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Other Funding Sources
Funding for historic preservation comes from a variety of sources. The following information focuses on, but is not limited to, the rehabilitation of historic properties. These programs are not administered by the Kansas Historical Society, but the list is provided as a service to our constituents. Please note that many of these programs are competitive and require matching funds. Contact information and websites are subject to change. Find a printable copy of this list.
State Level
Historic Preservation Partners Preservation Grant Program l website
1200 S. Kansas Avenue, Topeka, Kansas 66612-1375
Historic Preservation Partners, Inc. (HPP) will offer a unique and flexible source of preservation funding. The Board of Directors will consider grant applications to assist in the stabilization, mothballing, and rehabilitation of historic properties. The maximum amount of grant that will be awarded to an applicant for a single project is $15,000.
Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) | website
1500 SW Arrowhead Road
Topeka, KS 66604-4027
This KCC provides links to energy efficiency tax programs including tax incentives for commercial buildings, consumer energy tax incentives, and the Tax Incentives Assistant Project (TIAP).
Kansas Preservation Alliance (KPA)| website
P.O. Box 2506
Topeka, KS 66601
- KPA preservation easements allow a private owner to protect the visual and architectural integrity of a property through a legal agreement even after the property is sold. KPA accepts easements on historic properties.
Kansas Department of Transportation | website
Eisenhower State Office Building
700 S.W. Harrison Street
Topeka, KS 66603-3754
The Kansas Department of Transportation administers the Transportation Enhancement reimbursement grant program in partnership with the State Historic Preservation Office. This program is a major source of funding for rehabilitating historic transportation-related structures such as depots, bridges, and brick streets. This federal reimbursement program requires a minimum 20% local match.
Kansas Department of Commerce | website
Kansas Department of Commerce
1000 S.W. Jackson Street, Suite 100
Topeka, Kansas 66612-1354
- Attraction Development grants provide assistance in the development of new tourist attractions or the enhancement of existing attractions within Kansas. Grant funds may be used for a wide variety of activities including (but not limited to) strategic planning, infrastructure, technology, and marketing activities. The grant may fund up to 40% of an approved project. The applicant must secure at least 60% of eligible project expenditures. The maximum amount of funds available for one project is $45,000 for public and not-for-profit entities, and $15,000 for private entities.
- Tourism Marketing grants assist organizations in creating innovative advertising and marketing. The monies are disbursed on a first-come-first-served basis based on projects that fit within the grant guidelines. This is a reimbursement grant program that provides up to 40% of the total costs of a project not to exceed $3,500 for a single project.
- Community Development Block Grants are distributed to Kansas communities looking to improve their infrastructure. Qualifying projects must meet low- to moderate-income level requirements.
- The Small Communities Improvement Program sets aside $500,000 each year for small communities that are undertaking improvement projects through sweat equity and volunteerism. The program is designed to assist communities with populations of 5,000 or less that are not eligible for other Department of Commerce assistance and might not have the capacity to provide matching funds. The maximum award for a single project is $125,000.
- The Kansas Community Service Tax Credit Program gives non-profit organizations a way to improve their ability to undertake major capital fund-raising drives for various projects. Specially selected non-profit organizations can offer Kansas tax credits for contributions made to approved projects. Projects eligible for tax credit awards include community service, crime prevention, and health care.
- The Kansas Downtown Redevelopment Act encourages entrepreneurs to locate their businesses and invest in central business districts, as well as distressed neighborhoods, by offering property tax relief in areas designated by local governments, which are subsequently reviewed and approved by KDOC.
League of Kansas Municipalities | website
300 SW 8th Avenue
Topeka, KS 66603-3951
The Neighborhood Revitalization Act enables cities to designate neighborhood revitalization areas, and therein, to provide tax rebates to property owners. The rebates are the amounts of incremental increases in property taxes resulting from improvements made to properties. A neighborhood revitalization area is defined by: (1) buildings which, by reason of age, history, architecture or significance, should be preserved or restored; (2) deteriorating structures, inadequate streets, or incompatible land uses which impair growth of the city; and (3) dilapidated structures outside the area. A nonprofit organization may rehabilitate abandoned properties in the area. Contact your local government or the League of Kansas Municipalities.
Kansas Humanities Council | website
112 SW 6th Ave, Suite 210
Topeka KS 66603-3895
- Humanities Grants are intended to support projects that engage the out-of-school, general public with the humanities. Past grants have included lecture series, forums for public issues, book and film discussions, museum exhibitions, and media projects.
- Heritage Grants are intended to encourage the preservation and study of local and regional cultural resources. Past grants include oral history projects, care of collections, basic research, cataloging, and indexing. Grant awards are up to $3,500.
Kansas Museums Association | website
PO Box 1946
Salina, KS 67402-1946
The Institutional Project Grant was created in 1996 to advance Kansas museums. The grant provides funding to conduct small projects that improve the quality of a museum's operations. Applicants must be Institutional members of KMA.
Kansas Green Schools Grant Program | website
Kansas Green Schools Grants are intended for projects that improve the environment and save money through reduced use of resources. Grant projects must address air quality, climate change, solid waste reduction and recycling, and water management. All school-based program initiatives must include direct environmental benefits and education as components. Grants are available to any private or public k-12 school in Kansas that is registered on the Kansas Green Schools Network. Preference is given to projects that can reasonably be completed within one year. The maximum grant is $4,500 per school.
Kansas Energy Office | website
1500 SW Arrowhead Road
Topeka, KS 66604-4027
The Kansas Energy Office sponsors many programs that may assist property owners. The Facility Conservation Improvement Program, for example, allows divisions of state and local government as well as non-profits to finance projects that promote energy efficiency. Projects that would normally take multiple years can be done all at once so that energy savings are realized sooner.
Kansas Housing Resources Corporation | website
611 S. Kansas Avenue, Suite 300
Topeka, KS 66603-3803
- The Homeowner Rehabilitation Program assists communities with repairing and rehabilitating owner-occupied homes. Local Kansas communities (except Kansas City, Johnson County, Lawrence, Topeka, and Wichita) may apply for program funds up to $300,000 for administering a homeowner rehabilitation program. Grant funds pass through the State recipient on a reimbursement basis, and assistance is to be provided to the homeowner in the form of a loan.
- Weatherization Assistance provides income eligible families a comprehensive home assessment which includes repair or replacement of heating systems, insulation and caulking.
National Level
National Trust for Historic Preservation | website
NTHP Mountain-Plains Regional Office
535 16th Street, Suite 750
Denver, CO 80202
- The Johanna Favrot Fund provides nonprofit organizations and public agencies grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 for projects that contribute to the preservation or the recapture of an authentic sense of place. Individuals and for-profit businesses may apply only if the project for which funding is requested involves a National Historic Landmark. Funds may be used for professional advice, conferences, workshops and education programs.
- The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund provides nonprofit organizations and public agencies grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to assist in the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of historic interiors. Individuals and for-profit businesses may apply only if the project for which funding is requested involves a National Historic Landmark. Funds may be used for professional expertise, print and video communications materials, and education programs.
- The National Trust Preservation Funds provides nonprofit organizations and public agencies matching grants from $2,500 to $5,000 for preservation planning and education efforts. Funds may be used to obtain professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, fund raising, organizational development and law as well as preservation education activities to educate the public. This fund also provides intervention funds for preservation emergencies.
- The National Trust Loan Fund is flexible in terms of project criteria and provides funding for a variety of preservation projects. These may include establishing or expanding local and statewide preservation revolving funds, acquiring and/or rehabilitating historic buildings, sites, structures and districts, and preserving National Historic Landmarks. Eligible applicants are tax-exempt nonprofit organizations; local, state, or regional governments; and for-profit organizations. Preference will be given to nonprofit and public sector organizations.
National Park Service | website
National Park Service
Midwest Regional Office
1709 Jackson Street
Omaha, NE 68102
- Save America's Treasures grants are available for preservation and/or conservation work on National Historic Landmarks or National Register-listed structures and sites that are deemed nationally significant. Historic structures and sites include historic districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects. This is a highly competitive application process.
- The Preserve America matching-grant program provides funding to designated Preserve America Communities to support preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education and historic preservation planning. The grant program changes yearly.
National Trust Community Investment Corp. | website
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
The National Trust Community Investment Corporation (NTCIC) makes equity investments in real estate projects that qualify for federal historic rehabilitation and state historic rehabilitation tax credits in all 50 states. NTCIC works with a wide variety of property owners including for profit developers, nonprofit organizations and local governments. It focuses on projects that stimulate the economic revitalization of the surrounding community.
Environmental Protection Agency (Region 7) website
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
913-551-7003 or (800) 223-0425
The EPA, in cooperation with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has various grants available in our region. While these grants are not strictly preservation related, they can be used by historic sites to fund environmental improvements.
- The 203(k) Rehabilitation Loan Program can be used to accomplish rehabilitation and/or improvement of an existing one-to-four unit dwelling.
- The Brownfields Economic Development Initiative assists cities with the redevelopment of abandoned, idled, and underused industrial and commercial facilities with expansion and redevelopment of environmental contamination.
- The Community Development Block Grant Program may help some owners of historic residences. In order to be eligible a project must, over a 1, 2, or 3-year period, as selected by the grantee, use no less than 70 percent of CDBG funds for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons. In addition, each project must meet one of the following national objectives for the program: benefit low- and moderate-income persons, prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or address community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community for which other funding is not available.
Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area | website
Freedom's Frontier NHA
P.O. Box 526
Lawrence, KS 66044
Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) invites its partner organizations to apply for Interpretive Grants. FFNHA awards small grants ($500-$1,500) and large grants ($1,501-$5,000) for projects that interpret a site's history and connect it to the heritage area's rich history. Grants are awarded to projects aligned with the goals of Freedom's Frontier, and one or more of these significant themes: Shaping the Frontier, Missouri-Kansas Border War, Enduring Struggles for Freedom.
Americans with Disabilities Act | website
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section - NYAV
Washington, D.C. 20530
Two tax incentives for required ADA improvements are available to businesses to help cover the cost of making access improvements. The first is a tax credit that can be used for architectural adaptations, equipment acquisitions, and services such as sign language interpreters. The second is a tax deduction that can be used for architectural or transportation adaptations. Call a tax advisor and request IRS Publications 535 and 334 or Form 8826 to claim your tax credit.
U.S. Department of Energy | website
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG)provides grants to local governments to fund programs and projects that reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions and improve energy efficiency. Generally, a city or county must have a population over 35,000 to qualify for this grant. Although the grant program was authorized by law in 2007, 2009 was the first year it was funded. It was funded by ARRA.
Grant Guides
The Kansas Non Profit Association compiles and publishes a directory of Kansas community, corporate, family, and independent foundations. The directory may be available at your local library or through community foundations.
Grants.gov allows organizations to electronically find and apply for more than $400 billion in federal grants. Grants.gov is THE single access point for over 1000 grant programs offered by all federal grant-making agencies.
The Foundation Finder website allows you to search through more than 65,000 private and community foundations in the United States.
The Grantsmanship Center is a helpful resource for anyone working on a grant application or administering a current grant. The site also features a Funding Sources finder with a list of the top funding organizations in each state.
Helpful Organizations & Links
League of Historic American Theatres | website
9 Newport Drive
Suite 200
Foret Hill, MD 21050
443-640-1058 x124
The League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT) is an international not-for-profit membership association. LHAT is a network of people who appreciate the cultural and architectural heritage of historic theaters and who work locally and nationally to rehabilitate them. Members of the League collaborate with one another, share their expertise and provide inspiration, information and a broad perspective to those working in the field of historic preservation. The Kansas Historic Theatres Association (KHTA) is a local non-profit organization with a similar mission and goals for preserving historic theaters in Kansas.
Reconnecting America—Great American Station Foundation | website
Reconnecting America is a national organization that grew out of the work of the Great American Station Foundation, which was formed in 1995 to assist communities with the revitalization of historic rail stations as a key to both improving transportation services and bringing life back to downtown areas. The above link provides information to dozens of funding incentives for the rehabilitation of transportation stations.
Partners for Sacred Places | website
This is the only national, non-sectarian, non-profit organization devoted to helping congregations and their communities sustain and actively use older historic sacred places.
Institute of Museum and Library Services | website
1800 M Street NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20036-5802
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through its grant making and research and publications, the Institute empowers museums and libraries nationwide to provide leadership and services to enhance and increase civic participation. Projects include collection management, programming, conservation, digital collection, professional development, and research.
TradWeb: Custom Building & Restoration Services | website
This website is a comprehensive guide to the people, products, and services that restore, rehabilitate, and preserve America's historic buildings and environments.
Traditional Building | website
Traditional Building provides resources for commercial, civic, institutional, and religious building projects.
Preservation Directory.com | website
This website provides research tools and marketing resources for historic preservation.


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Geography tutors and Home Tuition in Northolt
Our Geography Tutors in Northolt are all fully-qualified Geography Teachers, who also offer their skills as high quality home tutors. All are subject-specialists, professional, reliable, up-to-date with Examination Boards and the current demands of a changing curriculum. Lessons are taught at your home and are scheduled at your convenience; whether weekdays, evenings or weekends.
Find a Geography Home Tutor in Northolt
"Teachers To Your Home" provides high quality Geography Tuition in Northolt, at your home and convenience. We work with over 18,000 qualified teachers across the UK, who also choose to offer their professional skills as high quality home tutors.
We can support Geography at all levels and can provide high quality tuition for Primary and Junior levels, as well as prepare children towards 11+, 13+, Common Entrance or for GCSE, IGCSE, IB and A level Examinations, across all the major Examination Boards including OCR, AQA, Edexcel, CIE, WJEC.
More information on Geography home tuition in Northolt and in the surrounding area: Tuition Fees - How it Works - About Us - Our Reviews - Tutor Locations - Homepage
Call us now or send us a short message and we will phone you back
What families are saying about our tutors this week
"We have met Mr H and he seems to be very good and organised. Our first lesson is planned for Saturday morning."
23 January 2019; review received from Mr Chetty, Year 11 son, Triple Science, Letchworth
"We are relieved to have a proper teacher supporting our son. Dr D-S knows the exam board and is an examiner. After a couple of lessons we can already see that our son has a bit more confidence. He needs to get a top grade for his university place. "
23 January 2019; review received from Mr Clarke, Year 13 son, A level Chemistry (OCR) in Twickenham
"Our daughter is making good progress now and her tutor is also liaising directly with her school, so that her support is joined up. We are very relieved to have found Mrs HG, who is also giving us the advice and support we need, as parents."
23 January 2019; review received from Mr Hill, Year 3 daughter, SEN Primary, Richmond
A selection of our teachers who provide Geography tuition in and around Northolt
"Everywhere's been where it is ever since it was first put there. It's called geography." – Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters
Geography is a field of science dedicated to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of the Earth. The literal translation is "to describe or write about the Earth".
Whether you are learning the basics of volcanoes or you are developing complex Environmental Case Studies, we can provide a Geography Tutor who can help you.

subset: commoncrawl


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Course Descriptions for Athletic Coaching Leadership Core Classes
MIC-50202: Portfolio. This course introduces to the student the importance of the portfolio as a means of self-assessing, self-reflecting, and self-correcting by self-documenting progress throughout this graduate program. Concepts related to teacher development, student portfolios, reflective thinking, and personality types will be explored and a draft Abstract will be completed.
MIC-50902: Literacy in Technology. This course emphasizes the uses of computers in education, data management, and content area application. (2 semester hours)
MIC-50403: Learning Systems. Review and contrast various learning theories, with the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, in light of current brain research, societal/ environmental influences and school practices. (3 semester hours)
MIC-50603: Curriculum. Students will learn how to write lesson plans that are creative, pertinent, and interesting, by integrating the arts. Emphasis will be placed upon the state curriculum models. Students will be given the opportunity to share with and gain ideas from their peers. (3 semester hours)
MIC-50303: Mentoring Models. This course focuses on teaching (mentoring, coaching) what matters most, with strategies for doing so, and ways to assess what is being learned.
MIC-51101: Grant Writing. A course designed to familiarize students with the funding processes and to develop a basic knowledge of grant writing skills. Through the course students will explore various funding sources, develop a funding idea that might be implemented in their classroom/school, develop a budget for the idea, and complete a grant proposal that might be submitted for foundation/corporate consideration.
MIC-50802: Research. This course is designed to provide the student with opportunities to design, conduct, critique and reflect upon the underlying concepts and practical application of various assessment methodologies for assessing classroom learning. Journaling, threading discussions, practical applications, and an opportunity to demonstrate how students may effect change at the district level are features of this course.
MIC-50501: Leaders for Change. This course will serve to stimulate leadership in the major beliefs of the program for the Master of Education with a concentration in Athletic Coaching Leadership.


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San Diego City College Bookstore stocks all textbooks and supplies required for classes. The Bookstore also carries study aids, snacks, school supplies, clothing, backpacks, gift items, greeting cards, emblematic items and general books.
Extended hours are offered at the beginning of each semester. Sell your textbooks for cash at the Bookstore year round. Additional wholesale buybacks are scheduled at the beginning, middle and end of each semester.
For additional information or special Bookstore hours, please phone (619) 388-3548 or visit the bookstore website www.bookstore.sdccd.edu/city.


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Congressman Tom Rooney's June 2017 favor to Mike Pence and Mitch Daniels — the $4.5 billion FY18 Cerner sole-source electronic health record (EHR) contract in the Veterans Administration (VA) budget — just might hit a wall. What wall? The Wall.
After Congressman Rooney (FL-17), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, gave his multi-billion-dollar asset family a multi-million Christmas cash present with his YAY vote on the Trump Tax Bill, President Trump began making noises about his wall, again.
That might have something to do with firin' up Trump's hardcore base so they don't download the "Fire and Fury" expose of his administration's first months, but who knows? Maybe he and Congressman Rooney actually agree that squeezing blood from a rock is preferable to paying their fair share as members of billionaire families.
At any rate, President Trump has announced that he wants $18 billion over 10 years to build 700 miles of wall on our southern border. It isn't really 700 miles of new wall, but it is to extend the current 654 miles of border wall to nearly 970 miles. In English, that means new construction of nearly 316 miles and tearin' down and rebuilding nearly 338 miles of currently serviceable wall.
In gross figures this equates to slightly more than $25.714 million a mile or $4,870.13 per foot of imaginary wall.
I call it imaginary because as any U.S. Army engineer can tell you there are four ways to get through a wall. Over, under, punch through it, or go around. Further, any obstacle can be breached.
Once you are through a wall, even if there are arrays of sensors and battalions of ICE agents arrayed on the ground, there is that lag between knowledge and being able to act on it. And that is even without the additional 1,030 miles of border where there won't be a wall.
But there is a problem. And it isn't the bleeding-heart liberals and their incessant harping on those DACA Dreamers and other immigrants, illegal aliens, and people here under provisional residency permits or the farmworkers and other "seasonal" workers here under the H-2A visa program — all of them emmeshed in our communities and national economy.
The problem is funding. Congressman Rooney's sole-source favor to Mike Pence and Mitch Daniels has ballooned in cost, over a 10-year period, to potentially $18 billion. Though Cerner, in order to wiggle the bill through the Senate after a protest from a competitor, keeps saying, it is more likely to be $10 billion. Same bull-pucky they fed DoD to snag the competed contract there. But even $10 billion or $4.5 billion would start getting that imaginary wall built.
In mid-December, the VA put the Cerner contract award on hold pending resolution of "interoperability" with other commercial systems electronic health records as the privatization of VA care is in full swing.
Back in the Clinton Administration, Microsoft was able to get a virtual commercial business monopoly on its Office Suite by leapfrogging from an initial Army contract that required proposals to be "interoperable" with the Microsoft Office Suite.
The EHR sandbox is a little more crowded. Not to mention the Congressional Republicans are avidly dismantling the Affordable Care Act and, with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, talking about taking apart Medicare and Medicaid with the mandates and incentives for electronic records.
But the bigger question for Florida District 17 constituents is why did Congressman Rooney sully his own ethical reputation? After all, he seemingly stood up to then-candidate Trump in October 2016(1). Unfortunately, it probably has something to do with the regressive Trump Tax Bill signed into law Dec. 22, 2017.
(1) http://postonpolitics.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2016/12/08/after-un-endorsing-donald-trump-rep-tom-rooney-very-heartened-by-transition/
Polly Parks, is a resident of Sebring. Formerly, she was a Washington representative for a multinational metal recycling firm handling policy issues and federal contracting. Guest columns are the opinion of the writer, not necessarily that of the Highlands News-Sun.
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AMHERST, MASS. - In the top-ten battle between No. 1 MIT and No. 10 Amherst College, the Engineers ultimately came out on top with a score of 178-116. Senior Wyatt Ubellacker (Georgetown, Ky.) won all three of his individual events, while junior Michael Liao (Newport Beach, Calif.) and freshmen Thomas Norris (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Bo Mattix (La Canada, Calif.) won two of their individual events.
The 200 yard medley A relay got things started right, touching first in 1:33.42 and were followed by the MIT B relay with a time of 1:35.42. In the 1000 yard freestyle, freshman Michael Lu (Scarsdale, N.Y.) finished highest of the Engineers in third place with a time of 9:53.73. Senior Max Pruner (Sioux Falls, S.D.) came fourth in 10:00.57 and junior Timothy Wall (Newtown, Pa.) was fifth with a time of 10:02.91.
Norris' first win came in the 200 yard freestyle, touching in 1:44.79. Fellow freshman Langston Fitts (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) came in second place with a time of 1:45.20, touching just one one-hundredth of a second before Amherst's Connor Sholtis. Mattix had his first win in the 100 yard backstroke, turning in a time of 51.22. Classmates Sean Corcoran (Huntersville, N.C.) and Bradford Jokubaitis (Newtown, Pa.) finished in third and fourth place with times of 53.12 and 53.48 respectively.
MIT's best showing was in the 100 yard breaststroke, where they finished in first through third place. Liao took first with a time of 58.33 and was followed by senior Brendan Deveney (Newtown, Conn.) in second with a 59.00 and sophomore Brendon Chiu (Monterey Park, Calif.) in third place with a time of 1:00.57. The Engineers also performed strongly in the 200 yard butterfly, taking third through fifth place. Sophomore Ben Bauchwitz (Hershey, Pa.) touched first for MIT with a time of 1:54.11 and was followed by freshmen Luke Schlueter (St. Louis, Mo.) and Evan Olin (Ossining, N.Y.).
In the 50 yard freestyle, Ubellacker touched first with a time of 20.48, sophomore Austin Fathman (Hamilton, Mich.) was second with a 21.13 and junior Craig Cheney (Sherwood, Ore.) came fourth with a time of 21.95. Ubellacker's second win of the afternoon came in the 100 yard freestyle, where he touched with a time of 45.44. Cheney came second with a 47.29. Ubellacker's final win was in the 100 yard butterfly, touching with a 49.06.
Mattix's second win of the meet was in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:53.56. Deveney was third in 1:54.57 and Jokubaitis was fifth with a 1:56.35. In the 200 yard breaststroke, Liao came away with the win with a 2:07.56 with Bauchwitz in second place with a time of 2:08.04. Freshman Alex Lednev (Glenmont, N.Y.) got his first victory of the meet in the 200 yard Individual Medley, touching with a time of 1:51.98.
In the 400 yard freestyle relay, the final event of the day, the MIT A relay touched first with a time of 3:07.76 and the B relay was second with a 3:09.38, narrowly finishing ahead of Amherst's A relay.
MIT will participate in the Wheaton Invitational next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1-2. This will be the final meet that the Engineers will take part in until the NEWMAC Championship on Feb. 14-17.


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US stocks edge up after positive economic reports
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing slightly higher on Wall Street after encouraging reports on the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,840 Thursday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,638. The Nasdaq composite rose 26 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,620.
The government raised its estimate for U.S. economic growth in the April-through-June quarter to 2.5 percent from 1.7 percent. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits also continued to decline.
Verizon rose after Vodafone confirmed it was in talks to sell Verizon its stake in their U.S. joint venture, Verizon Wireless.
Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light at 2.5 billion shares.


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More Bulgarian Parts!
Bulgarian Four Piece Flash Hider!
And more!
In an effort to continue giving you exciting news all through the beginning of 2012, we are happy to announce the arrival of another shipment of Bulgarian parts! This time we have finally received the part youve all been waiting for - - - The Four Piece Bulgarian Flash Suppresser Assembly with 24 x 1.5 mm threads. These highly anticipated parts will be selling at the retail price of $99.99 .
Thats not all! We also received bullet guides, gas tubes, top covers, and much, much more!
Part No., Description, Price
KR-009B, Flash Hider Assy., 4-piece, $99.99
AK-334, Gas Chamber, standard, $59.99
AK-080B, Gas Tube Assy., standard, $39.99
AK-080BH, Gas Tube Assy., classic with vent holes, $39.99
AK-RFS, Metal Side Folding Stock, $99.99
AK-335RL, Selector Lever, ambidextrous, $89.99
KR-333P, Top Cover Assy., AR-M4SF with pip sight, $129.99
KR-345B, Top Cover Assy., AR-SF, $109.99
AK-345, Top Cover, standard, $19.99
AK-017, Trigger Guard, milled receiver, $11.99
AK-762BG, Bullet Guide, 7.62x39, $19.99
AK-545BG, Bullet Guide, 5.45x39, $19.99
Please check the New Arrivals / Back In Stock section of http://www.k-var.com to order these parts. Our helpful staff is standing by Monday through Friday from 7am to 4pm PST to help you with your ordering needs.
Order yours now
Tel.: 1 702 364 8880
Fax: 1 702 307 2303
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
All posting by K-Var is for informational purposes only. K-Var Corp assumes no liability of forum members responsibility in following local, state and federal laws. Special federal permission or licensing may be required.
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Toyota FJ Crusier Top Truck Challenge 2009Posted in Project Vehicles on December 1, 2009
Four Wheeler magazine's annual Top Truck Challenge is like off-road summer camp. When you first get there you don't know anyone, but by the end of the week you have a whole new group of friends. Every day you do something different, and only the guys in charge (the Four Wheeler camp counselors) really know what's next. It is easily one of the most fun events you can take your truck to if you can get in.
As many of you know, the '06 FJ Cruiser (aka the Ninja Turtle) that we built for our Ultimate Adventure a few years back was actually a preproduction engineering mule, and since it couldn't legally be sold it was scheduled to return to Toyota where it would eventually go to the crusher. Sad but true. We wanted to give it one last shot at glory before it left us. The Toyota folks were happy to see their truck run against some bigger competition, so we took it to One Ton Off-Road in Pearblossom, California, for some 'cage upgrades as well as a 1,000-pound weight loss program ("Top Truck Turtle," Oct. '09). In fact we got the big girl down to a svelte 5,100 pounds, still heavy, but much lighter than most of our competition.
Though we didn't win Top Truck, we did have a great time trying and would recommend entering the event to anyone interested. It's hard on equipment but more fun than you can imagine. Even though it has grown into a monster truck competition of sorts with giant tires and huge motors, some of us believe that a well-built, smaller trail rig could not only be competitive but actually win this event with an experienced driver behind the wheel.
For official results and coverage of the whole field check out the November and December issues of Four Wheeler, on newsstands right now, and order the 2009 Top Truck Challenge DVD from 4Wheel Parts, 800.213.5668, www.4wheelparts.com.
Tank Trap
The final day is dedicated to the Tank Trap, a quarter-mile pit of doom and despair! At least that's what we had been told to expect. By now we were pretty sure we were out of contention for the trophy, but this may have actually helped us, as we went into the trap with a "just have fun" attitude. Actually we had that attitude all week-it'll save you when the other guys are getting worked up trying to win. When the rig before us rolled over backwards we knew we were in for a good time, but again we didn't get to see the course prior to running it.
Our supercharged V-6 engine had no trouble pulling the FJ up the climbs with our four-speed Atlas' worth of gearing, and before long we were straddling the deep notches, dragging along the steep canyon walls, and splashing into the water holes. The recipe involved launching up the next hill, stopping for a second to scout the upcoming water hole and hill, and then rolling into it along one side and not stopping until you were at the top of the next hill. This worked great until we busted another hub on our front axle. (We should have swapped in drive flanges the night before, but sat around the campfire laughing instead.) With only three-wheel drive it was winch time, but we kept the wheels turning at all times because you never know when traction will come. Also remember that these water holes have solid bottoms, so a moderate drive through them is possible (at least this year it was). With just four winch pulls we somehow made it to the top of the trap and out of the course in roughly 20 minutes. Some competitors finished in under five minutes; others flipped, rolled, and broke in the first few hundred feet; so we didn't feel too bad with our little truck.
The Turtle has since gone to the great trail ride in the sky. We stripped it down (all the good parts will make their way into future project trucks) and returned it to Toyota with a tear in our eyes. You were a good truck, Green Turtle.


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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will issue approximately $17.1 million in 2010-crop counter-cyclical payments to farmers enrolled in the direct and counter-cyclical program for peanuts.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 farm bill) requires 2010 final counter-cyclical payments to be made beginning Oct. 1, 2011, or as soon as practicable following the end of the marketing year, which was July 31 for peanuts.
Counter-cyclical payments are administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).
The counter-cyclical payment rate for peanuts is $9 per ton ($0.0045 per pound). Producers who accepted a partial payment in June 2011 received $5.20 per ton ($0.0026 per pound). They are due an additional $3.80 per ton ($0.0019 per pound).
The 2010 marketing year average price for peanuts was $450 per ton ($0.225 per pound).
The counter-cyclical payment rate is the amount by which the target price for each commodity, specified by the 2008 farm bill, exceeds its effective price. The effective price equals the direct payment rate plus the higher of either the national average market price received by producers during the marketing year or the national average loan rate for the commodity.
Prices during the 2010-crop marketing year for all other program commodities were well above the level that would trigger a counter-cyclical payment.
A table displaying national monthly average market prices to date and market year average (MYA) price forecasts for selected direct and counter-cyclical program (DCP) commodities may be found at www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/2010_11_mya_ccp.pdf.
For each commodity, the counter-cyclical payment for each crop year equals 85 percent of the farm's base acreage multiplied by the farm's counter-cyclical payment yield multiplied by the counter-cyclical payment rate.
Counter-cyclical payments, authorized in the 2008 farm bill, provide support counter to the cycle of market prices as part of the "farm safety net," in the event of low crop prices.
A strong farm safety net is important to the vitality of American agriculture because, historically, the cost to produce most crops is close to the potential income from the crop, making any yield losses that decrease revenue difficult to mitigate.
For more information on the direct and counter-cyclical payment programs, visit a local FSA office or the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.


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Status last updated: 2018-10-04 14:34:52
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The Belvidere School District has agreed to pay an estimated $1,500 to $1,750 to PR Etc. to allow the public relations and marketing agency to facilitate the schools' strategic planning process.
School Board members voted in June to create a three- to five-year strategic plan that outlines the goals and priorities of the district. The previous plan ended in the 2012-2013 school year.
According to the contract, PR Etc. will bring board members, educators and residents together to create a plan that district leaders could refer to moving forward.
Agency staff may review the previous strategic plan to determine what worked and the status of current projects. They could help guide discussions on how resources could be allocated to achieve the district's top goals. They may also provide a specific list of tactics and objectives tied to top priorities.
"As an impartial third party, PR Etc. can facilitate meaningful, sometimes difficult, conversations, provide a strategic outside viewpoint and work with the participants to develop a road map for future success," according to the contract.
The meeting could take place in one session. The final written report would be completed within two weeks after the session.
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text: You are probably here to see more from one of the Hottest Girls in America. Brandi Howe is GGW favorite; her piercing blue eyes, her blonde hair, she's a true California dream girl. She appeared on Season 3 of Search for the Hottest Girl in America where she stunned audiences around the world. If you are fan of Brandi like we are you can check her out here and follow her on Twitter here. Check out her insanely sexy gallery here. You will NOT be disappointed.


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UNDP Chief: Poorest countries must have a say in shaping their futureMay 11, 2011
Remarks by Helen Clark
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries
High Level Interactive Thematic Debate on Good Governance at All Levels
Istanbul, 11 May 2011
It is a pleasure to take part in this thematic debate on good governance at all levels.
It was acknowledged in the Outcome Document from last year's MDG Summit that "good governance at the local, national and international levels is essential" for development.
Good governance refers to governing systems which are capable, responsive, inclusive, and transparent. All countries, developed and developing, need to work continuously towards better governance.
Good, or democratic governance as we call it at UNDP, entails meaningful and inclusive political participation. Improving governance should include more people having more of a say in the decisions which shape their lives.
Global context and governance
The concept has relevance at the international level too. Good global governance must be about enabling all countries to have a meaningful say in the decisions which are shaping their futures.
This is especially important for the LDCs which have the greatest vulnerability to shocks beyond their control. As the world's interdependence increases, so too do the risks. We have seen this in recent times in:
- the crisis in financial systems in the North which preceded the recession which became global;
- the impact of increasing global food and fuel prices;
- the impact of climate change, already evident in increasing numbers of natural disasters; and
- the spread of swine flu around the world.
To manage the risks flowing from interdependence, global governance systems need to be inclusive of the full diversity of member states.
Global governance must go beyond risk management to find solutions to the challenges which threaten us all. Understanding that we are in this together means paying attention to the countries and populations least able to recover from recession, adapt to rising sea levels and drought, combat epidemics, and deal with a range of other disasters and shocks.
Democratic governance for political and economic inclusion
Human development depends on advancing both political and economic inclusion. Democratic governance can help countries to achieve both by:
- increasing the transparency and predictability needed to attract investment and grow the local economy,
- legitimizing the institutions needed to resolve disputes peacefully and build the social cohesion needed to thwart violence and crime, and
- making resource allocation and service delivery more responsive to the needs of people.
Ten years after the Brussels Programme of Action, LDCs have experienced a number of successes. Their GDP growth rates averaged seven percent between 2002 and 2008. They are now more likely to have democratic systems of government, and less likely to experience civil conflict. Progress on the education MDG and targets is advancing.
But more can be achieved if democratic governance is harnessed to help build inclusive economies and societies.
In my comments today, I will give examples of how UNDP works to help build the governance institutions and processes which are so important for underpinning economic and social development.
Making sure the law works for all
Making sure that the law works for everyone is critical for development. Bringing informal businesses into the formal sector, for example, helps poor entrepreneurs better protect their earnings, grow their businesses, and create additional jobs. Formal businesses can also be taxed, which helps mobilise domestic resources for development.
UNDP advances the legal empowerment of the poor by supporting countries' efforts to expand access to justice. That can help people establish their tenure or property rights, have a sustainable livelihood, and avoid exploitation.
In Lao PDR for instance, UNDP is supporting the government's efforts to increase the legal assistance available to women and marginalized groups, enabling them to seek legal recourse and better protect their rights.
We also support countries' efforts to establish policy frameworks around investment which increase predictability and reduce risk. In Kenya, for example, UNDP supported the Ministry of Energy to establish regulation and institutions which were conducive to private sector investment. The result has been renewed private sector participation in the energy sector, including in a wind project which, once completed, will provide at least 25 percent of the energy Kenya produces.
Building participatory political processes
UNDP is the UN system's lead provider of technical assistance to elections. From 2008 to 2010 alone, we provided electoral assistance in 64 countries and territories.
People understand decision-making to be fair when there are open spaces for political participation, opposition, and peaceful transfers of power. Such an understanding builds legitimacy and trust, which are among the foundations of social stability and of the resilience needed for sustainable development.
Many LDCs are rich in the commodities which are in high demand today. But where benefits from their exploitation accrue largely to the few, high levels of social tension, corruption, crime, and even conflict can result.
When citizens are encouraged to speak openly with their elected representatives, however, and where those representatives can question the executive authorities without fear of reprisal, decisions about public investment and resource allocation are more likely to reflect the demands and interest of peoples.
Overcoming governance bottlenecks
To help countries meet their commitments to accelerate MDG progress, we are implementing a new UN development system-wide tool, the MDG Acceleration Framework. It supports governments and their development partners to identify systematically the range of bottlenecks and constraints standing in the way of MDG progress, and then to devise ways to overcome them.
It works by breaking down silos between sectors, MDGs, and disciplines, in favour of a pragmatic, cross sectoral, problem-solving approach. Often the solutions involve overcoming governance bottlenecks, including in public administration and service delivery.
Where the MDG Acceleration Framework has been piloted, it has brought greater focus to existing national strategies to address off-track MDGs. We have seen increased collaboration across government ministries and engagement by development partners.
Uganda, for example, used the Framework to identify what was blocking its efforts to reduce maternal mortality. Practitioners and experts from across the Finance, Planning, and Health Ministries met to consider the evidence of what wasn't working, and agree on solutions which cut across the normal sectoral divisions. "Whole of government" approaches generally need to become the norm rather than be the exception.
Inclusive governance
Inclusive participation and political engagement depends on all people having access to public information and the ability to make their voices heard. New technologies can help that, and be part of making existing institutions more responsive. Wherever it can, UNDP will support countries' efforts to establish environments in which political parties, vibrant civil society, and free and ethical media can flourish.
The full participation and inclusion of women is also central to democratic governance. Where women lack voice and representation, issues of great importance to them will either be neglected, or the way in which they are addressed will be sub-optimal and uninformed by women's perspectives.
The active inclusion of religious and ethnic minorities, young people and other marginalized groups is also critical. UNDP is currently supporting authorities in Egypt to identify ways to engage young people in decision making. In Sri Lanka, we are helping local councils establish processes which will enable the voices of all groups –Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims– to be taken into account in the provision of local services.
A shared responsibility
The primary responsibility for good governance and development lies with each country's national government. Democratic governance can undoubtedly help unleash the energy and will of citizens to initiate, support, and engage in development. At UNDP we hope that democratic governance will be able to be put at the service of driving the Istanbul Programme of Action forward.


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There are many asset classes vying for the attention of market participants. Advocates of asset allocation argue that investors should spread their money out across investments such as stocks, bonds, precious metals and real estate. But I am not a believer in asset allocation. I believe it is a recipe for mediocrity. You don't want to put every spice on the spice rack into your goulash. It just won't taste good.
Last year, if you had a large allocation to small-cap U.S. stocks your performance was stellar. Gold on the other hand was down 27%, and the bond market was down 9% last year.
So what about this year? Right now, one of the best places to be in the market is the energy sector in holdings like MLPs and oil and gas stocks. This year, certain foreign markets have also done well, such as Canada and emerging markets like Latin America and India. Emerging markets in particular, was a place to avoid last year.
Being in the right asset classes at the right time is critical to achieving investment success. Of course, world events play a role in which asset classes are the right one to be in. With that in mind, Iraq is back in the headlines. The president has announced that we are sending in some "advisors." When I think of advisors, I think of guys wearing suits and carrying briefcases, but these advisors are probably well armed. The situation in Iraq appears to be escalating.
Typically in times of crisis, investors pile into gold. This past week, rising on the Iraq news, gold was up $22 an ounce.
If I was a believer in asset allocation, I would advocate always having some gold in your portfolio. It is indeed a hedge against inflation, like rising food and energy prices and a way to protect yourself from a falling dollar.
But is it time to buy gold now? When I look at the last five years, inflation is not really a problem with CPI stable at around 2%, and the U.S. dollar is not collapsing.
Let's look at the facts and not the hype. Comparing the price performance of gold relative to the S&P 500 over the last five years, the S&P 500 was up more than 113% on a cumulative basis vs. only 38% for gold.
The reality is that over the last five years, gold — repped here by the SPDR gold trust GLD, -0.14% — has significantly underperformed the U.S. stock market, up only 6.7% per year vs. a 16.3% return for the S&P 500 Index. Over the last three years, gold has actually been down 5.4% on an annualized basis vs. a positive return of 15.5% for the S&P 500.
Data from Best Stocks Now app


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In a lecture hosted by the World Bank in Washington, DC on February 19, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright highlighted that the rise of non-state actors is one of the few positive trends in provision of public goods and services. She argued that non-state actors, like those supported by the Development Marketplace's grants and capacity building programs, have unique on-the-ground knowledge and resources.
Unfortunately, Albright noted, the policy infrastructure does not support active dialogue and engagement of the non-state actors in the policy-making and service delivery. "These changes are not supported by collaborative structures," she continued, "Modern states like the U.S. and India are not equipped to collaborate with these non-state providers." In the face of growing distrust of governments, she argued, these non-state providers cannot be ignored as they offer hope to those in dire need.
"One way to break a dysfunctional situation is to engage with local private sector companies and stake holders," she stated, "Food security, solutions to hunger, and productivity are all cases where local solutions work best. Civil society groups and corporations need to be involved up front and deeply in delivery."
Albright also discussed the moral implications of a conflict like Kosovo, her encounters with fellow Czech Vaclav Havel, and the implications of climate change.
The talk was part of the DEC Lecture series and Secretary Albright was joined by World Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim and Kaushik Basu, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group.
To read more about Secretary Albright's lecture read the World Bank's Staff Connection article, and in case you missed the talk, watch the playback.


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Street Machine counts down 101 of the all-time best car movies. What's your favourite?
Skip to section:
Mad Max (1979)
No surprises that Street Machine readers voted this baby their favourite car movie ever! A landmark Aussie film by any standards, Mad Max has it all – a gaggle of awesome cars and bikes, fantastic landscapes and some of the best dialogue you'll hear anywhere. In fact, it is entirely possible to spend a whole day conversing with family and friends using Mad Max quotes. Try using "Kick it in the guts, Murray" in a sentence today.
Despite having a much lower profile than the Mad Max series, Running On Empty slotted into second place by a mere handful of votes. It's not hard to see why, with heaps of street racing (and crashing) in some classic muscle cars. Like Mad Max, Running On Empty makes the most of Australia's wide open spaces. Highlights: The cars, including a GTHO, '70 Dodge Challenger R/T, a tough Monaro and a blown '57 Chev. Lowlights: Tight jeans, scary 80s haircuts. Best quote: "Green. Green is nice."
Read the review
You voted for the original version of this cops and crims caper over the remake by a huge margin. Why? Probably the 40-minute car chase where our hero's Mustang evades an army of cops, destroying around 90 cars in the process! All the stunts are painfully real too. Recently re-released, so should be easy to find.
Read the review
The Fast And The Furious (2001)
There might be plenty of rice-burners in this flick, but Vin Diesel's blown black Dodge more than makes up for it. Wins the Most Unnecessary Gear Changes In Just 400 Metres Ever award. And just how does the Dodge manage to pop its front wheels up, while smoking the rear tyres at the same time?
Max's coupe goes feral and gets blown sky high. Look out for heaps of other fun stuff, like a twin-turbo Landau and the legendary truck crash.
Read the review
Features one of filmdom's most famous car chases through the streets of San Francisco between a '68 'Stang GT 390 and a '68 Charger 440. It set the standard for EVERY car chase made since.
Read the review
Days Of Thunder (1990)
Get out the DVD and crank the surround sound and subwoofer action for the awe-inspiring experience of NASCAR in your own home.
A personal favourite of the Street Machine team. Great music, hilarious dialogue and the largest, stupidest car chase of all time. Best quote: "It's got a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tyres, cop shocks, cop suspension and it was made before catalytic converters, so it will run good on regular gas."
Read the review
A pill-popping ex-racer named Kowalski bets he can deliver a Dodge Challenger from Denver to San Francisco in 15 hours. Freaky stuff – watch out for the naked sheila on the minibike in the desert. Read the review
Cool Aussie flick, with possibly the only P76 chase sequence ever! Read the review
xXx (2002)
Vin Diesel stars as an extreme sports star forced into espionage by the US government. Vin drives a '67 Pontiac GTO, complete with a rocket launcher and flame thrower. The upcoming sequel is said to star a brand new Pontiac 'Monaro' GTO!
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Bond, Las Vegas, and orbiting space lasers. Crazy stunts, including a chase scene with Bond escaping down an alleyway in a Mach 1 on two wheels.
Features Stallone rollin' in an incredible custom 1950 Mercury, complete with Moon discs and nitrous. Great to see an old car serving it up to more modern machinery. Shame the dialogue is such rubbish.
Read the review
Die Another Day (2002)
Car chase between a Jaguar XKR and an Aston Martin Vanquish in this spectacular advertisement, sorry, Bond movie.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Excellent spy flick starring Matt Damon. More proof that if you are running from the cops in the tight streets of a European city, it is hard to beat a Mini.
Goldfinger (1964)
Legendary gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5 makes its debut, as does the famously named Pussy Galore and Oddjob with his deadly bowler hat.
The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)
Has arguably the best-ever Bond chase scene, involving an AMC Hornet that does a loop. Yee-haa!
Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
An Audi TT and Porsche Boxster duel at the start of the film. More a car fight scene than a car chase scene.
The Chain Reaction (1980)
Known overseas as Nuclear Run, starring Steve 'The Goose' Bisley, Hugh 'Toecutter' Keays-Byrne and some mean Aussie iron.
Dirty Deeds (2002)
Gangster movie set in the Sydney in the late 1960s. Watch out for the tail-happy car chase between an FB Holden ute and a flash Holden Prem.
Running From The Guns (1987)
Another obscure but cool Aussie car flick, with an XY GT and a Cobra replica.
Young bloke gets retrenched from his job making twin carby manifolds for grey motors, so he steals a 911 Turbo. Best Bits: Soundtrack by Don Walker and his mates from Cold Chisel.
Read the review
Stone (1974)
Okay, so it's a biker movie, but it's Aussie and it's weird. The 500-bike strong funeral procession is pretty special, as is the Z900 chase through the streets of suburban Sydney.
Dystopic exploration of illegal drag racing and modified car culture in suburban Australia. Some nice racing scenes, plus a chase in an Auscar!
Read the review
Two Hands (1999)
Some hot Aussie cars in this flick, including a cool XB coupe.
Danny wants a girl and a Jag. Jags are nice, but Danny's mate's Monaro is nicer.
Read the review
In The Red (1999)
Australia's answer to The Fast And The Furious.
The French Connection (1971)
Not really a car film as such, but The French Connection does feature an awesome scene in which copper Gene Hackman commandeers some hapless punter's car and proceeds to mangle it while chasing down a train. Filmed in real time and without permission from the authorities, every crash and every near miss is real.
Gone In 60 Seconds (2000)
Not a patch on the original, but it polled well thanks to the sex appeal of the film's star – a Shelby Mustang GT500.
Pommy crims punt a pack of Mini Coopers through the streets of Turin. Best bit: Still very funny. Worst bit: You'll end up saying 'guvner' a lot.
Read the review
Great chase scene filmed in real time and a single take, featuring an Audi with nitrous.
Read the review
The Seven Ups (1973)
A couple of Pontiacs race through the streets of NYC, pulling heaps of air in the process.
Grand Theft Auto (1977)
It's not often that you get to see a Rolls drifting or a VW being chased by a bus. Add in all the great crashes and you've got a classic movie.
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)
The car: Dodge Charger. The hook: Awesome chase action and amazing final sequence.
Read the review
Shopping (1994)
A violent Pommy flick about ram-raiding, starring Jude Law.
Two Lane Blacktop (1971)
James Taylor races his heavily worked '55 Chev against a Pontiac GTO for pink slips. Trivia: The same Chev was used in American Graffiti.
Repo Man (1984)
"It's 4am. Do you know where your car is?" For broad minds only.
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
A small country town engineers road accidents for profit.
The FJ Holden (1977)
Promoted as a happy slice of nostalgia, but is actually a bleak look at what it was to be a young adult in western Sydney in the 70s.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The epitome of 1980s cool. Watch for the destruction of a very collectable Ferrari 250 GT California.
Better Off Dead (1985)
Cult teen comedy starring a very young John Cusack and a '67 Camaro. A very funny flick that stands up well to repeated viewings.
Back To The Future (1985)
Michael J Fox is sent back to 1955 in a time machine constructed from a 1981 DeLorean – a stainless steel-bodied, gullwing-equipped, mid-engined sports car.
Driven (2001)
Stallone does an open-wheel version of Days Of Thunder.
Funny Car Summer (1974)
A fireman decides to race an experimental Funny Car.
Don't expect much of a story (our hero, Steve McQueen, doesn't say a single word until half an hour into the movie) but it has some awesome race action.
Read the review
Grand Prix (1966)
Probably the best motor racing flick ever. Features real footage of grand prix racing shot at Monza and Monaco, among others, complete with all the spills.
A biopic of Top Fuel legend, Shirley Muldowney.
Read the review
A young fella buys a crusty 1958 Plymouth Fury and is pleased when it magically restores itself. He is less pleased to find it is possessed by evil!
Read the review
A travelling salesman and his six-pot Plymouth Valiant are hunted down in the desert by one seriously pissed-off truckie. The ultimate road rage flick.
Read the review
The Car (1977)
A strange car terrorises the people of a small town. So bad, it's almost good. Custom work by George Barris.
Death Car On The Freeway (1979)
A freak in a van gets his thrills running innocent citizens off the road.
Read the review
Wheels Of Terror (1990)
A possessed car stalks kiddies in a village, so the bus driver gets behind the wheel of a stomping supercharged V8-powered bus to save the day.
Horror show plot showcases some very cool street machines.
Read the review
Some of the coolest cars to ever appear on celluloid, and inspired thousands of '32 Ford builds across the world. Watch out for a young Harrison Ford behind the wheel of a nasty '55 Chev.
Read the review
Think American Graffiti meets Porkys and you are there. Stars a blown '57 Chev, Tony Danza, Michelle Pfeiffer and Fran Drescher! Not for kiddies. Best bits: A race between a Cobra, a T-bucket and the '57 Chev.
Read the review
Dragstrip Girl (1957)
Rite-of-passage story about an 18-year-old girl encountering boys, hot rods and drag strips. B-grade with a capital B.
Pertinent in this day and age of the conflict between sponsorship, financially struggling racers, and getting hoons to race in relatively safe environments.
Read the review
Hot Rod Girl (1956)
A concerned cop organises supervised drag racing after illegal street drags get out of control.
The Wild Ride (1960)
This hot-rods-and-juvenile-delinquents flick stars Jack Nicholson.
Smokey And The Bandit (1977)
The Bandit is Burt Reynolds driving a Pontiac Trans Am, pursued by the gormless Sheriff Buford T Justice. Trans Am sales went through the roof after the film's release.
Cannonball Run (1981)
Another race-across-America movie with an all-star cast, including Burt Reynolds, Jackie Chan and Roger Moore. So bad it's actually good, as are the sequels.
Mark 'Luke Skywalker' Hamill stars as a young bloke who's out to recover his stolen 'Vette. Not sure if it is meant to be a comedy, but damn, it's funny!
Read the review
Catch Me If You Can (1989)
A school must raise $200,000 or it will close. The solution? Win the cash at the illegal street drags of course! Look out for a nice '68 Chevelle and '57 Chev.
Fast Company (1979)
Good-guy-versus-bad-guy dragster movie, but with more real-than-real feel, thanks to a driver's-eye view of a Funny Car pass.
Tucker (1988)
The story of Preston Tucker, who tried to take on Detroit's Big Three with his own car. Not exciting, but interesting.
Banzai Runner (1986)
A cop gets involved with drug-running desert racers. As you do.
Black Moon Rising (1986)
Tommy Lee Jones stars in this spy flick, driving a prototype car dubbed Black Moon.
Robert Mitchum plays a bootlegger in a 1950 Ford being pursued by the feds.
Read the review
The California Kid (1974)
An insane sheriff runs speeding drivers off mountainsides, until a victim's brother rocks up in his hot rod.
Another cool race-across-America flick.
Read the review
Daddy-O (1958)
Drag racer Daddy-O traps his best mate's killers and scores with a hotty.
A cross-country race where drivers score points by killing pedestrians.
Read the review
Death Sport (1978)
Sequel to Death Race 2000, but set in the year 3000.
Desert Steel (1989)
Rival racers risk their lives in a big off-road race.
The Devil On Wheels (1947)
A son is inspired by his father's reckless driving to become a hoon. Was misguidedly used in drivers education programs in the States, inspiring many teenagers to become hot rodders.
The Rock (1996)
Ferrari versus Hummer. 'Nuff said!
The Fast And The Furious (1954)
The original. Falsely charged with murder, the hero attempts to elude the law by stealing a car and entering the Pebble Beach race to make it over the border.
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1966)
Three go-go dancers get mixed up in the hot rod scene in the California desert.
Gumball Rally (1976)
Cross-America race with a Ferrari, a Cobra, a Merc SL and a Camaro zooming 2900 miles in 34 hours.
The Junkman (1982)
Made by HB Halicki, the lunatic behind the original Gone In 60 Seconds. This time he manages to destroy 60 more cars than he did the first time around!
The Last American Hero (1973)
Chronicles the life and minor crimes of a whiskey-runner turned stock car racer.
The Love Bug (1968)
Spawned a whole series of sequels, including one where Herbie gets it on with a Lancia. The Herbie series subliminally affected the subconscious of an entire nation (Mexico), so they continued building VW Beetles way past their use-by date.
Malcolm (1986)
Mechanical genius turns to a life of crime and builds the ultimate getaway car-cum-motorbike.
My Science Project (1985)
This sci-fi flick features the only other known Mad Max-style switch for activating a car's supercharger (in which they outrun electricity!). Has some cool 1980s lines, too.
Made James Dean the poster boy for most of the hot rod generation. Dean plays Jim Stark, a troubled teen from the right side of the tracks who is alienated from his parents and peers. The climactic scene is a real cliffhanger.
Read the review
Red Line 7000 (1965)
Top racing footage does not make up for an otherwise dull movie.
C'était Un Rendez-vous (1976)
Possibly the most infamous footage of a street-driven car ever. The eight-minute film features one continuous, on-board shot of what was originally thought to be a Ferrari being driven fast across early-morning Paris. In fact, it was a Mercedes with dubbed Ferrari engine noise to make it sound more powerful.
Return To Macon County (1975)
Billed as two guys, a chick and the hottest '57 Chevy on the road, this flick stars Nick Nolte and Don Johnson as two young blokes who get mixed up in drag racing and get in trouble with the law.
Van Nuys Blvd (1979)
Cool movie about a hick that visits the infamous Van Nuys Boulevard to test his car and his drag racing skills against the locals.
Vanishing Point (1997)
Very similar plot to the original with a near-identical Dodge as its star car. However, the more-developed plot is like a padded bra – all anticipation and then a big letdown when all is revealed.
Viva Las Vegas (1964)
Regular Elvis movie but worthy of note because he plays a race car driver who has to find a new donk for his machine. A story many of us can relate to.
Another bloody 'moonshine' flick with Burt Reynolds playing some south-western hick, this time named Gator McGlusky, with some nice fast chase sequences.
Read the review
Comedy about a car thief pulling off the job of a lifetime.
Taxi (1998)
It's French, but it's a classic. Really.
Landspeed (2002)
Straight-to-video tale starring Billy Zane, about a jet-powered land speed team trying to break the 1000mph barrier.
Ryan O'Neal stars as a getaway driver for hire.
Read the review
Used Cars (1980)
Starring Kurt Russell, this baby features some spectacular stunts.
Burt Reynolds plays an ageing stunt driver. Look out for the rocket car jump!
Read the review
Deuce Coupe (1992)
Two brothers love the same chick, so it's lucky they both love cars and speed as well. Nice drag racing scenes.
US telemovie now available on video. Lots of nice street racing action.
Read the review
Dead End Drive-In (1986)
Aussie flick about a drive-in used as a concentration camp for society's riff raff. Weird, with some nice stunts.


text:
Strangers in their own land, as they came of age
It was hard to be a Muslim child after 9/11, and it stayed hard for a while. But edges softened and the children have grown up, defining for themselves an American way.
Fifth in an eight-part series.
In social studies class, a boy passed Halla Abdelrahman a pocket dictionary.
Open it.
She turned to a bookmarked page. The entry for "terrorist'' was marked with a yellow highlighter.
Laila Alawa was bicycling to the town library. Two boys on bikes zoomed past.
Go back to where you came from!
For show-and-tell, Marwa Salem brought in kahk, the Egyptian cookies she loved to make with her mother at the end of Ramadan. Some of the other third-graders scoffed.
We don't eat Muslim food.
You probably poisoned them.
They were just children when animosity toward their religion, once muted, roared into the daily fray. It was on the cable news, on the tips of tongues: People like them were foreign, suspect, dangerous, culpable.
It was their country too, but in the weeks and months after Sept. 11, it didn't always feel that way.
A generation of young Muslims has come of age in the decade since the terrorist attacks. Sometimes it was hard, but they didn't have a choice. They are now nearly adults, defining for themselves what it means to be Muslim in America.
"I was like, 'Why are they hugging her? . . . We're fine. Nobody died in our family.' ''
The Salem family moved to Revere from East Boston in the summer of 2000. Marwa was going into second grade, her sister, Mona, into fourth.
They settled with their parents and older brother in a densely populated Italian-American neighborhood. Their father, a manager at DeLuca's Market, and their mother, a school cafeteria worker, had come from Egypt a dozen years earlier. In Revere, they felt at home among the Italians, who seemed as devoted to food and family as Egyptians were.
They bought a clapboard house a couple of blocks from the beach, near a small park. The children played day and night with the other youngsters - freeze tag, basketball, ding-dong-ditch. There were neighborhood parties with three-legged races and hula hoop contests.
Within a couple of years, some families left for the suburbs. The man who took care of the park died; the feeling of togetherness was no longer quite the same.
But on the afternoon of Sept. 11, Marwa heard banging on the front door. A group of neighbors came in and embraced her mother.
It's OK. We're going to help you through this.
"I had no connection with my religion whatsoever. I was pretty much ashamed of it.''
Halla Abdelrahman's parents, who grew up in Sudan and Egypt, didn't go to the mosque. A bookish girl with long pigtails, she was born in Egypt, where her father attended medical school before coming to Boston to study public health. Her mother occasionally tried to teach her Koranic verses, but Halla never saw the point.
She had no concept of divinity. What little she knew scared her.
A playmate in her neighborhood in Jamaica Plain once mentioned God.
Who is that?
He knows everything you're doing.
She heard an aunt saying something about Judgment Day, that people would be running in the streets. Halla cried.
When she was in fifth grade, her parents took her with them to Mecca. She wore a black burqa, walked for hours alongside her family. She noticed that when she accidentally bumped into someone, the person seemed not to see her, as if in another world.
The Sept. 11 attacks came the first week of seventh grade. Halla had just started at the John D. O'Bryant School of Math and Science in Roxbury. The action seemed far away, like all the big tragedies on the news.
That Halloween, she wore a bandana. A friend thought it looked vaguely like a head scarf and refused to walk next to her. A small thing, but it seared. Muslims, she began to understand, were seen differently now.
Many of her classmates didn't know what her religion was, though, and Halla hardly volunteered the information. One day, a girl at school asked her directly.
Are you Muslim?
The incline of the girl's chin, her judgmental air, guided Halla's answer.
"When I used to hang out with my friends from school, I used to go to their house, play video games. I did that with my Muslim friends, too.''
Ebad Rahman was always the only Muslim child in his class. But it didn't bother him, not really.
A soft-spoken, empathetic boy who tended to assume the best about other people, Ebad had plenty of friends in the upscale neighborhood in Nashua where he lived with his parents, two younger brothers, and younger sister. His father, who had come from Pakistan with Ebad's mother before the children were born, was a neurologist at St. Joseph Hospital.
The elementary school Ebad and his siblings attended was the kind of place where parents are always dropping in for a book report party or a class performance. In the mornings, Ebad and his brothers got to the bus stop 45 minutes early to play cops and robbers with the other children.
He had a circle of close friends at the Islamic Society of Greater Lowell, too, children he had known since preschool. The Rahmans were one of the community's founding families, first meeting in someone's house in Salem, N.H., then in an office building, and eventually in a former church they converted into a mosque.
As the community grew and prospered, soft rugs replaced the rough industrial carpet. On Eid, the celebration of the end of Ramadan, the Rahmans would host a huge lunch, then spend the rest of the day visiting other families.
The only time Ebad felt any tension between his two lives was when the subject of the Middle East arose. He sympathized with the Palestinians. But the government, and most Americans, seemed to support Israel. It made Ebad uneasy, as if there were some fundamental conflict between his country and his religion.
By the time Ebad was in high school, the Rahmans had moved to a large house with arched windows and tall pillars in the nearby town of Hollis. He got good grades, and ran on the track team. When his friends from school came over on weekends, they would order a stack of pizzas, hook up a string of Xboxes, and play endless series of Halo.
On Sundays, he went to the mosque for a three-hour youth class, which by high school had become less about religious education than football and basketball. When his Muslim friends came over, they played video games, too, or sometimes grabbed dinner at a halal restaurant.
The terrorist attacks occurred his freshman year. A few months later, one of his cousins was rollerblading through a park in Texas with his fiancee, and a woman called the police to report that she had seen Osama bin Laden.
He and his brothers had a good laugh over that one. But his parents warned them: Watch what you say in public.
As college approached, Ebad began to wonder what it would be like to merge his Muslim life and his school life. How would it feel to no longer be the only Muslim in class, to see his Muslim friends on an everyday basis?
And if he didn't go to a campus with a large enough Muslim community, where would he go for Friday prayers? Who would break the fast with him during Ramadan?
He chose the University of Massachusetts Amherst over the University of New Hampshire. UMass had a larger, more active Muslim community, and Ebad wanted to be part of it.
"I felt helpless, because you can't really change people. . . . All I did was cry. I was a child. So there was not much you could do.''
Mona Salem was a sensitive, extroverted little girl who basked in the adoration of those around her. Her parents doted on her. Her playmates followed her lead.
In the sixth grade, she got her period. It was time for her to begin wearing a head scarf.
She had always loved the hijab. When she was 6 or so, she had begged to cover her head; her mother said she would have to wait, she was too young. But now that she was finally old enough, she balked.
In the months following the attacks, the Salems' house had been egged and toilet-papered.
A Muslim friend of her older brother's was beaten up at school. After that, Mona noticed, he traded his usual loose-fitting robe for American clothes.
Her mother pressed her gently.
You have to wear your scarf. It's part of your religion.
Mona refused.
If they make fun of you, they aren't your friends.
Several months passed, and at last her mother brought her to see a trusted family friend, the imam's wife. She opened the Koran and began to read aloud to Mona.
Mona feared losing her friends. But she was terrified of displeasing God. When her mother came to pick her up, Mona was wearing a head scarf.
The next school day, Mona wrapped a light pink scarf over her hair. It felt good; she felt settled. Her father brought her to school, hoping to ease the transition with a little parental diplomacy. He accompanied Mona to the main office and explained to the principal what the hijab was, and why his daughter was wearing it.
The bell had already rung when Mona got to her classroom. She opened the door, her classmates looked up.
A girl shouted: She's a towel head!
The other students burst out laughing. The teacher said nothing. Mona waited until she got home to cry.
After that, her friends evaporated. She spent the rest of sixth grade isolated. Her brother told her not to be a baby, but Mona disappeared into herself.
"The reason we talk about multiculturalism so much is because people are afraid to allow it into their own lives. They are afraid to make friends and relationships with people who are from what they see as a completely foreign background, completely alien.''
As children growing up in Berkley, Mass., Laila Alawa and her younger brothers and sisters would invent whole neighborhoods, populating them with loved ones from faraway.
They would walk down their street, pointing to each house: A friend from their old mosque would live here, an aunt from Denmark there, a cousin from Syria there. It was as impossible as it was delightful to imagine. Laila, an outgoing, precocious child, had no playmates then besides her five siblings.
Her parents had decided to raise their children in small towns when they moved to the United States from Japan, where Laila's Syrian father had studied engineering. They didn't want their children to grow up in a Muslim enclave, as Muslim children so often did in Laila's mother's native Denmark. In a regular small town, they reasoned, their children would mix in, and come to feel that America was their country as much as anyone else's.
Laila's mother, whose keen intelligence and boundless energy matched her eldest child's, also chose to homeschool the children. With a degree in pedagogy, she thought she could give them an excellent education as well as instill in them a solid religious identity. To make sure they had friends and felt part of the community, she went out of her way to involve them in activities outside of school - volunteering, sports, homeschooling groups.
But in Berkley, where the family moved from upstate New York shortly after Sept. 11, the other families who came to the library for story hour never invited the Alawa children to play. A homeschooling group stopped meeting after Laila's mother heard about one of their get-togethers and decided to join in.
When her mother attended a curriculum sale for homeschoolers at a nearby church - spending, as usual, extravagantly on books - a woman followed her, yelling, as she left with her arms full.
Did you pay for that?
So Laila and her siblings inhabited a small world of their own.
Together, they learned about ancient Rome, Native Americans, the Vikings. They sampled the riches of museums in Boston and hiked in the woods near home.
After lessons, they played outside, naming the rocks in their front yard. Sometimes, they wrote and acted in their own plays, or played an elaborate adventure game they called Wilderness Woods. Laila - always the leader - even turned chores into a game. She and her next-eldest sister knitted and made jewelry and read books by the dozen.
The next-door neighbors, whom the children called Mr. Art and Ms. Marge, were kind to the Alawa children and invited them over to chat. The librarian at the tiny town library let Laila and her sister volunteer as her helpers.
Behind the circulation desk, Laila tried to be on her very best behavior. She might be the only Muslim someone from Berkley had ever met. She had to show them how smart and helpful and good Muslims were.
At the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, where her family attended the Friday evening dinner and lecture, Laila found other children to play with. But as homeschoolers, the Alawa siblings stuck out there, too.
Laila's mother slipped her packets of gum and candy, hoping to help her make friends. But Laila's enormous vocabulary irritated the other children. She hadn't learned that essential playground skill: how to hold back, how to play it cool.
It was here, though, that Laila finally made her first real friend. They had sleepovers, talked about books and movies. Laila was 12 years old, and it was bliss.
"You come over here and live in the projects, it's like - whoa. I wasn't used to the projects then, or going to public school and stuff.''
The phone rang at a comfortable house behind a locked gate in Nairobi. Nur Hersi, then 9, watched as his mother spoke to the government official on the line. Their flight to Boston had been canceled indefinitely. Nur's mother flipped on the news, and Nur saw the burning buildings in New York.
It would be almost two years before Nur's family got another chance to move to America.
Home had always been an elusive concept for Nur, a wiry, warm-eyed boy with an easygoing nature.
He was born to a prosperous family in Somalia, but when war broke out, they moved to Ethiopia; two years later, they moved again, to Kenya. As soon as they arrived, his father left for a two-week trip to visit a sick brother back home in Somalia. Nur answered the phone when his older half-sister called with the news: Their father had been shot to death by a burglar in a home invasion.
Nur adored his father. He laid down the rules, but he would adjust them, too. He's a boy, he would tell Nur's mother with a grin. He's a boy.
At the neighborhood Koran school Nur attended in Kenya, he sat in a circle with the other students, cross-legged on rugs in a large hall. His teachers there helped him cope with his father's death.
Let it go. Let God judge them.
In other respects, Nur was happy enough in Nairobi. The family had a security guard and a maid, and they lived near an expansive park, where he played soccer every free moment.
But his mother wanted to leave. There were tensions between native Kenyans and Somali immigrants, and she felt it was too dangerous for her children to attend regular school. They had lots of family in America. So when an opportunity to move to the United States finally arose again, she seized it.
They landed in Boston on a cold afternoon in April 2003. Nur shivered as he walked down the jetway with his mother, little brother, and three younger sisters. His uncle picked them up and brought them to his apartment in Cambridge and ordered some pizza.
Nur's brother stared at the flat bread dripping with a strange yellow-and-red goo.
What are you trying to feed me, plastic?
When Nur had imagined what the United States would be like, he pictured his life in Kenya, but somehow better, shinier. Reality hit hard: In Boston, the family settled into a cramped apartment in the Old Colony housing project in Southie. Nur's mother worked as an attendant at the Boston Common parking garage. Nur spent his free time baby-sitting his younger siblings.
But he wouldn't have dreamed of complaining to his mother about their circumstances. She spoke with him honestly about her worries; Nur was the man of the house now.
"I learned to h ave tougher skin. That didn't come overnight.''
Things began to get better for Mona in seventh grade. When her school absorbed children from other elementary schools, it became more diverse. Suddenly there were African-American and Hispanic students, immigrants from all over. She began making new friends.
Eventually, there were even other girls who wore a head scarf. She felt unexpectedly indignant, as if they were encroaching on her identity.
By the end of high school, she had recovered the confidence of her childhood. She had a job she liked at
On Friday evenings, she runs a religious study group for teenage girls at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury. The girls adore her. When they ask for advice she does her best, though some of their problems are so complex, she isn't always sure what to say.
She can be relentless when she finds a way to help. Last year, she met a young Muslim girl facing violence at home and found there were no Muslim homeless shelters or foster homes to take her in. So Mona began raising money to open a Muslim-friendly shelter in Boston.
"As the Muslim community,'' she told an audience at a fund-raising dinner last month, "it is our obligation to address these issues, and not look away.''
Yet even now, Mona has few close friends. And when she thinks about her future, she sometimes imagines settling in Egypt, where she visits her cousins every few years. She finds the culture there less materialistic, more centered on family and religious life.
She is certain about one thing: If she has children, she will not raise them here, not after what she endured.
"You can stay over here, make money over here, live a better lifestyle, or go to a place you ran from. . . . Any of the teenagers from here would never ever in their life go back to Somalia.''
As a teenager in Boston, Nur encountered a world that in some ways was more perilous than the one he had left behind in Africa. But he managed to escape the undertow that claims so many young men in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Friendly but savvy, he steered clear of gangs, neither provoking nor affiliating himself with them. At Madison Park, the vocational high school in Roxbury, he made friends from all over the city from different religious and ethnic backgrounds. After recovering from a period of distraction he blames on girlfriends and socializing, he graduated this year with a 3.5 grade point average.
The boy who once spent five hours a day studying the Koran no longer considers himself terribly religious. He stopped going to Koran school in his junior year of high school; the other teens his age had already drifted away, and he felt sheepish about being the oldest one.
When he drops by the mosque's cafe in Roxbury after work to hang out with friends, he first pauses to pray. It is more a gesture of respect for his elders than one of religious devotion; the Somali community in Boston is like a small town, and children feel their elders' eyes on them.
He cannot remember Somalia, but he still feels a strong connection to it. This summer, he worked at a Somali community center raising money for drought victims. During Ramadan this year, he faithfully kept the fast as a sign of respect for the hungry.
Nur is confounded by the occasional news stories about Somali teenagers in the United States who become attracted to groups like Al Shabab, the Somali Islamic militant organization that controls parts of Mogadishu. Al Shabab is a joke, Nur says. They act like top dogs, but the people are starving.
This fall, he's headed to Bunker Hill Community College. He wants to study civil engineering. His life in 10 years, as he imagines it, keeps getting better: A wife, two children, a big house, lots of money.
"For a long time I struggled with learning how to forgive others, but life is just way too short. If anything, the people who did try to make me feel bad back then, if I could say anything to them, it would be thank you, because I'm so happy right now.''
Last fall, Halla's father became ill, and her parents began attending Friday midday prayers at the Roxbury mosque. They invited Halla to join them.
She resisted at first. In January, as she began her last semester at Suffolk University, she relented. Family friends from years ago seemed surprised to see her, but they greeted her warmly.
The community connection brought her back the next week; a spiritual awakening developed more gradually. The words of the Koran - the sacred text of Islam that Muslims believe God revealed to the Prophet Mohammed - moved her.
She felt humbled by the melancholy beauty of the language. The verses offered a kind of peace she hadn't known before. Her childhood conception of an angry, vengeful God fell away, and she came to know a God of mercy and forgiveness.
Within months, she found herself helping to host a Koran recitation competition at the mosque, in which young people chant chapters from memory in Arabic. It moved Halla to hear the youngest children, some just 3 or 4 years old. She began to consider what she had missed, without even realizing it.
Halla started reading the Koran in English, then in Arabic. She memorized long passages in Arabic, guided by recordings online. The five daily prayers found their way into her schedule.
Last month, she spent a Sunday afternoon hosting a second Koran competition. This time, she joined in with the other beginners, some half her 22 years, reciting one of the shorter chapters. She won.
"A lot of Muslims, especially in Eastern Massachusetts, are separated by one degree. Last week I met someone and we started talking - 'Which mosque community are you from? Sharon? Do you know this guy, do you know this guy?' . . . I still hang out with mostly Muslims, that's like 95 percent of the people I hang out with.''
Ebad chose a dorm in a section of the UMass campus where a lot of other Muslim students lived. His randomly assigned freshman roommate turned out to be someone he already knew through the Lowell mosque.
The first week of school, he went to an open house hosted by the Muslim Student Association. There were students he knew already, and others he had never met. But the feeling of solidarity was unmistakable, and it was exhilarating. The friends he made that day turned out to be, for the most part, his core group at UMass.
As time went on, Ebad noticed an odd silence on campus. Muslim students didn't seem to get involved in politics. He also sensed that many of the other Muslim students felt they ought to watch what they say in public, as his own parents had warned him. After Sept. 11, the consequences of being misunderstood were too great.
But, Ebad thought, if Muslims didn't participate in civic life, how could they hope for the fear to dissipate? If they didn't speak up, how could they expect people to value their points of view?
He was studying astronomy because the big conceptual questions of the universe fascinated him. Journalism became his second major, and he began to write a column for the Daily Collegian.
Sometimes he focused on politics, like the casualties Pakistani civilians were suffering from US drone attacks. Other columns were cultural explainers, like what it meant to eat halal food.
With two friends, he formed a new Muslim student political group on campus. They started small, inviting a professor to give a talk about the war in Afghanistan, and screening documentaries. Some efforts went over well; several hundred people showed up to hear a surgeon who had worked in the Gaza Strip talk about the plight of the Palestinians. Others didn't, like a not-very-well organized effort to persuade UMass to divest from Israel.
Ebad, now 25, is a bit more practical these days. He remains involved at the Lowell mosque, where he helps the youth put out a newsletter. In the 2010 midterm elections, he ran a voter registration drive there, hoping to encourage political participation in the Muslim community. He is finishing his master's degree in public health at Tufts University.
Though he sometimes still hangs out with his old classmates from high school, he spends far more time with the family friends he has known since he can remember and with his wide circle of Muslim friends from college.
Maybe, he thinks, when he begins his career, his social circle will widen to include more non-Muslims. But he recognizes it's somehow easier to bond with other Muslims; there is less explaining to do, more in common.
He sometimes puzzles over the practical difficulties of multiculturalism, how Muslims can maintain their religious and cultural identity without isolating themselves. He doesn't have answers yet.
"It's really easy to be caught up in your own little world and not think about things going on around you. But I think that as a Muslim American, I have that responsibility to take a step back and try to make a difference.''
When Laila was almost 14, her family moved to East Hampstead, N.H., a town not much bigger than Berkley. But her world began to expand.
She took classes in ecology and neuroscience at Harvard Extension School. She volunteered at the Boston Museum of Science and the Harvard Museum of Natural History. She had always loved bugs; she got an internship with an entomology postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. The social behavior of insects was what fascinated her, the intricately organized worlds of ants and bees.
She was just 16 when she entered Wellesley College, a place as cosmopolitan and convivial as the towns she grew up in had seemed, so often, provincial and cold. Overnight, she had friends. And they lived just down the hall.
By the end of her sophomore year, she began venturing to the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury. It's a large, urban community with people from all over the world, a place that can be easy to get lost in. But buoyed by the self-assurance she had gained in college, she managed to carve out a place for herself there. Soon, her mother began loading the younger children into the sport utility vehicle and driving the whole family to Roxbury, too.
A younger sister is off to Mount Holyoke College in January, and one of her brothers is halfway through high school. But her five youngest siblings, 1 to 13 years old, will likely have a very different coming-of-age experience than their eldest sister did.
Their parents have concluded they were overly optimistic about small-town America, naïve to expect neighbors there to readily welcome people so different. They have come to regret that they never gave their older children the chance to live in a neighborhood where they could comfortably walk out and play with the other children. Perhaps they changed a few people's minds about Muslims, but in retrospect, it wasn't worth their children's loneliness.
They are looking for a new home, within 15 miles of Boston.
Laila, a 20-year-old senior at Wellesley, plans to go on to graduate school in psychology. Her research interests are religious stereotyping and female leadership.
She might go abroad to study, or volunteer for the Peace Corps, but she doesn't plan on leaving the country permanently. America is where her family lives, where her friends live, where she belongs.
Lisa Wangsness can be reached at email@example.com.


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