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Student leaders: Thank you, New Hampshire, for your support of USNH
July 16. 2013 5:22PM
THE RECENT PASSAGE of the 2014-15 state budget by the New Hampshire Legislature marks a promising step forward. With the restoration of $53 million in funding to the University System of New Hampshire over the next biennium, the New Hampshire House and Senate have demonstrated a renewed commitment to higher education in New Hampshire. Given this commitment, we — the student leadership of the four USNH institutions — wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Legislature, the governor and the citizens of New Hampshire who made it all happen.
For those who may question the funding increase or the implications that it will have on USNH students, let us first be clear that this is not a hand out, nor have we ever even considered asking for one. Students at USNH institutions are proud to emulate the efficient and hard-working ethic characteristic of New Hampshire, but the fact of the matter is that it had come to a point where the cuts were being made into the bone and muscle rather than the fat.
Even with more than half of our peers working jobs (often 40+ hours a week) in addition to pursuing their studies, we still have students struggling financially, not because they are not incredibly hard-working, but because they were faced with an unprecedented lack of support. Continuation of the status quo would've scared off businesses, prospective students (and, consequently, talent) and hurt the economy in the process. With the recent vote, the Legislature has reversed this trend, placing us on the path towards a healthy economy and workforce.
As a result of this action — and as requested by Gov. Hassan — USNH has reciprocated the state's gesture by implementing a two-year tuition freeze for in-state students. Given the costs of higher education, the positive effects of this action on us and our peers are profound. It will have widespread implications on a personal, familial and economic level. Not only will it afford us a much-needed alleviation of financial burden, but every cent of savings will shorten the time and amount we are in debt. And thanks to compounded interest, what would seem to be only a marginal savings in nominal terms will become thousands of dollars in savings in the long term.
As a result, New Hampshire students will be able to contribute earlier and more fully to the state's economy, and given the fact that parents often need to help get their students through college, these benefits will also extend to parents' contributions to the economy as well. In these difficult times, mere dollars can determine if a student can afford a college education or not, so you can be confident that a figure like $53 million will make a resounding positive impact on students.
Every one of us has benefited immensely from one of our state's incredible institutions, and the same goes for our peers. Because of the University of New Hampshire, Keene State College, Granite State College and Plymouth State University, many of us have been able to gain the skills necessary to succeed in life and give back to the state, or at least get on the path to doing so. Thanks to the Legislature, our best-in-class state institutions can continue to provide skills to students and subsequently, the state economy.
Thanks to the requested support, we and our fellow students — along with the beloved institutions we attend — will finally be able to catch our collective breathes and continue our pattern of improvement and efficiency. We are proud to be part of the USNH system, and even more proud to be part of our incredible state of New Hampshire. We are immensely grateful that our fellow citizens, governor and legislators have decided to invest as much pride and faith in us as we have in them, and we are hopeful that all involved shareholders — from the state government to its citizens — can continue to find common ground and understanding in the improvement of higher education in New Hampshire.
Bryan Merrill, from Londonderry, is a junior at the University of New Hampshire and is the study body president.
Ryan Patten, from Wolfeboro, is a senior at Plymouth State University and is the Student Senate speaker.
Tyler King, from Lebanon, is a senior at Keene State College and is the senior class representative and chair of the Student Assembly.
Kim Hallet, from Rochester, is a senior at Granite State College and was a student trustee on the USNH Board of Trustees during the budgetary process, in addition to being the GSC student representative to the board.


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Watch The ::God Is Imaginary Videos On YouTube ::
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Once again, evidence for their power?We've already established that they were always a minority, since they were never a majority (not a false dichotomy; by definition you're either a minority or a majority), so now I want evidence for their power.
People started thinking and realized that it was a lie. Unfortunately, some (I'd say "most", but I have no evidence for that) went with a different lie (different religion), while others went for the truth (atheism).EDIT: It's also possible that they just died out, although I don't think this has ever happened.
On July 25, 1924, in McCook, Nebraska, a crowd of 10,000 people watched a parade of 200 klansmen, many from surrounding towns, and listened to a lecture on "Americanism" by a Mr. Stewart, reputedly a minister and klan organizer from Kansas City. Stewart, who was introduced to the crowd by the mayor.-- Michael W Schuyler, "The Ku Klux Klan in Nebraska, 1920-1930," Nebraska History 66 (1985): 234-256.That's just one example of hundreds of similar stories like it, a quick google search and you can read them for yourself.
How and why would they come to realize that their entire belief system, that they had been raised from birth to believe, by trusted parents and community leaders... was a lie? And how and why would they fall for another lie?
The fact is, and if you study how Christianity came to replace Hellenism as the dominant religion in the civilized world, the minority Christians slowly marginalized the majority Hellenists, converting their more moderate members until Christians became the majority at which point they killed the remaining Hellenists.
They did this through a combination of attacking the logical inconsistancies in Hellenist canon (irony!), mocking the ridiculous origin stories and creation myths in Hellenist theology, and by adopting Hellenist rituals to make Christianity seem less foreign, more approachable and acceptable. (Wine, the eucharist, fish symbolism, etc.)
Religions need books because they don't have gods.
This kind of got buried in an edit of one of my posts, but I'd really like to hear what people think about the fact that Andrea Yates' roomate in the mental hospital is Dena Schlosser, also a Christian who murdered her child to protect him from the coming apocalypse.That just blows my mind.
Quote from: joebbowers on November 28, 2011, 08:26:12 AMThat's just one example of hundreds of similar stories like it, a quick google search and you can read them for yourself.A mayor of a small town and a parade? Seriously?
That's just one example of hundreds of similar stories like it, a quick google search and you can read them for yourself.
If I were to concede that such a thing was possible, the only way to do that would be to put every single atheist in the same state/country and slowly marginalize the minorities in that state/country, slowly moving outward until everyone else was an atheist and so on.
That said, if we were to marginalize all theists because of their beliefs, we would be no better than them.
To force them to stay in the sidelines because of their beliefs rather than their actions is unfair and goes against every concept of freedom I've ever heard of.
Quote from: joebbowers on November 28, 2011, 08:26:12 AMThey did this through a combination of attacking the logical inconsistancies in Hellenist canon (irony!), mocking the ridiculous origin stories and creation myths in Hellenist theology, and by adopting Hellenist rituals to make Christianity seem less foreign, more approachable and acceptable. (Wine, the eucharist, fish symbolism, etc.)We can't do the last one and they don't listen to the rest.
It's just a coincidence, kinda like "Jesus's" face appearing on a piece of toast, although I'm surprised that these people can be so fucking retarded.
I disagree, your argument implies that our belief systems are equally valid. They are not.
Only the most extreme fundamentalists would be marginalized in the end. Along the way the rest, the ones open to rational thought and able to free themselves of the oppresive yolk of their religious dogma, would be liberated. They would be on our side, as you are now, former theist.
Sometimes they do listen, former theist.
The last one is already done for us. The fact is that ALL of them already live in the real world, NONE of them live in the magical world of the bible. Most of them have already accepted reality, whether they are conscious of it or not. When they need money, they get jobs. They don't try to catch a fish with a gold coin in it's mouth. When they are sick, they go to hospitals. They don't (only) pray for healing. They don't sacrifice animals, they don't give up all of their posessions, they don't smash their enemies babies against rocks. Again, I said most.Our scientific world is not as foreign to them as they would like to imagine. For many the transition will be easy.
For others, the extreme believers, the Andrea Yateses and Anders Breiviks of the world, blood and bars baby, blood and bars.[1] 1. Death or institutionalization.
Saw a potato chip once that looked like a profile of Jay Leno's face. I'm pretty sure that means Leno is the son of God.
I think what you two are trying to say is:<snip>The message seems to be that religion is a pointless add-on to human life. It does not alter anything. It does not prevent or encourage the worst or the greatest behaviours. Not only is it pointless but, like carrying anything around with you, it hinders your progress as it makes for lazy thinking.
My argument is that if we want to improve society, then we cannot do the same thing that has been the downfall of just about every social movement - marginalization and ridicule.
"The end" is irrelevant if "the middle" does not conform to the same standards of morality.
I had nobody argue with me. I came to that conclusion by myself. Many cannot apply logic to their own beliefs and some will never accept another person's arguments.
Quote from: joebbowers on November 28, 2011, 09:24:17 AMFor others, the extreme believers, the Andrea Yateses and Anders Breiviks of the world, blood and bars baby, blood and bars.[1] 1. Death or institutionalization.Death is not an option.
Quote from: joebbowers on November 28, 2011, 09:28:23 AMSaw a potato chip once that looked like a profile of Jay Leno's face. I'm pretty sure that means Leno is the son of God.You should've kept it and sold it on eBay. You would've earned a couple hundred dollars.
The message seems to be that religion is a pointless add-on to human life. It does not alter anything. It does not prevent or encourage the worst or the greatest behaviours. Not only is it pointless but, like carrying anything around with you, it hinders your progress as it makes for lazy thinking.
Marginalization is absolutely necessary, otherwise they remain the majority. And don't think they're not trying their hardest to marginalize us.
Banging that ridicule drum again? Haven't we covered that?
The steps that we should take to marginalize theists have been explained to you many times. They are completely non-violent and mostly focus on education, to encourage moderate believers and future generations to embrace the logical world and reject ridiculous theological dogma.
I doubt I'd get the same disagreement from you if we replaced religion with smoking. Should schools take a non-interventionist approach to smoking, and not teach young children of it's dangers? Ever read a school pamphlet on smoking, they too use mockery as a tool. And religion is far more dangerous than smoking.
But you were aware that atheism existed, you knew that was an option. I guarantee you had heard at least one of the arguments against Christianity at some point before you suddenly came to the conclusion by yourself. You harvested the fruit yourself, but did you ever wonder who planted the seed?
I've never suggested we should kill them for their beliefs, but the actions of certain extreme fundamentalists force us to defend ourselves.
Children of Christian Scientists and Jehovah's Witnesses die every day as their parents do not allow them to receive medical care. This requires intervention, in this case bars. Hitler was Christian, waging a war on atheism that included Jews, as they do not believe in the Christ, ie., Jesus as God. In that case, blood.
I ate it and the leg I lost in 'Nam grew back instantly! Of course I have no proof of this but some other people I told the story to believed me, so it must be true.
A couple of years ago I was dating a gorgeous girl who didn't want to get serious with me because of my weight. She said that it was embarassing to be seen with me. She wasn't mean, but she didn't sugar-coat it. Over the next year I lost about 120 pounds and went from US size 44 pants to size 34 (32 if I squeeze it in)
Sorry, that's not what I meant at all. If you read the part I quoted from kcrady, you'll see that he asked me to give examples. I did. I'm not saying "let's not ridicule them because they might be right". They're not.I'm saying "let's not ridicule them because some bad shit might happen". We all know how fundies good christians are; they're not above killing anyone cleansing the United States of America God, and they would probably be prayed for if they did it.Hell, given the fundies' good christians' usual state of mind, I'm surprised they haven't tried to exterminate all of us convert us using the power of the holy ghost because of the billboards.
If Christians inspire the same kind of fear Muslims do with regards to potential violence as a response to being publicly humiliated, we need to step up the game before the next generation gets too brainwashed.
I can't imagine kcrady is talking about laughing in the face of a friend like you illustrated,
but passing along the jokes that poke fun at the religion on facebook, rolling your eyes and smirking knowingly the next time someone mentions without god one can't really know good from bad, putting decals of the Flying Spaghetti Monster evolved from the jesus fish on your car - these are ways of publicly showing a refusal to respect folly. Mockery, if you will.
Once again, evidence for their power?
Same reason we don't believe in the gods that are worshiped nowadays. People started thinking and realized that it was a lie.
I suspect another belief system replaced it, not that it was a lie but that another belief system explained what this one can't. In other words, it lost its relevancy. Discussion is one way to effect this change. Poking fun at jesus with a really big stick is another.
Humiliation is one thing. Mockery is another. Mockery always achieves humiliation, be it for the person who's being mocked or the person who is doing the mocking. Humiliation can be achieved through various means.That said, I agree with what you said, but remember that the number of atheists is rising. People are becoming smarter(ish).
In my example, that's a random stranger in the middle of the street. Not a friend.
I see those to be the equivalent of jokes about atheists. They're not meant to humiliate anyone, just entertain them.
If something is not true, then it is a lie.
That said, if we were to marginalize all theists because of their beliefs, we would be no better than them.To force them to stay in the sidelines because of their beliefs rather than their actions is unfair and goes against every concept of freedom I've ever heard of.
I think one of the tools we have at our disposal that is a real advantage is the internet and social networking. It's easy to poke fun of the folly of religion in a relatively anonymous way. Anyone who feels embarrassed gets to save face by not having to defend themselves personally to a friend or co-worker but the seed has been planted - what you believe is essentially this foolishness.
I don't get the impression anyone here is advocating this kind of mockery. Some people can get away with being snarky and some can't. I can't. I don't come across as casually funny when I try to be witty, I come across as bitchy, so it wouldn't be a tool for me but that doesn't mean it's not a valuable tool.
They're absolutely meant to humiliate atheists. When that doesn't work, an appeal to emotion is generally the next step (suggesting one ought to be ashamed to believe in social Darwinism and eugenics).
I think you give people too much credit for being rational thinkers. We are by nature reactive thinkers. We attribute cause to otherwise meaningless events. Without the benefit of a rationally based education, we're no more likely to replace xianity with atheism than we are with crystalology and fung shui.
One of the ways I see mockery as a tool is to chip away at the existing belief system by revealing its utter foolishness. Replacing it with another belief (ie, rational thinking is beneficial) is like phase two and can and should be done nearly simultaneously.
There's a very thin line between "poking fun" and "mocking". The first is making a few jokes about theism and such without any intention other than "to have fun". The second is actively yelling in their faces "LOLOLOLOL YOU GUYS ARE SO STUPID!" which, IMO, says more about the person who's mocking them than the theists.
I can get away with being snarky, but that's because my friends (and even some who aren't my friends) know me. However, I don't use that to mock my friends. I use it to have fun.
I never thought of them like that. I think you're over-analyzing this.
I would consider something like this to be appropriate mocking:The caption to this picture reads, "Some people see Jesus in a slice of toast, others find him in more inspiring places."<snip>Next time a theist sees jesus in toast or mary in the peanut butter, they should think twice about thinking it to be a sign from god.
I'm missing any comments that suggest you alienate your friends by mocking them.
I could be wrong, I imagine Joe wouldn't have friends with silly religious beliefs because he would take the first opportunity to let them know their beliefs are actually quite idiotic. That's not my style at all but I have a certain appreciation for that tactic.
I live next door to a very nice woman whose son is the same age as my son and in the summers they play all day together. She has a poster in her front hall right next to the coats and shoes, her kids look at it every day before going out. This poster has an image of a path that leads either to heaven (but the path is narrow and rocky), or to hell (and the path is easy-going). It creeps me out but I would never say anything to her or in front of her because she's a neighbor and a friend and I value that friendship more than I value getting the last word in. So again, I think there's a time and place for everything and I'm getting the impression you're understanding mockery as an all or nothing tactic.
Could be, but it's a common path I've seen among theists confronted with the idea that one of their own has rejected the story. The latest one is on a friend's blog. She explained how she's come to the conclusion that her religious beliefs didn't have any value and has rejected xianity. Here's a comment:"Rachel, you mentioned "biological instinct, natural selection and the way that we instinctively preserve and improve the species by defining what is good." I assume here you are speaking the "might makes right" of the survival of the fittest from evolutionary theory. Which of course, if you truly believe this, I would think you might then be happy about Israelite people killing the obviously weaker as evidenced by their defeat Amalakites or other people's not able to "survive."(just a note: I don't believe you feel like that no more than you celebrated a Tsunami killings thousands of Japanese last year, though your theories might require that)"
You know, thinking about it, why does the path to heaven have to be difficult? I understand that it's actually a statement about human nature, but it's still silly if you think about it. I mean, if God wanted people to be good, then it makes much more sense to make it easy to be good and difficult to be bad. The fact that it's set up the opposite way strongly suggests that it wasn't set up by anyone, but came about on its own.
Christianity did not become the majority religion in the Roman Empire because of efforts against the majority of Hellenic believers. Christianity became the majority religion because Constantine converted to Christianity and essentially turned it into the majority religion.
It's impossible to marginalize someone who's powerful. The nature of power contradicts the concept of marginalization.
Let me put this simply. Who here would make fun of someone carrying around a gun to their face? Especially if one did not have a gun of their own?
A group which is relatively powerless must at least become powerful before talking about mocking a group which is relatively powerful, otherwise the powerful group will have no reason not to act against the powerless one. It's true that in this country, the government is generally prohibited from taking direct action against a group, but that would not stop another group from taking action against them. In other words, atheists must become powerful first, and preferably must become more powerful than Christian groups. Otherwise, they're risking a serious backlash.

subset: commoncrawl


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So many things have changed in the past six years.
Six years has past like six days.
I rolled into Augusta, booked a room at a local hotel, grabbed a pizza and settled in. The next morning I put on an outfit that was better suited for Men in Black II and met my new boss at the Gazette office.
After the introductions, the only question anyone had for me was, "Are you a Republican?"
After more than 750 columns since coming to work here, I think it is obvious that I don't fit completely under either party's umbrella.
My dad had the same job for more than 40 years. They had to close the business down to get him to leave. I was at my first newspaper for almost 14 years. I have been in Augusta for six years today.
So many things have changed in the past six years that I can no longer say I'm not good at change.
Something tells me the next six years may be even more hectic.
We live in a faster world. Everything is instant. Microwaved food, 100 ways to communicate with someone instantly and news that breaks within minutes of an event happening are all examples. We have accelerated our world.
When I first started in the newspaper business, getting a scoop meant finding out about a story and getting it reported, written and printed in the next day's edition before the radio or television people found out.
Now, scoops are measured in seconds. Instead of protecting a story until the print version comes out, now you race to get the story online and pushed through social media to the digital portion of your readership.
When I first became editor of my hometown newspaper, I was 23 years old.
I knew very little. I still say I was hired as editor because I was the tallest one left in the newsroom when the editor and a photographer were fired after a fight with the publisher in the office.
I remember when we won the Sequoyah Award in the Oklahoma Press Association contest two years in a row when I was 24 and 25. In many circles in the industry, I was known as a great young editor.
One of my newspapers won the Sweepstakes award from the Kansas Press Association this year.
But now I am 42 years old. I'm not a great anything or a young anything. I'm just a guy who works with some really good journalists.
I have to face it.
A 37-year-old chimpanzee won a $10,000 prize for a painting he did. He didn't even use a brush. He applied the paint with his tongue.
I can't compete with that.
But what I can do is continue to give thanks for a job that still makes me as happy as it ever has. There is real value in waking up early in the morning and looking forward to going into the office.
I had to take a personality test when I was editor of my hometown newspaper. It said I was prone to burnout. I'm not sure when that will happen. I hope it never does.
I love what I do, where I do it and who I do it with.
It has been a great six years in this role. I can't wait to see what the next six has in store for me.
Kent Bush is the publisher of the Augusta Gazette, the El Dorado Times, and the Andover American newspapers. He can be contacted at: email@example.com


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TRACY - The Tracy Police Department arrested 37-year-old David Michelucci on Tuesday after he threatened to harm a child at an elementary school, authorities said.
TRACY - The Tracy Police Department arrested 37-year-old David Michelucci on Tuesday after he threatened to harm a child at an elementary school, authorities said.
According to police, Michelucci called the Tracy Unified School District office shortly after 8 a.m. and said he was going to hurt a student at Wanda Hirsch Elementary School in retaliation for something the student had done to his child.
"Apparently, his child was injured by that child, and he did not appreciate the way the school district handled it," said Officer Tony Sheneman, a spokesman for the Tracy Police Department. "He called the school district to express his displeasure with the way it was handled and during the course of those conversations, ... he made threats against the child."
Officers secured the campus and found Michelucci at his home in the 100 block of Gail Drive in Lathrop about 9:30 a.m. and arrested on suspicion of making terrorist threats, police said.
STOCKTON - Victims of Violent Crimes of San Joaquin Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides support to families and friends of violent crime victims, will hold a candlelight vigil and march at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Weber Point Events Center.
Families will place ornaments on a Christmas tree at the events center in remembrance of their loved ones. Ornaments made by youthful offenders in the Division of Juvenile Justice will be available, including some made to hold pictures. Families are also invited to bring their own ornaments.
For more information, call Joyve Tuhn, president and co-founder of Victims of Violent Crimes of San Joaquin Inc., at (209) 483-2900 or the San Joaquin County Victim/Witness Program at (209) 468-2500.
STOCKTON - A hearing has been rescheduled for a murder defendant seeking to have the District Attorney's Office recused from his trial.
Blufford Hayes is being retried by county prosecutors after a federal appeals court overtured his conviction of a 1980 murder.
Hayes, 57, had been sentenced to death more than 25 years ago for killing a hotel manager in Stockton.
The federal court sent it for retrial because the original prosecutor made an illegal deal with a jail inmate in exchange for his testimony against Hayes.
Hayes, now acting as his own attorney, is asking San Joaquin County Superior Court to remove the District Attorney's Office from his case, citing a conflict of interest.
On Tuesday, an evidentiary hearing on the matter was continued to Feb. 13. Hayes will be assisted by Stockton attorney Aliyah Abdullah.


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If you're lookidatang for a product range to meet the ever increasing demand for remanufactured toners where low cost is a priority, then Eco fits the bill. Eco has been designed to offer a low cost remanufactured product but with an eye still on performance and quality. Eco has a simple one year warranty and significant savings over the OEM equivalent


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Polish Genealogy Notable News
On Wednesday (November 2nd), Family Tree Magazine released their 101 Best Genealogy Websites. Their email newsletter had the link for 2010 unfortunately — which Stanczyk only just noticed as I was writing this article. Here is the link to their 2011 version of the 101 Best Genealogy Websites. This 2011 article did NOT have a printable list of URL's/LINKs, but here is the PDF from last year .
On Monday (October 31st), The Gen Dobry newsletter came (always a monthly highlight) and there was a mention of the United Polish Genealogical Societies Biennial Conference in April 2012. For more info on this conference, go to: http://upgs.eventbrite.com/ .
Stanczyk's own Dziennik Polski (Detroit, MI) Historical Ethnic Newspaper page had many updates this week. Most importantly, the Dziennik Polski Names Index Page now has nearly 31,000 names (and dates and whether it is a birth, marriage, or death or other event).
South Florida's Sun Sentinel published an article November 1st, on a remarkable story of how genealogy connected a Jewish Polish-American with the rest of his Holocaust survivors family. This is genealogy at its most poignant.
Blessings for the new week!


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Your Turn, NH: The political bullying of NH school children continuesBY RICHARD EVANS
March 10. 2013 5:21PM
I despise bullies.
One of the most profound impressions ever made on me was when, as a young man in the 1980s, I travelled along the border between China and Hong Kong. I vividly remember watching the people on the Chinese side laboring in the rice fields, literally in the shadow of the gun towers which sprouted from the barbed wire at frequent intervals. At the end of the day, my wife and I crossed back to the other side of the wire beyond which lay freedom and prosperity.
For our Chinese guide and the folks in the fields, however, that was a forbidden land. How unimaginably galling it must have been for them to peer through that barrier every day of their lives, and see Nirvana so close and yet so unattainable.
Years later I realized that the most telling feature of any wall is the posture of the guards. The Chinese guards on the border, like their counterparts who once manned the equally dismal Berlin Wall, were not defending their fellow citizens against outside attack. They were facing inwards, preventing escape. Arch bullies, one and all.
Not all walls are physical structures. The wall that has been erected around our public schools is purely economic, yet it traps those it surrounds equally as effectively as any barbed wire. Escape is theoretically feasible, but it comes with a price tag that is beyond the means of most families. To leave is to forgo, for some completely unfathomable reason, all access to a share of the substantial funding that society allocates to education. All of the money must stay behind.
Those whose educational preferences lean towards a different sort of school, outside the wall, are bereft of financial "cherishing" - children of a lesser God, apparently.
Recently, however, the tiniest of cracks appeared in the financial wall. The Scholarship Act of 2012 allowed small grants to go to lower-income families in order to make it easier for them, like their wealthier counterparts, to choose a non-public school for their children. Not surprisingly, perhaps since students in non-public schools pass Advanced Placement exams at four times the rate of their public school peers, the act was an attractive proposition for many. Five hundred children in the state have applied already.
Although the amount of money involved represents less than two tenths of one percent of what is consumed annually by the public schools, and it is not even dispensed from government coffers, the usual guards rushed to their ramparts. Teachers union lobbyists, superintendents and the school boards association, all facing most definitely inwards, howled with one voice, "No escape!"
And so was born the repeal act, House Bill 370, among the most shameful legislative efforts ever to stain the honor of the State House chambers. School choice is a concept that has egalitarianism and fairness writ large all over it. By every measure of common sense, it should be in the vanguard of the political platform of the Democratic Party, leveling life's most fundamental playing field by providing equal educational opportunity to the less fortunate.
But HB 370, backed almost universally by Democrats, opposes safeguarding the interests of the downtrodden. HB 370 seeks to obliterate choice, to shore up the wall and to cement the monopoly of the public unions. And what if you're one of those 500 lower-income kids yearning for nothing more than a chance? Too bad.
If you're looking for school bullying, try that one on for size.
Notwithstanding the fact that her own daughter attended the very private Phillips Exeter Academy (where the Hassan family lives and the governor's husband is in charge), our new governor, Maggie Hassan, is an active supporter of school choice repeal. Surely, in the entire spectrum of political hypocrisy, there is nothing that quite compares to wealthy officials who exercise school choice for their own families while denying it to others less financially fortunate. Count Gov. Hassan, too, among the ranks of the school bullies.
The public school lobby, on the whole, prides itself on efforts made to identify bullies. Plainly, a mirror would be a useful addition to its toolbox in that regard. The most effective method of stamping out school bullying, though, would be if the Senate resoundingly rejects HB 370 and sends an unequivocal message:
"Governor Hassan, tear down that wall!"
Richard Evans is a former school board member in Londonderry, and a winner of the "Better Government for New Hampshire" award presented by the Josiah Bartlett Center. His publications include his book: "Coloring Our Way to Calamity."


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Six seniors, nine letterwinners lead Boiler Girls
A nucleus of six seniors and nine returning letterwinners will shoulder the load for the 2013 Kewanee High School softball team.
"We have nine girls returning and they are all pretty much starters," said Boiler Girls' coach Pete Tanzillo.
Leading that cast are the team's senior captains — shortstop Jenifer Ensley and first baseman Meagan Plum. Kewanee also boasts starting experience with senior Kylie Smith behind the plate, junior Gabby Kubiak in center field, junior Ashley Folger at third base, senior Jessica Ireland in a utility role and senior Sidney Uitermarkt at second base.
Senior Carissa Conley also returns in a utility role, and on the mound Tanzillo turns to junior Paige Reeser.
Reeser took over the pitching duties for the Boiler Girls last season, and Tanzillo says his ace made strides heading into her junior campaign.
"She has improved tremendously from last year, especially with the walks," said Tanzillo. "She's around the plate 90 percent of the time, and that's what we're looking for."
Tanzillo said improved defense will be a key for his team.
"We're counting on defense a lot this year," said Tanzillo. "We will score, but we have to hold down the opposition on defense. We can't give teams second chances."
"Our defense has to be the best thing on our team this year," added Tanzillo.
Also competing for playing time are juniors Katie Blume (Utility), Liz Bral (OF), Jenny Kubinsky (Utility), Keely Lain (Utility/C), Casey Verway (OF) and Zoey Vogt (Utility).
Freshman McKenzie DeVilder will add pitching depth for the Boiler Girls.
Offensively, Tanzillo is counting on the top of his order — Ensley, Reeser and Folger — to set the table for his run producers.
"When we get on base, we're going to do a lot of stealing and a lot of running," said Tanzillo.
Like all area teams, poor spring weather has the Boiler Girls itching to get on the field. Prior to Thursday night's season-opening loss to Stark County, Tanzillo's team had yet to step on a diamond.
"Everybody probably thinks we're a football team," said Tanzillo. "We've been using the football field more. We haven't seen a softball field. It looked like a complex out there with ourselves, baseball, track and Central track."
The sixth-year KHS coach said sticking together and staying upbeat are essential to the team's success this season.
"We have to be positive with each other, that's the main thing," said Tanzillo. "We have to communicate and focus with a good positive attitude."
Tanzillo is assisted by Autumn McGarvey.


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|Orson Welles and Suzanne Cloutier in Othello
*In the 1952 version, Welles spoke the credits in a voiceover, but the on-screen credits that were added at the request of American distributors are retained in the 1992 restoration.
"Dazzled by so many and such marvelous inventions, the people of Macondo ... became indignant over the living images that the prosperous merchant Bruno Crespi projected in the theater with the lion-head ticket windows, for a character who had died and was buried in one film and for whose misfortune tears had been shed would reappear alive and transformed into an Arab in the next one. The audience, who had paid two cents apiece to share the difficulties of the actors, would not tolerate that outlandish fraud and they broke up the seats. The mayor, at the urging of Bruno Crespi, explained in a proclamation that the cinema was a machine of illusions that did not merit the emotional outbursts of the audience. With that discouraging explanation many ... decided not to return to the movies, considering that they already had too many troubles of their own to weep over the acted-out misfortunes of imaginary beings."--Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
|Orson Welles and Suzanne Cloutier in Othello


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Epping residents upset by tree trimming crew's workBy JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent
March 22. 2013 12:49AM
EPPING - Residents say they understand the need for utility companies to trim and remove dead trees to prevent problems with power lines, but some aren't happy with the mess that's been left behind on Blake and Prescott roads.
"They've left the logs all over the place in the ditches, which means there's going to be floods," Blake Road resident Isobel Parke complained to the planning board last week.
Selectman Karen Falcone, a resident of Prescott Road, said she arrived home after being away recently and found debris on her property and her fence damaged.
Falcone said the tree crews made a "terrible, terrible mess."
"I don't mind the public safety aspect of it. I mind the way they left the property," Falcone said.
The complaints were aired when the planning board held a public hearing last week on a plan by Public Service of New Hampshire to trim and/or remove trees and brush on several scenic roads.
While the hearing focused on PSNH's tree maintenance work, which the planning board approved, residents complained about the trimming and tree removal done recently by crews contracted by New Hampshire Electric Co-op, which also serves customers in Epping.
In response to the complaints, Seth Wheeler, spokesman for New Hampshire Electric Co-op, said the company has scheduled a meeting with selectmen April 1 to address any concerns and explain their practices.
"We're trying to be responsive to the town and the members," Wheeler said Thursday.
Wheeler said the company has received complaints from customers in the area of Blake and Prescott roads.
When it comes to cleaning up the leftover brush, Wheeler said crews usually pile it up to be chipped at a later time.
"This could be a situation where the cutter is a day or two ahead of the chipper, but they will come back," Wheeler said.
Wood that can be burned is usually stacked up and left for the property owner, he said.
After investigating the fence damage on Falcone's property, Wheeler said crews from Asplundh, the tree-cutting crew hired for the work, didn't believe one of their trucks caused the damage to the fence, but has agreed to repair it.
Some residents have also complained about stumps being left behind - a problem PSNH faced in 2008 when town officials expressed outrage after large trees were cut down but the stumps weren't removed.
Wheeler said some of the stumps were left high because of the snow. Once the snow melts, crews will return and the stumps were be trimmed down to the ground.


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BEIJING (AP) — Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei says he was misled in lending his name and image to an independent science-fiction film that sought to raise funds on the Kickstarter website.
In a letter to director Jason Wishnow, Ai said he didn't approve of the way in which he was being used to promote "The Sandstorm." The film-in-progress has been described as a dystopian tale of a future China in which water has become scarce with Ai playing a smuggler who evades authorities.
Ai said in the letter that he did not give consent for Wishnow to use his name and image to promote the film and that he agreed only to take a minor role in the project but was now being advertised as the film's star.
"Ai Weiwei considers that you have not only misled him in this regard, but are also potentially deceiving providers of funds to your project as to the extent of Ai Weiwei's involvement in the project, potentially implicating Ai Weiwei in your deception without his knowledge or consent," said the letter, sent on Ai's behalf on April 23.
The letter called on Wishnow to direct Kickstarter to cancel and remove the advertised project, a demand he apparently agreed to. The website currently carries a notice saying the film was the subject of an intellectual property dispute and presently unavailable.
Ai representative Darryl Leung said in an email on Tuesday that the letter was authentic, and that no response had yet been received from Wishnow. "We don't know what the final resolution will be and we don't know whether the film will be shown," Leung wrote.
New York-based Wishnow did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The film dispute marks the latest controversy surrounding Ai, whose international renown has soared in recent years, along with the prices of his artworks. A sculptor, designer and documentary-maker, Ai has irked Beijing by using his art and online profile to draw attention to injustices in China and the need for greater transparency and rule of law.
Despite his fame, Ai has been banned from leaving China since being secretly detained for 81 days three years ago by China's authoritarian communist government for reasons that were never specified. After his release in June 2011, Ai's design firm was slapped with a $2.4 million tax bill, which he fought unsuccessfully in Chinese courts.
In an April 20 email to The Associated Press, Wishnow said the response to the Kickstarter fundraising campaign had been "far more dramatic" than anticipated, and he was working to put the final touches on the movie. He said the film had received more than 2,000 funding supporters.
In an April 9 interview, the cinematographer, Hong Kong-based Christopher Doyle, said the film had been shot over a few days in locations all across Beijing. He said the shoot was conducted in semi-clandestine fashion, describing it as a "very minimalistic simple shooting process."
Footage for the film appears to have been shot without permits or official authorization — and this became part of some of the original hype surrounding the project. However, Ai remains under close government scrutiny and it was unlikely that the authorities did not know about the filming at some level.
Associated Press writer Kelvin Chan contributed to this story from Hong Kong.


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Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., the second- largest U.S. equity exchange, reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates after the company cut costs amid a decline in stock-market trading.
Profit in the three months ended Dec. 31 jumped to $85 million, or 50 cents a share, from $82 million, or 45 cents, in the fourth quarter of 2011. Excluding some costs, New York-based Nasdaq OMX said it earned 64 cents a share, more than the 61- cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The stock gained 1.3 percent to $28.32 in New York today, the highest level since April 2011.
Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld is re-organizing business units and cutting costs as revenue from trading shrinks around the world. The exchange is expanding into derivatives, setting up a new London-based market and buying a 25 percent stake in a Dutch alternative trading system focused on stocks and equity derivatives.
"For 2013, we are looking at relatively flat costs for the underlying business," Greifeld said in a telephone interview today. "We have a reputation for under-promising and over- delivering."
NYSE Takeover
Nasdaq OMX's biggest rival, NYSE Euronext, agreed last month to be acquired by futures bourse IntercontinentalExchange Inc. in a move that underscored the growing importance of derivatives. Greifeld said on a conference call today that he doesn't see competition changing as a result of the deal.
"We compete aggressively with NYSE today, we expect that to continue post the acquisition," he said. "We don't compete with ICE today, and we don't see that changing either."
For the fourth quarter, operating expenses fell to $244 million from $259 million in the quarter a year ago. Nasdaq said total operating expenses for 2013 will be in the range of $960 million to $990 million, including $50 million to $60 million in spending on new initiatives.
"Both higher revenue and lower expenses combined to drive the beat" of analysts' forecasts, Chris Ross, an analyst at JMP Securities in New York, said in a note today. He has a market outperform recommendation on Nasdaq. "We expect shares to outperform today."
Net revenue for the quarter excluding rebates, clearing and other fees was $419 million, the company said. That compares with $420 million the same time a year ago.
Fund Flows
About $22 billion flowed into stock funds around the world in the week ended Jan. 9, the second-highest rate on record, according to data compiled by research firm EPFR Global going back to 1996. Funds took in money after the FTSE World index rose more than 3 percent in the first week of 2013, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index reached a five-year high.
Average daily volume for equities listed on all U.S. exchanges was 6.07 billion shares in the fourth quarter, 18 percent down from a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Nasdaq OMX received 40 cents per 1,000 shares changing hands in U.S. equities during the fourth quarter, up 2 cents from the prior three months, for the highest level since the first quarter of 2011, the company said in a statement on Jan. 10. Its so-called revenue capture for each U.S. options contract traded was 17 cents, a decline from 18 cents in the third quarter.
The company announced plans last year to start an interest- rate derivatives trading platform in London as it seeks to expand in the region and diversify its business. The platform, known as NLX, is seeking to grab more than 10 percent of transactions in the U.K. during its first year of operation.
"We are making progress with NLX," Greifeld said. "We are keenly aware that it's not an easy task, but we are receiving wide encouragement from customers."
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Intolerance: Obama vs. pro-lifers
March 25. 2014 4:30PM
On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby. You might have heard that Hobby Lobby objects on religious grounds to covering contraceptives under its employee health insurance plan. It does not. The actual objection makes clear the depth of President Obama's intolerance for pro-life Americans.
Hobby Lobby willingly provides insurance coverage for 16 types of contraceptives. Obamacare mandates 20 types. Hobby Lobby objects to only four — Plan B, Ella and two IUDs. The company's owners, devout Christians, oppose those four because they either induce abortion or prevent an embryo from implanting. That is, they arguably end a life. The company owners simply want to continue providing the 16 other contraceptives and not be forced to pay for the four that they believe destroy life.
But Obama says they must provide and pay for all 20. This is the President who, in one of his first acts, signed an executive order restoring taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research. Forcing pro-lifers to violate their faith has been a mission of his for his entire presidency.
Regarding both the stem cell research and the contraception mandate, pro-lifers simply ask that the government not force them to violate their religious beliefs by compelling them to pay for the destruction of human embryos. That is all. But Obama forces them to violate their faith.
This is the very definition of intolerance. It is the very definition of bullying. But you won't hear those terms applied to Saint Obama. Instead, it is Hobby Lobby that is widely portrayed as intolerant and wicked, so acceptable has religious intolerance become in our culture.


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Global stocks snapped the longest losing streak in almost a year amid optimism a deal can be reached to avoid automatic U.S. spending cuts and tax increases. Oil led commodities higher. The dollar and Treasuries fell.
The MSCI All-Country World Index advanced 1.8 percent as of 12:57 p.m. in New York, ending an eight-day decline, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 1.6 percent for its biggest gain in two months. Oil rose more than 3 percent amid concern Middle East unrest will disrupt supply. Treasury 10-year yields rose four basis points to 1.62 percent. The dollar weakened against all 16 major counterparts.
House Speaker John Boehner and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney described a Nov. 16 meeting on the so-called fiscal cliff as "constructive." European finance ministers are due to meet in Brussels tomorrow as they aim to craft a plan for Greece's next aid payout. Existing home sales climbed more than forecast last month and a gauge of builder confidence reached a six-year high, bolstering confidence in the housing market.
"This change and transition in taxation is much more important for equity allocations going forward than what people realize," said Michael Shaoul, chairman of New York-based Marketfield Asset Management, which oversees $3.5 billion. He spoke in a phone interview. "The U.S. economy looks pretty good. Earnings are OK. As long as Congress doesn't absolutely wreck it, it will be fine."
U.S. Stocks
Bank of America Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. surged more than 2.6 percent for the biggest gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Cisco Inc. rose 1.5 percent after the world's largest maker of computer-networking equipment agreed to pay $1.2 billion for closely held Meraki Inc.
The S&P 500 Index increased 0.5 percent on Nov. 16, the first gain in four days, after Boehner said talks with Obama were constructive and he would accept an increase in government revenue if coupled with spending cuts.
"I am confident we can get our fiscal situation dealt with," Obama said at a news conference in Bangkok yesterday, spurring optimism lawmakers would reach an agreement to avoid a $607 billion deficit-cutting package known as the fiscal cliff.
An S&P index of 11 homebuilders rallied 1.6 percent, extending its two-day gain to 5 percent. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence rose to 46, the highest level since May 2006.
Existing home sales increased 2.1 percent to a 4.79 million annual rate, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed. The median price rose from a year ago as inventories dropped to the lowest level in almost a decade.
The Dollar Index fell 0.5 percent, the most in almost two weeks. The U.S. currency weakened 0.5 percent to $1.2801 per euro and fell 0.2 percent to 81.18 yen. The Australian dollar climbed 0.6 percent to $1.0400. The won strengthened 0.5 percent to 1,086.98 per dollar.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Obama gives Syria one last optionStaff and Wire Reports
September 10. 2013 10:50PM
President Barack Obama vowed to pursue a diplomatic initiative from Russia over Syria's chemical weapons on Tuesday, but voiced skepticism about it and urged Americans to support his threat to use military force. Obama said in a White House speech that a Russian offer to push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to place chemical weapons under international control offered the possibility of heading off the type of limited military strike he is considering against Syria.
Obama said in a White House speech that a Russian offer to push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to place chemical weapons under international control offered the possibility of heading off the type of limited military strike he is considering against Syria.
Speaking from the White House's East Room, Obama said U.S. and Russian officials would keep talking about the initiative and that he would discuss it with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, he said, he has asked the Senate to put off a vote on his request for an authorization of military force to let the diplomacy play out. He set no timetables for action, but said any deal with Assad would require verification that he keep his word.
"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed. And any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad's strongest allies."
The Russian offer put the brakes on a vote in Congress over authorizing military force as lawmakers and the administration sought more time to assess Russia's proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control.Obama used much of his speech to lay out the case against Syria, saying there was plenty of evidence showing that the Syrian government was behind a chemical weapons attack last month that killed 1,429 people, including more than 400 children.
He argued that Syria should face consequences for using such weapons because much of the world has long since adopted a ban on chemical weapons and that if the civilized world does nothing to respond, it will only embolden U.S. adversaries.
"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons," said Obama.A group of Republican and Democratic senators began drafting a modified resolution on the use of military force that would give the United Nations time to take control of Syria's chemical weapons.
NH delegation reacts
New Hampshire's Sen. Jeanne Shaheen released a statement after Obama's speech.
"Syria's use of chemical weapons is a serious threat to our national security and I am hopeful that a diplomatic solution can be reached to secure and destroy their chemical weapons stockpile," the Democrat said. "I'm working with my colleagues in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on an amendment to give diplomacy a chance to work, but to also pressure the Syrians to take concrete steps towards the transfer of their chemical weapons to international control.
"I continue to believe that the eventual elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles is in our best interest but also understand that it was the threat of force that ultimately pushed Syria and Russia to the negotiating table. Now, we need immediate, serious and credible action from Russia and Syria. They must begin to secure and eventually destroy Syria's weapons of mass destruction as soon as possible."
Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she will continue to ask tough questions "to ensure that we're acting in the best interests of our national security."
"Tonight he (Obama) delayed the request for a congressional vote, and although I am skeptical of Putin and Assad's credibility and the ability of the UN to execute this type of outcome, if we're successful in getting the Assad regime to turn over its chemical weapons to the international community with appropriate verification, that would make the world safer," she said in a statement.
Last week, Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, announced that she opposed U.S. military involvement in Syria.
She issued this statement Tuesday night: "I share President Obama's horror at the use of chemical weapons on innocent people, but I do not share his belief that military air strikes are the answer to the crisis in Syria.
"I remain concerned that a military strike could lead to more chaos and regional instability. And I still do not believe that the tragedy in Syria represents an imminent threat to our national security."
Shea-Porter concluded: "I applaud the President for pursuing a diplomatic solution to this crisis before taking military action, and I continue to be optimistic that this situation can be resolved through a negotiated political agreement. I stand with President Obama in calling on Syria to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention, cease production of chemical weapons, and begin turning over its chemical weapons stockpile to the international community immediately."
Congresswoman Annie Kuster, D-N.H., said the Assad regime must be held accountable, but she "continued to have very grave concerns about the unintended consequences of U.S. military intervention in the region."
"We should aggressively pursue a diplomatic solution that will lead to the containment and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles," Kuster said in a written statement. "I am pleased that the President shares that view, and am hopeful that a diplomatic resolution can be reached in the near future. As the situation continues to evolve, I will closely monitor new developments and maintain an open dialogue with my constituents."
Postponing vote
As the United States stepped back from the thorny debate over whether to strike, Syria said it was already agreeing to the Russian proposal to surrender its chemical weapons and adhere to a long-standing global arms control agreement that bans the production, stockpiling and use of such weapons.
"We are ready to honor our commitments under this convention, including providing information about these weapons," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Moallem said in Moscow.Obama spoke to his French and British counterparts and "they agreed to work closely together, and in consultation with Russia and China, to explore seriously the viability of the Russian proposal," which would ensure the "verifiable and enforceable destruction" of Syria's chemical weapons, according to a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity as a matter of administration policy.
France said it would propose a resolution that would include a requirement that those responsible for an Aug. 21 alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb be referred to the International Criminal Court for trial.
Before his Tuesday night address to the American people, Obama told Democratic and Republican senators in separate closed-door meetings that they should postpone any vote on the use of force until negotiations with Russia and Syria are exhausted.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., already had postponed a Wednesday vote in the Senate as an increasing number of senators expressed opposition to the use-of-force proposal and support for diplomatic negotiations.
But Reid said Tuesday that the U.S. should not withdraw possible military intervention — which he said led to Syria's willingness to negotiate — especially given Syria's "extremely low level of credibility."The day's events were a sharp change from Monday, when the Obama administration had been pressing forward with an aggressive lobbying campaign to persuade lawmakers to back a proposal to use military force in Syria.


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STOCKTON - A man was wounded in a drive-by shooting shortly before 9:30 p.m. Saturday in east Stockton, authorities said.
STOCKTON - A man was wounded in a drive-by shooting shortly before 9:30 p.m. Saturday in east Stockton, authorities said.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a shooting in the 100 block of South Sinclair Avenue at 9:23 p.m. They found a Latino man in his 20s suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, deputies said. The victim was conscious and breathing when he was taken to the hospital, officials said.
Authorities were searching for a green four-door Honda that was seen in the area at the time of the shooting, deputies said.
The shooting occurred on a residential street less than a half-mile from Franklin High School. Neighbors said there was a drive-by shooting outside the same house within the past year.
STOCKTON - Police were searching for a woman who robbed a bank in the 2800 block of West March Lane about 3:40 p.m. Saturday.
The woman entered Chase Bank and acted as though she had a weapon, telling a 20-year-old teller, "Don't play stupid; give me everything I want or I'll pull it out," police said.
The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of cash. The woman put the money in a green purse and left. She was described as a black woman in her 30s standing 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds with dark curly hair and a brown jumpsuit.
STOCKTON - Community Response Team officers and members of the San Joaquin County multiagency gang task force made a number of weapons arrests Friday night in Stockton, taking five more guns off the streets, authorities said.
Officers found a stolen handgun in a vehicle during a traffic stop at Water View Lane and Carolyn Weston Boulevard about 8 p.m. They arrested Janai Harris, 19, Robert Duckworth, 18, and a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of gun possession.
About 30 minutes later, authorities conducting a probation search in the 1200 block of Luna Lane arrested Abel Dominguez, 31, after finding a handgun in his possession, police said.
At 9 p.m., officers conducted a probation search in the 2400 block of Gareth Circle while conducting a follow-up investigation into an earlier shooting. While searching the home, they found two handguns and an assault rifle. Officers arrested Michael Ang, 21; Soknarin Tim, 22; Jonte Calbert, 24; Sophy Thong, 24; and Sophea Thong, 26.
STOCKTON - A Latino man in his 40s was taken to a hospital with serious injuries after being involved in a hit-and-run accident in the 300 block of North Sierra Nevada Street about 10 p.m. Friday, authorities said.
Police said the victim may have been struck by an older model red SUV, possibly a Chevy Tahoe or a Ford Bronco. The vehicle was last seen going east on Lindsay Street, police said.


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Original Jerky Seasoning 25pk.
Item Number: BJ-25
Availability: In Stock
This is true jerky flavor, tastes like it was smoked. The best I have ever tasted, superior flavor. I've had the Hot "n" Spicy also great!. Haven't gotten around to the Andouille yet but it interests me. Keep the new flavors coming!
Learn How to Make Jerky


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Watch The ::God Is Imaginary Videos On YouTube ::
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Regarding TAA, I think he's good except when he talks with his brother because those videos are just typical youtube videos... ung! I f**k pussy and dootdeedootdeedoo I like pizza and Star Wars dootdeedootdeedoo. He's got the right to do that, of course, but I feel like the dumb ones can be held up by Christians and allow them to say, "See. That's what this guy is about. He's stupid, so don't even bother looking at his other videos."I like most of his videos though... like "JESUS: The Super Zombie Myth".
http://www.youtube.com/user/revivalisneeded (street preacher in his videos? an A$$.)
TAA completely turns me off. cdk007 and DonExodus2 rock. AronRa is okay though his dialogue annoys me as it's a very rushed monotone. Mr. patcondell is always entertaining. potholer54 deserves an honourable mention. AndromedasWake is one to watch. Can't think of any others that really strike me at the moment.
Sure, he {TheAmazingAtheist} goes to far some times


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As low as: $287.40


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LTU faculty and students in the life sciences and biomedical engineering have gained a powerful new tool for visualizing cell and tissue architectures with the opening of the Confocal Microscopy Laboratory earlier this year. The laboratory on the second floor of the Science Building houses a state-of-the-art Olympus FV1200 biological laser scanning confocal microscope system.
The confocal microscope achieves its superior results by focusing a spot of laser light onto a single point in the specimen and collecting the emitted light through a confocal pinhole that excludes out-of-focus signals that cause an image to blur. To acquire a crisp image, data in a plane of focus are first collected sequentially point-by-point to generate a two-dimensional image. A stack of such optical sections taken on a series of focal planes is then combined and processed by computer to build up a three-dimensional image.
The system also allows sophisticated manipulations for studying dynamic processes in living cells. These techniques include fluorescence resonance energy transfer, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, and photoactivation, which detect molecular interactions and movements within subcellular structures.
Several lines of research are now utilizing the confocal microscope laboratory. Among them, chemical biology senior Chris Kot is working with Associate Professor Jeffery Morrissette of the Department of Natural Sciences and Dean of Arts and Sciences Hsiao-Ping Moore to investigate the effect of calcium on intracellular signals involved in the metabolism of fat. This research may one day contribute to the development of new therapies or drugs to treat diabetes and obesity.
LTU students in the life sciences will use the confocal microscope beginning next semester when it will be incorporated into the Cell Biology Laboratory. Students taking this course (BIO 4811) study signal transduction mechanisms in living cells. Using the confocal microscope, students will be able to visualize how the binding of molecules to the surface of a cell can trigger internal changes in structure and cell function.
The Confocal Microscope Laboratory also provides opportunities for external collaboration with area researchers. One example is an ongoing collaboration between Moore and James Granneman's lab at Wayne State University School of Medicine. Their research focuses on a process called lipotoxicity, in which excess lipids accumulate and cause dysregulation of cellular function. Cellular lipotoxicity leads to several diseases and is thought to be a major means by which obesity contributes to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.


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Butler County's Republican commissioners are passing out pay raises like candy. Maybe there is a money-printing press in the government building that we the taxpayers don't know about.
The previous Republican-controlled board of commissioners gave a pay raise to one person of more than 20 percent.
When someone is hired, he or she knows the details of the pay and benefits. In private business, the manager doesn't get up one day and tell an employee that he or she is being underpaid and will receive a 20 percent pay raise.
Both current Republican commissioners — one of whom was on the previous board — formerly were business persons. We doubt that either of them ever gave an employee a 20 percent raise.
However, we have another person who has gotten a significant raise. She went from being Commissioner Dale Pinkerton's secretary at about $40,000 a year to more than $85,500 when she moved to another position.
We need a shake-up in the commissioners office and it's not Commissioner Jim Eckstein.
Now the Republican commissioners want to build a new building next to the Government Center. Initially, they said the building would cost $10 million. Now, the price is being quoted as at least $14 million.
They said the new building would not require a tax increase. However, the county's 2013 budget required a tax hike.
The Republican commissioners wanted a 2-mill increase — an increase opposed by Eckstein. The commissioners agreed eventually on a 1-mill increase.
The problem with all the lawsuits and people retiring is that those people were not used to someone questioning everything. In the past, things were just rubber-stamped. There was no accountability about costs and the number of people going out of town for conferences, conventions, etc.
Those so-called Democrats going to the commissioners meetings and calling Eckstein names just show how stupid their actions are.
Those individuals are still angry over their candidate losing the 2011 election to Eckstein.
It's time they get over it.
One other thing we want other Democrats to know is that this same group of Democrats does not speak for all the other Democrats in Butler County.
The individuals in question make it seem as if they are speaking for every Democrat here. However, that is far from the truth.


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Friday, March 30, 2012
The Wooster Group - The Wooster Group's Version of Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré
Friday, March 30, 2012
Canadian premiere. One of Williams' last, elegiac plays boldly re-imagined by the most influential and experimental theatre company in the past 30 years.
Event run: March 28–31,2012
For details inquire at the Info Desk or call 416-973-4000.


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Ted Siefer's City Hall: School board on the defensive over Cupcake-gateTED SIEFER
May 19. 2013 2:10AM
It was a busy week for the Board of School Committee. There was debate over the Common Core curriculum standards and the details of the technology overhaul, and then there was Cupcake-gate.
As the Union Leader first reported on Wednesday, the Coordination Committee has signed off on a school policy that would limit birthday and holiday parties to one per month. There could be more parties, but only so long as "nutrition standards for healthy snacks are followed." Now blow out the candles on your tofu!
Naturally, the TV news ate it up, and stations sent crews up from Boston to stick cameras in the faces of school board members, or the "party-poopers," as one reporter put it.
All of this perhaps raises the question: Doesn't the school board have more important things (last pun) on its plate? After all, in just a month or so the district will be without a superintendent - and an assistant superintendent. (Michael Tursi announced last week he'll be taking a superintendent job elsewhere.)
These issues barely came up last week, although we were told that the Superintendent Search Committee will vote on a list of five finalists at its next meeting, May 31.
But readers had pointed things to say about the board's priorities in the comment section of the cupcake article at UnionLeader.com, where, to be sure, comments tend to skew in a critical direction.
It was enough to prompt Ward 10 board member John Avard to take to the comment board to defend his colleagues while faulting the negative media coverage.
He noted that the revised sweets policy was proposed by the district's nutritionist to comply with federal regulations, and he rattled off a list of school board accomplishments, including the technology bond and shortening the school year. He also defended the superintendent search, which was extended after the board rejected the three finalists interviewed in March.
"This was not a 'failure' of the BOSC, but a demand for excellence," Avard wrote. "The easy thing would have been to hire one of the applicants. We chose the hard and unpopular, for the betterment of the city."
Calls to Avard and Dave Gelinas, the vice chairman of the board, were not returned.
- - - - -
Remember how the school board, in response to the revelation that it was on track to overspend its legal budget by more than $200,000, voted to try to hire an in-house attorney for the district rather than rely on outside firms?
That plan has not worked out so well.
"We started to find that educational law is a very broad field," Ward 8 board member Erika Connors told her colleagues on Monday. "When looking at one person with expertise in all these areas, that person does not have a clerk, which will be an additional cost. We think it will be a very difficult process."
Connors proposed the board put out a request for proposals for a firm rather than hire a single attorney.
The board approved the motion, but not before Mayor Ted Gatsas tried to pin down a price range.
Connors suggested that the board stick to the $145,000 it had anticipated for an attorney's salary.
Gatsas was skeptical.
"I can see someone at the back looking at me like that's not going to work," said Gatsas, referring to one of the attorneys in the gallery who was waiting to discuss the latest legal matter facing the district in non-public session.
- - - - - -
Here's a potential bit of good news. District officials, at the suggestion of Gatsas, are looking into the possibility of using up to $1.4 million in surplus federal grant money to hire more teachers next year.
Most of the money, $955,000, is Title I grant money that would typically be sent back to the state Department of Education, Business Administrator Karen DeFrancis said at Monday's school board meeting.
The idea would be to seek a waiver from Education Commissioner Virginia Barry to use the money for staffing. Federal funds normally are designated for narrow purposes and have pretty thick strings attached.
"I know she is committed to working hard with us," Gatsas said of Barry. "She's very willing to work closely with us to see what can be done to reduce class sizes."
The response of Superintendent Thomas Brennan and DeFrancis was that it was worth a shot.
- - - - - - -
Ward 9 school board member Art Beaudry took a little time at last week's meeting to give a shout out to the mayor and the aldermen for voting, at long last, to finalize the $2.8 million technology bond.
"It will truly bring us into the 21st century," Beaudry said.
To which Gatsas quipped, "Does that include email?"
Beaudry, as is well known by his colleagues and probably quite a few of his constituents, doesn't "do email."
Beaudry, it bears mentioning, is also the chairman of the Information Technology Committee. So what gives?
"I don't like sitting in front of a computer. I return phone calls within 24 hours. Calling is better than returning a bunch of emails," he said.
As for his committee assignment, Beaudry said, "You'd have to ask the mayor about that."
But he insisted he was proud of the work of his committee. "Whatever job I have to do, I do what has to be done, and I pride myself on my work ethic."
Ted Siefer may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @tbsreporter


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Mexico Middle School bomb threat call
On Monday, at approximately 2:40 p.m., Mexico Department of Public Safety was called to Mexico Middle School regarding a bomb threat. The school was evacuated and subsequently searched. Nothing was found and the staff was allowed to return by 4:15 p.m.
Making a False Bomb Report is a class D felony. Mexico Department of Public Safety would like to remind residents that Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for this and any other incident. If you have information that would help Mexico Department of Public Safety solve this or other crimes, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-392-TIPS.


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OXFORD United were unable to make their dominance pay as Portsmouth hung on for a point in a stalemate at the Kassam Stadium.
The U's forced lengthy spells of pressure in both halves, but struggled to create clear chances.
Their best moment arguably came just after the hour, when Danny Rose fired across the face of goal from a narrow angle, but goalkeeper Trevor Carson was frustratingly severely not tested all afternoon.
Portsmouth were dogged and their attacking threat was well shackled by the hosts, with U's goalkeeper Ryan Clarke having less to do than even his opposite number.
But the visitors were ultimately far happier with the result, as United drew a blank in their first game of 2014.
New signing Nicky Wroe came straight into the hosts' starting line-up as one of two changes to the starting line-up.
The other saw Michael Raynes promoted, as Chris Wilder went with a 4-3-3 system which saw Mullins screening the back four, just behind Wroe and Danny Rose.
Portsmouth, backed by 2,300 noisy fans, were the first to get a sight of goal, when Patrick Agyemang dragged an early effort wide.
Aside from a Jed Wallace effort which sailed well over, it was almost as good as it got for them going forward in the first half.
United took time to establish themselves as an attacking force.
Deane Smalley, who led the line as James Constable dropped to the bench, had limited impact getting on the end of aerial balls forward. Flanking him were Sean Rigg and Ryan Williams, who played in a more narrow role than usual but struggled to stretch the Pompey back four.
Gradually the home side began to make headway and in the final 15 minutes of the half the visitors were put under pressure.
Tom Newey, who was a constant outlet on the left flank, came as close as anyone to breaking the deadlock before the break when he leapt to head Danny Rose's 32nd-minute corner just over.
David Hunt curled a free-kick just off target and the full back then crossed for Raynes, whose header was blocked and scrambled behind by an increasingly uncertain Portsmouth defence.
The visitors started the second half brightly, forcing three quick corners. From the last of the trio Nicky Shorey almost curled his delivery straight in, but the ball slid past the far post.
United quickly restored their control on the game, forcing a couple of corners themselves.
Constable replaced an out of sorts Smalley on the hour mark and quickly helped to create a good chance for Rose. The striker's cross rebounded kindly for Rose, who could only fire across the face of goal from an acute angle.
United were unquestionably on top, but they relied on their full backs to provide the width as Williams, and particularly Rigg, came inside.
It made it difficult to get in behind Portsmouth's defence and when a chance did arrive, Carson in goal was not tested.
Hunt volleyed wide when Newey's cross was only half-cleared before, with 12 minutes left, Williams came close to breaking the deadlock.
Wroe's ball forward to Constable was knocked down into the winger's path but although he caught it sweetly on his left foot, the 20-yard volley fizzed just over.
Portsmouth looked poor, but came close to pinching a goal late on. Wallace's inswinging free-kick found Joe Devera free at the back post, but the centre back missed the ball and ended up in the net himself.
Mullins had the final effort when, deep into stoppage time, he got hold of a volley from range which was well struck but straight at Carson.
It was the final act of a game which was an improvement on their 2-0 defeat to Scunthorpe in the previous game, but it remained a wasted opportunity.
Oxford Utd: Clarke, Hunt, Raynes, Wright, Newey, Mullins, Wroe, Rose, Williams, Smalley (Constable 61), Rigg.
Unused subs: Henly, Davies, Marsh, Long, Bevans, Ruffels.
Portsmouth: Carson, Alfei, Devera, Bradley, Painter, Ferry, Racon (Padovani 77), Shorey, Wallace, Taylor (Ertl 90), Agyemang (Bird 72).
Unused subs: Smith, N'Gala, Connolly, Whatmough.
Attendance: 8,443 (2,365 visitors).
Referee: Mark Heywood (Cheshire).


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YPSILANTI TWP. — Two former Lenawee County residents will appear on an episode of the television show "Katie" with Katie Couric that airs at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, on Channel 13 in Toledo.
Cristina Trapani-Scott and her daughter, Kenneke Peck, 14, were invited to be on the show after Couric decided to do an episode featuring the book "Far From the Tree" by Andrew Solomon.
Trapani-Scott and her family are one of many families Solomon writes about in the book, which explores parenting children who differ from the norm in ways physical and intellectual.
In Trapani-Scott's case, her daughter was born with Kniest syndrome, an uncommon disorder characterized by dwarfism and various skeletal abnormalities.
Trapani-Scott learned that Solomon was seeking parents of children with differences for his research through an online support group and sent information about her family's situation.
"I just got to thinking, Kniest syndrome is so rare, I'd just like to be part of it," said Trapani-Scott, who now lives in Ypsilanti Township with Kenneke — who goes by the name Kiki — her son, Joshua Peck, 15, and her husband, Jay Scott.
When Kiki's condition was diagnosed 14 years ago, there were only 200 documented cases of Kniest syndrome worldwide, she said.
Solomon interviewed more than 300 families for the book, which explores differences ranging from dwarfism to Down syndrome, children who commit crimes, prodigies, transgender children and more. The book gained wide attention, and Solomon has been interviewed on "Rock Center," "Today," National Public Radio and other media outlets, and he was widely interviewed in the aftermath of the shootings in Newtown, Conn.
"Far From the Tree" explores how parents deal with their children's unexpected identities that they have never themselves experienced, Trapani-Scott said.
In her case, Trapani-Scott said it was a "journey to figure out what we needed to do to make her life as productive and comfortable as possible."
Kiki attended Britton schools from kindergarten to sixth grade, said Trapani-Scott, who was a reporter for The Tecumseh Herald from 1999 to 2011. Kiki now is a freshman at Lincoln High School in Washtenaw County and is doing well, Trapani-Scott said.
"She's never had a problem socially," Trapani-Scott said. "She's a very outgoing person."
Her daughter uses a scooter to get around the school, Trapani-Scott said, but her differences are physical, not intellectual. An interesting fact is that though Kiki is moderately to severely deaf — an effect of Kniest syndrome — "She's a pitch perfect singer," Trapani-Scott said.
The "Katie" show contacted her the Monday before Thanksgiving and asked if she would be on the show, Trapani-Scott said. A crew came and filmed at her home right after Thanksgiving, and then she and Kiki were flown to New York City for taping of the show, she said. Couric chose four families to appear on the show, where they are interviewed and their stories told. Solomon also appears on the show.
"I was nervous, but it was really exciting, too," Trapani-Scott said.
Trapani-Scott, who now teaches English and writing at Adrian College and Baker College, said an attribute of the book, which also comes through in the television program, is that it demonstrates there are universals that parents of many kinds of differing children experience, and also that their families have a lot in common with less exceptional families.
It is important "for people to see that we're just normal," she said.
Former county residents featured on 'Katie' show
YPSILANTI TWP. — Two former Lenawee County residents will appear on an episode of the television show "Katie" with Katie Couric that airs at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, on Channel 13 in Toledo.


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July 20. 2013 9:27PM
Outside counsel fees help push NH litigation tab over $2.3m
By DAVE SOLOMON
New Hampshire Union Leader
A legal challenge to the state's mental health system, seven homicides and a costly dispute over an ill-fated construction contract are among the cases that pushed the state's litigation expenses nearly $2 million over budget by the end of fiscal year 2013 in June.
And next year is likely to bring more of the same, according to Associate Attorney General Ann Rice, who told the governor and Executive Council recently, "I anticipate that those kinds of costs are going to continue for a while."
Legal expenses are difficult to predict, so rather than load up the litigation budget, lawmakers have chosen over the years to under-budget litigation and make up the difference in a series of supplemental appropriations at the request of the Department of Justice.
In the past year, the attorney general had to go back to the Legislature for extra money three times, starting the fiscal year with a budget of $350,000, then requesting an additional $600,000 in September, $850,000 in January and $500,000 in June.
The department spends $60,000 to $90,000 a month on outside attorneys and related costs in an average year, which makes an annual budget of $350,000 a complete fantasy.
When the requests for more money come in, the Joint Fiscal Committee at the State House has to find it in underspent accounts or unexpected revenue, subject to final approval by the Executive Council.
"Historically, litigation expense has been budgeted at about $350,000 a year, and we've had to come back and request more, depending on what our expenses are," Rice told the governor and council in June. "This is an extraordinary year in terms of expense, but we will exceed the $350,000 even in normal years."
Costs triple in a year
The $2.3 million appropriated in 2013 far exceeds the $710,000 spent on litigation in 2012 and was mostly for outside counsel. The Department of Justice has 53 staff attorneys and a budget of $27.6 million.
"Litigation costs are very difficult to forecast," former Attorney General Michael Delaney wrote in his second supplementary request of the year. "This year, the department has been faced with exceptionally complex and expensive legal challenges to the state's mental health system, Medicaid disproportionate share payments, the Medicaid Enhancement Tax, the Medicaid reimbursement system and changes to the state retirement system."
The biggest stress on the budget has been the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's mental health system, which the federal government has joined as an intervenor. In May, newly appointed Attorney General Joseph A. Foster said the case had already generated $1.18 million in payments to outside attorneys. By the end of the fiscal year, the price tag was at $1.48 million.
Another costly case has been called "the tobacco litigation," in which the state has been fighting for its share of a national settlement with major tobacco companies at a cost $71,725 for outside counsel in 2013.
One of the highest profile cases of the year, the lawsuit pitting the state against ExxonMobil over MTBE contamination of groundwater, doesn't even factor into the equation. The San Francisco law firm prosecuting the case is being paid from settlement proceeds or penalties, although plenty of DOJ staff time was tied up in the three-month trial.
'A ticking time bomb'
While the tobacco case is winding down, other cases are just starting to heat up. Executive Councilor Chris Sununu, R-Newfields, recently expressed his concern over a lawsuit filed by TLT Construction Corp. of Wakefield, Mass., has already cost the state $106,569 for outside counsel, second highest on the list for 2013.
The company was awarded a $26.6 million contract in 2011 to build a new training center and barracks for the National Guard in Pembroke. The state pulled the contract in 2012 and ordered the contractor to vacate the site, claiming significant portions of the concrete foundation failed stress tests, among other problems.
"This is in my mind a ticking time bomb for a large amount of money," Sununu told Rice at the June meeting. In a subsequent interview, he expressed his fear that if the state doesn't resolve the lawsuit and resume the project, it will lose the federal funding.
Foster believes the state could move cases along and save money by hiring more staff attorneys in the Department of Justice and relying less on outside counsel. At a recent presentation before the state's Business and Industry Association, he said the DOJ has 53 staff attorneys today compared with 55 in 1984, when the state had a much smaller population and enjoyed greater immunity against lawsuits.
Keeping cases in-house
Sometimes the DOJ has no choice but to go outside for the necessary expertise, but many of the cases now farmed out could be handled internally with more attorneys, Foster said.
He pointed out that the typical hourly rate for outside counsel is $250 to $275 an hour. At that rate, it only takes 1,000 hours to generate $275,000 in billings. The department's attorneys make between $63,180 and $83,382 a year in base pay, according to the state's "Transparent NH" website. With benefits, their annual compensation package averages $100,000.
The attorney general makes $116,000 a year.
"I plan to bring those sorts of thoughts to the Legislature for the next biennium and have them think about it," Foster said. "I think if we had the bodies, we could do a lot of the work in-house."
Executive Councilor Chris Pappas, D-Manchester, thinks the argument has some merit.
"It's almost like that issue that came up two weeks ago with a consultant the Department of Education was looking to hire," Pappas said. "There's something to be said for having state employees on the job to do the work as opposed to contacting things out in ways that become more expensive."