniform operation throughout the state, and the organized judicial powers, proceedings, and practices of all the courts of the same class or grade, so far as regulated by law, and the force and effect of the proceedings, judgments, and decrees of such courts, severally, shall be uniform.
SECTION 27. CHANGE IN COMPENSATION OF OFFICERS. The legislature may by law diminish or increase the compensation of any or all of the following officers, to wit: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state controller, state treasurer, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the court of appeals and district courts and magistrate judges; but no diminution or increase shall affect the compensation of the officer then in office during his term, provided, however, that the legislature may provide for the payment of actual and necessary expenses of these officers incurred while in performance of official duty.
SECTION 28. REMOVAL OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS. Provisions for the retirement, discipline and removal from office of justices and judges shall be as provided by law.


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Black and Burnt Orange Suzuki GSXR750 Motorcycle Fairings 06-07
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Iceland's National Energy Authority has created the world's first magma-based geothermal energy system after drilling 1.3 miles (2,100 meters) through the Earth's crust.
It is only the second time that a drilling operation has broken through to the mantle, the next layer after the Earth's crust, the group said. It is the world's first magma-based enhanced geothermal system (EGS).
The drilling operation was the work of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a consortium of the National Energy Authority of Iceland and the nation's leading energy companies.
The borehole is located in Krafla, in northeast Iceland, near a volcanic crater. The hole created a shaft with high-pressure, super-heated steam that could power a nearby electrical plant, the project leaders said.
"According to the measured output, the available power was sufficient to generate up to 36 megawatts electricity, compared to the installed electrical capacity of 60 megawatts in the Krafla power plant," IDDP stated in a document.
The team was able to bore the deep hole by pumping in cold water to break up the rock next to the magma in a process known as hydrofracking.
Once the IDDP reached molten magma of the Earth's mantle, it lined the bottom of the bore hole with a steel casing, creating a shaft of high-pressure steam that exceeded 842 degrees Fahrenheit (450 Celsius). The project broke a world record for geothermal heat and power.
The team said the steam from the IDDP-1 well, as it's called, could be fed directly into the power plant at Krafla.
Iceland's National Power Company was preparing to connect to the magma-powered steam pipe just before the hole had to be closed due to a valve failure.
IDDP, however, is planning to attempt a reopening of IDDP-1, as well as to drill a second borehole (IDDD-2) in Reykjanes, Iceland, in the coming years.
"In various parts of the world so-called EGS geothermal systems ... are being created by pumping cold water into hot dry rocks at 4 to 5 km depths. Then the heated water is taken up again as hot water or steam from nearby production wells. In recent decades, there has been considerable effort invested in Europe, Australia, USA, and Japan, with uneven results and typically poor results," the IDDP stated.
The Earth's layers
Scientists theorize that the Earth is made up of four layers: a crust, a mantle, a core and an inner core. The sub-ocean crust is three to five miles thick, and the continental crust is 20 to 30 miles thick. That crust only makes up about 1% of the Earth's mass.
The mantle is the next layer below the crust. The mantle is about 1,800 miles thick and makes up about 70% of the planet's mass. Researchers believe the mantle is where most of the Earth's internal heat is located because of its sheer size and because most of it is molten rock.
While the IDDP-1 is not the first bore hole to reach the planet's magma, it is the first time the IDDP was able to harness the mantle's heat to produce a steam pipe that could power a plant. In 2007, Puna Geothermal Venture, which was looking for ways to produces geothermal power using Hawaii's volcanoes, drilled 2.5 kilometers into Hawaii's Big Island, and broke through to the mantle.
"The success of this drilling and research is amazing to say the least, and could in the near future lead to a revolution in energy efficiency in high-temperature geothermal areas of the world," the IDDP stated.
While the hole ultimately had to be closed after a few months, the IDDP said by successfully drilling the hole and carrying out experiments, it demonstrated that a high-enthalpy (energy) geothermal system can be created using the Earth's magma.
The IDDP-1 geothermal boring operation as seen from a distance on Iceland's barren landscape. (Photo: IDDP)
"What is the future and do the results have a practical value? Sure, the future is bright and the answer is 'yes'. Although the IDDP-1 hole is unusable at the moment, in [the] future the aim is to drill a similar hole and/or to repair IDDP 1 hole," IDDP stated. "The experiment at Krafla suffered various setbacks and tried personnel and equipment throughout. However, the process itself was very instructive, and... comprehensive reports on practical lessons learned are nearing completion."
This article, Iceland taps the ultimate renewable energy source: Earth's magma, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Lucas Mearian covers consumer data storage, consumerization of IT, mobile device management, renewable energy, telematics/car tech and entertainment tech for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed. His e-mail address is email@example.com.
See more by Lucas Mearian on Computerworld.com.
Read more about sustainable it in Computerworld's Sustainable IT Topic Center.


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HEMPSTEAD, NY—According to reports, millions of viewers across the country are expected to tune in to tonight's town-hall-style presidential debate at Hofstra University in order to determine which complete and utter sociopath they find more likable this time around.
"I'm very curious to see which one of these two clinically sociopathic individuals will present the most convincing and authentic approximation of an actual human conscience tonight," said Cincinnati-area voter Miranda Harrick, 40, adding that both candidates, like all successful politicians, were undeniably skilled at such calculated artifice. "I think whoever is able to best manipulate me into thinking they experience normative emotional states such as empathy and regret will probably have my vote come November, so I'm excited to see what happens."
The debate figures to be especially important for undecided voters, 91 percent of whom said in a pre-debate poll that they were still waiting for one sociopath to win them over with the perfect combination of superficial charm, deluded grandeur, and pathological lying.
According to polls, viewer consensus following the first debate suggested Mitt Romney had performed a far more convincing impersonation of someone with real feelings and a capacity for human compassion. Voters praised the former governor's ability to conceal his complete social disconnection and underlying hostility behind a wall of colloquial rhetoric and an approximation of warmth they described as "much more realistic" than Obama's.
"Last debate, Romney was a great sociopath," said Florida voter Jeff Yu, 28, who remarked that the Republican candidate's impressive ability to simulate the appearance of caring had improved markedly since the beginning of the campaign. "He looked very comfortable and confident up there, even against a seasoned sociopath like Obama. He really helped me ignore the reality that to him, as to any politician, social interaction is nothing but a never-ending game of deception and psychological subterfuge, the only object of which is personal gain."
Following Obama's noticeable hesitancy during the first debate, many of his supporters expressed worry that he was struggling to effect emotional normalcy with the same single-minded cunning and feigned humanity he exhibited in 2008. They agreed the pressure is now on the president to show that he has not forgotten how to callously manipulate the American public into thinking he is anything at all like them.
"I want to see that same beguiling sociopath who, four years ago, conned me into believing his psyche was somehow differently wired from every other charming, sociopathic politician who had ever lived," said Obama supporter Phoebe Greenwald, 43. "What happened to all his seemingly earnest, though of course meticulously contrived, rhetoric about hope and change that made us all like him and think he was in some way psychologically healthy and well-adjusted, which of course no human being in the history of modern politics ever has been?"
"Obama just needs to do what [sociopathic Vice President] Joe Biden did last week," Greenwald added. "I mean, he masterfully out-sociopathed Paul Ryan, which is no easy task, believe me."
No matter the outcome of tonight's debate, sources agreed that the most talented sociopath will likely be elected in November and, depending on what kind of support he might receive from like-minded sociopaths in Congress, will then spend the next four years satisfying his malformed brain's ceaseless thirst for power and glory.


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9. Land Sales (re. sale of lands and mineral interests of Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations; sale of segregated coal deposits to the Defense Plant Corporation; correspondence with W.A. Durant, Ben Dwight, Floyd Maytubby, and W.W. Short), 1945-47, 1916
10. Landlord – Liability, n.d.
11. Leased District (information about treaties involving land
12. settlement with the Choctaws and Chickasaws; printed documents; correspondence with W.W. Hastings, Wilburn Cartwright, W.B. Pine, C.H. Victor, and W.H. Harrison; and briefs re. the "leased district claim," 1891-1931
Box 9 Legal File By Subject
1. Leased District (printed documents; correspondence with Charles Carter, et al.; typescript of Pitchlynn and Colbert speech explaining the signing of the 1866 treaty), 1924-26
2. Legal Phrases; Life Insurance, n.d.
3. Legislative Matters (documents concerning disposition of lands located on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad right of way), 1926-28, 1944
4. Legislation Proposed (River Bed Oil Leases, Coal Lease Bill, Leased District Bill, Indian Trust Estates Bill), 1925-27
5. Litigation as Attorney for Choctaw Nation (correspondence between Tucker and W.F. Semple; opinions of the Court of Claims of the United States re. the leased district claim; and other documents re. Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations vs. U.S.; 1925-32
The University of Oklahoma Libraries | 401 West Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 | (405)325-4142


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After 14 years of issues in just black and white, in 1988, color finally appeared on the pages of U&lc. It was only used on the first and last four pages of the publication, and its implementation was pretty timid – but it was a start. There were also four typeface release announcements in U&lc's Volume Fifteen and a coterie of articles bejeweled with exceptional typography and brilliant illustrations.
After years of requesting, negotiating and downright pleading, we were finally given the OK to use color in the pages of U&lc. While we reveled in the ability to finally use more that just black ink, the first implementation of color could only be described as sedate. Future issues of U&lc, however, would take full advantage of the new capabilities.
The first of the "Letter" series, which traced the history of the letters in the Latin alphabet, appeared in Volume Fifteen, Number One, and the ITC typeface review board was announced in the following issue. Actually, ITC had a review board to help determine what typefaces were added to its typeface library from the very beginning but, because of growing reader inquiries about how ITC determines what typefaces to produce, we thought that it would be good to introduce the board members and explain the review process to the readers of U&lc.
Four sets of typefaces were also announced in the pages of Volume Fifteen: the ITC Panache®, ITC Jamille® and ITC Stone® families from Vince Pacella, Mark Jamra and Sumner Stone; and a suite of the first ITC Arabic typefaces from Mourad Boutros. Sumner Stone and Mourad Boutros continue to design typefaces for ITC and Monotype Imaging.
While U&lc featured the work of many illustrators in its pages, the drawings of Murray Tinkelman tended to show up with marked frequency. This was because Tinkelman is not only a terrific illustrator but also drew on some particularly intriguing topics for his work. His drawings of fellow illustrators, graphic designers, for the "Varoom, Varoom, Varoom, Varoom. Pussycats on Bikes?" article in the first issue of Volume Fifteen, is a case in point.
Click the PDFs below to find out what else was in U&lc Volume Fifteen.
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bi•month•ly (adjective) – occurring or produced twice a month or every two months: a bimonthly blog post.
pot•luck (noun) – used in reference to a situation in which one must take a chance that whatever is available will prove to be acceptable: melissa's bimonthly potluck picks.
Rather than a single-subject blog post, how about a few short, random samplings arbitrarily chosen depending on my mood? Instead of foto-Friday or meatless-Monday, I'll do bimonthly potluck picks. That way I'm not committed to anything specific. Or often, for that matter. There's no way I could commit to a weekly feature.
Every other week? Maybe. Every other month? Probably.
I love the ambiguous dictionary description of bimonthly. The indefinite and broad interpretation is perfect for someone like me who has no idea when my next blog post will occur or what it will be about.
Here we go — my first bimonthly potluck picks blog post. Hang on, I might wander into weird and icky territory.
Pick #1
advanced placement label reading
Castoreum extract is a food additive found in some processed foods. It's been used as a flavor ingredient for the past 80 years and both FEMA (Flavor and Extract Manufacturer's Association) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regard castoreum as "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS). I avoid processed foods, but I imagine I've probably eaten castoreum at some point in my life. Here's the truth behind the label. According to Webster's Dictionary, castoreum is (cue retching sounds) a peculiar bitter orange-brown substance, with strong, penetrating odor, found in two sacs between the anus and external genitals of the beaver.
Enough said. Avoid processed foods.
Pick #2
Celiac Awareness Month
Last year the House of Representatives, with the Senate concurring, named May as National Celiac Awareness Month. Hmmm? And all these years I've been throwing my celiac soirées in October (former National Celiac Awareness Month). Increased awareness and Congressional support for advocacy and education regarding celiac disease is good, the month really doesn't matter.
On second thought, I have celiac disease and May is my birthday month (emphasis on the whole month). Perfect reason for a May Congressional declaration and a gluten-free party. Or gala. I prefer birthday galas. Big, glittery galas with lots of presents.
Pick #3
Misnamed solar plexus
Following up on Celiac Awareness Month, I'd like to share something I learned many years ago in my cadaver lab. You've heard the term solar plexus, right? Well, it's not called the solar plexus, it's the CELIAC plexus. A plexus is a intricate network of nerves or vessels in the body. The following was taken directly from my Principles of Anatomy and Physiology textbook: The celiac plexus is found at the last thoracic and first lumbar vertebrae. It is the largest autonomic plexus and surrounds the celiac and superior mesenteric arteries. It contains two large celiac ganglia and a dense network of autonomic axons. Secondary plexuses that arise from the celiac plexus are distributed to the liver, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, medulla (inner region) of the adrenal gland, testes, and ovaries.
Doesn't that sound like this celiac plexus thingy-ma-bob has an important role? Like maybe keeping us alive?
Then how come so many people in the healthcare profession (including doctors) have never even heard of the word celiac? Just wondering.
Pick #4
Best plant-based sources of calcium
Those of us who don't eat dairy products (or in limited amounts) can get our calcium from plant-based sources. Here are some of my favorite high-calcium, non-dairy foods.
• pinto beans (1 cup cooked), 82 mg calcium
• chickpeas (1 cup cooked), 77 mg
• sesame seeds (2 tablespoons), 176 mg
• bok choy (1/2 cup cooked), 79 mg
• collard greens (1/2 cup cooked), 178 mg
• kale (1/2 cup cooked), 90 mg
• dried figs (5 figs), 137 mg
• blackstrap molasses (1 tablespoon), 172 mg
How was that? Is this worth repeating on a bimonthly (whatever that might mean) basis?
Peace, love and potluck picks!
P.S. As for pick #1, I'll be sure to include something equally disgusting next time.


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U.S. home construction rises 6.8% in May
WASHINGTON (AP) – June 18, 2013 – U.S. builders stepped up home construction in May and applied for permits to build single-family homes at the fastest pace in five years. The gains show housing remains a key source of growth for the economy.
The overall pace of homes started rose 6.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That offset part of the 14.8 percent decline in April. May's rate is still below March's pace of more than 1 million – the fastest in five years.
Construction increased in May for both single-family homes and apartments and condos.
And builders sought more permits to build single-family homes, which make up nearly two-thirds of the market. The seasonally adjusted annual rate rose 1.3 percent to 622,000 – the highest since May 2008. That's a sign that construction will increase further in the coming months.
Overall permits fell 3.1 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted 974,000. But that was because of a drop in apartment permits, which are more volatile.
Overall, the report points to more evidence of a housing recovery that has become sustainable. New-home construction has risen 28.6 percent since May of 2012.
"Starts have clearly been trending up," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. "While levels are still low, housing has been the strongest part of the economy in growth terms."
Improved hiring and low mortgage rates have encouraged more people to buy homes. The increased demand, along with a tight supply of homes for sale, has pushed home prices higher.
Stronger housing markets are helping the economy grow and offsetting some of the drag this year from higher taxes and federal spending cuts.
A better outlook for housing has made builders more optimistic, leading to more construction and jobs. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Monday rose to 52 this month, up from 44 in May. That was the highest reading in seven years and the largest monthly increase in more than a decade.
A reading above 50 indicates more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor.
Still, some markets are recovering faster than others. In May, housing starts rose 17.8 percent in the South and 5.7 percent in the West. But they fell 13.7 percent in the Midwest and 9 percent in the Northeast.
Many of the nation's major homebuilders have reported strong annual growth in sales during the spring home-selling season. The increased demand has paved the way for builders to raise prices and ramp up construction of more homes, despite lingering concerns over rising costs for land, building materials and labor.
Though new homes represent only a fraction of the housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each home built creates an average of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in tax revenue, according to NAHB statistics.
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press, Martin Crutsinger, AP economics writer.


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Middle school students in Athens are learning to grow their own vegetables in a community garden created as a service-learning project led by University of Georgia horticulture professor David Berle.
With assistance from the Athens Area Master Gardener Association and the Athens Land Trust, Berle and UGA service-learning students have enhanced the thriving agricultural education program at Clarke Middle School. The project features a greenhouse and a freshly turned plot, about 50 feet by 100 feet, where students plant carrots, radishes, collards and other vegetables.
The purpose of the project is to instill in middle school students a greater understanding of how food is grown, what foods offer the best nutrition and how knowledge of horticulture can help serve themselves and their community. Last year, a local food bank benefited from nearly a ton of fresh produce grown at CMS.
"The garden has two goals," Berle said. "One, to teach the kids how to grow produce; the second, to try to get fresh vegetables into the kids' diet, either by sending it home with them or funneling it through the cafeteria. There is going to be a learning curve on everyone's part, starting with doing a better job of growing enough of any one item to provide for the needs of the cafeteria."
This will be a challenge for Berle and his UGA students.
The service-learning project with CMS began two years ago as Berle sought to expand service-learning opportunities for his students. Berle and CMS Principal Tad McMillan talked about possible projects uniting UGA and CMS. With the help of the Office of Service-Learning, funding for an AmeriCorps VISTA position has been secured that will strengthen the garden program at both CMS and neighboring Alps Road Elementary School. AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed specifically to fight poverty by providing one year of funding for a full-time position.
"David has been absolutely instrumental in the success of the garden," said Cheryl Hinson, CMS agricultural science teacher. "He came out with UGA graduate student Zachary Saylor, tilled the soil and plowed the area. He suggested what plants to plant for the warmer and the cooler months. He also provided plants for our greenhouse.
"Childhood obesity is such a problem," Hinson continued. "We hope that by learning about foods, we're promoting healthy eating. We're helping students recognize and appreciate healthy foods."
Hinson said her students are learning from the garden.
"They harvested and made a salad," she said. "They love to ask if they can come out and work in the garden. It gives them a chance to come out of the classroom, but they are also learning about organic foods and where food comes from. They realize we can grow our own food."
The CMS project presents a great learning benefit to UGA students as well as CMS and Alps Elementary students, Berle said.
"There is an opportunity to engage both college and K-8 students in a wide range of projects related to gardening, food production, nutrition, health and science in a community that encompasses many families in need," Berle said. "The CMS/Alps Elementary site, in particular, represents a unique combination of two schools, which could also lead to joint projects and opportunities for middle school children to work with the younger kids."
Berle said college students appreciate the opportunity to serve the local community, especially when they can apply what they learn in class in hands-on situations. CMS fits the bill perfectly, he said.
"There is a great opportunity to work over a period of time, in one place, close to campus, in the heart of one community with a large percentage of families in need," Berle said. "In addition to land available to launch projects on, both schools have actively interested principals and teachers along with growing agriscience programs that are supported in the form of a greenhouse and funding for horticulture projects."
Berle brings to the project a rich history of working with schools in the area. For several years he worked with Alps Road Elementary students on gardening projects. It was during this time that Berle was in discussions with organizations like the Athens Land Trust about doing more gardening/food production work in the community.
"Schools are a good place to do this," he said. "In the case of CMS, there is a lot of land around the two schools. CMS's principal expressed an interest in such projects in the past and since the school is close to UGA geographically, I can easily get students to go there for future class projects."
Berle said service-learning has become a major component of his teaching program. Students in his classes participate in a variety of community-service projects, many as an integral component of their learning experience.
"Probably the most significant thing that has happened to me has been my involvement in the Office of Service-Learning," Berle said. "I consider the service-learning work I have done to be my greatest professional achievement."


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Shade' Brielle NY - Spring 11 Studio
This set of fashion editorial photos was taken for New York fashion designer Shade' Brielle ( www.ShadeBrielle.com ). These photos have been shot for the Shade' Brielle N.Y. 2011 Spring Collection Catalog. These photos have been used on the Shade' Brielle website, and have been printed as enlargement, or displayed at their fashion shows. I have also been asked to produce a video for this collection, which can be seen here .Read More


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Eminence Sterling Silver & Cubic Zirconia Earrings
A beautiful set of sterling silver earrings from the Eminence earrings collection which has been lined with a series of dazzling white cubic zirconia stones and features a large cubic zirconia stone in the centre of the earring.
Eminence earrings are rhodium plated which prevents these beautiful rings from getting easily scratched whilst also preventing the ring from tarnishing. With Eminence Jewellery from Karine & Co. you can be sure you are receiving wonderful pieces that will last at affordable prices with no compromises in style or quality.
- Metal - Sterling Silver
- Stone - Cubic Zirconia
- Colour - Silver
Unfortunately we can not offer a return or exchange on earrings for hygiene purposes.
|Sterling Silver
|Cubic Zirconia


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The Chosen Path
A large financial-services firm in Boston was interviewing a senior from a Jesuit university a few years ago for a position on a team to work on international business deals. The recruiters, who were in their 20's and early 30's, told the student that while the work was challenging and demanded 70 hours a week, the compensation was excellent. After a day spent in their well-appointed corporate offices, he asked them, Do you enjoy this work? There was an awkward pause. They replied that maybe the work wasn't all that enjoyable or meaningful, but the salary and perks were great. At that point, he knew he would not take the position.
Whether he realized it or not, the college senior was asking about vocation. He was trying to find work that would tap into his deeper values and provide a sense of meaning. He wanted more than a job, work that would pay his bills and student loans. The young people who were trying to recruit him already had more than a job; they had a career, which involves a greater personal focus, serious preparation and sustained commitment to a profession. But the question that the young man asked showed he was looking for even more than just a career. He wanted work that would have meaning because it contributed to something larger than financial security.
What ought I to do? is the Socratic question that drove the liberal arts tradition that has been at the core of Western education. In Christian spirituality that question has often been framed as one of vocation—that is, What am I called to become? That question becomes acute for college students when impending graduation forces them either to choose a path for their lives or to drift for a few years. Faced with a multitude of career options and often uncertain about their own gifts and aspirations, they can frequently let other voices determine what they will do. Family expectations, the opinion of peers and the demands of the marketplace often dictate what shape their lives should take.
The common wisdom about career choice often runs as follows: figure out what sort of lifestyle you want to have; then estimate the level of income that it will take to live in this way; finally, find a career that will deliver that income. I fear that there could hardly be a worse way to discover a meaningful life. That logic has the process backwards. It looks to work only as a means to a financial end. It ignores the possibility that work could be worthwhile because it expresses our unique talents and actually makes a difference in the world. I know one thirty-something lawyer who says, I hate spending 60 hours a week making rich people richer.
Ignatian spirituality offers a different wisdom on vocation. It counsels us to discover our personal calling by aligning our gifts and aspirations with what we see as the deepest needs of our world. For people of faith, that convergence is where the Spirit of God invites them to a unique path. Prayerful reflection opens us to those fundamental desires and to compassion for the world. An authentic calling goes beyond personal fulfillment to a concern for justice that asks about fulfilling the needs of others, even if they are strangers.
From the perspective of Ignatian spirituality, we find our vocation by engaging the world and reflecting on how that engagement elicits fundamental desires to heal, serve and create. Because God's Spirit speaks through both the world's realities and the gifts of the individual, vocation arises from this interaction of faith and justice, the heart and the world. This understanding of vocation is captured in the words of Herman Hesse: There are many types and kinds of vocations, but the core of the experience is always the same: the soul is awakened, transformed, or exalted so that instead of dreams and presentiments from within, a summons comes from without: a portion of reality presents itself and makes a claim.
Seeking and Choosing the Path
Since the Second Vatican Council, Catholics have realized that the concept of vocation extends to all the baptized, not only to those called to ordination or religious life. All who are part of the body of Christ are equally called to holiness and service to make God's reign a reality in the world. Ignatian spirituality insists that this is no generic obligation, but rather a call to individuals tailored both to their talents and the community's needs.
Discernment of vocation lies at the heart of the Jesuit tradition. St. Ignatius Loyola drew on his own conversion experience to compose his classic Spiritual Exercises. This 16th-century soldier and courtier learned the art of spiritual discernment as he struggled to discover his own calling over a 20-year period. Looking back at those years of searching, Ignatius referred to himself as a pilgrim. Today some might call him a seeker, one of those restless people who are dissatisfied with ordinary life and inherited traditions and who insist that there must be more to life than the status quo.
The Exercises are designed to be a time to recognize God's unique invitation. It does not come like a bolt from the blue or a direct command, but as an invitation addressed to our freedom. If God's invitation had the clarity of marching orders, Ignatius would not have spent 20 years of trial and error acquiring wisdom the hard way. Those mistakes taught him to help others find the path for their freedom to take. Instead, Ignatius asks us to look into our own personal consciousness and ask: What am I attracted to? What draws me over time in a certain direction? What are the roots of my motivation, the deepest desires of the heart? It takes time and candor to sift them out from surface attractions and others' expectations.
Those fundamental hopes and desires, however, are only half the story. As Hesse pointed out, there has to be an external aspect to a calling, a situation in which our hopes can be realized. Hopes without any grounding in reality or actual prospects of realization lure us to frustration. Time and again, Ignatius found that his dreams did not correspond with the facts on the ground. He could not be a shaggy hermit and also be of service to people in the public arena. He could not preach the Gospel without going back to school to learn Latin, philosophy and theology. He and his companions could not fulfill their dream of going to the Holy Land, because there was a war on. They wanted to be itinerant preachers, but found that what their world actually needed was schools and solid learning.
They had to pay close attention to the actual needs of the church and the world in order to translate their great desires into practical service. The life of Christ made it clear that servants take their cues from the people they serve, not from their own needs. Early on his journey Ignatius kept his own counsel and made a number of bad decisions. In time, he came to realize that discernment needs others' counsel as a check against self-deception. In the retreat context of the Exercises the spiritual director provides this kind of sounding board. Many today find that ongoing spiritual direction brings a reality principle into discernment. Others use mentoring groups and forums for serious conversation about their lives to find focus and accountability.
Like anyone steeped in a religious tradition, Ignatius interpreted this central human experience of invitation in the symbols and language of his faith. He believed that the human desire to serve echoes the divine compassion, that concern for healing the world in our small arena of job and family and community stems from God's desire to heal the world. He wanted people to find where their deepest desires would lead them to serve, because he believed that would be the place where they would find God, or rather, where God would find them. Ignatius did not spend 20 years looking for a fixed blueprint for his life. It takes time to learn the art of discernment as we pursue our own winding pilgrimage. What we end up with is not a road map but a compass.
Ignatian discernment can offer wisdom not only at the outset of a career but also later, when the calling can become more nuanced. As one's career progresses, other questions come to the fore: How can I sustain a vocation while pursuing a career? Can our deep aspirations connect with the worlds' minor needs, like doing the dishes, preparing the tax forms and attending committee meetings?
Called to Justice
The contemporary commitment of the Society of Jesus to integrate faith with the work of justice emphasizes the public pole of vocation. The world is just as much the place to discover God's calling as are the movements of the heart. Traditionally, Jesuit institutions have been guided by a Christian humanism that sought to educate the whole person intellectually, morally, aesthetically and spiritually. Emphasizing the personal good of education was meant to support the common good of society. Now the common good of the whole world has taken on new urgency and is seen to embrace the personal good. The superior general of the Jesuits, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., has urged the American Jesuit colleges and universities to produce graduates of well-educated solidarity, whose lives will be linked to the poor and oppressed who make up the majority of the human race.
This new emphasis on the virtue of solidarity has deep theological roots. The incarnation of the Word of God in Jesus Christ means that all of human history and experience is open to redemptive transformation. His cross and resurrection locate that transformation at the heart of human suffering and oppression. Because this biblical concern for justice is rooted in love of neighbor and the realization of God's covenant with humanity, people of faith must pay special attention to the children of God who are suffering.
How does God call us to the right path? Usually this awareness comes through a process of discerning both the interior and the worldly poles of vocation. God's Spirit works in the depths of our humanity to help us become aware of our gifts and aspirations, and the same Spirit works through our experience to point out what the world needs from us. Often the Spirit helps us notice those problems that our talents are uniquely suited to address. Grace connects these two poles like a spark that arcs between them. Reflecting with others on the experience of invitation helps to ground that call and keep it real.
Faith and justice work together to insure that both poles receive equal consideration in the discernment of vocation. A deepening faith gives self-knowledge and trust in God's help, while the virtue of justice sharpens our perception of what is distorted in the structures of society. The practices of faith and justice locate our sense of calling in the real world, rich with possibilities and fraught with brokenness. Without the light of faith and honest awareness that we have been gifted by God, the world's needs can seem an overwhelming burden. Without knowledge of the actual conditions of the world, our talents and aspirations can be wasted, sadly, on mere success.


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Man holds two accused of road rage at gunpoint in Wausau
WAUSAU (AP) -- Police say a man who accused two people in a road rage incident in Wausau held them at gunpoint until officers arrived.
A 49-year-old Appleton man called 911 from Highway 29 Tuesday afternoon saying the van he had just passed was ramming his SUV from behind. The dispatcher told the caller to pull off the road and wait for officers.
The SUV driver says the van followed and the couple inside began hitting him and stabbing him with car keys. The driver then pulled out his gun and pointed it at the two until police arrived.
The couple was booked on possible charges of battery and disorderly conduct. Authorities say the SUV driver has a permit to carry a concealed weapon.


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Yes thats right, The Children of the Corm garden is... diseased. Under quarantine. Fungus coming out of our ears.
It all started on a brilliant warm muggy day last week when I went to my car like I do every day, and passed by the large jasmine vine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) I have growing over a 15 foot section of fencing. Hmm, I said to self, why are those few leaves bright orange? Eh, I'm in a hurry, I said to self.
The following day, also bloomed bright and humid and I looked at the ground outside the fence and noticed that the now pretty orange leaves were on the ground. Hmmm, I said to self, must look into this when get chance.
Zoom by a week, because time flies, as they say, when you are not paying attention to your plants well-being, and there are now many many many orange leaves, even more on the ground, and every single other green leaf now has big spots.
The nursery confirmed that I had a major case of fungal leaf spot, and get this... the jasmine is going to lose ALL of its leaves. Distressing under any circumstance, but considering this lovely (or formerly lovely) plant is supposed to be blooming in just over a month, this just sucks.
Decisive action has now been taken, (after a week of sloth, but lets not remind me). The jasmine will undergo three separate 10 day apart drownings in fungicide... so will all plants near it. So did the other jasmine on the other part of the fence just in case he even thinks about fraternizing. I have bagged up the diseased leaves and will continue to do so.
Hopefully that will rid my garden of the pestilence. Secondary action was also taken. The nursery has instructed me to fertilize the plant like a maniac, every week until bloomtime in hopes of pushing up some new healthy greenery on what will shortly be a bunch of strappy twigs running all over the fence.
sniff. He was sooo pretty last year, see? now look. I took a walk around town today noting that nobody else's jasmine seems to be a mess. I passed dozens. All of them green and leathery healthy as can be. grrr.
Not only that but I'm back on the claritin. The only thing I like about cold weather is it equals no claritin. Acho. Meh.


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UT System Board of Regents allocations reduce 2013 tuition and fees
AUSTIN - Resident undergraduate students at The University of Texas System's nine academic campuses will see little to no increase in their 2013 fall tuition thanks to an unprecedented approach by the Board of Regents to reduce the burden of rising tuition and fee costs on students.
The Board approved tuition increases at eight of the UT System's nine institutions last May, but also allocated $16 million from the Available University Fund (AUF) with a goal of using that money for necessary projects so the tuition increases would not have to be implemented or could be mitigated.
The Board did not approve a tuition increase at The University of Texas at Austin, but instead allocated $13.2 million to the university from the AUF to offset tuition and fee increases for 2013 and 2014.
"The Board is focused on the goals of the Chancellor's Framework for Excellence, and two of the major tenets of the Framework are accessibility to higher education and affordability," Regents Chairman Gene Powell said. "As part of our efforts under the Framework for Excellence the Board is committed to ensuring that we minimize the burden of ever-escalating fees and tuition for all our students at all our institutions."
Constitutionally, UT Austin is the only institution allowed to receive AUF money to fund excellence in its operations. However, the UT System can use AUF money in certain circumstances, such as for capital projects at its institutions and to pay for some systemwide contracts. Using this approach, UT System worked with academic institutions to utilize the AUF in a way that would alleviate or eliminate tuition and fee increases at all the eight other academic institutions for fall 2013.
Through a combination of cost savings initiatives that are part of Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa's Framework for Advancing Excellence and the $16 million from the AUF, UT System institutions were overall able to hold the line on tuition expenses for 2013.
In addition to UT Austin, resident undergraduate students at UT Arlington, UT Permian Basin and UT Tyler will see no increase in their tuition for fall 2013. Tuition and fees at UT Brownsville, UT El Paso, UT Pan American and UT San Antonio will increase, but at a fraction of the rate approved by the Board last May. Tuition at UT Dallas will increase by 2.93 percent, largely because that campus is offering a four-year guaranteed tuition for incoming freshmen. Guaranteed tuition protects students from tuition hikes for the four years it should take them to finish their degree.
View the complete list of actual increases in tuition at the nine academic institutions that will be presented at Wednesday's Board meeting.
"Mitigating costs for resident undergraduate students at our institutions is a priority for UT System and the Board of Regents," Scott Kelley, Executive Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs said. "The Board was able to successfully identify a strategy and additional financial resources that will alleviate the pressure of tuition increases on students and their families for the next two years."
The additional financial resources identified by the Board were the result of an increase in revenue generated from the Permanent University Fund (PUF) through effective stewardship of oil, gas and mineral interests by the UT System West Texas Lands Office, coupled with prudent investment decisions by The University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO).
"We are very proud of the work being done in this area by Executive Vice Chancellor Scott Kelley and his very talented staff and the Board will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to hold down the cost of higher education in Texas," Powell said.
About The University of Texas System
Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities, six health institutions and a fall 2012 enrollment of roughly 216,000. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $13.9 billion (FY 2013) including $3.1 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With more than 87,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.


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Review: 'The Dark Knight Rises' more than shines, and on many levels
Potent, persuasive and hypnotic, "The Dark Knight Rises"has us at its mercy. A disturbing experience we live through as much as a film we watch, this dazzling conclusion to director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is more than an exceptional superhero movie, it is masterful filmmaking by any standard. So much so that, its considerable 2-hour, 44-minute length notwithstanding, as soon as it's over, all you want to do is see it all over again.
That desire comes despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that "The Dark Knight Rises" might be the bleakest, most despairing superhero film ever made. It uses a wholly terrifying villain to emphasize the physical vulnerability of a hero we sometimes forget is no more than human. And it underscores the black moods and sense of dark destiny that have always clustered around the psyche of billionaire Bruce Wayne and his somber compulsion to fight crime.
Nolan and actor Christian Bale created wonders with this stern character in"Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," and the director has said he was determined to make this third film as good as the others.
PHOTOS: Tom Hardy, the next Brando?
Sharing the screenwriting credit with his brother Jonathan and story credit with David S. Goyer, Nolan has woven characters and themes from both of his previous Batman films into "Dark Knight Rises." Returning regulars include Michael Caine as loyal retainer Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Wayne Industries executive Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Gotham's ever-conflicted Commissioner Gordon.
New to Gotham, but not to Nolan's films, is a trio of "Inception"stars: Tom Hardy, who put on 30 pounds to play the physically daunting epitome of evil known as Bane; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who brings welcome texture to the role of the idealistic Gotham cop John Blake; and Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate, one of the more attractive members of the board of Wayne Industries. With the further addition of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, a slinky second-story operative, this Batman film boasts the most accomplished female acting of the trilogy.
Also, and almost unheard of in a superhero context, "Dark Knight Rises" brings a whiff of contemporary societal trends — or what Nolan has called "the things that worry us these days" — into play. His film coolly mocks the pieties of both the right and the left, starting with a jaundiced look at how law and order-obsessed societies start to rot from the inside when they are based on lies.
PHOTOS: 'Dark Knight Rises' premiere
The lies that begin "The Dark Knight Rises" are the ones that ended the previous film: that Gotham district attorney Harvey Dent was a crime-fighting hero who inspired the tough-on-crime Dent Act rather than a psychotic vigilante called Two-Face, and that Batman is a heartless thug rather than the hero who saved the city one more time.
Understandably distraught by this turn of events (though they were his own self-sacrificing idea), Bruce Wayne has become a tortured recluse who walks with a limp and is so morose he's grown a goatee. And he's had Wayne Industries table a fusion project that idealistic board member Miranda Tate calls "the world's best chance for a sustainable future."
Batman may be in mothballs, but the evildoers of the world are not idle. In the film's bravura opening moments, we see a death-defying bunch of commandos perform a spectacular mid-air hijacking, rappelling down cables from a massive C-130 Hercules transport plane to take over a smaller CIA aircraft flying below. (This was an actual stunt pulled off in the air above Scotland; Nolan avoids computer effects whenever humanly possible.)
PHOTOS: Backlot Hollywood moments
The force of evil behind all this is Bane: "Born in hell, forged from suffering, hardened by pain." A mercenary who exploits the class-warfare rhetoric of returning power to the people for his own nefarious ends, Bane is way scary two times over.
As played by Hardy, who has a flair for roles like this ("Bronson,""Warrior"), Bane intimidates first because of the threatening way he carries his imposing physical bulk. If that wasn't enough, there's his mask.
Covering half his face and making him look like Hannibal Lecter crossed with Darth Vader, Bane's surgically implanted mask supplies pain-killing gas that is essential in managing the agony generated by an old and savage injury. Its size can make what he says a bit hard to understand, but its scare factor is off the charts.
FULL COVERAGE: 'The Dark Knight Rises' on Hero Complex
Much less disturbing, but still very dangerous, is the Catwoman-like Selina, a grifter whose morality is as flexible as her body. Hathaway, who has a gift for these troubled, sarcastic roles ("Rachel Getting Married"), handles the part the casually assured way that Selina handles the world. "There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne," she whispers chillingly in the billionaire's ear. "You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."
With Gotham facing dire straits, it's incumbent on Batman to rouse himself from his self-inflicted stupor, but the question is not only whether he can do it, but whether he should. In the face of someone as brainy, powerful and out-and-out ferocious as Bane, is he out of his league. The answer, as always with Nolan's films, is far from simple.
The director benefits not only from the recurring presence of his performers but also from his top-flight crew, with repeaters who include cinematographer Wally Pfister, production designers Nathan Crowley and Kevin Kavanaugh, editor Lee Smith and costume designer Lindy Hemming. Also returning is composer Hans Zimmer, whose increasingly insistent, percussive score (he told his orchestra "I'm going to treat you as if you were a primeval drum circle") is essential in driving the film forward.
PHOTOS: Bat-tunes: 10 'Dark Knight' ditties
The close collaboration that this kind of creative familiarity ensures is key to Nolan's ability to make such persuasive, enveloping films, as is the director's passion for all things old school and celluloid. He prefers to do stunts and effects in-camera if possible and works without a second unit director. ("If I don't need to be directing the shots that go into the movie," he told the Directors Guild quarterly magazine, "why do I need to be there at all?") He shot more than an hour of "Dark Knight Rises" on the massive IMAX film negative, which improves the image quality even for those watching only in 35 mm.
The impressive success of "The Dark Knight Rises" pleasantly confounds our notions as to where great filmmaking is to be found in today's world. To have a director this gifted turning his ability and attention to such an unapologetically commercial project is beyond heartening in an age in which the promise of film as a popular art is tarnished almost beyond recognition. Wouldn't it be nice if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which snubbed the trilogy's first two films in the best picture race, finally got the message?
Christopher Nolan's masked ambitions
Anne Hathaway: 'Gotham City is full of grace'
Christopher Nolan opens up about Bane choice
Hans Zimmer explains Christopher Nolan's secrecy
PHOTOS: Tom Hardy, the next Marlon Brando?
PHOTOS: 'Dark Knight Rises' premiere
ON THE SET: Nolan takes Batman to new place
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