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The DMK, a key member of the union government, is planning to bring a motion in parliament to discuss a former chief auditor's charge that the final CAG report on 2G spectrum was influenced by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
"The CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation seems to be influenced politically. There is political involvement in the preparation of the report. We are considering a motion in parliament to discuss the issue," T.K.S. Elangovan, spokesperson for the DMK, told IANS.
Former chief auditor R.P.Singh in recent media interviews hinted that the final CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation, putting the presumptive loss to the state exchequer at Rs.1.76 lakh crore, was prepared after CAG officials met Joshi, who then headed the Public Accounts Committee of parliament.
Elangovan said the CAG report seems to be a non-independent report, influenced by a political party.
"We will take a final decision on what kind of motion to be moved in parliament," he added.
DMK MP and former telecom minister A. Raja is the prime accused in the 2G case and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi was an accused, tried in a Delhi court by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
On Friday, retired CAG director general Singh told the media that he only pegged the 2G loss at Rs.37,000 crore, but when the final report was brought to him for signing, it had the Rs.1.76 trillion as the loss figure.
Singh also claimed that Joshi had spoken to the CAG officials a day before the CAG report was made public, implying that the BJP leader influenced the final report on the loss figure.
"This loss figure (of Rs.1.76 lakh crore) did appear before me in a draft audit report submitted by my field office. I discussed it with them. I asked for supporting documents... on what basis they were saying these are losses. They said: 'We are taking it as presumption'," Singh told a news channel.
Singh said the loss figure, according to his report, was around Rs.37,000 crore and the amount was recoverable.
"These were presumptive losses; you can dispute these as they are not the actual losses," Singh said.
Assembly elections 2019 | Get the latest news, views and analysis on elections in Haryana and Maharashtra on DeccanHerald.com
For election-related news in Maharashtra, click here
For election-related news in Haryana, click here


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Battle Creek Academy is a team of educational professionals dedicated to providing quality Christian education and the transmission of our Adventist values and culture to students of our community. Our Academy is motivated by the positive values coming from a trust relationship with God, service to others, and cultivation of a desire to learn.
Our values are centered in Christ and reveal themselves as students grow into their potential, developing an effective ministry in the family, the church, and the community. We prize the principles of integrity, unconditional acceptance, stewardship, and fiscal stability, and we seek to offer a curriculum that challenges students to own their faith.
We serve our students, their families, the Adventist churches that sponsor us and the wider community in which we live. We serve by continuing a century-long tradition of providing Christ-centered education rich in the revelation of God's grace, and by emphasizing the integrated development of the whole person. We seek to offer a safe campus with a nurturing staff that models Adventist beliefs.
We are intentional about developing servant-leaders who build the community and who are ambassadors for the Lord. We seek partnership with the homes and churches of our students in preparing young people for their eternal home

subset: commoncrawl


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STILLWATER - Washington County prosecutors allege a Cottage Grove man spent months plotting his wife's murder rather than divorce her and jeopardize his esteemed role with a local church, but his defense attorney said the state's evidence has been fraught with "distractions" and "red herrings."
Opening arguments in the trial of Stephen Allwine began Jan. 23.
A 15-member jury will determine whether Allwine is guilty of of first-degree premeditated murder.
PREVIOUSLY: Allwine jury selection begins
Allwine was originally charged with second-degree murder in January 2017. That charge was raised to first-degree after a grand jury indicted Allwine in March.
Cottage Grove police arrested Allwine, 43, after a two-month investigation into the death of wife Amy Allwine.
Authorities responding to a 911 call from Stephen Allwine found Amy Allwine dead in her Cottage Grove home in November 2016. She had sustained a gunshot wound to the head.
A medical examination later revealed excessive doses of scopolamine, a drug used to treat nausea, in her body. Amy Allwine did not have a prescription for that drug.
Prosecutors allege Stephen Allwine accessed the Dark Web, a hidden portion of the internet associated with crime, to hire a hitman to kill his wife. After several plans fell through, prosecutors say, Stephen poisoned Amy and shot her with the family's 9mm gun.
Defense attorney Kevin Devore said the timeline leading up to Amy Allwine's death would have made it impossible for Stephen Allwine to have killed her.
The state, Devore said, built a case on "theories with gaps" and used speculation to "bridge those gaps."
Washington County Attorney Jamie Krueser described Amy Allwine as a loving mother, dog lover, business owner and a woman of faith - not the type of person who would die by suicide.
"Who would want to do this?" Kreuser said of the woman's alleged murder. "Someone who didn't want to be married to her anymore."
Stephen Allwine wrote sermons and counseled married couples at a Newport Church where he served as a deacon and later a church elder.
Through those capacities, Krueser said, Stephen learned about Ashley Madison, a dating website catering to married people seeking affairs.
Investigators, according to the criminal complaint, identified at least two women Stephen Allwine met through the website.
Devore acknowledged Stephen Allwine's relationships with other women, but said having affairs doesn't mean he killed his wife "or even didn't love his wife."
Krueser said Stephen Allwine's role as an elder and longtime congregant at the church could have kept him from divorcing his wife, despite wishes to end the marriage.
Officials with the FBI had been in contact with the family since regarding anonymous emails Amy Allwine received in July 2016 graphically threatening to harm her family if she did not commit suicide.
Investigators who searched Stephen Allwine's computer, according to the complaint, found searches for the names of his wife's family members.
The emails were sent through a Tor, or an anonymous router used to access the Dark Web.
Dark Web
FBI officials contacted Cottage Grove police in early 2016 about someone accessing the Dark Web and soliciting Amy Allwine's murder under the username "dogdaygod" on "Besa Mafia," a website associated with hired murders and assaults.
The user, prosecutors say, provided Besa Mafia with Amy Allwine's description and whereabouts.
The user discussed two possible attempts to kill Amy Allwine, neither of which transpired.
Several months later, the same user inquired on a different Dark Web site about purchasing scopolamine, the drug found in Amy Allwines's body, using a virtual currency called bitcoin.
In the search of the Allwine home following Amy Allwine's death, detectives found a document back up on Stephen Allwine's computer from his phone containing a bitcoin code, a sequence Krueser said would have been "virtually impossible to replicate."
Investigators found the same code posted to the Besa Mafia website by user "dogdaygod."
Devore questioned the credibility of the computer analyst who performed forensic examinations on Stephen Allwines's computers and said the investigation of the home had been "contaminated."
Police officers, Devore said, removed the gun found near Amy Allwine's body to remove bullets and take photos before returning it to its original position.
Devore pointed to at least three neighbors who reported seeing Amy Allwine outside her home the night of her death and reported hearing two vehicles "racing" out of the neighborhood around then.
He also said authorities failed to follow-up on an unknown user who remotely accessed Stephen Allwine's computer the day of Amy Allwine's death.
"It sounds like an amazing story," Devore said, but he said the narrative was more akin to a movie.
Stephen Allwine's trial will continue the rest of the week in a Washington County courtroom.


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Indie outfit Big Men Games are currently working on a strategy RPG game called GUTS, which would otherwise be unremarkable if not for the fact one of the three men in the team — Chris Haga — used to work for Blizzard. On Diablo III.
Once word of this got out trailers for GUTS, which looks nothing like Diablo III, clogged up with trolls and arseholes bashing Haga, Blizzard and Diablo, not to mention saying some unkind things about GUTS itself.
Rather than ignore YouTube commenters like the rest of the planet does though, Big Men decided to incorporate their quotes into the game's marketing. To wonderful effect.


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Candida Yeast Infection And Effectual Recommendations For Treatment.
The most common remedy for yeast infection and candida is a suppository, filled with a particular medical cream, placed into the vagina and offering respite from symptoms overnight in many cases. Many of these creams will be available from a drugstore or by having a prescription from your doctor.
There's a natural substance called candida albicans that form within your body that can grow and trigger an infection, especially if left uncontrolled. Most of these elements can be managed, while others can't.
Whenever your body's natural balance is upset in any way, it may give rise to infection. Your regular monthly cycle, being pregnant or even the menopause are greatly recognized to cause imbalances within your body that can result in infections. Other specific things like taking birth control pills, antibiotics, using steroids are some other common, but not so naturally occurring, things that could affect your body's Ph.
There are additional external influences that may affect your hormonal balance too. Other present day conditions like HIV, leading to a poor immune system or perhaps a cancer patient having to go through radiation treatment. Two more facts to consider are anxiety and high blood glucose.
You will notice with this there are a lot of things that will help to develop a yeast infection. Since most women will have several yeast infections throughout their life time it's very good to know there are efficient candida yeast infection treatment solutions.
The candida will flourish mainly in warm, damp places and so cutting it off from the places where it may flourish and grow out of control is key. Because of this, it is best if you steer clear of putting on synthetic clothing which are tight fitting.
Nylon under garments and panty hose are also things to stay away from. Pure cotton under garments is advisable and when you have to wear something on the legs, use thigh high stockings rather than tights.
Consistently make an effort to keep clean and dry. After you take a bath or shower, or go swimming, be sure to completely and carefully towel yourself down. Consistently try to keep your "area" as dry as you reasonably are able to.
Scented toilet paper or feminine pads also are items to keep away from. The potential of an infection could possibly be increased by this perfume simply because there may be tenderness round the genital region.
Yet another thing never to use is douches. Your PH balance is all messed up faster than anything at all when you don't. Your body is designed to keep your areas clean and balanced, with some assistance from you, and that means you don't absolutely need them.
In order to prevent possible spread of harmful bacteria onto your vaginal spot, it's crucial you wipe yourself from front to rear after going to the bathroom. It will be easy to avoid infection in this way.
Attempting to unwind is the one other crucial thing. It is possible to decrease the strength of your immune system by getting stressed. This will likely not simply work well to avoid yeast infection, but assist with other health issues as well. Make an effort to take a couple of deep breaths every day, although you may just have a couple of minutes.
Getting an efficient remedy for your candida yeast infection is normally as easy as looking in the nearby drug store.


text:
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Historical Maps >> California
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United Kingdom
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- Scotland: Angus to Caithness
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Gathering InformationCalifornia
California is the most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). There are a wide variety of maps to choose from. Follow your ancestors through generations by finding the map that is closest to the time period when they lived.


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IPv6 is the new addressing scheme for
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text:
If you love libraries, support them now in a way that will help them forever.
"Libraries are like tree houses—excellent places to dream, to learn, and to share with friends. There's nothing like a cozy library on a rainy Saturday."
—Katharine C. Lyall,
Former President of the University of Wisconsin System
"For me, it is not only the Bill of Rights, or a free press, but a free public library system that makes us Americans. Anyone with a dollar and the ability to sign on the line receives the same privilege and respect as the most exalted member of society—even if that person has newspaper in her shoes. He can take an expensive book, purely on trust, and honor, and learn or enjoy when other forms of learning or enjoyment are not possible. As a widow with no money and young children, the library was my salvation. As an author, it was my treasure trove. As a citizen, it is my pride. Being part of this committee is as natural to me as reading."
—Jacquelyn Mitchard


text:
When I was a kid, my dad was fanatical about seat belt use, and he always insisted that my sister and I buckle up. In fact, we were repeatedly told that the car simply wouldn't move until the aforementioned seat belts were fastened. Apparently this mindset stuck with me because I've always been very conscientious about using my seat belt and asking that others riding with me use theirs too, even if they weren't accustomed to wearing it.
Generally speaking, I'd like to say that I'm a reasonably safe and courteous driver. I will own up to having a bit of a lead foot, but overall I wouldn't classify myself as a menace to society when I'm on the road. Well, maybe if you're a groundhog, but that's a completely different story.
At the present moment, I'm relegated to the passenger seat because I don't know how to drive stick (it's very rare to find a car with automatic transmission in Argentina). I'm not exactly complaining; being chauffeured around town isn't so bad. I'm sure I'll get around to learning one of these days, but honestly, I'm not entirely convinced I want to drive here. Why? The answer is simple: the Argentines drive like lunatics.
Lane markers...merely a suggestion. Speed limit...what's that? Traffic lights...generally obeyed. Stop signs...almost non-existent, which results in a free-for-all at 4-way intersections. Seat belts...apparently they're meant for decoration because hardly anyone uses them. Yielding to pedestrians...maybe if it's an old lady with a cane, but even then, highly unlikely. Speed bumps...everywhere [very annoying!]. Road rage...amazingly, not so much.
I don't think my parents truly believed my description of how people drive here until they saw it with their own two eyes. Fortunately, things are a bit calmer here in Necochea than in Buenos Aires but not much.
Think I'm exaggerating? Here's an excerpt from the U.S. State Department's page on Argentina:
"Traffic accidents are the primary threat to life and limb in Argentina. Pedestrians and drivers should exercise caution. Drivers frequently ignore traffic laws and vehicles often travel at excessive speeds. The rate and toll of traffic accidents has been a topic of much media attention over the past year. The Institute of Road Safety and Education, a private Buenos Aires organization dedicated to transportation safety issues, reports that Argentina has the highest traffic mortality rate in South America per 100,000 inhabitants."
If you couple the devil-may-care attitude about driving safety along with the fact that a good number of cars on the road are poorly maintained and/or lacking advanced safety features such as airbags, it's no wonder that Argentina has such a high mortality rate when it comes to car accidents.
Still think you'd like to take a crack at driving in Argentina? If so, I suggest you read fellow blogger Taos Turner's attempt at finding some sanity while behind the wheel: 15 Rules for Stress-free Driving in Argentina.
Fortunately, Daniel's driving habits seem to buck the general trend, as he is a very cautious driver (in fact, I tease him for driving like an old man). I know I'm in good hands with him, but he's not the one I have to worry about - it's the rest of the crazies out there. Do you think I could somehow wear two seat belts?


text:
The stars and their entourages reportedly clashed on Sunday (27Jan13) in a dispute over a parking space outside Westlake Recording Studio in West Hollywood, California.
Ocean was hospitalised with minor injuries to his hand, and now it has emerged that Brown was also hurt - he was photographed leaving his house on Tuesday (29Jan13) with a hard cast covering his right hand and knuckles.
Brown has since been named as a suspect in a battery report, but, according to TMZ.com, his lawyer Mark Geragos has told investigators that surveillance footage capturing the end of the fight shows his client did not throw a punch.


text:
Please select a category on the left or use the search.
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text:
By Ole Solvang, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Ole Solvang is an emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. The views expressed are the writer's own.
Last week, life changed for 12-year-old "Aziza." She had just arrived at her grandparents' apartment in Aleppo with her family when she heard the sound of a jet and then a huge explosion.
"Suddenly, it was all covered in dust," Aziza said. "I heard my aunt screaming – she was calling for survivors, and then some men took me and my little sister out of the rubble. The wall and stairs were gone. They handed us over one to the other." Standing in the rubble of the destroyed house, Aziza, still in shock, told me two days after the attack that she and her younger sister survived only because they were playing in one of the interior rooms.
Four government bombs dropped on the Sukkari neighborhood on April 7 killed her mother, twin brother and two other close relatives, and seriously injured her father. Aziza and her family had already moved to a different neighborhood, but had come back briefly to get some of their belongings. Speaking to relatives and neighbors we collected information about 17 civilians who died in this attack, but there could be more since nobody has a complete list of casualties yet.
Life in Aleppo is not easy. People here have suffered from shortages of food, electricity and running water, and there has been little humanitarian assistance. The long, cold winter months were particularly rough. The only possible consolation was that there were fewer air strikes because of the cloudy, rainy weather. The government's jets only seem to fly – and drop bombs – when the sky is blue.
More from CNN: Talk with Iran about Syria
With the end of winter, people are struggling to return to normal. Many have returned from surrounding villages or camps in Turkey or on the border. Unlike during past visits, this time I saw children playing football in the street, women shopping for produce in the outdoor markets, and at some point I was even stuck in a traffic jam in one of Aleppo's main intersections. Numerous towns in northern Syria are similarly trying to return to a routine after fierce fighting forced government forces to withdraw several months ago. In many towns, local residents are trying to set up local governing councils, re-open schools, and appoint legal councils to deal with day-to-day disputes.
But the attempts to return to normal life are regularly disrupted in the most brutal and unpredictable way – strikes from government helicopters and fighter jets that kill and injure hundreds of people sometimes destroy entire blocks of houses and sow fear and despair. In many cases, there appear to be no possible military targets in the neighborhood, and the attacks appear indiscriminate or even as if they are deliberate attacks on civilians, both unlawful under international law. A Human Rights Watch report issued last week documents 59 of these unlawful air strikes in northern Syria. They started in July and are still going on, seemingly intensifying with sunny weather.
Some of the air strikes we documented seem to have deliberately targeted civilians. For example, repeated attacks on bakeries strongly indicate that the government intended to hit them. Hospitals seem to have been targeted as well. Government jets struck eight times on or near a main emergency hospital in the city of Aleppo, eventually putting the hospital out of service. Other attacks we documented also took place near a hospital.
Attacks were unlawful in other ways as well. We identified 119 locations across Syria where the government used at least 156 cluster bombs, which are banned by a majority of countries in the world. The government used incendiary bombs, which produce extremely painful burns, often down to the bone, and can also cause respiratory damage. And in most cases, the government used large unguided bombs that it was not able to target precisely. In the vast majority of the cases we documented, the strikes caused damage only to civilians and civilian property. Even when potential military targets were in the area, they weren't damaged. For example, in one town I counted eight strikes around a house used by opposition fighters, but not a single one struck the house itself.
The people I interviewed in the Sukkari neighborhood feel abandoned. They told me that the international community is standing by as the Syrian government kills its own people. Indeed, the U.N. Security Council, blocked by Russia and China, has failed to meet its responsibility to protect the Syrian people from serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law such as by imposing an arms embargo on the Syrian government. But the Security Council's impasse should not prevent concerned governments from stepping up their efforts to pressure the Syrian government to end these violations.
In the meantime, the people of Aleppo will continue to pray for rain and clouds in the hope that it will keep the fighter jets away.
Operation Rolling Thunder woot
Are you suggesting that the U.S. also conducted bombing raids as a means of intimidating the populace into withdrawing support of our enemies? Would that be similar to what the allies did in Dresden, Germany in attempting to create a firestorm to incinerate the university city?
Not really he he
Why are the Syrian terrorists so angry at the United States? Instead of threatening and shaking their fists at the U.S. for not intervening, why don't they attack the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians for providing direct military aid to Assad?
My opinion: let the two sides (both of them anti-American at their core) obliterate each other.
Posing yourself as terrorist adviser, instigator and hate monger? I doubt terrorists will take advice from dumb couch potato.
I believe western countries should not intervene at all. Shia or Sunni , both are anti-western and anit-US. We have seen that in Iraq and Afghanistan/ Pakistan. So let them sort out each other and in the process , we might see millions dead. Iraq-Iran war over 10 years saw millions dead. Thats the nature of muslims, they breed fast, as they need lot of foot soldiers for their never ending wars with each other and with non-muslims.
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Why are they blaming Syrian government only? The terrorists kill and torture more civilians than any helicopter or bomber in Syria. There are Chechen, Turkish, Saudy and other Al Kaida rebels fight Syrian soldiers. Why not tell the whole truth?
Because syrian govt = anti israel + pro iranian + pro palestianian. As such, the syrian government has always been shunned by western media. I have yet to see CNN report on suicide bombings, ethnic massacres, beheadings, that are being practiced by the fundamentalists who have joined the rebel forces. No report has been written on rebel forces entering minority villages and forcing them to leave without being allowed to take belongings with them. No report has been written on rebel forces taking over civilian buildings, threatening the tenants if they report them to the authorities. I am all for democaracy, but i assure you the rebel forces have no intent whatsoever to instill democracy. Rather, it's a democracy to instill a religious extremist government that will take away existing liberties from the people. If western media really cared to report about human rights abuses, they should start with countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
indeed Servio, i think the west is more responsible for the killing in Syria, the west is trying to force a way of life that the people of syria and the entire region dont accept or ready for it. and that was the real intention. many people in the middle east dont think is that. they think the west is trying to cause a war between shiaa and sunni so both can be weakened and forget about Palestine and the Israeli conflicts and most of all to weaken the shiaa in the area to protect Israel from Hezbollah and Iran. there are many reads on to this, but it is clear that the west wants a the region that they can control and all for the benefits of Israel.. i think we are in a new cold war era sense the Russians appose everything the west is trying to do there and a counter measures have been taken by them. god helps
Your claims about the Syrian government run contrary to reality.
Hello Servio , first of all the article is talking about the syrian rejime violations , not about Saudi nor Qatar , 2, you should know that AlAssad rejime made the upraising became armed , and the rejime itself who lead the country to this huge mass , ALassad didnt response to the popular demands , when the syrian people were demostrating for reforms and democracy, instead of hearing them he went throgh killing them , then if you really care about the syrians life you must admit that the majority of violation in syria are commited by alAssad rejime and shabeeha , then could i please ask you where is the minority villages that you talked about ?!!! please open your eyes properly ,these people who are dieing in Syria are humans not toys , and human rights issue is neutral issue , iam not saying that the syrian rebels are angels , ofcourse there is some violations here and there , but if you looked at the sky in syria , you will see jets belong to alAssad rejime try to kill Syrians !!!!
good point Dennis, the most horrifying seen have been the results of what the so call FSA have been doing. and those are the one that the usa and the west support and diverting billions of dollars for weapon cost to them.
What??????? 80% of the killings were done by the government. 95% of the horrible acts were done by the Shabbiha and the army. United nations, Human rights group all indicated the government committed far more crimes than the rebels. The crimes the rebels committed were against the killer army!!! Stop your LIES.
The entire world knows the truth. CNN is showing the truth. ASSAD refuses to let MOST media in, because he wants to hide the TRUTH
Because we still haven't learned our lesson from Afghanistan (1970's). When we armed a fundamentalist Islamist group to fight our enemy (the USSR back then).
The FSA started with well-meaning people but quickly became a vicious killing machine funded by the Wahabis and Salafis hell bent on killing anyone who doesn't agree with their extreme form of Islam. Most moderate Muslims fear them but the amount of money and support they have now, along with Western support makes them unstoppable.
Well said, Dennis. The right-wing media wants us all to think that only the Syrians loyal to the Assad regime are committing all the atrocities in that civil war. That simply is not the case!
There's a right wing media? My tv gets one rt wing channel and 5 going the other way
What? terrorists kill more than a fighter jet or a helicopter or a scud? Are you really that sick of a person?
You are justifying the killing of civilians? what is wrong with you? Are you human or an animal?
Because they are not really FREE press and do as told?
'... strikes caused damage only to civilians and civilian property...'
One needs to remember that the government forces consider civilians to be enemies.
wrong, they don't consider them enemy, is just the FSA is fighting near civilian area.
You want an HONEST answer? We blame the Syrian government because:
– historical support for our enemies (Hezbollah, Iran, insurgents in Iraq) means Syrian government is our enemy.
– we really don't know who the rebels are – some may support democracy but others are al-queda. Meanwhile, Syran goverment is DEFINATELY
very trueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Keep playing dumb: we do not really know... Those who do not want to hear should not be told. Do you ever have to look for answers, or you are fed them even before you get questions?
NATO – Global Terrorists since 2001. Give your heads a shake people, the only terrorist government here is our government. Same story as Libya, asme story as Mali, same story as Egypt – this is spun propaganda with a sponsored agenda. Syrian military is the only thing protecting the people from Mossad and CIA terrorists who are r@ping, killing, bombing and enslaving. I hope Russia and China can save Syria. Then I hope Russia and China fire a strong enough warning shot across North America that our brain dead politicians get the point that this war is a)unjust b) uncalled for c) not wanted by anyone in the world except the politicians d) an excuse to do something about a petrodollar that is going to collapse into agonizing ruin. I know you are too stupid to face the truth America, they have designed you that way. Nothing will save you unless you can get some sunlight into your ignorant media convoluted minds. I guess the old saying is true...It's not Fascism when we do it. Shame.
You must have taken a lot of acid growing up.
Wake up idiot.
Thank you, Freedom Fascist. I couldn't have put it any better. I like the way these ignoramuses here show their own stupidity by ranting against your post above. If being stupid was a virtue, these guys would be living saints!
Relax: you are preaching to brain dead. US: land populated by Veggies!
What a poor and naively written article. No matter what you feel about the civil war both sides are trying to kill the other side. They use the weapons they have available. The government forces are probably easier to identify as they probably wear uniforms. The article criticizes the use of bombs that aren't guided. What idiocy. They don't have them. But if they plan on fighting and winning they can only use what they have. So unlike the US and Israel for instance who use highly sophisticated weapons to try not to kill innocents, the syrian gov't just doesn't have the capability (CNN doesn't seem to congratulate Israel on their attempts mind you). Whether that would make a difference if they had the capability, who knows. Cluster bombs banned by most countries? Apparently Syria isn't one of them. So if most countries decided to ban AK47's then what would either side do? Basically both sides are using weapons to kill the other side. That is what happens in war. It's not pretty. A hole in the head from a rifle bullet is no better than that caused by bomb shrapnel. He also suggests that because he counted 8 bombs that didn't hit the nearby military target that they were purposefully hitting civilian targets. Guess what? They missed!! Stupid article!!
Naivity: that is the new CNN approved stile. A sociological study revealed that average American is most receptive to propaganda as targeting audience of 10 to 12 year-old.
One little bomb goes off in Boston and all America is outraged, while innocent children are being killed daily in Syria by both sides.. the monsterous government regime and the radical blood thirsty "rebels"
Terrorists kill up to 40 civilians DAILY in US occupied Iraq: is anybody concerned?
I didn't realize Iraq was still "occupied" by the US. That's new to me and I'm in the US military.
ALERT: Another propaganda article!!!!!!!!!! FACT: The Syrian government is supported by a major good portion of the Syrian people. The rebels rats also commit crimes, but these crimes are NOT reported by CNN.
The difference between human rights violations between the regime and the rebels is so significant it's almost sinful to put them in the same category. APPLES and french fries difference. The regime is no different than the former Libyan one and even worse as they have killed innocent lives for a longer period of time. Women, children, everyone.
Alex, THE SYRIAN ARMY HAS A RIGHT TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY AGAINST TERRORISTS AND RATS FUNDED BY THE WEST. IF THEY HIDE AMONG THE CIVILIANS, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT CIVILIANS WILL BE KILLED.
The US/West gets blamed if we do anything (i.e. Libya) and blamed for not doing anything (Syria). So, if they (both sides) want to commit genocide on each other in Syria, let them. Better than having more US troops get killed for people that could care less if they are there. This situation has nothing to do with the US/Nato and the West should do nothing but keeping the mess from spilling over the borders.
Just let them kill each other – Syria has not been an ally or friend of the U.S. and it will not change after this "revolution". When an enemy wants to kill an enemy – just let them go at it. As to civilians – well the civilians have always been killed in wars and "revolutions" and always will. Just let them go at it.
A no-fly zone would largely prohibit government forces from these types of atrocities. It would be relatively easy to implement (with Turkey's help – who certainly would be on board and who's bases could be used) and would show Western support for the Syrian resistance. Syria's traditional allies have turned their back on the majority of Syrians in their lack of support for sanctions against the Syrian government – even as they know the Syrian government is doing these war crimes. Let's try the no-fly zone, and at least end this indiscriminate killing from the sky.
Alger Dave
Where is it that you would like them to shove a no fly zone?
Do syrian women swallow?
No....but I am sure you and most western men do
You wish your woman swallowed, Jason.
Until the rest of the Arab world decides to do something to Syria I don't give a damn what happens. Arabs are very good at keeping their mouths shut when other Arabs are acting like animals. You don't here the Arabs in America protesting about their fellow Arabs atrocities. Two faced people following a really stupid religion. They are getting wht they deserve.
This is the usual propaganda from CNN. It is illegal to try to force a regime change in a nation, which is what is occurringby the west and Turkey and the Gulf states. No matter–contrary to the article, the Syrian Arab Army has almost cleaned up the northern areas of rebel jihadist fighters and the conflict will be over soon.
Right, Oscar Pitchfork. Then we'll only have problems with the right-wing thugs in Washington ruling over everybody and making their lives miserable with a severe economic depression, unemployment and extreme poverty!
Syria has been bombed to smithereens. Rain would no doubt provide for a respite.
How long is Assad going to resist? He's like a desperate captain, trying to prevent his ship from sinking by throwing everything overboard.
Probably he decided to stick to his people: you will not understand that. Politicians always look for a compromise to benefit from or to save their own hide.
Everyone knows by now that Assad will not step down. He has wrapped himself in a world of delusion and lust for power. Every day, innocent civilians are bombed or shot on the streets are in their homes. The whole world knows this and no one lifts a finger to help. The UN Security Council's failure to do it's job in this case is appalling and it shows that changes need to be made. I say where is the democracy when a few countries such as Russia and China (who only care about their pockets and arms sales) can veto a possible solution to what is now well known to be war crimes against humanity? It is time to make some fundamental changes in the UN where the majority vote wins and no one country has the ability to veto. Haven't the Syrian people suffered enough?
Try his for a UN change. Non-democratic countries, don't get a vote, can't participate, can only watch from the sidelines.
You are wrong: Assad has no illusions unlike ones that Mubarak had or any number of democracy-mongers like you. He knows what will happen if he betray his people and surrender his country to al-Qaeda. But I guess I should not waste my time on trying to introduce you to facts: I think you liberals had an altercation with Reality many years ago and did no see eye to eye ever since!
What does this article have to do with the topic of rain? I'm not getting it.
The planes don't fly and bomb in bad weather, rain. Paragraph four.
Aren't all arabs animals? When your dog gets out of line you put it down. US needs to obliterate the entire arab world. The Middle east needs to be wiped off the face of the earth. Everything from Egypt to Pakistan.
assad, Should get the same treatment as Kadaffy,And why are there no protester,s from other arab country,s, protesting all the atrocities going on in syria. Just goes to show you how much muslum,s take care of muslum,s.
It is a intresting...that Syrian shake there heads at America but ignor the fact that Russia and Iran are the ones suppleying The Syrian Government with weapons to decimate it's own population...My fear is once the dust settles after this war...That the New Syrian Government..will call Russia and Iran its Friend while shunning America..SO the the war it's self will be for nothing in the long run ..New Puppets same MAsters...Just look at Egypt...The more Mosi tries to change the More he becomes like his predecessor....Nothing of real value changes in the Middle East because they lack the flexability of Mind free from RELIGIOUS contraints to make REAL change Happen...They simply reinvent the same ISLAMIC CODE over and over again they give it a differnt name but it's the same OLD junk thats been sitting in Political office since the Ottoman Empire....Lets see what AMerican equivalent do we have..Oh yea quasi religious cant seem to break OLD habits and repackages the same old tired ideas for Consumption and loves guns and violance...Hummmmmmm who could it be...Oh yea...THE GOP.....
While it may have been futile to pressure the Syrian government to cease their military action, no-one has thought it fit to put similar pressure on the rebels ( usually opposition parties are not gun-toting rebels, at least, not in democratic system). If the rebels are made to stop their offensive, and outside help is given to fight the rebels as it has been done in Mali, there is some hope the killing will stop.
The only logical conclusion to be made is that some countries prefer the killing to continue if there is a chance that Assad will be forced to step down. These are the people responsible for playing games with the lives of human beings of another country.
Stopping the killing + Assad in power : Not acceptable
Allowing the killing to continue + chance that Assad will have to step down: The Preferred option.
No moral high ground here I am afraid.
Probably it is all about money! Why is such a peson like Assad still supported by allies? Why does he still find supporters in his own party? This all doesn't make sense! Syria used to be a very important religious place in the middle east and the crisis seems to be more than acts of terrorists and rebells, who can be silenced soon. The west seems to be frightened with a region in the middle east that is without a leader at all!
It seems to be unfair, that Assad is coming away with it, that there is no outcry at the world-community and the global power-house not changing. Casualties and the death of some thousand civilians is not worth enough stopping sectarian and religious hatred motivated killings! There ought to be a Plan B!
Providing non lethal aid to the rebels, and the rebels are not happy with this. Maybe the allies are on Asad's side after all, they were on Sadam's side he was a good allly.
What game are they playing here. These are the friends of Syria.
The rebels should use laser pointers to blind govt pilots


text:
As many writers have tried to point out, mainstream economists understand neither the cause of nor the solution to the financial crisis.
As an article this week in the Boston Globe notes:
Many [economists] frankly admit that they are not sure how to prevent things from getting worse.***
"Everyone that I know in economics, and particularly in the worlds of academic finance and academic macroeconomics, is going back to the drawing board," said David Laibson, a Harvard economist. "There are very, very, very few economists who can be proud."
A few suggest, as well, that there are deeper problems in the discipline. U.S. economists are asking aloud whether the field has grown too specialized, too abstract and too divorced from the way real-world economies actually function. They argue that many models used to predict the dynamics of financial markets or national economies have been scrubbed clean, in the interest of theoretical elegance, of the inevitable erraticism of human behavior.
As a result, the analytical tools of the trade offer little help in a crisis and have little to say about the sort of collapses that led to this one.
"You can't just say, 'I have a model for tremors that works great – I just can't explain earthquakes,"' said Kenneth Rogoff, an economist at Harvard who has studied financial crises.***
The models used by macroeconomists do a poor job of describing the messiness of an actual market in flux.
As a result, economists end up oversimplifying such situations when they model them – or simply avoid studying them at all.
"We have a very restrictive set of language and tools, and we tend to work on the problems that are easily addressed with those tools," said Jeremy Stein, a financial economist at Harvard. "Sometimes that means we focus on silly questions and ignore greater ones."
Derivatives is a prime example of what economists totally missed.
The mathematical models predicted that the entire financial system would be stabilized by derivatives. But the models did not account for anything going wrong like – oh, I don't know – home prices going down, hedge fund asset values declining, or currency or interest rate relations substantially changing.
Will Obama straighten things out?
Well, as the above-quoted Boston Globe article notes:
For years, leading economic figures like Lawrence Summers and Alan Greenspan argued that the United States had more or less brought the business cycle to heel.
Summers is a key Obama economic advisor.
And most of Obama's advisors have profited handsomely from derivatives and other toxic investments. So they are not likely to challenge the status quo.
Unfortunately, economists – no less than lawyers, scientists, and just about every other class of professionals in the U.S. – have sold their soul to the powers-that-be.


text:
Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise
August 2017
"Insufficient sleep is like having a big piece of your life's foundation missing;
it's like walking around while your body starves for food or water."
~ from Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright's
The Happy Sleeper
Recent Releases
Careful: A User's Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds
Steve Casner
Research psychologist and NASA safety specialist Steve Casner studies the reasons people have accidents and finds that human psychology is a major cause of all kinds of mishaps -- from cutting a finger in the kitchen to falling off a high wire. In
, he discusses six common human failings and recommends ways to overcome them in order to avoid being injured or killed. With gentle humor, he also encourages having compassion towards those around us.
Fitter Faster: The Smart Way to Get in Shape in Just Minutes a Day
Robert J. Davis with Brad Kolowich, Jr.
If you think you need an exercise routine but you're having trouble launching one,
Fitter Faster
offers science-based advice to teach you why and how to get moving. This accessible and engaging manual by journalist Robert Davis and Certified Personal Trainer Brad Kolowich starts with motivational advice, provides facts about workout techniques, and includes a chapter on maximizing the benefits of your exercise. Ending with a section on workout routines, this book will quickly put you on the road to better fitness.
Transgender Children and Youth: Cultivating Pride and Joy with Families in Transition
Elijah C. Nealy
Transgender issues are much in the news these days, and society is not always friendly to transgender people. In this comprehensive volume, author Elijah Nealy, a trans man, therapist, and college professor, provides guidance to family members, teachers, and counselors of young people who are transgender. Rounding out his user-friendly and well-informed book with a list of "Top 10 Life-Affirming Practices for Adults in the Lives of Trans Kids," Nealy's "knowledgeable and empathetic" writing (
, starred review) provides the go-to resource for this subject.
Through the Shadowlands: A Science Writer's Odyssey into an Illness Science Doesn't...
Julie Rehmeyer
Stricken by chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) that health care specialists couldn't get a handle on, science journalist and mathematician Julie Rehmeyer decided take a solo trip into the desert to test the hypothesis that mold was making her sick. In
Through the Shadowlands
, she reviews her relationships with family and friends, the onset and progression of her illness, and her frustration at not being able to get medical help. She also relates what she discovered in the desert about her body's relationship to her environment and offers a note of hope for those who suffer from CFS.
When Your Child Has Food Allergies: A Parent's Guide to Managing It All
Mireille Schwartz
When Your Child Has Food Allergies
, author Mireille Schwartz assembles what she's learned as a person with allergies and mother of an allergic child. This easy-to-follow guide provides advice on understanding and treating allergies, keeping children safe from exposure to allergens, and dealing with schools and group events. There's a chapter on allergen-free cooking, too. If there's an allergic person in your family, or you just suspect someone has an allergy, pick up this up-to-date and thorough handbook.
Sleep: How to Get It, and Why
Goodnight Mind: Turn Off Your Noisy Thoughts & Get a Good Night's Sleep
Colleen E. Carney and Rachel Manber
According to sleep specialists Colleen Carney and Rachel Manber, insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in the general population. If it's your story too, check out this guide to using behavioral therapy to help you quiet your mind and get a good night's rest. Starting off with an explanation of their method, Carney and Manber provide tips and tricks for getting ready for sleep, relaxing, and calming your mind. Sleep well!
The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time
Arianna Huffington
Following a scary episode of exhaustion, journalist and
Huffington Post
editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington dug deeply into the science of sleep and wrote this informative book about it. Describing a global culture in which being sleep-deprived can be a badge of honor, she argues persuasively that people who get by on less than seven hours of sleep per night should change their ways. Then she describes techniques for getting more rest, targeting different age groups and lifestyles.
The Sleep Revolution
is an eye-opening and potentially life-changing tract.
Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep
David K. Randall
After being diagnosed with non-REM arousal parasomnia, a sleep disorder that can cause sleepwalking and night terrors, journalist David K. Randall set out to discover what goes on in our brains while our bodies are at rest. He examined both current research as well as historical accounts -- learning, among other things, how our sleep habits have changed over time. So, do sleeping pills work? Is there a cure for snoring? Why do we dream? If you've ever wondered about any or all of these questions, make sure you've got
on your nightstand.
Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes
Tom Rath
Eat Move Sleep
, motivational author Tom Rath explains that diet, exercise, and sleep are all necessary to good health and longevity. Providing details on how to eat well, exercise effectively, and get plenty of rest, he lays out a plan for balancing your lifestyle. He emphasizes that better sleep = greater productivity, contradicting the belief that overwork + sleeplessness = success. If you want to achieve more while feeling healthier, try Rath's upbeat and realistic advice.
The Happy Sleeper: The Science-Backed Guide to Helping Your Baby Get a Good Night's Sleep
Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright
According to psychotherapists Heather Turgeon and Julie Wright, babies and children are designed for sleeping, so attempts to train them to fall asleep may be counterproductive. Explaining the science of brain development, they teach parents how to support their kids' natural tendencies while letting them develop their own sleep patterns. Discussing the needs of children in several age ranges up to 6 years old,
The Happy Sleeper
covers all the bases. Whether you're a new parent or have a preschool-age child with sleep difficulties, you'll want to check out this "compassionate but firm" (
Publishers Weekly
) method.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
303 Laura St. N.
Jacksonville, FL 32202


text:
DEAR ABBY OCT. 23: Expect young trick-or-treaters to come knocking before dark
DEAR ABBY: Since Halloween is nearly here, I have a question about trick-or-treating. Last year on Halloween I was sitting down for an early dinner that was planned for 5 p.m. so we wouldn't be disturbed by trick-or-treaters.
Suddenly the doorbell rang. When I answered, I was bombarded with requests for candy from three boys who live down the street. It was still light outside.
I told them to come back later, when I wasn't eating dinner. I wanted to teach them that they shouldn't overextend the holiday and disrupt other people's lives. An hour later I received a call from the boys' mother scolding me for sending them away.
I was just trying to get a bit of peace and quiet before the festivities. Was I wrong not to give them candy and ask them to come back later? -- TREAT CHEATER IN CONCORD, CALIF.
DEAR TREAT CHEATER: I think so. The boys' mother may not have wanted them out after dark, which is why she started them on their rounds early. Halloween is the day for trick-or-treating, and part of the "treat" is seeing the children's excitement and their costumes. To have expected peace and quiet with kids in the neighborhood was unrealistic. Think back to your own childhood and, when the doorbell rings, answer it and be welcoming.
DEAR ABBY: I am a 14-year-old girl and still wet the bed. I have tried to stop, but it doesn't do any good. Some of my family members know about my situation, but none of my friends do. I'm not sure how to stop because I have tried not drinking anything two hours before I go to bed, but wake up every three hours to use the bathroom. -- EMBARRASSED IN HOUSTON
DEAR EMBARRASSED: If your pediatrician doesn't know about your problem, he or she should be told so you can be examined to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with you. There are medications that can help you overcome your problem. There are also devices called bedwetting alarms that can solve the problem. To find out more about them, search for "bedwetting alarm" on Google.
DEAR ABBY: We have two family weddings coming up soon. One of our cousins has Down syndrome, among other medical problems. He's a grown man, but he has the mental capacity and manners of a 7-year-old. His parents don't discipline him and he is out of control. He screams and talks loudly and will jump around on the dance floor and run into couples while they are trying to dance. His parents bring him to special occasions, even when it's "adults only."
The upcoming weddings will have receptions afterward and adult-only dances. Don't his parents have any common sense? This family has the attitude that if he isn't invited, then they won't go. I have reached the point that it is fine with me. How do we make it clear that he is not welcome? It would be a shame to pay thousands of dollars for a wedding and have it ruined by his behavior. Most people probably won't understand my point of view. What do you think? -- NERVOUS IN UTAH
DEAR NERVOUS: Regardless of your cousin's age, because of his parents' inability to control his behavior he should not be invited to the weddings. Because they have the attitude that if he is not invited they won't go, that's their choice. Make your wishes clear, and your problem will be solved.
Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.


text:
Juan Mariscal rests a hand on the new walker he started using two days ago. In November, doctors amputated the 64-year-old man's right leg because of complications from diabetes. During the next three months, as he recovered and learned to use his prosthetic, Mariscal was confined to a wheelchair.
"I couldn't go anywhere," he says in a thick Mexican accent. "I couldn't roll the chair on the sidewalks. Too many bumps and cracks. Many places there are no sidewalks and you have to use the street." Mariscal worries that doctors might have to amputate his other leg. If they do, he will be back in a wheelchair.
Mariscal sits in the lobby of the San Ysidro Community Service Center, two blocks north of the border crossing, waiting to speak to Councilman David Alvarez about the poor condition of sidewalks. After hearing that District Eight's new councilmember would be hosting office hours for the south San Diego community, Mariscal caught a bus this morning from his home in north San Ysidro.
"It's disappointing," he says. "[The City] puts money where the rich live, but they forget about the poor communities like San Ysidro. Not all of us can afford electric wheelchairs. And that's what you need to get around here because of the sidewalks. I can't stay at home and do nothing. I'm not ashamed of being in the chair. I'm ashamed that my wife has to push me. It makes me look weak."
Mariscal isn't the only resident upset about San Ysidro's infrastructure. Community members have complained for decades. Old and inadequate streets and the absence of sidewalks and pedestrian pathways were mentioned in the community plan when it was revised in 1990. Since taking office in early December, Councilman Alvarez says most of the calls he's received from San Ysidro residents have concerned infrastructure.
"This is supposed to be the international gateway— America's front door —but look around at the sidewalks and the streets," he says. "No one really feels like it's a gateway. How could they?"
Between appointments with constituents, Alvarez walks west from the community service center along Camino de la Plaza, heading for Las Americas outlet mall, on the other side of I-5. As we cross the bridge over the freeway, we can see construction crews working on the new footbridge at the pedestrian port of entry. On the south side of Camino de la Plaza, the sidewalks between the border crossing and the outlet mall are new. Alvarez points to the north side of the street, where a section of sidewalk is missing.
As he looks at the dirt, Alvarez says he can understand why some residents accuse the City of favoring the more affluent neighborhoods. "There is some truth to that," he says, "but it's also true that many of those wealthier areas are newer than San Ysidro. This is an old neighborhood."
The councilmember thinks that part of the problem is geography. Annexed to the city in 1957, San Ysidro and its neighboring South San Diego communities are nearly 20 miles south of downtown, separated from the rest of San Diego by Chula Vista and National City.
To make matters worse, the City forecasts a $56.7 million budget deficit for next year. This year the budget for the Capital Improvements Program, the source of funding for new sidewalks, was $153 million less than it was last year.
The City's Street Division estimates the deferred maintenance on street pavement at $377 million, according to an audit report on street maintenance released in November 2010. The report said that 17 percent of the streets are in "poor condition." A study conducted by TRIP, a national transportation research group, found that 50 percent of San Diego's roads are in poor condition. The city was ranked eighth highest in the nation in substandard road conditions for urban areas of 500,000 people or more.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that curb cuts be built into newly constructed sidewalks. In 2002, an appeals court concluded that the act's "prohibition of discrimination in the provision of public services applies to the maintenance of public sidewalks." The case, Barden vs. Sacramento, concerned curb cuts and access to sidewalks already constructed. Although the City of San Diego had initially joined Sacramento in the suit, in late 2002, then–city attorney Casey Gwinn withdrew his support. "It was said…that this is a civil rights issue, and I agree with you," Gwinn told a group of disability rights advocates. "This is about civil rights."
Despite the legal position taken by San Diego's city attorney, the infrastructure backlog continues to grow. And while it does, many of the 28,000 residents living in San Ysidro believe their community has been particularly neglected. "I think of [capital improvement funds] like an hourglass. Money flows from top to bottom. I consider San Ysidro to be the neck of the hourglass," says Steve Otto, who's a member of the San Ysidro Community Planning Group and the former executive director of the San Ysidro Business Association, a business improvement district.
Spending on infrastructure in San Ysidro is hard to find in the City's budget. One project, the West San Ysidro Streetscape project, calls for sidewalk improvements. However, despite beginning project design in 2004, the General Services Department has not yet identified funding for the project.
"The City's Capital Improvements Program money is held pretty close to the vest," says Otto. "Not very much of that money finds its way down to San Ysidro."
Consequently, Otto and other residents have turned to the City's Redevelopment Agency, which was created to "alleviate conditions of urban blight," according to the City's website. They have met with some success. The San Ysidro Redevelopment Project Area comprises business districts near the border. Since 2008, the Redevelopment Agency has allocated $600,000 for new streetlights along East San Ysidro Boulevard.
Lobbying the Redevelopment Agency, however, may no longer be an option if Governor Jerry Brown is successful in his effort to help balance the state's budget by dismantling each of the state's 425 redevelopment agencies.
Currently, Otto is heading a planning group subcommittee that is focused on improving the condition of streets and sidewalks. The group has identified 6.35 miles of streets that need to be repaved and 6175 linear feet of sidewalks missing or in disrepair. But that is only a fraction of the total work needed in San Ysidro.
During the subcommittee's February 4 meeting, subcommittee member and planning group chair Michael Freedman spoke about the importance of identifying needed improvements. At the same time, he expressed frustration that, despite identifying projects, San Ysidro's list of needed improvements continues to grow. "If projects are not included in the City's Capital Improvements Program, then it's very difficult to get any funding," he said. "But here we are still waiting for projects to get done that we identified 18 years ago."
Two hours after his meeting with Councilmember Alvarez, Juan Mariscal sits outside his wife Irma's small apparel store, El Regalo, on West San Ysidro Boulevard. Mariscal doubts that San Ysidro's infrastructure will ever catch up to the rest of the city's.
He points north. "You see, there is sidewalk there, and then it stops. It's nothing but dirt."
More from SDReader
- More stories by Dorian Hargrove
- Spend it before San Diego schools can! — Aug. 13, 2015
- Spotlight on Larsen Field — Jan. 12, 2015
- Hardship south of I-8, cont'd — Oct. 3, 2014
- Golden Hill "Renaissance Project" begins — April 14, 2014
- San Diego City Council Approves Leash-Free Parking Lot? — March 1, 2011
Most people think it is the city's responsibility to provide sidewalks, but in fact, it is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. The city does have a 50-50% program, where they will help property owners who want to replace broken sidewalks. The city has other sidewalk programs, but this is only because they are generous, not because they admit to the responsibility.
Most people think it is the city's responsibility to provide sidewalks, but in fact, it is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner.
Nope, it is not the private proieprty owners responsibility-I have no idea who told you that lie but it is false. The private property owner is no more responsible for sidewalks than they are for the road that runs in front of their property or the main sewer line under the street.
Sidewalks are not the repsoniblity of the property owner, it is the muni that is responsible.
As a licensed real estate broker who did a numer of transactions with commercial properties I have had numerous cases of muni's wanting the private property owner or potential owner to cover the muni's costs of installing sidewalks where there were none before, in exchange for granting a variance or something else to the property owner. It never works. The potential buyer of property just moves on to another site, the muni loses jobs and tax revenue, and gov is just being gov wrecking the job market and economy.
I think both posters are partially correct. We live in Los Angeles, but we have owned a condo on Coronado for quite a while. I have never had any sidewalk issues in Coronado, but the city does do sidewalk repairs. There was an open bid in December for a contract to do sidewalk repairs. Up in LA , the cities special projects division does sidewalk repairs. At one time they did have a 50/50 program to help residents with sidewalk repairs, but budget issues kept them from funding it for the past couple of years. At least that's what the very polite form letter we received said. LA does exclude damages caused by city owned trees, which the city of Los Angeles takes responsibility for. I know from personal experience that they will take care of it, but it's a long drawn out ordeal to get it done; it took 9 or 10 months.
According to the special services division website, there is something called The State of California Improvement Act of 1911 that provides cities the"authority to require property owners to effect repairs to sidewalks abutting their property Should the property owner fail to effect such repairs, City forces are authorized to make the repairs and the property owner is assessed for the cost."
A quick search of San Diego's city website found this page:
I don't know about installing new sidewalks, but apparently property owners and the city are responsible for repairing damaged sidewalks. Normal wear and tear or age damage is the responsibility of the homeowner and the city claims responsibility for damage caused by "vehicle accidents, water main breaks and natural subsidence" and damage done by city owned trees. And it seems that the city does have a 50/50 program for some repairs.
Normal wear and tear or age damage is the responsibility of the homeowner
Sidewalks that have aged are not the responsility of the property owner. If the property owner has a tree or in some other way their property damages the sidewalk then the muni could certainly bill the property owner-no argument there. But sidewalks are not real proeprty that the owner has exlcusive acess to, they cannot be charged for normal wear and tear from pedistrian use.
Concrete has a life span like all materials and when they meet their life span they are the muni's problem.
Sidewalks are a municipal core service the same as street repair, traffic lights, street lights and so forth.
apparently you like to argue for arguement's sake. That's fine with me. you apparently also did not bother to investigate the link that I so kindly provided. If you want to dispute what the city of San Diego says on their website, have at it. As far as I'm concerned, if a city, be it SD or LA says "Normal wear and tear or age damage is the responsibility of the homeowner", I'm not going to waste my time argueing with them. Since you purport yourself to be an attorney, from what I've read, maybe your one of those who likes to file nuisance lawsuits, for no good reason, just to be a pain in the ass. I don't know and really I don't care. In this case the facts seem to speak volumes. The city of SD says Normal wear and tear or age damage is the responsibility of the homeowner. Case closed
"Normal wear and tear or age damage is the responsibility of the homeowner, who can take advantage of the City's 50/50 Cost Sharing Program to have repairs done."
Read it Billy Bob< I mean SurfPuppy, It's the homeowners responsibility for normal wear and tear.
Thank you for the link Tom Johnston, that was very enlightening!!
If someone trips on a broken sidewalk, they can sue the property owner. The owner of the tree with the root that dislodged the sidewalk will be liable. All you have to do is look at the sidewalks in San Diego, and know it's NOBODY'S responsibility.
I can't speak for SD, but in LA, if it's a city owned and maintained tree, the city is liable. We had that exact situation in our neighbor hood several years ago. After 3 or 4 months of nothing being done, several of us had to go downtown and deal with it in person. We just happened to take one of our neighbors along, who was in his late 70's at the time. We casually mentioned how it was hard for him to navigate around a portion of sidewalk that had been uplifted about 5" by tree roots and how fortunate he was not to have been injured when he tripped and fell. I think the picturesa and the casual use of the word lawsuit may have also been beneficial. There was an engineer out within about a week, although it still took at least 4-5 months to get it fixed although they did remove the offending piece of sidewalk and put up a temp barricade pretty quickly; all done to absolve the city of any future liability, I'm sure


text:
Elite 3D-Compatible Streaming Blu-ray Disc Player
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Specifications and design subject to modification without notice.
PIONEER ELITE and the Pioneer and Elite logos are registered trademarks of Pioneer Corporation.
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text:
Beaucoup de Bocuse
As France's original celebrity chef, Paul Bocuse built a Michelin-starred culinary empire and established the most prestigious cooking competition in the world. And yet, one goal still eludes him. Now he's turned to America's top chefs to help make it a reality—even if it means breaking from his own haute traditions
THE CHEF ATE TOO MUCH. Decades of tasting Bresse chicken—cooked in a pig's bladder and served in a cream and egg-yolk sauce— his famed black truffle and foie gras soup, his seared foie gras and puff pastries had clogged Paul Bocuse's arteries. On doctor's orders, the grande chef of France would be splayed out in the operating room much like the hare à la royale rabbits he'd carved table-side for so many years. When Bocuse was a boy, growing up in the kitchens of Lyon, a triple bypass was hardly the routine operation it is now. Still, having your chest sliced open is enough for any man to take stock of his years.
Bocuse's achievements are legendary. L'Auberge du Pont de Collouges, his flagship restaurant in Lyon, has maintained its three-Michelin-starred ranking for more than four decades, longer than any restaurant on the planet. Bocuse also has pedigree. Not only does he represent the fourth generation in a family of chefs that served up recipes once prepared for the French monarchy, he also left home as a young man to study under the fabled Fernand Point, considered the founding father of modern French cooking. Back then, one of Bocuse's duties was to uncork a bottle of Dom Pérignon every morning and serve Point his customary first glass of champagne. From his position in the kitchen, where he prepared dishes for celebrities like Rita Hayworth, the seeds of higher ambition were planted.
Bocuse's other genius as a chef has been to combine that ambition with an insatiable entrepreneurial spirit. Chefs like to say Bocuse was the first "to step out of the kitchen," meaning he parlayed his charm into brand power, then parlayed that brand power into a lucrative culinary empire. In Lyon, Bocuse opened so many restaurants that city officials named a market after him. In the fashion of Donald Trump, he became famous just for being himself. He showed that chefs could be as rich as their owners and the guests they're serving. And even as his empire grew, he never altered his persona. "He might fly around the world on private jets, but he's always the same Paul from Lyon," says Jerome Bocuse, his son.
Bocuse also lives by his own rules. He once described his version of married life, saying he'd spent 145 years in a relationship. Explaining the math, he calculated that he'd been married to his first wife, Raymonde, for over 60 years, coupled with his first mistress, Raymone, for 50, and his second mistress, Patricia, for 35. Bocuse's power of seduction is such that all three women have shared their lives with him, each other and their children. ("I adore women," Bocuse once said. "We live too long these days to spend a whole life with only one.")
But for all Paul Bocuse has obtained, there is one thing the 86-year-old wants very badly and still does not have. Jerome has listened to his father talk about it for more than two decades. It has become something of an obsession. "His wish," Jerome says, "is for an American to win the Bocuse d'Or."
THE BOCUSE D'OR IS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS cooking competition in the world. Held in Lyon every two years (and falling this year at the end of January), the contest is a chance for chefs from around the globe to make a name for themselves. While there is an official cooking Olympics in Germany, chefs refer to the Bocuse d'Or as the real Olympics of high cuisine. "It has no competition really," says Priscilla Ferguson, professor of sociology at Columbia and author of Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine. Unlike reality shows such as Top Chef and Iron Chef America, there are no commercial breaks. The food is whipped up on stage in front of a live audience over five and a half grueling hours. The winning creations must be masterpieces, exploding with flavor and inspiring awe with their artistry.
The event started off as a gimmick. In the late '80s, organizers for the SIRHA food and restaurant show, hoping to draw bigger crowds, approached Bocuse about lending his name to a live cooking contest. Bocuse's connections were such that he had no trouble persuading premier chefs around the world to start organizations in their own countries to select and support contestants. "He'd be good at Chicago precinct politics," Ferguson says, calling Bocuse "an arm-twister of mega proportions."
Bocuse believed competing chefs ought to embody the pillar of classic French cooking: perfection. As a young apprentice in Point's kitchen, Bocuse developed an appreciation for the days of preparation behind a recipe like Bresse poulet—and the years required to master it. Another secret to this level of haute French cuisine is the efficiency of the cooking staff, known as the brigade. French chefs have turned their kitchens into military operations, training apprentices the way war generals do: through fear. In Point's kitchen, if the chef saw a plate with a nick in the rim, he would wait for a waiter to reach for it, then grab the dish and let it drop, shattering it to pieces.
For his contest, Bocuse wanted chefs to strive for the same level of devotion to craft. Bocuse and organizers revealed the type of meat and fish used in the competition more than a year in advance, giving a chef ample time to create a vision and master its execution.
In competition, the Americans struggled. While most competitors over the years have been trained in classic French techniques, the unfussiness of American cooking was at odds with the precision the Bocuse judges (all chefs) were looking for. The molecular gastronomy craze has also led to Willy Wonka cuisine, food that looks like one thing but tastes like another—a further departure from classic French cooking.
Beyond differences in philosophy, the main problem for American contestants was organization and money. The winning teams—mostly from France, Norway or Sweden—had developed foundations that supported training and coaching a chef for months. In contrast, Americans complained that they had to raise money themselves while training and working their shifts. They were competing on raw talent alone, which wasn't enough to get on the podium in Lyon. In two decades, the highest any American had placed was sixth.
Paul Bocuse had a special affinity for the Americans. Fighting the Nazis during World War II, he'd been shot in the chest and given a transfusion of American blood. As a gesture of appreciation, Bocuse flies an American flag outside his flagship restaurant. The chef-impresario also understands that the U.S. is the biggest media market in the world, and the best way for the Bocuse d'Or to tap into it is for an American chef to succeed in the competition. And if the Americans couldn't develop the right kind of organization to support and train a chef, Bocuse would do it himself.
THE TRIPLE BYPASS was a success. In the six years since the operation, Bocuse has enacted a kind of global-domination strategy. To the East, he's licensed out his name to eight brasseries in Japan. To the West, he's transferred ownership of Les Chefs de France at Epcot Center to Jerome and opened Monsieur Paul there, while another new restaurant with the Bocuse name opened at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Since his recovery, Bocuse feels younger, reborn. "Tout nouveau," he tells me from his restaurant in Lyon, adding a one-liner that makes the translator laugh. "He says, 'I'm ready to plan the future now.' " For him, that future has revolved around the cooking competition that bears his name.
"He came to me and said, 'I need for you to do two things,' " recalls chef Daniel Boulud. "First, he says, 'I want you to run the American team [for Bocuse d'Or].' The second, he says, 'I want you to get Thomas Keller to be the president.' "
Boulud's reaction was instinctive. "Oui, chef," he said, echoing words he'd uttered the first time he'd met Bocuse, more than four decades earlier, as a chef's apprentice in Lyon. Though Boulud was concerned about funding, he was confident his connections and clientele could raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cause. The real challenge would be getting Keller to sign on.
Keller is, arguably, the most high-profile chef in The U.S.—the only restaurateur to run a pair of three-Michelin-starred restaurants, The French Laundry and Per Se, simultaneously. Like Bocuse and Boulud, Keller also has a knack for branding and empire building, but his style is soft and understated. Unlike Bocuse and Boulud, his name is not found on any of his restaurants. And Keller is a true Francophile, with an outsider's appreciation for its culinary traditions, as handed down by maestros like Point and Bocuse.
When they discussed the idea, Boulud was shrewd enough not to give Keller a hard sell. Instead, he told him to expect a call. When the phone rang, on the other end of the line, in Lyon, was Bocuse. After hearing the old chef's frail voice, Keller's response was the same as Boulud's had been. "Oui, chef," he said.
So far, however, the dream team of Boulud and Keller has produced mixed results. While the superstar chefs have helped raise more than $4 million since they got involved, the return on those donations has been modest. In 2009—their first year running the effort together—the chef sent to Lyon to represent America was Timothy Hollingsworth, a Keller protégé who was reluctant to compete and submitted his application late. Hollingsworth put up a decent showing, finishing sixth, tying the American best.
Realizing the next chef would need more time to train, the American team sponsored a paid sabbatical for James Kent, then sous chef at Eleven Madison Park. But Kent seemed intimidated by his superstar mentors (who brought on advisors like Grant Achatz, Tom Colicchio and others). He placed tenth.
The Americans wondered if their chances might improve by sending a chef experienced in cooking competitions, somebody accustomed to the long preparation the Bocuse d'Or requires. And then there were the contest rules, which some felt left them at a disadvantage. This year would be different: The chef and his fellow contest organizers decided to change the format of the competition, resulting in a controversial departure from Bocuse's original vision. The new rules, arguably designed to level the playing field, call for the kind of spontaneity found in restaurants and on popular televised cooking shows. This year, chefs were told the meat selection (Irish beef) six months before the competition, as opposed to a year, and the fish two months ahead of time. Chefs will be judged on a new criteria: incorporating elements of their country's cuisine into their creations. They will also be thrown a new challenge—creating garnishes purchased at market the morning prior to the contest.
While some coaches and chefs applaud the improvisation the new rules will bring to the event, traditionalists worry they will undercut the precision of the cuisine, as once espoused by Bocuse himself. "I was disappointed," says Peter Jelksäter, coach of Sweden, which has landed silver medals in 2011 and 2009. With all the new rules, chefs will be compelled to be more creative, he feels. "Many of the chefs that compete in this competition are trying to reach the levels of Paul Bocuse, and they come so close to perfection because they are able to train for such a long time. They can really tear the ingredients apart. That's what takes the competition out of the everyday kitchen."
Jakob de Neergaard, president of the Danish team that won the gold medal in 2011, says that many European countries were wary of Bocuse meddling with the American team. "When you think about it, you begin to say, 'What the hell is going on here?' " But in the end, Neergaard believes Bocuse's wish won't help the Americans. "It's all about taste," he says from Copenhagen. "I just hope the Americans found the guy with the right taste—and let him train until he bleeds to death."
EIGHTY FOUR DAYS, 13 hours, 34 minutes and three seconds to go," says Richard Rosendale, this year's American contes- tant. We're standing in the war room, which is also in the bunker, built by the federal government as a secret fallout shelter for Congress in the event of a nuclear war. The bunker is hidden in plain sight at The Greenbrier, the resort in West Virginia where Rosendale works as executive chef and oversees its culinary apprenticeship program. Prepping for the Bocuse d'Or from behind Cold War–era, 30-ton steel- blast doors makes for a cute story line in the windup to Lyon, but the real significance of the bunker is the kitchen Rosendale has built here—a to-the-inch replica of the space in Lyon where he and his commis, Corey Siegel, a recent Greenbrier grad, will cook. Rosendale installed a new floor, among countless other purchases. "There's $150,000 in here, at least," he says.
The war room is down the hall. Inside, there's a countdown clock above his computer (password: goingforgold) and pinups of winning platters from previous years; covert pictures snapped of 2011 winner Rasmus Kofoed ("Look, I can see that he's using the mats on his heater—that's smart, no slipping"); and a calendar mapping out his training schedule from now until January 29, the day the competition begins.
For Rosendale, who grew up in blue-collar Uniontown, Pennsylvania, official birthplace of the Big Mac, the journey to the Bocuse d'Or has been a long one. An aggressive kid, he was always getting into fights, and his grades suffered. For pocket money, he started bussing plates and made his debut in the kitchen when another cook called in sick. He found the focus and speed of the kitchen a peaceful way to channel his youthful anger. After completing two 3-year apprenticeships, Rosendale found another outlet for his fighting spirit: cooking competitions. He liked the intensity and found that they pushed him to learn new skills under pressure, not to mention promoting his abilities to other chefs around the world. He went on to compete in more than 40, winning and placing in several. But the big contest that's always eluded him has been the Bocuse d'Or. "The biggest ego trip in cooking," he says.
After placing second in the runoffs in 2009, Rosendale didn't leave much to chance during the qualifiers last summer. Inspired by the shape of his children's Mr. Potato Head toy, Rosendale repurposed the plastic head as a mold, stuffed it with chicken meat, layered rows of cornbread stuffing (light in color) and winter truffle butter (dark in color), and wrapped the entire creation in chicken skin. Out of the oven, the dish looked like a perfectly roasted chicken, but when sliced into, another dimension was revealed: The chicken had stripes—of truffle butter and cornbread— like the hide of a zebra. "A lot of what the judges are looking for is that 'wow factor,' " he says.
Secrecy for a contest of this scale is critical. The blueprints for Rosendale's platters are all mapped out on boards, but he turns them over so I can't see them. After some coaxing, he confesses that one of his garnishes will be a souped-up carrot. "It tastes more like a carrot than a carrot does." For the meat, he's imported and customized a mini-barbecue from Japan to sear the Irish beef. He may dust it with horseradish chips, and he's also toying with a potato dumpling concept.
For practice sessions, Rosendale has created a Bocuse d'Or simulator. Before he and Siegel start their five-and- a-half-hour prep run, he puts a CD in the sound system and turns up the volume. The album is a compilation of audience noise recorded during previous contests: the cacophonous blare of cowbells from the Swiss team; the Mexicans' mariachi band; and the pulsing Euro beats of the event's deejay. In the bunker, Rosendale feels like he's cooking off in Lyon.
In a final act of hyper organization, he, Siegel and coach Gavin Kaysen decide to travel to France three months ahead of the competition. The mission: Testing out rental vans to make sure they're big enough to hold his equipment.
During the trip, the Americans are invited to Bocuse's restaurant for an honorary lunch, and when they arrive, the chef is waiting out front dressed in his cooking whites. He shows them the kitchen, then poses for pictures before seating them. At the table, Siegel notices how audaciously Bocuse brands himself. When menus are passed around, he sees that the photo on the front is of him—posing with Bocuse only minutes earlier. Somehow, the restaurant has already printed the image on the menu, which Bocuse has signed. The Bocuse name is everywhere: lining the rim of the bowl of soup; the soup spoon, used to ladle his famed black truffle and foie gras soup—served at $100 per bowl—is stamped with his initials.
Three hours later, the group is delirious, drugged with a hypnotic cocktail of truffles, duck liver, champagne, wine, unpasteurized cheese and petits fours. From the kitchen, Bocuse emerges once again to a round of applause and to pose for final pictures with the Americans. Before leaving, Bocuse gives Siegel a gift: a hard-shell cover imprinted with his signature for a smartphone—a new Bocuse product.
Bocuse also gives him a warning. Before sending the team home, he grips young Siegel's arm, mutters something in French and makes a gesture with his hand. His finger is out. His hand looks like a gun. Not understanding French, Siegel turns to Kaysen and asks him to translate. Kaysen laughs at the old chef's line. "He says you better make it onto the podium—or else he's going to shoot you."
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