text:
- Part Number:1926
- Part Number Title:Safety and Health Regulations for Construction
- Subpart:1926 Subpart P
- Subpart Title:Excavations
- Standard Number:
- Title:Soil Classification
- GPO Source:
(a) Scope and application-
(1) Scope. This appendix describes a method of classifying soil and rock deposits based on site and environmental conditions, and on the structure and composition of the earth deposits. The appendix contains definitions, sets forth requirements, and describes acceptable visual and manual tests for use in classifying soils.
(2) Application. This appendix applies when a sloping or benching system is designed in accordance with the requirements set forth in § 1926.652(b)(2) as a method of protection for employees from cave-ins. This appendix also applies when timber shoring for excavations is designed as a method of protection from cave-ins in accordance with appendix C to subpart P of part 1926, and when aluminum hydraulic shoring is designed in accordance with appendix D. This appendix also applies if other protective systems are designed and selected for use from data prepared in accordance with the requirements set forth in § 1926.652(c), and the use of the data is predicated on the use of the soil classification system set forth in this appendix.
(b) Definitions. The definitions and examples given below are based on, in whole or in part, the following: American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) Standards D653–85 and D2488; The Unified Soils Classification System, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Textural Classification Scheme; and The National Bureau of Standards Report BSS–121.
Cemented soil means a soil in which the particles are held together by a chemical agent, such as calcium carbonate, such that a hand-size sample cannot be crushed into powder or individual soil particles by finger pressure.
Cohesive soil means clay (fine grained soil), or soil with a high clay content, which has cohesive strength. Cohesive soil does not crumble, can be excavated with vertical sideslopes, and is plastic when moist. Cohesive soil is hard to break up when dry, and exhibits significant cohesion when submerged. Cohesive soils include clayey silt, sandy clay, silty clay, clay and organic clay.
Dry soil means soil that does not exhibit visible signs of moisture content.
Fissured means a soil material that has a tendency to break along definite planes of fracture with little resistance, or a material that exhibits open cracks, such as tension cracks, in an exposed surface.
Granular soil means gravel, sand, or silt, (coarse grained soil) with little or no clay content. Granular soil has no cohesive strength. Some moist granular soils exhibit apparent cohesion. Granular soil cannot be molded when moist and crumbles easily when dry.
Layered system means two or more distinctly different soil or rock types arranged in layers. Micaceous seams or weakened planes in rock or shale are considered layered.
Moist soil means a condition in which a soil looks and feels damp. Moist cohesive soil can easily be shaped into a ball and rolled into small diameter threads before crumbling. Moist granular soil that contains some cohesive material will exhibit signs of cohesion between particles.
Plastic means a property of a soil which allows the soil to be deformed or molded without cracking, or appreciable volume change.
Saturated soil means a soil in which the voids are filled with water. Saturation does not require flow. Saturation, or near saturation, is necessary for the proper use of instruments such as a pocket penetrometer or sheer vane.
Soil classification system means, for the purpose of this subpart, a method of categorizing soil and rock deposits in a hierarchy of Stable Rock, Type A, Type B, and Type C, in decreasing order of stability. The categories are determined based on an analysis of the properties and performance characteristics of the deposits and the environmental conditions of exposure.
Stable rock means natural solid mineral matter that can be excavated with vertical sides and remain intact while exposed.
Submerged soil means soil which is underwater or is free seeping.
Type A means cohesive soils with an unconfined compressive strength of 1.5 ton per square foot (tsf) (144 kPa) or greater. Examples of cohesive soils are: clay, silty clay, sandy clay, clay loam and, in some cases, silty clay loam and sandy clay loam. Cemented soils such as caliche and hardpan are also considered Type A. However, no soil is Type A if:
(i) The soil is fissured; or
(ii) The soil is subject to vibration from heavy traffic, pile driving, or similar effects; or
(iii) The soil has been previously disturbed; or
(iv) The soil is part of a sloped, layered system where the layers dip into the excavation on a slope of four horizontal to one vertical (4H:1V) or greater; or
(v) The material is subject to other factors that would require it to be classified as a less stable material.
Type B means:
(i) Cohesive soil with an unconfined compressive strength greater than 0.5 tsf (48 kPa) but less than 1.5 tsf (144 kPa); or
(ii) Granular cohesionless soils including: angular gravel (similar to crushed rock), silt, silt loam, sandy loam and, in some cases, silty clay loam and sandy clay loam.
(iii) Previously disturbed soils except those which would otherwise be classified as Type C soil.
(iv) Soil that meets the unconfined compressive strength or cementation requirements for Type A, but is fissured or subject to vibration; or
(v) Dry rock that is not stable; or
(vi) Material that is part of a sloped, layered system where the layers dip into the excavation on a slope less steep than four horizontal to one vertical (4H:1V), but only if the material would otherwise be classified as Type B.
Type C means:
(i) Cohesive soil with an unconfined compressive strength of 0.5 tsf (48 kPa) or less; or
(ii) Granular soils including gravel, sand, and loamy sand; or
(iii) Submerged soil or soil from which water is freely seeping; or
(iv) Submerged rock that is not stable; or
(v) Material in a sloped, layered system where the layers dip into the excavation on a slope of four horizontal to one vertical (4H:1V) or steeper.
Unconfined compressive strength means the load per unit area at which a soil will fail in compression. It can be determined by laboratory testing, or estimated in the field using a pocket penetrometer, by thumb penetration tests, and other methods.
Wet soil means soil that contains significantly more moisture than moist soil, but in such a range of values that cohesive material will slump or begin to flow when vibrated. Granular material that would exhibit cohesive properties when moist will lose those cohesive properties when wet.
(c) Requirements-
(1) Classification of soil and rock deposits. Each soil and rock deposit shall be classified by a competent person as Stable Rock, Type A, Type B, or Type C in accordance with the definitions set forth in paragraph (b) of this appendix.
(2) Basis of classification. The classification of the deposits shall be made based on the results of at least one visual and at least one manual analysis. Such analyses shall be conducted by a competent person using tests described in paragraph (d) below, or in other recognized methods of soil classification and testing such as those adopted by the America Society for Testing Materials, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture textural classification system.
(3) Visual and manual analyses. The visual and manual analyses, such as those noted as being acceptable in paragraph (d) of this appendix, shall be designed and conducted to provide sufficient quantitative and qualitative information as may be necessary to identify properly the properties, factors, and conditions affecting the classification of the deposits.
(4) Layered systems. In a layered system, the system shall be classified in accordance with its weakest layer. However, each layer may be classified individually where a more stable layer lies under a less stable layer.
(5) Reclassification. If, after classifying a deposit, the properties, factors, or conditions affecting its classification change in any way, the changes shall be evaluated by a competent person. The deposit shall be reclassified as necessary to reflect the changed circumstances.
(d) Acceptable visual and manual tests-
(1) Visual tests. Visual analysis is conducted to determine qualitative information regarding the excavation site in general, the soil adjacent to the excavation, the soil forming the sides of the open excavation, and the soil taken as samples from excavated material.
(i) Observe samples of soil that are excavated and soil in the sides of the excavation. Estimate the range of particle sizes and the relative amounts of the particle sizes. Soil that is primarily composed of finegrained material is cohesive material. Soil composed primarily of coarse-grained sand or gravel is granular material.
(ii) Observe soil as it is excavated. Soil that remains in clumps when excavated is cohesive. Soil that breaks up easily and does not stay in clumps is granular.
(iii) Observe the side of the opened excavation and the surface area adjacent to the excavation. Crack-like openings such as tension cracks could indicate fissured material. If chunks of soil spall off a vertical side, the soil could be fissured. Small spalls are evidence of moving ground and are indications of potentially hazardous situations.
(iv) Observe the area adjacent to the excavation and the excavation itself for evidence of existing utility and other underground structures, and to identify previously disturbed soil.
(v) Observe the opened side of the excavation to identify layered systems. Examine layered systems to identify if the layers slope toward the excavation. Estimate the degree of slope of the layers.
(vi) Observe the area adjacent to the excavation and the sides of the opened excavation for evidence of surface water, water seeping from the sides of the excavation, or the location of the level of the water table.
(vii) Observe the area adjacent to the excavation and the area within the excavation for sources of vibration that may affect the stability of the excavation face.
(2) Manual tests. Manual analysis of soil samples is conducted to determine quantitative as well as qualitative properties of soil and to provide more information in order to classify soil properly.
(i) Plasticity. Mold a moist or wet sample of soil into a ball and attempt to roll it into threads as thin as 1⁄8-inch in diameter. Cohesive material can be successfully rolled into threads without crumbling. For example, if at least a two inch (50 mm) length of 1⁄8- inch thread can be held on one end without tearing, the soil is cohesive.
(ii) Dry strength. If the soil is dry and crumbles on its own or with moderate pressure into individual grains or fine powder, it is granular (any combination of gravel, sand, or silt). If the soil is dry and falls into clumps which break up into smaller clumps, but the smaller clumps can only be broken up with difficulty, it may be clay in any combination with gravel, sand or silt. If the dry soil breaks into clumps which do not break up into small clumps and which can only be broken with difficulty, and there is no visual indication the soil is fissured, the soil may be considered unfissured.
(iii) Thumb penetration. The thumb penetration test can be used to estimate the unconfined compressive strength of cohesive soils. (This test is based on the thumb penetration test described in American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard designation D2488—''Standard Recommended Practice for Description of Soils (Visual—Manual Procedure).'') Type A soils with an unconfined compressive strength of 1.5 tsf can be readily indented by the thumb; however, they can be penetrated by the thumb only with very great effort. Type C soils with an unconfined compressive strength of 0.5 tsf can be easily penetrated several inches by the thumb, and can be molded by light finger pressure. This test should be conducted on an undisturbed soil sample, such as a large clump of spoil, as soon as practicable after excavation to keep to a minimum the effects of exposure to drying influences. If the excavation is later exposed to wetting influences (rain, flooding), the classification of the soil must be changed accordingly.
(iv) Other strength tests. Estimates of unconfined compressive strength of soils can also be obtained by use of a pocket penetrometer or by using a hand-operated shearvane.
(v) Drying test. The basic purpose of the drying test is to differentiate between cohesive material with fissures, unfissured cohesive material, and granular material. The procedure for the drying test involves drying a sample of soil that is approximately one inch thick (2.54 cm) and six inches (15.24 cm) in diameter until it is thoroughly dry:
(A) If the sample develops cracks as it dries, significant fissures are indicated.
(B) Samples that dry without cracking are to be broken by hand. If considerable force is necessary to break a sample, the soil has significant cohesive material content. The soil can be classified as an unfissured cohesive material and the unconfined compressive strength should be determined.
(C) If a sample breaks easily by hand, it is either a fissured cohesive material or a granular material. To distinguish between the two, pulverize the dried clumps of the sample by hand or by stepping on them. If the clumps do not pulverize easily, the material is cohesive with fissures. If they pulverize easily into very small fragments, the material is granular
[85 FR 8737, February 18, 2020]


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LAS VEGAS – Erik Perez was in need of a rebound fight following the first loss of his UFC career. Consider the job done against Edwin Figueroa.
Perez landed eight takedowns and put a well-rounded attack into place over the course of 15 minutes to get a unanimous-decision sweep of the judges' scorecards.
The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today's UFC 167 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on MMAjunkie and ahead of the main card on pay-per-view.
Figueroa landed a good combination early after eating a Perez kick, but Perez answered back with a kick up high. Seconds later, though, Perez landed a massive kick, but way too low. Figueroa fell to his knees instantly and was given time to recover from the low blow. Perez was warned by referee Kim Winslow to control his "weapons," but on the restart, he wasn't shy about going after the inside leg kick.
Perez dragged the fight briefly to the canvas 90 seconds into the round, then landed a good knee when the two poped back up. A front kick to the body from Perez put Figueroa on his back. With two minutes left, Perez ate a kick to the body, but swept Figueroa off his feet and got on top.
A big right hand from Perez early in the second took Figueroa off his feet. But when he got back up, he came out swinging. But a minute in, Perez changed levels and dropped down. He picked Figueroa up and carried him a few feet for a big slam. On the ground, Perez landed punches without much trouble. With two minutes left, and back on his feet, Figueroa landed some solid punches – but that just led to Perez getting his sixth takedown of the fight.
Figueroa stayed patient in the third, and that may have been the wrong move. After just missing a spinning back kick, Perez got his seventh takedown. He worked for an arm-triangle choke before jumping to side control with two minutes left. Figueroa got back to his feet with about a minute left, but Perez sat him right back down. He stayed after a choke, then stood up with 45 seconds left. He hurt Figueroa with a counter right hand, but couldn't get the finish.
"I was very well prepared tonight," Perez said. "My game plan was to go toe to toe and win the fight round by round. I'm very emotional after this win because I feel like I did what I was supposed to do and I was rewarded for it."
Perez (14-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) rebounded from the first loss of his UFC career in August. Figueroa (9-4 MMA, 2-4 UFC) lost for the third straight time in 2013 and could see his UFC career in jeopardy.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 167 results include:
- Erik Perez def. Edwin Figueroa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Jason High def. Anthony Lapsley via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Sergio Pettis def. Will Campuzano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28
- Gian Villante def. Cody Donovan via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:22
For complete coverage of UFC 167, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Las Vegas.

subset: commoncrawl


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Michelle Obama During American Flag Ceremony "All This For a Damn Flag"
"The Talmud, commands Jews to wear a 'Tefillin' cube of Saturn [Satan] on their head and body, while praying to their god [Satan]. This black cube of Satan is identical to Islam's 'Kaaba' which means "cube". Jews invented the cult of 'Kabbalah' and Islam. All of these cults "despiseth" Jesus Christ [Luke 10:16]. - On The Jews and Their Lies: 9/11, p. X, http://www.GoyToy.net
Consider the following similarities between Islam and Judaism:
• Islamic Quran: "And KILL them [non-Muslims] wherever you find them." - Sura, 2, Verse 191
• Jewish Talmud: "It is permitted to take the body and the life of a non-Jew." - Sepher Ikkarim IIIc, 25
• Jewish Talmud: "Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jew), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." - Bammidber Raba, c 21 & Jalkut 772
• Islamic Quran: "O you who believe! DO NOT take CHRISTIANS for friends." - Sura 5, Verse 51
• Jewish Talmud: "The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah (Talmud)." - Coschen Hamischpat 425, Hagah 425, 5
• Jewish Talmud: "Do not worship false gods [Jesus Christ]." - Avodah Zarah
• Jewish Talmud: "Jesus is in hell where he is boiling in hot excrement." - Gittin 57a
• Jewish Talmud: Christians girls are in a state of niddah (filth) from birth. Christian women are regarded as slaves, heathen and whores." - Abodah Zarah 36b
• Islam's "Al-Taqiyya": Deception; the Islamic word for concealing or disguising one's beliefs and/or strategies for the benefit of Islam and Islamic expansion. Linguistically it means to dodge a threat, politically it means to simulate whatever status you need in order to infiltrate, sow seeds of discord, and win the war against the enemy. The above-mentioned Quranic verses describe who their enemies are.
• Judaism's "Kol Nidre": Deception; on the Day of Atonement, Jews walk into their synagogues and the very first prayer they recite three times is the Kol Nidre. In that prayer, Jews enter into an agreement with their god (Remphan "Lucifer" Acts 7:43) that any oath, vow, or pledge that a Jew may make during the next twelve months — any oath, vow or pledge that a Jew may take during the next twelve months shall be null and void. The oath shall not be an oath; the vow shall not be a vow; the pledge shall not be a pledge. They shall have no force and effect, and so forth and so on. The Jewish Talmud teaches: "Don't forget — whenever you take an oath, vow, and pledge — remember the Kol Nidre prayer that you recited on the Day of Atonement, and that exempts you from fulfilling that".
• How The Ancient Jewish Tradition of 'Fake-Hate' Created Islam http://camelotdaily.com/ancient-jewish-tradition-of-using-fake-hate-to-control-and-kill/
• Jewish Ritual Murder of Christians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8mvEApMT_U
• Marching To Zion: Why Jews Are Not The 'Chosen People' https://www.bitchute.com/video/Px0XZySo3YVf/
• Barbara Lerner Spectre: "Jews Will Be Resented" For Orchestrating Islam's Invasion of Europe https://www.bitchute.com/video/KT17rkAduRA3/
• Jewish Messiah (antichrist) Returns When The West Is Destroyed https://www.bitchute.com/video/9qJEEujh5Leq/
• Sword and the Crescent Documentary: Islam's False Religion Exposed https://www.bitchute.com/video/XPtmjUmJ5Jhe/
Camelot Daily is one of a few independent news agencies willing to expose the 'synagogue of Satan's (S.O.S.) assault on civilization. More people than ever are receiving our message. However, S.O.S. controlled monopolies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. "96% of the World's Media," http://camelotdaily.com/jews-control-96-percent-worlds-media/ have eviscerated our advertising revenues, using government subsidized unconstitutional, Maoist like, schizophrenic censorship. It's noteworthy to mention, that Israeli scientists of all people discovered that 99.9% of Ashkenazi Jews have a 40% chance of developing schizophrenia, http://camelotdaily.com/scientists-discover-gene-that-predisposes-ashkenazi-jews-to-schizophrenia/ certainly not the type of people you want creating policies that effect the whole world and yet social media giant Facebook http://camelotdaily.com/jewish-president-eisenhower-created-darpa-which-formed-lifelog-which-became-jewish-controlled-facebook/ 800lb search engine gorilla Google http://camelotdaily.com/googles-tax-free-8-9-billion-dollar-bermuda-post-box-number-666/ and the web's most ubiquitous discussion network Disqus http://camelotdaily.com/nsa-saudi-arabia-cannibalism-linked-disqus-bans-alex-jones-infowars/ are all controlled by individuals who may be schizophrenic. The Camelot team, humbly ask our readers from around the world to support us by sharing our articles, supporting our advertisers, purchasing one of our liberty themed t-shirts at: TreasonTees.com http://TreasonTees.com and by donating to Camelot at PayPal.Me/silvanusmedia or to donate bitcoin, copy and paste the following Bitcoin Wallet Address: mqGTT5X4BrVTdhbhxX93ojcaumSSXXFHSr Thank You!
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Clogau Compose wedding ring – Timeless Love 18ct white gold
Clogau Compose engagement and wedding rings allow you to make the symbol of your love even more personal. Choose the ring's design, colour and diamond type for a truly unique and priceless treasure.
This is an example of the bespoke choices you can make in the crafting of your unique engagement and wedding rings. Choose from six different styles, a variety of different colours and carats of gold, and the size, quality and cut of the diamond, tailored to your taste and budget.
The matching engagement ring can be found here.
STYLE: Timeless Love
METAL: 18ct White Gold
Also available in rose gold, platinum and fair-trade gold.
This example would cost £1,120.
Please contact email@example.com
After an appointment, the ring will be available for collection in approximately 6 weeks.


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The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 576 out of 1,109 passed the Pharmacist Licensure Examination given by the Board of Pharmacy in the cities of Manila, Baguio and Cebu this January 2012.
The members of the Board of Pharmacy who gave the licensure examination are Ms. Jennifer M. Flores, Chairman and Ms. Marilyn M. Young-Tiu, Member.
The results were released in one (1) day after the last day of examination.
Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will start on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 but not later than February 17, 2012. Those who will register are required to bring the following: duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal, current Community Tax Certificate (cedula), 2 pieces passport size picture (colored with white background and complete name tag), 1 piece 1" x 1" picture (colored with white background and complete name tag), 2 sets of metered documentary stamps and 1 short plastic envelope with name and profession and to pay the Initial Registration Fee of P600 and Annual Registration Fee of P450 for 2012-2015. Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.
The date and venue for the oathtaking ceremony of the new successful examinees in the said examination WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER.
Related Downloads
- Full text of the Official Result of January 2012 Pharmacist Licensure Examination
- Performance of schools in the January 2012 Pharmacist Licensure Examination
- List of successful examinees who garnered the ten (10) highest places
- List of successful examinees in the January 2012 Pharmacist Licensure Examination


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SOMETIME AROUND NOON I started to appreciate the math: The fact that I was riding my bicycle to my 20-year high-school reunion meant that I wasn't quite as young as I'd been picturing myself all these years. I was creeping up a hill, badly out of breath, but the origin of this revelation was neither my legs nor my lungs. It was the two spots on my buttocks that made me wonder if the bicycle's seat was made of salt and razor blades: saddle sores.
I was not sure exactly where the idea of riding 200 miles along the Mississippi River, from my current home in Minneapolis down to my childhood home of Winona, came from. Maybe it was some kind of midlife bid to escape the icy grip of domesticity--nearing 40, I had a wife, two kids and a house. Maybe deep down I still wanted to prove something to my old classmates. All I knew for sure was that once the idea grabbed hold of my psyche it wouldn't let go, and now, just a few hours into the trip here I was, out on the road, loaded down with gear and memories and doubt.
More From Bicycling
"Hola," I said to the man walking past me. I was not far south of Minneapolis, but I was already on a part of the river I had no idea existed.
"Mucho pescado," the man said, pointing over to where his friends were fishing. He was from Mexico. He had cowboy boots and a belly that pushed out his giant belt buckle. He looked at my loaded bike and sweat-drenched shirt.
"¿A donde vas," he asked.
I told him where I was going. "A Winona."
"Es muy bonita, Winona," he said, then paused. "Pero, hace un dia desde aqui"
It's very beautiful. But it's a day from here.
"Si," I said. "Es muy lejos." Yes, it's very far.
Winona was beautiful. That was what everyone said about it, and about the valley that held the town. And it's true. The road that passes through it and winds up the Mississippi River has long been considered one of the most scenic drives in the country. Likewise, that segment of the 3,000-mile Mississippi River Trail for bicycles is one of the most popular.
But growing up there, I could never see the beauty. In spite of the town's pretty panoramas, there was something dark and gnarled at its core. For the whole year of seventh grade, I had to avoid my locker because it was in the basement where the tough kids hung out. I still remember the day in junior high school when our principal got punched in the face with a spiked glove, and another day when the vice principal got the same, giving him a long row of stitches under his eye. There was practically regular bus service heading up the river to a reform school, from which no one came back reformed. We convened on dead-end roads in the Mississippi backwaters, hundreds of us standing around, holding plastic cups full of watery beer. The cops would block us in and we would run though the woods, or swim if we had to.
In four out of the five categories of violent crime tracked nationally, and in five of the five property-crime categories, Winona ranks higher than the U.S. average. Not long ago, when I saw a headline about a 12-year-old getting a DWI, I knew before I read the story that it had happened in Winona. And when I read about a murderer serving on a jury in a murder trial (there were no objections), I was not at all surprised.
In time, and with distance, I came to think that the wildness must be something in the town's cultural DNA. Winona had a long history of being a chaotic river town, one in which, for example, the red-light district operated openly until the governor sent in special operatives to shut it down in the 1940s.
"¡Vaya bien, amigo," the man shouted as I rode away. Go well, my friend!
"You bike here?" a voice shouted as I walked from my tent to the shower that night.
"Yeah," I answered. "From Minneapolis."
"Good Glory!" He sounded alarmed. "I'd be lucky if I could bike across this parking lot."
It had taken me all day, but I had finally arrived at the Prairie Island Indian Reservation, where I'd set up camp in the shadows of both a huge casino and an even bigger nuclear plant. But I was right next to the river, on a piece of ground dotted with burial mounds.
The man turned to a shiny Mustang, got in, and began backing it under a metal awning.
"Nice car," I said.
"I want to keep it that way. Storm coming. Said they had golf-ball-size hail in North Dakota."
I looked up to see the sky turning an unsettling shade of brownish orange.
After dark, I climbed into my tent, and the wind picked up. I brought my helmet inside, just in case of hail. The wind started to roar, a low guttural sound, and I felt small and exposed and vulnerable. Out my tiny plastic window I could see the trees pitching back and forth. Then came the rain in sheets. Tornado sirens began wailing across the river.
I jumped out of my tent and ran for the cinder-block bathroom, where I huddled for an hour, peeking out the door and expecting it to be ripped off the hinges.
When I woke up the next day, the air was cool and clear. The sun was bright, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I packed my gear and got back on the road. My tires felt fast, and I felt alive in a way I hadn't for some time.
Just off the reservation, I hit my first big hill, around half a mile long and at least 500 feet high. I could feel the climb in every inch of my body from my waist down. But flying down the other side, free from exertion, I remembered when I'd discovered, just before leaving home, what excellent cycling country I'd grown up in. I'd begun taking my bicycle up into the bluffs, riding and riding. There were long climbs, not many cars, uncountable rolling hills. Those were the same roads on which Greg LeMond was riding to train for the Tour de France. I didn't know that back then. But I didn't know a lot of things, including how far two pedal-powered wheels could take me.
Later, miles from the reservation, I came to a place called Barn's Bluff, a giant limestone mound that sticks straight up out of the Mississippi River Valley floor. Almost exactly 150 years ago, Henry David Thoreau had stopped here on his way back down the river. His Walden days were long behind him. He was just a year away from dying, and he spent most of his time poking around in the weeds, collecting plant samples. Even so, I wanted to see, more or less, what he had seen. So I stashed my bike behind a small building and started climbing.
The trail wound up around the back of the hill, through woods, then finally up an old concrete staircase, where it emerged into a meadow the length of the hill. Below, the valley opened in its giant yawn.
It was green and blue as far as I could see. The river fanned out for a mile before rising up on the other side. Sun shone off the water. Some birds with wide wingspans drifted overhead.
Much here was different from when Thoreau sat writing letters. Yet, the hill was the same. The valley was the same. And the river was still massive, still flowing to the sea. I had one of those brief moments when a place we know so well suddenly seems like an exotic, beautiful, lost world we are seeing for the first time. Maybe that's what the mysterious point of my trip home was all about.
I got on my bike and rode over mile-long hills, through hidden valleys, past the shell of a once-luxurious hotel where Ulysses Grant and Millard Fillmore and William Randolph Hearst had stayed. I almost rode over a snake sunning itself on the road. I came to a place called Wabasha, where I found myself at the National Eagle Center, a giant gift shop masquerading as an educational facility about birds.
That was where I ran into a kid with a bright yellow Bike Across America shirt, and stopped to talk to him. It turned out he was in the crew, not riding. The cyclists, he said, are "mostly retired people," headed from west to east.
They weren't alone. The roads, it seemed, were full of people biking across America. But almost none were going the way I was, north to south. I'd seen only a few other cyclists ride the Mississippi River Trail for any length of time.
That night, when I got to my campground, I asked at the desk if they got many cyclists riding the river.
"Yeah, we do!" the man checking me in said.
"Mostly from Europe, though. I think we're on some map that says this a good place for bikers."
The next day, I continued south, across a large plain I'd never seen, to a town I'd never heard of, where I sat and watched a deer slip into the river and swim across a channel. I rode through some ancient sand dunes that must have resembled what this area was before it turned into farmland. I watched a mink cross the road in front of me. I was having such a good time exploring, discovering just how little I knew about the valley where I grew up, that I almost forgot where I was going--until a small voice reminded me.
"Get out of here, you ugly weirdo!" a kid yelled from his porch. He stood next to his parents, who looked at me coldly. I waved, then sped away as a grossly overweight basset hound ran out and tried to bite my ankle off.
I was very close to home now.
For 20 years, I'd been trying to be not from here. I hated my hometown's inwardness, its death grip on the things that mattered least, and for two decades I'd tried to expunge the part of me born here and replace it with pieces from everywhere else.
I turned off the main highway and pedaled up the road for a mile or so, until I came to a hastily torn piece of cardboard with "1990" scribbled on it. The sign was propped up against a pole. An arrow pointed left. I turned. Just then, a car full of girls--I mean, middle-aged women--drove past me then slowed down, and I heard my name being yelled. I waved and rode on through a rush of strangely warm feelings.
It was starting to get dark when I rolled across the lawn filled with cars and people standing around. I parked my bike and found the host, who gave me a big, friendly handshake. Then I went inside to change my shirt and came out to reunite.
"Frank!" someone said. "You surviving?"
I said that I was surviving. He looked familiar, but I couldn't find a name. I looked around.
"Frank! Did you bike here? I almost hit you on the way down!" said an old friend named Rod. Other people overheard and joined in.
"You drove your bike down here?"
"Hey, did you hear he rode his bicycle all the way down here?
"Holy shit! What, you don't own a car?"
My head swam in a sea of distorted faces. It was a high-school reunion, with all the usual surprises. The headbanger had turned into the salesman of the year. The quiet girl was a karaoke queen. The guy who used to run through the woods from the cops was now a cop chasing kids through the woods. We couldn't believe we were so old, that it had been so long.
A woman with big hair interrupted one of my conversations to say, "You guys might want to move." She pointed to one of our classmates, who was lighting a bonfire with a propane tank.
"It's okay," another woman said. "He's a fireman."
The night went on. The volume rose. Reminiscences and laughter floated on an ocean of watery beer. Eventually, perhaps inevitably, there was a fight--two women pulling hair and giving black eyes.
By the time the cops came, I was long gone, riding down a deserted road next to the Mississippi River, past the fires of people camping by the shore. As I rolled through my hometown, it was dark, but it was beautiful, too, and everything was quiet except for the hum of my wheels on the pavement and, far off, the hush of the water closing behind me.
Ride It
For route maps of the 500 miles of the Mississippi Trail in Minnesota: dot.state.min.us/bike/mrt.html. For the entire 3,000-mile route: mississippirivertrail.org
Frank Bures has written for Esquire, Outside, and Harper's Magazine, and been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing.


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Vermont's Gay Oasis :: Frog Meadow
Vermont's Frog Meadow is billed as "A country bed & breakfast and massage oasis for men." Having been there myself, this EDGE correspondent can say that it's all that, and more.
Situated on 63 acres of rolling, scenic landscape, Frog Meadow is both home and business for Scott Heller and Dave King, a couple of 23 years. Their dedication to serving the gay community by making Frog Meadow a place of respite and connection is borne in part out of a wish to share the natural beauty of their home and the warmth of their hospitality, Scott told EDGE in a recent interview.
"We built Frog Meadow as our home in 1995," said Scott, a solidly muscular man with an infectious smile and a demeanor that inspires immediate confidence. "And when we first decided to open our home to guests seven years ago, our intent was to share with others this tranquil oasis we had lovingly created. We want men to find with us a place without judgments, where they can divest themselves of their inhibitions -- and their clothes, if they so wish -- and the opportunity to just regain their equilibrium and re-connect with themselves."
It's a perfectly situated, perfectly proportioned retreat for such re-connection. Frog Meadow can accommodate 12 - 14 men, with an emphasis on community. Each day starts with a home-cooked breakfast prepared by Dave, who is a professional chef and massage therapist. Dave uses local ingredients including freshly baked breads, just-picked berries, and honey harvested from Frog Meadow's own beehives.
"Frog Meadow is an escape from the daily grind, that ticking clock of deadlines, work, and obligations," Dave noted. "Once you get here and you look out at the spectacular vista, you will realize you've left all that behind for a little while. We provide a welcoming, nurturing space to relax, restore and rediscover yourself whether in quiet solitude or in the warm camaraderie of other gay men."
In other words: There's plenty to do, including the option of doing nothing but relaxing. Either way, you'll come home refreshed.
In case that all sounds a little too peaceful, don't worry: Frog Meadow hosts a variety of activities and workshops, as well as a quarterly potluck dinner that draws around 55 attendees, a combination of locals and house guests.
Frog Meadow also hosts a spring and fall Work Camp that the web site describes as "The all-boys sleep-away camp you wished your parents had sent you to!" Work Camp participants help Scott and Dave maintain the grounds and structures for $25 per day and in return receive lodging, three meals a day, and the company of other work campers. Frog Meadow also offers a Work in Kind Fellowship program throughout the year, for ongoing projects.
One of this summer's events is a four-day Summer Camp, a "Body/Mind/Spirit Experience for Men," scheduled for July 11 - 15.
Come late summer, a weekend getaway will offer self-care buffs a Yoga, Massage & Wellness Weekend, Sept. 13-14. (A complete list of activities for the remainder of 2014 is available here.)
Workshop participants can partake in massage weekends or nude yoga retreats. Other guests book their stays precisely because they want peace and quiet, and the resort's location is conducive to deep relaxation -- as is the on-site wood fired hot tub, which is available to all guests, as are the five miles of nature trails and, in summer, the spring-fed swimming pond.
One frequent workshop facilitator at Frog Meadow is Adam Brown, who leads "Energetics of Touch" massage workshops. (The next one is slated for Oct. 24 - 26.)
"A student of mine from workshops I led in Boston suggested I get in touch with Frog Meadow as a possible place to hold my workshops," Brown told EDGE. "I went to visit Scott and Dave a couple of summers ago and we hit it off right away. Now, my work is an integral part of their programming every year."
"The main goals of my workshops are to provide a space for men to be authentic, to learn and grow both emotionally and spiritually and to transmit some of the life-changing teachings I have had in the areas of Taoism and Tantra," said Brown. "Gay or bisexual men very much need nurturing environments in which to explore the emotional, sexual and spiritual aspects of their lives. It is a great gift to be nourished in non-judgmental community as we evolve."
Yoga instructor Jon Poupore, who leads several workshops throughout the year and will be back in the autumn, similarly shared his story.
"I first came as a guest, and then led some informal yoga sessions," Poupore told EDGE. "Scott and Dave, being who they are, saw yoga and wellness as a way to attract men to Vermont. I think this [upcoming fall] wellness retreat, as it's conceived, will go a long way to make Frog Meadow better known as a place for gay naturists."
Why nude yoga?
"For a lot of men, this answers itself," Poupore replied. "Who wouldn't want to hang out with a bunch of gay men in a safe, friendly setting in the nude? Well, I certainly know that this does not appeal to everyone. But everyone I talk to about it is at least intrigued. For many it's an 'in' to nudism. It's an activity that isn't necessarily centered around nudism, but more around camaraderie and community.
"Even with (or especially because) of the Internet, men seek connection," Poupore explained. "Naked yoga is that chance to be with other gay men where you can explore your own body (and certainly the bodies of others) in a setting that is less judgmental than a pickup app or a bar."
Poupore went on to add, "I often add partner poses. These allow for greater opening and also are a lot of fun. There's a fair amount of laughing for some of them. But then we bring it back, and focus on the work at hand.
"Sure, there's some sexual energy present when you get a group of naked men together, but it usually turns into a gentle camaraderie," Poupore noted.
This ties in with Brown's observations about the massage workshops. "Men are so in need of conscious touch!" Brown said. "Most of us do not get nearly enough. Some men do not get any touch in their lives. Men are also in need of bonding and community in a supportive and honest setting.
"Men need to be heard and realize that our feelings matter," Brown went on to observe. "One of the sexiest and most fulfilling things in life is to be paid attention to, no matter what baggage one is carrying. My hope is that they take away all or some of these things and, as well as a commitment to fulfilling their needs in their own environments when they go home."
You can still enjoy attentive therapeutic touch even if you can't attend a formal workshop. Dave is a longtime professional massage therapist, and he and Scott have built a dedicated massage studio in a separate building overlooking the apple orchard, a setting that ensures quiet tranquility and privacy.
"Male touch is a powerful and healing gift," said Dave, a native Vermonter with a palpably caring presence. Dave explained that his philosophy of massage "is that the body, mind, and spirit are intricately intertwined components of the whole being. If any one part is out of alignment, all three suffer.
"By assisting in bringing the body into balance, the mind and spirit benefit as well." Dave takes pride in the fact that he custom designs each session for the individual client.
Whatever might be going on, relaxation is a watchword. Frog Meadow is situated a short drive away from Rock River, which offers a clothing-optional naturist area for sunbathing, swimming, and socializing. Partially in support of this favorite spot of naturists, Scott and Dave host an Annual Garden Party Benefit for AIDS Project of Southern Vermont and Rock River Preservation, scheduled this year for July 19.
The resort has also entered the same-sex wedding arena. And there's no need to send out for a priest, parson, or other officiant: Scott is a Universal Life Minister. "I can officiate!" he told EDGE.
"Like everyone else in the gay community, we're just so thrilled about the progress in our struggle for marriage equality across the country," Scott added. "We were very active in that struggle here in Vermont, and we were honored to be asked to represent the business community and submit testimony in support to the state Senate Judiciary Committee. And since Vermont was among the very first states to honor our right to marry, we wanted to offer Frog Meadow as an ideal setting for a romantic and unforgettable wedding.
"We've had several really great weddings here for men from across the country," Scott added. "And we're even currently creating an event for someone who wants to pop the question right here very soon."
"We focus on more intimate gatherings," Dave told EDGE. "Ceremonies typically include flowers from our gardens, cider from our orchard, champagne, cake and hors d'oeuvres from a local artisan bakery, and wedding party gifts baskets that include our specialty foods and body care products."
Frog Meadow has its own line of skin care and other products, ranging from hair and body shampoo to moisturizer to massage gel. Scott and Dave also offer a line of specialty food items and Frog Meadow apparel.
Given all that Frog Meadow offers, you might expect some sort of expansive facility that intrudes on the landscape; but the opposite is true. In keeping with the personal, intimate, and quiet character of the surrounding landscape, the 63-acre resort consists of a comfortable main house with several outbuildings, including a barn, where additional lodgings are located, and a relaxing network of four-season private recreation trails.
And while "rustic" may be a good word to describe the place, that doesn't mean "old," "creaky," or "in poor repair." The property is thoroughly modern (the wood-fired hot tub notwithstanding), offering all the amenities, including an on-site gym. The rooms are charming and comfortable, right down to the king-sized beds in the Main House's two standard rooms and its deluxe junior suite. The other accommodations have queen-sized beds, as well as other pluses: The Deluxe Barn suite has its own kitchenette, while the Frog Meadow Suite boasts a "two-man jacuzzi."
More unique still is the Brook Cottage, a small free-standing structure with four walls of windows "nestled down by the brook that feeds the swimming pond," as the website describes it. "You'll be lulled to sleep by the sound of gently running water and crickets."
Frog Meadow isn't a chain or corporate conglomerate. The emphasis on authentic community and hospitality is a major factor in Scott and Dave's main marketing strategy: Word of mouth from happy guests willing to let their friends in on the secret.
"We have a very loyal clientele who come here," Scott noted, "some on specific seasons and others who come at different times of the year. And, as a small business that cannot afford million dollar advertising budgets, we are happy to say that most of the guests discover us from others who've stayed with us before. About 50 percent of our business is from repeat guests."
The website's Guest Reviews section bolsters Scott's claim, with testimonials that make free use of words like "magical," "calm," and "beautiful." One guest wrote: "The owners, Scott and Dave, have created a property for gay men that perfectly balances rustic simplicity with high-end accommodations." Another gratefully acknowledged, "The fact that there were no screaming kids doubled the peacefulness." Wrote still another, "The clothing optional surroundings turned out to be no big deal and was actually quite liberating!"
Guest book comments are one thing, but I don't mind telling you this from experience: Once you go, you'll want to go back.


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Sometimes even a "King" isn't above "The Law."
Crafty 13-year-veteran Matt Lindland survived an early scare from Rickson Gracie brown belt Kevin Casey before launching into a vintage mauling attacking en route to a third-round TKO win.
The bout served as the main event of Friday's Strikeforce Challengers 8 event at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore. The main card aired live on Showtime.
Lindland earned an early takedown against his less-experienced opponent, but Casey showed resiliency and returned to his feet before earning a trip takedown of his own. From there, Casey worked deftly to the back and locked in a figure-four around his opponent's waist while working for the rear-naked choke.
Casey came close to securing the hold several times during the minutes he remained in the dominant position, but Lindland resisted the maneuver and rolled into his opponent and exploded into his own striking attack.
The momentum of the fight changed permanently in the second round. Lindland landed several knees from the standup position before working the fight to the canvas and controlling Casey on the floor. A flurry of punches from top position found their mark, and while they weren't the most powerful of blows, the positional control was undeniable.
Lindland actually worked into a crucifix position in the closing seconds of the frame, but he was unable to finish the fight before the bell.
It was just delaying the inevitable.
A quick takedown in the third saw Lindland set up on top and resume the attack. Casey was game in absorbing the punishment, but he showed no signs that an escape was forthcoming. As Lindland continued the assault, the fight was eventually waved off.
Lindland (22-7 MMA, 1-1 SF) picks up his first win in three trips to the cage, while Casey (3-2 MMA, 1-1 SF) sees a three-fight win streak snapped.
Widely recognized as one of the brightest prospects in the welterweight division, Tyron Woodley predicted his bout with Nathan Coy would be the toughest of his career.
It was.
Woodley started out in typical fashion, working the fight to the ground and setting up on top. But Coy showed great character and capability by working back to his feet and showing a potent striking game.
The second round showcased a bit more of Woodley's striking, though Coy stood firm in the fire and answered in kind. However, when Coy slipped on a high kick, Woodley capitalized by moving to the back and locking in an armbar in the final seconds, though the bell sounded before he could finish the hold.
With the first two rounds tight, there was little room for error in the third. Woodley remained in a defensive posture with his back to the cage as Coy pushed the pace, picking his opponent apart with low kicks and crisp punches. Woodley earned a takedown, but the favor was quickly returned, and Coy took the third clearly by riding out the position until the final bell.
It wasn't enough.
Despite Coy somehow earning all three rounds of the fight on one card, the remaining two judges saw the fight 29-28 for Woodley, who took the split decision.
Woodley (7-0 MMA, 4-0 SF) remains undefeated, while Coy (8-2 MMA, 1-1 SF) likely gained some industry respect, even in defeat.
Welterweights Roger Bowling and Bobby Voelker delivered 11-and-a-half minutes of toe-to-toe exchanges before a freak ending ruined what was an otherwise entertaining slugfest.
Bowling delivered powerful blasts from all angles in the opening two frames, and takedowns put an exclamation point on his advantage over Voelker. Nevertheless, Voelker kept the contest entertaining by answering back with accurate counterstrikes.
Needing a stoppage in the third, Voelker came out with a heightened sense of urgency. But during an otherwise routine restart early in the frame, Voelker's glove got Bowling in the eye. Bowling tried to convince cageside physicians that he could continue despite being unable to open his eye, but the officials made the sensible decision and went to the cards, where the injured fighter was awarded the unanimous decision.
The crowd booed Bowling (8-0 MMA, 1-0 SF) profusely as he apologized for his inability to continue, but "Relentless" didn't deserve the malice. Voelker (21-8 MMA, 1-1 SF) falls to 1-2 in his past three outings, though a rematch with Bowling may well be in his near future.
Picking up right where he left off in his February Strikeforce debut, welterweight Tarec Saffiedine flashed moments of striking greatness, and it would ultimately provide him a victory over a game opponent in Nate Moore.
The opening round provided some back-and-forth action with Moore pushing forward with a wrestling attack, then responding well when Saffiedine began to take control with his strikes. That changed in the second.
Moore returned to his takedown-heavy strategy, but "Sponge" stood tall in the face of the attack and delivered powerful punches while remaining on his feet.
Lightweights Pat Healy and Bryan Travers opened the evening with an intense 15-minute affair that relied heavily on defensive wrestling and well-time strikes. An uppercut wobbled Moore on one attempt, and a big right hand from Saffiedine followed shortly after and rendered his foe unconscious.
Saffiedine (9-2 MMA, 2-0 SF) has now won eight of his past nine fights, while Moore (6-2 MMA, 1-1 SF) loses for just the second time as a professional.
Travers opened up as the aggressor, looking for takedowns repeatedly, but Healy shucked them off and scored with his hands. In the second, it was Healy who relied on the takedown. While he was unable to capitalize once on the floor, his control of the five-minute frame earned him the period.
With Travers behind in the third, he opened up the arsenal and the intensity. He took control early on, but Healy weathered the storm and actually ended the round on offense. The final frame looked to be Travers', but the fight was all Healy, and he took a well-deserved unanimous decision win.
Healy (23-15 MMA, 1-0 SF) is now riding a three-fight win streak, while (13-2 MMA, 0-1 SF) loses for just the second time in his career and sees a six-fight win streak snapped.
- Matt Lindland def. Kevin Casey via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:41
- Tyron Woodley def. Nathan Coy via split decision via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
- Roger Bowling def. Bobby Voelker via technical unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Tarec Saffiedine def. Nate Moore via knockout (punch) – Round 2
- Pat Healy def. Bryan Travers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Pro Escobedo def. Jason Sharp by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,
- Blaine Macintosh def. Ben Morgan by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
- David Lloyd def. Jay Schafer by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Patrick Whittington def. Jason Lambert by triangle choke (1:39 of the
first round)
- Hamza Salim def. Lee Flores by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
For more on Strikeforce Challengers 8, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
(Pictured: Matt Lindland and Kevin Casey)


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Following his military career in World War II, infantry captain Frederico Saldana began building a series of small vehicles, drawings of which he had published in magazines earlier on.
Prototypes were built in 1950 in Bilbao, but production began in earnest in San Aunan de Desas near Barcelona.
The first was the Kapiscooter, a two-in-front three-wheeler with V-front two-tone paint and 125cc Montesa engine, built until 1955. Parallel to this came the one-in-front three-wheeler "Topolino" with 197 Hispano-Villiers power.
There followed the JIP, of which this car is an example, patterned after the American Army Jeep, and using again the 197cc Hispano-Villiers. The prototype was from Burgos, and production was from 3 addresses in Barcelona. This is the oldest, and one of the rarest Spanish cars in the museum.
Other vehicles included the Platillo Volante ("flying saucer"), the Lujo ("luxury") resembling a Fiat 600, and the M190, a brazen scaled-down copy of a Mercedes 190SL but with a one-cylinder engine.
The prolific Captains efforts ended in 1956.
Manufacturer: Automoviles y Autoscooter Kapi, Barcelona, Spain
Model: Type JIP


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Multicloud architecture
The evolution of Multicloud architecture
The enterprise cloud today is no longer a single cloud but rather a Multicloud architecture. To improve efficiency, reduce costs and prevent vendor lock-in, enterprises have adopted multiple cloud platforms that allow IT teams to run applications on the cloud solution that is ideally suited to each workload.
The downside of this Multicloud architecture is a significant increase in management complexity, as each platform comes with its own set of tools and processes. To reduce administrative burden and costs, many enterprises are now transitioning to hybrid cloud infrastructures that unify multiple clouds with a common management plane.
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The challenge of Multicloud architecture
As enterprises strive for digital transformation, IT teams have increasingly adopted a mix of public and private clouds, each with its own advantages for the specific needs of targeted workloads. This Multicloud infrastructure has made private cloud vs public cloud debates irrelevant – enterprises can take advantage of the benefits of both on-premise infrastructure and cloud solutions.
With a Multicloud architecture, IT departments can rely on public cloud offerings for highly scalable, readily available, pay-as-you-go cloud resources that offer access to new technologies – AI or machine learning, serverless computing, blockchain, real-time cloud analytics and more. Public cloud platforms provide the speed, agility and geographical reach to accelerate innovation.
Multicloud architecture also permits the use of on-premises infrastructure, providing benefits in security, data governance, data locality and low-latency performance. And a Multicloud deployment enables the use of edge cloud computing as well, decentralizing processing to edge locations to lower costs and deliver more low-latency experiences.
Despite all the benefits of multiple cloud solutions, there are many challenges as well. Every cloud platform has different management and operations tools, and a Multicloud architecture inevitably includes operational silos, complex workload migrations, inconsistent SLAs and problems with an inconsistent security posture. Ultimately, a Multicloud architecture can limit the effectiveness of cloud operations, hindering the kind of innovation that was the initial driver for cloud adoption.
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Unlock better outcomes with Dell Technologies
By enabling IT teams to build a better hybrid cloud strategy and manage Multicloud architecture more easily, Dell Technologies helps enterprises unlock a variety of significant outcomes. With Dell Technologies Cloud, enterprises can:
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FAQs: What is Multicloud architecture?
What is cloud architecture?
Cloud architecture is the collection of components and infrastructure required for cloud computing. In addition to a front-end component and a network that enable users to interact with cloud infrastructure, cloud architecture includes servers, storage, databases, and services that are made available as a shared pool of resources with elastic capacity that organizations can access on demand.
What is Multicloud architecture?
Multicloud architecture involves the use of multiple cloud solutions and multiple vendors. Multicloud architecture can be a mix of public and private clouds, or it may comprise only public cloud solutions. Multicloud architecture enables IT teams to choose the optimal cloud resource for the needs of applications and workloads, but it doesn't provide technology for connecting various cloud platforms to one another or orchestrating the movement of workloads between them.
What is hybrid cloud architecture?
Hybrid cloud architecture involves at least one public and one private cloud along with technology that allows data and application portability between clouds to support cloud bursting, load balancing between clouds and other activities that simplify management of cloud workloads. Hybrid clouds resolve the question of whether to rely on on premise vs cloud infrastructure by enabling applications and workloads to be moved easily between both.
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*LUPEC Boston's latest ruminations, in case you missed 'em in this week's issue of the Dig.
By Pink Lady and Hanky Panky
As we discussed last week, our recent involvement in the Boston Center for Adult Education's "From Jackie to Michelle – Celebrating the First Ladies of Fashion" fundraiser prompted us to ask ourselves "What Would Jackie/Michelle Drink?" Jackie Kennedy's love for Daiquiris in Camelot is well documented. But what does Michelle Obama drink? Our inquiries to White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers' office went un-answered, so we improvised at the event, serving the Southside Cocktail to represent Ms. Obama, who grew up and raised her family in the Chicago neighborhood that bears the name.
We linked the drink to Chi-town for our event, but the Southside was well known as the house cocktail at the 21 Club in New York. Owners Jack Kriendler and Charles E. Berns got into the Speakeasy business to help pay for night -school during Prohibition. They owned various joints around Manhattan, but once their operations moved uptown, they attracted ritzier clientele, including many Yale graduates and some classy broads, like Dorothy Parker and Edna Ferber.
The 21 Club's secret Wine Cellar was once an elaborate system for hiding Prohibition-era hooch and was built to be virtually invisible. The entrance was shielded from fuzz's watchful eyes by several smoked hams hanging from the ceiling and a shelf full of canned goods. The 2.5-ton door was built to look like part of the cement wall, and entry required sliding a slender 18″ meat skewer through one of the wall's many cracks. Nowadays, the secret room is one of the most coveted private dining venues in the city.
There are lots of great tales about the 21 Club. One finds Clare Booth Luce stepping aside to allow Dorothy Parker entrance to the Club muttering, "Age before beauty," to which Parker replied "Pearls before swine." In another, Robert Benchley shrugs off his raincoat saying, "Get me out of this wet coat and into a dry Martini."
Who created the cocktail? Who knows. But Dale DeGroff proudly and rightfully places it in the world of sours, which by definition are sweet, sour and strong: a simple combination that can be absolutely terrible if it is out of balance.
Boston Fashion Week starts in a few short days. Celebrate with one of these – we're not sure if Michelle Obama has ever had one, but we're sure she'd enjoy this decidedly fashionable beverage.
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
2 mint sprigs, muddle with lemon & sugar
1 1/2 oz gin
Muddle lemon, mint, and sugar in bottom of mixing glass. Add gin & ice and shake. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.


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This article mirrors my own experience. Had I not encountered another way of being Christian, one that took science, history and culture seriously, I may not have been a committed Christian. Likewise, if the only examples of ordained ministry I'd ever seen were like the majority I wtnessed as a child, I likely would've continued to say "no" when asked if I was going to be a preacher–because, I never wanted to be a preacher *like the one's I saw growing up,* with only one exception. But then I encountered Anglicanism in the form of The Episcopal Church, and I saw faithful priests going about their ministry in a holisitic way. The one allowed me to hold tighter to my faith even as I encountered the breadth and wonder of God's world, and the finite nature of our knowledge of it, while the other put me in a place where I could hear the call of God and the affirmation of the community without an immediate "no" coming to my lips.
It's more than a little disheartening that many of the interviewees told David Greene that they don't feel welcome in religious communities because of their doubt, particularly in light of the fact that they have been welcomed to be doubters on public radio. They can air their concerns to a reporter they've only just met who will then literally air them to a national audience, but they don't feel like they can go to the most natural place, a faith community, and share their doubts there. We've failed them.
Beyond that though, I almost couldn't bear to listen as my peers explained the various reasons why they've moved away from faith. These include a range of reasons from misunderstandings of the Bible to the problem of tragedy to, for a number of respondents, their perception of Christianity's universal stance against homosexuality. We've failed them.
We failed them in so many ways, but perhaps none more severe than in letting one form of Christianity — and let's name it: conservative evangelicalism — become the most public face of our faith in the United States. The young people who put it all out there on NPR, my peers, feel estranged from a faith I don't adhere to. Of course I recognize it, and I remember it, but I don't claim it. It occurred to me that, without a few crucial influences in my life — from my parents to pop culture — there but for the grace of God go I. I could've been a "None" too.
This morning, as I listened to both segments of the NPR story, my first response was to write a solution, to provide an answer, to suggest that we progressive Christians do better PR. But I don't know. Now, as I sit here actually writing, I feel the old feeling of defeat creeping up again. It seems unavoidable: the most extreme voices are always the loudest.
via We are the Reason They Don't Believe (and only Megan Fox Can Save Us Now) | Patrol – A review of religion and the modern world.


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Better Bacon
Artisan producers are making bacon even more irresistible
Bacon is the new chocolate (according to Dan Philips, the founder of the Bacon of the Month Club, www.gratefulpalate.com), or maybe the new olive oil (according to Ari Weinzweig, of Zingerman's, the country's leading olive-oil purveyor). A search for better bacon is under way in this country, reminiscent of the one for better beer, and with a similar lure of the forbidden.
The cult—and bacon love is still at the cult stage—won't come as a surprise to people who have looked for artisan-cured bacon over the years, although even they will be pleased by the recent improvements and wider selection. To anyone still buying supermarket bacon, the difference in flavor will be remarkable. Standard bacon tastes tinny and one-dimensional compared with the deep, subtle, lightly smoky flavor of good artisan bacon. After getting beyond the wonderful crisp of supermarket bacon you notice the typically heavy hand with often synthesized flavorings and even egregious "liquid smoke." Artisan bacon retains the flavor of cured meat—familiar to anyone who has eaten Canadian bacon, which is taken from the lean back loin rather than the fatty belly, and is cured but unsmoked. It shows that there's a middle ground between the comparatively bland Canadian bacon (which to me tastes like thin, dried-out cooked pork) and the blast of salt, sugar, fat, and artificial flavorings that is supermarket bacon. You can see in artisan bacon the relation to country ham, which is the meaty leg, cured much longer (good ham is cured for more than a year, as Peter Kaminsky lovingly recounts in Pig Perfect). And as with everything that has real, nuanced, lasting flavor, you need much less of it to be satisfied—a particular virtue with a food that is anywhere from one to two thirds fat.
Artisan bacon is both less messy and easier to cook than supermarket slices; its lower water content means that fewer scalding specks of wet fat will shoot out of the pan. It contains less water because it is cured with a mixture of salt, sugar, and spices either rubbed into the meat dry or dissolved in a marinade, rather than cured with brine injected by hundreds of needles (large manufacturers do this to save time and labor and to add water weight—you pay for that pool of water in the tight plastic pack). Less fat collects in the pan, because during the longer curing and smoking process—a week or two rather than a few hours—a good deal of fat disappears.
Even the shape is startling. The first time I saw a slice of Niman Ranch bacon, from the cooperative that has helped many family farms survive by producing and selling better pork, I thought it must be textured soy protein. The color of the meat was a perfect cherry-wood brown, and the long rectangle was flat and so straight-edged that it looked cut with a ruler.
There's no denying that bacon is good in pretty much anything. Sara Perry called her 2002 book Everything Tastes Better With Bacon, and Ann Hodgman gave her secret for making anything delicious in her very funny Beat This!: "I just double the chocolate and add some bacon." Even Jews who have a horror of fresh pork can happily consume multiple slices of bacon, perhaps because the curing process produces a very different sort of meat from the frankly pink, bluntly sweet, and very un-beeflike pork (as Elissa Altman, who was brought up in a Jewish home, theorized in a 2003 paean to Connecticut pork in The Hartford Courant).
Despite my taste of Niman Ranch's impressive rashers, I was a latecomer to the new baconmania. Last spring I began to catch up by arranging to taste a number of the country's most highly regarded artisan bacons. I learned both how far artisan bacon has progressed beyond supermarket bacon and how little I agree with many bacon-raters. Specifically, I found that seemingly innocuous flavors such as pepper and maple, and smoking over special woods or double-smoking, create bacon that is both less satisfying on its own and less useful as a flavor component than applewood bacon (the only kind Niman Ranch makes), which is relatively mild but by no means wimpy. This is much closer to French bacon, generally sold in slabs and diced to create little rectangular lardons, which are fried before being added to, say, coq au vin or boeuf bourguignon. (Italians don't even use bacon as we know it. For them pancetta—cured but unsmoked pork belly—is a ubiquitous flavor enhancer in sauces, soups, vegetables, and stews. Chinese cooks use fresh pork belly almost as often. African-American and southern cooks use fatback, the strip of fat above the loin.)
I tasted a half dozen bacons blind, and was gratified to find that my favorite was cured and smoked not in the backwoods of Kentucky (currently the national repository of ham wisdom) or in rural Wisconsin (home of Nueske's, a frequent winner at tastings) but an hour from the small northern-Connecticut town where I grew up. Nodine's Smokehouse is just a few miles from the very posh Litchfield, but the prefab-looking building where the bacon is made is not at all reminiscent of the expensively quaint New England houses close by. I learned on a recent visit that Nodine's gourmet shop, in a weathered barn familiar from long-ago family excursions, is on the farm where Ronald and Johanne Nodine first tried their hand at meat smoking as a second career, in 1969. Their business was chiefly custom-smoking meat that local farmers and hunters brought in; even today, in the vastly expanded facility Nodine's now occupies, various carcasses hang in the "custom" room, to be cured with secret rub recipes and smoked over special logs.
Ronald Nodine is a former engineer who found tinkering with cure recipes and smokers to his liking. His scientific training led him to record every new recipe and slight variation in temperature or timing, and to refine experiments that pleased customers. Though Connecticut cannot claim, like Kentucky, to have generations of tradition or the classic climate for curing ham (hot and damp during the summer, cool but not freezing in the winter—also great for aging bourbon), the Nodine family has evolved a method for making "apple-smoked" bacon that stands up quite well, I think. My only regret is that their meat is neither organic nor, like Niman Ranch's, guaranteed to be raised by family farmers. Nodine's buys pork from one distributor in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and does not specify feed, antibiotic use, or raising conditions.
David Yurgelan, the marketing manager for Nodine's, showed me (and my non-pork-eating but curious father) the stacks of neatly trimmed rectangular bellies waiting to be cured, all a soft pink and with a surprisingly thin coating of fat. The bellies arrive skinned, and Nodine's trims them to size. The cure for apple-smoked bacon contains just salt, sugar, water, and nitrites; the company also makes a nitrite-free version, which does not have bacon's characteristic reddish color and tastes more like uncured cooked meat. (Nitrites have largely been cleared as a health concern in curing meat, but alarm lingers from the 1970s over their possible role as a carcinogen. They set the red color and also much of the cured flavor.) The cure is not hand-rubbed but put into a steel vacuum tank along with the bellies, which are tumbled with the tank tilted like a carnival ride. Yurgelan explained that the vacuum-tumbling cuts time and the amount of marinade required, and said that even though the company uses a wet rather than a dry rub, the method produces nothing like the amount of water in commercial bacon. In fact, like much artisan bacon, Nodine's yields about a third more cooked bacon per pound than most supermarket brands.
The plant is hardly rustic. The floors are hoseable concrete, the "smokehouses" stainless-steel-lined chambers with shiny pipes that deliver smoke to the top and, for the apple-smoked bacon (the best seller, though Nodine's makes other flavors), steam to moisten the meat. Nodine's doesn't actually use applewood. Nor does it use logs, which produce interesting, strong, and smoky—but less controllable—flavor. Instead it buys sawdust made from a mixture of hardwoods, including hickory and maple, and adds to it apple pomace from Connecticut cider mills—the pulp remaining after cider is pressed. In the small steel cubes where the smoke is produced, sawdust travels down a hopper to be heated on a rotating hot iron turntable and then drops onto the bottom, where it is slowly burned to smoldering cinders. The processes of creating and adding smoke, and of varying timing and temperature, are strictly controlled, programmed, and graphed, which they would not be in a rustic operation. But the bacon tastes both good and honest (it is available in many supermarkets, and by mail order from www.nodine smokehouse.com). It is fully cooked during smoking, to the USDA-required temperature of 150°s for cooked pork. In a smoke-scented room filled with dozens of mahogany-colored bacon slabs, Yurgelan pointed to the uneven ends that would be trimmed before the slabs were put through the slicer and said, "Guys here eat bacon all day."
My own favorite use of bacon is as lardons for flavoring other dishes. I start by cutting quarter-inch cubes from a slab and rendering them until they brown. (The rendered fat can be used to cook, say, onions and thick-sliced parboiled potatoes; Perry's book gives dozens of recipes.) As for cooking bacon in slices, which is the way most artisan bacon is sold and most people eat it, I long ago adopted Barbara Kafka's method from her pioneering Microwave Gourmet: lay the strips on two to four paper towels, cover with another, and cook at high power for three and a half minutes. If you have time and you need a supply for making, say, a stack of BLTs (the apogee of bacon in America; see box), try cooking slices on a wire rack over a foil-lined pan in a regular oven at 200°s for two and a half hours. This method renders colorless fat while producing beautifully crisp, perfectly shaped slices that are easy to take bites of in a BLT without pulling out the whole slice. National BLT Month will be observed in April, and it's never too early to get into shape.
Big(gish), bacon-friendly reds
There's something snazzy about the name Shiraz. That might account for some of the wine's recent popularity: it sounds less fey than "Syrah," which is the same grape. Syrah isn't fey. It can be as powerful as the biggest red. Yet Cabernet, Merlot, even Pinot Noir, entered casual wine drinkers' vocabularies, and Syrah didn't—despite the efforts of a group of renegade northern-California winemakers, led by Randall Grahm, of Bonny Doon, and John Alban, of Alban Vineyards. They reasoned that because their region was closer in climate to the Rhone Valley, birthplace of the world's great Syrahs, than to Bordeaux, home of Cabernet Sauvignon, a California Syrah could be still greater than a California Cab.
The "Rhone Rangers," as they were called, made some very good wines. But it was Australians who finally made Shiraz, as they and South Africans call Syrah, an American household (or at least wine bar) name. Australian Shiraz is defined by the toasted oak barrels in which it is aged. The charred wood gives Shiraz smoke—and when the barrels are imported from France, says Max Allen, the author of Crush and other friendly and terrifically clear wine guides, a "lovely smoky bacon-fat aroma that's as irresistible as bacon."
Allen told me recently that he is excited by a new style, a bit lighter than the country's typical heavily alcoholic Shirazes. He recommends the medium-priced Hilltops Shiraz, from Clonakilla, a winery north of Canberra (it is available in many states for about $25; you can call the distributor at 800-485-5753 to find out where near you). These Shirazes could be taken for Rhone Syrahs, he says—but for the Australian "ripeness," which is absolutely unmistakable.
Atlantic Baking Co., 351 Main Street, Rockland, ME (207-596-0505). Boar's Head standard bacon on good artisan sourdough bread, with the useful trick of slow-roasting tomatoes to give them flavor and keep the sandwich from being too wet.
The City Bakery, 3 West 18th Street, New York, NY (212-366-1414). Niman Ranch bacon on mini-brioche hamburger buns from Eli's Bread, with homemade, lightly mustardy mayonnaise. (Have a pretzel croissant on the side, a great innovation.)
Zingerman's Roadhouse, 2501 Jackson Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI (734-663-3663). Nueske's bacon, a perennial taste-test winner, with Hellmann's mayo on toasted Jewish rye or, if you ask (and you should), on the very American and very good "Roadhouse bread," made with equal parts rye, cornmeal, and white flour and a touch of molasses.
Perhaps because Lynn's Paradise Cafe (984 Barret Avenue, Louisville, KY; 502-583-3447) is in the heart of the territory where great bacon is expected, it varies the classic: local bacon from Gatton Farms and parmesan-garlic mayo on toasted buttermilk bread, with fried green tomatoes as the "T."
The Jar, 8225 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA (323-655-6566). Nueske's bacon on toasted sourdough bread with aioli, served with homemade pickles, a local favorite.


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NEW YORK—Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia agreed on Thursday on a UN Security Council draft resolution that would demand Syria give up its chemical arms, but does not threaten military force if it fails to comply.
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said a deal was struck with Russia "legally obligating" Syria to give up its chemical stockpile and the measure went to the full Security Council in a closed-door meeting Thursday night.
U.S., Russian, French and British diplomats told reporters the vote could come as early as Friday evening, provided the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague approves a plan for the destruction of Syria's poison gas arsenal beforehand.
"I know that some (foreign) ministers are extending their stay in New York in order to participate in that vote," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters.
The agreement emerged from intense negotiations at the United Nations with Russia, Syrian President Bashar Assad's chief ally. The aim was to craft a measure to require destruction of Syria's chemical arsenal in line with a U.S.-Russia deal reached earlier this month that averted American strikes on Assad's forces in the midst of a bloody civil war.
Western powers on the Security Council backed away from many of their initial demands, diplomats say, in order to secure Russia's approval. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said an "understanding" had been hammered out, but gave no details.
A major sticking point had been Russia's opposition to writing the resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which covers the council's authority to enforce its decisions with measures such as sanctions or military force.
The compromise draft resolution, obtained by Reuters, makes the measure legally binding, but provides for no means of automatic enforcement as the United States, Britain and France originally wanted.
The only reference to enforcement in the draft is a threat that if Syria fails to comply with the resolution, the council would impose unspecified punitive measures under Chapter 7, which would require a second resolution that Russia could veto.
A U.S. State Department official hailed the deal as a "breakthrough."
"The Russians have agreed to support a strong, binding and enforceable resolution that unites the pressure and focus of the international community on the Syrian regime to ensure the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons," the official said.
Diplomats from the permanent Security Council members — China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain — had been haggling over the details of a resolution to back the American-Russian accord announced on Sept. 14 in Geneva to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.
Assad agreed to destroy Syria's chemical weapons amid an international outcry over a sarin gas strike in the suburbs of Damascus last month — the world's deadliest chemical attack in 25 years.
Washington has blamed Assad's forces for the attack, which it said killed more than 1,400 people, and U.S. President Barack Obama threatened a U.S. military strike in response.
Russia and Assad have blamed the attack on rebels battling to overthrow him in a civil war that, according to the United Nations, has left more than 100,000 people dead.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Obama sought to persuade world leaders to apply pressure on Damascus with a resolution that included tough consequences should Assad not surrender his chemical weapons stockpiles in a verifiable way.
But by putting the Syria crisis back in the hands of the UN Security Council where Russia has the ability to block punitive action, the chances of U.S. military action appeared to recede even further. Obama faces tough opposition from a skeptical Congress and a war-wary public on the wisdom of intervening military in Syria.
With rebel forces plagued by divisions, the Friends of Syria — a bloc of mainly Western and Gulf Arab countries plus Turkey — followed up Thursday's announcement of the draft resolution with a pledge to boost aid to the opposition. Weapons shipments to the rebels have been inadequate to shift the military balance in their favour.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that Syria "will implode before any side would claim a military victory" and that all sides needed to move rapidly to put a political solution in place to end the conflict.
A senior U.S. official said earlier that the United States and China — another permanent Security Council member — strongly agreed on the need to quickly adopt a binding resolution on eradicating Syria's chemical arsenal, a remark that appeared aimed at putting pressure on Russia to accept the measure.
Russia at first appeared unswayed.
Kerry met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for about an hour on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
After the draft resolution was announced, the Chinese foreign minister said, "The major concerns of all the parties, including China's concerns, have basically been resolved."
China has backed Russia to veto three council resolutions since October 2011 that would have condemned Assad's government and threatened it with sanctions.
Western diplomats say Beijing has little reason to support Assad but is eager to ensure Russia will continue to back it in the Security Council on issues like North Korea.
Assad's government last week disclosed to a UN-backed weapons watchdog the extent of its arsenal, meeting the first deadline of the ambitious disarmament deal that calls for the weapons to be eliminated by June 2014.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that his country was ready to help guard Syrian chemical weapons sites and destroy Assad's stockpiles but would not ship any of the chemical arms to Russia for destruction.
The head of the opposition Syrian Supreme Military Council cut short a visit to France on Thursday and said he would head to Syria on Friday for talks with rebel brigades that broke with the Western-backed coalition.
General Salim Idris, who commands the coalition's military wing known as the Free Syrian Army, or FSA, said he would meet with fighters from the 13 groups that rejected on Tuesday the authority of the Turkey-based coalition.
The rebel groups, including at least three considered to be under the FSA umbrella, called on Tuesday for the rebel forces to be reorganized under an Islamic framework and to be run only by groups fighting inside Syria.


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WASHINGTON (NNPA)—President Barack Obama needs only to turn over in his bed to be reminded of all the Black women who are powerfully qualified to be U.S. Supreme Court justices.
If first lady Michelle Obama was not his wife, some legal scholars say she would be a clear and obvious candidate for the short list to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
Yet, when Stevens announced his retirement April 9, not one Black woman immediately surfaced as a so-called "short-list" candidate despite the fact that no Black woman has ever served on the high court. Now the name of former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears began circulating as one that the president is seriously considering. The National Bar Association has put forth the name of Justice Ann Claire Williams, the first African-American ever appointed to the Seventh Circuit and the third African-American woman ever to serve on any United States Court of Appeals.
There are at least dozens of Black women across the U.S. who are equally qualified.
"The NBA strongly urges President Obama to use this upcoming vacancy as an opportunity to further diversify the high court and to make it more reflective of the nation it serves," the NBA said in a statement announcing its recommendation of Williams. The organization sent a letter to the president making their choice clear.
According to widespread reports, President Obama has actually widened his search to include as many as 10 jurists from across the nation.
"I think that President Obama has an enormous task and a wonderful opportunity to find a person with the combination of talents that will help solidify a great choice," said Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree in an interview. "The fact of the matter is that you can look at profiles in Ebony Magazine or some of the women in Jet or Essence Magazine or just look at the National Bar Association, which has a contingent of Black women judges and lawyers, to see some of the stars we have who are not well known to a large extent, but clearly have every one of the qualities and qualifications necessary for the job."
Ogletree declined to name some of those in his mind. But Penn State constitutional scholar Mary Frances Berry, former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, quickly ticked off several names of qualified Black women in addition to Sears. They included Elaine Jones, former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Jacqueline A. Berrien, chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Berry also agreed that Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman, a Yale Law School graduate and the first Black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, would make a great candidate. Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School's first African-American tenured professor, is another name that Berry agreed could be considered.
Fourteen years ago, President Clinton nominated, then withdrew from nomination, Guinier as assistant attorney general. Amidst that 1993 blaze of controversy over her positions on proportional representation, Guinier stood prepared to fight when Clinton submitted to counsel to withdraw the nomination.
"I think that it would be a good thing if a Black woman could be appointed since there's never been one," said Berry. "Michelle, if she weren't the president's wife, is full of qualifications. And there are many qualified Black women."
Michelle Obama, a graduate of Harvard Law School like her husband, was actually his mentor in the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin. Though it might be controversial, President Obama actually could appoint his wife to the court. That precedent was set when President John F. Kennedy, in 1961, appointed his brother, Bobby, to the position of U.S. attorney general.
Asked to consider herself, Berry scoffed at the suggestion that she is also a qualified candidate for the high court. She said that she is "too old." But, then she shot down her own argument by recalling that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed by Clinton at the age of 64.
As Stevens will retire at the end of the court session in late spring, Obama is now in the process of exploring the backgrounds and qualifications of prospective candidates. He will likely announce only one person who will then go under extreme scrutiny by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before an up or down confirmation vote by the entire U.S. Senate.
"We hope and expect President Obama would consider candidates from a variety of backgrounds, as he has indicated," said John Payton, director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. "Certainly, it would be wonderful to have an African-American—male or female—appointed to the Supreme Court. And, yes, it would be nice to hear more African-American women mentioned on the short list of candidates."
Regardless of the race or gender, Black jurists agree that there is certain criterion that is clearly necessary at this point to balance out the strong bent of conservatism still on the court—including Black Justice Clarence Thomas.
"There is definitely need for someone who has a progressive sense about the role of the Supreme Court Justice and someone who has a sense that the Constitution has to serve everyone in the country," Ogletree says.
Justice Stevens, 90, considered a moderate centrist, was appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975. Ogletree describes him as someone "who changed his mind and understood the Constitution better over time and leaves with a legacy of someone defending the broad interests of everyday people."
Berry says workers rights should be a foremost consideration in the candidate's portfolio.
"One of our major problems in the Black community is that the number of co
ntracts that minority business receive from state and local governments have gone down" since the court decided Croson v. City of Richmond among other so-called set-aside cases. College admissions policies are also issues to be considered, she said.
"We want judges who have knowledge and information and positions on these positions who are progressive no matter what color they are."
Lauding Stevens as "a stalwart in the protection of civil rights," Payton says the court needs a replacement who "will continue Justice Stevens' approach to upholding the Constitution in a way that has guaranteed equality for all Americans. LDF urges President Obama to seek the qualities that made Justice Stevens such an outstanding jurist such as a willingness to uphold fundamental principles of fairness and equality and to ensure that even the powerless have access to our justice system."
Ogletree agrees, adding that Black women should not be among the invisible.
"When you think about the success of Black women running universities, running corporations being involved as leaders in religion—you see that we have talents in every conceivable place. It doesn't take rocket science to know that there are exceptionally qualified people."