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If Stroudsburg's Seventh Street Bridge could talk ...
When the Seventh Street Bridge was dedicated on Dec. 17, it was completed just about on time and on budget.
But it wasn't without its headaches and lighter moments, as Pennsylvania Department of Transportation documents reveal.
Months of daily site activity reports filed by PennDOT, along with emails and letters, were obtained through a public records request by the Pocono Record.
Here's a glimpse behind the scenes at what went on during the 19-month-long project:
On Feb. 1, 2012, the owner of a business next to the construction site on Ann Street told contractors demolishing the old bridge that their pounding was destroying his building.
PennDOT hired a company to monitor the extent of vibrations at the site, and at those of several other locations nearby.
That company, Vibratec, installed several vibration-sensing seismic monitors in the area.
If vibrations reached a predetermined threshold, it would send a signal to a pager, and work would cease until adjustments were made.
It didn't actually work that way, though.
The monitoring equipment sent out frequent text message warnings that were usually met with indifference, according to PennDOT's daily activity reports.
For example, two text message alerts from seismic monitors were received.
PennDOT spoke to the contractor, who said the excavator was banging the bucket against a part of the old bridge it was trying to remove and that the work had already been completed.
No further action was noted.
On Feb. 22, 2012, PennDOT reported a call from a neighboring property owner complaining that constant noise and vibrations were shaking his building. The PennDOT inspector on the job that day went to the property.
"My observations were that the noise level from the concrete breaking was not too bad downstairs. A telephone conversation could be held with a small amount of inconvenience," he wrote.
"Upstairs it was much louder and some vibrations could be felt near the outside wall toward the work. The level was not as bad as 'the walls shaking' as reported, and I would say not as much as a cat purring loudly while sitting on your lap."
On Sept. 15, 2012, construction crews attempted to set six 156-foot long, 105-ton steel beams to support the roadway where it crosses Interstate 80.
But the beams couldn't be set into place because of a misalignment of the crane and supports, PennDOT records show.
On Sept. 5, PennDOT inspector Phil Ebert wrote that the location of the crane tower to place the initial skid beam was not according to plan.
The skid beam is a guide used to slide the permanent beams into place.
On Sept. 12, the general contractor for the project, J.D. Eckman, began assembling the skid beam crane. The next day the pad to support the crane was completed.
A problem arose when the giant beams were delivered that day.
Each beam was fabricated for a specific placement and had to be staged in the order they'd be used. But the beams arrived out of order, creating traffic and storage problems.
On Sept. 15, the skid beam was placed over Interstate 80. The plan was to slide the permanent beams across the skid beam into their final location.
But the contractor couldn't place the permanent beams. The height and orientation of the crane was off.
Eckman's crews relocated one of the cranes further west and moved the skid beam.
The contractor then tried placing one of the permanent beams and found the approach height for the beam truck was too low.
—¦ the beam bottomed out before it was even one-third of the way across the skid beam," Ebert wrote.
A decision was made to raise the roadway approach height for the beam truck by up to two feet to provide enough clearance to slide the permanent beam into place.
The first beam was successfully set at 10:46 p.m. Sunday, with the remaining five following.
Even tough construction types don't always get their way.
Jason Reader, a site inspector with PennDOT, was on site on Sept. 19, 2012.
He noticed a subcontractor working on two of the bridge's spans wasn't using enough supports for the rebar grids.
"I explained to the foreman Melvin that they needed to add more chairs in-between the top and bottom rebar mats to stop the major deflections, as directed by (the PennDOT site manager)," he said.
So he showed the subcontractor the specification.
"They completely ignored me "¦"


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Paul Thiebaut III founded non-profit to promote living room literacy and school readiness
By his own admission, Paul Thiebaut III was a high school drop out headed in the wrong direction. "I was hanging around some pretty disreputable characters," he recalls. "But, then something clicked inside me. I realized that I was going to have a lot of problems if I continued down the road I was heading. I severed relationships with my friends and enrolled in community college."
He was 23 at the time. He also started reading books for pleasure for the first time in his life. After graduating from San Jose State University, he worked as a private tutor.
Both the tutoring and his taste of life on the street eventually caused him to found the non-profit 10 Books A Home with the goal of "closing the achievement gap in the living room by providing early literary and mentoring support to under-served families."
"We offer a two-year program to children living in East Menlo and East Palo Alto," he explains, sitting in his part-time office, Cafe Zoe in Menlo Park. "The first time we meet with the children, who are ages three and four, each child gets 10 books, hence our name. They then get another two books a month, selected based on what they are interested in. We use the books as a learning tool — how to sit still and focus when someone is reading to you, how to ask questions based on what you've just heard — those types of skills.
"We also offer 'first teacher classes' to the children's parents. The goal is to align what the children are learning with skills that help the parents get their children ready for school. Everything we do is based on programs that have been proven to promote academic success."
10 Books A Home is still very much in start-up mode, and Paul says monetary donations are what helps most, as the organization can then provide more school readiness kits and other program materials. He's also interested in expanding his group of volunteers who provide weekly mentoring with the children.
"If people do nothing else, they can go to our website or Facebook page and 'like' us," he says. "That's also where you can read stories about our volunteers and what they've accomplished with their learners."
Photo by Scott R. Kline

subset: commoncrawl


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Injured Lindsey Vonn Skipping Sochi Olympics
Lindsey Vonn is going to skip the Sochi Olympics because of a right knee injury.
Her personal publicist, Lewis Kay, says in a statement Tuesday that Vonn "will have surgery shortly."
The 29-year-old American won two medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, including a gold in the downhill. She is also a four-time overall World Cup champion and the biggest name in Alpine skiing.
But Vonn tore two ligaments in her right knee during a high-speed crash at the world championships last February, sidelining her for about 10 months. She re-tore her surgically repaired ACL in a training crash in November, then sprained her MCL during a race at Val d'Isere, France, last month.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Foreclosure Activity Wildly Different Across U.S.
Foreclosure Activity Wildly Different Across U.S.
Foreclosure filings are down to their lowest levels since before the recession. But the declines in activity do not hold true for the whole country.
The housing market may well play a role in tonight's debate and we got word today that foreclosure activity declined to a five-year low in September. The website RealtyTrac says the national average for the number of default notices, auctions and repossessions declined 7 percent month over month. Still, as NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports, that does not mean the entire country is seeing declines.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: The operative word here is average. The national average on foreclosure activity has fallen to rates last seen before the great recession. But that decline was driven by certain states, including California, Michigan and Arizona, where foreclosure activity declined by double-digits. Meanwhile, activity was dramatically up in some states, including Florida, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.
Daren Blomquist is vice president at RealtyTrac.
DAREN BLOMQUIST: At a 50,000-foot level we're past the worst of this foreclosure crisis. Lower down into the weeds, there's definitely still some concerns and markets that are susceptible to further price erosion even, because of these more foreclosures coming online, and that are going to take longer to move their way toward recovery because these foreclosures are lingering.
NOGUCHI: Foreclosures were up 130 percent over last year in New Jersey and up 53 percent in New York. So why the huge difference? States that require court approvals to foreclose are backlogged. In New York, it takes nearly three years to foreclose. While in Texas, which does not require a judge to sign off on the process, it takes three months.
Blomquist says that can be a plus, especially in places like Florida.
BLOMQUIST: By kind of holding back the foreclosures there, it's allowed many of the Florida markets to stabilize. And we're seeing home prices increase in those markets.
NOGUCHI: But not everyone is so sure that the slower pace of foreclosures is good news. Sean O'Toole is CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com, which tracks the housing markets in Western states. His company released a similar report yesterday showing dramatic declines in default rates. But he says in many states it's also taking longer for banks to foreclose and that's not a good sign.
SEAN O'TOOLE: There's no question that we're better off than we were a year ago. Delinquencies are down and foreclosures are down. But I also think that it indicates that we still don't have a normally functioning market.
NOGUCHI: O'Toole says he expected the banks to process for closures more quickly after settling a case over botched paperwork earlier this year. But he argues until that process returns to normal, the housing market will simply be prolonging its pain.
Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.
Copyright © 2012 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.


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One of a kind
A vintage heart shaped mustard seed pendant hangs from a brass connector and a collection of vintage chain links and vintage glass pearl. The necklace closes with a lobster clasp.
Necklace measures 21"
All KariBeth jewelry pieces come in their own hand made dust bag, are constructed from vintage and antique finds that are curated on her travels near and far, and they're recreated by hand in her Nashville, TN home studio.


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Courtesy of LISA P.A. with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Freewheeler Realty
Listing Contact:
The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the Florida Keys Board of Realtors®, Florida Keys MLS, Inc. Real Estate Listings held by brokerage firms other than Sotheby's International Realty are marked with the MLS logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing broker's office. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use, that it may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing, and that the data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS.
Copyright 2023 Florida Keys Board of Realtors®, Florida Keys MLS, Inc.
Data last updated: 3/28/23


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From 24 – 26 January, European stakeholders of three major projects for railway digitalisation met in Beijing to seal a joint plan for a consistent and complementary offer to the business.
Recognising the structuring benefits of RailTopoModel, UIC Member Companies have decided and funded several follow-up projects, in order to use RTM as a foundation for Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Railway infrastructure.
For that purpose, UIC and its members have joined forces with buildingSMART international (bSI). In such way, the infrastructure "building blocks" provided by bSI's Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) and the high-level model provided by RailTopoModel will be linked and will enrich each other. Moreover, given the paramount importance of railway signalling with respect to railway system safety and economic efficiency, this cooperation fully involves the EULYNX project. This three-part collaboration will aim, at first, to build one common Rail Data Dictionary relating to all domains of railway infrastructure (track, signalling, energy, and telecom). This is to define a consistent representation of the railway system, to be used by each project for its own use cases.
On that base, RTM members will contribute to the construction and enrichment of the Rail Data Dictionary, in view of supporting their own objectives in asset management or operation and simulation.
Join the conference!
The 9th RailTopoModel conference will take place in Paris, on 29 March 2018 at UIC. Participation is free.
Register here: https://events.uic.org/9th-railtopomodel-conference
RTM conference complements two other events about digitalisation in the domain of infrastructure and railway, also taking place the same week in Paris:
- bSI Summit which includes two days dedicated to Railway BIM on the 27th and 28th:
- BIM World (see https://www.bim-w.com/?Lang=GB)
This 9th conference will be the opportunity to present the recent deliveries, ongoing works, next steps for BIM, GIS and Simulation, the extension to the complete railway system including rolling stock, and the joint roadmap with bSI and Eulynx.
Speakers from railways, software developers, and universities will share their experience in developing or using RTM as one ingredient towards the creation of a "digital twin" to the railway system, with applications ranging from asset management to safety verification, or support to operations.
Proposals for presentation of such developments based on RTM are welcome
A registration web page will provide the detailed agenda from mid-February. In the meantime, feel free to consult http://rtm.uic.org for updates on this event.
What is RailTopoModel?
RailTopoModel (abbr.: RTM) is a logical object model to standardise the digital representation of railway infrastructure-related data. It is the result of three years of cooperation between European Infrastructure Managers, and was first released by UIC in 2016 as a free, open industry standard (IRS30100).
Quick reference
Conference registration
RailTopoModel latest release
RTM documentation
http://rtm.uic.org (updated)
http://www.railtopomodel.org/en/ (not updated)
Building Smart International
IFC Rail https://www.buildingsmart.org/standards/standards-tools-services/
EULYNX project


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Enterprise Search Software
Find, analyze and use precise content wherever you are
Every organization faces the same, daunting challenge:
Answers are impossible to find.
How can enterprise organizations answer important questions when the answers are hidden in documents, files, emails and other forms of information? This info is created at an astonishing rate by different people, in different languages and stored and saved in different locations.
Sophisticated enterprise search software is an essential technology in this age of ever-expanding information and big data.
Answer critical questions with Enterprise Search software
Enterprise Search makes locating key information simple, fast and straightforward. With Enterprise Search, users can rapidly find and access the information they need and then take action — completing a task, solving a problem, responding to a customer or advancing a business process. Users don't have to enter perfect queries to get the right results, thanks to intuitive features including:
Hyland Enterprise Search software offers class-leading content discovery and output technology that unlocks valuable content regardless of where it exists, in locations as varied as:
- Repositories
- SharePoint sites
- Email systems
- Network shares
- Intranets
- Extranets
- Websites
- Databases
- Social media sites
- Any other location
Users can also analyze and explore the relationships and connections between disparate pieces of information.
Discover information effortlessly
With Enterprise Search software, you can:
Extract more meaning and insight from your content
View more related content with the help of conversational search, receive alerts for search results or information modification and explore content relationships deeper than before.
Unify access to all of your information
Find the data you need, inside or outside your firewall, with the ability to index various electronic files, access data and view the high-definition formats of all documents.
Get perfect search results without requiring users to be perfect
Extend all users access to accurate information with the aid of intuitive, menu-assisted and natural language search options.
Add value to any industry or business process
Configure end-user experience to adapt to your organization's unique people, roles and processes — all while you make your information actionable, export data for review processes and save files according to your desired formats.
Benefit from the most advanced platform
Enterprise Search software is equipped to manage complex indexing activities, render information in your preferred language and support various integration needs.
Enterprise Search for all organizations
Since all organizations across all industries share the problem of siloed information, Enterprise Search offers a compelling use case in many different specialties. Some of these areas include:
Enhanced Productivity
When workers can't find the information they need, they can't do their best work. Poor search tools hold them back, and losing that productivity (and institutional knowledge) can affect the efficiency of the entire organization.
Enterprise Search overcomes this challenge with a single application that provides universal access to all enterprise content.
Confidential Information Discovery
One simple employee mistake can expose confidential information—like personally identifiable information, trade secrets, health records, customer data, classified information. Outdated shares, employee transitions, and incorrect view/share rights can lead to exposures resulting in fines or worse.
Enterprise Search supports an effective confidential information discovery program.
Knowledge Workers and Research Professionals
The average knowledge worker spends an estimated 10-15 hours per week searching for information.
Enterprise Search dramatically reduces this time spent by making it easy for workers to find corporate insights and expert information needed to prevent lost business opportunities or incorrect analysis.
Legacy Document Warehousing
Maintaining and upgrading legacy information systems throughout changing technologies and business priorities is expensive and time-consuming. Evaluating content migration and storage options is challenging.
Enterprise Search provides access to legacy system content without the need to maintain legacy system licenses.
eDiscovery and Records Requests
In legal markets, it's critical to catch every document that contains a particular term. It's unacceptable to go to court and report that critical documents were missed because of an organization's search engine.
Enterprise Search complements e-discovery search to help find all information relevant to litigation or government inquiries.


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As most of you know from my past blog announcements, I am now offering clothing items featuring my artwork in my Etsy shop. I had also mentioned that it would take me some time to get all the items posted because I needed to make mock up designs for all of them and then get them all added to the shop.
Well…… I am excited to say that there are now close to 30 shirts available!!
Each shirt is listed as a unisex t-shirt available in S- XL. As the artist, I also chose the color shirt that I felt coincides and brings out the art piece best. This was a lot of work as I would create a mock up to be sure I liked the color and then if it wasn't good enough would keep creating mock ups until I was happy with the outcome.
However, if you like the design but wish it was in a different colored shirt, style (tank top, womens fitted, long sleeve etc.) or size (youth, XS, XXL etc.) let me know! I have already customized shirts for customers. This has included making pink shirts black for men. Making them in XS Women's Fitted style for smaller frames. I have even added the title of the art piece to one of them for a customer! Contact me through Etsy or my website to see how custom we can make one for you (based on product availability). When you rock my work I want it to be as unique as you are!
Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole


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The Rev. Joshua Mason Pawelek
"Light shine in. Luminate our inward view. Help us to see with clarity."[1] I offer these words as a way to begin exploring our January ministry theme, discernment. When we discern, we attempt to "see with clarity."
I love this theme for kickin' off the new year. It can take us beyond the standard new year's resolutions which—not always, but often—emerge out of guilt, anxiety, self-nagging: I will lose weight. I will be more open-minded. I will exercise more regularly. I will drink less. I will finally write that novel I've been aching to write but keep putting off. I will make an effort to connect more with family and friends. I will unplug. These kinds of resolutions are important. They play a role in our efforts at self-improvement. They help us set personal goals. None of them is easy. But so often we make them in an attempt to fix something we imagine is wrong with us. So often they come from a negative-leaning self-appraisal. And so often that negativity comes from outside of us. That is, it reflects societal values—or what we assume are societal values—what can be quite shallow values—and it has very little to do with what we really want for ourselves. Again, there's a place for such resolutions in our lives, but I think we can and ought to go further and deeper as the year begins. Exploring discernment as a central feature of our spiritual lives moves us away from making resolutions to fix something about ourselves that may or may not need fixing, and moves us towards discovering what is true for us, what really matters in our lives, and what kinds of living will bring meaning and fulfillment. I like how Kathleen McTigue put it in our opening words: "The new year can be new ground for the seeds of our dreams."[2]
So, what do I mean by discernment? To begin, I commend to you Jerry Lusa's essay in our January newsletter (which is also at uuse.org[3]). Jerry writes, "Discernment is about finding the essence of things." Discernment is about "going past the mere perception of something and making detailed judgments about [it]. It is the ability to judge well." He includes a quote from Anne Hill, a California-based neo-pagan writer, publisher, teacher, musician and blogger. She says discernment is "the ability to tell truth from fiction, to know when we have lost our center and how to find it again."[4]
One could argue—and Jerry's essay hints at this—that we practice discernment all day long in every context imaginable. Much of our discerning is about our daily routines and feels more or less inconsequential. We discern what we shall eat for breakfast. We discern whether we should take an alternate route in heavy traffic. We discern whether we shall read or watch television before we go to bed. Meaningful living and a life of the spirit aren't necessarily tied to this level of "everyday" discernment, though certainly one could also argue from a Buddhist, or perhaps a Taoist, perspective that the more mindful we are about even the most mundane aspects of our day, the more meaningful our living will be.
So whether we're seeking clarity about the mundane or the transcendent, the common or the extraordinary, the secular or the sacred, discernment becomes relevant to our spiritual lives—in fact, it becomes an essential and intimate feature of our spiritual lives—when we pursue it as an intentional process—a thought process, a contemplative process, a process of reasoning, reflecting or ruminating; a process of assessing or analyzing; a process of deliberating, of musing, of praying, of feeling, of intuiting—any process that we use intentionally to bring some sense of order and meaning to our lives; to help us distinguish between truth and falsehood; to help us distinguish between what matters most and what matters least; to help us distinguish between what is coming from within and what is coming from without. It's any process we use intentionally to guide us to our center—or to guide us back to our center if we've lost it; to guide us to our own voice—or to guide us back to our own voice if it has grown silent; to guide us to our most authentic self—or back to that self if we've somehow grown distant from it; or to guide us to some reality greater than ourselves that we experience as sacred, holy, life-affirming, life-giving, saving, salving, healing, sustaining. In short, spiritual discernment is an intentional process that leads us deeper into ourselves or out beyond ourselves. "Light shine in. Luminate our inward view. Help us to see with clarity."
And once we arrive there, once we've gained clarity, once we have truth, once we have our authentic self or that reality greater than self, then we have the capacity, the grounding, the confidence, the nerve, the will to make good decisions, to judge well, to select wisely, to act with integrity, to move forward on our path, to plant the seeds of our dreams.
It sounds so easy, doesn't it?
It's not easy. I think what I'm describing as discernment is very difficult. Even with great intentionality, great focus, great discipline, the line between truth and falsehood is not always clear. The line between what matters most and what matters least is not always clear. Our most authentic self is not always clear. And certainly the nature of some life-giving, sustaining reality greater than ourselves is not always clear. Light shines in but doesn't always luminate.
This week I've been imagining our capacity for discernment as a continuum. On one end of the continuum discernment begins, and there are reasons it is difficult to begin. On the other end … it ends. Discernment meets its limit—we can only gain so much clarity. I want to say a few words about each end of the continuum.
At the beginning we have a situation about which we need clarity. We have raw data, information, thoughts, sensations, joys and sorrows, problems to solve, dilemmas to manage, decisions to make, conflicts to resolve. Discernment begins as we pause, as we lean back, as we enter into that intentional process of thinking, contemplating, reflecting, musing or praying in order to gain clarity about the situation. And, keep in mind, we're not simply thinking about the situation. We're thinking beneath the situation; we're looking for our truth in relation to it, our sense of what matters, our voice, our center, and at times we're looking for our relationship to a life-giving, life-affirming reality beyond ourselves. But note: the act of pausing to think about a situation, let alone beneath a situation, is difficult in its own right. I'm pretty sure it's not a natural human tendency. It's a skill we develop. It takes practice. How often do we admonish our children and grandchildren to "think before you act?" How many times as children did we hear that advice? And ignore it? Pausing, leaning back, taking a breath—for the sake of discernment—is not a natural human tendency.
But there's more to the difficulty in this information age. The world has changed remarkably in the last decade. When we lean back from a situation today, we are more and more likely to find ourselves leaning into a mighty river of information. When we lean back from a situation today, we are less and less able to pause and reflect on a situation because the space—mental or otherwise—in which we had hoped to do our reflecting is filling up with more and more information. We are firmly ensconced in the information age. Things move and change so quickly that whenever we pause to discern, we risk falling behind—at least that's how it feels, and the feeling is potent.
And then one of our devices beeps. Our pop-tune ring-tones interrupt. Even with our phones on 'vibrate,' it's still an interruption. We have to see who's calling, or texting; who's pushing what new message.
And of course, sometimes we mean to pause for discernment, but instead we check out our Facebook page. Ohh, my friend (who is not an actual friend) posted an article with an interesting headline at Huffington Post. I'll check it out. Hmm. Not so interesting, but there's another author I know. They link to her blog. I'll check it out. Hmm. This is funny. And wise. Might work for a sermon. Think I'll tweet it. Oh, a colleague just tweeted the link to a sermon video. I'll check it out. Uh, this is great, but I don't have time to watch the whole thing. Wait, Colbert said what? I have to check it out. Hilarious. Ooh, a new video from one of my favorite bands. Gotta check it out. Very cool. I have to share this. Quick, back to Facebook. And so it goes.
Within the span of a decade the number of ways for people to communicate, connect, network, conduct business, report, offer opinion, advertise, sell, barter, share ideas, books, music, movies and inventions has exploded—perhaps not beyond measure but certainly beyond our wildest Y2K imaginings. Information now comes at us constantly. Constantly. We live in a message-saturated society with the potential for hundreds, if not thousands of voices to enter our consciousness every day from all corners. I suspect we've all developed unconscious filters to help us ignore most of it; but even still, the flow of information is staggering.
Don't misconstrue my intent. I am not complaining. I'm not lamenting. I'm not pining away for some lost pre-internet golden age where there were three corporate TV networks, rotary phones, and newspapers printed on actual paper. (Remember Newsweek?) I'm not interested in going back. I'm not one of those clergy who talks about how much we've lost in this information age—how terrible it is that we interact as much online as we do in person, how we've lost some bit of our soul because of it. We have lost something. No question. But I feel strongly that as long as we can manage ourselves rather than the information managing us, then we've gained far more than we've lost. I like all the new tools. I'm not an early adopter, but I adopt. I feel very much at home working with email, websites, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, I-tunes, and I'm moving towards e-books. I like figuring out how to use the tools to best express and promote our liberal religious message. But I'm also aware that in an information-soaked, data-infused, message-saturated, device-permeated culture, spiritual discernment becomes all the more difficult: discerning the line between truth and fiction, discerning what matters most, discerning one's voice, discerning one's authentic self becomes all the more difficult because there is so much information. How do we know which information is accurate? How do we know which information is relevant? How do we know which information will guide us in a healthy, productive, life-giving direction? Where on earth is clarity?
The answer, at least for me this morning, strangely, lies at the other end of the continuum where our capacity for discernment ends. Earlier I read Tracey Smith's poem "It and Co." For me this poem as a provocative yet oddly comforting statement about the limits of our capacity to discern. I take "It" to be a reality larger than ourselves—reality in an ultimate sense—God, Goddess, Gaia, the earth, the universe, the cosmos. The "Co."—the company—is us, humans. We are curious. We are curious about It. We are trying—we've been trying for millennia—to discern the essence of It, but the light we shine never reaches far enough. We never gain clarity. "Is It us," Smith asks, "or what contains us?" And then: "It is elegant / But coy. It avoids the blunt ends / Of our fingers as we point. We / Have gone looking for It everywhere: / In Bibles and bandwidth, / …. Still It resists the matter of false vs. real …. / It is like some novels: / Vast and unreadable."[5]
She's got us out at the far reaches of the universe, the limits of our perception, the end of the continuum. She's got us at the door to the Holy of Holies, but we can't peer in. She's got us at the entrance to the mountaintop cave, but we can't peer out. In traditional religious language, we can't gaze upon the face of God. There's no more clarity to gain no matter how much light we shine in. This ultimate reality is "vast and unreadable." It "avoids the blunt end of our fingers as we point." It rests behind an unpiercable veil. It is, in the end, utterly mysterious. And knowing this is important. Because here is a space that will never fill up with information.
Here we can pause, lean back, breathe. And while we can't name what we're leaning on, here we also aren't caught in a river of constant data. Here we aren't drowning in a sea of new facts and opinions. Here we can discern. We can't discern It with a capital I. But we can move beyond the beginning of the continuum where information is flowing relentlessly. We can look closely at the situations of our lives. We can gain clarity. We can't discern ultimate reality, but in the space it provides we can certainly discern our truth, our own voice, our most authentic self, and the things that matter beyond ourselves.
And we don't have to go to the far reaches of the universe to enter this space. There are hints of this everywhere: in the dark of winter; in the cry of a newborn baby; at the mountain peak; in the lover's embrace; in the watery depths; in the nonviolent resistor's courage; in crashing waves and tidal pools; in the wild abandon of children in summer (acting before they think); in those old stone fences running through New England woods; in the farmer rising before dawn; in crocuses breaking through the still frozen March ground; in elders sharing their stories and their wisdom by the light of a blazing fire. In all of it some mystery abides just below the surface constantly calling to us, constantly beckoning—some vast and unreadable essence, some beautiful and compelling but obscure essence, some take-your-breath-away, put-goose-bumps-on-your-fore-arms, send-chills-up-and-down-your-spine essence, some holy hallelujah cry just below the surface. And yes, the second we try to name it, the second we point our blunt fingers at it, the second we shine too bright a light, it slips away. But it keeps calling.
Some will find this confounding. I don't. I find it comforting. There is something deeply comforting for me in the constant presence of a mystery constantly calling out to us, constantly presenting itself to us, constantly inviting us to seek, to search, to discern, even if it remains elusive. Its presence makes us curious. Mystery makes us curious. One of the most central and endearing human qualities is curiosity. If the presence of a vast and unreadable mystery inspires curiosity in us, then it invites us to be human. It invites us to discern. It invites us to plant the seeds of our dreams. Consider this: the absence of mystery doesn't offer such invitations. Curiosity is a lot more challenging in the absence of mystery. I prefer the mystery. I know it may never be revealed, but there's a lot we can clarify along the way. Thus, may we continue to seek. May we continue to discern.
Amen and blessed be. And Happy New Year!
[1] Kimball, Richard S., "Winds Be Still," Singing the Living Tradition (Boston: Beacon Press and the UUA, 1993) # 83.
[2] McTigue, Kathleen, "New Year's Day," Singing the Living Tradition (Boston: Beacon Press and the UUA, 1993) #544.
[3] Navigate to https://uuse.org/topics/monthly-ministry-theme/ and scroll down to "January Ministry Theme: Discernment" (posted 12/31/2012).
[4] Anne Hill, The Baby and the Bathwater (Bodega Bay, CA: Serpentine Music, 2012).
[5] Smith, Tracy K., "It & Co." Life on Mars (Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2011) p. 17.


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One thing's for sure: The Kardashian-Jenner clan is fiercely loyal and supportive of each other. Lately, the family love has gone even further than the usual Instagram shoutouts, and some members of the fam have been spotted sporting shirts in support of their siblings or their significant others. Basically: adorable.
When Rob was shaking it up on Dancing With The Stars, Kim rocked a sweet "Vote For Rob and and Cheryl" tee in honor of her bro. And now it seems like some of her family members are returning the love by showing their support for mega-famous honorary Kardashian and Kim's fiancé, Kanye West. Kendall, Kylie, and mom Kris have all been rocking their Yeezy gear this winter, with the youngest Jenners rocking cute Kanye concert T-shirts, and Kris pulling off an amazing sweatshirt printed with a close-up of Ye's face. Hey, if there was sick merch available featuring all our friends and family, you better believe we'd be rocking it too! As shamelessly self-promoting as it seems, there's something sweet about how the fam is 100% supporting each other's dreams, 100% of the time.
What do you think of Kendall, Kylie, Kris and Kim's family-inspired fashion? Would you wear your BFF or little sister's face on a tee? Sound off in the comments section!
More From Seventeen
Photo credits: Splash News; Jae Donnelly/INFphoto.com; x17.com


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The recovery remains jobless for most of the nation, with only 16 of 384 metro areas showing job gains in the past year, according to new Adversity Index data for February from and msnbc.com.
Of the nation's 384 metro areas, 205 had begun to recover, or 53 percent, according to the February Adversity Index. That's up from 185 metro areas in January, or 48 percent.
But the gains have been confined to manufacturing and housing, not employment.
Moreover, the only areas showing jobs growth are low-population areas. Here is a list of the 16 areas (only 4 percent of the total) showing job gains in the three-month period ending February 2010 compared with the same period a year earlier. They're ranked by annualized growth in jobs:
- Ocean City, N.J., up 5.0 percent
- Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, Wash., 3.1
- Bloomington, Ind., 2.1
- Jacksonville, N.C., 1.8
- Bismarck, N.D., 1.6
- Morgantown, W.Va., 1.1
- College Station-Bryan, Texas, 1.0
- St. Joseph, Mo.-Kan., 0.9
- Cape Girardeau-Jackson, Mo.-Ill., 0.8
- Warner Robins, Ga., 0.6
- Barnstable, Cape Cod, Mass., 0.6
- State College, Pa., 0.5
- Lawton, Okla., 0.5
- Yakima, Wash., 0.4
- Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas, 0.1
- Hanford-Corcoran, Calif., 0.1
The largest of those areas — Killeen, Yakima and Barnstable — each have only about 300,000 people.
You can follow the fortunes of each metro area in the nation on our , which gives details for each metro area and state for the past 15 years.
Job losses in big cities
The 20 largest metro areas all showed jobs loss from a year earlier. Listed by size of metro area:
- New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., down 2.8 percent
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., -4.7
- Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.-Ind.-Wis., -4.5
- Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas, -3.5
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., -4.3
- Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz., -5.4
- Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, -2.7
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va., -1.5
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif., -6.0
- Philadelphia, Pa., -3.4
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis., -3.8
- San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif., -4.4
- Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif., -5.2
- Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., -1.6
- St. Louis, Mo.-Ill., -3.0
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla., -4.0
- Baltimore-Towson, Md., -2.9
- Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash., -4.6
- Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo., -4.1
- Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, Calif., -5.6
Although the economy is starting to expand, businesses are squeezing additional work out of the workers they have, not hiring more.
"Businesses cut back very severely in the recession, trimming payroll size and slashing remaining workers' hours," explained economist Andrew Gledhill of Moody's Analytics. "The worst of this has passed, but what this means is that in the early stages of recovery, businesses can simply increase workers' hours to meet modest upticks in economic activity."
The good news is that the March employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the largest net job gain since March 2007, before the recession had begun.
"Improvement will be slow in the near term," Gledhill said, "and it will not be until perhaps late this and next year that job growth is strong enough to start bringing about a more significant labor market recovery."
The Adversity Index was created by msnbc.com and Moody's Analytics to track the economic fortunes of states and metro areas. Each month, the Adversity Index uses government data on employment, industrial production, housing starts and home prices to label each area as expanding, at risk of recession, in recession or recovering.
"Recovering" doesn't mean "recovered." It doesn't mean that an area's economy is above where it was at the beginning of the recession, just that the area has begun to dig its way out of the hole.
The Adversity Index was designed to be a slow-moving indicator. It looks for sustained changes, so any one-month jump is likely to be smoothed out. This means the index is probably slow to call a beginning or end to a recession.
Gains in housing starts, manufacturing
The picture is brightest in housing starts: 306 metro areas showing gains from a year earlier. That's rising rapidly. In the period ending in January, 280 areas showed housing growth, up from December, 214; November, 171; October, 115; September, 97.
And manufacturing is also improving: 203 metro areas showing gains from a year earlier. That component of the index is rising even more rapidly. In the period ending in January only 49 areas showed growth in industrial production.
But in jobs, the number of metro areas with growth has barely budged: 16 metro areas in February; J anuary, 13; December, 10; November, 7; October, 6; September, 6.
Overall, the index shows 205 metro areas in recovery; 177 in a "moderating recession," meaning their economies were still shrinking but not so severely as a few months earlier; a single metro area still in a full-bore recession: Laredo, Texas; and a single area in expansion, Jacksonville, N.C.
Areas joining a recovery
Metro areas that moved into the recovery category in February are: Boulder, Colo.; Burlington, N.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Elmira, N.Y.; Eugene-Springfield, Ore.; Gainesville, Fla.; La Crosse, Wis.-Minn.; Monroe, La.; Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.; Niles-Benton Harbor, Mich.; Peabody, Mass.; Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, N.Y.; Pueblo, Colo.; Racine, Wis.; Rockford, Ill.; Salem, Ore.; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.; Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.; Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio; Tallahassee, Fla.
Among the states, Nevada finally moved from the recession category to a moderating recession in February, the last state to escape the full recession. Twenty-five states are listed in recovery, including the District of Columbia, and 26 in a moderating recession. The new states moving into recovery in February were Colorado and Vermont.
'Play' the index
Here are several ways to explore this month's Adversity Index:
- Our
- The updated index will be published every month at . There is a lag of about six weeks.
- An tells how the Adversity Index assesses the economy.
Many areas include multiple counties, and many cross state lines. This shows which counties are within each metro area.
A common question
How can some of the metro areas on our msnbc.com map be in "recovery," if the statistics shown for that area are negative?
The answer: Moody's status assessment (in recession, in recovery, etc.) compares six-month periods. But the stats shown on the map are one-year comparisons. (In both cases, moving averages.)
You see where this is headed. If the sharpest decline was more than 6 months ago, but less than 12 months ago, then both these things will be true at the same time in areas beginning a recovery: stats will have improved over 6 months earlier, with the metro area showing up in the recovery category, and also the year-over-year stats will still be negative.
This paradox will continue as long as areas recover, slowly, from a deep recession.


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Belkin has identified that a component of the TuneBase, the washer, can cause an electrical short circuit when plugged into a vehicle's cigarette lighter adapter. The washer is a circular, black, plastic unit situated at the tip of the TuneBase's cigarette lighter adapter. After a rigorous investigation, Belkin has determined that under certain conditions of heat, humidity and prolonged periods of power-on (e.g. when the TuneBase is left plugged in overnight), some units with the washer have shown potential to pose a risk of fire.
Belkin has determined that certain SurgeMaster surge protectors manufactured by Powertech Industrial Co., Ltd. of Taiwan pose a safety risk that may result in the rotating plug molding and housing parts cracking or detaching from the plug assembly in rare circumstances.


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- West Yorkshire
a metropolitan county in N England. 2,082,600; 787 sq. mi. (2039 sq. km).
* * *Metropolitan county (pop., 2001: 2,079,217), northern England.Its main cities are Wakefield and Leeds. From 1974 to 1986 West Yorkshire was an administrative unit; in 1986 the metropolitan county lost its administrative powers, and its constituent boroughs became autonomous unitary authorities. Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians from the east established the first settlements. While baronial power was strong in the medieval period, anarchic conditions often prevailed, and the area was the site of several 15th-century battles. In the same period, the wool textile industry developed. In the 18th and 19th centuries, abundant waterpower, and later steam power based on locally mined coal, stimulated factory-based industry. Worsted and woolen industries remain important, while an engineering industry has developed. Leeds, the area's largest city, is a major commercial and cultural centre.
* * *metropolitan county of northern England, comprising five metropolitan boroughs: Calderdale, Kirklees, and the city of Bradford in the west and the cities of Leeds and Wakefield in the east. From 1974 to 1986 West Yorkshire was an administrative unit. In 1986 the metropolitan county lost its administrative powers, and its constituent boroughs became autonomous administrative units, or unitary authorities. West Yorkshire is now a geographic and ceremonial county without administrative authority. It encompasses the urban complex that has developed in the deeply etched valleys of the Rivers Aire and Calder as they descend from the Pennine (Pennines) uplands in the west to the Vale of York in the east. West Yorkshire extends north into the scenic valleys of Airedale and Wharfedale.In the 18th and 19th centuries abundant waterpower and later steam power based on locally mined coal stimulated the growth of industry in the region. The traditional textile towns in the hilly western area, including Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford, are no longer major textile producers, and mining in that part of the county has ceased. Today in those areas, including the boroughs of Calderdale and Kirklees, engineering, paper and packing, and light manufacturing are among the most important activities. In the eastern part of the county, coal mining declined dramatically during the late 20th century; only a single mine remains, near the town of Pontefract. Wakefield is the only town that retains a large textile sector. In both Wakefield and Leeds, engineering and food processing are important. Leeds, the largest city in Yorkshire and a major commercial and cultural centre, also has substantial electronics, chemicals, furniture, and printing and publishing sectors, an important financial services industry, and two universities. Area 782 square miles (2,025 square km). Pop. (2005 est.) 2,118,600.
* * *
Universalium. 2010.


text: Do you want to become a doctor? Did you know that students who major in mathematics have one of the highest acceptance rates into medical school? In fact, acceptance rates for mathematics students over the last 4 years have averaged 6% higher than for students who majored in biological sciences and 38% higher than for students who majored in health or exercise sciences.


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Posted 10 years ago
(88 items)
Believe it or not I found this little gem in a gold and silver shop right here in New Jersey. What business a 150+ year old medal from a now non-existent, pre-imperial German state had in my area is beyond me.
The official name is Dienstehrenzeichen für Unteroffiziere und Soldaten, and was awarded from 1834 until 1866 with the onset of the Austro-Prussian War. It was a recognition for faithful service in the armed forces of the time. It is made of silvered bronze and is a petite 1" wide.
I throw around the award date and it doesn't seem like much, but when I really think about it is amazing how old this little bugger is. I just have to think about my country's history to put it in perspective, this was likely made well before the Civil War!
The last image shows all of the versions with their ribbons, this one is the 2nd from the right.


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Kenworthy News Media February 12, 2013
On February 16, The Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) and the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC) are to hold a national prayer "for a people's government." The prayer is to be held at Bosco Skills Centre in Manzini at 9 am, the Kenworthy News Media reports.
The prayer coincides with the recent launch SUDF's and SDC's campaign for a people's government and the call of for a boycott of the undemocratic elections in Swaziland later in the year.
Using the medium of a national prayer is also a call to action along religious lines. "The powerful and irresistible aspiration that our people have for 'liberation' constitutes one of the principal 'signs of the times' which the Church has to examine and interpret in the light of the Gospel," the SUDF and SDC stated in a press release.
In the press release, the two organisations stated that they believe the aims of the campaign for a people's government are widely supported in Swaziland and internationally. "As we launch a nation- wide campaign for a people`s government we know that we have the support of the vast majority of the oppressed and marginalized people of our beloved country Swaziland and those in solidarity with us around the globe."
Swaziland is effectively an absolute monarchy where the constitution allows the King to appoint and fire government ministers and members of parliament at will and control the judiciary and parliament. Political parties are banned and not allowed to contest elections.
American research and advocacy NGO Freedom House stated in its 2012 report that "Swaziland is not an electoral democracy." Human Rights Watch stated in its 2012 World Report that "Under Swazi law and custom, all powers are vested in the king."
And according to an election observer report from the last elections, held in 2008, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) concluded that the monarchy controls the election process and the response to this by those who call for multi-party democracy through a combination of the traditional structures and the constitution.
"The chiefs have used their power to influence the nomination and election of candidates in the primary election in a way that is in conflict with basic democratic values and practices. They are in a position to coerce the voters … The 2008 Suppression of Terrorism Act gives the government wide ranging powers to deal with dissenters and clamp down on the media."


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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
It's strange to recall that 2007's "Alvin and the Chipmunks" wasn't just a standard, "it's winter, get me out of the house" hit, but one of the highest grossing films of that year. Seems Chipmunk fever was waiting for the proper moment to strike back from cultural obscurity. Two years later we have the goofily titled "Squeakquel," which tries to replicate the...er, magic of the original film by repeating essentially the same story, only updating the pop tunes performed and the lead character. Otherwise, it's the same chipmunk business, only the novelty, if there was any to begin with, has worn away.
During a charity concert in Paris, Dave (Jason Lee) is mangled in a horrible stage accident, leaving The Chipmunks, Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gulber), and Theodore (Jess McCartney) without a guardian. Enter Dave's nephew, Toby (Zachary Levi), a bumbling gamer with little interest in responsibility, forced to make sure the pop superstars start attending high school. Waiting in the dark is disgraced record executive Ian (David Cross), who comes across The Chipettes, Brittany (Christina Applegate), Jeanette (Anna Faris), and Eleanor (Amy Poehler), a lively team of singing rodents. Ian, smelling a comeback, cons the Chipettes into a contract, while the Chipmunks deal with their own troubles at school, where the local cliques threaten to break up the trio for good.
Admittedly, I wasn't throw-a-chair-out-of-the-window angry with "Alvin and the Chipmunks," finding it more labored and crude than reassuringly atrocious. "The Squeakquel" is a step backwards if that's even possible, boasting DTVish production value, limited imagination, and trying performances. However, Jason Lee has wisely wiggled his way out of duty, as old short-fuse Dave Seville is absent for a majority of this adventure, leaving the Chipmunks in the hands of Zachary Levi.
Levi, star of the NBC show "Chuck," is an appalling comedian, imagining himself somewhere between Mr. Bean and an Xbox Live edition of Jeff Spicoli. In a film of singing and dancing chipmunks, an extended fart joke involving the dreaded "Dutch Oven," and David Cross finally reliving himself of his pesky dignity (I know Cross likes the money, but there should be a certain limit to screen humiliation), Levi is easily the single worst element of "The Squeakquel," which speaks to the depths of annoyance the actor plummets to. The cartoons show more wit and ease with a punchline than this guy.
"The Squeakquel" attempts to develop the Chipmunks past their touring fortunes by moving the action to high school. The screenplay doesn't offer much besides a routine of bullies, swirlies, and a big head for Alvin as he's accepted by the football team, infusing him with popularity that alienates Simon and Theodore. The addition of the Chipettes is lazily tacked on; the ladies seem hustled into the picture due to a drought of creativity, not to raise the comedic tension. The Chipettes serve a function for the soundtrack as well, permitting the producers to gorge on female hitmakers to munkify, including omnipresent tunes from Beyonce and Katy Perry.
There's enough oddity in "The Squeakquel" to wonder if the screenwriters weren't bored out of their minds, looking to entertain themselves. The weirdness includes Alvin quoting "Silence of the Lambs" at the big football game (along with "Taxi Driver" during a dodgeball skirmish), a reference to pole dancing, making Theodore a devout fan of "Meerkat Manor," and serving up a bewildering cameo by a creature known as "Digger the NASCAR gopher."
Well, at least nobody sucks on a turd, which was one of the more repulsive lowlights of the original picture. Obviously kids won't care what "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" adds up to, but as a film critic and a firm parental sympathizer, there's a world of adventure out there for The Chipmunks to enjoy. This sequel, ahem, "Squeakquel," keeps matters depressingly routine and tired. The Chipmunks may be pint-sized and adorable, but we've all seen this song and dance before.
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Could Japan's massive debt disrupt 'Abenomics' gains?
A national debt that is 2-1/2 times the size of the economy is setting off alarms.
| Tokyo
A rare wave of optimism about Japan's economy has swept over financial markets this year as the Nikkei stock index has soared and the yen plunged. The policies of newly elected President Shinzo Abe's government have been hailed as Japan's savior from decades of stagnation, winning plaudits at home and abroad.
Meanwhile, Japan's national debt has quietly crept past the quadrillion yen mark – that's 12 zeroes, or approximately $10 trillion – and some analysts fear the very success of a pillar of the government's "Abenomics" could tip the country's finances into a crisis that would reverberate through the global economy.
"If the government does get out of deflation, this could lead to a very serious situation for Japan's finances," says Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance and a critic of 'Abenomics,' who believes the government has to radically reform the nation's finances "in order to avoid a tragic collapse."
Consumer price index figures released Friday showed that the government and central bank may be finally making progress in their battle against the deflation that has stubbornly dogged the economy for the past 15 years. Prices of consumer goods didn't drop in May, the first time they haven't fallen since Abe took office in December. While prices have yet to rise, it is the combination of inflation and debt that poses the risk.
Successive Japanese administrations have been able to rack up huge levels of debt – which is now 2-1/2 times the size of the economy and equivalent to more than $165,000 for each working person in the country – largely thanks to domestic investors willing to buy government bonds paying near-zero interest rates. However, one of the main targets of Abe's growth plan is to raise inflation to 2 percent. That should in turn push up interest rates, including those on Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs), as investors seek higher returns.
The options appear severely limited.
The race
Almost half of government tax revenues are already consumed just by servicing the debt, and that is at current low interest rates. If they were to rise more than a couple of percent, the costs of debt-servicing would escalate to critical levels. Supporters of the government's policies argue that the increased economic activity that would accompany inflation will lead to higher tax revenues, helping to keep the debt manageable. Critics point out that while a doubling of debt costs is far from impossible, tax revenues growing by 100 percent would be close to miraculous.
"It will then be a kind of race between inflation and increased tax revenues. If you don't believe that tax revenues can win, then you have to think Japan is doomed," says Paul Sheard, chief global economist at Standard and Poor's ratings agency, who describes himself as "cheerleading but skeptical" on a positive outcome.
Even outright supporters of Abe's policies, such as Masayuki Kichikawa, the chief Japan economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, acknowledge the danger of the debt. He believes the cost of debt servicing is already too high for the Japanese economy, which he estimates has, "a potential growth rate of less than 1 percent."
The fact that nearly all of Japan's debt has been held domestically, has so far shielded it from the outside pressures that brought turmoil to countries like Greece and Spain. That is slowly changing, too.
The elephant in the room
"Foreign ownership of government debt has gone from 5 percent two years ago to 9 percent now. The only net buyers now are the Bank of Japan and foreign investors," says Jesper Koll, managing director at JP Morgan Japan and a self-proclaimed flag-waver for the country.
"Government debt is the elephant in the room that nobody likes to talk about," adds Mr. Koll.
Although the crucial yield rate on JGBs remains low, at around 0.85 percent, it has more than doubled in recent months.
"If they succeed with inflation and yields got to 2.8 percent, that would start to eat up all of government tax revenue and the bond market will likely blow up. And if they fail, then they're back in a deflationary spiral," says James Gruber of Asia Confidential investment newsletter and a former analyst and fund manager. "I just don't see how there can be a happy ending for Japan. But I hope I'm wrong, for Japan's sake."
If Japan did become unable to pay its debts, the only realistic options would be default or attempting to hyperinflate its way out of trouble by printing ever more money. The shock waves that would be sent through the global financial system would likely dwarf those felt after the Lehman Bros. collapse and the eurozone crisis.
Perhaps appropriately, a group of Japanese lawmakers intend to introduce a bill later this year to legalize casinos in an attempt to boost tax revenues.


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Performance data of screening mammography at a dedicated breast health centre (Health and Medical Publishing Group (HMPG), 2008)Background. Mammographic screening has become part of routine health care. We present a first analysis of screening mammography in a dedicated breast health centre in Africa. Objective. To establish a performance benchmark ...


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Self-confessed drug dealer guilty of killing man, burying body in back yard
Prosecutors: Jose Alfaro shot Stephen Febonio in head, stuffed body in freezer
A self-confessed drug dealer has been convicted in South Florida of killing a man he owed $10,000.
A Palm Beach County jury found Jose Alfaro, 31, guilty of second-degree murder Tuesday. He faces up to life in prison at his Jan. 2 sentencing.
MUGSHOTS: Who Got Arrested In South Florida?
Alfaro shot Stephen Febonio, 45, in the back of the head in August 2007. Alfaro put Febonio's body in a freezer and buried it in the back yard of a Delray Beach home. The body was found in March 2009.
Prosecutors said Alfaro owed Febonio $10,000 for construction work he had done. Febonio threatened to tell authorities about Alfaro's marijuana growing business if Alfaro didn't pay Febonio.
Alfaro testified at his trial that another man actually killed Febonio when Febonio tried to rob him.


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Fall River store clerks fight off masked, armed men
Police searching for men in Ruby Convenience Store incident
Two clerks at Ruby Convenience Store fought back against two masked and armed men who tried robbing the store Friday night, police said.
One clerk, who armed himself with a hammer for self-defense, knocked a knife out of one suspect's hand when the assailant lunged at him, Fall River Police Detective J.D. Costa said.
There were no reports of any injuries, the Herald News reported.
The suspects fled the store without stealing anything, Costa said.
Around 9:45 p.m. Friday, the assailants walked into the store at 1737 Bay St. One suspect, wearing a mask and dark clothing, brandished a knife and demanded money, Costa said.
One of the two clerks reached under the counter to grab the hammer to defend himself. After the suspects left the store, one of the clerks jumped in his vehicle and chased the assailants along several streets in the South End until losing sight of them, Costa said.
The assailants are still at-large. Detectives are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call the Fall River Police Department Major Crimes Division at 508-676-8511, or to call the anonymous tip line at 508-672-8477.


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Shadow Objects
Featuring a selection of objects by Seoul-based artists and designers, Shadow Objects is an exhibition curated by Na Kim and Helen Ku that explores ideas of function, subjectivity and documentation. Accompanying each object is an instruction by a selected writer that examines its potential use and the performance of this suggestion has been documented in stark monochrome, highlighting the objects' form and materiality. The result is an abstract user's manual, designed to suggest new ways of seeing.
26 November 2015 – 26 January 2016
Project Space, 4th floor
COS Cheongdam
Apgujeong-ro 418
Gangnam-gu, Seoul


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- Road test vehicle. Check all suspension and steering parts for wear. Check tire pressure and condition. Check riding height. Hook up Hunter alignment machine. Take initial readings. Inspect alignment of all four wheels. Adjust caster, camber, toe-in, and thrust angle as needed on all four wheels. Center steering wheel. Print out final reading. Road Test.
HUSSIEN B. gave our service a 5 star review on 11/18/2022


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Achille Castiglioni
Born in Milan in 1918, he started work as an architect and designer with his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo in 1938. One of the great masters of Italian design, he was a founding member of ADI in the fifties. The long list of awards he has received include eight Compassi d'Oro. His activity as a designer is an unmistakable blend of simplicity, irony and fun and it shows his close interest in the way objects are used, in the potential offered by technology and in the use of new materials. He dies in 2002.
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Heavy Rotation: 5 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing
Download Music From Avant, Yeasayer, Shovels & Rope And More
Heavy Rotation: 5 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing
Every so often, people at an NPR station discover a song they can't get enough of. On those occasions, we ask them to share their obsession with the nation. Ben Famous is the music director at KCEP Power88 in Las Vegas. He spoke to Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep about a new cut from R&B heavyweight Avant. It's called "You and I," and it features Keke Wyatt. "The first time we played it," says Famous, "the phone lines lit up, and people were like, 'Who was that?' 'What was that?'"
In this installment of Heavy Rotation, you can download "You and I," as well as Yeasayer's latest single, a heart-on-sleeve love song from Robert Francis, and some catchy folk tunes from two bands on the rise, The Stray Birds and Shovels & Rope.
Heavy Rotation: 5 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing
Avant, 'You & I'
Currently in rotation on: KCEP Power 88 in Las Vegas
R&B favorites Avant and Keke Wyatt return with yet another stellar single, "You & I"; it'll be on Avant's new album, Face the Music, due out in February. The song sounds like an old Motown classic, with Avant singing like Marvin Gaye and Wyatt channeling Tammi Terrell. It's been 12 years since Avant and Wyatt joined forces — for a cover of Rene & Angela's 1983 classic "My First Love" — and the chemistry they create when together in "You & I" is so strong, I think it's Avant's most soulful slow jam since his first album. If these two made an album of duets in the near future, I would not be mad at all. — DJ Benzo, Power88 music director
Shovels & Rope, 'O' Be Joyful'
Currently in rotation on: KHSU in Humboldt Country, Calif.
In the glorious tradition of music duos who blur the lines between professional and personal — John and June Carter Cash, Tammy Wynette and George Jones, et al — comes South Carolina troubadours Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent. After hitting the road together in 2003 and recording an album titled Shovels & Rope in 2008, the moniker stuck to the couple. Culling country, blues, folk and garage-rock influences, the pair creates a real-deal revival, as the title track of Shovels & Rope's superb full-length debut indicates. Hearst's confident lead vocal recalls the raw soul of Loretta Lynn, while Trent's sweet weariness edges toward Townes Van Zandt, and they combine to create a single potent voice. — Mark Shikuma, KHSU music director
The Stray Birds, 'Dream In Blue'
Currently in rotation on: WUMB in Boston
When you listen to hundreds of CDs a month, it can be hard to let a particular sound stand out. The Stray Birds' music makes you remember where you were when you first heard it. The voices are what do it for me; some songs are more about harmony, while others are about a single voice. This particular track features Maya de Vitry, who used to sing Iris DeMent songs to her kindergarten class during show and tell — how great is that? The Stray Birds' debut album is terrific, but this track keeps bringing me back in. — Jay Moberg, WUMB music director
Robert Francis, 'Perfectly Yours'
Currently in rotation on: WTMD in Baltimore
Robert Francis continues his impressive evolution with Strangers in the First Place, on which he creates sweeping soundscapes that never lose their slinky, sensual groove. The music has a loose, rambling quality that's a perfect accompaniment for his dark and sometimes oblique lyrics of desperation, heartbreak, lust and love. "Perfectly Yours" is one of the most immediately accessible songs on the album: It's catchy, but it also reveals a complex tapestry of instrumentation and production flourishes upon further examination. Francis writes with confidence and intelligence that's almost scary for someone so young — he's 24 — and he possesses a potent, subtly soulful voice. Don't overlook this album. — Scott Mullins, WTMD program director
Yeasayer, 'Reagan's Skeleton'Mikeal Gregorsky
Currently in rotation on: Iowa Public Radio
The best indie-rock bands may evoke certain genres — such as '80s new wave or Gothic dance music, in the case of Yeasayer's "Reagan's Skeleton" — yet they remain original and of their time. After a weird backward-vocals introduction, the synth and guitar pulse kicks in and the story begins "outside of Ventura." Reagan's bones are stalking the land, but politics take a backseat to musical delights in a five-minute song that gets its hooks into you good. More than three minutes in, there's a cool synth bleeps-and-bloops break, and then it's back to the chorus. With this last repetition, Reagan's skeleton marches eternally as Yeasayer closes the deal. — Mark Simmet, host of Iowa Public Radio's Studio One


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Although the Los Angeles Lakers have inspired plenty of strong emotions during their title-laden history, the Denver Nuggets felt something that's been rare in recent decades.
Ty Lawson had 21 points and 10 assists, Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points and hit a big 3-pointer with 13.8 seconds left, and the visiting Nuggets beat the struggling Lakers 112-105 Sunday night for their fifth win in seven games.
The Nuggets showed no signs of weariness after a home win over Utah one night earlier. Despite two last-minute 3-pointers by Kobe Bryant, Denver calmly maintained a lead throughout the fourth quarter of its second win in 12 days over the Lakers.
"They're struggling," Denver coach George Karl said. "It's a great win for us, but I'm not going to get overinflated."
Staples Center was mostly silent while Los Angeles dropped to 15-18 with another mediocre performance featuring 18 turnovers, intermittent defense and little structured offense down the stretch. Bryant scored 29 points and Dwight Howard had 14 points and a career high-tying 26 rebounds for the Lakers, who have lost three straight and four of five.
Bryant's 3-pointer with 36 seconds left cut Denver's lead to 105-102, and Howard emphatically blocked Andre Miller's layup attempt on the Nuggets' next possession — but the ball went straight to Gallinari, who immediately drained a 3-pointer with 13.8 seconds left.
The Nuggets were almost apologetic for the pivotal play.
"It was a lucky bounce," Gallinari said.
The Lakers locker room was as silent as their arena after their eighth home loss of the still-young season.
"I think because of our record, the pressure is building, but so be it," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We have to overcome it, and we can."
After the game, the Lakers said Howard aggravated his right shoulder injury. He will have an MRI exam Monday.
"Everything is against us right now, but we have to keep our heads and stay together," Howard said. "It is tough out there, because everybody expects us to win, but we have to stick together."
Grizzlies 92, Suns 81: Zach Randolph scored 21 points and Rudy Gay added 20 to lead Memphis past host Phoenix.
"It was a good game for us from both ends," Randolph said.
The Grizzlies, who have won three of their last five games, visit the Warriors on Wednesday night.
Phoenix has lost eight of nine and 15 of 20.
Thunder 104, Raptors 92: Russell Westbrook scored 23 points, Kevin Durant had 22 and Oklahoma City beat host Toronto. Serge Ibaka had 19 points and eight rebounds as the Thunder enjoyed a winning start to a stretch that sees it play 11 of 13 on the road.
Heat 99, Wizards 71: LeBron James scored 24 points and host Miami had a rebounding edge for a change to beat woeful Washington.
Rockets: The team suspended first-round pick Royce White without pay for "refusing to provide services" required by his contract. General manager Daryl Morey said the Rockets will continue to work with White in hopes of finding a resolution.
White refused his assignment to Houston's D-League affiliate a week ago. The 16th overall pick in the June draft, White has spent most of the season on Houston's inactive list while he and the team figure out how to handle his anxiety disorder and overall mental health.


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A conversation with the Burghound, Allen Meadows
Allen Meadows is the author of Burghound, one of the premier Pinot Noir review publications in the English language. I've known Allen, not well but cordially, for some years. Now 57 years old, Allen was at last weekend's World of Pinot Noir, where he kindly consented to let me interview him. The conversation was entirely spontaneous; I had no prepared questions in advance. And like my Antonio Galloni Q&A of last week, this one's virtually unedited; what you read is what we said. This is Part 1. The final part will appear tomorrow.
SH: Where do you live?
AM: Tarzana [California] for less than half the year, Burgundy for less than half the year, and another two months, you pick a place.
As long as they grow Pinot Noir?
And what is the Burghound? What do you do?
Well, Burghound was a vision I came up with in the middle '90s and finally had the nerve to realize in the Fall of 2000, to take the wine publishing approach of doing the world and stand that model on its head and do one thing, which was Burgundy, but do it in real depth. I emailed 20 of my friends who were into Burgundy and said, "Do you think that a review that is devoted to one thing only could work," and it was zip for twenty. Nobody thought it would be a good idea. But, like some good ideas that don't seem to make any sense at the time, it worked in spite of itself, and so, 12 years later, we're still here.
And what is the publication?
It's a newsletter.
How often do you publish?
It's quarterly.
What does it cost per year to subscribe?
It is about to be moved up to $145 a year from $125, which is the first increase we've had in six years.
And what do I get every issue?
You get a series of reports that, by the way, have no advertising and no photos, so it's quite dry, by intent. What you get is in-depth reviews of Burgundy, Pinot Noir and, from time to time, Champagne. And the coherence between those three is, it's all the same grapes. The other thing that comes with it is a searchable database with, at this point, almost 60,000 Burgundies and Pinots in it, that is searchable all the way back to 1845.
What is the typical word length of a single review?
Probably 30-50 words, depending.
And how many reviews per issue?
I would say it varies, but the average is probably 1,250 wines an issue, so the average is 150 to 200-plus pages.
So that's about 5,000 wines a year you're doing.
Five to six, yeah, depending.
And you use the 100-point system?
I do.
Because I think to be commercially relevant you really don't have a choice. I could have tried to pioneer a different approach, but I think that English-speaking consumers are comfortable with the scale. You can debate whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. It's something I actually looked at carefully before I chose to use it. In fact, I almost thought about trying to grade wines using that scale, but within a hierarchy, because if it's a really fantastic Bourgogne, and it gets 90 points, you could still easily have a Grand Cru that's not really all that special, getting the same score. Yet in its class, the Bourgogne is much better. So if you use something that's an absolute hierarchy, sometimes it doesn't quite impart the value and just how good something at the lower end of the hierarchy is.
So name the Pinot Noir regions of the world you cover.
I cover basically Burgundy, California and Oregon. Once in a while, I'll do an article on New Zealand, but it's occasional, as opposed to systematic.
Why not include New Zealand full time?
Simply because I barely have time to do what I'm doing now. I'm not complaining, but I haven't had a vacation in 8 years, so it's just one of those things where there's only so much time.
Well, some people would say your work is a vacation!
Well, they would, and I wouldn't disagree. I do it because I love it, and I'm not about to complain, but it is real work.
Where do you do most of your tasting?
Put it this way: Most of Burgundy, in spite of the fact that a lot of importers send their wines to me at home, I would say that 98% of Burgundy is done in Burgundy, whereas most of the U.S. Pinot reviews as well as Champagne are done in my home office.
Do you solicit bottles, or just take what comes in?
Both. For the first 5 years, I didn't do U.S. Pinot, and then I decided to branch out and do that, because there was a good deal of request for it from my readership, so initially I solicited. Now that people–I mean reviewers–are used to me reviewing, they typically just send the wines on a schedule of whenever they're due to be released, but also in the last 7 years there have been a lot of new wineries that have just sent things, in one of two ways: they either write and say "May we submit and if so, how do we go about that?" and then other people just send it.
Do you review everything that comes in?
Yes, although I'm starting to wonder whether I can continue to do that, for the simple reason that there's only so much time, and therefore, just because somebody sends something…in the past, I've tried to honor that. So for the moment, I taste everything, but I don't know that I'm going to continue that policy. Sometimes, when people send things, it's not necessarily of the highest quality.
Well, how do you know, unless you try it?
Well, you don't, and therein lies the trick that I will taste everything, but I don't know that I'm necessarily going to write up everything.
Does that mean you sort of have a policy that you don't trash wines?
That's a very, very good question, because to this point, if a winery presents it, either on site, like in Burgundy, or sends it, it gets reviewed. So people don't have to worry about what you just said, which is, if it's not very good, then I won't review it. But in this case, with stuff that I haven't solicited, that just gets sent, I may in fact have to start a policy where I taste and then I don't review it if it's not very good.
Would you ever consider hiring an assistant taster? I mean, Parker branched out eventually.
A great question, and thus far, no. I think that a unique voice still has a place. I mean, I know that Steve Tanzer has done it, I know that Bob [Parker] has done it, obviously the Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast have various reviewers with expertise in their areas, and that makes sense. But for somebody who is specifically devoted to Pinot Noir-based wines, with obviously white Burgundy thrown in, I'm not sure that that policy makes sense. So for the time being, there are no plans.
So Burgundy, Oregon, California. Who gets the best scores?
That's a good question too. I would say that, in my eyes, the reference standard still remains Burgundy. But when you look at the scores that some California wineries, as well as some Oregon wineries, are receiving, that difference that used to exist 7, 8 years ago is definitely narrowing. I would not say Oregon and California have caught Burgundy yet. But the difference continues to narrow.
In what respect does the difference continue to narrow?
Well, just the sheer quality. I think that, as wineries here better understand their terroirs, as the vines continue to mature, they're getting better fruit. And it takes a long time to understand the terroir. I mean, even Burgundians will tell you that when they lease or buy a new parcel, it takes them time to understand it.
That raises an interesting question. You said that the quality of California and Oregon fruit is improving. But the style of Burgundy remains quite different from the style of California.
Characterize briefly the three styles.
When I talk about quality, obviously "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder. I think most arguments come down to, What is beautiful? You have a vision of beauty, I have another, another person has a third, and sometimes the minds meet and sometimes they don't. So my point is, Burgundy should not try to emulate the New World, any more than the New World should try and emulate Burgundy. But if your definition of great wines are wines that can age and change and mature and evolve in a positive sense, enduring is one thing. But we're talking about evolving, and become more interesting, then that is the way I view both Oregon and California improving. And so, if I were to characterize the three regions, Burgundy is Burgundy, vins de gardes, tends to be a little more austere, tends to have a little more acidity. California, due to the weather, tends to be more opulent, lush, it's riper, tends to be more generous. Oregon has a foot in both camps. It's not California, but it's still riper than Burgundy.
Tomorrow, the concluding part of my conversation with Allen Meadows.
Great interview, Steve. I really appreciate your line of questioning as a fellow critic here and on your previous interview with Mr. Galloni. Keep them coming…
- Should Wine Critics Always Taste Blind? « Edible Arts - [...] of interviews hosted by Steve Heimoff, wine critic for the Wine Enthusiast.(Here is Meadows, Parts 1 and 2. Here…


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In recent months, buyers of Lululemon's zeitgeisty yoga pants have criticized the products' pilling, unraveling seams, and semi-sheer fabric. In March the company was forced to recall shipments of see-through pants (claiming "faulty production" as the issue). Since returning to the market, Lululemon says the "testing process" for the pants has changed But buyers are still finding their downward dog ruined by the sheer fabric that exposes underwear.
Lululemon co-founder Chip Wilson has a new message for Lululemon customers: it's not us, it's you. Speaking on Bloomberg TV yesterday, Wilson explained that knitted fabric can only be stretched so far before it goes sheer, which means: "frankly, some women's bodies don't work for it." And wait, there's more! "They don't work for some women's bodies… it's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it." Because why design a product FOR women's bodies and actually have it work for everyone when you can design it for only the thin and then fat shame the rest?
em>Photo Credit: Getty Images


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Do you like classic or modern? Vintage, handmade, themed or not? Colorful or simple? Angel tree tops or stars? White lights or multi-colored ones? Please share and
Do you like classic or modern? Vintage, handmade, themed or not? Colorful or simple? Angel tree tops or stars? White lights or multi-colored ones? Please share and
Merry Snowy Christmas
Love & Peace to the World
More classic than modern, no theme, very colorful, alittle bit of everything, white lights (highlights the ornaments better) and an angel topper. Also, I add a white tree skirt, silver beads, white garland and hundreds of ornaments. I love my tree!
vintage glass bulbs, I can't have too many of em
Classic. Red bows, wooden ornaments, some painted balls.
Its the season to be jolly
I have two themed trees - one snowman and one Santa .
I liked theme trees whether it has a main color or if it has a character theme, but I do prefer traditional characters -- not so much the non-Christmas themed trees...
With me its all for the kids in the kitchen, candyland come woodland.
Livingroom is the frosted glass look, the hall and landing are colour coded
but I change the colours, red,gold,brown and cream are just a few colours at the moment..
I prefer lots of sparkly/glittery glass bulbs of many colors, clear mini lights (although sometimes I add a little bit of multi-colored). I use the almost clear, but pearlescent beads for garland and clear, glittery glass and/or plastic icicles. I also use smallish winter white colored bows. And I have various birds; cardinals, doves, etc.... I like to see lights and ornaments throughout the tree, and not just on the outside tips of the tree. Last year I put both clear and multicolored lights on the tree and set it up so that we could have all clear, or all multi-colored or both if we wanted. And I have a couple of Christmas light dimmers that I plugged all the lights into, so I had 4 levels of dimness to choose from. It was so cool.
My family room tree I usually decorate with things that I have collected over the years. I did try to do a theme tree one year but it didn't seem right as it seemed like I left my old friends in the garage that year.
I do have a skinner tree that I put up in the living room and that I try to change every few years as I usually do a theme in there.
My other decorations I try to mix up to get a different look every year.
I really like a full tree. Every year I buy some new ornaments to add. My favorite ones are Santas and Angels and Christmas cookies that look handmade and have a vintage kind of look. I also have baubles, burgundy and gold, some wooden handmade Santas made for me by a friend, and lots of white lights.
Last edited by SilverBells; 09-08-2010 at 02:27 PM.
Merry Snowy Christmas
Love & Peace to the World


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Day 10 — Share Your Music: 30 Days, 30 Songs.
One of my favourite songs as a child was the Ugly Bug Ball sung by Ronnie Hilton. It is on my Parade of Disney Hits album that was produced by Axis Records for EMI. That album also has Ronnie Hilton singing Thomas O'Malley Cat. Another favourite.
Yes, I still have the album but we had to go hunting for it. (That is the Royal We. He was not amused.) Almost everything ever produced is available on that YouTube these days, but not this song. I've given you all the information in case you want to race out and buy the album from that popular online sales site (you'll know the one). I checked and there is a copy still available for AU$15. Totally worth it if you still have a record player.
All that I could manage to dig up for today's post is the Burl Ives version. It is still fun and definitely worth a listen.
Sarah at Art Expedition is hosting 30 Days, 30 Songs for the month of June. You can see her latest post here. It is not too late to join in the challenge. Casual players welcome.
To change the tone, I think I may have a couple of protest songs coming up in the following days.
Kind Regards.


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At a recent two-day booksigning in Jones County, Mississippi, State of Jones co-author, John Stauffer, hurled some serious charges at your Renegade South moderator that must be addressed. According to the November 13, 2009, online edition of the Laurel Leader Call, Professor Stauffer attributed several comments to me that I have never made, and others that are gross exaggerations of what I have said in my critiques of their book (to see my 3-part critique of State of Jones, begin here). Perhaps Mr. Stauffer was simply confused; much as been written about his and Sally Jenkins's book since its June 23, 2009 release. Let me, then, set the record straight.
First, Mr. Stauffer accuses me of refusing to debate him. The truth is, I have never received any personal communications from Mr. Stauffer—ever—much less an invitation from him to debate him.
He goes on to accuse me of having labeled him and Ms. Jenkins "Yankees and Carpetbaggers." I have never made any such remark about them.
Nor have I ever said or written, as Stauffer claims, that Newt Knight was "no friend of blacks."
I have also never said or written that the writing in State of Jones is "inferior to that of high school students." As a teacher of college students, however, I did agree with one of my blog commenters that if a student turned in a research paper that was as poorly documented as much of State of Jones is, I would insist that the student rewrite it.
Finally, according to Stauffer, I accused the authors of writing fiction rather than history. Well, not quite. But I have commented several times in various sections of Renegade South on the manner in which Jenkins and Stauffer play fast and loose with the facts in State of Jones. I gather here those remarks, which I stand by:
1. In regard to State of Jones, there's nothing wrong with history that reads like a novel, but the research and use of evidence must be done responsibly unless it is categorized as fiction.
2. All of us love to read exciting stories, but the historian must always be careful not to privilege the excitement of a good story over factual accuracy. It's fine to speculate, but you must tell the reader when you are doing so. The authors' weaving in of other people's histories with Newt Knight's to suggest what he "might" have thought or done was not done carefully enough to separate fact from conjecture in my view.
3. Yes, I agree that it would be more accurate to define Jenkins and Stauffer's work as "historical fiction." But the authors themselves claim that their book is historical scholarship at its finest.
4. If writers are going to mix fact and fiction to build a more exciting story, they need to make that clear to their readers. If what Ms. Jenkins and Professor Stauffer wrote were to be transferred to a TV special, for example, it would have to be termed a "docudrama" to avoid charges of poor research and incorrect suppositions.
In the future, let's hope that Professor Stauffer sticks to the facts in defending the contents of State of Jones, and that he resists engaging in ad hominem attacks on his critics.
Vikki Bynum
ADDENDUM: For my response to Professor Stauffer's subsequent published remarks in the ReView of Jones County, see Confessions of a Texas Gadfly.
Categories: The Free State of Jones


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