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Lems Boulder Boot Nylon Navy Stout
A Closer Look
From Our Customers
"I can finally run and walk with very little (if any) bunion pain. I bought the Lems Boulder Boot this summer and trekked 25 miles over two days with NO bunion pain. I put them side by side with my traditional hiking shoes and was appalled [...] THANK YOU!"
—R.W., Berkeley, CA
"The Lems Boulder Boots just arrived and they are wonderful. They feel so good, I don't want to take them off! Tried them out on the gravel driveway, which I go up and down on foot many times each day. Perfect! I love them! Thanks for the info and helpful products for making my feet with bunions feel great. And my knees, too! In gratitude and appreciation."
—J.L., Leicester, NC
"I love these boots! And with Correct Toes, [they are] all the more satisfying. They really offer everything I want: healthy feet, very light, wonderful sense of the terrain upon which I am walking while plenty of protection from sharp protuberances, and the height offers protection from abrasions of the ankles."
—J.F., Boulder, CO
"I just opened my mail on Saturday to find my Boulder Boots. I LOVE them. The fit is very nice and after just a few jaunts [...] I can tell they will be allowing my foot to return to normal. Thank you!"
—C.D., Ovid, MI
See More Testimonials →
This product is currently sold out.
- Description
- Features
- Sizing
- Resources
A Wide Toe Box Minimalist Boot
The Boulder Boot is a minimalist boot that supports natural foot health. This versatile and lightweight boot is flat from heel to toe, possesses a toe box that is widest at the ends of your toes, and is completely collapsible—the perfect footwear for trekking or other outdoor activities, or for around town.
Water-Resistant Upper, Correct Toes Compatible
The Boulder Boot's upper is made of water-resistant nylon and full-grain leather to help keep moisture away from your feet. The boot's generous toe box is compatible with Correct Toes and allows you to experience the comfort and foot health benefits that come with natural toe splay. This barely-there boot contains no heel counter, toe counter, or shank, and it packs away easily, preserving space in your travel bag or luggage.
Works Great With Toe Socks & Metatarsal Pads
This accommodating and flexible-soled boot also works great in combination with other helpful natural footgear, including Injinji toe socks, Pedag metatarsal pads, and Naboso insoles. The Lems Boulder Boot works well in temperatures as low as 15 degrees F (about -10 degrees C) when used with an appropriate sock. Each Boulder Boot weighs about 10 oz.
Note: If you are new to using Lems footwear, we recommend that you start in slowly, gradually building up your wear-time and giving your body the chance to adapt to the thinner soles and the increased workload on your feet.
- Weight: ~10 oz.
- Lining: 100% cotton
- NF Certified Product
- Stack Height: 10.0 mm
- Last: Lems Natural-Shape
- Upper: Leather + 1200 denier nylon
- Drop: 0.0 mm (i.e., flat from heel to toe)
- Travel-Friendly: Collapsible and packable
- Insole Board: 1.0 mm fabric-lined PU strobel
- Outsole: 9.0 mm LemsRubber injection rubber
- Footbed: Optional removable 3.0 mm PU insole
- Toe Box: Extra wide toe box for natural toe splay
- Works great with Correct Toes and Injinji toe socks
- Works great with Pedag met pads and Naboso insoles
To get the most out of your Lems Boulder Boots, the manufacturer recommends that you order a half-size up from your normal US shoe size. For example, if you normally wear a women's US size 8 shoe, consider ordering an 8.5 in the Lems Boulder Boot.
If you're on the fence about what size to order, consider ordering both sizes and then simply return the size that doesn't fit as well for a refund. If you have concerns about sizing, feel free to contact us or Lems customer service.
Sizing Tip #1: To create additional roominess within the boot, we suggest removing the included (optional) boot liner/insole; this action does not, in any way, affect the performance of the boot. Optionally, and to enhance balance, posture, agility, and general foot/body awareness, you might consider adding thin, flexible Naboso insoles instead.
Sizing Tip #2: Correct Toes toe spacers will often add width and length to the foot. If you're planning to wear Correct Toes with your footwear, we recommend sizing up, especially if you are on the border between sizes.
Natural Foot Posture
Who Should Use Orthotics?
Origin of Natural Foot Care
Pronation vs. Overpronation
Top Exercises for Feet & Toes
Shoe Liner Test & Pronation Explained
How to Strengthen Intrinsic Foot Muscles
Shoe Sizing Techniques: Traditional vs. Natural
Foot Anatomy 101
The Shoe Cushioning Myth
Definition of a Healthy Shoe
What is Natural Arch Support?
Problematic Shoe Design Features
Six Reasons to Realign the Big Toe
How to Transition to Minimalist Shoes
Six Ways to Restore Foot Health After Surgery


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Giveaway Ideas2:12 PM
17 comments
shoes for lucy, a batman cape for miles, and a skirt for me!!! You are amazing!ReplyDelete
hahah ok First I want everything!!! But if I had to list what I wanted most (top 5):ReplyDelete
5-Max Costume
3-bird skirt
2-baby shoes
1-skirt (of course...even though I already have that same one in the picture...but I want that same one in a different color :)
ewww I cant wait to see what you giveaway!
A teepee, please a teepee, pleasepleaseplease a teepee.ReplyDelete
I had one when I was little and want one for my kids.
the tent!!! (and I want to win it) :)ReplyDelete
I first would want the superman cape and then the tent then the backpack then the shoes and then the skirt. I of course would love anything! But I do love the cape the most!ReplyDelete
I would go with the very unique (and adorable) back packs! And then the capes, and then the shoes...ReplyDelete
The teepee of course, but might pricey to ship, so I say the max costume.ReplyDelete
Max costume for sure, that's adorable!ReplyDelete
I ♥ your work! Found your blog today! I would have to go with the teepee or the Max Costume.ReplyDelete
Found you through U Create. Ah! So inspiring. Love everything. I LOVE your pink girlie capes.ReplyDelete
hands down the Max costume. :)ReplyDelete
Everything is wonderful but my vote is for the backpack!!!ReplyDelete
The Max costume...I LOVE it!!!ReplyDelete
hmmm, I am thinking one of everything!!ReplyDelete
I love those superhero capes, and the shoes, and the teepee...but that would be annoying to ship when I win :)
I just love all your stuff jess, you are SO incredibly crafty and creative!
The shoes or the backpack. I love them both, and so would Carter!!!!ReplyDelete
I would {heart} an OWL BACKPACK...but adult size for me!!!ReplyDelete
Everything is so lovely it's hard to choose!

subset: commoncrawl


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For Immediate Release
Chilean Prog Ensemble Aisles Premieres Third New Video "Still Alive"
Chilean Prog ensemble Aisles, South America's most acclaimed prog band of the last 10 years, is premiering the third video of their "Live from Estudio del Sur" sessions, for the song "Still Alive", which was originally released on their latest album "Hawaii".
Watch Aisles new video for "Still Alive": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFfTwvl0XoM
Says Aisles guitarist, German Vergara, " 'Still Alive' is one of the most representative songs, and maybe the saddest, on our latest album "Hawaii". Capturing that feeling of hopelessness was a challenge both for the band and for the director of the video, Bernardo Quesney. Sonically, it is different from the album version because it is much less processed. What you hear is Aisles organic live sound, just like you'd hear it at one of our concerts. Even the tempo of the song changed as a result of that search".
The "Live from Estudio del Sur" sessions started with the video for the song 'Clouds Motion', and it will continue with more videos coming soon.
With four studio albums and a career spanning twelve years, Aisles have become South America's most acclaimed prog act of the last decade. Their daring combination of rock, fusion, jazz and world music illustrates the band's uniquely eclectic approach. The group has played in South America and Europe, and their albums have been released in Europe, the Americas, and Japan.
In 2009 their second album "In Sudden Walks" was nominated for Best Foreign Record in the Italian Prog Awards and the group was invited to open the 11th Progressive Rock Festival Crescendo in France. Their third album, "4:45 AM" (2013) was widely acclaimed worldwide and was chosen among the best albums of that year in a number of specialized publications. "Hawaii" (July, 2016), their fourth studio album was called a "masterpiece" and named one of the albums of the year by media outlets such as Prog (England), Neoprog (France), Raw Ramp (England) and Chile's premiere rock magazine, Rockaxis.
Aisles are:
Germán Vergara: guitar, vocals
Felipe Candia: drums, percussion
Sebastián Vergara: lead vocals
Rodrigo Sepúlveda: guitar, vocals
Daniel Concha: bass
Juan Pablo Gaete: keyboards
For more information:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6J59KdFHCHPSmiGhN5JoKb
Aisles official store: http://www.aislesproject.com/aisles/store/hawaii.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aislesproject
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aislesproject
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aislesproject/
Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (US), email@example.com


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HAWKE v. SMITH(1920)
June 1, 1920
Messrs. J. Frank Hanly, of Indianapolis, Ind., George S. Hawke, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Arthur Hellen, of Washington, D. C. (Messrs. Charles B. Smith, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and James Bingham and Reinster A. Bingham, both of Indianapolis, Ind., of counsel), for plaintiff in error. [253 U.S. 231, 232] Messrs. John G. Price, Atty. Gen., and B. W. Gearheart, of Columbus, Ohio (Judson Harmon and Lawrence Maxwell, both of Cincinnati, Ohio, of counsel), for defendant in error.
Messrs. Shippen Lewis, William Draper Lewis, and George Wharton Pepper, all of Philadelphia, Pa., amici curiae.
Mr. Justice DAY delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case presents the same question as that already decided in No. 582, 253 U.S. 221 , 40 Sup. Ct. 495, 64 L. Ed.-; the only difference being that the amendment involved is the proposed Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to women. The Supreme Court of Ohio, upon the authority of its decision in Hawke v. Smith, 126 N. E. 500, held that the Constitution of the state requiring such submission by a referendum to the people, did not violate article 5 of the federal Constitution, and for that reason rendered a like judgment as in No. 582.
For the reasons stated in our opinion in No. 582, the judgment of the Supreme Court of Ohio must be


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"For Sale" signs may seem like an eyesore to neighbors on any given local street, but the lack of them is a much bigger problem.
Just 1.82 million homes were listed for sale in December, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is a 22 percent drop from a year ago and the lowest supply since May of 2005, when words like "boom" and "bubble" followed the word "housing." At the current sales pace it would take just 4.4 months to sell those homes.


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Kansas Sixth-Grader Names Next Mars Rover
NASA's next rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, finally has its new name: Curiosity.
The name comes courtesy of Clara Ma, a 12-year-old sixth-grade student at Sunflower Elementary school in Lenexa, Kan.
"We have been eager to call the rover by name," said Pete Theisinger, who manages the JPL team building and testing Curiosity. "Giving it a name worthy of this mission's quest means a lot to the people working on it."
The rover is expected to launch in 2011.
• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Space Center.
A NASA panel selected the name following a nationwide student contest that attracted more than 9,000 proposals via the Internet and mail.
Name suggestions from the Mars Science Laboratory project leaders and a non-binding public poll also were considered.
"Students from every state suggested names for this rover. That's testimony to the excitement Mars missions spark in our next generation of explorers," said Mark Dahl, the mission's program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Many of the nominating essays were excellent and several of the names would have fit well. I am especially pleased with the choice, which recognizes something universally human and essential to science."
Ma decided to enter the rover-naming contest after she heard about it at her school.
"I was really interested in space, but I thought space was something I could only read about in books and look at during the night from so far away," Ma said. "I thought that I would never be able to get close to it, so for me, naming the Mars rover would at least be one step closer."
"Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone's mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day," Ma wrote in her winning essay. "Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder."
As her prize, Ma wins a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., where she will be invited to sign her name directly onto the rover as it is being assembled.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures supplied the prizes for the contest, including 30 for semifinalists related to "WALL-E."
Nine finalists have been invited to provide messages to be placed on a microchip mounted on Curiosity.
The microchip also will contain the names of thousands of people around the world who have "signed" their names electronically via the Internet.
Additional electronic signatures still are being accepted via the Internet.
Curiosity will be larger and more capable than any craft previously sent to land on the red planet. It will check to see whether the environment in a selected landing region ever has been favorable for supporting microbial life and preserving evidence of life.
The rover also will search for minerals that formed in the presence of water and look for several chemical building blocks of life.
Copyright © 2009 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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ARLINGTON — With the Astros' clubhouse emptying out Sunday, Lucas Harrell called a reporter over and said he was ready to talk.
Harrell was demoted to the bullpen before the Astros' 5-4 loss to the Rangers and initially declined comment Sunday morning when asked about the move.
Postgame, Harrell spent nearly three minutes answering questions about no longer being a starter and his uncertain future with the Astros.
Harrell on his reaction to the Astros' decision: It was just one of those things where you don't really think it's the best thing but it's just one of those deals where it is what it is. You just kind of have to do it and you just kind of wear it.
How long he'll be in the bullpen: No. I have no clue. (Bo Porter) just told me today, be ready if you need to go in the game. They haven't really relayed much to me.
Surprised by the move: Yeah, I was shocked. I was really shocked.
Big season for him, still feels like he's an MLB starter: Yeah. I didn't realize this until someone told me today but I'm tied with Felix Hernandez for 10 starts with one run or less in all of baseball. I think that's kind of tough to move a guy like that down to the bullpen. But they make the decision so it's their call. … I feel like I've been pretty durable and I've given a lot. It's just — that's why I was completely shocked and caught off guard by it.
Still wants to pitch for Astros: I mean, yeah. It's one of those things where you've got a new regime in here. They want their guys and it's coming later in the season; it's getting closer to September. So they're going to try their guys and see what happens.
Did Porter explain what he must accomplish in the bullpen: No. I'm just going to the bullpen. We didn't talk about anything else.
Making best of situation: Yeah. I don't even know what role I'm going to be used in. So it's just go down to the bullpen. They haven't really said anything to me about any of that stuff today.
Twitter: ChronAstros


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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, has accepted an invitation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the speaker at the MIT Commencement exercises on Friday, June 6.
Born in Ghana in 1938, Mr. Annan received his master's degree in management from MIT's Sloan School of Management in 1972. He has three decades of service with the world organization. He is fluent in English, French and several African languages. He was undersecretary-general for peace-keeping operations on December 17 when he was appointed by the General Assembly to serve a five-year term of office beginning Jan. 1, 1997. Mr. Annan is an active alumnus who has visited MIT in recent years.
"It is a wonderful opportunity and honor for MIT's graduates and their families to be addressed by the secretary-general. This will be one of his earlier major addresses as he begins his tenure," President Charles M. Vest commented.
"I look forward to his message, which will derive from his unique experience and position at a time when the world again looks to the United Nations for leadership and hope. It is especially appropriate to hear from an international leader who is an MIT alumnus. It will remind us once again of the important role MIT plays in the world."
Mr. Annan has carried out a number of sensitive diplomatic assignments, including negotiating the repatriation of over 900 international staff and the release of Western hostages in Iraq following that country's invasion of Kuwait in 1990; initiating discussions on the "oil-for-food" formula to ease the humanitarian crisis in Iraq; and overseeing the transition from the United Nations Protection Force in former Yugoslavia to the multinational Implementation Force led by NATO following the 1995 Dayton peace agreement.
Mr. Annan was undersecretary-general for peace-keeping operations from 1993 until his new appointment, except for five months ending in March 1996 as UN special envoy to the former Yugoslavia.
He was educated at the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana; Macalester College in St. Paul, MN; the Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva, and MIT.
He has devoted his career to the United Nations, having served in Ethiopia, New York, Geneva and Egypt from 1962 to 1974, when he became managing director of the Ghana Tourist Development Co. for two years. Since 1976, he has served in administrative positions at the UN High Command for Refugees in Geneva and at UN headquarters in New York, where he has been director of administrative management services and the budget.
In 1986, Mr. Annan became assistant secretary general in the Office of Human Resources Management for four years, and then became controller in the Office of Program Planning, Budget and Finance for two years before going to the peacekeeping office in 1992 and receiving promotion to undersecretary-general in 1993.


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I have a Turnigy 9x that I has been modded with a SmartieParts basic board running ER9x. Everything has been working great with the stock 2.4ghz TX unit. However, I have just hooked up my Hawkeye Deluxe DTF-UHF running OpenLRSng, and now I have screen problems.
These Problems range from a non-functioning screen to a very slow to come on screen based on the power setting I have configured for the Hawkeye unit.
More specifically:
Power Setting 2: Turnigy 9x comes on when I flip the switch and shows standard ER9x splash screen, then goes blank and after a few seconds begins to slowly go from blank to my normal screen when ready to use, except, it flickers a bit.
Power Setting 7 - Full Power: Turnigy 9x comes on when I flip the switch and shows standard ER9x splash screen, then goes blank and after a few seconds begins Flicker random lines on teh screen, but never shows correctly.
I have tried the following battery setups and both have the same problem.
1: Stock battery setup, 8 AA Batteries
2: Zippy 1800 LiFe battery, which is 5c rated
Any idea how to fix this problem? Is this a known Turnigy 9x problem that I have not read about before, or what is happening?
Hawkeye Deluxe, Turnigy 9X, Smartieparts basic board, - Screen problems
Support and help for the OpenLRSng project.
Moderator: kha
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One recent day, as I rode to a stop sign, a woman crossed in front of me on an intersecting road. Her eyes flashed in recognition. We had met at a couple of parties where I'd made reckless claims of being a cyclist. It turned out she was one, too, and she immediately suggested we do several terrifyingly hard-core rides together, which made me feel like Cecil Vyse, the monocle-fondling fop in Room With a View.
So I made excuses to avoid her, but now here she was. It was perfect riding weather, breezy and cool after several days of 100-degree heat and leaden humidity. "Follow me!" she yelled. That turned out to be difficult. Her pace was just a hair or two faster than mine, and you know how those follicles add up when you're off the back. I pumped hard to keep her in sight.
She offered to lead me through a secret passage and up a very steep hill, then cyclocross through a short patch of field to a deserted stretch of road, and I began fabricating more excuses to avoid doing this.
I bring this up for a reason. I had already been wrestling with my inner Cecil because for a long time I didn't know how to change a flat. The last time I got one, I had to call my girlfriend, Maude, to come get me. In fact, the only tool I carried was my cell phone. I've also found that walking my bike or sitting mournfully with it produces offers of help from motorists, only a tiny number of whom are psycho-killers with flat-tire victims buried under the floorboards of their moth-filled houses. I even misunderstood the reason for carrying a dollar bill in case of a flat. I thought it was so you could purchase a refreshing cold drink while you waited.
So I went to my Local Bike Shop for a maintenance class, taught by a young man named Eric. The rest of the class consisted of three women who had just bought bikes, providing further confirmation that I'd waited too long to sign up. From Eric I learned that I'd also been completely delinquent about getting my bike tuned up and that I was using the wrong type of chain lubricant. He said my chain was gunked up in a way that would cause mechanics to hate me, but not as much as they hate triathletes who urinate directly onto their bikes.
Mainly, though, I learned to change a tube. I was the worst one in the class at this. It took me the longest. I needed help getting the tire's bead back over the rim. I left with no conviction I could handle a flat on my own, and had merely replaced a vague sense of helplessness with a specific sense of dependence on Eric. What if he wasn't available to follow me in a van at all times?
"At least carry the right stuff," Eric said. "Sometimes you stop to help somebody and it turns out they don't have a spare tube."
I bought the recommended tools, sort of. I watched Eric use a CO2 cartridge and it seemed like (a) a form of unnecessary solid waste and greenhouse gas; (b) something that could fly out of your hand and strike you in the forehead; and (c) something I could screw up. I got a lightweight pump.
Eric was also big on plastic tire levers, which won't damage the rims. "Don't make your day any worse," he said. "You're already fixing a flat."
But the sales guy talked me out of it. "Go ahead," he said scornfully. "You'll have lots of fun breaking them." I bought metal ones.
Then came the hard part. Eric said to practice at home, watching TV or something. I took off the wheel, flattened the tire, and turned on The Walking Dead. In the time it took me to change the tube, zombies could have found me, eaten me, bought zombie Zantac for the heartburn, and gone to bed moaning, "I always have bad dreams when I eat cyclist." Still: I did it!
Back to the intimidating fast lady. As I struggled to catch up, I recalled that she'd mentioned some insanely grueling upcoming bike trip. "Did I mention my insanely grueling upcoming bike trip?" she asked (or words to that effect) as I pulled beside her. "I'm riding the Iron Curtain. It's 1,000 miles. We have to average 50 miles a day."
"So you're going for 20 days?"
She shook her head. "We only have 14." She's a college professor, so I felt too intimidated to point out the math issue.
"I'm doing 100 miles in Maine," I volunteered. "And I can change my own flat!"
Not the Iron Curtain, I admit. But we all have to move at our own pace.
Quick-Change Artist
Our rookie learns that when it comes to fixing a flat, he has to set his own pace
One recent day, as I rode to a stop sign, a woman crossed in front of me on an intersecting road. Her eyes flashed in recognition. We had met at a couple of parties where I'd made reckless claims of being a cyclist. It turned out she was one, too, and she immediately suggested we do several terrifyingly hard-core rides together, which made me feel like Cecil Vyse, the monocle-fondling fop in Room With a View.
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Amethyst laser point.
Origin: Bahia, Brazil
INTUITION • PEACE • STRENGTH Use of Amethyst crystals, for their beauty and legendary energy, dates back to as early as 25,000 BCE. Found in the cultures of Neolithic peoples, ancient Egyptians, Early Greek, and Roman– it has long been coveted as a stone of royalty. To add some fun: Amethyst's name comes from the Greek word for "not drunken," as it's believed to prevent intoxication, calm anger, and relieve stress.
Due to the nature of our products each piece is unique and therefore varies in shape and size. Our sizing of the stones is a close approximation.
Adding product to your cart


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"Stop the moochers!" shouted a flock of GOP budget whackers in the House of Representatives.
It was back in July, before they flapped away for their five-week long summer break. This was the battle cry of conservative House lawmakers as they ripped all food stamp funding out of the Farm Bill in a symbolic move.
They say they're shocked that use of this safety-net program has jumped so dramatically in recent years. Crying that "those" people are costing us money, the House approved a version of the Farm Bill that stripped out the long-running program that gets food to the poor.
Well, yes, food stamp use is up. But — hello, clueless Congress critters — so is the need. Long-term joblessness and falling wages are sucking more and more of your constituents out of the middle class down into the vortex of poverty.
It's disgraceful for well-paid lawmakers to gut a poverty program that's working exactly as it's meant to, at the very time it's most needed.
Then, the flock of budget whackers suddenly flew completely off course. Going from disgraceful to disgusting, they approved a Farm Bill that gives ridiculous taxpayer handouts to the biggest and richest agribusiness operations in our land.
Big Ag is wallowing in record-high crop prices and farm income this year, yet pious Republican deficit scolds turned into free-spending corporate socialists, doling out the most generous farm subsidies in U.S. history.
For example, they perverted the crop insurance program into an absurd guaranteed-income plan for the wealthiest farms, each of which will collect more than $1 million a year from us taxpayers. Moreover, these "free-market" Republicans would also have the government spend our tax dollars to guarantee an artificially high price for various commodities produced by the giant farms. And they would make all of these subsidies permanent.
No grocery money for the needy, but free feed for millionaire farmers? That's a moral abomination. For more information, check out the Environmental Working Group: EWG.org.


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A recent report notes that FBI crime statistics reflect no homicides occurred in Newtown, Connecticut throughout the year 2012.*
This essay was originally published on January 1, 2013. It was a second part of a December 24, 2012 essay and intended to suggest that elements of the December 14, 2012 school shooting in Newtown were at least partially contrived. Statements from the piece, such as the possibility that "crisis actors" may have been deployed in such an exercise, were subsequently taken out of context by major news media to attack the author for analyzing overall reportage of the massacre.
[Image Credit: wikipedia]
Information and events over the past 21 months, including Newtown and Connecticut officials' swift move to demolish the Sandy Hook school itself, the Obama administration's funneling of millions to the Newtown area, a curiously ambiguous police investigation and report, and the unusual deaths or disappearances of several key figures and witnesses to the event have together tended to confirm many of the article's initial observations.-JFT
[Some of the links and videos used in the article are now "dead" yet are included as they appeared in the initial publication. Some images have been added to the text.]
As documents relating to the Sandy Hook shooting continue to be assessed and interpreted by independent researchers there is a growing awareness that the media coverage of the massacre of 26 children and adults was intended primarily for public consumption to further larger political ends.
A considerable amount of evidence has been withheld by authorities, who in a telling move have successfully postponed public disclosure of items culled from Nancy and Adam Lanzas' residence and vehicles for an additional ninety days. [1]
At the same time what has been revealed and captured in press reports suggests how from missing suspects and evidence to unrevealed corpses much is still unknown and mainstream news outlets have been at least complicit in what could conceivably be described as the Sandy Hook massacre's constructed reality. In this way unseen and largely unaccountable authorities set the agenda of the reportage through a titillating storyline reliant on an unsettling symbolic landscape to further develop and cultivate audience credulity.
The spectacle came complete with its own features specially designed for those with a penchant for pointing to intrigue. Shortly after the shooting prominent Arizona political figure and former gubernatorial aspirant Michael Harris opined that the shooting was carried out by an Israeli paramilitary team. Veterans Today Editor Gordon Duff amplified this speculative assertion through a brief article carried by Iran's PressTV that went viral, becoming the Iranian news outlet's most read item ever.[2]
Despite compelling geopolitical and diplomatic conditions the claim cannot be verified because the identities of the two-to-four additional suspected gunmen apprehended by Newtown and Connecticut state police remain undisclosed while almost all identity-specific references to these suspects were scrambled on the audio recording of the emergency dispatch-responders exchange. Were these men possibly playing roles in an emergency drill?
Much can still be gleaned from the press coverage of Sandy Hook. Most importantly, as with the events of 9/11 that ushered in the interminable "war on terror" and police state, the techniques that have emblazoned Sandy Hook in public consciousness require continued scrutiny if only for the fact that they will almost certainly be deployed to create similar disaster scenarios, likely in the near-term.
Was Sandy Hook a Relocated Emergency Drill?
At 9:53AM, no more than ten minutes after the reported shooting ceased, the Associated Press published a story, "Official with Knowledge of Connecticut School Shooting Says 27 Dead, Including 18 Children." [This link to a "Tweet" now has a 12:53PM date-stamp. See Jen Lake, "Sandy Hook Early Birds, jenniferlake.wordpress.com, May 1, 2013, for a more detailed explanation of this phenomenon.-JFT] AP and the Washington Post have since removed the story from their websites in lieu of subsequent reports that took their cue from a press conference scheduled for later that day.
[Image Credit: Salon.com]
Indeed, aside from internal police accounts of what took place inside Sandy Hook Elementary there is little information available to piece together what may have actually transpired inside the school. No photographic or video footage of the crime scene has been made publicly available and major media have to a large degree based their conclusions on Connecticut Medical Examiner H. Wayne Carver's verbal account of the postmortem, which is at best ambiguous.[3]
Two weeks after the incident an attorney representing the family of one six-year-old Sandy Hook student came forth with a $100 million lawsuit because their child "sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury" when she, like several other children and staff, heard "'cursing, screaming, and shooting' over the school intercom." The suit has since been withdrawn.[4]
Coverage of the event by the modest local weekly the Newtown Bee is most revealing in its combined discrepancies, vagueness, and brevity. In a December 14 article unidentified school personnel were floridly commended for their courage. Among them were school principal Dawn Hochsprung, who recounted to Bee Editor John Voket[5] how "a masked man entered the school with a rifle and started shooting multiple shots – more than she could count – that went 'on and on.'"
The problem with the account was that it conflicted with a subsequent storyline where Hochsprung was the first to be killed by the gunmen. Three days later the paper issued a retraction and revised the story further.[6] No additional explanation was provided concerning what party Volkert spoke to and quoted at the crime scene, suggesting from the onset a partly botched attempt at establishing a well-worn storyline.
Along these lines the same article relates what under the circumstances seems like an odd exchange between law enforcement and the school's staff. Shortly after the incident
an unidentified woman wearing a Connecticut State Police jacket addressed the group of teachers and staff who were consoling each other in the empty Sandy Hook apparatus bays. She complimented them on their individual and "exemplary" efforts following the procedures they were taught to ensure the protection of as many children and colleagues as possible.[7]
In the immediate aftermath of a bloody massacre where 27 lay dead or dying is this the appropriate time for a "post-game pep talk" and slaps on the back? What this closely resembles is the breakdown of a shooting drill, one that proceeded with violent sound effects broadcast through the school's intercom system. In fact, on the same day the State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection in association with the Federal Emergency Management Agency were carrying out a "Planning for the Needs of Children in Disaster" drill in nearby Bridgeport.[8] Was the exercise location changed to Newtown at the last minute?
Close analysis of circumstances surrounding the event including unusual emergency procedures and news outlets' interactions with alleged victim families following the shooting reveals important recurrent features and figures that further call the official account into question.
A Phantom Evacuation?
Additional facets of coverage and maneuvers suggesting the possibility of an at least partially staged event include the choice of the Sandy Hook Fire and Rescue Company's headquarters as an evacuation point for the school's students. This is accompanied by a lack of photographic or video evidence of such a widespread evacuation, bizarre interview footage of idle and wandering families alongside an emotional man who just happens across a half dozen Sandy Hook first graders in his front lawn who apparently witnessed their teacher's murder.
Newtown Bee Associate Editor Shannon Hicks asserts that she was among the first on the scene at Sandy Hook, driving behind police and "taking photographs immediately through the windshield of her car, with one hand on the steering wheel and one holding her camera."[9]
Strangely, however, at best only two of Hicks' photos actually emerge from the series—the famous shot of about fifteen students in conga line formation evidently moving across the parking lot en route to the fire station and a second of state police officers appearing in the December 14 Bee report that is later expunged.
Hicks' ferocity and determination to capture the scene only yields a few published photos at a time when corporate media outlets were very eager for such documentation, while no other photo or video evidence have emerged indicating such a widespread exodus from the school.
Nor is there any rationale provided in reportage on exactly why the fire station is even designated as an evacuation point. The choice is unusual because the school has only one route in and out of the facility—Dickenson Drive—and in the event of an actual emergency children are forced to parade down a street as police cars, fire engines, and ambulances race the other way. Many schools use their adjoining parking lots as a rendezvous point, and Sandy Hook's is particularly capacious.
"Safety First," photo Tweeted on October 17, 2012 by Sandy Hook Elementary Principal Dawn Hochsprung.
Despite this dangerous and untenable set of conditions Sandy Hook students rehearsed this very scenario less than two months prior, as revealed in a photo Tweeted on October 17 by Principal Hochsprung. The image depicts a much larger assemblage of students in the lot behind the Sandy Hook fire station.
Itinerant "Crisis Actors"?
Following an evacuation of such magnitude the Sandy Hook fire depot would have been bursting at the seams with over six hundred children and staff, and at least as many family members, in addition to police, fire and medical personnel. Yet apart from a large array of emergency vehicles at the site no aerial footage indicates activity on this scale at any point following the shooting.
Instead, there are numerous strange encounters between broadcast journalists and small, sporadic group of wandering parents and children, some of whom are at best moderately curious and far from grief-stricken or hysterical at the prospect that their child may have been caught in the deadly assault. After such a harrowing event why are select would-be family members and students lingering in the area and repeatedly offering themselves for interviews?
A possible reason is that they are trained actors working under the direction of state and federal authorities and in coordination with cable and broadcast network talent to provide tailor-made crisis acting that realistically drives home the event's tragic features.
[This video did not appear in the original article.-JFT]
One organization providing such services is the Colorado-based Vision Box's acting troupe Crisis Actors. The entourage's personnel are "available nationwide for active shooter drills and mall shooting full-scale exercises." Crisis Actors "develop and portray characters in emergency training scenarios," Vision Box's website reads.
The intensity at which they work recreates real life pressures that first responders going through the training must cope with … This special group has sessions with police officers, 911 operators, school administrators, mall security, radio experts, and school safety training professionals. There is an endless amount of scenarios this group can tackle, which range anywhere from weather issues, to a missing child, to an unknown intruder.
According to the Crisis Actors website group members work in association with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and "can play the part of the shooters, mall employees, shoppers in the mall, shoppers who continue to arrive at the mall, media reporters and others rushing to the mall, and persons in motor vehicles around the mall." They are also trained to "play the role of citizens calling 911 or mall management, or posting comments on social media websites."
Is it possible that such actors were utilized in Newtown to control the event's depiction and magnify its effect on public opinion? With the exception of police and government officials, the shocked and grief-stricken students, family members and pedestrians captured in photos from the shooting's aftermath are almost entirely anonymous. Further, the suggestion of collaborative efforts between journalists and families is evident in many of the interviews with family members, such as this surprisingly aborted exchange between a would-be parent and journalist.
Reporter: Sir, can I talk to you a second here? We're Channel Two in New York. How did you find out about this, uhm, terrible tragedy?
[Reporter approaches family of three with third grade daughter and apparent Sandy Hook student accompanying them.]
Unidentified Mother: OK. My daughter's in third grade. We got, uhm, an automated call from, uhm, from the town—
Reporter: Yeah?
Mother: –that there had been a shooting.
Reporter: Sure.
Mother: Uh, nothing about where the shooting was, and that the schools were on lock down.
Reporter: So you were assuming it was probably the high school at first, right?
[Note that the mother has yet to say anything about having a son attending the local high school.]
Mother: Of course, and my son's at the high school and I text him. He said, "Everything's fine here."
Reporter: Yeah.
Unidentified Mother: And then I got another text from, uh, CBS.
With virtually hundreds of students, faculty, staff and their families looking for each other and being reunited around the scene one would think journalists would have a broad range of interviewees from which to choose. Yet the same mother and daughter are again captured the morning of the shooting by an NBC affiliate.
Unidentified Mother: Another friend of mine said that, uhm, there was a man—masked man came in and just started shooting.
Unidentified Daughter: When we were gone doing morning meeting [sic] like, we heard like, shots and everybody went on the ground and Ms. Martin just closed the door and we went to the corner.
In the same news clip another male child describes in unusual detail how he narrowly escaped the gunman's hail of bullets.
Unidentified male student: I heard something like a person was kicking on a door. Then I turned around and I saw smoke and I smelled smoke. Then (pause) Then bullets whizzed by. Then—then a teacher pulled me in to her room.
Here is the same student speaking to another journalist.
Unidentified male student: I saw some of the bullets going past the hall [sic] that I was right next to and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom.
Reporter: You heard sounds?
Male student: Yes.
Reporter: What did it sound like to you?
Male student: It sounded like someone was kicking a door.
The frequent hesitancy with specific words in this children's deliveries, combined with a parent allowing their child to repeatedly recount such an event and the unemotional, almost identically-worded delivery, suggests how they may have been coached to present memorized lines.
Another child by the name of "Alexis Wasick" also makes at least two appearances and, following the unscripted lead of one journalist, recites similar lines in each interview.
CNN Reporter: Joining me is the Wasick family. We have Alexis who is in third grade. You told me you were sitting in class this morning and you saw a lot of police. Tell me-tell me how you found out what was going on.
"Alexis": Well, we found that there was all these people and we found that [unintelligible] because we were right near the window in our classroom. And like, we saw like police officers and we heard them [directly addressing camera] on the roof and in our building.
[At this point "Alexis" receives some cues from CNN's reporter.]
Reporter: Was everybody crying, scared, wanting their parents to get them?
"Alexis": Yeah, they were. And some people were even like, they kind of wish that they got a stomach ache [sic].
On the same day "Alexis" gives a somewhat different account with similar verbiage to another reporter.
Reporter: What happened?
"Alexis":[Addressing reporter offscreen] Nothing really [unintelligible] We heard like an ambulance and a police officer come and everybody was a little scared crying and I felt actually a little sick, and I felt like I was going to throw up and [glances at camera] did my teacher too [sic]. [The garbled line, "My teacher did too," suggests a canned delivery.]
Reporter: How did you get out of there?
"Alexis": We had to [vocal cadence slowing] go—through—the—building (pause) and then we had to just go to the firehouse.
The performance of Sandy Hook resident Gene Rosen suggests how the community members might become intimately enveloped in the unfolding tragedy. Despite the overwhelming federal, state and local police presence blanketing the community on December 14 Rosen explains several days later how while feeding his cat he receives an unexpected visit from six mislaid and forlorn children whose classmates and first grade teacher Victoria Soto were killed in the shooting.
"The six who turned up at Rosen's home apparently ran out of the school past her body," the New York Post amazingly asserts.[10] Instead of calling the authorities to properly reunite the children with their parents Rosen bizarrely invites them inside his home for 30 minutes to jostle with stuffed animals and describe their ordeal.
In an initial interview Rosen is standing in the driveway of his home and appears overcome with emotion, taking off his glasses while turning away from the camera and wiping eyes. He then proceeds down the driveway toward the front of his house, pointing to where he first spotted the children.
Rosen: Six children, and they were sitting there. They were sitting there, and I had no idea why they were there. And I went down there.
[Cut to Rosen's hands clutching reading glasses, then back to Rosen.]
Rosen: There's a school bus driver and she says, "There's been an incident. And I said, "Just come in the house." And that's how it started and I—I brought them in the house.
[Cut to stuffed animals inside Rosen's house, then back to Rosen.]
Rosen: And then over the next thirty minutes they just described what happened, little-by-little. These two boys kept saying, "We can't go back to school. We can't go back to school. Our teacher's dead—Mrs. Soto. We don't have a teacher." And I couldn't believe it. I couldn't take that in. I had no idea what had happened. A woman came to my house at twelve o'clock
[Cut to dimly-lit interior of house where Rosen stands before stuffed animals on floor.]
Rosen: Her face—her face looked frozen in-in terror. I've never seen a face look like that. She said, "Is my boy here? I heard there were six kids here." And she said the name of the child. I thought that if she'd been to the Sandy Hook school she thought maybe a miracle from god would have the child in my house. And I looked at the casualty list at six o'clock.
[Hand to eyes and weeping, then shaking head]
Rosen: His name was on it!
Time and again in the wake of the incident Rosen is brought before network cameras to present his maudlin recounting of the surreal and implausible encounter.
Continued Postmortem Uncertainties
To properly identify each victim would have required weighing, measurement, de-robing, washing, with all identifying features such as scars or birthmarks noted. Such standard postmortem procedures, the public is asked to believe, were accomplished at the school as no more than three were treated at the well-prepared Danbury Hospital.[11] According to Carver's December 15 press conference remarks the teachers and children were processed by the state coroner and his staff at an onsite mobile facility the night of the shooting.
Yet at least one family was not even allowed to see the body of their loved one. "They told me, 'You can't see (the body),'" Gilles Rousseau remarked to Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "Because most people he shot, it was two or three shots in the face, point-blank."[12] If this were the case it puts further pressure on the uncertain notion that Lanza was an expert shot who had the opportunity to uninterruptedly fire at almost inanimate subjects.
Further, without explanation Carver postponed examination of Adam Lanza's body until two days after the shooting. Jean Henry, a processing technician in Carver's office, was recently placed on leave when she allegedly brought her husband, an unauthorized party, in to the state morgue to view Lanza's corpse.
They went to the gurney where Lanza lay, then Henry unzipped the bag so her husband could look at him for a moment, and she closed the bag and they left the room, sources familiar with situation told The Courant Wednesday.[13]
The refusal for at least one family to view the body of their loved one and Henry's informal intervention both contribute to the uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding what appears as a severely compromised postmortem operation, the gross inconsistencies of which major media have presented to the world as established fact.
As transcribed and analyzed in Part I of this analysis, the unusual testimony of Connecticut's chief coroner H. Wayne Carver II, ostensibly placed in charge of the Sandy Hook school postmortem. Carver's December 15 behavior and remarks before the press suggests his clear discomfort and demonstration that he knows very little about the shootings or autopsies themselves. In light of the above the physician's hesitant performance in Sandy Hook's tragedy is perhaps not so difficult to explain. At one point Carver even indicates his disapproval of the proceedings by expressing his wish that his staff and "the people of Newtown don't have it crash on their head later." Is Carver referring to an embellished event that he has been an unwilling participant in?
As indicated on the Crisis Actors website, performance of this type is now a commonplace feature of widely prevalent "live shooter drills" and may be infused throughout such an event and its aftermath to augment and control a broader narrative intended for public consumption. "The power to make a reportable event," historian Daniel Boorstin writes, is "the power to make experience."[14]
Along these lines and despite countervailing facts and inconsistencies the official story of the Sandy Hook shooting is now part of the nation's collective experience, consciousness and memory. To declare that the shooting "never took place" is cause for intense opprobrium in most polite circles where, in familiar Orwellian fashion, the media-induced trance and dehistoricized will to believe maintain their hold.
Similarly, an individual who contends that Timothy McVeigh was an accessory in a much larger operation at Oklahoma City, Osama bin Laden was not responsible for the events of 9/11, or the World Trade Center Towers were brought down by controlled demolition is vigorously condemned for thought crimes against the state. Such are the immense dimensions of mass manipulation where fact and tragedy may be routinely revised and reinforced to fit the motives and designs toward a much larger apparatus of social and political control.
*"A USA TODAY investigation into mass killings has found that the FBI's homicide data over the past decade has only a 57% accuracy rate when it comes to recording the killings of more than four people in a single event. The records are voluntarily submitted by police agencies, and FBI officials say the Connecticut State Police and Aurora police departments initially provided the information on the year's two largest killing incidents – only to request that it be deleted." Meghan Hoyer, "In FBI Murder Data, Mass Killings Often Go Missing," USA Today, September 10, 2014.
[1] Michelle Tuccitto Sullo, "Newtown Search Warrants for Adam Lanza's Home, Vehicles Still Sealed," New Haven Register, December 29, 2012.
[2] Gordon Duff, "Israeli Death Squads Involved in Sandy Hook Blood Bath," PressTV, December 18, 2012.
[3] James F. Tracy, "The Sandy Hook School Massacre: Unanswered Questions and Missing Information," Global Research, December 25, 2012. [Link is to MHB post as article on Global Research site published December 25, 2012 has been inexplicably deleted.-JFT]
[4] Mary Ellen Godin, "Claim Seeks $100 Million for Child Survivor of Connecticut School Shooting," Reuters/Yahoo News, December 28, 2012. The suit was tentatively withdrawn shortly thereafter. Michael P. Mayko, "Lawyer Withdraws Sandy Hook Suit, May Refile," Connecticut Post, December 31, 2012.
[5] John Voket, "Stories of Heroism Emerging From School Tragedy," Newtown Bee, December 14, 2012.
[6] "Retraction and Apology," Newtown Bee, December 17, 2012. See Niall Bradley, "Sandy Hook Massacre: Official Story Spins Out of Control," Veterans Today, December 20, 2012.
[7] Voket, "Stories of Heroism."
[8] "FEMA Was Running a 'Drill' Between 9AM and 4PM on December 14th, in Connecticut!" DailyPaul.com, December 26, 2012.
[9] Julie Moos, "How the Newtown Bee is Covering Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting," Poynter.org, December 15, 2012.
[10] Reuven Fenton, "Children at Door: Teacher is Dead," New York Post, December 18, 2012.
[11] Joe Van Brussel, "Danbury Hospital Prepared for School Shooting Massive Casualties, Got Few," Huffington Post, December 14, 2012.
[12] Lise Millette, "Lauren Rousseau, Teacher killed in Newtown Shooting, Mourned by Canadian Family," Canadian Press via Huffington Post, December 18, 2012.
[13] Jon Lender and David Altimari, "State Worker Placed on Leave After Showing Husband Adam Lanza's Body," Hartford Courant, January 2, 2012.
[14] Daniel J. Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, 25th Anniversary Edition. New York: Vintage Books, 1987 [1961], 10.


text:
City News Service
LOS ANGELES – An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was being investigated Saturday by both LAPD and the CHP over a photo of her pointing a handgun at another driver during an alleged road rage incident.
The alleged confrontation took place about 5 p.m. Thursday, on the eastbound 60 Freeway in East Los Angeles, according to media reports.
The unnamed female officer seen pointing the gun was off-duty and assigned to the department's Internal Affairs Division, an unnamed California Highway Patrol officer told CBS2 News. The pictures of the gun-pointing officer were originally posted on the ABC7 Facebook page.
The officer was being investigated for the alleged weapon brandishing, but the department won't release her name, LAPD spokeswoman Officer Nuria Vanegas told City News Service on Saturday.
Vanegas said "I don't know about that. All complaints against our officers are investigated by Internal Affairs."
The driver of the other car who took the photo told CBS2 that he called 911 to report the brandishing, about the same time the 911 operator got a call from the female officer.
The confrontation began in Boyle Heights and both drivers exited in Monterey Park, CBS2 reported. Officers then arrived at the scene to intervene.


text:
Three decades after Carl Sagan's original "Cosmos," a new version is heading for the Fox TV network in 2013 ... with some fresh surprises in the mix.
One of the biggest surprises apparently has to do with the guy who helped get the series green-lighted by Fox: Seth MacFarlane, the creator of "Family Guy," a Fox cartoon sitcom that The New York Times calls, ahem, "bawdy and irreverent." But it shouldn't be all that surprising. "Family Guy" has been known to poke fun at scientists as well as the scientifically challenged, and because he was born in 1973, MacFarlane was at the perfect age to start drinking in Sagan's wisdom when the original "Cosmos" appeared in 1980.
The astrophysicist following in Sagan's footsteps for the new 13-episode series will be Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is director of New York's Hayden Planetarium as well as a seasoned author and TV host. Tyson said he and MacFarlane discussed the idea of re-energizing "Cosmos" as a follow-up to a Science and Entertainment Exchange session they both attended.
"It was his vision that any 'Cosmos' that's done today needs to reach the kinds of people who wouldn't otherwise think about science," Tyson told me. "Fox is not exactly known for its science shows. You put a science program on Fox, people will sit up and take notice."
Tyson put MacFarlane in touch with Ann Druyan, Sagan's widow and co-founder of Cosmos Studios, who will serve as an executive producer and writer for the new series.
Strong pitch
Druyan recounted how MacFarlane made a strong pitch for the concept with Fox executives. "He said that if he personally had to pay half of the cost of the pilot out of his own pocket, he would do it," Druyan told me. But it didn't have to come to that. Once Fox Broadcasting chairman Peter Rice started watching Sagan's recorded "Cosmos" shows with his family, he was hooked.
Now Druyan and astrophysicist Steven Soter are hard at work, writing the scripts for the new series. Both of them also worked with Sagan on the original "Cosmos."
"Steve and I have been thinking about this and working on this for many years," Druyan said. "This will be completely original, but it will be 'Cosmos.' ... We know 'Cosmos' when we see it, and this is 'Cosmos.'"
The original series delved into the nature of life (earthly and extraterrestrial), the universe and everything, all from the perspective of Sagan's "personal voyage" of scientific discovery. If you haven't seen it, you simply have to check out "Cosmos" on Hulu.
Thirty-three years after "Cosmos" came out, the book based on the series is still No. 1 on Amazon's astronomy best-seller list. Dryuan said she's "so proud and so happy" to hear that the original "Cosmos" is so revered, and that the new "Cosmos" is so anxiously anticipated.
"I think there's been a real hunger in our society of late for getting back to a time when the revelations of science can command attention on prime-time television," she said.
'Cosmos'-ness meets Neilness
Druyan was reluctant to reveal any of the new twists that she and Soder might work into the new scripts. "We want to save a lot of surprises," she said. But she assured me that Tyson would be much more than a Sagan clone.
"We picked Neil for his 'Neilness,' and we wouldn't dream of making him impersonate Carl," she said. "We picked him because he has that same kind of charismatic passion to communicate the wonders revealed by science. But we are writing this for him, in his voice. You'll be feeling the 'Cosmos'-ness of it, but I know Neil will be bringing what is so special about him to this presentation."
The 52-year-old Tyson, who is seven years older than Sagan was when the first "Cosmos" premiered, voiced a similar sentiment.
"I cannot be Carl Sagan. I can only be myself," he told me. "But we both, from a very early age, were looking up and wondering about the universe. ... To the extent that we overlap, it's not that I'm cueing off Carl Sagan, it's that we're both cueing off a common experience that every astrophysicist has."
Tyson said one of the secrets of Sagan's success was his ability to play the role of a "tour guide" to the cosmos, rather than a teacher at the front of a classroom.
"What people remember the most about 'Cosmos,' and what it did best, and what I don't think has been duplicated, is the effort to convey the meaning of science to a citizen of planet Earth," Tyson said. "'Cosmos' brought science to the public in a way that meant something to their relationship to each other, to the world and to the universe."
Tyson said some of the tools that Sagan brought to the task will return in updated form for the new "Cosmos." For example, Sagan illustrated the long sweep of the universe's 13.7 billion-year existence by condensing it into a 12-month "Cosmic Calendar." If the universe began on Jan. 1, our solar system was formed on Sept. 1, life arose on Earth on Sept. 21 — and the human species made its appearance after 10 p.m. on the last day of the year.
"We have other stories to tell, to place on that calendar," Tyson said. And he can hardly wait to tell them.
"This new 'Cosmos' is overdue, and I'm honored to be a part of that," Tyson said.
More about 'Cosmos' and Carl Sagan:
"Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey" is due to premiere in 2013 on Fox, with same-night encores of each episode airing on the National Geographic Channel. The series will be produced by Druyan's Cosmos Studios. Executive producers include Druyan, MacFarlane, Cosmos Studios President Mitchell Cannold and Allan Butler of the National Geographic Channel.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also add me to your Google+ circle, and check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.


text:
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text:
An internal probe into the Penn State child sex abuse scandal found that top university officials, including former president Graham Spanier and then-head football coach Joe Paterno, concealed evidence of abuse by ex-assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
An effort to avoid bad publicity "is the most significant, but not the only, cause for this failure to protect child victims and report to authorities," the investigation found.
Spanier and Paterno, as well as former university vice president Gary Schultz and ex-athletic director Tim Curley, participated in "an active decision to conceal" allegations against Sandusky, the probe's leader told reporters Thursday. Additionally, the report says the officials failed to inquire about the victims' well-being, even failing to try to identify a boy who allegedly was sexually assaulted in a Penn State shower in 2001.
Also, Penn State officials were poised to report that February 2001 sex abuse allegation, but they "changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities" after Curley consulted with Paterno, the head of the probe, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, told reporters.
Full CNN report: Penn State leaders showed 'total disregard' for victims, review finds
Clery Act at center of Penn State probe, 26 years after teen's murder
Key players in Penn State report
Share your thoughts with CNN iReport.
The 267-page findings of the Penn State-funded internal review were released Thursday morning. The report focuses on what school officials knew about Sandusky's behavior. The scandal led some people to claim the school put its reputation ahead of protecting potential child victims.
A jury last month convicted Sandusky, 68, the Nittany Lions' former defensive coordinator, on multiple charges of sexually abusing 10 boys over a period of 15 years.
Here is a running log of the Thursday's developments:
[Updated at 1:57 p.m. ET] Around the time that Nike was announcing that it was changing the name of the Joe Paterno Child Development Center on Nike's campus in Beaverton, Oregon (see 1:46 p.m. entry), Nike co-founder and chairman Phil Knight released this statement:
"Other than my parents, my college coach, Bill Bowerman, was the biggest influence in my life. Bill Bowerman and Joe Paterno shared some great qualities. Throughout Joe Paterno's career, he strived to put young athletes in a position to succeed and win in sport but most importantly in life. Joe influenced thousands of young men to become better leaders, fathers and husbands.
"According to the investigation, it appears Joe made missteps that led to heartbreaking consequences. I missed that Joe missed it, and I am extremely saddened on this day. My love for Joe and his family remains."
– Phil Knight, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, NIKE, Inc.
[Updated at 1:46 p.m. ET] The president of Nike Inc. has announced that the firm is changing the name of the Joe Paterno Child Development Center, a child care center at the Nike headquarters near Beaverton, Oregon, in the light of the Freeh report.
"I have been deeply saddened by the news coming out of this investigation at Penn State," Mark Parker said.
[Updated at 11:52 a.m. ET] As promised, here is the link to the Paterno family's full statement.
[Updated at 11:38 a.m. ET] Another key point from the Paterno family statement: "We have said from the beginning that Joe Paterno did not know Jerry Sandusky was a child predator. Moreover, Joe Paterno never interfered with any investigation. He immediately and accurately reported the incident he was told about in 2001."
A link to the full statement is coming.
[Updated at 11:29 a.m. ET] Paterno's relatives say that although they will need some time to read the report before they can comment in depth, they accept the criticism that Paterno could have done more, but "at the same time, Joe Paterno and everyone else knew that Sandusky had been repeatedly investigated by authorities who approved his multiple adoptions and foster children."
"Joe Paterno mistakenly believed that investigators, law enforcement officials, University leaders and others would properly and fully investigate any issue and proceed as the facts dictated," Paterno's family said in a statement.
The statement adds: "Joe Paterno wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and he regretted them. He is still the only leader to step forward and say that with the benefit of hindsight he wished he had done more. To think, however, that he would have protected Jerry Sandusky to avoid bad publicity is simply not realistic. If Joe Paterno had understood what Sandusky was, a fear of bad publicity would not have factored into his actions."
[Updated at 11:21 a.m. ET] In a statement released about 90 minutes ago, shortly after the Freeh report was released, the Penn State leadership and the Board of Trustees said that "we want to ensure we are giving the report careful scrutiny and consideration before making any announcements or recommendations."
"We are convening an internal team comprising the Board of Trustees, university administration and our legal counsel to begin analyzing the report and digesting Judge Freeh's findings," the statement reads.
[Updated at 11:15 a.m. ET] Former Penn State star linebacker LaVar Arrington, who publicly defended Sandusky last year before apologizing once more details surfaced, has posted on Twitter that he's disappointed "in coach Paterno's judgement based off the info" in Thursday's report.
Another tweet from Arrington:
[tweet https://twitter.com/LaVarArrington/status/223431780919820288%5D
[Updated at 10:44 a.m. ET] The NCAA has reacted to the report, saying Penn State "now needs to respond" to four key questions that will help the NCAA decide whether it needs to take action:
"Like everyone else, we are reviewing the final report for the first time today," NCAA Vice President Bob Williams said. "As (NCAA) President Emmert wrote in his November 17 letter to Penn State President Rodney Erickson and reiterated this week, the university has four key questions, concerning compliance with institutional control and ethics policies, to which it now needs to respond. Penn State's response to the letter will inform our next steps, including whether or not to take further action. We expect Penn State's continued cooperation in our examination of these issues."
[Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET] Freeh tells reporters there was an active agreement among top university officials to conceal sexual abuse by Sandusky.
"There are more red flags here than you can count," Freeh said, adding that the attacks occurred just "steps away" from where Paterno worked in the university's Lasch Building.
Freeh said he's not singling Paterno out. But he said Paterno is one of four Penn State leaders who evidence shows were "an integral part of an active decision to conceal" accusations against Sandusky.
Freeh said he wishes he had an opportunity to speak to Paterno, who died after a cancer battle in January, and show him the evidence, including e-mails and notes from meetings.
[Updated at 10:28 a.m. ET] CNN legal analyst Paul Callan says the report will be "a road map" for civil attorneys suing Penn State.
"Here you have (Penn State's) own investigator saying .. higher-ups aided and abetted" Sandusky, Callan said.
Callan says the report shows that after 1999, when Penn State officials knew of a 1998 investigation of Sandusky, they gave him emeritus status ... and allowed him to go on with his charity for disadvantaged children, Second Mile.
[Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET] Freeh tells reporters that his team conducted 430 interviews, and found that janitors who were made aware of Sandusky's apparent abuse of a child "were afraid of being fired over reporting a powerful football coach."
[Updated at 10:22 a.m. ET] Freeh, reading from his statement at a press conference, says that besides the 2001 shower allegation (see 10:16 a.m. entry), Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley also knew about a 1998 criminal investigation of Sandusky relating to suspected sexual misconduct with a boy in a Penn State football shower.
"Again, they showed no concern about that victim," Freeh said. "The evidence shows that Mr. Paterno was made aware of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, followed it closely, but failed to take any action, even though Sandusky had been a key member of his coaching staff for almost 30 years, and had an office just steps away from Mr. Paterno's. At the very least, Mr. Paterno could have alerted the entire football staff, in order to prevent Sandusky from bringing another child into the Lasch Building (the building that includes the football locker room showers). ... Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley also failed to alert the Board of Trustees about the 1998 investigation or take any further action against Mr. Sandusky. None of them even spoke to Sandusky about his conduct. In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity."
[Updated at 10:18 a.m. ET] The internal probe found that prior to May 1998, "several staff members and football coaches regularly observed Sandusky showering with young boys," but "none of the individuals interviewed notified their superiors of this behavior."
The report also found that "University Police and the Department of Public Welfare responded promptly to the report by a young boy's mother of a possible sexual assault by Sandusky" in 1998, and that top university officials were "kept informed of the investigation."
[Updated at 10:16 a.m. ET] At his news conference, Freeh reads from a statement, and zeros in on a sexual abuse allegation that came to Penn State officials' attention in 2001 (this was an incident in which a Penn State football graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, allegedly claimed to have seen Sandusky sexually abuse a child in a Penn State shower that year):
"In critical written correspondence that we uncovered on March 20 of this year, we see evidence of their proposed plan of action in February 2001 that included reporting allegations about Sandusky to the authorities.
"After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the
authorities. Their failure to protect the February 9, 2001 child victim, or make attempts to identify him, created a dangerous situation for other unknown, unsuspecting young boys who were lured to the Penn State campus and football games by Sandusky and victimized repeatedly by him.
"Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child's identity, about what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001.
"The stated reasons by ... Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley for not taking action to identify the victim and for not reporting Sandusky to the police or Child Welfare are:
"(1) Through counsel, Messrs. Curley and Schultz have stated that the "humane" thing to do in 2001 was to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague but troubling allegations.
"(2) Mr. Paterno said that "I didn't know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn't work out that way."
"(3) Mr. Spanier told the Special Investigative Counsel that he was never told by anyone that the February 2001 incident in the shower involved the sexual abuse of a child but only "horsing around." He further stated that he never asked what "horsing around" by Sandusky entailed.
"Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University - ... Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley - repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky's child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large.
"Although concern to treat the child abuser humanely was expressly stated, no such sentiments were ever expressed by them for Sandusky's victims."
[Updated at 10:02 a.m. ET] Freeh, the former FBI director who led the Penn State-funded probe, is addressing the media. Updates shortly.
[Updated at 10 a.m. ET] Here are what the report calls "key findings" relating to Penn State officials' response to a 1998 sexual abuse allegation:
• Before May 1998, several staff members and football coaches regularly observed Sandusky showering with young boys in the Lasch Building (now the East Area Locker Building or "Old Lasch"). None of the individuals interviewed notified their superiors of this behavior.
• University Police and the Department of Public Welfare responded promptly to the report by a young boy's mother of a possible sexual assault by Sandusky in the Lasch Building on May 3, 1998.
• While no information indicates University leaders interfered with the investigation, Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley were kept informed of the investigation.
• On May 5, 1998, Schultz's notes about the incident state: "Is this opening of pandora's
box? Other children?"
• On June 9, 1998, Schultz emails Spanier and Curley: "I think the matter has been appropriately investigated and I hope it is now behind us [emphasis added]."
• Detective recalled interviewing Sandusky in the Lasch Building so as not to put him "on the defensive." The detective advised Sandusky not to shower with any child and Sandusky said he "wouldn't."At the conclusion of the investigation, no charges were filed against Sandusky.
• Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley did not even speak to Sandusky about his conduct on May 3, 1998 in the Lasch Building.
• Despite their knowledge of the criminal investigation of Sandusky, Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley took no action to limit Sandusky's access to Penn State facilities or took any measures to protect children on their campuses.
• Spanier and Schultz failed to report the 1998 investigation to the Board of Trustees.
• Sandusky was convicted of several assaults that occurred after the 1998 incident. Some of these sexual assaults against young boys might have been prevented had Sandusky been prohibited from bringing minors to University facilities and University football bowl
[Updated at 9:47 a.m. ET] The report says that in May 2011, Spanier and the school's general counsel, Cynthia Baldwin, minimized the seriousness of a child sex abuse investigation into Sandusky during a Board of Trustees meeting "by not fully describing the nature of the allegations or raising the issue of possible negative impact to the University."
The board also did not make "reasonable inquiry" about the investigation, the report says.
[Updated at 9:43 a.m. ET] The Board of Trustees' dismissal of Paterno in November 2011 "was poorly handled, as were the Board's communications with public," the report says.
Penn State is scheduled to hold a 3:30 p.m. ET news conference Thursday regarding the internal review.
[Updated at 9:39 a.m. ET] The report highlights Penn State's decision to allow Sandusky to retire in 1999 "as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy," after allegations in 1998, "essentially granted him license to bring boys to campus facilities for 'grooming' as targets for his assaults."
[Updated at 9:25 a.m. ET] More from the findings: "Four of the most powerful people at The Pennsylvania State University - President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President-Finance and Business Gary C. Schultz, Athletic Director Timothy M. Curley and Head Football Coach Joseph V. Paterno - failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade."
"These men concealed Sandusky's activities from the Board of Trustees, the University community and authorities. They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child who Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001. ...
"These individuals, unchecked by the Board of Trustees that did not perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted and unsupervised access to the University's facilities and affiliation with the University's prominent football program."
[Updated at 9:24 a.m. ET] From the findings: "The most saddening finding by the by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims. As the Grand Jury similarly noted in its presentment, there was no "attempt to investigate, to identify Victim 2, or to protect that child or any others from similar conduct except as related to preventing its re-occurrence on University property."
[Updated at 9:21 a.m. ET] The top leadership at Penn State University - including then-President Graham Spanier and then-head football coach Joe Paterno - concealed Sandusky's activities from the public and the university community to "avoid the consequences of bad publicity," according to the internal review.
[Updated at 9:15 a.m. ET] Louis Freeh, the former FBI director who led the Penn State-funded probe, said Thursday that former athletic director Tim Curley consulted with former head coach Joe Paterno following sex abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky and "they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities."
[Updated at 9:05 a.m. ET] The probe's leader, former FBI director Louis Freeh, has released a statement saying that the probe's "most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State.
"The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized," Freeh said. "Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky's victims until after Sandusky's arrest."
These are Freeh's remarks accompanying the report. CNN has yet to examine the entirety of the report itself.
More details:
The Sandusky case led to the November 2011 dismissal of legendary head coach Joe Paterno, as well as the ouster of the university's longtime president Graham Spanier and athletic director Tim Curley.
Freeh's internal investigation is separate from criminal investigations that have resulted in Sandusky's conviction and charges against former athletic director Tim Curley and former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz.
Painful chapter closes with Sandusky's conviction for child sex abuse
I would never encourage anyone to attend Penn State for anything, not even for an education. There are plenty of other 'better schools' out there.
It is not just one university with the problem. These gay attacks on children must be reported and stopped everywhere!
So when will Spainer be brought up on charges and prosecuted for aiding and abetting this extended criminal activity by a Penn State employee?


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Dr. Oskar Kujawski is in charge of the Geneva based Eustachian Tube Institute. His international expertise in ENT and Head and Neck Surgery is world known. He focuses his efforts on Eustachian tube management (ENT Surgery).
Today, many illnesses (such as Otitis Media in children and in adults, some deafness's and tinnitus, Patulous Eustachian tube with autophonia, dizziness and hyperacousia, air traveling and diving ears problems) may now be resolved.
Being the first world specialist to develop Eustachian tube surgery, he is inventor of specific surgical instruments to this field. This leader position pushes him to publish in international journals and book, and to teach this revolutionary surgery around the world, through international courses organized in Geneva as abroad.
He is official instructor in the American Academy of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, and President elected of the international Eustachian tube standing committee in European Academy of Otology and Neuro Otology. In order to aware people to these new approaches for so many illness till today not resolved, he put the first interactive web site on this topic on Internet ; designated for physicians, parents, children's, divers and air travelers who regularly suffer.
Anatomy and physiology are a part of the oldest branches of medicine. The Eustachian tube is one of the most complicated structures in the human body.
The first reports date back to ancient Egyptian times (Ebers, Papyrus 1600 BC). The conviction that Eustachian tube is a link / bridge between nose and ears and play a fundamental role for the good functioning of the ear led Otologists, consulted by the patients, to describe and to propose premises of therapeutic and diagnostic management. Eustachius Bartolommeo (1510-1574) made the first description of this auditory canal that bears his name (original anatomical drafts of Eustachius).
However, many other pioneers brought there knowledge and discoveries as Alcmaeon, Duverney, Valsalva, Von Tröltsch, Rich, Politzer, Toynbee, Bonnafont, Roure, etc... They were all otologist, oriented to the ear. But the fundamental physiological key of Eustachian tube is "Dynamic". It was discovered and proved only few years ago (Kujawski, Poe). The heart of this real dynamic system seems to be situated in the median third of the cartilaginous portion, named the tubal valve.
Your plane is going to land in Geneva and your seat belt is well fasted? Do you become deaf? Do you start ears pain? Swallow, yawning or sucking a candy is not sufficient to clear them? Your children has its third otitis this winter, or his teacher pretends that he is deaf? A common guilty : the Eustachian tubes. The audition of a noise comparable to the bruising of a tissue paper while, swallowing or yawning indicates their opening. Much more than a duct joining ear to nose, this complex organ ensures pressures balance in your ears in order to guarantee an optimal hearing during day and night, by plane or during a commonplace cold. This dysfunction generates ear infections (otitis), deafness, tinnitus and even dizziness.
To break the antibiotics vicious circle to ensure yours or your child's hearing we can now approach a new preventive and curative solution of all tubal dysfunctions, common and complex, at the origin to these middle ear disease. In cases of acute otitis, recurrent otitis media with or without effusion and some dizziness in the Ménières syndrome surgical puncture of the eardrum, with or without setting up of a ventilation tube or grommet can be now avoided. Several tinnitus may be secondary to a tubal dysfunction as well as some acute or sudden deafness.
Spécialiste FMH : nez, gorge, oreilles ORL (Oto-rhino-laryngologie Genève). Dr Oskar Kujawski.
Voir la suite : Oto-rhino-laryngologue


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When Conflict Comes Home: Homeowner Association Turns Into Mafia-like Protection RacketAuthor: Lee Jay Berman
In Hawaii, a Molokai couple won a $3.9 million verdict against their Homeowners' Association (HOA) and individual defendants when the Maui jury found that they had been subjected to bullying, threats, harassment and intimidation from their own HOA Board members and others in the complex. Jim and Nancy Bevill were subjected to what their lawyer, Terry Revere, called a "campaign of intimidation" that spanned over 6 years and went as far as killing pets, vandalizing cars, death threats and constant intimidation at the Ke Nani Kai Condominiums in Maunaloa. Revere compared the Bevills' experience to the equivalent of a John Ford western, where an isolated town is run by a villain and his collection of thugs. More details are here: http://aiminst.com/maui.
A nightmare, to be sure, the case lasted for 4 years – the trial alone spanning 8 weeks – and included an estimated $1.5 million in combined attorneys' fees, with claims ranging from negligence to federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act violations. The Bevills' complaint says that the board members treated the complex like their own "personal fiefdom", using the resident manager and handyman as the "thugs" to enforce their rule, with the latter having a criminal record and claiming ties to organized crime.
The Bevills, who relocated to Hawaii from California in 2004, were awarded damages including $500,000 in general damages and over $3 million in punitive damages against the HOA Board and Association (generally not covered by insurance), as well as by three individual board members, the former resident manager, and the handyman.
It seems that the trouble all began when the Bevills brought in an independent handyman to complete renovations to their unit, over the objections and pressure of board members, who seemed to trade protection with the handyman. When the Board's intimidation was unsuccessful, the Bevills soon found themselves at odds with the board, labeled as "troublemakers" and the target of escalated harassment, which included the handyman making lude gestures with his genitalia toward Mrs. Bevill when she was home alone.
Former 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August, who heard some of the case's early portions, said that the outcome should serve as a strong example of why condo associations should resolve their disputes early and avoid protracted legal action, when possible. Apparently, Bevill made an offer to settle prior to trial for less than 10% of the eventual verdict, but the offer was rebuffed by the defense. "This case," said August, "if nothing else, should be the poster child for the idea that alternative dispute resolution is the way to go." He said that resolving this dispute through mediation or even arbitration would have been a "much smarter" choice.
California law has Civil Code Section 919 requiring homeowner certain disputes in associations to be mediated prior to filing any kind of administrative or legal action. Perhaps if Hawaii had such a law, this situation could have been resolved much earlier and ended much better.
While mediation doesn't always resolve all of the conflict between people, it does offer those in conflict the opportunity to sit down with a neutral person to facilitate the dialogue and keep it positive and results oriented. For more on mediation, please check out Stories Mediators Tell [http://aiminst.com/stories].
Looking at the Ke Nani Kai HOA conflict, there was an opportunity for the Bevills to request mediation with the offending board members and contractor. Had mediation occurred early on, especially had it been required under the CC&R's, things may have been manageable before they got out of control.
Once the lawsuit was filed, August said that both he and another judge tried to assist the parties in settlement discussions, but such attempts were unsuccessful. This is not surprising, given that the early resolution of conflicts brings the parties together to have discussions before emotions escalate as fully as they did in this conflict. The later the resolution attempt, the more difficult it is to get parties to see eye to eye and work together toward a resolution. As this case progressed, huge amounts of legal fees were expended, and the entire complex had divided down the middle. Once a case has become this volatile, attempts at resolution require an extraordinary amount of de-escalation before resolution can be attained.


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But the Urban League conference, taking place next week, is different. Like it or not, this is a major showcase for Boston.
After years of trying to convince groups with large minority membership that the Hub is now a welcoming, friendly destination for African-Americans, this is the first big organization to test the theory.
Some 5000 people from all over the country, mostly racial minorities, are expected to come to Boston (to be joined by another 5000 from this area). Ideally, they will return home with positive tales of their time here. And for that to happen, some say, those attendees need to get out to see the city for themselves.
"Obviously we're bringing a lot of skeptics into Boston," says Darnell Williams, head of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (ULEM), "so we want to expose them to as much of the city as we can."
But Williams, who has used his smooth, patrician manner to gain respect and power in Massachusetts and beyond, has his own skeptics here in Boston.
Some community leaders — not wishing to be named criticizing Williams — fault his leadership in the conference preparations. "He was not ready for prime time," one says.
That critique comes from one of many who could be labeled bitter that Williams has surpassed them in prominence since coming to Boston in 2001, after leading the NAACP chapter in Springfield. But the concern has also been building inside City Hall. And, in the past two months, Mayor Tom Menino has stepped in with his characteristic micromanaging style — demanding meetings, assigning watchdogs, and pulling strings to make sure his city puts its best foot forward. Governor Deval Patrick's administration is also cracking the whip.
"It's coming down from both City Hall and the State House, that this has got to be done right, and done well," says Darryl Settles, long-time Boston restaurant owner and business developer, whose South End site, Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen, is a gathering spot for Boston's black professional class.
That unusual interest in the nuts-and-bolts planning for a convention — typically left to the national group running the show — indicates how much is riding on this event in the minds of local officials.
Nobody doubts that the conference itself will be as successful for the Urban League as any of its other annual meetings, held most recently in Washington, Orlando, and Chicago.
But that's not enough for Boston leaders who have been told, repeatedly, for 30 years, that black people won't come to their city. They need this conference to prove that the old stereotypes no longer hold.
And that means two key things. Will attendees from outside the area get to experience the new Boston? And will black Bostonians participate in and benefit from a conference at the new convention center in South Boston?
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Living With Wildlife
People who live in or visit Arizona can expect to see many species of wildlife. More and more often though, wild animals are venturing into areas where people live. Sometimes the wildlife becomes a problem, either by hammering on the side of the house, digging a den under the front porch, or eating all of your brand new landscaping plants. You can usually enjoy wildlife watching from a distance, but sometimes wildlife encounters involve conflict.
Preventing problems with wildlife is much simpler and less aggravating than dealing with the problems after they occur. Fortunately, taking a few simple steps can help you prevent many of the most common wildlife-related problems around your home. A number of proven methods can be used to solve the problem when it cannot be prevented. These web pages were developed to provide residents of Arizona with information about how to coexist with Arizona's wildlife, especially in urban areas.
Learn more about living with Arizona's wildlife
- Learn how to identify and live with mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, javelina, bears, bats, woodpeckers, and raptors.
- Contact a:
Wildlife rehabilitator
Wildlife control business
- Learn more about Arizona's 13 species of rattlesnakes
- Commission policy: human-wildlife conflicts
Living with Wildlife Brochures


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GASB achieves Objectives with Remediation Obligations Statement
by ABFM Line Item | Aug 26, 2016 | Line Item
Marlowe Elected 2017 ABFM Vice-Chair
by ABFM Line Item | Aug 26, 2016 | Line Item
2016 Conference Update
by ABFM Line Item | Aug 26, 2016 | Conference, Line Item
New School Year Brings Change, New Roles
by ABFM Line Item | Aug 26, 2016 | Line Item, Uncategorized
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Sharing this again, as it's not too early to say that the deadline's approaching! We look forward to working with fantastic scholars across the world to advance the literature and our field. Contact us with any questions! @abfm_aspa @PublicWssa @ijpa2022
The Call for Proposals for the 2023 WSSA Conference is live!
Want more information about the conference? Visit http://www.wssaweb.com/2023-conference/overview.
Ready to submit your proposal? Visit https://wssaconference.com/submit-abstract.
Contact section co-coordinators @240front and @Shu_Wang_ with any questions!
TODAY is the deadline for 2022 Annual Conference Online Registration! - https://mailchi.mp/nclgba/abfm-conference-early-registration-discount-ends-today-6101613
DON'T MISS OUT on Early Registration for 2022 ABFM Conference! Deadline for $25 Off is Next Tuesday (8/23)! - https://mailchi.mp/nclgba/abfm-conference-early-registration-discount-ends-today-6100209
It turns out, masking up to nerd out w/all my best friends is EXACTLY what I needed. My heart is full & my soul is healed. I hugged everyone & regret nothing. THANK YOU @abfm_aspa for working so hard to give us a safe space to get back to doing what we do best. I'm so grateful.
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Pokemon X and Pokemon Y are released today for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 2DS!Read More
Pokemon X and Y have a lot of new faces added to the Pokedex. Check them all out here. Read More
A new evolution has been discovered in Pokemon X and Y. Check out all these new Mega Evolved Pokemon and where to find their Mega Stone. Read More