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When A Soldier Comes Home-----
When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....
...to listen to those who whine about being bored.
....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.
to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.
...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.
..to be silent when people pray to God for a new car.
...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.
..to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.
...to keep from laughing
when anxious parents say they're afraid to send
their kids off to summer camp.
...to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.
...to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.
...to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.
...to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.
...to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.
...to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.
The only thing harder than being a Soldier..
Is loving one.
Thanks for sharing, Frances Heine
Back to Military page
Back to Home Page


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Intel's open source Linux-based mobile platform initiative got a big boost this month from Linux distributors and new contributors that are joining to participate in the effort. The project, which is called Moblin, aims to assemble a Linux stack that is optimized for mobile Internet devices, subnotebooks, and integrated car computing systems that are designed to use Intel's Atom processor. The latest organization to join the ranks of Moblin supporters is Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), which will be working with Intel to establish a Moblin development facility. Intel is also investing in VMAX, a mobile carrier in Taiwan that plans to roll out a WiMAX network.
Moblin is designed to provide fast boot times, finger-friendly user interfaces, low energy consumption, and a small memory footprint. Although it was originally built on top of Ubuntu, the Moblin developers have since shifted towards the Fedora ecosystem and the platform now leverages an RPM-based package model. Moblin is designed so that major Linux distributors can adopt the components and integrate them into their own software platforms. Several commercial Linux companies have already committed to making Moblin-based distributions, including Novell, Mandriva, and Good OS, the company behind the web-oriented gOS distro.
Prominent figures in the Linux community view the emerging MID and netbook markets as a big opportunity for Linux. When we talked to Linux Foundation president Jim Zemlin earlier this year, he pointed out that the low licensing costs and high flexibility of the open source Linux operating system make it a strong contender for dominance in this space. He also enthusiastically endorsed Moblin and said that he considers it to be one of the most open and community-friendly mobile Linux efforts.
Although there is a lot of potential for Linux growth on MIDs and netbooks, there are also a lot of challenges. Hardware vendors are struggling with integration issues and are having difficulty putting together drivers and delivering adequate usability. Intel's Moblin effort could help address many of those challenges by bringing together Linux distributors and hardware vendors around a shared stack that provides working drivers for common hardware components and top-level user interface elements that are well-suited for mobile devices with small screens and touch input.
The Moblin laboratory that Intel is building with Taiwan's MOEA will provide training and consulting services to hardware makers and software vendors who want to build products with or for the Moblin platform. Intel believes that this will speed up Moblin adoption and help Taiwan's hardware companies get their products to market faster.
Intel's cooperation with VMAX and $11.5 million investment is another important part of the deal. The WiMax rollout will provide a strong mobile network that will make it possible for consumers to get more out of MID products and other portable computing devices that rely on good connectivity.
Intel is putting a lot of resources into advancing mobile Linux adoption and making Moblin a solid platform for device makers. If Moblin can resolve some of the problems that have afflicted Linux device makers and offer a more cohesive platform specifically for Atom-based devices, it could be a big win for the open source operating system.

subset: commoncrawl


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Organovo's 3 Biggest Opportunities in 3-D Bioprinting
The 3-D printing craze has infected many investors in the last year, but it isn't limited to resin or metal creations. Organovo is in the early stages of developing a bioprinting platform that can produce more accurate, more functional human tissues for medical testing applications. There's a lot left to prove, but successfully scaling such technologies could revolutionize health care in a number of ways. What's the impact? What time frame can investors expect for commercializing such novel products? Here are the three biggest opportunities that await Organovo in 3-D bioprinting.
1. Pharmaceutical research (1-3 years)
The top 12 pharmaceutical companies spent $802.5 billion on research and development between 1997 and 2011 on their way to 139 drug approvals, according to data compiled by Matthew Herper. That's an astounding $5.77 billion per approved drug! Amgen had the most efficient pipeline, spending just $3.7 billion per approval, while AstraZeneca spent the most at $11.8 billion for each approved therapy.
Some of the inefficiency is due to internal problems, but drug development comes with a high probability of failure for all companies. In fact, up to 40% of all money thrown at drug development chases drugs that never leave the clinic. Why? One of the biggest problems during drug discovery is accurately assessing toxicity to human cells, particularly liver toxicity. Approximately 25% of all drugs that were withdrawn from the market or failed a phase 3 trial between 1990 and 2010 were yanked due to liver toxicities. Industry leaders Amgen and Pfizer may be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but even they must rely on archaic testing models: animals or two-dimensional cell culture assays. Neither is optimized to predict what will happen in complex human tissues.
A lab bench at Organovo featuring the company's NovoGen bioprinter. Source: Organovo
Organovo's first product candidate can help increase the efficiency of the pharmaceutical industry by more accurately predicting liver toxicities. The company recently presented data collected over a 40-day period with its 3-D liver tissue that demonstrated the potential to retain certain native liver functions for long periods of time. Tissue that remains functional for one month or longer would allow pharmaceutical companies to replicate the administration of various doses of a drug on the same tissue, which could lead to more valuable toxicology information at an earlier stage in development.
The bioprinting company wants to develop three businesses: toxicology assays (product-based), disease models (partnerships-based), and simple tissue therapy technology (clinical-based). The three-year goal is to launch and deliver human liver tissue toxicology assays to industry partners beginning in December 2014, develop disease models for various organs, and define a clinical pathway for developing therapeutic tissues. That's quite an ambitious plan, but successful execution would create tremendous value for shareholders and the pharmaceutical industry.
2. Cancer tumor models (3-7 years)
A lot of people get excited for Organovo's potential to revolutionize organ transplants by printing fully functional human organs (No. 3 on our list), but a bigger and more immediate opportunity lies in the ability to create 3-D cancer tissues. Why re-create cancer tumors when the world spends billions of dollars each year trying to beat them into submission? Imagine having the power to print a series of cancerous tumors in a lab and then test various medications against them. Such technology could be used for researching new oncology compounds or personalized medicine applications utilizing drugs already on the market to get the best response and safety profile for each individual patient.
Organovo is collaborating with Oregon Health and Science University's Knight Cancer Center to develop the technology. The pair is expected to publish results from several studies after the second half of next year, after which a pathway for commercial develop can be established. While any number of pharmaceutical companies would surely be interested, it would also be worthwhile to partner with a cancer diagnostics company such as Genomic Health to expedite commercialization and improve the chances of building a successful platform.
Genomic Health performs genomic analysis on tumor samples to identify tumor-specific characteristics. If Organovo can print multiple tumor types with certain genetic dispositions (as occurs in the real world), pharmaceutical companies or doctors could rapidly develop individual regimens based on the cancer tissue and patient's genetics by utilizing Genomic Health's platform. It's a win-win proposition.
3. Organ transplantation (15-20 years)
Although more than 114,300 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, less than 5,000 procedures occurred in 2012. On average, 18 people die each day due to the perpetual shortage of available organs. Bioprinting has the potential to make waiting lists a thing of the past.
The ability to print organs in a hospital and transplant them into patients in need is certainly within reach of Organovo's platform, but it will take decades to perfect. First, the company must develop a completely functional organ that is highly similar to its "natural" counterpart. The tissues produced by the company today are only hundreds of cell layers thick -- useful for research applications but a far cry from an entire organ. Then, the company must run a gauntlet of costly medical trials to prove the safety, robustness, and effectiveness of its organs. Even assuming international regulatory agencies don't hesitate to approve such technology, the trials could take over a decade to complete.
Developing the technology to make impactful contributions in organ transplants is a long-term goal of Organovo, but investors shouldn't assign much value to it just yet.
Foolish bottom line
The more I research Organovo, the more I like its long-term potential. There are dozens of possible opportunities that a successful bioprinting platform could capture. Unfortunately, any investment in the company today would be based solely on potential. There are no recurring revenue streams, no concrete examples of royalty ranges in which to value partnerships, and still relatively little being poured into internal research and development (although there is progress being made). Given all of the question marks I personally wouldn't invest in the company at its current market cap, but would consider adding a small, speculative position on a pullback. It may just be potential at this point, but it sure is difficult to ignore.
3-D printing can transform your portfolio
Bioprinted 3-D human tissues may be years away, but it isn't the only 3-D printing technology within your reach. With the U.S. relying on the rest of the world for such a large percentage of our goods, many investors are ready for the end of the "made in China" era. Well, it may be here. Read all about the biggest industry disrupters since the personal computer in 3 Stocks to Own for the New Industrial Revolution. Just click here to learn more.
The article Organovo's 3 Biggest Opportunities in 3-D Bioprinting originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Maxx Chatsko has no position in any stocks mentioned. Check out his personal portfolio, his CAPS page, or follow him on Twitter @BlacknGoldFool to keep up with his writing on biopharmaceuticals, industrial biotech, and the bioeconomy.The Motley Fool recommends Genomic Health. The Motley Fool owns shares of Genomic Health. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Readers of alternative weeklies nationwide are probably familiar with the work of cartoonist John Backderf - a.k.a. Derf - who has been serving up his twisted take on contemporary culture since 1990 in "The City" comic strip. But before his work graced T-shirts and album covers and earned him the 2006 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, he was a kid from rural Ohio who happened to be friends with Jeffrey Dahmer before he became one of the country's most notorious serial killers.
Now, 21 years after Dahmer's arrest, Backderf is telling the story of Dahmer's high school years in a graphic novel, "My Friend Dahmer," which is being released Thursday.
Backderf was 12 years old when he met Dahmer in the seventh grade. By high school, Backderf and his "band nerd friends" had welcomed Dahmer into their group as the oddball joker who made them laugh. They parted ways before graduating from Revere High School, and Backderf never heard from Dahmer again.
Dahmer was arrested in 1991 in Wisconsin after a would-be victim narrowly escaped from his home. He was found guilty at trial of 15 counts of murder in Wisconsin and pleaded guilty to killing one person in Ohio. He was bludgeoned to death in 1994 by a fellow inmate in a Wisconsin prison. In the aftermath, Backderf began to reflect upon how the young man he knew had become a despicable rapist, murderer and cannibal, and the work that would lead to "My Friend Dahmer," Backderf's third graphic novel, began.
The 55-year-old veteran cartoonist spoke with CNN.com about signs of trouble in Dahmer and possible missed opportunities to set the budding killer on a different path. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
CNN: How did you become friends with Jeffrey Dahmer?
John Backderf: The usual way kids become friends. We sat together in the cafeteria, he was my lab partner, which is pretty strange looking back on it. He didn't have a lot of friends and he wasn't one of my close friends, but we sort of adopted him as high school wore on because he amused us with his bizarre antics. He became a mascot for our group of friends. He was obviously pretty damaged from the get-go, but not to the extreme that we'd see later in life. He did not relate to people the way other people do.
CNN: How so?
Backderf: Early on, he would fake epileptic fits and spastic movements in the halls, bleat like a sheep. It sounds horrible now, but keep in mind we're talking about 14- and 15-year-old boys who are idiots by nature, and he amused us. Later on, he started drinking heavily, at 8 in the morning he would reek of booze, which was disturbing, but now we know he was self-medicating to deal with everything going on his life. He was trying to quiet the noises in his head. There was strange behavior going on, but he was a smart guy and he just made us laugh. That's really the bottom line.
CNN: What was he like?
Backderf: He was a real quiet guy. A lot of people portray him as this weakling who was picked on, but he was a big guy. He worked out with weights, and he was built like a linebacker. He was occasionally picked on a little by the jocks, but even they got wary of him. He kind of moved through the school without raising any notice from teachers. I don't think any of the adults noticed him, despite how shocking his behavior was. He was able to sink into the shadows, but we noticed him in the way that kids often see things adults don't see.
It didn't surprise me that he became a serial killer, but he wasn't my first choice from our class. When I heard the news that a classmate was accused of being a serial killer, Dahmer was my second guess in terms of classmates.
CNN: How did this project come about?
Backderf: It just dropped from the sky and fell into my lap. It's not the usual type of material that I do; I'm a humorist, and this is obviously not funny. But I'm also a storyteller, so how could I not tell this story? It's so unusual and so compelling. I can't think of another book like it, someone who was right next to one of the great fiends of the 20th century, a first-person account as a graphic novel.
It started two weeks after his crimes came to light in 1991. I got together with a couple of old friends, members of the so-called Dahmer Fan Club, the band of nerds that adopted him as our mascot, that was what we called ourselves. (I was the minister of propaganda.)
We got together to commiserate and share stories because it just really messed up your head not only to have this friend that was suddenly revealed as the most depraved serial kill since Jack the Ripper, but we were under the gun from the media; there camera crews at my door constantly and reporters calling. So I got together with these guys, because they were the only ones who knew what I was going through, and I started writing down ideas in a sketchbook because I heard things I hadn't heard before. I just filled the sketchbook with notes and drawings and didn't know what to do with it, so that's how it started. It was only in a sketchbook form for the first five years.
After he was killed [in prison], I wrote my first short story more as a cathartic exercise. That eventually got into print, and I tried to pitch it as a graphic novel in the '90s. But no one was biting, so eventually I self-published a little comic book in 2002 to get something out there, but I always had this vision of a big graphic novel and took 21 years to get it together. I wasn't working on it constantly but certainly was collecting research and kept building the story.
CNN: What other kinds of research did you do?
Backderf: A buddy of mine bought his boyhood home five to six years ago, and I went into his home and made drawings of the interior space. I also got a hold of FBI files - all this stuff is in the public domain because he's dead now and who cares? - and combed through transcripts of interviews he gave to the FBI and criminal profilers, where he talked about his youth. But mostly, I did interviews with his contemporaries - neighbors, teachers, friends - I'd seek them out over the years and slowly built this picture that I turned into the book.
CNN: Why now?
Backderf: Because I finished it. It's been 21 years, so it's not like exploiting the story for personal gain. If I am, I'm doing a lousy job of it - I should've rushed something into print a year after the crimes came to light. I just didn't want to be a part of the scandal, the sheer feeding frenzy. I wanted to tell a story that I thought was very unusual and compelling, and I wanted to do it my way. So I took my time, and when I finally got around to doing it, I did I the way that I'd always envisioned, and that was important to me.
CNN: What did you want to achieve with this novel?
Backderf: There's no real hidden mission here. I wanted to tell this story as well as I could tell it. That was my only goal, and I think I accomplished it.
There's very little violence in this book. No murders, no cannibalism or necrophilia or any of the other depraved acts people think of when Dahmer is mentioned. My book has none of those things. This is the story before that story. It follows Dahmer right up until the moment he kills his first victim, just two weeks after our high school graduation. It's a tale of emerging evil, told by someone who was standing just a few feet away.
CNN: Why do you think it's such a fascinating story?
Backderf: People are fascinated with this guy, and this is a side of him a lot of people don't know about. When they think of Dahmer, they think he's an inhuman monster, but the Dahmer I knew was all too human, and I think I show him as this very damaged kid struggling with all his might against inner demons that were eating him whole.
I wouldn't say he's sympathetically portrayed, but it's a different side of him. And I think that's important because when you write people off like Dahmer as monsters, there's a certain air of inevitability that comes with that designation; like oh, he's a monster, so what he did was going to happen no matter what. In the case of Dahmer, I think there were some serious missteps and missed opportunities on the part of adults that were around. He was marching toward the edge of the abyss, and I think if the adults in his life were a little more on the ball, he could've been stopped.
It's a cautionary tale, let's put it that way, and people like Dahmer keep popping up: Columbine; the Tucson shooter, Jared Loughner; the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho. Whenever I hear about those guys, I'm struck by the similarities to Dahmer. They had secret lives and get worse and worse, and no one noticed or stopped them. There's a lesson there, and I don't know if society has learned it, but I think it's important to talk about it.
CNN: How is this project different from your previous work?
I've primarily been doing a comic strip for last 20-something years called "The City," which runs in free weekly city rags that you see stacked in coffee shops in big cities, and a few other graphic novels: "Trashed" and "Punk Rock and Trailer Parks." This is my first project with a major publisher, so I'm excited about that.
CNN: What do you want people to take away from this novel?
Backderf: I just kind of leave that up to the reader. I think people will interpret works based on their own reading of it, and you can't really expect everyone to react the same way to a book like this, especially with a controversial figure like Dahmer. I'm confident I told the story the way I wanted to tell it. What I hear mostly is that people are affected by it and really stunned when they read it.
CNN: What kind of criticism do you get?
Backderf: Some people object to writing about Dahmer at all, and I get that. A lot of people out there are still mourning the 17 people he killed, and I understand that. Others object to me doing it as graphic novel, as if somehow that's not a legitimate way of telling a story, and I reject that right off the get-go. This isn't Archie and Jughead. I think we've moved beyond the concept that comics are for kids only. There are some graphic novels about Auschwitz and the Bosnian war. It's a legitimate art form.
Then you get the weirdos on the fringes. It sounds weird, but there's a huge group of people who've turned Dahmer into this antihero, this whole death-metal revenge fantasy, that he was picked on and grew up and got revenge on society. This is total crap, but these people are really vocal. I'm still figuring out how to respond to him, because they don't like that I don't portray him as wounded martyr, so it tends to vary, the critical response.
Being from Northeast Ohio, and having seen the house where Dahmer committed his first murder in 1978, I am shocked that anybody would actually buy the home where such grim events took place. I am a fan of John Backderf's novels and artistic ability, and think that his new book about Dahmers youth will provide useful insight into the mind of a serial killer. In no way do I condone or glorify what Dahmer did – as it was barbaric and twisted in a way beyond comprehension – but I think that the author is simply trying to shed some light on the roots of a man whose deeds were abstract to most.
The 'strange' thing about 'evil' is that it isn't very strange at all. It is very normal, sometimes even respectable. That's why it happens to often and it is only after the fact that everybody wonders, "Why didn't we recognize these monsters?" We don't recognize them as 'monsters' because they aren't monsters. They're just like us. They ARE us. In calling these people 'monsters' we are allowed to give ourselves a false sense of comfort that it couldn't be us or anyone we know. This is also why we never see them coming.
The thing about doing evil is that it's just as much a choice as doing good. We act like people with a certain background just can't help but be caught up into evil acts, like they had no choice. That's so wrong. There are countless stories of people with relatively normal and happy childhoods who decide to do despicable things later on and also stories of those with disgusting, pitiful childhoods who end up being more successful and more confident in doing good than most of us. It all depends on your perspective. It's like the people who died in the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Survivors reported that many who died in the camps believed that the camps meant inevitable death, that they had no hope, and so it's no surprise that they did die. Those who survived, they found, often made it through because they found a purpose, an empowering meaning, in all their pain. Either they wanted to make it out to be a witness to what happened or they wanted to make sure something like that never happened again. What they CHOSE decided their fate. Good and evil are a choice away for any of us.
If you're mentally ill, it no longer becomes a question of choosing right over wrong. Compulsion is about how your brain is wired, along with environment certainly. Someone who has trouble connecting with others doesn't have the support. Many people I know may not be autistic but they are pretty darn close. Quiet, unable to comport themselves due to how their brain is wired and perhaps how they were raised. I was raised with a bi-polar parent who was violent, but I thankfully had the ability to choose to protect myself when I got older and deal with it. I never did drugs or hurt anyone or any other creature but other people are not built to cope. Society assumes coping mechanisms are innate in everyone and its just not always true.
Very well said and much of America could learn a lesson from your concise and important post.
What a depraved mind.
Even Nero, Caligula, Hitler and Stalin would be appalled.
Is it any wonder the country is in trouble?


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CHARLESTON, S.C. – Boeing is trimming the number of temporary contract workers employed at its South Carolina assembly plant.
The company said on Friday that the reductions have been planned for some time and have nothing to do with battery problems in its 787 jetliners. It didn't say how many workers are affected.
Boeing assembles 787s in its North Charleston plant, as well as at a larger facility in Everett, Washington.
Boeing Co. spokeswoman Candy Eslinger said the North Charleston plant employs more than 6,100 people. That includes regular employees and contract workers at the 787 assembly plant as well as another facility that makes the plane's tail section. She said none of the regular Boeing workers are affected.
She said contract employees have had the chance to apply for permanent Boeing jobs in recent months. It's standard practice in the industry to use contract workers when production at a plant is being ramped up, she said.
The 787 is Boeing's newest plane, and the North Charleston plant delivered its first one in October. The plane is built in sections all over the world — including the tail in North Charleston — and then assembled there and in Everett. Boeing has said it aims to build about three planes a month in North Charleston by the end of the year, out of 10 per month total.
The 787 has been grounded since Jan. 16 because of a smouldering and burning batteries. Deliveries are halted. Boeing has said it intends to keep building the planes at the same pace, though.
Boeing employs more than 173,000 people worldwide. Its defence business has been shrinking, while there has been some growth in its commercial airplanes. The company said on Friday that it will hire roughly 8,000 to 10,000 people this year, but expects overall employment to be flat.
The reductions were first reported late Thursday by The Wall Street Journal.
Boeing Co. shares rose 25 cents to $77.15 in morning trading.
Josh Freed in Minneapolis contributed to this story.


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Erta Ale (Volcano Week 4)
Thursday, 30th July 2009 by RobK
It's Volcano Week 4 here at GSS. Volcanoes, about a week. You know the drill!
Volcanoes probably aren't the first thing you associate with Ethiopia, but Erta Ale is a particularly fine specimen.
It may only be a little over 600 metres high1, but this volcano (whose name means "smoking mountain" in the local Afar language) is home to a fiery lake of lava – one of only five in the world! Little wonder that it is known locally as the "gateway to hell". Living near here seems a risky proposition – a large eruption in 2005 killed hundreds of livestock and forced villages to be evacuated, and further eruptions two years later also caused hundreds of residents to flee.
Erta Ale is located in the Afar Depression, which is very geologically active: three "rift zones" (where tectonic plates are being forced apart) meeting nearby. As well as several volcanoes, there's a multitude of hot springs and incredibly salty lakes.
Just below Erta Ale is the strikingly blue Lake Afrera, which is believed to contain at least 290 million tons of salt, but pales in comparison to Lake Assal, across the border in Djibouti. Assal is the saltiest lake on Earth2, with a salinity 10 times greater than that of the ocean.
The region has another red-hot claim to fame. Even away from the boiling lava, it is said to be the hottest place on Earth, in terms of yearly average temperature. The mining community of Dallol (near the volcano of the same name) recorded a mind-boggling average temperature of 34°C between 1960 and 1966, although today it is a ghost town.
The BBC website has an interesting article on the challenges of surveying Erta Ale, including a video of one of the scientist abseiling into the crater. There's more about the volcano at Wikipedia.


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Books are different beasts when you read them a second time. The first time I loved the description of the scientific method and it's application to debugging computer programs (in addition to the problems you find when you need to repair a motorcycle):
When you've hit a really tough one, tried everything, racked your brain and nothing works, and you know that this time Nature has really decided to be difficult, you say, "Okay, Nature, that's the end of the nice guy," and you crank up the formal scientific method. For this you keep a lab notebook. Everything gets written down, formally, so that you know at all times where you are, where you've been, where you're going and where you want to get. In scientific work and electronics technology this is necessary because otherwise the problems get so complex you get lost in them and confused and forget what you know and what you don't know and have to give up. (Loc 1603)This time around, I found another part of the story, the story about a father and son, re-united after a horrifying personal disaster, and the realization that it as his son that brought him out of the psychiatric ward:
We're related to each other in ways we never fully understand, maybe hardly understand at all. He was always the real reason for coming out of the hospital. To have let him grow up alone would have been really wrong. In the dream too he was the one who was always trying to open the door. I haven't been carrying him at all. He's been carrying me! (Loc 6249)What's great about the book is that all this is interspersed with a motorcycle trip from Minnesota to California. It's full of little tips about cycle touring that indicate that Pirsig did do quite a bit of motorcycle touring, though he does spend way too much time on a freeway in California instead of riding down the coast. (And much like most tourists, he makes the mistake of visiting the California coast during the summer, when it's mostly fogged in) There are also little interesting observations about people on the road:
While we wait for chocolate malteds I notice a high-schooler sitting at the counter exchanging looks with the girl next to him. She's gorgeous, and I'm not the only other one who notices it. The girl behind the counter waiting on them is also watching with an anger she thinks no one else sees. Some kind of triangle. We keep passing unseen through little moments of other people's lives. (Loc 4385)Ultimately, the book's a philosophical novel, with lots of explanation of the authors' ideas about the nature of Quality, the split between the arts and the sciences, and his attempts to unify the two by keeping Quality undefined as, "You know it when you see it." For a rhetoric class at the places Pirsig has taught, I think this approach might work. For those of us working in technology, however, I'm not sure that non-definition is useful. There's a certain sense that those who care passionately enough about their work enough to have strong opinions and defend them are better engineers than those for whom engineering is "just work." On the other hand, you could argue that in many ways, the constant arguments over the quality of say, the choice of programming language is well over-blown, and people would mostly be better of getting work done than engaging in the low-Quality flame wars that you find on the internet.
Regardless of how you feel, however, the novel is thought-provoking, interesting, and never dull, despite being mostly about ideas, rather than being about characters or plot. It's a great book and well worth reading and re-reading. Highly recommended.


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Dr. Herman T. Epstein
In recent years many articles have appeared expounding one or another explanation for the perception of ineffective schooling of most of our children. In fact, there are surely many sources of the ineffectiveness and they should be brought out together so that single-cause proposals will no longer be acceptable. Then, the discussions of how to improve our schools will become enough more relevant that implementation of the insights will be the chief problem to be faced.
Schools are traditionally places to acquire the three r's: reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. But there is a fourth r needing to be acquired that children are not being helped to acquire - the ability to reason: that is, to be able to use the rules of logic in the analysis of propositions. This ability has also been called other names such as critical thinking, rational analysis, etc. We will see what is needed for this ability to develop and why so few students currently acquire this ability that has not been placed prominently before the public.
We begin with a sketch of the history of reasoning studies as most psychologists would describe it today.
Starting in the post-World War I period, Jean Piaget and his associates in Switzerland studied the reasoning of children by interacting with them from the earliest possible age. Beginning with children who were about 2 years old, the investigators raised questions with children and, after replies were made, probed to get their validations. With very young children (around age 2 years), virtually all of children's utterances were repetitions of something that had been heard being said by others, such as parents, siblings, other relatives, and still others in the community. Roughly, the answers were close to what we would call rote answers, dependent mainly on memory of something experienced. Because most of the experiences were in sensory or motor realms, this was called the sensory/motor level.
It wasn't until the children reached about age 5-7 years that a marked difference was observed in the answers and, especially, in their validations. The difference was mainly that there was clear use of what we call logic. The children had then become able to reason about directly experienced situations. The Piagetians called this concrete reasoning. Further study of concrete reasoning revealed that there were at least a dozen elementary reasoning schemes being used. These were found to fall into three categories: classification, sequencing (or seriation), and conservation. Conservation refers, for example. to asking children if there is a change in the amount of milk when it is poured from a tall thin glass into a wider glass.
These categories can be further subdivided. Classification was subdivided into classification by one property, by two properties, etc. For example, objects could be classified by size or color, or shape or hardness, or combinations of these. Similarly, subdivisions were found for the other two categories.
When children reached about age 10 years, an additional difference appeared in that children no longer were bound by directly experienced situations. For example, they could consider broad topics: instead of talking about one child of their acquaintance, they could begin to talk about children -or about fathers or autos. In doing this, these advanced children were abstracting from directly experienced objects or situations to broader groups which could not be directly experienced. For still another example, children could begin to grasp the idea of probability or other contingent aspects of life. This formal or abstract reasoning level was also divided into many more elementary reasoning schemes.
The Piagetians used what they called a clinical interview to determine which reasoning schemes a child had mastered. They posed questions of the children and then asked about how they arrived at their answers. As mentioned above, the elementary reasoning schemes (classification, etc) were what were being used.
Because each clinical interview took two or three hours, it was only possible to get data for a small number of children. Some psychologists decided to try to create a simple pencil and paper version which could then be administered to many children and thereby obtain data about broad classes of children.
What seems to this writer to be the most accurate such test was created by the group at Chelsea College in London, led by Drs. Shayer and Adey. Using their test, they obtained data from a broad spectrum of British children, with 2,000 children at each age from ages 10 to 16 years. Another thousand were tested at around ages 17 and 18 years.
In order to have a more complete picture, we estimated the cognitive levels for still younger ages from experimental results in the literature. All these estimates are in the following table.
It is readily seen that the onset of concrete reasoning appears as early as age 3 years, but its major appearance is around age 6-7 years, as found by the Piagetians. Similarly, the onset of formal reasoning is at 10 years, but there is never a breakout year, and it is never manifested by more than about one-third of the students and adults.
From the point of view of schooling, when children typically enter first grade at about age 6 years, only one third are able to use any logical reasoning. That means that they are not ready for much of what is usually taught at that grade. This issue of readiness is a significant one for schooling and this table gives the first general information about readiness. Some teachers and principals have estimated for me that about one-third of the matters in junior high school require formal reasoning. Yet, at those ages (12-14 years) no more than 20% have reached that reasoning level.
That means that most of the children cannot understand the most significant matters being taught in junior high school. In essence they are being taught in a foreign language. The result is that such children begin to pay no attention and begin, as is now well known, to consider dropping out of school. When they arrive in senior high school and the lack of understanding continues, drop-out behavior becomes a real alternative.
Teachers surely know that there is a spectrum of ability levels of the children in their classes, but they don't know how to handle it. If teachers were really aware of the data in the table, they would know that significant modifications of their instructional level are needed for these non-ready children. That still wouldn't tell them what to do.
What is needed is what can be called cognitive level matching (CLM): matching the level of instruction to the expectations of the individual students. Now that we have the Shayer/Adey test (and others developed since then), teachers can discover the reasoning levels of their students and interact with them accordingly.
There is no question but that this is an enormous strain on the teachers, and requires that the teachers, too, be tested for their operating cognitive levels. The need for such testing is evident from the last line of the table which gives the data for adults. Adults remain at the highest percentage reached at the end of high school: only one-third can reason formally. So, acceptance of applicants to higher education schools should be based on testing of the cognitive levels of prospective teachers in addition to the information gathered from the usual SAT test taken at the end of high school for those preparing to go on to higher education.
An additional, but one of over-riding importance, aspect of the table comes from the data just mentioned. Only one-third of adults can reason formally. That means that two-thirds of the citizens in a democracy cannot understand the more complex issues facing them both in life and in elections. Unless ways can be found to increase the percentage, operation of democracies will depend on the ability to formulate issues in concrete terms so that voters can grasp the issues. We don't yet know if the percentages can be increased - that will take some enormously difficult and important research that should be specially funded in our democracy. Until that is achieved, if possible, the continued existence of democracies is in question.


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By Andy Metzger
STATE HOUSE — The House passed legislation Thursday banning robo-calls or automated texts to cell phones.
Mattapoisett Democrat Rep. William Straus said he first filed the bill last session because he noticed he was getting robo-calls and texts from businesses he had never heard of. He viewed it as a "nuisance," he said, and more of an interference than marketing calls to his land line.
"It's just one of those examples where if the Legislature can be helpful to get one added nuisance out of people's lives every day, I think that's a good thing," Straus told the News Service.
Beyond marketers, political campaigns often use robo-call technology to spread their messages, and Straus said he is open to changes in the bill.
"I'm certainly aware as the legislation moves that there may be a First Amendment issue on behalf of candidates who have communication rights, but it's not unlimited in my mind that just because somebody is a candidate for office that they get to reach you anywhere," Straus said.
The bill cleared the House last session but not the Senate. The current bill (H 299) still needs passage in the Senate before reaching the governor's desk, and Straus said, "I have some persuading to do."
The legislation would create a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each knowing violation, and a minimum penalty of $1,500 for each knowing violation against a senior.
Individuals who receive more than one such automated solicitation to a mobile phone would be allowed to bring their own legal action to recover any losses and up to $10,000 in damages and attorney fees. The bill exempts certain health care entities as well as school officials, messages from employers about work schedules, and messages from correctional facilities and other government entities.
Straus said people on land-lines can sign up for the do-not-call list, and noted some mobile customers might be charged for answering a robo-call or might receive a robo-call while behind the wheel of a car.


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Rockefeller seeks phone-hacking info
Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller is seeking information from a British official about whether the News International phone hacking scandal involves American citizens or possible violations of U.S. laws.
Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) asked Lord Justice Brian Leveson, the official leading a British inquiry, in letter Wednesday "whether any of the evidence" Leveson is reviewing "suggests that these unethical and sometimes illegal business practices occurred in the United States or involved U.S. citizens."
On Tuesday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked the FCC to revoke the 27 broadcast licenses News Corp., News International's parent company, holds in the United States. CREW alleges that News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch's "character deficiencies may warrant disqualification from holding a license."
The scandal exploded in Britain in July, amid allegations that the phones of a murdered schoolgirl, relatives of deceased British soldiers and victims of London bombings, were hacked into for the now-shuttered News of the World newspaper. On Tuesday, a British parliamentary committee issued a report concluding that Murdoch was not fit to run the company.
The News Corp. board of directors announced Wednesday its "full confidence in Rupert Murdoch's fitness and support for his continuing to lead News Corporation into the future as its chairman and CEO."
This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 5:19 p.m. on May 2, 2012.


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Brazen Influencers connects digital Influencers (as defined below) with business entities that seek to expand their brand, product, and/or service awareness online ("Advertisers") through the Brazen Influencers cloud-based platform ("Platform"). Digital influencers ("Influencers") encompass business entities, including individuals, that own a blog, have a presence on social media assets (such as a Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest), use their social assets to post regular content, and work with Advertisers to promote their brand and/or products or services. In addition to connecting Advertisers to Influencers, the Platform assists in managing the relationship between Advertisers and Influencers, aids in content distribution, and manages payments. These standard terms and conditions (this "Agreement") is entered into by and between BI, an California limited liability corporation, ("BI") and you, or if you represent a Influencer or other business entity, such Influencer or entity (in any case "Influencer"). 1. Definitions. Capitalized terms used in this Agreement have the definitions assigned herein. 2. Platform. a. Use. Influencer's Account is for Influencer's sole use. Influencer may not (i) distribute, transfer or allow any third party access to Influencer's Account; or (ii) distribute, sell, resell, lend, loan, lease, license, sublicense or transfer any rights to access or use Influencer's Account or the Platform or otherwise make Influencer's Account or the Platform available to any third party. Influencer may access and use the Platform solely for lawful purposes, and in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. b. Modifications. BI reserves the right, at any time, for any reason, to modify (i) the Platform or the Rate Card (as defined in Section 4(a) (Fees) by making those modifications available on the Platform, or (ii) this Agreement, by providing notice as provided in this Agreement. Modifications shall be effective immediately upon their posting on the Platform, or in accordance with the notice terms. Influencer shall be deemed to agree to and accept any such modifications by Influencer's continued use of the Platform or Account following such notice. c. Advertisers. Influencer agrees that it shall in no way attempt to circumvent the Platform to work with Advertisers directly. All Influencer communications with Advertisers shall be through the channels provided through the Platform. Influencer shall be responsible for all of its communications with Advertisers. In addition, BI does not guarantee Influencer any participation by a certain Advertiser or number of Advertisers with Influencer. d. Ownership. BI and its licensors own all rights, title and interest in all intellectual property rights in and to the Platform, the technology used to operate the Platform and all components thereof, including any and all modifications, upgrades, updates, developments, changes, edits, improvements and the like made to the Platform, the technology, and any of the components thereof ("Technology"). Influencer agrees it will not, nor will it allow a third party to (i) use the Technology, except as expressly provided in this Agreement; (ii) alter, modify, reproduce, or create derivative works of the Technology; (iii) use the Technology in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the Platform; (iv) use automated scripts to collect information from or otherwise interact with the Platform; (v) reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, or otherwise attempt to derive the method of operation of the Platform; (vi) attempt to circumvent or overcome any protection measures intended to restrict access to any portion of the Platform; (vii) monitor the availability, performance or functionality of the Platform; or (viii) interfere with the operation or hosting of the Platform. Influencer receives no ownership interest in or to the Technology. Influencer is granted no right or license to use the Technology, other than Influencer's right to access and use the Platform under the terms of this Agreement. The BI name, logo and all product and service names associated with the Platform are trademarks of BI and its licensors and providers and Influencer is granted no right or license to use them without express written consent of BI. e. Requirements. Influencer represents and warrants that it shall fulfill its obligations for each Advertiser that it participates with as set forth in the Advertiser program on the Platform. In the event Influencer cannot fulfill its obligations during any given month, it will promptly notify BI of such occurrence. f. Suspension. Without limiting BI's rights under Section 5(b) (Termination), BI, in its sole discretion, has the right to suspend Influencer's Account and/or access to the Platform for Influencer's actual, threatened, or suspected breach of this Agreement or upon conduct BI deems inappropriate or detrimental to BI or the Platform. g. Registration. Prior to BI's grant of Platform access to Influencer, Influencer shall accept the terms and conditions of this Agreement and submit standard business information requested by BI, including payment information. Once accepted by BI, Influencer shall be provided with a Platform account which will allow Influencer to access and use the Platform ("Account"). BI, in its sole discretion, may decline Influencer's use of the Platform. h. Tiers. Upon registration, BI will assign Influencer to a tier based on multiple factors, including but not limited to, average unique visitors, reach, and blog age. BI retains the right to reasonably adjust Influencer's tier upon notice. 3. Content a. Content Usage. Except as otherwise stated on the Platform, all content, data or other information provided through the Platform (collectively "Content") is owned by BI, the Advertisers and BI's licensors and providers. Influencer is solely responsible for verifying the accuracy, completeness, and applicability of all such Content, and for Influencer's use of any such Content. Influencer will not, and will not permit any third party to: (a) alter, modify, reproduce, or create derivative works of any Content; (b) distribute, sell, resell, lend, loan, lease, license, sublicense or transfer any Content; or (c) alter, obscure or remove any copyright, trademark or any other notices that are provided on or in connection with any Content. Certain Content may include or be based on data, information or content from Advertisers and/or other independent third party Content providers ("Third Party Content"). BI does not verify the accuracy of, and will not be responsible for any errors or omissions in, any Third Party Content or any Third Party Content provided through the Platform. Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, Influencer is granted no licenses or rights in or to any Content therein or related thereto. Influencer is responsible for Influencer's compliance with any additional Advertiser terms and conditions as provided by such Advertiser to Influencer. b. Influencer Content i. Original Content. Influencer's blog must contain original editorial content in addition to opportunity-related or other paid posts. Blogs that exist primarily for payment will not be accepted. ii. Influencer Content. Any content submitted by Influencer to the Platform may not include or support libelous, defamatory, knowingly false content, excessive profanity, violence or racial intolerance, illicit drugs or drug paraphernalia, pornography, adult or mature content, or any other content that promotes intolerance, illegal activity, or infringes upon the legal rights of others, including but not limited to any third party copyright, trademark, trade secret or patent. iii. Review. Advertiser may require a review of Influencer's content prior to dissemination. In such case, Influencer shall use best efforts to ensure that such content remains "private" for interim posts under review until the applicable approvals are received by the Influencer. iv. Advertisements, Links, and Obstructions. Influencer shall use best efforts to ensure that (1) elements such as advertisements, links to other websites, or any other obstructions should not obscure or hide Advertiser's Content; and (2) no third party links or advertisements should be placed within the submitted Influencer content unless directly specified by the Advertiser. v. Manipulation. Influencer shall not manipulate any code provided by Advertisers or BI. vi. Transparency and Disclosure. Influencer shall (1) clearly disclose the relationship between Influencer and any Advertiser's campaign in connection with BI and the Platform; (2) meet all Federal Trade Commission disclosure guidelines ("FTC Guidelines"); provided that Influencer agrees that the Badges may not be sufficient to meet these requirements and Influencer is solely responsible for the compliance of this subsection vii. 4. Payment Schedule and Terms. a. Fees. Influencer shall be paid in accordance with the "Rate Card" as hosted on the Platform, and specific to each Influencer, dependent upon the number of and type of Advertisers with which Influencer is participating. The amounts due to Influencer by BI ("Monthly Fee"), and subject to the terms of Section 4(c) (Payments), include (i) the "Influencer Fee", defined as the dollar amount Influencer earns per month times the number of Advertisers Influencer completes participation requirements for, during a given month, plus (ii) "Incentive Fee", defined as any additional incentive fees each Advertiser may offer during a given month as incentive fees to participate with such Advertiser times the number of Advertisers that Influencer completed the participation requirements for during such given month. Influencer must complete all Advertiser requirements in full for a given month in order to earn such month's Monthly Fees. Monthly Fees will not be pro-rated based on Influencer's partial completion of Advertiser requirements. b. Statements. BI shall send monthly statements with reasonable detail for the amounts due to Influencer on or about the fifteenth (15th) calendar day of the current month for the previous month's activity to the email address provided by Influencer. Influencer shall have four (4) calendar days to notify BI of any disputes on the statement. BI shall use reasonable efforts to resolve all statement disputes with Influencer in a timely manner. c. Payments. BI shall pay all Monthly Fees due Influencer by electronic funds transfer ("EFT") within forty-five (45) days after the end of each given month. Influencer must provide all applicable EFT information and a completed W-9 to BI prior to Influencer's Account activation. It is Influencer's responsibility to notify BI of any EFT changes in a timely manner. In the event BI does not collect payment in whole from a specific Advertiser with which Influencer is participating, BI shall not be responsible for any payments due Influencer for such Advertiser participation until such Advertiser payments are collected by BI. 5. Term; Termination. a. Term. This Agreement is entered into as of the earlier of the date (i) Influencer indicates it acceptance by clicking a box that states Influencer accepts this Agreement; or (ii) Influencer first accesses or uses the Platform (the "Effective Date") and will continue in perpetuity until terminated as set forth in this Agreement. b. Termination. Either party may terminate this Agreement for any or no reason, at any time through the termination link as set forth in the Platform. Upon termination, Influencer shall (i) cease all use and access of the Platform; (ii) all licenses, rights, and subscriptions granted by this Agreement shall terminate; and (iii) Influencer shall delete or destroy anything, including Content, downloaded from the Platform. c. Survival. Upon termination of this Agreement, the following sections shall survive: Section 1 (Definitions), Section 2(c) (Advertisers), Section 2(d) (Ownership), Section 3 (Content), Section 4 (Payment Schedule and Terms), Section 5(c) (Survival), Section 6 (Warranties and Disclaimers), Section 7 (Indemnification and Damages), Section 8 (Data Privacy), and Section 9 (General). 6. Warranties; Disclaimers. a. Representations and Warranties. Each party represents and warrants that (i) it will perform its obligations under this Agreement in accordance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, and orders; (ii) it has the legal right and authority to enter into and perform this Agreement; and (iii) this Agreement forms a binding legal obligations on behalf of such party. The party accepting this Agreement on behalf of Influencer represents and warrants that he or she is duly authorized and has full authority to execute and deliver this Agreement. b. Warranty Disclaimers. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED HEREIN, THE PLATFORM, TECHNOLOGY AND CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" AND BI AND ITS PROVIDERS MAKE NO OTHER WARRANTIES (WHETHER STATUTORY, ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR OTHERWISE), EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE PLATFORM, THE TECHNOLOGY OR BI'S SERVICES, THEIR MERCHANTABILITY OR THEIR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR SERVICES. 7. Indemnification; Damages a. Indemnification. Influencer agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless BI and its directors, officers, employees, independent contractors, successors and assigns (each an "Indemnified Party") for, from and against any and all claims, demands, threats, suits, proceedings, losses, costs, expenses or damages (including attorneys' fees) (a "Claim") incurred by an Indemnified Party to the extent arising from (a) Influencer's breach of this Agreement; (b) Influencer's use of the Platform or Technology; (c) a third party's use of Influencer's Account. BI shall provide Influencer with notice of any such Claim and BI shall have the right to participate in the defense of a Claim at its own expense. b. Consequential Damages Waiver; Limitation of Liability. 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To the extent any such data or information is collected or generated by BI, the data and information will be solely owned by BI and may be used by BI for any lawful business purpose without a duty of accounting, provided that the data and information is used only in an aggregated form, without directly identifying Influencer. BI may reference Influencer as a user of the Platform and use Influencer's name and logo (as provided by Influencer to BI), as applicable in listings of users of the Platform and for other marketing and promotional purposes relating to the Platform and BI. 9. General. a. Governing Law; Venue. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Arizona, without regard to conflicts of laws principles. Each party agrees that all disputes arising under this Agreement shall be brought in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona in Maricopa County or the Federal District Court in Phoenix, Arizona, and each party irrevocably waives any objection such party may have as to the venue of any such proceeding brought in such court as an inconvenient forum. b. Notices. All notices required to be provided by BI by this Agreement shall be delivered by BI to Influencer via email to the email address provided by Influencer, except such notices required by Section 7 (Indemnification) shall be delivered by U.S. Postal mail or any nationally recognized mail delivery service. It is Influencer's responsibility to keep a current email and physical address on file with BI. All notices required to be provided by Influencer to BI shall be delivered via U.S. Postal mail or any nationally recognized mail delivery service. c. Force Majeure. Neither party shall be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations hereunder (except payment of money) on account of strikes, shortages, riots, insurrection, fires, flood, storm, explosions, acts of God, war, terrorism, governmental action earthquakes, material shortages or any other cause which is beyond the reasonable control of such party. d. Waiver. The failure of either party to exercise any right or option arising out of a breach of this Agreement shall not be deemed a waiver of any right or option with respect to any subsequent or different breach or the continuance of any existing breach. e. Severability. Each provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted in such fashion as to be effective and valid under applicable law. If any provision of this Agreement is declared void, unenforceable or invalid all remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. f. Assignment. Influencer may not assign or transfer this Agreement, nor any of its rights or obligations, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of BI. BI may assign this Agreement to any party that assumes BI's obligations hereunder. g. Independent Contractors. BI and Influencer shall perform their obligations hereunder as independent contractors. Nothing herein is intended to, or shall be construed to create a partnership, agency, joint venture, employment or similar relationship between the parties. Neither party has any right or ability to bind or enter into any obligation on behalf of the other. Each party shall bear its own costs and expenses of its performance of its obligations under this Agreement. h. Entire Agreement. This Agreement, together with the Rate Card hereto, states the entire agreement between the parties regarding its subject matter and supersedes and terminates any prior oral or written proposals, agreements or other communications between the parties regarding the subject matter. Except as stated in Section 2(b) (Modifications), this Agreement shall not be modified except in a writing signed by an authorized representative of each party.
This privacy policy has been compiled to better serve those who are concerned with how their 'Personally identifiable information' (PII) is being used online. PII, as used in US privacy law and information security, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context. Please read our privacy policy carefully to get a clear understanding of how we collect, use, protect or otherwise handle your Personally Identifiable Information in accordance with our website. What personal information do we collect from the people that visit our blog, website or app? When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, Blog information or other details to help you with your experience. When do we collect information? 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We may also provide aggregate statistics about our users, sales, traffic patterns, and related site information to reputable third-party vendors, but these statistics will not include personally identifying information. We may release personal information when we believe, in good faith, that such release is reasonably necessary to (i) comply with law, (ii) enforce or apply the terms of our user agreement or (iii) protect the rights, property or safety of BrazenInfluencers.com, our users, or others. Third-party links We use Google AdSense Advertising on our website. Google's advertising principles and privacy policy are located here: https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1316548?hl-en. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to our users based on previous visits to our site and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt-out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google Ad and Content Network privacy policy. We have implemented the following: Demographics and Interests Reporting We along with third-party vendors, such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) and third-party cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) or other third-party identifiers together to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad service functions as they relate to our website. Opting Out Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising initiative opt out page or permanently using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on. BrazenInfluencers.com also provides links to affiliated sites. The privacy policies of these linked sites are the responsibility of the linked site and BrazenInfluencers.com has no control or influence over their policies. Please check the policies of each site you visit for specific information. BrazenInfluencers.com cannot be held liable for damage or misdoings of other sites linked or otherwise. Your Consent By using our Website, you consent to the collection and use of any photos, comments, or links you post on BrazenInfluencers.com. California Online Privacy Protection Act CalOPPA is the first state law in the nation to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The law's reach stretches well beyond California to require a person or company in the United States (and conceivably the world) that operates websites collecting personally identifiable information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals with whom it is being shared, and to comply with this policy. – See more at: http://consumercal.org/california-online-privacy-protection-act-caloppa/#sthash.0FdRbT51.dpuf According to CalOPPA we agree to the following: Users can visit our site anonymously. Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our homepage or as a minimum on the first significant page after entering our website. Our Privacy Policy link includes the word 'Privacy' and can be easily be found on the page specified above. Users will be notified of any privacy policy changes: On our Privacy Policy Page Users are able to change their personal information: By emailing us By calling us How does our site handle do not track signals? We honor do not track signals and do not track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place. Does our site allow third-party behavioral tracking? It's also important to note that we do not allow third-party behavioral tracking. COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act) When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under 13, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online. We do not specifically market to children under 13. 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Sometimes you need a reminder that people can do wonderful things. After a year like 2012 we need this reminder….most people are indeed GOOD!
Many of these pictures gave us chills…I hope they do to you what they have done for us! Enjoy the goodness in people around the world!
1. The parents who made their son's wheelchair into the best Halloween costume ever
2. The terminally ill man who loves receiving mail… and got more than he ever expected
Scott Widak has Down syndrome and suffers from liver disease, and he loves receiving mail. His nephew Sean posted his P.O. Box on Reddit and the site's users responded with hundreds of letters, packages, and gifts.
3. A kind stranger who stopped a day from being ruined
4. The doctor who offered free medical care after Hurricane Sandy
5. And the people that helped out any way that they could
Hospital employees make a human chain passing containers of fuel up 13 flights of stairs to the backup generator at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
6. The older couple who saw themselves in two young parents
7. This Libyan child who doesn't believe in hate
8. The parents who tattooed insulin pumps on their bellies so their diabetic son wouldn't feel "different"
9. The police officer who bought shoes for a barefoot homeless man
Jennifer Foster was visiting Times Square on Nov. 14 when she snapped the heartwarming moment. Here's her account of what happened:
"Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him. The officer said, 'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put them on and take care of you.' The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching*. I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. I did not get the officer's name. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared."
10. And the police officers who made blind 13-year-old Gage Hancock-Stevens' dream of being a cop come true
They even gave him a cake
11. The Michigan soccer team who gave their team manager with Down syndrome an opportunity to start
12. The Texas A&M students that blocked Westboro Baptist Church protesters with a human wall
When students heard that Westboro Baptist Church planned on protesting the funeral of a soldier, they formed a human barricade around the funeral service to block them out.
13. And this brave kid who stood up against hate
14. The woman who kept a homeless man dry during a downpour
15. The Disney security guard who is amazing at his job
16. The Icelandic heroes who rescued sheep during a major snowstorm
17. The quick-thinking little girl who saved her mom's life by slapping her with a piece of pizza
18. The young girl who loves her dog unconditionally
19. The famous rugby player who visited his biggest fan in the hospital
20. The bros who worked together to save a cat
21. The community that came together to make Caine's dream a reality
You can watch the full story here.
22. The football star who gives children in need a shopping spree each year
This is a receipt for $19,000 in toys.
23. The man who comforts the old dog that saved his life
When John Unger had suicidal thoughts after a breakup, it was his dog Shoep who brought him back from the brink. This photograph shows Unger cradling his friend in lake Superior to soothe the dog's arthritis.
24. These candidates for parents of the year
25. The amazing couple who stuck together through unbelievable odds
26. And every single time anything like this happened.


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Click here for a list of the 2020 SAG Winners & Nominees
here for a list of the 2019 SAG Winners & Nominees
At previous shows, stars walking down the red carpet included Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Diane Lane, Ron Howard, Ethan Hawke, Elijah Wood, Tom Cruise, Kate Beckinsale, Denzel Washington, Gweneth Paltrow, Warren Betty & Annette Bening, Kevin Spacey, Sidney Poitier, Julie Christie, Vanessa Redgrave, Julianne Moore, Hilary Swank, Michael Clarke Duncan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jack Lemmon, Haley Joel Osment, Sally Field, Peter Fonda, Patrick Stewart, Noah Wyle, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, Jennifer Anniston, Ian McKellen, Charlize Theron, Ashley Tisdale, Kim Cattrall, Anjelica Huston, Kevin Bacon, Ed Asner, Tom Selleck, Helen Mirren, Debra Messing, Martin Landau, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Arquette, Matthew Perry, Helen Hunt, Ellen Burstyn, Hank Azaria, Dennis Franz, Rick Schroder, Calista Flockhart, Peter MacNicol, Lucy Liu, Ray Romano, Roberto Benigi, Christina Applegate, America Fererra, Tracey Ullman, Dylan McDermott, Lara Flynn Boyle, Camryn Manheim, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, James Gandolfini and the cast of "The Sopranos."
Since 1997, the awards show has been held at the Shrine Auditorium, usually two weeks before the Oscars show in mid-March.
Perhaps because it takes place right before the Oscars (while the Academy is still deciding on who will be the winners), the stars are particularly friendly to the crowds in the bleachers at the SAG Awards. Celebrities as big as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Noah Wyle and Martin Sheen took the time to come over to the bleachers and shake hands with the public. That's not something you see at many award shows.
Getting there: Location of the awards ceremony may vary. Phone for this years' location. The Shrine Auditorium is located across the street from the U.S.C. campus, just north of Exposition Park, at 649 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles. / From Hollywood, take the Hollywood (101) Freeway south (about five miles) to the Harbor (110) Freeway south. Take the Harbor Freeway south (about three miles) to the Exposition Boulevard exit. Go west one block west on Exposition, then turn right (north) on Figueroa Street. Go one long block north, and turn left (west) on Jefferson Blvd. The Shrine will be on your right (north) side.
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DeMint: States Should Reject Medicaid Expansion "Fool's Gold"
Jim DeMint, president of The Heritage Foundation and formerly a U.S. senator from South Carolina, described the promise of Obamacare Medicaid expansion funding as "fool's gold" in an August 26 interview with Media Trackers.
"I hope the people of Ohio will not take what I call fool's gold; it looks good, it'd make the budget look good the next three to four years – that's if the federal government comes through with this," DeMint said of the major component of President Obama's 2010 health law still being debated in the Ohio General Assembly and several other states.
Asked about Governor John Kasich's insistence that expanding Medicaid is the compassionate thing to do, DeMint replied, "John's a friend, I appreciate the great job he's doing – but on this issue, I think he's wrong in the sense that when we try to make government the means of compassion, we have found that that doesn't work."
"I don't think we can call it compassion to make people dependent on the government, and trap them in dependency," DeMint explained.
"Putting people on Medicaid has not proved to help people's health care," DeMint said. "In fact, the data suggest that people with no insurance at all are as healthy or healthier than those on Medicaid."
Academic research supports DeMint's position. For example, a 2010 University of Virginia study found that surgical patients covered by Medicaid were 13 percent more likely to die than those without health insurance.
An Oregon study released this May concluded that "Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years," and a 2011 Case Western Reserve University study found that Medicaid patients had worse cancer survival rates than both the privately insured and those with no insurance.
DeMint noted that as Medicaid eligibility is extended to more people, "fewer and fewer doctors are going to take them – it just doesn't pay doctors enough."
In 2011, 28 percent of Ohio's office-based physicians were already refusing to accept new Medicaid patients.
"Once they're on Medicaid, it's very difficult for them to work their way off," DeMint added. "We just find it traps people. More and more physicians are closing their practices to Medicare and Medicaid, and I just don't think it's compassionate at all."
Of the taxpayer burden represented by the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, DeMint said, "The way the federal government has incentivized it is to put in a lot of up-front money, but over a ten-year period it will cost Ohio billions of dollars to move people onto Medicaid plans that are already strangling state governments."
In March, Heritage reported that expanding Medicaid would cost Ohio taxpayers $3.1 billion through 2022, based on the left-leaning Urban Institute's projections.
On August 26, Opportunity Ohio released a paper from Jonathan Ingram of the Foundation for Government Accountability which pointed out Ohio's adoption of the Obamacare Medicaid expansion would cost state and federal taxpayers $46 billion over the next twelve years.
"I would just encourage any state to look at what Medicaid is doing to their current budget and recognize that the promises of more federal money over time are just not gonna come true," DeMint continued.
"The federal government is broke, it's printing money, it's borrowing money, and the likelihood that they're even gonna come through on the promises they've made for Medicaid expansion… they're not real."
"The best thing we can do for our country now is to have states be demonstration projects for freedom," DeMint told Media Trackers.
"The federal government is not gonna provide good health care for our poor," he concluded. "That's something we can do a lot better at the state level."
DeMint visited central Ohio on August 27 for a Heritage Action for America town hall, part of a national tour encouraging members of Congress to refuse to fund Obamacare.
This story was originally published at Media Trackers Ohio.


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The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) wasn't born with the advent of land speed racing. In fact, decades of racing took place before the SCTA held it first meeting. In the early 20th century, Southern California was the epicenter for hot rodding. Since the 1920's, rodders made the three hour trek from the Los Angeles area to one of several dry lake beds northeast of the city. These lake beds were several miles long, and void of obstacles allowing drivers to test their vehicles for top speed.
Early racing was a dangerous sport. Most of the vehicles were street cars that were driven to the lake bed, then stripped of fenders, hoods and other items to decrease vehicle weight. Safety equipment was non-existent. In early racing, the American Automobile Association (AAA) sanctioned speed events but it did little, if anything to promote safety. It was not unusual for drivers to crash, sometimes with a fatal outcome.
Safety and organization issues hadn't improved much as the 1930's rolled around. But in 1931, George Wright of Bell Auto Parts along with George Riley and the Gilmore Oil Company sponsored several dry lake events in an effort to organize the sport. Further involvement by the Muroc Racing Association (MRA) brought standardized timing equipment but again, little effort to improve safety and organization of the meets. In 1937, George and the group withdrew their support of dry lakes racing.
On November 29, 1937, members from seven Southern California car clubs got together at the Throttlers' Hollywood clubhouse. One of the clubs, the Road Runners, included Wally Parks, future founder of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and Ak Miller, who later became President of the SCTA. Together, these two icons of the sport would have a profound effect on the future of hot rodding. The meeting resulted in an agreement to develop an organization which combined several of the clubs for the benefit of all racers.
On February 7, 1938, the SCTA was formed. The organization was comprised of volunteers and all members were required to participate in future events. At the meeting, officers were elected, bylaws were drawn up and contest rules written. Each club was required to pay a $20 entrance fee and an additional $2 monthly dues fee. The money was used to purchase its own timing equipment and to have an ambulance, doctor and two nurses on hand at each event. The cost was an astronomical $55.00.
The first event hosted by the SCTA was at Muroc on May 15, 1938. Spectators began arriving at 3am. More than 300 vehicles were signed up to race with each owner paying $1.50 for the privilege of putting their car to the test. The format was to have four cars race along side each other. Competitors would be separated at 10-mph increments, 80-89, 90-99 and upward. Unfortunately, the event never took place. High winds prevented anyone from racing and disappointing the nearly 10,000 spectators.
A second meet was scheduled for July 3rd, and it proved to be a big success. The top performer of the event was a Winfield-powered modified car driven by Ernie McAfee that reached a top speed of 124 mph. In an effort to show racers that the SCTA was focused on safety, a driver was fined $5 and suspended for 90 days after he did a few donuts at the starting line. While successful, it would be the first and last SCTA sanctioned meet at Muroc. The U.S. Army wanted the facility and informed the SCTA that Muroc would no longer be available for racing.
Not to be discouraged, the SCTA moved racing to a much smaller Rosemond dry lake. Again, the government took control of that facility forcing them to move to Harper dry lake, where the SCTA hosted its first meet on August 3, 1938. During this time, the SCTA grew substantially and was now publishing its Racing News newsletter twice a month, fueling even more interest in the sport.
By the end of 1938, the SCTA listed 451 people and 23 car clubs as members. As additional dues came into the coffers, a $250 hospital fund was set up to help members who were injured during the races. Racing ceased at Harper dry lake on July 19,1942 as racers were now being sent overseas to fight in World War II. It would be in the armed forces that many racers honed their hot rodding skills while working in motor pools and maintaining aircraft engines.
When the war started, Wally Parks and Eldon Snapp, the men responsible for the SCTA's Racing News newsletter joined the armed services. Veda Orr, wife of the well known racer Karl Orr, stepped up to the plate and took over publishing the newsletter. Veda was lovingly called hot rodding's "First Lady." During the War, Veda took the time to mail the Racing News to soldiers and sailors for free while they were overseas. Veda also became the first woman to race on the lakes; until then, only men were allowed. Her fastest time was 132 mph. Veda recalled the early history of dry lakes racing in her book, Veda Orr's Hot Rod Pictorial.
After the war, the government continued control of both Rosemond and Muroc. With Harper lake considered inadequate in size, racing was again moved, this time to El Mirage dry lake. The first El Mirage meet took place on April 4, 1946.
In the early days of the SCTA, only roadsters and streamliners were allowed to run. In an effort to increase membership, rules were later changed to allow all vehicle types to compete. Five meets were run in 1946. Popularity of dry lakes racing continued to increase and an additional meet was scheduled for 1947. By 1948, meets became two-day events, rather than the previous one-day event. In April 1948 the SCTA installed the first, much needed, public restrooms.
Because speeds continued to increase, the SCTA needed to find a larger facility. The Bonneville Salt Flats, a 47 square mile dry lake bed of salt sat on the border of Utah and Nevada, just off of I-80. Unfortunately, the AAA had exclusive rights for the sanctioning of record speed runs at Bonneville. The SCTA requested to use the facility but was turned down by the AAA. Down but not out, Wally Parks, a key member of the SCTA set up a meeting with the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, the organization that was responsible for the recreational use of the Salt Flats. To add credibility to the meeting, Parks invited Lee O. Ryan, senior member of Trend/Hot Rod magazine and Robert Peterson, founder of Hot Rod magazine to attend. The SCTA was allowed a one-time tryout event with the understanding that the Chamber would reevaluate the continued use by the SCTA based on the success of the first event. The event went off without a hitch, the SCTA was given approval to continue racing.
Participation in the 1950's fell off somewhat when drag racing became popular. With drag strips popping up all over the United States, the SCTA fell onto hard times. Racers found it easier to go to a local drag strip rather than make the long trek to the dry lakes. Historians refer the period between the mid-50's and 1980 "The Dark Ages" of the SCTA. However in the early 80's, the SCTA began again to grow thanks to men like Julian Doty and Jim Lindsley.
Over the years, the SCTA has been a pivotal part of the Save The Salt project at the Bonneville Salt Flats. SCTA members and others began to see a degradation of salt conditions in the early 1960's. It was found that a chemical company was pumping water through tunnels under the salt flats in an effort to remove potash. Unfortunately, the pumping of water was also removing 850,000 tons of salt per year leaving the salt flat surface thin and fragile. In 1989, Rick Vesco, the first chairman of Save The Salt, initiated an effort to resolve the issue of salt depletion. In 1997, the SCTA, Bonneville Nationals Inc. and the Utah Salt Flat Racers Association negotiated an agreement to restore the salt flats by pumping brine water over the salt, transferring 1.5 million tons of salt back onto the surface. The effort was successful in adding several inches of salt, restoring much of the race course.
Enthusiasts must give thanks to the pioneers of the SCTA including Wally Parks, Ak Miller, Stu Hilborn, Alex Xydian, Dick Pierson and untold others who gave of themselves to fuel the passion for dry lakes racing that continues today. In November 2007, an exhibit honoring the 70th Anniversary of the Southern California Timing Association was unveiled by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, California.
Most organizations that have existed as many years as the SCTA eventually evolve into a commercial entity, however the SCTA continues to hold onto its roots. The people who run it, as well as the people who race at SCTA events can best be described as a throwback to yesteryear. It's not the money that drives their passion; it's their desire for speed. These men and women have petrol in their blood. You know it the minute you talk to them. Walk through the pits at El Mirage or Bonneville, and one feels like they are taken back in time. We have the SCTA to thank for keeping the organization grounded. Of the seven original clubs, two remain active, the Road Runners and the Sidewinders.


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18 CFR § 1b.16 - Rights of witnesses.
(a) Any person who is compelled or requested to furnish documentary evidence or testimony in a formal investigation shall, upon request, be shown the Commission's Order of Investigation. Copies of Orders of Investigation shall not be furnished, for their retention, to such persons requesting the same except with the express approval of the director of the office responsible for the investigation. Such approval shall not be given unless the director of the office responsible for the investigation, in the director's discretion is satisfied that there exist reasons consistent with the protection of privacy of persons involved in the investigation and with the unimpeded conduct of the investigation.
(b) Any person compelled to appear, or who appears in person at a formal investigation by request or permission of the Investigating Officer may be accompanied, represented and advised by counsel, as provided by § 385.2101 of this chapter and these rules, except that all witnesses shall be sequestered and, unless permitted in the discretion of the Investigating Officer, no witness or the counsel accompanying any such witness shall be permitted to be present during the examination of any other witness called in such proceeding. When counsel does represent more than one person in an investigation, for example, where the counsel is counsel to the witness and his employer, said counsel shall inform the Investigating Officer and each client of said counsel's possible conflict of interest in representing that client and, if said counsel appears with a witness giving testimony on the record in an investigation, counsel shall state on the record all persons said counsel represents in the investigation.
(c) Any witness may be accompanied, represented, and advised by counsel as follows:
(1) Counsel for a witness may advise the witness, in confidence, upon his initiative or the witness' with respect to any question, and if the witness refuses to answer a question, then the witness or counsel may briefly state on the record the legal grounds for such refusal.
(2) Where it is claimed that the witness has a privilege to refuse to answer a question on the grounds of self-incrimination, the witness must assert the privilege personally.
(3) Following completion of the examination of a witness, such witness may make a statement on the record and his counsel may on the record question the witness to enable the witness to clarify any of the witness' answers or to offer other evidence.
(4) The Investigating Officer shall take all necessary action to regulate the course of the proceeding to avoid delay and prevent or restrain obstructionist or contumacious conduct or contemptuous language. Such officer may report to the Commission any instances where an attorney or representative has refused to comply with his directions, or has engaged in obstructionist or contumacious conduct or has used contemptuous language in the course of the proceeding. The Commission may thereupon take such further action as the circumstances may warrant, including suspension or disbarment of counsel from further appearance or practice before it, in accordance with § 385.2101 of this chapter, or exclusion from further participation in the particular investigation.
(d) Unless otherwise ordered by the Commission, in any public formal investigation, if the record shall contain implications of wrongdoing by any person, such person shall have the right to appear on the record; and in addition to the rights afforded other witnesses hereby, he shall have a reasonable opportunity of cross-examination and production of rebuttal testimony or documentary evidence. Reasonable shall mean permitting persons as full an opportunity to assert their position as may be granted consistent with administrative efficiency and with avoidance of undue delay. The determinations of reasonableness in each instance shall be made in the discretion of the investigating officer.