text:
LOS ANGELES — Gregg Popovich still maintains that as soon as Tim Duncan decides to walk away he'll be right behind him and happily disappear into the San Antonio sunset.
The good news for Spurs fans who have grown up or grown old with the most successful coach-player duo in NBA history, now in their 16th season together, is they aren't going anywhere soon.
"He plays like he's six or seven or eight years younger than he is," Popovich said. "He's really just a miracle in my mind."
That's what some thought it would take just a few seasons ago for the Spurs with an aging Big Three of Duncan, 37, Tony Parker, 30, and Manu Ginobili, 35, to again be title contenders. They were swept out of the second round by Phoenix in 2010 and then unceremoniously ushered out the next season as the top seed in a first-round upset against Memphis.
Parker openly pondered the direction of the franchise at that point just as rumors persisted that he could be traded. He questioned if the team's age and makeup could still allow it to compete in a Western Conference transitioning to younger, faster and more athletic, headed by two rising stars in Oklahoma City.
Duncan didn't need to hear concern from Parker to know that the times were changing, and he needed to change with them.
After averaging just 12.7 points in that 2011 first-round loss, Duncan immersed himself in self-evaluation, analyzing everything from where he's most effective on the floor, to his conditioning, to his weight and nutrition.
He said the lockout, while it hindered many players' workout routines and stunted their seasons, actually worked in his favor: "Just having that extra time to really focus on getting my game back and getting my body in the right shape that I wanted it to be.
"I changed a lot," Duncan said following Sunday's completion of a first-round sweep of a frustrated Dwight Howard and the depleted Los Angeles Lakers. "I understand that my game was changing, trying to extend my game on the floor, understanding where I'm going to be getting my shots, understand that I needed to get some weight off my body so that I could take some of the pressure off my knee. And it worked well for me."
This season Duncan produced his highest scoring average (17.8), field-goal percentage (50.2), rebounding average (9.9) and minutes (30.1) in three seasons. His 2.7 blocks per game were a career-best, as was his 81.7 percent free throw shoooting, a remarkable leap for a career 69.3-percent foul shooter.
Against L.A. he delivered an array of post moves, spins, jumpers and one mighty alley-oop jam that caught his teammates by surprise.
"I thought he was going to be done after that play," Parker said, smiling. "His back or something like that would give out on him."
And so here are the Spurs once again, following up on last season's run to the West finals, a six-game loss in what always seems to be Duncan's last, best shot at a fifth title. They'll be well-rested and favored in the second round against either a young and energetic Golden State squad or a Denver team that will have gone the distance to dig out of a 3-1 hole.
With the top-seeded Thunder wounded, the second-seeded Spurs must now be considered the favorite to emerge from the West.
"We're getting there," Duncan said after averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and shooting 51.7 percent from the floor against the Lakers. "Obviously this series went well for us. We didn't end the year well, but the bottom line is it really doesn't matter how you end the year. This is a good start for us. We like the pace we're at now, we like the rhythm we're at now, we like how healthy we are right now and hopefully we can stay that way."
Only a few weeks ago Duncan and Popovich expressed concern about its own health after a loss at OKC. Old questions of age and durability were cropping up again as Ginobili sat out hurt. Parker was dealing with multiple ailments and had to be removed from that game and faced an uncertain return. Boris Diaw needed back surgery. The team surprisingly released Stephen Jackson.
Yet, there was Duncan, spry and free of physical distress, averaging more minutes this season when Popovich's desire over the last several has been to limit him more, an All-Star again for the 14th time.
"He's a really gifted individual as far as his mental capacity is concerned," Popovich said. "He really has a mature outlook in the sense that he knows what it takes to play at that age. He enjoys the responsibility and takes it seriously 12 months a year and that's why he's able to do what he does at this point in his career. His maturity level and commitment are both very unique."
As Duncan altered his approach the last two seasons, becoming leaner and quicker, especially evident in his defense and 9.9 rebounds a game, his best mark in three seasons, Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford went about reconstructing the team.
The stodgy defensive model complemented by a methodical offense that ran through Duncan was ditched. Young sharpshooters and scrappy, unheralded role players were acquired to form a precision-based, team-oriented and highly efficient offensive attack that surged to became one of the highest-scoring in the league.
Additions like second-year forward Kawhi Leonard helped improve a faltering defense, making San Antonio an all-around threat to run through the West and arguably the best equipped to challenge the Miami Heat in a seven-game series.
Still, the key remains the ever-present Duncan, even as the Spurs' strategy altered emphasis on him.
In the opening minutes of Game 3, Duncan set the tone for the two games in L.A. that the Spurs would win by 52 points. A 3.2 earthquake was registered just as Duncan snared an alley-oop pass from Danny Green with his fully outstretched right arm rising well above the rim and then he emphatically dunked it.
"That makes sense now," the self-deprecating Duncan said when told of the simultaneous earthquake. "It lowered the rim."
Green instinctively launched the pass to the open man, but then quickly grew concerned as he realized the recipient was an old man with bad knees.
"I threw it and when I saw that it was Tim, I was like hopefully he can catch it and come down with it and make a play," Green said. "But he caught it and threw that thing down."
For the Big Fundamental, it was no big thing.
"I used to do it a lot, back in the day," Duncan said. "Fifteen, 20 years ago."


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The Write Stuff 5/17/13
Jefferson Makes Appearance Laguna Beach Books welcomes former resident and mystery writer T. Jefferson Parker, author of "The Famous and the Dead" on Sunday, May 19 at 4 p.m. at 1200 S. Coast Highway. There is no charge for the event.
Posted On 15 May 2013

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Todd Helton now regularly drives his two daughters to school or other activities back home in Tennessee, a huge life change for Colorado's former All-Star first baseman. He had no idea walking away …
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Todd Helton now regularly drives his two daughters to school or other activities back home in Tennessee, a huge life change for Colorado's former All-Star first baseman.
He had no idea walking away from baseball would be such a daunting and overwhelming adjustment. The daily routine that had become part of his DNA — the bantering, the batting practice, the games — replaced by chauffeuring kids, helping around the house and some golf.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,'' Helton, 44, said. "I've been a baseball player since I could walk, always knew I was going to be a baseball player.''
As baseball begins anew, many former players realize just how tough it is.
No more opening days. No adrenaline rush from batting with the bases loaded and two outs in front of 40,000 fans going crazy. No clubhouse camaraderie, sharing a goal of reaching the World Series.
The planes, the hotels, the autograph seekers and, sure, the money. But a structure totally built around being at the stadium, suddenly replaced by mundane tasks with nobody watching.
"You step away and the game goes on without you, no matter how great you were,'' former outfielder Randy Winn said. "And there are some really great players standing around here that aren't playing anymore: world champions, All-Stars, Barry (Bonds) walks in and some of the greatest of all time. And the game goes on. There's younger people that come in that get talked about. That's maybe not the hardest thing but it's kind of the `What's next for me?' that is the hard part.''
Injuries forced ex-San Francisco pitcher Noah Lowry to retire early , and he now owns an outdoors store in Northern California and joined the Chamber of Commerce.
Like Helton, he also felt lost without his sport.
"I felt dead inside,'' Lowry said.
One-time Giants teammate Jack Taschner became a police officer in Wisconsin. He blossomed into an internet sensation last fall when he showed up at a high school football game and fooled fans by leading a group cheer in the stands.
Helton retired after the 2013 season following a 17-year career, all with the Rockies. He returned to Coors Field last Sept. 15 for a reunion of the 2007 NL champions who were swept by Boston in the World Series. While there, Helton visited a back room in the clubhouse and reminisced while looking at the bat rack where his lumber once rested.
It can be a difficult change even when you know your time's up. Especially for those players who didn't earn the kind of salaries to support them for decades to come.
"If you're lucky you're in your mid-30s, right? Let's say you make it to the big leagues when you're 25 and if you're lucky you play five years — you're 30 years old,'' said Winn, who retired in April 2011 after 13 major league seasons in the outfield with Tampa Bay, Seattle, San Francisco, the New York Yankees and St. Louis.
"You have 50 years of being retired, so that's daunting. Even if you do play 20 years you still have a lot of years on the other side to figure out kind of `What do I want to do?' Fred McGriff told me when I first retired — that's my guy, he took me under his wing when I was a rookie — he said, `Randy, there's only so much golf you can play.' ''
Retired reliever Scott Eyre, who pitched 13 big league seasons with five teams, announced "I need a job!'' in a Facebook post on Aug. 31.
A new role
Those still working in baseball realize how fortunate they are to have stayed part of the game they love.
"I always planned to be involved in the game. I never dreamed I would be managing, that was new for me,'' said A.J. Hinch of the World Series champion Houston Astros. "But being able to be in the game, it's what we know, it's what we love. We're used to the rigors and the routine of the season.
"It's hard to be away. You spend so much time on a baseball team or in a baseball season, it's impossible not to miss it.''
Winn said the regimented baseball schedule always has players somewhere at a specific time — from buses to flights to stretching and batting practice. And that's often all these men have known for years.
"And even in the offseason, you don't have somewhere to be but you have a goal,'' said Winn, now a Giants special assistant and analyst. "You take however much time you take off then you have a goal — I want to be ready for spring, so that requires me being places: at the gym, cardio, throwing, hitting, kind of on a regimented schedule.''
To be part of a team for so long, for most way back to their Little League days, and then no longer having that daily interaction and togetherness can take a toll.
A 13-year big league catcher, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had to walk away because of about 30 concussions from years of taking foul tips and hard collisions at the plate.
"It happens to everybody in any walk of life, it just happens to our guys a lot younger,'' Matheny said. "I think some guys handle it extremely well. Most of them have a balance and once again they kind of do figure out what is going on in their life besides the game.''
"There's other guys that are very content with the fact of putting the title on themselves they're going to be a lifer. They're going to be in this game no matter what. ... It all comes down to most of the guys just finding peace with where it is they're supposed to be,'' he said. "It's not easy. I've talked with some guys who have had unbelievable careers. They just can't get their mind around not being part of something or part of a team.''
Finding purpose
Helton is accustomed to his new, far-different routine. He golfs, he goes fishing, he is director of player development for Tennessee's baseball team.
He works out most mornings, while acknowledging "it's a lot harder to work out now when you don't have anything to work out for.''
"I thought I was totally prepared for it. I knew it was coming, so it's not like it was any surprise. I was 40 years old and still playing,'' he said. "Stopping playing and taking your kids to and from school, that's a big adjustment. It was hard.''
He came to the point he appreciates being there for all his girls' after-school activities.
Helton had to fight through being down the way he did a hitting slump. He had been No. 17 for so long.
"Life's good again. It took a couple years,'' he said. "Every day's a Sunday for me.''
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The Muppets Wreak Havoc on 'Monday Night RAW' [VIDEO]
No one loves the Muppets more than us. So, we were elated when the beloved puppets appeared during a Halloween-themed episode of the professional wrestling extravaganza 'Monday Night RAW' and wreaked their special brand of adorable mayhem.
In anticipation of their first theatrical release in 12 years, the Muppets ran roughshod all over last night's episode of 'RAW.' Kermit got a kiss from one of the WWE Divas, Miss Piggy got rejected by a wrestler and Beaker inadvertently affected the outcome of a match between Santino Marella and Jack Swagger.
Now, if we could just get Animal in the ring, all our dreams would come true.
Watch what happens when 'Muppets' meet 'Raw' below.
[via YouTube]


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OAKLAND -- Golden State Warriors Co-Executive Chairmen Joe Lacob and Peter Guber issued the following statement regarding the passing of Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss:
"On behalf of the Golden State Warriors organization, we extend our thoughts and prayers to the entire Buss family. Dr. Buss set an incredible standard of excellence that each of us strives to achieve, but few attain. His overall contribution to the league over three-plus decades leaves an indelible mark that will never be forgotten."
[RATTO: Buss was superb, how much credit should an owner get?]
"This is an extremely sad day for me. As I have said many times, I have been blessed to work for Jerry Buss, the most successful owner in basketball history. His incredible commitment and desire to build a championship-caliber team that could sustain success over a long period of time has been unmatched. With all of his achievements, Jerry was without a doubt one of the most humble men I've ever been around. His vision was second to none; he wanted an NBA franchise brand that represented the very best and went to every extreme to accomplish his goals. His achievements as an owner are legendary and will never be duplicated: 10 NBA titles and 16 trips to the NBA Finals. Jerry was an innovator in the sports world and many sports franchises have tried to follow his recipe for success and his vision of making NBA basketball as much about sports as entertainment.
"Our relationship has always been very unique; Jerry was always supportive of the many tough decisions that were made during our time together. I will particularly remember fondly our walks together during training camps, which were some of the highlights of my time working with him and the Lakers.
"I was blessed to have the opportunity to work for him and I will miss him dearly. My thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Buss family and the Lakers organization. We lost a great man today and a legend in our business."
Courtesy Golden State Warriors media services.


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Edited version published The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 102, No. 2 (Spring 2004): 207-223.
Review Essay
By Carolyn Earle Billingsley
In the fall of 1869, a wagon train formed in Pickens County, South Carolina. The large group, connected by kinship, community, and church membership, were heading for Saline County, Arkansas, to make a fresh start. Many of their young men had lost their lives in the war and there were few opportunities or available arable land in their mountainous homeland on the North Carolina border. One of the women in this migrating group was my great-great-grandmother Terrissa (Gantt) Chappell Jeans. Her husband had been killed in the Civil war, leaving her a widow with three children, and she had just remarried to a man named William Jeans[1]. Soon afterwards, Terrissa gave birth to their daughter, Lucinda Jeans. But during the trip to Arkansas, according to family stories, Mr. Jeans was verbally and physically abusive to Terrissa and her family ran him off. They never saw him again.
Family lore also states that Terrissa's daughter, my great-grandmother Lucinda, who grew up in Saline County, Arkansas, was a pretty little girl with dark eyes and hair; Even her complexion was noticeably dark—sometimes described as "olive" by those who knew her. She and her family had an explanation for her darkness: her father, they said, was Spanish. On various census records through the years, Lucinda reported her father's place of birth as Mexico or Spain and his native language as Spanish.[2]
Spanish? From the hills of Pickens County, South Carolina, in the 1860s? With a name like William Jeans? Not likely.
Another explanation from the family was that the Gantts, Lucinda's maternal ancestors, were "Black Dutch". Today nobody knows what that term meant (or means) to the many families who claim this heritage. Some theories: they were German people who were dark instead of blond; they were Germans from the Black Forest region; or "Sephardic Jews who married Dutch protestants to escape the Inquisition."[3]
Explanations citing Spanish or Black Dutch ancestry for this family are especially suspect when one considers that Gantt/Jeans descendants have a significant percentage of Native American ancestry. This fact, however, was not revealed until recently, when extensive DNA testing shed light on this portion of my lineage.[4]
In talking to older and now-deceased family members, I long ago discovered that, previous to the last few decades, the "white" population of the dominant southern culture considered being Indian pert nigh the same as being "black" (although this opinion usually was not rendered in language now considered politically correct by any means), and therefore, it was something to be concealed rather than celebrated. In addition to being the wrong color, Native Americans were frequently subject to hostility because of the ongoing warfare between whites and Indians on the frontier, and because many tribes freely intermarried with blacks. Therefore, Native Americans or those with partial Native American ancestry "passed" for white when they could and purposely obscured their Indian ancestry.[5]
Of course, in the minds of most people, "passing" involves African-Americans. For example, ex-slave Wallace Turnage kept a journal of his life, which was for years kept among his daughter's possessions. When the daughter, Lydia Turnage Connolly, died, a neighbor ended up with the handwritten account and only then did the neighbor discover Connolly's African-American ancestry: "Mrs. Connolly often described herself as 'Portugee' to explain her dark complexion."[6]
In his book Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920, Willard B. Gatewood relates similar stories of the deliberate obfuscation of origins. When Dr. J. Frank McKinley married Maud Cuney in 1898, he was adamant that they pass as Spanish-Americans and claimed that heritage for their daughter on her birth certificate, although they were both of mixed black and white ancestry, with no Spanish antecedents. And when Fannie Barrier Williams, who was also of African-American ancestry, was questioned about her ethnicity by the conductor of the whites-only railroad car in which she rode, she replied, "Je suis Français," later explaining that "the 'barbarous laws' of the South 'did not allow a lady to be both comfortable and honest'."[7]
Although most such stories about Spanish or Portuguese (or even French) family origins are told by individuals or nuclear families, there is a particular group that asserts these types of origins for their entire people: they are called Melungeons and their ethnic and racial background is a matter of fierce debate. In her book The Melungeons [Notes on the Origin of a Race], Bonnie Ball describes them thusly:
Two generations ago, people traveling through certain ranges of the Cumberlands
might meet or overtake a group of mountaineers trudging along single-file,
making their way to homes concealed in remote hollows and glens. They were
mountaineers, but there was a difference between them and their white neighbors.
They little resembled the Anglo-Saxons, the Scotch-Irish, the Germans, or even
the so-called "black Dutch" . . . . They were dark-skinned, but little about
them resembled Italians or Mexicans. . . .
. . . In some ways they
reminded people of certain Indian tribes, yet they had other characteristics
that suggested a mixture of many races. For example, some of them had the dark
skin and curly hair typical of blacks, but even so seldom possessed black facial
features. . . .
. . . Their skin was dark and oily, showing more of a
coppery color than of, say, Ethiopians or darker members of the white race.
Their hair was often coarse and black, and in some families extremely kinked.
Others were little different from their white neighbors. . . .[8]
Explanations for their ancestral or ethnic origins are almost as numerous as the articles and books discussing them, but, as a rule, the people themselves claimed to be of "Portyghee" (Portuguese) ancestry, descended from shipwrecked sailors, and from the Cherokee or other Native American groups.
Despite the controversies, there are many points of agreement among those who have studied the Melungeon folk. They are centered in the Newman's Ridge area of Hancock County, Tennessee, where they settled in the 1790s, apparently migrating from areas around Ashe County, North Carolina. Nobody knows the source of the name Melungeon; speculation is that it derives from the French mélange (mixed), the Greek melan (black or dark), the old English word malengin (mischievous intent), or even the Afro-Portuguese melungo (shipmate), but other name theories are bandied about. Within the Melungeon community, there are several common surnames, such as Collins, Gibson or Gipson, Mullins and Goins, which have persisted throughout known Melungeon history. They kept to themselves for the most part, intermarrying and living in marginal areas in neighborhoods that were not significantly integrated into the wider communities of their residential areas. Many stories indicate that white southerners considered them to be non-white and, accordingly, they were stigmatized. Moreover they have been consistently stereotyped as lazy, immoral, illiterate, thievish, superstitious, clannish half-breeds.[9]
But beyond these basic facts, any discussion of Melungeons is highly polarized: the main bone of contention is their racial or ethnic identity, predicated on their ancestral origin. Anthropologists refer to them as a tri-racial isolate group, meaning that they are considered to be a mixture of three races—white, black, and Native American (or, as a resident of Hancock County once put it, "a mix of 'white trash, renegade Indians, and runaway slaves"[10]), and that they tend to cluster together and keep to themselves. Another technical term is for such a group is "racial island". Many researchers from within the Melungeon community posit descent from Portuguese sailors marooned in North American or even Moors, Turks, or some type of Mediterranean people, mixed with Indian ancestry.
The Melungeons are only one of the tri-racial groups found mainly in the South and along the Eastern Seaboard. Although the other major racial islands are often lumped together with the Melungeons, distinct groups include the Brass Ankles (South Carolina), Cajans and Creoles (Alabama and Mississippi), Croatans (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia), Guineas (West Virginia and Maryland), Issues (Virginia), Jackson Whites (New Jersey and New York), Red Bones (Louisiana), Moors and Nanticokes (Delaware and New Jersey), and the Wesorts (Southern Maryland). The origins of all these groups and others like them are obscured but they are believed by scholars to be, like the Melungeons, a mixture of white, black, and Native American, and many of their members, like the Melungeons, claim Portuguese, Moorish, and/or Indian ancestry.[11]
A great deal of information about the Melungeons and other tri-racial isolate groups can be found in academic journals over the last century, read for the most part by scholars and thus outside of mainstream American consciousness. In 1972, Calvin L. Beale wrote that "Interest in the racial isolates by anthropologists began in the late nineteenth century, stimulated . . . by the emergence of the Robeson County, North Carolina, people as Croatan Indians and the suggestion of their descent from the Lost Colony."[12] Public interest, from outside of the scholarly community, has been increasing in the last few decades, for the most part due to interest from genealogists who want to know more about their family background. Additionally, throughout the history of these people, magazine and newspaper articles have periodically stirred up interest in them. For the most part, the authors of these articles portrayed Melungeons in a very uncomplimentary light and virtually always brought up the issue of African-American ancestry. Considering the times in which these articles appeared, the latter issue was extraordinarily harmful to anyone deemed Melungeon.
In recent years, the most popular book about Melungeons, and the one that brought the topic into more widespread awareness, is N. Brent Kennedy's The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People—An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America.[13] Kennedy is the most public face of the Melungeon community today. Mercer University Press, his publisher, has undertaken a whole series of works on Melungeons with Kennedy as the series editor, and, on their website, refers to Kennedy as "the foremost writer and lecturer on the Melungeons."[14] Although The Melungeons is considered to be the main reference for this group of people and despite the fact it was widely and positively reviewed, its polemical nature and unsubstantiated claims should give the serious researcher pause. The use of the loaded term "ethnic cleansing" in the title is a clue to the over-wrought viewpoint presented in Kennedy's text. Often discriminated against, marginalized, disdained and despised—yes; the victims of ethnic cleansing—no.[15]
Kennedy's main claim for the Melungeons is that their ancestry is Mediterranean, e.g., Turkish, Moorish, Iberian, Berber, and "at least partial Jewish origins," mixed with Native American.[16] Whereas some other groups designated tri-racial isolates "increasingly considered themselves more Indian than European," Kennedy says, " . . . the 'Melungeons' of Tennessee and Virginia clung more tightly to their Mediterranean roots."[17] But Kennedy apparently has nothing but scorn for those who would stigmatize Melungeons by affixing the tri-racial isolate label to them. "To shove all multiethnic people into this generic pigeonhole and assign to them a racial label in which they have no input—which is that the tri-racial isolate theory inadvertently did—is an incredibly hostile action," which Kennedy also deems "patroniz[ing]."[18] Much more could be written about the faults of this work if Virginia Easley DeMarce had not already quite capably eviscerated Kennedy's book in her review essay in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.[19]
DeMarce, formerly a history professor, is another prominent researcher of Melungeons. Her works on this mysterious group include two extremely well researched and articulated articles in the NGSQ. In the first, "'Verry Slitly Mixt': Tri-Racial Isolate Families of the Upper South—A Genealogical Study," she delves into a variety of tri-racial groups, including their origins and racial compositions. In her follow-up article, "Looking at Legends—Lumbee and Melungeon: Applied Genealogy and the Origins of Tri-racial Isolate Settlements," DeMarce concentrates on the specific groups of Melungeons and Lumbees. In both articles, DeMarce starts with a base of historical, anthropological, and sociological knowledge and theory, and then cements it all together using genealogical research to trace specific families and their origins, debunking some aspects of scholarship, while proving others to be more consistent with historical fact. For those interested in Melungeons and other tri-racial isolate groups, Demarce's work stands as one of the most comprehensive, well-researched and -reasoned sources.[20]
Another source for information about Melungeon is Bonnie Ball's very readable book, The Melungeons. Ball was an elementary school teacher whose interest in Melungeons derived from her personal knowledge of them, both from her childhood and from her classroom. Although she did not write in a scholarly fashion, i.e., there are no footnotes, her recapitulation of the scholarship on Melungeons references her sources within the narrative. She also included a helpful list of suggested reading and was obviously knowledgeable about her topic. Ball's book is most valuable for the sense of the Melungeon people as she knew them; in other words, she does not malign them and she brings them alive for her reader—more alive than the countless scholarly works portray them.
In 2004, Mercer University Press published a new book in its ongoing series on Melungeon culture, edited by Brent Kennedy. Wayne Winkler's Walking Toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of Appalachia promises to be the best of the series for its straight-forward, comprehensive, objective, and non-polemical review of the stories of, and theories about, Melungeons and their origins. In Kennedy's foreword, he writes that "Winkler's book presents a fair and balanced account of what we know, and do not know, of these fascinating people and his own insights flesh out in a logical manner what much of the extant evidence tells us," despite the fact that he and Winkler "disagree on a number of topics."[21]
Winkler, like so many who write on this subject, is himself of Melungeon descent. He works as the director of a public radio station, wrote and produced "an award-winning radio documentary of the Melungeons, and is president of the Melungeon Heritage Association." Winkler's goal for his book is to even-handedly gather together and present the theories and research on his people, from which he draws reasonable conclusions whenever it is possible to do so. As he states, he "do[es] not have a theory of origin . . . to promote." And this is what makes Walking Toward the Sunset a thoroughly satisfying treatise on Melungeons—in a field overwhelmed with strident points of view and far-fetched theories, Winkler's book is a breath of fresh air. Although Melungeon heritage was at one time "shameful, something to be hidden," Winkler thoughtfully debunks the "notion of 'race'" and joyfully embraces his "'mysterious' background." "America has had an unhealthy obsession with race and the notion of 'purity'," he asserts, but "[t]he Melungeon story is a celebration of the diversity of America."[22]
Winkler titles his first chapter "A Raceless People" and explores the question of race as it pertains to Melungeons, telling the story of the inability of society to fit them into a particular racial category. But American society, and southern society in particular, had no trouble deciding that, whatever the Melungeons were, they were not "white", which resulted in challenges for them in voting, in education, in marriage, in military service, and in all the ways non-whites were disadvantaged by the dominant white culture. For this very reason, it made sense for Melungeons to assert their Portuguese or even Indian ancestry and to reject the idea of African-American ancestry, while also refusing to apply the epithet "Melungeon" to their own people. As Winkler states: "The history of nearly all tri-racial groups has been marked by their efforts to overcome their inferior social status."[23]
Winkler also points out that it did not and does not really matter if Melungeons or other tri-racial groups actually had African-American blood, whether the proverbial one drop or more; the pertinent and overarching fact is that their neighbors believed that they did and thus treated them accordingly. Melungeons assertions of Portuguese ancestry and descent from sailors shipwrecked on American shores was an understandable coping mechanism, and perhaps even true, but it fell on deaf ears.[24]
In his second chapter, "Race and Conquest on the Eastern Seaboard," Winkler reviews early contact between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans, and the settlement of the eastern seaboard, particularly relating to the varied theories of Melungeon origin. He retells the story of Raleigh's Lost Colony in some detail, along with the importation of Armenian and Turkish workers to Virginia in the seventeenth century, the presence of the Romany people (Gypsies), the intermarriage of Native Americans and free blacks, and the presence of Spanish and Portuguese sailors. Winkler concludes:
As the English consolidated their hold on North America, the contributions of
these individuals and families of non-English origin were often overlooked or
forgotten. The racial attitudes of the dominant English society forced many of
these swarthy or mixed-race people to keep a low profile, band together in
extended family groups, and often to migrate to more sparsely-populated areas
where racially-restrictive laws had not yet been enacted.[25]
The narrative continues as Winkler examines the historic references to the Melungeons and to people who might have been the original Melungeons, up to and including their settlement on Newman's Ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee. At that time, he writes, "they considered themselves white people with Indian ancestry," although "[t]hat opinion was not universally shared by their white neighbors, and their legal status would be questioned repeatedly." During the nineteenth-century, Melungeons came under increasing scrutiny: more disparaging stories about them were published; their right to vote was challenged; court cases were fought to determine their status—and they were forced to negotiate their racial identity. In the precedent-setting "Celebrated Melungeon Case" of 1872, Melungeons were found to be Carthaginian with no African-American blood. [26]
Winkler devotes his third chapter to Will Allen Dromgoole, a woman writer who was responsible in large part for forming the general public's opinion of Melungeons through a series of articles she wrote in the 1890s. Writing her popular stories about these strange people in a time when "America was obsessed with race," Dromgoole portrayed them so negatively and in such a racist light, that "[t]o this day, many Hancock Countians resent the articles" she wrote.[27]
In "Scientific Racism," Winkler's fourth chapter, he moves the story into the early twentieth century, cogently detailing the effects of eugenics and the progressive movement on the Melungeon people. From Darwin, to Galton, to Kellogg, and even Hitler, Winkler describes the rise of eugenics, which "provided a pseudo-scientific rationale for the ethnic hostility that was gaining momentum in the United States." Virginia's Racial Integrity Law of 1924 and publication of books like Mongrel Virginians added to the frenzy over racial classification and had a deleterious impact on the status of Melungeons.[28]
In his chapter titled "A Time of Transition," Winkler examines the situation of the Melungeons and other tri-racial groups from the 1930s through the 1970s. At the beginning of this period, more articles appeared, retelling the unflattering old tales of the mysterious Melungeons. Of special note is "Sons of the Legend," which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1947. Not only did W. L. Worden's piece portray the Melungeons as moon-shining, non-Caucasian, child-bride marrying misfits, it did so in a popular magazine with a nationwide readership—"[a]nd the people of Hancock County were not happy with what [Worden] had to say."[29] From there, Winkler moves on to the rise of more scholarly research, the reclassification of many tri-racial isolate groups as Indian tribes, the Civil Rights movement, the outmigration of Melungeons from their traditional homelands, and their assimilation into broader American society. By the 1970s, though a combination of the Civil Rights movement, the appearance of a sympathetic portrayal in a popular book, and the debut of the outdoor drama Walk Toward the Sunset in Hancock County, those with Melungeon heritage began to complete the arc from shame to pride in their identity.
In his sixth chapter, Winkler brings the state of Melungeon research up to date. In many ways, "Into the Twenty-First Century" is the meat of the book. Winkler discusses the theoretical and rhetorical divide between Kennedy and his backers versus DeMarce, Henige, and others of like mind, discusses the role of the Internet in popularizing Melungeon research, then segues into the DNA evidence. Although the DNA findings move forward our knowledge about the Melungeon ancestry, they do not settle all aspects of the controversy. Winkler summarizes the results, which were based on a very small sample:
In short, the DNA study indicates today's Melungeons are primarily of European
descent, with some Native American and African-American ancestry. Some
Melungeons have genetic sequences matching the Siddis of northern India, others
reflect a Turkish or Syrian ancestry. Some of those who consider themselves
"Melungeon" possess all of those "exotic" genes; others have some of them—and
others reflect only the "generic" European genes. The Melungeons are by no means
uniform in their genetic backgrounds; they are a mixed-ethnic population with
varying degrees of mixture within that population.[30]
In his concluding chapter, Winkler speculates on the many ways the data on Melungeons might be interpreted and attempts to define who is and who is not Melungeon. He opines that the recognition of the Melungeon's varied ethic heritage and the history of discrimination against them "will probably lead to a fuller understanding of America's tumultuous history of race relations and the absurdity of the concept of race in general."[31]
So, how should we interpret the many obfuscations, legends, and family origin stories of the Melungeons and other tri-racial isolate groups—and, indeed, for the many individuals who claimed Spanish, Portuguese, and Moorish backgrounds? Were there really that many families of exotic ancestry in the South? If not, why would so many people claim such ancestry?
Occam's razor is a logical principle asserting that simpler models are more apt to be correct than complex ones. The simplest explanation for the complicated legends surrounding the Melungeons and other such groups is rooted in the South's deterministic racial ideology. Unlike some others areas, such as South America, the Caribbean, and New Orleans, Louisiana, there were only two racial castes in most of the South: one was either white or one wasn't. The penalties for those who were deemed not-white were severe; the benefits for those who were white were many-fold. But this two-race cosmology failed to account for the reality: a great many people are a varied ethnic mix. And a "common characteristic of tri-racials [and other individuals like my great-grandmother] . . . [is] a tendency to ascribe their origin to migrations in the distant past." "Invariably the story is told—but rarely believed—that their distant ancestors reached these shores by some accident; and the monotonous theme of shipwrecked sailors recurs again and again."[32]
In 1872, attorney Lewis Shepherd fought and won a case validating the marriage between a white man and a Melungeon woman by "proving" the Melungeons had no Negro blood whatsoever and were, in fact, "pure-blooded Carthagenians." Of his assertions in this case, he wrote:
"[O]ur Southern high-bred people . . . will never tolerate on equal terms any
person who is even remotely tainted with negro blood, but they do not make the
same objection to other brown or dark-skinned people, like the Spanish, the
Cubans, the Italians, etc."[33]
Shepherd's observation pretty nearly sums up the plight of the Melungeons, as well as other tri-racial groups, African-Americans, Native Americans, and my great-grandmother Lucinda. In short, if you were darker-skinned than "normal", it behooved you to claim any other heritage—be it Portuguese, Carthagenian, or Spanish—so your neighbors would not classify you as non-white, i.e., "tainted" with the blood of African-Americans. As Winkler writes about attitudes in the early twentieth-century: "'mostly white' was not white enough; 'mostly white' or even 'Indian' meant 'colored' and were the equivalent of 'black'."[34] The Melungeons may well have been speaking the truth when they claimed Portuguese ancestry, but that claim was trumped by another small portion of their ethnicity and by the judgment of their neighbors.
In truth, many of the peoples of the South, and of America in general, were a mixed-up jambalaya of ethnicities, but in most cases like the Melungeons, the full story of their histories will probably remain largely a mystery for the immediate future. The best hope for enlightenment comes from genealogy—by painstakingly tracing Melungeon individuals and family groups back in time, as DeMarce recommends and demonstrates, a clearer picture of their origins will emerge—and through expanded and newer DNA testing technology. Until then, for any reader interested in tri-racial groups like the Melungeons, Wayne Winkler's book is the best place to start examining the social, political, cultural, legal, economic, and genetic aspects of such a heritage.
Carolyn Earle Billingsley, Ph.D., is a graduate of Rice University. She is the author of Communities of Kinship: Antebellum Families and the Settlement of the Cotton Frontier (2004); the Coordinator for Course 3 at Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research; and currently works as an independent historian in Saline County, Arkansas.
[1] Sometimes spelled Jaynes or Janes.
[2] Information on the Gantts (originally Gaunt) descendants is condensed from twenty-five years of family history research by the author, including interviews with descendants. In the 1880 census, Lucinda's paternal birthplace was given as South Carolina; she was twelve years of age, living with her mother and sister in her uncle's household. But in 1910 and 1920, she reported her father's place of birth as Mexico, and in 1930, it was reported as Spain. See Saline County, Arkansas, 1880 Census (Benton, Ark.: Saline County History and Heritage Society, 1989), pp.. 70–71; 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Lonoke County, Arkansas, NARA T624_56, p. 118B; 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Pulaski County, Arkansas, NARA T625_79, ED 147, p. 2B; and 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Pulaski County, Arkansas, NARA T626_90, ED 45, D. 292—the latter three sources accessed via Ancestry.com's online census image databases, 28 October 2004. Note that Lucinda's family apparently was not enumerated on the 1900 census.
[3] Shirley Hornbeck, This and That: Genealogy Tips on Black Dutch and Black Irish, Melungeons, Moravians, Pennsylvania Dutch, seen at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/blkdutch.htm, 15 October 2004. A Google search for "Black Dutch" turned up over 4000 English-language sites.
[4] Autosomal DNA test for L. Jean Neal, mother of author, by Trace Genetics of Davis, California, 2004.
[5] This author recognizes the futility of using the terms "white" and "black" in any concrete way. Race has been proven to be a social construct; in the minds of the dominant culture of the seventeenth- through twentieth-century, you were either white by birth and by appearance, or you were considered black or Indian or some other non-white "race". For the status of Native Americans, see Wayne Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of Appalachia, N. Brent Kennedy, Series Editor (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2004), p. 79.
[6] Randy Kennedy, "Journals of 2 Ex-Slaves Draw Vivid Portraits," The New York Times, 14 June 2004, read online at New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/, accessed 21 June 2004
[7] Willard B. Gatewood, Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920 (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000), pp. 181–182 (quotation on p. 182).
[8] Bonnie Ball, The Melungeons [Notes on the Origin of a Race] (1969; rev. ed., Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1992), p. v.
[9] See, for example: William Harlen Gilbert, Jr., "Memorandum Concerning the Characteristics of the Larger Mixed-Blood Racial Islands of the Eastern United States," Social Forces, Vol. 24, No. 4 (May, 1946), pp. 443–445; Edward T. Price, "A Geographic Analysis of White-Negro-Indian Racial Mixtures in Eastern United States," Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 43, No. 2 (June, 1953), pp. 141, and 143; Calvin L. Beale, "An Overview of the Phenomenon of Mixed Racial Isolates in the United States," American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 74, No. 3 (June 1972): 704–710; Swan M. Burnett, "A Note on the Melungeons," American Anthropologist, Vol. 2, No. 4 (October 1889): 347–349; and Price, "The Melungeons: A Mixed-Blood Strain of the Southern Appalachians," Geographical Review, Vol. 41, No. 2 (April, 1951): 256–271—all accessed online at JSTOR; Ball, The Melungeons; and Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, p. 2.
[10] Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, p. x.
[11] William Harlen Gilbert Jr.,"Memorandum Concerning the Characteristics of the Larger Mixed-Blood Racial Islands of the Eastern United States," Social Forces, Vol. 24, No. 4 (Mary 1946): 438–447. For the stories of other tri-racial groups, see Frank W. Porter, III, "Strategies for Survival: The Nanticoke Indians in a Hostile World," Ethnohistory, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Autumn 1979): 325–345; Thomas J. Harte, "Social Origins of the Brandywine Population," Phylon, Vol.24, No. 4 (4th Qtr. 1963): 369–378; Harte. "Trends in Mate Selection in a Tri-Racial Isolate," Social Forces, Vol. 37, No. 3 (March 1959: 215–221; Adolph L. Dial and David K. Eliades, The Only Land I Know: A History of the Lumbee Indians (1975; rpr. ed., Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, 1996); Lynwood Montell, "The Coe Ridge Colony: A Racial Island Disappears," American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 74, No. 3 (June 1972): 710–719; Laura L. Lovett, "'African and Cherokee by Choice': Race and Resistance under Legalized Segregation," American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 1/2 (Winter-Spring 1998): 203–229; S. D. Allen, "More on the Free Black Population of the Southern Appalachian Mountains: Speculations on the North African Connection," Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 25, No. 6 (July 1995): 651–671; and Kenneth W. Porter, "Relations Between Negroes and Indians: Contacts as Allies," The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 17, No. 3 (July 1932): 307–320. All the articles here can be read online at JSTOR.
[12] Calvin L. Beale, "An Overview of the Phenomenon of Mixed Racial Isolates in the United States," American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 74, No. 3 (June 1972): 704–710 (quotation on p. 707). Available online at JSTOR. Note that most sources for Melungeon data make reference to Sir Walter Raleigh's "Lost Colony" of over one hundred settlers, who arrived in Virginia in 1587, but had disappeared by the time ships returned three years later. Many theories speculate the missing settlers were taken in by local Indian tribes, eventually producing mixed offspring and an explanation of the obviously mixed-race people found later in the area.
[13] N. Brent Kennedy, with Robyn Vaughn Kennedy, The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People—An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America (Second, revised, and corrected edition; Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1997). A short biographical sketch of Kennedy is available online at The Melungeon Heritage web site, www.melungeon.org/?BISKIT=1796112105&CONTEXT=cat&cat=10040, accessed 26 November 2004: Brent Kennedy is President of the Wellmont Foundation in Kingsport, Tennessee . . . . A native of Wise, Virginia, Kennedy is a graduate of Clinch Valley College (now UVA-Wise). He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Mass Communications Research from the University of Tennessee, where he was a Bickel Fellow, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Melungeon Heritage Association
[14] Mercer University Press: How They Shine: Melungeon Characters in the Fiction of Appalachia, found online at http://www.mupress.org/webpages/books/brake.html, accessed 26 November 2004. The series is called Melungeons: History and Culture Series.
[15] See, for example: Frederic W. Gleach's review in Ethnohistory, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Autumn, 1998): 804–806); and William L. Anderson's review in the Journal of Southern History, Vol .62, No. 1 (February 1996): 111–112.
[16] Kennedy, The Melungeons, pp. 164–168 (quotation on p. 166).
[17] Ibid., p. 165.
[18] Ibid., pp. 99–100 (quotations).
[19] Virginia Easley DeMarce, National Genealogical Society Quarterly [hereinafter NGSQ], Vol. 84, No. 2 (June 1996):134–149. The essay can also be found online at the web site of "The Historical Melungeons and Their Kinfolks," www.geocities.com/ourmelungeons/demarce.html. A biographical snippet accompanying DeMarce's review essay states that she "is a historian in the Branch of Acknowledgement and Research, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and past president of the National Genealogical Society"; quotation on p. 134. According to Winkler in Walking Toward the Sunset, David Henige's review of Kennedy's book ["The Melungeons Become a Race," Appalachian Journal, Vol. 25.3 (Spring 1998): 270–271)] is "even more scathing that [sic, than] DeMarce's."
[20] DeMarce, "'Verry Slitly Mixt': Tri-Racial Isolate Families of the Upper South—A Genealogical Study," NGSQ, Vol. 80, No. 1 (March 1992): 5–35; and DeMarce, "Looking at Legends—Lumbee and Melungeon: Applied Genealogy and the Origins of Tri-racial Isolate Settlements," NGSQ, Vol. 81, No. 1 (March 1993): 24–45.
[21] Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, pp. viii (first quotation), and vii (second quotation).
[22] Ibid., Information and first quotation from the back flap of the book jacket, pp. xi (second, third, and fifth quotations); and xii (fourth, sixth, and seventh quotation).
[23] Ibid.,, p. 11 (quotation).
[24] Ibid., p. 26.
[25] Ibid., p. 50.
[26] Ibid., pp. 59 (first quotation), and 75–79 for the "Celebrated Melungeon Case". In her article, "'African and Cherokee by Choice'," Laura L. Lovett uses the phrase "negotiation of their racial identity," which I have paraphrased here.
[27] Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, pp. 100 (first quotation), and 101 (second quotation).
[28] Ibid., p. 107 (quotation). For a discussion of Arthur H. Estabrook and Ivan E. McDougal, Mongrel Virginians (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1926), "a study of the Monacan community of Amherst County, Virginia," Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, pp. 124–130.
[29] Ibid., pp. 148–155 (quotation on p. 151). Worden's article appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, 18 October 1847.
[30] Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, p. 240
[31] Ibid., p. 255.
[32] Ibid., p. 27 (both quotations). The source of the second quotation is cited as Brewton Berry, Almost White (New York: McMillan, 1963), pp. 35–36.
[33] Winkler, Walking Toward the Sunset, p. 79.
[34] Ibid., p. 119.
Red Bone Heritage Foundation
Strat43z's Tri-Racial Genealogy Page
Melungeon Heritage Association
Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware
By Paul Heinegg
Mercer University Press
Melungeon Research Blog by Nancy Sparks Morrison


text:
Element 6
Lately I have been so busy trying to manage the balance between work and uni that I have neglected one of the most important things in my life - brunching. Ok that may have come out a little ridiculous but seriously picture this - a sunny Saturday morning, a cosy cafe buzzing with locals, the fragrant aromas of coffee, plates of eggs stacked amongst bacon, chorizo, mushrooms, haloumi and sourdough bread - if you did not just fall in love with that descriptIon...you'd be lying. Element 6 ticked all the boxes for that perfect scenario depicted above and despite having to go through horrible traffic to get there, it was worth the while!
M and I chose to go Element 6 because it was relatively close to us as opposed to heading all the way out to Surry Hills in the City. Situated in West Ryde right next to the station, there is ample parking available nearby (bonus!). However the lesson we learnt was to leave the house earlier than 11am because traffic was horrid on Concord Road and it took us nearly an hour to get there. I am grateful though for perservering! The desire to enjoy good brunch trumped my impatience that day :)
Element 6 is not too big in space but they do have a nice outdoor area. The vibe is very similar to what you would find in the likes of Surry Hills or Newtown. Do expect to wait in line for at least 10-15minutes as the place is quite popular!
By the time we were seated, it was safe to say that we were famished. My
Strawberry Milkshake ($5.50)
and M's
Iced Coffee ($4)
was absolutely delicious! The milkshake was nice and sweet with a consistency that wasn't too thick nor thin. I slurped away in delight hoping it would fill the hunger void in my stomach. The coffee was also great - I liked how it wasn't too bitter although the ice cream probably helped with the creaminess!
M's order of
Chubby Bacon & Sunny Egg Roll with Onion Jam, House Pumpkin Chutney and e6 Aioli ($9)
with an
extra side of Chorizo ($3.50)
was the ultimate big breakfast for the super famished. The addition of chorizo was definitely a smart choice because it added the kick in flavour to this juicy burger. We both give a double thumbs up!
Although my order slightly paled in comparison to M's, it was still quite delicious and surprisingly very filling. I must admit, I did regret not adding some additions to my dish (options include smoked salmon, poached chicken, bacon, choirzo and a whole lot of other genius ideas FYI).
E6 Fav Rosemary Garlic Mushrooms with 2 Poached Eggs, Haloumi, Baby Spinach and Roast Tomato on Sourdough
came all stacked up, waiting for me to demolish sans grace. I digged in immediately and was overcome with joy due to the abundance of mushrooms - I am a huge fan! The flavours meshed well together, especially with the gooey poached eggs. However as mentioned before, I think adding some meat would've made it just that much better!
Overall both M and I loved Element 6! The atmosphere was really chilled, just like how a local cafe should be and the staff were super friendly. The other great thing is the wide variety of options on the menu - we found it so hard to decide so I guess it was good we had the extra time to contemplate while waiting in line. It's also situated at a very convenient location - right across from West Ryde Station and for those who prefer to drive, there's parking spaces surrounding the cafe. Will definitely return to try some of the other dishes on the menu!
How cute are the wall decorations?
There are also specials so keep an eye out for the blackboard :D
Element 6
65 Ryedale Street
West Ryde NSW 2114
(02) 8021 2838


text:
Bring back your power shoulders
Strong shoulders are crucial when it comes to slaying. Amanda Bisk guides you step-by-step.
EXERCISE: Plank Hip Hikes
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR: Upper body strength. "This is an amazing workout for shoulders, core and arms", says fitness pro Amanda Bisk.
EQUIPMENT: A bench if you're at the gym, a dining room chair if you're working out at home. Anything steady and knee-high would work.
REPS: Beginners, start with 10 repetitions. Advanced, do 15-20.
Start in a plank position with your feet up on a bench or a chair. Make sure to press through your finger tips so that you don't put any extra pressure on your wrist.
Remember: whenever you are in a plank position, make sure to pull your belly button into your spine in a nice, tight core. Draw your shoulders away from your ears.
From this position, hike your hips up to the sky, as high as you can. Make sure you press nice and strongly through your arms. Lower your hips slowly, and come back down to plank position.
WHAT: Exercise physiologist, Instagram fitness superstar and H&M Sport Ambassador
LOCATION: Perth, Australia
INSTAGRAM: @amandabisk


text:
Division of Environmental Analysis (DEA) LINKS
- DEA Home
- SER Home
- Environmental Documents
- Contracts for Environmental Services
- About Us
- Frequently Asked Questions
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 6, 2018 10:35 AM
Caltrans Statewide Stormwater Program
October 2016 Annual Report and 2017 District Work Plans
Department of Finance Review of the Stormwater Program
November 2003:This is a comprehensive review of the Department's Stormwater Program and the regulatory system in which it operates. The Report raises a number of larger issues about the cost to comply with stormwater regulations and the impacts of those costs on the transportation system. Included in the Report are the Department's responses to Finance's recommendations.
The overall goal of the Stormwater Program is to integrate appropriate stormwater control activities into ongoing activities, thus making control of stormwater pollution a part of Caltrans normal business practices. Components of the Caltrans Stormwater Program include:
- Construction General Permit
- The Construction General Permit (CGP) was adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board on September 2, 2009. The Order will take effect on July 1, 2010. Click here for more information.
- Scoping Questionnaire for Water Quality Issues
- 2012 Water Quality Assessment Report
- Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) - July 2016 Revision
- Caltrans developed the SWMP to describe the procedures and practices used to reduce the discharge of pollutants to storm drainage systems and receiving waters. The SWMP describes Caltrans program and addresses stormwater pollution control related to planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operation of transportation facilities.
- Annual Report and District Workplans
- The October 2016 Annual Report reports on the activities that Caltrans has undertaken in the previous fiscal year to implement the SWMP. The District Workplans describe the activities that Caltrans Districts will undertake in the next fiscal year to implement the SWMP.
- Monitoring and BMP Development.
- The purpose is to identify pollutants of concern in stormwater runoff from Caltrans facilities and to describe how Caltrans identifies, evaluates and approves BMPs.
- Stormwater Monitoring Event Tracking
- Public Education
- Public education is a major component of Caltrans stormwater management activities.
- Guidance for Design, Construction and Maintenance Activities.
- Guidance documents have been developed to implement stormwater BMPs in the design, construction and maintenance of highway facilities.
The "BMP Retrofit Pilot Program - Final Report ". The appendices of this report are available here.
The mission of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is to improve mobility across California. The Department plans, designs, constructs and maintains transportation facilities including: highways, maintenance facilities, park and ride lots, rest areas, bridges, tunnels, toll booths,and inspection stations.
Federal environmental regulations based on the Clean Water Act (CWA) have evolved to require the control of pollutants from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), construction sites and industrial activities. MS4s include state operated roadways. Discharges from such sources were brought under the NPDES permit process by the 1987 CWA amendments and the subsequent 1990 promulgation of storm water regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Caltrans was issued the nation's first statewide stormwater NPDES permit in 1999 by the State Water Resources Control Board.
- Guidance documents have been developed to implement stormwater BMPs in the design, construction and maintenance of highway facilities.
What's on the INDEX:
- Monitoring and Research Applied Studies
- To help refine the framework of the Storm Water Program, Caltrans has implemented a number of monitoring and research applied studies and projects. Descriptions of these efforts can be found on this page.
- Stormwater Bulletins
- Support for the Caltrans Stormwater Program is provided through several periodic publications. A library of these publications is maintained on this page.
- Links
- List of other websites focusing on stormwater issues.
- Water Quality Planning Tool
- Available only on the Internet, this tool is a database of water quality standards, and possible pollutants from Caltrans facilities.
- Basin Sizer
- Allows users to find information useful for sizing stormwater basins in California.
- Recent Reports
- Technical and program documents, most in Acrobat PDF format, are available for viewing and downloading.
- NPDES Stormwater Coordinators
- Contact information for District and Headquarter offices.
- Division of Design
- The Division of Design Stormwater Quality Handbook, Project Planning and Design Guide are available on this page.
- The Landscape Architecture Program
- Division of Construction
- The Division of Construction Stormwater Quality Handbooks, Construction Site Best Management Practices (BMPs) Manual, and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and Water Pollution Control Program (WPCP) Preparation Manual are available on this page.
Division of Environmental Analysis, Stormwater Unit
California Department of Transportation
P.O. Box 942874, MS-27
Sacramento, CA 94274-0001
Email: Division of Environmental Analysis, Stormwater Unit


text: Wake up to a perfect blue bird sky, shred the jump line all morning, devour a Cobra Dog, roll the dice on the QP transfer, slash the snake run, jump something sketchy, chug a Red Bull, share some air with a few freinds and the Red Bull Helicopter. That was Day 3 at The Launch presented by Rip Curl hosted at Keystone. Enjoy some to pics from Ryan Hughes and Ethan Fortier. Captions by the one and only Pat Bridges.


text:
Bastrop is the county seat of Bastrop County, Texas, and is located about thirty miles east of Austin at 30°6'43" North, 97°19'1" West (30.112057, -97.316838). Bastrop was first settled in 1804 and incorporated on December 18, 1837. As of 2004, the city had a population of 7,006.
Get in[edit]
By plane[edit]
Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is 30 miles (km) west of the city center. The most practical means of travel from the airport is by rental car but taxis are available. A one way trip by taxi is about $40.00 (credit cards accepted).
Auto rental companies at the airport:
By car[edit]
The main highway through Bastrop is Texas State Highway 71 which can be picked up off Interstate Highway 35 in Austin or off Interstate Highway 10 about 75 miles west of Houston.
Get around[edit]
Loop 150 off 71 takes you through the heart of historical downtown Bastrop. Once downtown, parking is plentiful and free. Bastrop is small enough that it is practical to park and walk to boutique shops, restaurants, the new river walk and the many historic houses located in the city.
See[edit][add listing]
Do[edit][add listing]
Buy[edit][add listing]
Eat[edit][add listing]
Fine Dining[edit]
Burgers & Sandwiches[edit]
Big Mouth Southwestern Grill, 912 Main Street, (512)332-0074. In the middle of Downtown Bastrop. Beautiful setting, great food, live entertainment, full bar.
Drink[edit][add listing]
Sleep[edit][add listing]
Hotel/Motel/Bed & Breakfast[edit]
RV parks[edit]
Get out[edit]
Bastrop is only 30 minutes (off rush hour) from Austin. The drive in to Austin on Hwy 71 is lined with antiques, gift shops, a flea market, a fossil and bonsai store, and many more central Texas cultural venues. Or you can go to Smithville to shop antiques and country kitsch. Or go to San Marcos for the outlet malls.


text:
modem(redirected from V.56)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Financial, Encyclopedia.
a hardware device that converts digital signals from a computer or computer terminal to and from analog signals for transmission along communication lines.
abbreviation for modulate/demodulate. It is a device for transforming serial binary numbers into an audible tone, and vice versa, for transmission over a telephone line to another computer.
A device that converts digital data into analogue data for transmission by telephone via copper cable lines.
modemModulator/demodulator Online An acoustic coupling device that converts a computer's digital signals to analog signals, allowing transmission of data through standard telephone lines. See Cable modem, Codec.
n (modulator/demodulator), a device that converts data from a form compatible with computer manipulation to a form compatible with transmission equipment and vice versa.


text:
Posts Tagged 'Petersburg'
The Battle of the Crater: A Complete History
- Title: The Battle of the Crater: A Complete History
- Author: John F. Schmutz
- Published on: 2009-01-19, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
- Binding: Hardcover
- 428 pages
I have happily received a review copy of John F. Schmutz's The Battle of the Crater: A Complete History. I can be counted among those whose interest in this remarkable 9 hour battle was piqued after watching the mesmerizing opening sequence of the film based on Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain.
It would be hard to find a similar military event in history that paralleled this one in terms of overwhelming potential for success run amok. Schmutz's use of an opening quote about the July 30, 1864 battle by Ulysses S. Grant perhaps says it best…
The loss in the disaster of Saturday last foots up about 3,500, of whom 450 men were killed and 2,000 wounded. It was the saddest affair I have ever witnessed in the war. Such an opportunity for carrying fortifications I have never seen and do not expect again to have.
– Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant to Major General
Henry W. Halleck, August 1, 1864.
According to Schmutz, his interest in the Battle of the Crater began with the discovery that he had "two direct ancestors in the battle, one with the 14th New York Heavy Artillery, which at the last minute, and without any preparation or forewarning, was chosen to lead the assault, with disastrous consequences." (Preface) This seed germinated into one of the first studies to take a broad-brush approach to the battle, examining the events leading up to it, the country's mood in its now third year of civil war, brutality committed against black troops, atrocities perpetrated by both sides, first-hand accounts, and the impact of the battle "on the body politic of both sides."
Schmutz appropriately gives readers a sense for war in the trenches that were part of the Siege of Petersburg.
As both sides dug even deeper entrenchments and more infantry obstacles, the rolling farmland east and south of the city was soon churned into scenes resembling a moonscape. These tandem ramparts ran for twenty-six miles, crossed two major rivers, and traversed parts of four Virginia countries, from White Oak Swamp, east of Richmond, across Bermuda Hundred and south of the Jerusalem Plank Road below the city. No campaign of the war quite equaled the siege of Petersburg, which was the object of the longest military action ever waged against an American city. More battles were fought and more lives lost there than in the defense of any better-known Southern cities such as Richmond, Vicksburg or Atlanta. (p. 40)
The excellent chapter titled "The Earth Movers," reveals how Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants and the men of the 48th Pennsylvania, many of them coal miners, accomplished what Meade's engineers mockingly called impossible, the building of a lengthy tunnel without detection by the Confederates. Receiving literally no support from Meade or his men, Pleasants overcame every challenge with ingenuity and innovation. As an example, he used a combination of miner's bellows and fire to create draft to circulate air through a shaft built into the tunnel wall. This bit of creative thinking, the details of which are a must read, became what Schmutz called Pleasants' "greatest engineering feat." (p. 61)
Of note, Schmutz provides an impressive set of references in his appendices, something I always value in a book of serious history. These include:
- Organization of Opposing Forces on July 30, 1864 including Union and Confederate Corps, Division, and Brigade, and in some cases Company commanders and officers
- Casualty counts by Corps, Division, Brigade and Unit
- Medal of Honor Recipients and Confederate Roll of Honor Recipients by Corps including a brief statement about why they received the award
Union Officers Killed or Mortally Wounded by Corps, Division, and Brigade
- Full and extensive Chapter Notes
- An impressive Bibliography which demonstrates the extent of primary sources used in Schumtz's research
I greatly look forward to fully reading this book and fully expect that a Highly Recommend will be forthcoming.
Kevin Levin has recently provided a review of The Battle of the Crater: A Complete History on H-Net here.


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Hi Everybody,
This is a great opportunity to try out the entire F-One lineup, starting with the SUP in the morning, and moving on to Kiteboarding action in the afternoon, with the Bandit 6, All twin Tips, Surfs (fish,etc...). At this point, the forecast looks promising. We hope that all bay Area riders will join us.


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Hollywood stars will be out in all their glittery glory when the Screen Actors Guild Awards are handed out Sunday night at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. But did you know the statuette — called the Actor, appropriately enough — is made at an unassuming foundry in Burbank?
American Fine Arts Foundry casts the molds for the solid bronze actor statuettes, which weigh more than 12 pounds each.
In the video above, the casting process takes place with workers in protective suits pouring molten bronze into molds to make the Actor.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards honor performers in film and TV.
Al Seib, Los Angeles Times


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-8 ORB Straight Hose End
- Brand: Brown & Miller Racing
- Product Code: BM-AC-08-M3-00
- Availability: In Stock
- $48.00
- Ex Tax: $43.64
Brown and Miller Racing Solutions (BMRS) PROGold fittings are a one-piece swept bend design and offer the best in both strength and ultimate lightweight design even going to the trouble of machining down the Hex nut (where the spanner fits on) to minimise weight.
BMRS only select the best alloys for each and every component. There are no welded, glued or brazed joints on these fittings. The constant internal radius has no necked down restriction or abrupt change in angle that can increase pressure drop or obstruct flow.
To compliment the standard range of fittings, there is an ever increasing range of custom designs to produce the ultimate installation package. These include a range of different angles such as 30º, 60º, and 70º male swivel, step up and step down hose to thread size combinations, flanged fittings, fixed and swivel banjos and clam shell (Wiggins) fittings.
Call MSCN today to discuss your custom BMRS hose program. We can even set you up with your own in-house crimper so you or your team can make BMRS professional hoses.
Tags: BM-AC-08-M3-00


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For $15 you get all the necessary mats to make 6 double ended stuff sacks, with 10 different design choices. I ordered the Dragon Scales set, because the Flags one wasn't available yet
https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/o ... f-sack-kit
So you basically get one sheet of 1.6 custom printed Poly, you then cut out the blanks, sew, add the included drawstrings and cord locks, and Voila!, 6 stuff sacks to impress your friend and neighbors, and make your wife question your sanity. Will take pics when I have to to actually make them....
New OutdoorINK stuff sack kit
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- Scuba
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New OutdoorINK stuff sack kit
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A 21st century liberal arts education which encourages all students to become leaders who are fluid, marketable and competitive as opportunities and market demands change.LEARN MORE »
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Our rigorous academic programs, offered in over 20 areas of study, promote leadership and personal development, exposing students to resources, information, and insights that prepare them for meaningful lives in a complex and rapidly changing society.ACADEMICS »
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Opportunities for learning and growth at The College of New Rochelle extend far beyond the classroom to include a wide variety of activities and interests – from service-learning initiatives like our popular Community Service Day, and a variety of clubs to our NCAA Division III athletic programs.LIFE AT CNR »
Our students enjoy a beautiful and peaceful setting for learning and exploration in suburban Westchester County, just 16 miles north of Manhattan. Located in the heart of New Rochelle, our tree-lined campus combines historic buildings like the iconic Leland Castle, and cutting-edge facilities such as our award-winning Wellness Center. Our proximity to New York City gives students access to the rich and varied intellectual, cultural, and professional opportunities it offers.
Our academic and extracurricular programs give students access to practical learning experiences in diverse environments – from internships with nearby companies and organizations including HBO, Human Rights Watch, JP Morgan Chase, and the United Nations to study-abroad opportunities in Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. These transformative experiences instill the confidence, and knowledge students need to succeed not only in their first job, but over the course of their entire career.
The College Of New Rochelle and Mercy College Finalize Agreement to Provide Seamless Path to Education
Facing Closure, CNR Recognizes Mercy College as Preferred Institution Based on Strong Financial Position and Complementary Academic Programming
CNR Community Serves Others
In keeping with the College's commitment to education for service, CNR students, faculty and staff once again fanned out across the New York metropolitan area last week as part of Community Service Day.


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On Friday, I had the honor of speaking at the Heritage Foundation's 28th annual resource bank meeting in Miami. Every serious account of the rise of the conservative movement emphasizes the role of the Heritage Foundation. I was grateful for the opportunity to participate, regretting only that I could not attend both days of the proceedings.
My panel considered, what else, "New Media: the power of the blogs." My talk was well-received, if overshadowed by the excellent presentations of Cliff May, Tom Bevan (Real Clear Politics), and Nick Schultz (Tech Central Station). Tom, who must know more about the world of op-ed than anyone, observed that, in that world, "there's not a lot of heft on the left." According to Tom, leftist opinion writers can turn a phrase well enough, but often struggle when it comes time to actually make an argument. Perhaps they were insulated too long from being expected by their editors to undertake that labor.
It's fun to introduce oneself as a blogger for Power Line at events like this. In the various "day jobs" I've held, the reaction when I introduce and identify myself is pretty uniform — a reasonably respectful acknowledgment. As a blogger, by contrast, I almost invariably receive one of two reactions, glowing praise or a look of total incomprehension.
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"Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time." Winston Churchill
"Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof." Inscription on the Liberty Bell


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Patties Creations has a new challenge starting today!!!
Please click on the link to join in the fun, I can't wait to see what you create!!!
The theme for the new challenge is
Here is my card, I hope you like
For my card I'm using Fall Lattee Mugs, click on the link to check out this fun image along with all the other fun images!!!


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Efforts to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York Faces a Tough Fight
Advocates Say Legalization Will Bring Financial Benefits to the Empire State.
Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Uriah Hall has won seven of his nine professional matches. One of his most notable wins came when he knocked out Adam Cella with a jumping spin kick.


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Woud you feel bored about the commerical tour? Would you like to meet friends during the time? If yes, this walking adventure is really suitable for you.
We are so excited to show you the secret of HK, our real personal stories, typical food & beverage and social issues in our perceptions. We like our joiners to deeply understand how our real life is, and what is happening around us.
We hope to become a social platform that allow all joiners to make new friends and cultures sharing with each other. Joing us! Let's happy together!
Where will visit:
-Mid-level Escalator
-Drink-Ying Yeung Tasting
-Egg Tart Experiencing
-So Ho Area
-Man Mo Temple
-Antique Street
-Traditional Spices Shop
-Dried Seafood Market
-Local Candies Trying
-Western Market
*All food and drink are not included, except local candies
*There is no refund for any no show.
*We have no obligation for any accident or illness that happen. We strongly advise the insurance to be bought


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Innovation by design
Internet Concepts is a multi talented agency offering bespoke Dartford web based systems and creative design solutions to Dartford businesses of all sizes and across all markets. We focus on adding business value through the implementation of custom web based software solutions alongside great Dartford graphic design and application developments, including iPhone and Facebook apps. Our experienced Dartford web developers can complete any website design, custom software development and Dartford creative design project within budget and agreed timescales.
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The ICE framework is fully scalable and modular, allowing clients to "plug in" additional modules to their customised Dartford web solution, as and when required to provide additional functionality to their business.


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SOURCE: Nuvilex, Inc.
May 20, 2013 08:30 ET
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 20, 2013) - The race is on, and patients with advanced stage, inoperable pancreatic cancer will be the recipients of the winner's treatment. Two biotechnology companies are registering impressive data in each of their own pancreatic cancer trials, so impressive in fact, the NYSE's Eli Lilly is surely feeling its long time reign as the current standard single-drug treatment for the disease being threatened. Nuvilex, Inc. (OTCQB: NVLX) and NASDAQ's Celgene Corp. are the two biotech firms applying the heat.
One thing is for sure -- pancreatic cancer drugs are big business. Eli Lilly & Co.'s sales of its blockbuster cancer drug gemcitabine (Gemzar®) have averaged close to $1.5-billion per year globally since its approval back in 1996. Gemzar is the only drug approved by the FDA as a single agent for the treatment of advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer. According to Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, Gemzar is a nucleoside analogue that interferes with the process of DNA production; thereby preventing cancer cells from replicating and, in turn, slows or stops tumor growth. The drug is the worldwide standard of care as a single agent for pancreatic cancer, and it is the "base" upon which combination chemotherapy treatments for the disease is being built.
While Gemzar has been the go-to treatment for pancreatic cancer patients for years that might be about ready to change, and the best news of all will be for those who suffer from the tough to treat disease and are in desperate need for better therapies. Both Nuvilex and Celgene are producing better data with their treatments in clinical trials as compared to the data offered up by Gemzar.
Continue reading this Article at www.stockhousegroup.com/features.
About Stock House Group
Stock House Group is a full service Investment Relations firm specializing in Awareness, Research, and Content Development. The firm offers a platform that allows CEOs to tell their story through the press with Feature Articles, Research Reports, and CEO Interviews. At the same time, Stock House Group is building a library of Research for Investors to use that allows them to get more informed on small cap stocks. For more information visit Stock House Group at www.stockhousegroup.com.
Stock House Groupwww.stockhousegroup.comEmail Contact
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(646) 397-4020
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Maino Interview On Hot 97. Explains The Reason Why He Was Locked Up For Almost A Decade
Hot 97's Angie Martinez Interviews Maino.
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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|Winnebago County Sheriff's OfficeNews Media Release
|News Release Number 2011-017
|Information: Rock River "NO WAKE ZONE" Near Construction Site
|Date: 05/27/11
|Time: 4:00 pm
|Page 1 of 1
Narrative: Winnebago County Sheriff Richard Meyers announces the establishment of a "NO WAKE ZONE" on the Rock River near the construction site for the new river walk. This no wake zone is along the west bank of the river, behind the Rockford Art Museum, south of the Whitman Street Bridge and north of the Jefferson Street Bridge. The no wake zone extends in an arc along the bank and to a distance of approximately 150 yards out from the west shore along the area of construction. Sheriff's River Patrol personnel will be patrolling the Rock River over this holiday weekend and will be enforcing this no wake zone, as well as other rules and regulations with regard to operation of watercraft. River users are urged to use caution when operating on the waterways, especially in areas of hazards, construction areas, and no wake zones. For current river conditions, and any further updates, contact the Sheriff's Office at (815) 319-6300, or the Rock River information telephone line at (815) 316-8888.


text: Flats take cues from the tribal trend this spring. Frye and 80%20's effortless silhouettes keep the styles easy, while their woven uppers add Navajo flare. Sam Edelman and Cynthia Vincent embrace iconic native spirit prints. The former combines both ikat and studs, while the latter adds a pop of color canvas to the heel.


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|checkout | customer service
Choosing the right bedroom furniture is a difficult task. You should begin by focusing on the size of the room and the options of furniture that would work in that environment. Factor in how long you would like to keep this furniture and what age range the child will be. Can the baby's changing table also be used as a children's dresser for an older child? Questions like these help to save time and money in the future.
A child that has tall parents, will most likely be tall themselves and may need a child's dresser rather than a changing table from the beginning. A kid's dresser will hold larger clothes that take up more space than tiny shirts and shorts. You can possibly use a separate Bratt Decor changing tray on a child's dresser instead of the traditional changing table.
One parent's solution may not be the best solution for you and your child. Every child is different and we like it that way! GiggleBrush Designs is here to help with all of these questions. Not only do we have product knowledge, but we also draw on our own personal experiences with the many children between us all!
GiggleBrush Designs offers the finest furniture from Bratt Decor, Serena and Lily and House Inc. Custom designs are also available by GiggleBrush Designs.


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Don't worry too much about the U.S. or Europe, says George Soros.
The major uncertainty facing the world today is China, writes the billionaire investor in a column for the Project Syndicate website. He says: "There is an unresolved self-contradiction in China's current policies: restarting the furnaces also reignites exponential debt growth, which cannot be sustained for much longer than a couple of years."
The People's Bank of China moved to rein in debt in 2012, but then the world's No. 2 economy experienced "real distress," Soros writes. So China's Communist Party reasserted its supremacy, ordering steelmakers to restart their furnaces and bankers to ease credit.
China's economy turned around, and party leaders also announced major reforms in November. "These developments are largely responsible for the recent improvement in the global outlook," Soros says.
What happens next? The 83-year-old Hungarian-American sees two possibilities:
\"A successful transition in China will most likely entail political as well as economic reforms, while failure would undermine still-widespread trust in the country's political leadership, resulting in repression at home and military confrontation abroad.\"
Beyond China, Soros argues that a lack of proper global governance is the "other great unresolved problem.\" That could continue indefinitely, while the Chinese conundrum will come to a head in the next few years, he says.
Regarding the U.S., Soros sounds upbeat, pointing to themes like the energy boom, less polarization lately in politics and improvements in the banking and housing sectors. When it comes to Europe, he says the "revival of a threat from Russia may reverse the prevailing trend toward European disintegration."
Project Syndicate, which has posted the full Soros column here, bills itself as "the world's opinion page" and earlier this week featured a commentary piece from Nouriel Roubini.
–Victor Reklaitis
Follow Vic on Twitter @vicrek
Follow The Tell @thetellblog
More from MarketWatch:
Nouriel Roubini — a.k.a. — \'Dr. Doom\' — is getting optimistic
Leonardo DiCaprio: Don\'t be like \'The Wolf of Wall Street\'


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COFETEL Replaced by IFETEL for Mexico Telecom Approvals
As of September 2013, the Mexican telecommunications agency, the Federal Telecommunications Commission (COFETEL), has been replaced by IFETEL (Federal Institute of Telecommunications). IFETEL will be in charge of the Mexico telecom type approval processes for all equipment requiring testing for importation into Mexico. COFETEL will no longer exist. IFETEL's responsibilities will include: Define the radiofrequency... Read More
NRTLs Can Do Some Mexico Certifications in Lieu of NOM
The Mexican governments' Secretary of Commerce officially announced last month that it will accept products certified to certain ANSI/UL and CAN/CSA standards by an NRTL/SCC approved lab in lieu of the NOM Certification. Normally, NOM certifications can only be obtained in-country. However, an exception is made in these instances where the UL and CSA standards... Read More