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Outdoor retailers, in the midst of a perfect storm, find themselves scrambling to soften the angry cries coming from disappointed customers.
Outdoor retailers are battling, fighting and outbidding one another, along with the high rolling box stores of Costco, Home Depot and Wal-Mart, for cargo shipping space. A battle between David and Goliath and it looks like Goliath has the upper hand in this one.
It all began when the economy turned sour and retailers, expecting the worse, beginning slashing their inventory and cutting back on placing orders. As a result, oversea factories had fewer products to manufacture, which decreased the need for ships to transport these items. Diminished demand lead to factory cutbacks, shipping companies reduced their fleet or removed their ships from service. Even the cargo container manufactures stopped producing.
Now, speed up to the current situation.
Retailers are screaming to have their tents manufactured, factories are screaming for more material and more workers, shippers are screaming for more containers and ships for transportation, and customers are yelling for their tents! Everybody is yelling at everybody and the guy digging, cutting, and drilling for the material can only cut and dig so fast.
Nowhere does this storm appear more severe than from those now wanting or those attempting to produce 6 and 8 man tents. Ironically, it was a natural disaster, the Haiti earthquake, that essentially collapsed the remaining limited inventory of those larger size tents. In an effort to help relieve some of the deplorable conditions occurring in Haiti, thousands and thousands of tents were shipped there.
So now we all find ourselves in a whirlpool vortex spinning around waiting and wanting our tents. But wait we now must, the manufacturer, the retailer, the customer too, for just a little bit longer for the chain of production to catch that next wave over.


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Americans are in love with anything on wheels. This is the country of the Corvette and the Hog where driving fast is considered a national birthright despite the toll in lives and pollutants. But when tragedy strikes it is important for us to set aside the political rhetoric and have a serious discussion about assault vehicles.
Let's talk about motorcycles.
Unlike cars, motorcycles have no practical purpose. No one commutes to work on a motorcycle. No one drives to pick up their children from soccer practice on a motorcycle. But for some people a motorcycle is a symbol of their masculinity and that symbol has become death on wheels.
Americans are in love with motorcycles. 9 percent of Americans own 11 million motorcycles as part of the 18 billion dollar motorcycle industry. Some Americans even own more than one motorcycle, even though one motorcycle is the most that any normal person could possibly need.
Motorcycle deaths have risen sharply in the last ten years and the motorcycle industry is to blame for preventing us from addressing this horrifying epidemic of highway death.
In 1994, there were 2,320 motorcycle deaths. In 2012 that number increased to 4,500 as the assault vehicles greased their wheels with the blood of innocent men, women and children.
1 in 7 US traffic deaths is now caused by the motorcycle. Or what we should properly rename the Assault Cycle. Unfortunately movies like Easy Rider glamorize motorcycle culture and the motorcycle industry preys on the vulnerable male psyche as riders chase after some escapist fantasy of personal autonomy.
Motorcycle culture has always been associated with violence, and the escalating death toll now threatens our moral standing as a country. But perhaps tragedy will serve as a wake-up call.
In Fairfield, California, an off-duty California Highway Patrolman was killed in a collision with a pickup truck. In Duarte, California, former MLB pitcher Frank Pastore died of injuries resulting from a motorcycle accident. In Florence, Kentucky, a motorcycle driver lost control of his assault vehicle and collided with a utility pole. In Tarpon Springs, Florida, a woman riding as a passenger on the back of a motorcycle fell off and was run over by a passing vehicle. These are just a few of the deaths caused by Assault Cycles that have taken place in the last week.
We cannot meet these awful tragedies with apathy. Only immediate unthinking action will suffice. A serious dialogue must begin in which all options are on the table.
No one is talking about completely banning the motorcycle, except for those who are, but we must work together to reach a sensible solution. Motorcycle owners will still be able to keep and even drive their toys, but we must take action against the deadliest overpowered assault cycles with too much horsepower.
There is no reason for any law-abiding motorcycle owner to own one of the "superbikes" whose accident rate is 30 times higher than that of cars. These insanely overpowered assault vehicles, such as the Suzuki GSXR1000 and the Kawasaki Ninja, are literal killing machines. Although assault cycles only account for 10 percent of the motorcycles on the road, they account for 25 percent of all fatal motorcycle accidents.
200 horsepower is far too much for any legitimate street bike and it's time that our elected officials stood up to the motorcycle industry and said no to the Assault Cycle.
And it cannot end there.
As pernicious as motorcycle culture is, car culture is even deadlier. Millions of children will grow up coughing and wheezing from asthma attacks because they live near a highway. And many more will die in the daily car accidents that mar our nation's roads, bridges and tunnels.
Americans are in love with their Assault Sedans and their Murder Hatchbacks. The U.S. had 246 million registered vehicles for just 209 million drivers in a country of 311 million. There is no better evidence of the power of car culture than the fact that some people actually own more than one car.
40,000 people die in car crashes a year. That's 400,000 a decade or 4 million over a century. That is the grim ugly face of America's macabre love affair with cars. America leads the world in car ownership, aside from Monaco, and if we are going to take a horrible place like Monaco as our role model, then there is no hope for America.
The children, the most innocent among us, are the real victims of America's insane car culture.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children from 2 to 14 years old. An average of 6 children die every day in car crashes… and 700 more are injured. Some of those injuries will cripple them for life.
Any decent person, even a car owner, can't help but look at these statistics and demand immediate unthinking action of some kind.
No one is talking about banning all cars, but there's no reason for a law-abiding driver to own a car that goes faster than 35 miles per hour. Above that speed is when most fatal accidents occur and closing that speed loophole will save millions of lives.
Cars that travel faster than 35 miles per hour, let's call them Assault Vehicles, have no purpose except to cater to a sick car culture that values speed over the lives of innocent children. We owe it to our children to give them a better world.
An assault vehicle ban will also be good for the environment. Some drivers will discover that they can get to work faster by riding a bike than by driving their fume-spewing murder machines.
Speaking of bicycles, there has unfortunately been a sharp rise in cyclist deaths. I remember many hours of joy riding my bike up and down the street as a child, but these innocent vehicles are being upstaged on the road by killing machines that have very little in common with my 12 inch Huffy.
I have never understood why there must be any bikes with more than 6 speeds. The bike industry, the bike lobby and the bike culture is irresponsibly pushing multi-speed bikes that are completely unnecessary. These Assault Bicycles which have 18 speeds exist only to kill.
It might be best if we put an end to vehicle culture altogether. It might be best if everyone just walked. So long as they walk responsibly.
The number of pedestrian deaths has risen sharply in 2012 and the problem may lie with what I like to call, Assault Walking, or walking too fast, not to mention Assault Running.
To all the paranoid alarmists out there, no one is talking about banning you from going on a light jog or even a brisk walk; so long as you keep it under the speed indicated on your government issued Citizen Pedometer. If you wish to walk faster than that, you will have to apply for a license, undergo a psychological evaluation, give up your health insurance and then wait six weeks.
America is a great country, but we can be an even greater country if we just banned everything.
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Salt Spring Island
I recently (May '12) spent a week on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia for a Three Principles workshop. The entire time the weather was cloudy and overcast, but amazingly I enjoyed the effect on the mood. I had a feeling of being closed in by the clouds protected from the outside world. Even though clouds and coolness often give one a cold and gloomy feel I felt a warm protection. I was there to learn about living a more happy, forgiving and loving lifestyle. The information I received was delivered in a gentle and calm manner with no bright lights and noise. Accordingly I felt the lack of color and brightness of the sun reflected my feelings about receiving this information. No squinting was necessary to protect my senses. To relax and receive the information with comfort and ease was reflected in the enviornment. During my last evening on the island I experienced the clouds slightly breaking open and sun rays shone enlightenment on my sole as reflected in the last two photographs. What a blessed experience. I hope you can feel what I experienced through these photographs.Read More


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Getaway Game Plan
Sending a kid to college? Then Gainesville, Tallahassee and Miami are your towns too. Here's how to enjoy them.
So your kid's ready to head off to college. Don't think of it as losing a child, but as gaining a town to get to know. Whether your son or daughter ends up at the University of Florida, Florida State University or the University of Miami, you'll get a lot more out of his or her college experience if you explore the city beyond the campus.
When you're on the college-tour circuit or visiting your child's school of choice, venture outside the dorm-student union-stadium circuit, look beyond the fast-food joints and chain hotels and discover the hidden gems in and around each of these cities.
What to Do
Union Street Farmers Market: Every Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m., locals head downtown for fresh produce, fresh-baked goods, local honey, handmade soaps, handcrafted items and other goodies. Join them in sampling treats such as chocolate-dipped figs and vegan cheeses.
The Hippodrome Theatre: Home to the only professional theater in the region, "The Hipp" is housed in a stunning, historic Palladium Classical Revival-style building. In addition to live theater performances, The Hipp screens art films.
Kanapaha Botanical Gardens: Sixty-two lushly landscaped acres include more than a dozen specialty gardens, including rose, bamboo, camellia, azalea, Asian and herb. Check out the plants with medicinal uses, each one with a plaque describing its special healing or soothing properties.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park: The author of The Yearling called this rustic Cracker homestead home during the Great Depression, and many of her furnishings and personal possessions remain. From October through July, a park ranger in period costume is available for guided tours of the site, 15 miles south of Gainesville.
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park: If you take U.S. 441 into Gainesville, you'll drive right through the broad grasslands of this environmentally significant preserve, where wild horses and bison roam. Climb the observation tower for a bird's-eye view of the surrounding flora and fauna.
Santa Fe Canoe Outpost: Rent a canoe or kayak and paddle the Santa Fe River to see some of the state's prettiest springs. Go for a few hours or all day; for the truly adventurous, there are overnight and moonlight options, too. Bonus: It's all downstream; the outfitters provide drop-off and pickup service. Prices start at $34 for two.
Where to Eat
Blue Highway: This retro-cool pizzeria on U.S. 441 is a great place for a pit stop to or from Gainesville. The exceptional pizza isn't the only reason to pull in—Blue Highway makes scrumptious specialty sandwiches and hearty salads, too.
Blue Gill Quality Foods: Check out the giant chalkboard for daily specials at this casual eatery that focuses on fresh-caught seafood and Southern-inspired cuisine. Be sure to get a side of cornbread.
Great Outdoors: After kayaking, head to the quaint hamlet of High Point for a bite at this friendly neighborhood restaurant. Rustic décor provides an appetizing backdrop for hearty steaks and fresh seafood.
Emiliano's Café: Savor Latin-flavored tapas in the heart of downtown. Try the chorizos epañoles, Spanish sausage sautéed with garlic, onions and peppers, or the tortas de cangrejo, lemon-tarragon crab cakes with chipotle aioli ($8 each).
Where to Stay
The Laurel Oak Inn: Gainesville's bed-and-breakfast row is populated with brightly painted Victorian manses, including this gingerbread charmer. Formerly student apartments (rocker Tom Petty once lived in what is now the kitchen), the Queen Anne-style home has been beautifully refurbished. Rates start at $125 a night, which includes a sumptuous breakfast prepared by innkeepers Monta and Peggy Burt. At the end of a busy day, head to the drawing room for complimentary drinks.
Reitz Union Hotel: The eco-friendly Reitz is part of the university and located right on campus. College recruits, alumni, official guests of the university and savvy travelers all stay here. A standard room goes for $99 a night, including a continental breakfast.
Paramount Plaza Hotel & Suites: Billed as Gainesville's only lakefront hotel, the Paramount stands at the edge of the Bivens Arms Lake Nature Preserve near Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Rates at this budget-friendly inn start at $53.96 a night.
What to Do
Mission San Luis: Passersby to the white stucco wall on Tennessee Street just off campus might think there's an apartment complex behind the iron gates instead of the 17th-century western capital of Spanish Florida. The community of Spanish settlers and the native Apalachee who once flourished here has been re-created with a council house, Catholic mission and friary, two-room home, working iron forge and even a Spanish "fort." A museum building houses artifacts excavated from archeological digs on the site, including a cross carved from a piece of quartz crystal.
Tallahassee Museum: Examples of Florida's indigenous wildlife can be spotted along the raised boardwalks here, including river otters, red wolves, deer, black bears, bobcats, rare Florida panthers and—though this is Seminole territory—plenty of gators, too. The elevated boardwalks are high, but the zip lines are even higher—three courses of varying difficulty (the intermediate course is $25) allow visitors to zoom along the treetops.
The Wilderness Way: The Tallahassee area is brimming with crystal-clear springs and meandering rivers, and the guides of The Wilderness Way can take you on a tour of these aquatic wonders. Opt for a single rather than a double kayak (hint: guide Georgia Ackerman calls doubles "divorce boats") and start paddling.
Alchemy: While your son or daughter is at college orientation, search for the secret entrance to this Prohibition-style speakeasy and try a drink from the times. Call or email in advance to get the password.
Where to Eat
Avenue Eat & Drink: Located in the heart of downtown, this is where the Tallahassee powerbrokers from the Capitol Complex gather to schmooze. Executive Chef Greg Brown is a proponent of the locavore movement and features locally sourced produce, dairy, fish and meat in his Southern fusion dishes.
Paisley Café: Midtown Tallahassee is home to a variety of independent eateries, bars and shops, and Paisley Café is at its center. Simple, fresh fare featuring seven ingredients or less includes sandwiches, salads and baked goods. There's an outdoor garden tucked in the back for alfresco dining. Save room after your healthy meal for a treat from Lucy & Leo's Cupcakery next door.
Anthony's Wood Fire Grill: The collection of upscale stores and restaurants (including Anthony's) in the Market District makes this part of town another area of Tally to discover. Weather permitting, grab an outside table, or dine in the understated dining room. You'll likely spot a number of professorial types savoring the tasty wood-grilled steaks and seafood. Italian dishes are also on the menu, including eggplant parmigiana ($14.50).
Where to Stay
Hotel Duval: Swanky-chic and very boutique, the circa 1951 hotel was renovated and reopened as the Hotel Duval in 2009. Each guest room floor features a different color scheme and its own signature scent, and the top of the hotel is dedicated to the Level 8 Lounge. Only the towering Capitol building has a more commanding view of the city. Rooms start at $129 a night.
The Governors Inn: A Tallahassee institution for more than 25 years, "The Gov" is within walking distance of campus. Regulars like the hotel's Southern charm and old-fashioned appeal. Room rates start at $169.
Aloft: As the name implies, this trendy hotel features loft-inspired rooms. It's close to campus and downtown restaurants, and regulars rave about the hotel's cool, hip atmosphere and friendly staff. Room rates start at $119 a night.
What to Do
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden: Close to the UM campus and a Coral Gables fixture since 1938, the garden is lushly planted with palms, flowering trees and shrubs, bamboo, vines and fruit trees. There are gardens planted with edibles and succulents, and a butterfly conservatory, where the vividly hued Blue Morpho resides amid other colorful butterflies.
Lincoln Road: Sidewalk cafes and top-flight shops line this stylish swath of the city, and on select Sundays from October through May, white tents pop up like mushrooms along the street for the Lincoln Road Antique and Collectible Market.
South Beach: Art Deco buildings, trendy nightclubs and restaurants, and posh shops strung along a broad band of sandy beach make this part of Miami a must-see. Get to the Art Deco Gift Shop on Ocean Drive by 10:30 a.m. any day for the official walking tour; it's $20 for you, $15 for your student.
Miami Seaquarium: This granddaddy of marine parks, established in 1955, was the site of the television pilot for the 1960s classic, "Flipper." Today, the park offers educational and entertaining programs spotlighting marine biology, the oceans and marine animals. There's also a ropes course and an underwater helmet diving adventure that allows visitors to explore the 300,000-gallon reef aquarium.
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens: A National Historic Landmark, Vizcaya was built as a private home in the early 20th century by agricultural industrialist James Deering. Today, the stunning waterfront mansion and landscaped gardens feature an impressive art collection and an orchidarium with a variety of exotic plants.|
Marlins Park: The retractable roof of the new 37,000-seat Major League Baseball stadium shields spectators from the blazing sun and inclement weather, so it's always a great day for a ballgame. And when a Marlins player hits a home run, a mechanized sculpture by contemporary artist Red Grooms lights up, displaying marlins leaping out of the water.
Where to Eat
Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill: The up-and-coming Midtown district is where you'll find Sugarcane. Tapas-style and traditional large plates run the gamut from seafood to Latin and Asian specialties. The bacon-wrapped dates ($11) are salty-sweet and succulent.
MC Kitchen: In Miami's trendy Design District, this Italian-influenced eatery emphasizes seasonal cuisine. The menu changes quarterly, but there are always stone-oven baked pizzas and bruschetta, pasta dishes, and fresh fish and meat selections.
FIX: It's easy to miss this Collins Avenue eatery in South Beach—it's tucked inside the Blue Moon Hotel. But don't miss out on the New American cuisine here. Ask for a table by the pool so you can catch the movie of the night playing on the outdoor screen—you get dinner and a show.
Where to Stay
The Angler's: This Mediterranean Revival boutique hotel has hosted travelers to South Beach since the 1930s. It's been restored and modernized into an all-suite hotel, perfect for traveling with your student. Cap off a weekend visit with Sunday brunch at the hotel's 660 at The Angler's restaurant. Rates start at $199 a night.
Winter Haven: An Art Deco gem in South Beach located right on Ocean Drive, Winter Haven boasts nautically inspired architecture and décor. Like The Angler's, the hotel was built in the 1930s and has been renovated to appeal to 21st-century travelers. Rates start at $159 a night.
Sense Beach House: The SoFi ("South of Fifth") District is home to this sophisticated boutique hotel with a cozy guesthouse feel. Sense boasts ocean-view rooms and beachy-fresh décor, and the starting rate is $249.
The Biltmore: This Coral Gables landmark is close to campus and offers resort-style amenities, including tennis courts and an 18-hole Donald Ross-designed golf course. Rates start at $246 a night.


text:
internists are cancer specialists. They do chemotherapy
treatments and often work with radiation oncologists and
surgeons to care for someone with cancer.
plan to share about 100 Oncologists Doctors and 1 additional
from our global example, Thane. We know Thane doctors
celebrities of any type will not have followers of the
scale of any global doctor celebrity of any category but
we want to make Thane a wonderful global example of development
and know that Thane celebrities have power to influence
celebrities can also help us identify global celebrities
in their field. We know each country has many celebrities
of various types (e.g. in India, we can have many film
celebrities), but we limit ourself to celebrities who
invest time and money for social, health, climate issues.
know that even for celebrities, 0.00775% of their time
and money is too much in Rupee or Dollar terms, so we
dont want to put any limit on money part of time part.
Celebrities will be shared in alphabetical order of their
name and not their country of citizenship because we think
they are world celebrities.
know people will have different Identity of celebrities
of any category and this will certainly be different stakeholderwise.
e.g. Anyone from social sector, will judge the celebrity
from social angle, media will look at the TRP (Target Rating
Point or in simple language Influencing power) of celebrities,
fans will look at them differently.
We will therefore say the Ideal Identity of each celebrity
category (Not real but ideal Identity)


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Best wishes in the New Year for all, especially our readers and a special thanks to all who comment on our site and keep it lively.
My neighbor called me up to tell me that there is an apparition in my back yard.
This smiley face just appeared in the snow, no footprints, no sign of human agency.
Was this made by the same mysterious forces that create crop circles? Is it a message– an omen for the coming year?
Is it a couple of rocks and the edge of an overturned kiddy pool, exposed by the melting snow on an unseasonably warm New Years Eve?
Readers, you decide. I favor the extraterrestrial theory, 'cause it's more fun.


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By Caitlin Kelly
News journalism, no matter your gender, is a tough and macho business.
Showing weakness, fear or timidity is a career-killer and those who wade into the gore and muck and terror often win the best jobs, assignments and book contracts — no matter what the emotional toll.
Some of you may listen to Kelly McEvers, the MidEast correspondent for National Public Radio.
She recently did a documentary about her experience of trauma as a result of her work, a rare and brave admission of its effects.
Here's a bit of a Q and A with Kelly:
LO: I didn't know that NPR had a therapist on retainer. At what point, do you know that there's a therapist if you need one? Is it part of a basic benefits package for conflict journalists?
KM: A colleague recommended Mark Brayne. Mark is very involved with the Dart Center. He's part of a group of people who really advocate for this kind of thing at news organizations. I don't really know if it's part of NPR's orientation or benefits package because back when I joined the company things were different than they are now.
At work, therapy was always this kind of thing that you wanted to do in complete confidentiality because you never want to be seen as weak at a news organization. I've tried to make it something that we talk about a little bit more—not who goes to see whom or when they go—but that it's available and we should all consider using it when we need it.
Dr. Anthony Feinstein, who I interviewed, talked about this a bit. Newsrooms are insanely competitive places. You don't want anyone to sniff weakness because then they'll come for your job. Doing this piece was a big risk and that's definitely one of the reasons.
The other thing is when you cover these horrible situations, you feel like a schmuck saying "poor me," when the people around you have it so much worse than you, where there's hundreds of thousands of refugees and people are dying violent deaths every day. That's something you have to get over. Feinstein talks about this with his clients. He asks, "If you have a broken leg, but the guy next to you has broken leg, should you not fix your broken leg?" The truth is, we have to be well enough to tell people's stories. And if you're not well in the head, you're not going to be able to do it. We have to stop feeling guilty about talking about our problems.
Reporting on the larger world often begins with local reporting on cops and courts, where most journalists have never been before. Drug abuse, murder, sexual assault, rape — we cover it, talk to survivors of it, photograph it, write about it or broadcast its images. We may sit for days or weeks or months in a courtroom, listening to horrific details.
In the 1980s, while working at The Globe and Mail, I was sent into a Toronto courtroom to cover for the justice reporter for a few days. It might only have been a day, but every detail is as fresh to me as it was then. They wheeled in the blood-streaked freezer into which the accused shoved his victim, minus his limbs.
We called it, with typical black humor, the roast beef murder.
Then there were the parents who had pimped their own children to a circle of their friends.
Stupidly, I'd had no idea what nightmares swirled around us.
While working, briefly, for the Canadian Press, my Sunday evening shift included writing up every fatality that occurred in the province of Ontario that weekend: car crashes, drownings, you name it. I started to dread my job and its perky nickname "Fats".
One evening I asked a fellow reporter, a woman whose husband was a cop, if this ever bothered her, all those dead bodies and grieving families. "It's just numbers," said Judy.
Those who cover war see and smell dead bodies. They learn to distinguish the specific deep thudding of a Blackhawk helicopter or the sound of an incoming mortar, to survive the choking stink of tear gas and strap on their Kevlar vest before starting their day.
Friends of mine have covered war, famine, rape, the aftermath of floods and hurricanes.
One, a colleague more than a personal friend, war reporter Michael Hastings, only 33, died in a fiery crash in L.A. recently, to the shock and dismay of the journalism community.
But this long L.A. Weekly story suggests he was fighting plenty of his own demons:
Interviews with friends as well as the coroner's report suggest that Hastings' mental health was deteriorating. As a young man, he'd abused drugs and alcohol and received a possible diagnosis of manic depression. Now, after a long period of sobriety, he had recently begun smoking pot to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder — the product of years of covering combat.
My husband covered the worst prison riot in U.S. history, photographing the dead while he was still a college student.
Another friend wrote a terrific book about MRSA, the flesh-eating bacteria. She, too, was traumatized by what she heard and saw.
Those covering the mayhem in Egypt and Syria are staring into the abyss every day.
To write my first book, about American women and guns, I spoke to 104 men, women and teens about firearms in their lives, including women who had been shot, who had shot and killed, whose children and husbands had been killed or committed suicide.
I had a few weeks of insomnia and nightmares, and only a friend working in the prison system recognized it as secondary trauma.
I knew things were getting a little nuts when one of my sources, who had been shot point-blank in her home then pursued and shot her assailant, sent me a photo of his body lying in her front yard, and I asked Jose to preview it for me to see if I could handle it.
"It's fine," he said. "It's just a dead guy in the mud."
This is not a healthy reaction.
Last week, at a journalism conference, I met a tall, thin, beautiful television anchor who is hungry to do something different. "I've seen too much," she told me. "Bodies without heads…all the things we see, but viewers do not."
This is what consumers of media rarely know or remember — that before you hear it on the radio or see it on the television news or read about it on-line or in print, people have first listened to and watched visions of pure hell.
The final product is, no matter how horrific to you, sanitized and scrutinized, argued over ferociously in news meetings as to whether it's legal, ethical or moral to show you all of it. If so, how much?
Here's help, in the Dart Center, whose mission it is to help us process the detritus of covering some of the toughest — and most important — stories. Here's a blog post I wrote for them, back in 2004, about women and violence.
Do you encounter physical or emotional violence in the course of your paid or volunteer work?
How do you process it or recover from it?


text: Date: Tue, 3 Jan 95 14:34:31 PST From: Peter Langston <psl> To: Fun_People Subject: Science Update Forwarded-by: Ben Herman <email@example.com> From: firstname.lastname@example.com (Chris Natzke) The beguiling ideas about science quoted here were gleaned from essays, exams, and class room discussions; most were from fifth- and sixth-graders. They illustrate Mark Twain's contention that the "most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop." - One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second. - You can listen to thunder after lightening and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it you got hit, so never mind. - When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions. - When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting. - While the earth seems to be knowingly keeping its distance from the sun, it is really only centrificating. - Most books now say our sun is a star. But it still knows how to change back into a sun in the daytime. - A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go. - Many dead animals of the past changed to fossils, others preferred to be oil. - Vacuums are nothings. We only mention them to let them know we know they're there. - Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers. - We say the cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation. Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on. - I am not sure how clouds get formed. But the clouds know how to do it, and that is the important thing. - In making rain water, it takes everything from H to O. - Rain is saved up in cloud banks. - Cyanide is so poisonous that one drop of it on a dog's tongue will kill the strongest man. - Thunder is a rich source of loudness. - Isotherms and isobars are even more important than their names sound. - It is so hot in some parts of the world that the people there have to live other places.


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Smokin' Joe
It's a crisp autumn Monday night, the night of the week that most New York restaurant owners dread. Many eateries in town are slow, but the Greenwich Village hot spot Babbo is packed. Every table is taken, including one in a quiet corner where Jerry Seinfeld is sitting. Diners at the small bar outnumber drinkers, and the maître d' struggles to appease the waiting crowd hoping for a taste of beef cheek ravioli and, perhaps, a glimpse of star chef Mario Batali, he of the red ponytail and orange clogs. Happy diners smile as a man wielding a mandoline shaves heady piles of white truffle onto steaming plates of pasta, the decadent aroma wafting toward their noses.
In the midst of this controlled frenzy, a thickly built man with a closely cropped dark beard and a nearly shaved head walks in the door. Few of the diners turn their heads, but the newcomer is as much a part of this dining wonder as the star chef. He is Joe Bastianich, who created Babbo along with Batali in 1998.
Bastianich has a golden touch for restaurants, including such acclaimed Manhattan dining spots as Esca, which specializes in Italian-style raw fish, called crudo; Casa Mono, a tiny restaurant serving eclectic Spanish fare; Otto, a gourmet version of a pizzeria; Lupa, which has been described as Babbo light; and the grand Del Posto, his attempt to claim a fourth star from The New York Times. He owns wineries, including one bearing his family name, has a wine shop and has written books on the subject. At the relatively young age of 38, he is at the very top of his game.
Bastianich was born in Queens, New York, in 1968, to parents who emigrated from Istria, a part of northeastern Italy lost to the cartographers who reworked the maps of Europe after the Second World War. Istria became part of Yugoslavia, and many of the region's ethnic Italians found themselves in the strange, unwelcome world of Tito's communist Yugoslavia. Felix Bastianich and Lidia Matticchio fled Istria and met in the United States, where they married and then opened a modest restaurant in Queens called Buonavia, in 1972. Their son, Joe, would grow up surrounded by restaurant culture. "I've worked in restaurants my whole life," he says. "Rather than going home after school, I'd go back to the restaurant and do my homework in the restaurant office, and live the restaurant lifestyle."
In the days before celebrity chefs and Food TV, the restaurant life was far leaner on style than it is today.
"I remember as a kid being embarrassed to say my dad was in the restaurant business," says Bastianich. "I think that I was fortunate that I was brought up in a much different time in the restaurant business. There was no glamour in a restaurant. It was a very blue-collar job. You never ate in the dining room: the restaurant was for the customers. You were very much a servant. And I think that having that perspective was very helpful through the years. I think it was good grounding. My father used to tell me that the restaurant business was a business of pennies and nickels. Adding them up." He holds a linen napkin in his hand: "It costs 29 cents each time to use a napkin." His hand moves to the tablecloth. "Three dollars." When his father owned a restaurant, he had a special napkin only he would use, to save money. "You can only do great things in the restaurant business if you have margin. If you're not making money, it's not going to last too long. Profitability and margin is the most fundamental starting point of any food service operation."
Bastianich worked at his parents' Manhattan restaurant Felidia, which they opened in 1981. (Chef Lidia broadened the tastes of her clientele by slipping in dishes from the old country along with more accepted staples. More than a quarter of a century later, Felidia still has a food rating of 25 from Zagat.) After graduating from Boston College in 1989, Bastianich worked as a bond trader at Merrill Lynch. Then he felt the pull of Italy. He moved there, bought a car and drove around the country for a year and a half, working in wineries and restaurants. In 1991, he came back to New York and decided he wanted to open his own place.
His first eatery, Becco, was a universe away from what was to come with Babbo, but it was built taking his parents' mantra to heart: turn a profit. With $80,000, half of which he borrowed from his mother, Bastianich signed a 30-year lease on a brownstone on West 46th Street, opened a 140-seat restaurant on the main floor and used the upstairs as his apartment. Margins were low, but the restaurant was profitable. "We always made money," he says.
Becco, which is located in the theater district, was a simple Italian restaurant featuring all-you-can-eat pastas served table side, but Bastianich's true breakthrough was his wine list, where, initially, every bottle was priced at $15. His goal was to get people to drink more wine, and the low price was a huge enticement. "It threw the market on its ear a little bit," he says. "It was still a push—they would come in and ask for four glasses of Chardonnay. Well, a glass was $4; you can get a bottle for $15. And instead of Chardonnay, why not try a bottle of Primitivo. And since it's only $15, maybe you have a bottle of white to start, then a bottle of red. Just trying to promote that true restaurant-style consumption." The restaurant, he says, is busier than it's ever been, serving up to 1,200 people on a Saturday. The wines are still reasonably priced, although now they sell for $25 a bottle.
With the commercial success of Becco under his belt, Bastianich and his drinking buddy Mario Batali sought to open an Italian restaurant that would push the boundaries of great Italian fare. "We just wanted to do something really great, uncompromising," says Bastianich, with his deep, methodical voice. "We never said we were going to get rich on it."
The result was Babbo, which Bastianich and Batali opened in 1998. Within six months, getting a table there became one of the tougher tasks in New York City. Babbo was an unlikely champion of the dining world, with a menu featuring items considered offbeat at the time, such as calf's brains, beef cheeks and tripe. The fare served there was about 3,000 miles away from chicken Parmesan.
Babbo was twice awarded three stars by The New York Times (four is the highest rating), first by Ruth Reichl in 1998, which made getting reservations a near impossibility, then by Frank Bruni in 2004. Each heaped praise. Reichl called it a "a breath of fresh air," and spoke lovingly of the calf's brains as "soft clouds wrapped in tender sheets." Bruni said, "Among the restaurants that make my stomach do a special jig, Babbo ranks near the top."
When France's famed Michelin Guide released its first guide to New York, in 2006, Babbo was one of the few Italian restaurants to rate a star, two shy of Michelin's highest award. Manhattan's French-themed restaurants were the ones to claim the full three. (French cuisine cannot be considered a favorite of Bastianich: Bistro du Vent, a French restaurant he and Batali created with Esca's David Pasternack in 2004, is one of the team's rare missteps. It closed last year.)
The elusive stars are what brought Bastianich and Batali to Del Posto, which they opened in late 2005. "We're still working on that," says Bastianich, sitting in the grand dining room of Del Posto. It has a much greater emphasis on white-glove service than the hipper Babbo. Del Posto (literally, "of the place") boasts one of the most opulent dining rooms in Manhattan, a grandiose main space with balconies overlooking the dining floor and a wide staircase in the middle. Marble and black mahogany are virtually everywhere, making one think of the Queen Mary 2.
Bastianich enlisted his mother's help on Del Posto, and she is a partner in the venture (Bastianich's parents are now divorced, and his father is retired.) Waiters and captains in ties bring course after course in a marathon lunch: first a dish of spaghetti done in oil with succulent crab meat, then a beef-stuffed pasta in a creamy sauce, a taste of raw scallops dusted in pepperoncini, lemon and oil, then the main courses. Bastianich has a Delmonico steak, a visitor has a savory soup teeming with squid, mussels and tender bits of other seafood.
Bastianich exhibits his inquisitive nature while finishing the steak. "What is a Delmonico steak?" he quietly asks a waiter, his eyes down on the dish. The waiter, undoubtedly a touch nervous at being put on the spot by the boss, gives a careful description: the cut is the eye of the rib eye; it was named after the restaurant where it became popular.
Such touches as the staff's ability to speak at length about anything on the dish, set Del Posto apart. A visitor who goes to retrieve his cast-off briefcase at meal's end only to find it's been surreptitiously rescued off the floor and propped atop a small stool appreciates the effort. The move had been done so subtly that he had never noticed.
"There's never been a four-star Italian restaurant [in The New York Times]," says Bastianich. "This place is a big bet, to say that Italian food and fine dining can, in its own right, be as fine a dining experience as any other thing. Certainly that's what we're trying to do. We'll see."
Bastianich's curiosity extends to cigar smoking, and he asks insightful, creative questions about the process of making great cigars. How important is the weather to the success of a crop? The water? Can you make a great cigar out of poor tobacco, or a bad cigar from great tobacco?
He clearly enjoys the experience, and he becomes far more at ease away from the restaurant, as he puts fire to the fat foot of a Fuente Fuente OpusX PerfecXion X, one of his favorite brands.
"I like full-bodied cigars, and I like bigger gauge cigars. I like robustos a lot. I like the whole process of the smoke, and the various nuances that a cigar has as it burns down," Bastianich says. He also hates to be caught short: "I'll have six to ten boxes on hand at any time, in various sizes. And I'll reorder every three to four months, depending on what's out there, kind of keep the rotation going. The general rule of thumb for me [when going out] is to bring twice what you're going to need."
For him, smoking is a daily ritual. He often lights up in his car for the 40-minute drive between work and his Connecticut home with its specially outfitted smoking room. A special air system creates negative air pressure to keep smoke from the living quarters of the house. Bastianich's attention to detail accounts for the reduced air flow in the room. "For me, I hate to smoke when there's so much air moving. It's just not as enjoyable. It's windy. I do enough of that in my car." He mentions the importance of savoring the aroma of a good cigar, then laughs. "I have the bad habit of rolling up all the windows in the car when I smoke, which I wouldn't advise."
Bastianich started smoking cigars about a decade ago, when he stopped smoking cigarettes. His favorites include Montecristos, Bolivars, Partagas Lusitanias and Diplomaticos No. 2s. He eschews thin cigars such as panetelas and doesn't bother with petit coronas, preferring sizable smokes. He also prefers to work a bit for his draw rather than to have it be on the looser side, and counts rapper Jay-Z as a cigar-smoking buddy. "I always tell people the perfect smoke is more elusive than wine in some ways," he says. "It's a very elusive thing, that perfect smoking experience."
If restaurants are in Bastianich's blood, and cigars are his passion, wine is his soul. In 1998, he and his mother bought a winery in Friuli-Venezia Guilia in northeastern Italy, not far from Istria, and since 1999 they have used its grapes to make Bastianich brand wines. In 2001, the Bastianichs joined with Batali to create a Tuscan wine label called La Mozza. Bastianich calls it a Super Med. Next up is a joint venture in Argentina to create an old vine Malbec from the Mendoza region, called Tritino. The first vintage is set to debut as this issue goes to press. "One lifetime is not enough to understand wine," says Bastianich. It's "something not so immediate in this world of ultimate immediacy."
It's the perfect antidote to his hectic lifestyle. His phone rings every few minutes and his e-mails seldom stop. He tries to visit each of his 13 restaurants frequently, even on Saturday nights. ("No one expects you to come out," he says.) There's always a new restaurant, such as the two that he and Batali are opening in Las Vegas, in the huge Venetian hotel. When he's not checking on his restaurants or his wineries, he's probably making an appearance on his mother's cooking show as a wine expert. What little free time he has is spent enjoying cigars and opera, sometimes in Del Posto on a Friday night. His long days typically end with him rolling home to Connecticut around midnight, and they start the next day, when his kids wake him up at dawn.
Bastianich also sees wine as his legacy, making him think of his children every time he does a tasting. "You're not the pilot of the ship [with wine]—you're a passenger. I'm humbled by it—I'm in awe of it. I don't know what my life would be without wine."
Despite his nearly unparalleled success in the restaurant business, Bastianich knows that even the greatest restaurant has a limited life span. "These restaurants may or may not be here," he says. He's amazed at the relative longevity of his mother's Felidia, which is still going strong after 26 years, ancient for a Manhattan restaurant, while a winery that old is still a babe.
One of the few times Bastianich doesn't enjoy wine is when he smokes, feeling that wine doesn't pair well with cigars. He prefers aged rums, and Del Posto stocks 50 varieties. He also isn't a fan of cigar dinners, preferring to eat his food and then to smoke, rather than to puff while eating. "It's ultimately wrong," he says with a chuckle. "Not the way it's supposed to be."
Taking a rare moment of total relaxation, puffing a cloud of rich smoke into the air while sipping a sweet rum from the Caribbean, Joe Bastianich seems to have a handle on the way things are supposed to be.


text: One of the most popular video games in arcade history! 2015 World Video Game Hall of Fame Inductee Who can forget the countless hours and quarters spent outrunning pesky ghosts and chompin' on dots? Now you can have the same arcade excitement on your mobile devices! Guide PAC-MAN through the mazes with easy swipe controls, a MFi controller, or kick it old school with the onscreen joystick! Eat all of the dots to advance to the next stage. Go for high scores and higher levels! Gain an extra life at 10.000 points! Gobble Power Pellets to weaken ghosts temporarily and eat them up before they change back. Avoid Blinky, the leader of the ghosts, and his fellow ghosts Pinky, Inky, and Clyde, or you will lose a life. It's game over when you lose all your lives. NEW MAZES!!! In addition to the pixel for pixel recreation of the classic original maze, the game is packed with new different mazes. Challenge your skill to beat them all! We are constantly updating the game with new maze packs that you can buy to complete your PAC-MAN collection. HINTS and TIPS!!! Insider pro-tips and hints are being made available for the first time in-game! Use these to help you become a PAC-MAN champion! FEATURES: • New tournaments • New Visual Hints and Pro-tips • New mazes for all new challenges • Play an arcade perfect port of classic PAC-MAN • Two different control modes • Three game difficulties (including the original 1980 arcade game) • Retina display support • MFi controller support Supports iOS 7.0 or later


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Now I'm just making up words.
I have written ten posts in the last week that remain in draft status. [Not to mention all the older drafts.] I don't know what my problem is. I'm probably overthinking as usual.
Five of the posts are just stupid and will likely never be published.
Two of the posts are kind of depressing so I walked away from them, so to speak.
Two of the posts are two versions of the same topic… and it's rather controversial. I don't want to fight, but I'm frustrated and annoyed… so I started writing about it. I came to the conclusion, however, that I was sure to offend someone… so I stopped. But expressing my thoughts shouldn't be offensive. I'm not telling anyone what to think… I'm only telling them what sandra thinks. Isn't that the name of my blog anyway? Maybe I will revisit. Not sure.
One of the posts is this one.
My inspiration struggle continues. Not just with writing. Inspiration is missing from my life completely. And it took motivation with it. Don't you wish you were me? Yeah, me neither.
I have been wavering back and forth with whether I even want to be here at all. I know I've mentioned that kind of a lot lately. I really am torn. Sometimes, I think it makes me feel good to be here because I have friends. Other times, I think it makes me feel bad because I feel left out. But… I've decided that I don't have to decide… I can just do whatever the fuck I want. It may be the only part of my life for which that is a true statement.
Moving on…
Since I have nothing great to share, I've decided (I hate deciding) to share this.
I love sudden downpours. The literal kind. I can't explain that… I just do. So… while these are far from inspired, I'm still sharing them.
yesterday, 3:51 pm…
yesterday, 3:52 pm…
Not quite the same exact shot… but close. Probably would have been closer if I'd planned ahead… but I didn't.
Hope you are all having a nice day.
©2018 what sandra thinks


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Am 2.11.2011 beginnt der Generalstreik in Oakland. Gewerkschaften haben den Aufruf von Occupy Oakland unterstützt und werden den Streik einhalten. Boots Riley, ehem von der HipHop Band TheCoup, hielt eine Pressekonf hierzu.
Eindrücke von der Polizeigewalt, die zum jetztigen Generalstreik geführt hat:
Beteiligung der Gewerkschaft SEIU der Stadt mit 50.000 Mitarbeiter. Die Hafenarbeiter ILWU sind schon von anfang an dabei.
The Insurrection—Oakland Style: A History
by Matthew Edwards
Monday Oct 31st, 2011 5:09 PM
This is an unfinished work—a snapshot of history as it occurred, experienced by me, reported on social media, or retold by trusted comrades. It will lack the finality of hindsight. Contained within is my account of the Oakland Insurrection as it has unfolded over the past days and weeks. Both the insurrection and this essay are works of hope. I hope that we push forward on the streets of Oakland, the Bay Area, and everywhere else, to the limit of what is possible—beyond occupation and the proposed general strike to "total freedom" for us all.
Inspired by the uprisings across the world and fueled by the increasingly precarious economic conditions across the United States, a callout was made for an occupation of Wall Street. On September 17, 1000 people occupied the financial hub of the United States and arguably global capitalism. Within days, dozens of towns and cities had their own version of the #Occupy movement—with varying degrees of encampment, protest, and organizing space; within weeks, hundreds of cities were occupied; within a month, over a thousand worldwide.
Oakland's Frank Ogawa Plaza, renamed Oscar Grant Plaza by many Bay Area residents, was occupied on October 10. Logistical planning started a week before the occupation date, with #OccupyOakland fielding a fully functional canteen, childcare, medic, sound, and general assembly area on day one, with person of color (POC), gender and queer safe spaces soon to follow. #OccupyOakland had the same populist rhetoric regarding the problematic "homogeneous" nature of "#Occupy…", but pushed the "99%" critique into a decidedly anti-capitalist direction. Coupled with this was a distinctly anti-police and anti-state tone that also translated into anti-oppression organizational forms.
On October 21 the city of Oakland presented the general assembly, the official organizing body of #OccupyOakland, with a letter of eviction citing clauses of "public safety." The words of OaklandCommune, posted October 19, on the Bay of Rage website, beautifully foreshadows what transpired on October 25 and 26 when the police made good on their threats:
"Social rebels from around Oakland have descended upon Oscar Grant Plaza and have created a genuine, autonomous space free of police and unwelcoming to politicians. Whereas other occupations have invited the police and politicians, or have negotiated with them, Occupy Oakland has carved a line in the cement. That line of demarcation says: if you pass this, if you try and break up or over shadow this autonomous space, you are well aware, as observed over the last couple of years, what we are capable of."
The Bay Area's history of social resistance is well documented and it is important to remember the context behind the militancy seen around #OccupyOakland. The general events these social rebels are referring to are the uprisings and demonstrations that have occurred over the past three years in the Bay Area responding to police violence and "austerity". To understand the events of the past week, one must understand the atmosphere in which these actions took place. The most relevant of these demonstrations revolve around three sets of riots that followed the murder of Oscar Grant III on January 1 2009.
One week after Oscar's murder by police, January 7 2009, a rally at the Fruitvale BART station transitioned into a march that eventually evolved into a riot with running street fights against police. The action resulted in 100 arrests and hundreds of thousands in policing costs and property destruction. Johannes Meserle, the officer who killed Grant, was arrested one week later; a day before thousands marched through Oakland serving notice to the police that their actions had consequence.
A series of low and mid-intensity direct actions and marches occurred over the next 18 months until the verdict day, July 8 2010, when Meserle was ostensibly acquitted for murder and found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for shooting an unarmed and prone Oscar Grant in the back. Police preparations, dubbed "Operation Verdict," were one of the largest local buildups of state and federal police forces in recent history. The buildup actually seemed to intensify popular opinion against the police. Operation Verdict not only failed to stop another riot, where hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property was destroyed, but also failed to arrest as many demonstrators as the riots of a year before. Sentencing day, November 5th 2010, saw an evolution of police tactics that stopped the march before it morphed into something greater. The march was kettled and everyone was arrested in mass, all later to be released without charges.
Oscar Grant's Legacy
I would like to recognize that Oscar Grant was a real person; with a daughter, family, and friends. I would like to recognize this because the human element can get lost when we make martyrs out of casualties. The actions around his death were living laboratories for many Bay Area residents, specifically youth and political radicals—anarchists, anti-authoritarians, and anti-capitalists. For some, this was the first time they had tasted teargas or felt the sting of a rubber bullet. The January 7 riot was a hurried affair, with people quickly learning how to stay together, erect makeshift barricades, or set fires to necessitate getaways.
July 8th saw the forces of the state prepared yet unable to stop scores of "crews" smashing shop windows. Communication and coordination appeared to improve between the various demonstration participants. Masks were worn and code names used. It was apparent that even just a few "battle hours" dramatically increased a collectivity's "street" effectiveness, i.e. the ability to create social unrest and get away with it. Through these events, it was revealed that street demonstrations, with riots in particular, did have an effect on, if not public policy, then at least civic discourse.
There were failures as well. Media and state forces conspired to create the concept of the "outside agitator" - the anarchist from afar whose only purpose was to smash. The actions of property destruction seemed to overshadow the context in which they were used. The tactic itself was the perfect expression of the powerlessness that people felt in demanding, from an unjust state, some sort of "justice." It was an action of tantrum, saying, "in this protest zone, in this space of social rupture, I only have the ability to destroy." A statement like that, while unifying for the participants within that instant of "social rupture," has little to no organizing potential. And so, the movement went from active conflict to history. Its steam and momentum were lost. However, with its passing came a time of tactical and strategic reflection, the results of which were practiced on the streets of Oakland under the banner of #Occupy only a week ago.
The efforts and effects of the anarchist tradition in the Bay Area cannot be ignored, neither in the case of Oscar Grant nor #OccupyOakland. There are hundreds of anarchists active in "street level" actions; hundreds more working in various corporate, non-profit, alternative, and other industries that bring money, logistical support and experience when needed; and hundreds still who are engaged in their own projects, communities and building families.
The presence of such a high concentration of anarchists at radical or potentially explosive demonstrations has influenced how people protest. To be sure, not every person at a demo is an anarchist, far from it, but many have adopted anarchist practice. Masking up, wearing black and working in teams has created a safer and more disciplined force. The attendance of anarchist street medics, propagandists, and experienced street fighters adds a level of infrastructural and logistical support that makes actions on the streets feel supported and emboldened. Traditionally organizing on egalitarian and non-hierarchical planes, as well as a familiarity with consensus process have facilitated the creation of a strong general assembly. The creation of solidarity groups for those arrested at actions and access to the legal network that years of Bay Area activism created has been key in movement progress. In both social movements, the anarchist presence has been an important, though by far not the only, element to any success.
This is not to say that an anarchist presence in the Bay Area has not had its troubles in recent years. The attempt by the state to brand anarchists as "outsiders" failed in the buildup of Operation Verdict, but did highlight racial and class issues that people are still confronting. Furthermore, there was a successful attempt to identify anarchists as violent, although this was just one more step in a process dating back hundreds of years to redefine "anarchism" in the negative. Still, the only contact that many people have had with anarchists is the images presented by the media of "black-clad hooligans destroying things." The insurrectionary anarchist current that is alive within the Bay has showed itself as a trend of attack, security culture, and tightknit networks. In the past, it was inward focusing and only surfaced in times of action. The presence of many insurrectionists at the general assemblies and a developing dialogue between members of the milieu gives credence to the idea that this trend is maturing.
Insurrection and Strike
Throughout the week, preparations were made within the #OccupyOakland space for arrival of police enforcing the eviction notices. The plan was to construct and defend barricades to keep the Oakland Police Department (OPD) out for as long as possible. Over the past two weeks, the police made only a handful of incursions into the autonomous space. The response by those camped was always forceful yet disciplined with the distilled message being "get out!" As a result there was little worry about the question of "when" "they" would come. "They will come when they do," one camper told me with a shrug the night before the eviction. On Tuesday October 25 at 4:30 AM hundreds of riot police from over a dozen different agencies descended upon the camp. After calling a dispersal order, police waited for five minutes before throwing concussion grenades, launching teargas, firing pepper and rubber bullets, and hitting people with batons. The night concluded with around 80 arrests and some serious injuries.
A call out was made for 4 PM the same day to meet at the Oakland Library for a march to Oscar Grant (OG) Plaza. A diverse crowd of over 1500 people arrived. They marched around Oakland swelling in numbers as people came into the streets. The police attacked with gas, less-than-lethal rounds, and batons. Demonstrators responded with bottles and paint balloons. Police snatch squads grabbed and beat protestors in full view of the crowd, with a handful having to be taken to the emergency room. The march continued to OG Plaza where lines of riot police stood behind metal barricades blocking all possible entrances. A standoff ensued.
At roughly 8:30 PM a crowd of 500 assembled at 14th and Broadway. After repeated warnings the police attacked. The gas attack was the worst of the day. Injured protesters littered the intersection, including Scott Olson, two-tour Marine veteran, who took a teargas canister to the head. Others were blinded and choking on the gas. Numerous burn victims from the gas canisters ran for cover, at least one of them needed plastic surgery on her foot. The crowd recomposed within minutes, playing cat and mouse with the police, rallying and taking the streets outside the barricades, fleeing from police attacks, only to form again.
The chatter of excitement and anger was easy to understand. Groups of people were swapping stories from the days events. The gas was loosing its fear effect—these crowds were not dispersing. Teenagers were laughing at each other's snot and tear soaked faces. Older people were talking about the 1960's "gas nowadays seems more potent" they said. Anarchist and other radical medics were helping gas victims. By about 10 PM it was obvious that although the group had failed to retake the plaza they had in fact won two important victories. #OccupyOakland was effectively in control of all of downtown Oakland save OG Plaza. Or to put it differently, the police had lost the initiative: they had lost their mobility and the ability to dictate terms outside the range of their weapons. By controlling the plaza they abdicated control of the rest of downtown Oakland to the occupiers. Declaring victory on the ground, the hundreds of occupiers began to disperse to ready themselves for the next day.
The second victory was not seen until the next day when media outlets had no choice but to broadcast images of the night's insurrection. Grabbing the media's attention as well was the grievous injury to Scott. Surviving two tours in Iraq to come home and be shot by OPD sealed the police's fate in the realm of public opinion. Not only had #OccupyOakland succeeded in controlling the streets, they had also won over hearts and minds. As of this writing it looks as though Scott will recover and not become a martyr for any cause, just another victim of police brutality.
A general assembly was called for 6 PM on October 26. The police were nowhere in sight but some reported that they were massing at a nearby parking garage. They were to never mobilize in any show of force. Bike patrols were passing back information, and a general feeling of safety permeated the camp. The metal fence that had been set up by the city was taken down, and once again, the plaza was in the hands of #OccupyOakland. A proposal was submitted for a general strike in Oakland on November 2. The proposal passed by 96.9% with the breakdown being 1484 to 77 with 46 abstentions, more than enough in Oakland's modified consensus of 90% for the proposal to pass.
After the vote, 2000 people attempted to march for the downtown Oakland BART station to travel to San Francisco, where it was reported that the SF occupation was to be attacked by SFPD. The station was closed by BART officials, so the 2000-strong group marched through Oakland, stopping once at the OPD headquarters to yell at the police, once at the Oakland jail chanting in support of those incarcerated, and once under a freeway overpass, to discuss whether the group should cross the Oakland/Bay bridge to support #OccupySF. The march decided to retake OG Plaza instead.
A truly startling realization emerged among many of the anarchists present at the general assembly. As thousands of people discussed the general strike proposal others were circulating and intermingling; talking about the victory of the night before. A major theme of the discussion was the fact that so much had been gained without resorting to property destruction. A tacit understanding developed amongst many of the radicals that no one was going to physically stop any of the "wrecking crews" from smashing windows but people understood that much of the previous nights victory could be attributed to the images of police violence against protestors and the counter-violence of protestors against the police. If there is an insurrectionary imperative to attack the state, that idea seemed to gain support, at least among those in the general public who watched the live stream. The march on the October 25, showed how the protestors had done due diligence in their attempt to remain "peaceful"; they responded to police violence with defensive force, instead of the less understood (and less direct) tactic of attacking property. A violence of low intensity self-defense actually gained #OccupyOakland international support.
Lessons Learned
In the OG riots, the impotent violence that resulted in Meserle's arrest also doomed the movement to remain marginal. People have many unresolved issues with property destruction. It is my presumption that those in command of the police forces on the night of the October 25, expected to see protester-initiated property destruction. Broken windows have the power to retroactively rationalize the use of police violence. The destruction of the camp and the attack on the march would suddenly seem understandable once the nightly news flashed images of broken glass. Unfortunately for police command, the radical and urban #OccupyOaklanders did not fall into their trap. There was no need; because confronting OPD and Alameda Sheriffs Department was enough.
There was a very real feeling that if OPD had changed its tactics on the night of the October 25 and - instead of holding positions and gassing protestors - went in for arrests, the police might have started a fight that they were not prepared to win. There were roughly equal number of police and #OccupyOaklanders, around 500 each, but the police were spread out, covering the perimeter of OG Plaza while the demonstrators were able to focus all their numbers in one location. Even more impressive is that on the night of the October 26, with the police lacking the authority to act in response to #OccupyOakland's retaking of OG Plaza, the occupiers were able to push the police out of their autonomous zone and defend it. This cohesion and the strength of will it produced is a direct result of the reflections, lessons, and tactical considerations that grew from the OG riots. Those initiating confrontations with police did so with discipline, and, dare I say it, style.
There has been a lot of much talk about a lack of demands as being a weakness of the #Occupy movements. I hear their demands loud and clear. The critique of capitalism, opposition to state power, clear revulsion towards the police, redefinition of social and power relations, independent organization, cooperation, and the attempt to prefigure our existing world into one that is healthy for all; these are demands that are being made by those occupying. The idea from the beginning was to create. In acts of creation power is returned. We have held our ground, defended a space that is our own. Now we are organizing not just for ourselves but also for others. A general strike will occur. The next question is clear: other cities will follow
See you in the streets.
Matthew Edwards
re-posted from http://viewpointmag.com/the-insurrection-oakland-style/
A short history of the Oakland Insurrection of 2011.


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What Not To Wear (Med School Interview Edition)
Yesterday I was going through my closet and separating out a lot of clothes that I no longer wear to give to Goodwill. Among the many things I selected to never see again, I noted a tie that I wore to my original medical school interviews. An wow.. it was a problem. Did I really wear this? I then decided to actually put together the outfit that I wore to my interviews. And now I realize… its a miracle I ever got in.
I grew up in Oregon, where no one ever wears a tie, and no one ever dresses up. When it came to interview for medical school, I truly had no appropriate clothes. I consulted my father, who suggested the outfit you see here:
Note the tie that is missing the material in the back to allow the tie to line up. No problem there.. just use a paperclip. Really. While my father was trying to lead me in the right direction, little did I know this was the same father who fifteen years later would wear a tee shirt to my wedding.
So basically, I walk into medical school interviews looking like this:
Note the rather ill-fitting sport jacket, Mathlete regulation length tie, and unmatched pants that are too small. Ignore the pleats, they were actually in fashion then.
But how was I to know? I was a computer science major and a total geek. This was dressing up big time. I was fully expecting that when I went to interview I would be looking sharp.
Not so much. When I arrived to my first interview at Baylor College of Medicine I found myself terribly underdressed compared to all the Brooks Brothers suits sitting next to me. While I looked maybe all right, they looked good. And more importantly, they all looked the same, and I looked different.
And perhaps that was my mistake, in that this was what I was actually going for. I knew that a suit was the right thing to wear, but I had a rebellious streak in me that said 'screw that! I don't need to buy and wear a suit! What matters is my brain and what I have accomplished!" I also had a bloodstream that ran with Oregon blood, where most people respond to a person in a suit with the comment "so who died?" And so I proudly wore clothes that looked right out the closet of my University of Oregon math professor Schlomo Libeskind, who inspired my love for higher mathematics and modeled wearing beltless polyester pants up to his nipples.
Fortunately, I survived the process and indeed was accepted to medical school, though not as many as I thought I should have given my academic record. As I was looking back in this during residency interviews, I decided that this time was not going to make the same mistake twice! I was going to wear a suit!
And I chose this:
My mother had found it at a thrift store and extolled its beauty. It was in fact a suit, and it was in fact from a fine Italian brand. Furthermore, it was a suit that when new was quite expensive.
But what it was not was a suit that fit me. It was way too big then, just as it is today. Furthermore, being found at a thrift store, it was in fashion twenty years earlier, not at the time it was being worn. It was also brown, which still set me aside from all the other blue and black suits that interviewed for residency with me.
I did get some "nice suit" comments followed by furtive glances to the side or floor. As a person who now plays a lot of poker, I now realize that those comments were purely ironic. I also heard "bless your heart" in the South a number of times, which by the third year of my residency in Charleston,SC I knew was actually an expression of kind condescension.
Fortunately, despite this suit, I got into the residency I wanted. Apparently being the rare highly qualified male applicant to an OB/GYN residency was worth more than the ill-fitting suit cost me. And at the end of my residency, the chairman took me to a fine men's store with the invitation "Son… they're having a sale.. and you need a nice suit for your faculty interview." "But I have a suit!" "Son… you're going to a be a faculty physician… you need more than one suit."
* * * * *
At the time, I didn't think this dressing up business was important, but now as a faculty member I realize that it was. There is no doubt that on the days that I interviewed in those clothes, the faculty were laughing about me at the applicant review sessions. I have no doubt that at my medical school interview they were saying "how about that Fogelson guy with that sportcoat and no belt?" And at my residency interview I'm sure it was "how 'bout that huge brown suit guy!". Of course, does that really hurt a person? As a person who interviews and ranks applicants, I can say that it almost certainly does. An applicant has only a few minutes to convince someone that on a very subjective level that they deserve to be in the medical school or residency. In the end, you hope that your interviewer is talking about how smart and accomplished you are, and not about how you were dressed. It seems so superficial, but that doesn't make it not true.
So the truth is this: When you interview for a job in medicine, your clothes should be invisible. They should be well fitting, relatively conservative, and ordinary. They should be neither particularly bad nor the height of fashion, leaving your interviewers nothing to comment on other that what really matters – the person wearing the clothes.
When I interviewed for medical school, I interviewed at 8 schools and was accepted at one. I had great MCAT scores and way more medical experience than could be expected of any applicant. If I had been dressed like this I probably would have gotten into a lot more schools:


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Undergraduate Programs
Dr. Amelia Gallagher
Associate Professor
- Contact:
- Send Email
- Phone:
- (716) 286-7366
- Office Location:
- Dunleavy Hall
Amelia Gallagher is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the Chair of the Middle East and Islamic Studies minor. She studied at the University of Michigan and the Institute of Islamic Studies of McGill University. She teaches courses on Religious Studies including Islamic Mysticism, Religion and Art, and Pilgrimage and Tourism. She has published in the Journal of Folklore Research and Iranian Studies. Recently, she has been researching pilgrimage at Mary's House in Ephesus, Turkey. She is also continuing work on Alawi-Nusayri shrines in Samandag, Turkey. She lives in Lewiston, NY with her husband and three children.


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May 2nd, 2013
Kids' brains can predict math tutor benefit
Kids don't all learn at the same pace, or in the same way. Extra tutoring doesn't always help either, but for some it helps a lot. Why?
Researchers, publishing this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, believe the answer is in the brain. By looking at the structures and wiring of children's brains, they've developed a method of predicting who will benefit most from tutoring.
This doesn't mean, however, that you will be seeing brain scans in every school.
"What we've done is much more modest, in terms of trying to understand what are the systems that underlie individual differences in response to math tutoring," said Vinod Menon, professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author of the study.
The study looked at 24 children in third grade, ages 8 to 9, which is a critical period for gaining basic math skills. Menon's previous research, published in 2011, found that third-graders demonstrate superior problem-solving abilities compared to second-graders, and that this is also associated with brain changes.
While 24 is a small number of subjects, it's typical for a study involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
One group of children underwent tutoring for eight weeks; during that time, the others did not. Before this, scientists used brain scanning technology to examine the structures and wiring of the children's brains.
With tutoring, perhaps unsurprisingly, the researchers noticed that the kids were quicker and more accurate in their arithmetic problems. Some improved more than others.
"We observed a lot of variation in how much a child learns as a result of the tutoring, and we asked, what drives these individual differences?" Menon said. "Is there something in the brain structure and the way it's wired that can predict whether child will learn a lot or a little?"
For math-phobic, numbers pose threat of pain
It appeared that IQ, working memory and initial math abilities had, on average, nothing to do with how much any given child improved during this time.
The magic formula, according to this study, was in the brain.
The volume of the hippocampus, a structure in the brain crucial for episodic memory, was associated with performance improvement with tutoring. It's instrumental in making memories for places and events over time. Researchers found it surprising that the same area appears to not only facilitate math learning, but also to predict math learning. Adults use a different brain system for learning.
How the hippocampus is functionally linked to other key areas involved in learning also appeared to be very important in predicting improvement. Namely, connections to the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices (involved in memory encoding and retrieval) and the basal ganglia (important for habits and procedures) were highly predictive, Menon said. These connectivity measures were even more predictive than parameters involving the structures themselves.
"It tells us about the memory systems in which the brain uses to scaffold and build knowledge representations," he said.
Menon cautions against any interpretations of this research as evidence that some people are born with better brains for math than others. It's not clear that the brain attributes measured in the study won't change over time, even within a year, and environmental factors have a huge impact on brain development.
"One has to be really, really cautious about pushing these kinds of findings, and interpreting these findings, in that light," he said.
The model's predictability is stronger than in a purely associational study, Menon said. Researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to test out the predictability of the brain scan model before using it on the 24 children who were placed in tutoring or non-tutoring groups.
But it's currently unclear how this brain data could be used to design different learning strategies for children who are predicted to learn math less easily than others, he said.
"How this plays out for identifying children and figuring out alternate strategies, that's future work," he said.
Menon also studies music's effects on the brain.
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Tuesday, 05 February 2013 08:57 PM EST
A committee of the state Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to legalize same-sex marriage by a 9 to 5 vote with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed, paving the way for a possible vote in the full upper chamber next week.
"Now is the time for the next step in providing equal rights to all people in Illinois," Democratic Governor Pat Quinn said in a statement after the vote.
Urgent: Should Obama Ban Guns? Vote in Poll
If approved by the legislature and signed by Quinn, Illinois would be the 10th state, plus the District of Columbia, to legalize same-sex marriages. It also would be the first Midwestern state to approve same-sex marriage through the legislature. Iowa's Supreme Court legalized such marriages there in 2009.
In 2011, Illinois state lawmakers approved civil unions for same-sex couples, but gay rights advocates said this did not go far enough. President Barack Obama endorsed same-sex marriage last year and recently issued a statement supporting the efforts to legalize same-sex nuptials in his home state.
Rikeesha Phelon, a spokeswoman for state Senate President John Cullerton said: "He is hopeful that we will be able to pass the bill before Valentine's Day."
Supporters of same-sex marriage tried last month to pass a bill in the state Senate. It was approved by a committee but was never brought to a vote on the floor of the chamber because majority support was uncertain.
Since then, Democrats have gained seats in both the state House and Senate, encouraging supporters to try again.
During the committee debate on Tuesday, opponents cited religious concerns in resisting legalization.
"This bill puts the state very much in the church's business," said minister Keith Williams, and he interpreted the Bible as advocating opposition to gay marriage.
To soothe such concerns, sponsors said they revised the bill to allow religious clergy the option to refuse to solemnize such marriages, an approach that helped New York state overcome opposition to gay marriage.
Urgent: Should Obama Ban Guns? Vote in Poll
The bill could still be derailed by the state's financial crisis. Quinn's "state of the state" speech on Wednesday is expected to be dominated by the grim fiscal situation and calls for action on pension reform.
Some lobbying groups are asking the state legislature to put aside everything else to focus on financial issues.
Three states approved same-sex marriage by referendum in the November election -- Maryland, Maine and Washington. Rhode Island, the last state in New England which has not legalized same-sex marriage, moved a step closer last month with approval by its state House of Representatives.
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