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Obamacare's Hidden Penalty That Could Wallop Your Wallet
Got health insurance through your employer? You might think you're off the hook from being smacked by Obamacare penalties. If we were talking about the individual mandate that requires most Americans to obtain insurance or pay a financial penalty, you would be right -- as long as your employer is in compliance with the health reform act's minimum benefits requirements.
But there's a good chance that you will be affected financially by another consequence of Obamacare. And this hidden penalty can be even more painful to your wallet than the individual mandate levy.
Consequences of following the law
What is this pervasive Obamacare hidden penalty? Higher deductibles. While technically a penalty means punishment for breaking a law, in this case the penalty stems from insurers and employers that comply with the law.
Granted, the text of the Affordable Care Act doesn't have a clause that tells health insurance companies or employers that they must raise their deductibles offered in plans offered to workers. Actually, the law puts a cap on deductibles for small group plans. But for individual and larger employer insurance plans, the language in the health-reform legislation has led directly to higher deductibles.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the average deductible for a bronze plan on the Obamacare exchanges for individual insurance is a whopping 40% higher than the average deductible before implementation of health reform. Deductibles jumped so much in large part because of the added benefit requirements under Obamacare.
These requirements are also driving many employers' health plan costs higher. With those costs rising, companies are being forced to raise premiums dramatically, cut benefits, and/or resort to other options. Bumping premiums up is one of the most likely of those other options.
Getting creative
No employer in its right mind wants to tell its work force that they're going to have to pony up lots more money for health insurance premiums. It's basically the equivalent of saying, "Here's a nice pay cut for you." What many organizations are choosing to do is increase deductibles to keep premiums from going up too much. Employees still end up paying more -- but it's not as obvious.
UPS took another approach to help control insurance costs. The big shipping company kicked around 15,000 working spouses off employees' coverage in 2012. Big Brown attributed the move largely to the impact of the Affordable Care Act.
Other employers opted to move employees to private exchanges, where they are given a fixed amount of money and allowed to shop for insurance from multiple insurers. Darden Restaurants took this route. The company joined Aon Hewitt's corporate health exchange last year, stating that the move gave workers "the flexibility to choose the level of coverage that best meets their needs at a price they could afford."
This creativity helps somewhat. However, many organizations across the country could adopt the mind-set of businesses in Wisconsin. A recent Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce survey of employers in the state found that 54% will pass higher health costs along to employees in some form. Another 22% said they would cut benefits.
Winners and losers
Who wins and loses as a result of the hidden Obamacare penalty resulting from higher deductibles? The easy answer is that employees lose, since they're paying more out of their pockets. However, there are also less obvious losers.
When individuals pay more of their health-care costs, consumption of services can go down -- especially if those services are considered to be too expensive. That could hurt providers such as hospitals and their suppliers.
Intuitive Surgical , for example, sells robotic surgical systems to hospitals. Some skeptics have raised doubts about whether the value of surgical procedures performed by Intuitive's da Vinci system justifies the high cost of the technology. Price-conscious consumers could ask to have laparascopic surgery rather than robot-assisted surgery to minimize the financial hit. If this happened, Intuitive would ultimately feel the pain.
There are potential winners as well, though. Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, encourage individuals to think about the costs of the prescription drugs that they take. Express Scripts , the nation's largest PBM, reaps the rewards when patients use less-expensive generic drugs and minimize waste of costly drugs -- actions that would be more likely with higher deductibles.
Another possible long-term winner is the U.S. taxpayer. Health-care programs account for around 21% of the federal budget. Over time, consumers exercising more control over how they spend their money on health care could lead to more competition -- and more competition at least in theory should result in lower medical costs that help control Medicare and Medicaid spending.
Such hypothetical benefits, though, are likely of little comfort for most Americans. These possible positive macroeconomic effects wouldn't kick in until down the road. That wallop to your wallet from increased deductibles stemming largely from Obamacare will be felt in the here and now.
How can you lessen your Obamacare hidden penalty pinch?
The trend of higher deductibles is just one of the many ways that Obamacare is impacting Americans' finances. If you want to know how the health reform legislation affects your pocketbook, we've got answers for you. In only minutes, you can learn the critical facts you need to know in a special free report called "Everything You Need to Know About Obamacare." This free guide contains the key information and money-making advice that every American must know. Please click here to access your free copy.
The article Obamacare's Hidden Penalty That Could Wallop Your Wallet originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Keith Speights owns shares of Express Scripts. The Motley Fool recommends Express Scripts, Intuitive Surgical, and UPS and owns shares of Darden Restaurants, Express Scripts, and Intuitive Surgical. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2014 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Gender-sensitive Communication
Avoid irrelevant information about gender
When you are speaking or writing about occupations, do not provide irrelevant information about people's gender. Doing this supports the stereotype that the 'normal' version of this profession is gendered. For example, saying 'female lawyer' implies that lawyers are normally male.
For this reason terms such as female professor or male nurse should not be used. Instead you should simply use the occupation title with no gender description.
Gender-insensitive language
The eco-action group chairman Moni Patel works closely with the chairman of the social action committee Matthieu Dubios to plan events.
Gender-neutral language
The eco-action group chair Moni Patel works closely with the chair/chairperson of the social action committee Matthieu Dubois to plan events.
Gender-insensitive language
Priti is a career woman*.
Gender-sensitive language
Priti is focused on her career.
Another common way that gender is included in writing about people when it is not relevant is through using gendered nouns. These are nouns which imply the gender of the person (e.g. policeman and policewoman). Avoid using these nouns to describe people and use something gender neutral instead (e.g. police officer).
See Practical Tools for a list of common gendered nouns and some alternatives.

subset: commoncrawl


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Photos @ flickr
Update: More photos posted on April 19.
The crews are gone after two days of great racing in moderate to challenging conditions. Congratulations to all crews. And a "Job Well Done" to host Stanford Crew, sponsor Windermere Real Estate, and the regatta committee.
Here, you will find exclusive video interviews with team coaches, results with split times, and regatta photos (more photos will be posted this week).
Drawing nearly 1,000 athletes, the Windermere Real Estate Rowing Classic has quickly become one of the premier collegiate rowing events, drawing top crews from throughout the United States. Participating teams include, Stanford University, George Washington, Notre Dame, Central Florida, Princeton, Oregon State, Loyola, Washington, Louisville, Tennessee, Virginia, Trinity College, California, Wisconsin, UCLA, Washington State, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Sonoma State and UC Davis. Athletes will compete in two days of Henley style racing, a one-on-one or a two-boat race used for competition at the famous Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-on-Thames, England.
A special thank you to the volunteers from five different crew programs who helped bring you live split times and results.
JAMCO has recorded interviews with the coaches of many of the teams competing this weekend. (Updated April 15.)
A friend of JAMCO, Sam Chang, shares his views on the regatta, including a regatta wrap up.
Redwood Shores is approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco and is located next to San Francisco Bay. In this two-lane race course, no lane is favored by wind or currents. Thus a race result here is often a true indication of the crew's abilities.
The first 1100 m of the course is narrow and sheltered from the wind. After that, the crews pass under a bridge (upper right, in the photo below) and the course widens significantly, exposing crews to afternoon cross winds. If you watch the race video, watch here for the crew that can holds the truer course.
Unofficial Times — JAMCO takes its own finishing times and those are the first finishing times to appear on JAMCO's real time race result pages. Those pages are marked "unofficial" because the Regatta Committee is also taking finishing times, and its times are the "official" times. The Regatta Committee provides JAMCO with its "official" times after the races are over, and JAMCO then enters the "official" times on its reports. Therefore, there may be a considerable delay in replacing the "unofficial" times with "official" times, but the order of finish should not change."
Color Coding — Real time movements by crews during each 500 meter interval are highlighted by different colors. Gold (yellow) crews are closing on the leader in the current 500. Silver (light blue) crews are closing on the second place crew, but falling further behind the leader. Bronze (orange) crews are closing on the third place crew, but falling further behind the leader and the second place crews. White crews are falling further behind all three leading crews. Quite often, when a crew turns gold, it takes the lead in the next 500.
Printing Tips — When printing JAMCO race bulletins, you may get better results if you set your browser to print background colors and images. If you are using MS Internet Explorer, go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced and scroll down to where you see "Printing - Print background colors and images."
Automatic Refresh — During the race, JAMCO updates race results every 500m. JAMCO web pages showing real-time results are designed to automatically reload or refresh every 30 seconds. If you are viewing a race in progress and the page does not automatically reload, please press the "Refresh" or "Reload" button on your browser.
JAMCO is completely run by volunteers, for the benefit of the rowing community.
This weekend we had volunteers from Stanford, Cal, Louisville, Notre Dame, and UCLA crews. Spotters on the race course heroically spend hours in the sun, wind, rain, and cold to bring you accurate split times and results. Other volunteers run the timing computers and prepare the video and live stats for posting to the web site.
On Saturday morning: On the race course: Allison, Anna, Aracelli, Kelly, and Sonja. Timing: Anna and Olivia. Video: Carolynne, Maria, Renee, and Sam.
Saturday afternoon: On the race course: Ari, Danielle, Gracy, Jen, and Shana. Timing: Astrid and Becca. Video: Allie, Jill, Molly, and Sam.
Sunday morning: On the race course: Devin, Jessie, Kate, Kelly, and Sonja. Timing: Ann, Anna, and AZ. Video: Ann, Araceli, and Sam.
Thank you to all.
Also: Bill Kaspari, David Lee, Jay Jacobus, Kieran Clifford, Missy, Roger Waterman, Stephanie, and Yaz Farooq. And special thanks to Mary Shofner for recruiting and coordinating the volunteers.
From the Sofitel: Scott Panco, chief engineer Harry, and engineer Gil for helping us set up facilities in the production room.
Programming and web design by Jeffrey Shimbo.
© 1999-2007. Kent Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.
JAMCO, jamcotimes.com, and WorldRowers.com are trademarks of Kent Mitchell.


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Curious if your PC can run Inkulinati? On this page you will find Inkulinati system requirements for PC (Windows, Mac and Linux). We constantly update our data to provide you with latest and most accurate requirements.
Test your PC to see if it will run Inkulinati or check system requirement details for CPU, operating system, graphics and sound cards, required disk space and more for each of the supported platforms.


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Waukesha burn victim ID'ed as man charged with nude recordings at swim facility
Michael Coyle faced 2 felony counts of recording nude women at facility
A 34-year-old man in critical condition following a Friday night fire has been identified.
Waukesha Fire Department Acting Chief Steve Howard said that Michael Coyle, who resides at the home at 1007 Motor Avenue, was flown to St. Mary's burn center Friday night following the fire.
Howard said investigators have determined the fire began in an attached garage, but the investigation into the fire continues.
WISN 12 News reported in October of last year that Coyle, a former swim instructor at Swimtastic, had been charged with two felonies related to recording naked women at the facility.
STORY: Swimtastic instructor charged with nude recordings
According to the prosecutor of that case, Coyle's wife discovered video cameras in their home last year and discovered they contained footage of naked women at Swimtastic.
Neighbor Tony Babich said he called 911 when he saw the house was on fire Feb. 14. He said flames from the fire were high above the roof.
"We could hear the tires on the vehicle popping and yeah, you could feel the heat, we were out here with the neighbors and it was pretty intense," Babich said.
The intense fire burned down a garage. Some neighbors were temporarily evacuated, police said. Siding on one of the neighboring homes melted, investigators said.
"A lot of people running around outside screaming, flames, garage was fully engulfed and it was pretty bad," Babich said.
Coyle was the only person home when the fire happened.
He was due to have a plea/sentencing hearing in mid-March.


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Beyond The Pale :
Beyond The Black Stump :
This idiom implies that if you go as far as you can, the black stump is sill a little further.
Beyond The Pale :
If something is beyond the pale, it is too extreme to be acceptable morally or socially.
Big Apple :
The big apple is New York.
Big Bucks :
If someone is making big bucks they are making a lot of money.
Big Cheese :
The big cheese is the boss.
Big Easy :
The big easy is New Orleans - Louisiana.
Big Fish :
An important person in a company or in office is a big fish.
Big Fish in A Small Pond :
A big fish in a small pond is an important person in a small place or organization.
Big Girl's Blouse :
A person who is very weak or fussy is a big girl's blouse.
Big Bitter :
A big bitter is someone who commands a lot of respect and is very important in their field.
Big Nose :
If someone has a big nose, it means they are excessively interested in everyone else's business.
Big Picture :
The big picture of something is the overall perspective or objective, not the fine detail.
Beyond The Pale
to HOME PAGE


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This week we will investigate how frequently death certificates capture diabetes prevalence:
McEwen et al, Temporal Trends in Recording of Diabetes on Death Certificates
Cheng et al, Sensitivity and Specificity of Death Certificates for Diabetes: As Good as it Gets?
Results (spoiler alert): McEwen et al – Diabetes was recorded on 41% of death certificates and as the underlying cause of death for 13% of decedents with diabetes. Cheng et al – Among 1641 men and 1568 women, 378 decedents had a history of diabetes; 168 of whom had diabetes listed anywhere on their death certificates.


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Hertfordshire Swing Bands
Hire a Hertfordshire swing band for your wedding reception, birthday party, function or ball.
The Swing Band are a Hertfordshire swing band for hire with a wealth of experience performing at events all over Herts including charity balls, corporate events, parties, weddings and more.
The 4-piece swing band consists of Sinatra style lead vocals, piano, double bass and drums to create that authentic 1940's jazz/swing sound as made famous by the likes of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and The Rat Pack. The band also offer the option to add Sax and guitar to the line-up for a bigger sound, suitable for larger events and evening performances for dancing.
The Swing Band come completely self-contained providing full PA system in their fees. The band can also provide iPod music between sets free of charge or afterwards for a small extra fee.
If you're looking to hire a Hertfordshire swing band please send through your details using the contact form below. The band are available to hire in the following areas in Herts: Bishop's Stortford, Borehamwood, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Harpenden, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Hitchin, Hoddesdon, Letchworth, St. Albans, Stevenage, Watford and Welwyn Garden City.
Set List
- Fly Me To The Moon
- Come Fly With Me
- How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You
- Moondance
- I Get a Kick Out of You
- Mr Bojangles
- One For My Baby
- Mack The Knife
- Moonlight in Vermont
- What a Difference a Day Makes
- I've Got You Under My Skin
- They Can't Take That Away From Me
- King of the Swingers
- Mack The Knife
- Have You Met Miss Jones
- Cry Me a River
- Straighten Up and Fly Right
- They Way You Look Tonight
- I'll Be Seeing You
- Ain't That A Kick In The Head
- Georgia
- Beyond The Sea
- The Nearness Of You
- Ain't Misbehavin
- Girl From Ipenema
- My Baby Just Cares For Me
- The Lady is a Tramp
- Dream A Little Dream Of Me
- All of Me
- Hit the Road Jack
- Let's Face the Music and Dance
- That's Life
- New York, New York
- You're Just too Good to be True
- It Don't Mean a thing if it Ain't Got That Swing
- Feeling Good
- Let ther be Love
- You are my Sunshine
- You Make me Feel so Young
- It Had to be You
- Too Close for Comfort
- Sway
- This was the second time i have hired The Swing Band once for a dinner and dance and once for a wedding, really love their style of music, they are great singers and musicians and would throughly recommend themElizabeth Linden - Private Party
- I'm finally getting round to dropping you a line to say thank you for being part of an amazing evening and having you and your band there making it an event to remember. So many positive comments and feedback about the night and 'where did you get that band they were amazing'. All I can say is if we ever need a band again, or any of our friends are looking for one, we would have no hesitation to recommend you. Thank you for making our wedding reception what it was. Have a great day!Paul Foster - Wedding
- We just wanted to say a huge thank you to you, the singer and the rest of the band for making our wedding so very special.. you guys are brilliant!!! I must admit we love swing music but we were a little nervous how a swing band was going to go down with all our guests. We were blown away with how much our guests thoroughly enjoyed the band and that's from the 8 year olds running around dancing to our grandpa who might I add is 101 - you made his year, he enjoyed every minute listening to you and refused to leave until you had finished and he even got up, for a brief minute, and even danced with me.. Thank you so very much. The singers voice was pure liquid gold.Glynnes dos Santos - Wedding
- Claire and I wanted to say a massive thank you for kicking off the party at our wedding on Friday. It was an incredible evening and we're grateful for the part you guys played. Many thanks and best of luck with the rest of the season!David and Claire - Wedding
- All our guests were equally complimentary and we would like to say to the Band members how appreciative we are for their performance on the day. We were told that the saxophonist was a late replacement and if this was the case he did amazingly well but i guess that shows they all experienced musicians. The singer was great and the range of music was just what we had hoped it would be. All in all therefore we were very satisfied with the Band and thank you all again for your contribution.David Potter - Wedding
- The Swing Band are so amazingly talented and full of energy. We had a full dance floor all night. I just need another excuse for a party to hire them again. So many people commented to us and also spoke to them directly to say how brilliant they were. I would highly recommend them.Kerensa Klottrup - Wedding
- I am so pleased you asked for feedback on The Swing Band as I really wanted to be able to share how truly impressed, overjoyed and simply thrilled we were by their performance at our wedding. They exceeded my wildest expectations! The vocals and the music set the evening off in the most atmospheric way possible and the quality and ability of the band was commented on by almost every guest. Could not recommend them enough. Very happy :)Ellie Dearden - Wedding
- Just wanted to say thanks for an amazing performance on Friday, really really enjoyed it and got incredible feedback from everyone there! Please do thank the rest of the band and let me know if there's anything I can for you.Nicholas Strange - Party
- The band were just absolutely fantastic! So helpful before hand, so friendly on the night and the performance was brilliant. Everyone commented on how great they were and what an authentic and natural swing sound they had, not a touch of karaoke! I couldn't recommend them enough.Rosanna Gale - Wedding
- On behalf of Matt and I we would just like to say thank you SO much. We danced the night away. Spent most of the reception on the dance floor. Every song was amazing you surpassed our expectations and everyone commented on how fab you were! Thank you thank you thank you!!Holly Neave - Wedding
- Peter and I would like to thank you all for the fantastic set you played at our wedding. You really set the mood for our guests and we received only positive comments from everybody. It was an absolute pleasure to work with you. You have been so professional from start to finish and that reflected in your performance on the day. Both Peter and I agree that the choice of music and your image really complimented the venue and the ambiance. Please pass on our compliments to all the band members as you all deserve to know how fantastic you were. Thank you once again for being part of the most magical day of our lives.Sanya & Peter Loizou - Wedding
- Positive, friendly and talented, exactly what we wanted! Thank you!William Hodgson - Wedding
- We chose The Swing Band because we wanted music that was classy, fun and something everyone could dance to. They absolutely delivered. They started with a low key set before our first dance, a special version of The Beatle's I've Just Seen a Face. The band were tight and professional; you could tell they enjoyed playing. The singer brought humour and personality to the songs, sometimes improvising little skits or involving the crowd in choruses. All in all The Swing Band made a great difference to our wedding day. We would strongly recommend them to anyone looking for something timeless and fun to add a touch of swagger to your evening. Thanks again for your work on the day. You genuinely were a real treat.Aran Rees - Sabre Tooth Panda
- My husband Sam and I would like to thank you and The Swing Band for the fantastic music they performed on our Wedding Day. I have never seen so many guests dancing at a wedding before! We all really enjoyed the quality, professionalism, and groove of the entire band! It was a huge success! We wish you and The Swing Band lots and lots of success in the future and will make sure to highly recommend your services!Isabelle & Samuel Johnson - Wedding
- I want to say thank you very much for organising the band at KIm & my wedding on saturday. They were brilliant, very professional at all times, looked the part and helped make our wedding the very special day it was. They are a great bunch of lads and wish them all the success in the future.Neil Bannister


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Griffith Institute Casts Collection
- GI Casts
- Collectie
- c.1950s-1970s
Plaster casts of objects in Edinburgh, Royal Museum of Scotland, 1956.144 (lower part of block statue of Pedehor, Late Period), and 1961.439 (stela of Anakht, New Kingdom); Reading, The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology (copper mirror of Henuiti (woman), Dyn. XII), inked in by J. Černý; Samos, Archeological Museum of Vathy (inscription from bronze mirror of Antiuzashu, Dyn. XXV-XXVI), cast sent by J. Penrose Barron of Balliol College to J. Černý, kept with copies of the texts made by J. Černý and J. Harris.
Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh


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When you have a goal that is as huge as the marathon-it will "keep you honest." It's not like a smaller goal that you can announce and then put off or fake your way through. Once you sign up, commit months to training, and take your first step on race day-you better have done your homework.
The beauty of this is that it goes against 99% of the natural tendencies of our culture that favors gratification without effort or devotion. But is that kind of achievement ever as satisfying? Linda Hill once told me she loved the quote, "There is no glory in training, but there is no glory without training." In no way is this more true than in running.
And business.
One thing I've found over the years is that many of the folks I train with (and race against) are for the most part as devoted to their jobs (if not more) as they are to running or cycling or triathlon.
Unlike participation in say, golf or softball or basketball – no offense to club/league sports – the type of determination, discipline and emotional focus that comes with training day in, day out for extremely challenging endurance events (often by yourself) tends to bleed over into people's 9-5's.
Whether you're training for a marathon, a century or the Ironman triathlon, one thing you quickly find out is that there's no room for bullshit out there on the pavement. You either do the work or you're screwed. Politics won't get you to the finish line. It doesn't matter who you know or how well you can work the system. When you're out there, every weakness bubbles up to the surface and stares you in the eye. Lack of preparation, lack of motivation, lack of dedication will all come back to bite you in the ass. there's nowhere to hide. They will all find you and jump up on your back to stop you dead in your tracks. The choice becomes this: Do you let them stop you, or do you accept them and keep going?
You learn a lot about yourself, training for that type of event.
You learn a lot about how to break thresholds and get past your own little ego, training for events like these. When you're tired and sore and hungry but you still have four miles to go, guess what? You still have four miles to go. How you get through these last four miles is entirely up to you. Nobody cares whether you walk those last four miles or run, or hail a cab. Nobody made you set 26.2 miles as a goal. Or 100 miles. Or 144+.
Once you've broken past your lack of will and learned to keep going, you are transformed. A similar thing happens to Marines during training. At some point, who you used to be before you went beyond what you thought your limitations were, before you kissed excuses goodbye, before you left all of the bullshit that stood in your mind's way ceases to exist. You become someone else.
That someone else, the marathoner, the long distance cyclist, the triathlete, the Ironman, he or she walks into your place of work with you every morning.
We all work with two types of people: Partisans of the least amount of effort, and dedicated professionals.
The latter aren't all marathoners or triathletes, but I have yet to meet an Ironman or marathoner who didn't take his or her intensity and dedication to their job.
Not that there's anything wrong with drinking a case of beer and watching sports on TV all weekend, but who you are outside of your work does have parallels with who you are when you are at work.
Something to think about.
Update: Wow. You guys have turned this post into The BrandBuilder blog's most popular post ever. Over 2,000 views in less than 24 hours already. Thank you all: Fellow runners, cyclists, swimmers, triathletes… It's amazing to have so many of you respond to this post with so much enthusiasm. You've really made my day. Next time you're in the Greenville, SC be sure to look me up. Lots of great running, cycling and racing out here.
Train hard! 😉


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The Business of War in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
by Dena Montague and Frida Berrigan
Dollars and Sense magazine, July/ August 2001
The Business of War in the Democratic Republic of Congo
by Dena Montague and Frida Berrigan
Dollars and Sense magazine, July/ August 2001
This is all money," says a Western mining executive, his hand sweeping over a geological map toward the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is explaining why, in 1997, he and planeloads of other businessmen were flocking to the impoverished country and vying for the attention of then-rebel leader Laurent Kabila. The executive could just as accurately have said,
"This is all war."
The interplay among a seemingly endless supply of mineral resources, the greed of multinational corporations desperate to cash in on that wealth, and the provision of arms and military training to political tyrants has helped to produce the spiral of conflicts that have engulfed the continent - what many regard as "Africa's First World War. "
When Westerners reach for their cell phones or pagers, turn on their computers, propose marriage with diamond rings, or board airplanes, few of them make the connection between their ability to use technology or buy luxury goods and a war raging in the DRC, half a world away. In what has been called the richest patch of earth on the planet, the DRC's wealth has also been its curse. The DRC holds millions of tons of diamonds, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, uranium (the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were built using Congolese uranium), niobium, and tantalum. Tantalum, also referred to as coltan, is a particularly valuable resource - used to make mobile phones, night vision goggles, fiber optics, and capacitors (the component that maintains the electrical charge in computer chips). In fact, a global shortage of coltan caused a wave of parental panic in the United States last Christmas when it resulted in the scarcity of the popular PlayStation 2. The DRC holds 80% of the world's coltan reserves, more than 60% of the world's cobalt, and the world's largest supply of high-grade copper.
These minerals are vital to maintaining U.S. military dominance, economic prosperity, and consumer satisfaction. Because the United States does not have a domestic supply of many essential minerals, the U.S. government identifies sources of strategic minerals, particularly in Third World countries, then encourages U.S. corporations to invest in and facilitate production of the needed materials. Historically, the DRC (formerly Zaire) has been an important source of strategic minerals for the United States. In the mid-1960s, the U.S. government installed the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, which ensured U.S. access to those minerals for more than 30 years.
Today, the United States claims that it has no interest in the DRC other than a peaceful resolution to the current war. Yet U.S. businessmen and politicians are still going to extreme lengths to gain and preserve sole access to the DRC's mineral resources. And to protect these economic interests, the U.S. government continues to provide millions of dollars in arms and military training to known human-rights abusers and undemocratic regimes. Thus, the DRC's mineral wealth is both an impetus for war and an impediment to stopping it.
Under colonialism, the Western countries perfected a system of divide-and-rule in Central Africa, callously dividing ancestral lands and orchestrating strife between ethnic groups. The current crisis represents a continuation of these insidious practices.
A flash point for the current war is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which nearly one million people were killed. The U.S. government made every effort to block humanitarian intervention that could have stopped the slaughter of Rwandan Tutsis by the Hutu government, actively lobbying the United Nations to hold off on sending peacekeepers to the region. In the absence of UN forces, Paul Kagame, a U.S.-trained army commander, led the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in a military action that toppled the Hutu regime. After Kagame became Rwanda's vice president (a very powerful position) and defense minister, the United States sent $75 million in military aid to the new government. Additionally, U.S. Green Berets began to provide "humanitarian training" to Rwandan troops.
In October 1996, Kagame's RPF joined with members of Yoweri Museveni's Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF) and Laurent Kabila, a Congolese rebel leader, in an invasion of Zaire. In 1997, they succeeded in toppling Mobutu. They also sought to dismantle camps controlled by the Hutu militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide. The coalition, known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL), included U.S.-trained troops. Although Rwandan troops who participated in the AFDL invasion committed gross human rights abuses that a UN report labeled "crimes against humanity," the U.S. government continued to provide military support to the Kagame regime.
During the conflict, U.S. corporations treated rebel-controlled Zaireian territory as open for business, even while Mobutu remained the internationally recognized leader of Zaire. Once the AFDL took control of Katanga (one of the DRC's richest mineral patches), Western friends and allies began negotiating with Kabila for access to mineral resources.
Under rebel leadership, the method of exploiting these resources fundamentally changed. During Mobutu's reign, locally based Congolese strongmen had controlled the distribution of resources on the government's behalf, effectively limiting the potential for massive mining deals. But after the AFDL invasion, well-connected Western businessmen were able to secure much larger mining interests than in previous years.
For example, in May 1997, American Mineral Fields (AMF) - whose chair is Mike McMurrough, a personal friend of President Clinton - cut a $ 1 billion mining deal with Kabila. According to Kabila advisors and news reports, the negotiations began immediately after Kabila captured Goma (a city right across the border with Rwanda) in February 1997, and were handled by Kabila's U.S.-trained finance commissioner. The deal allowed AMF to perform feasibility studies on reactivating the Kipushi mine, a high-grade zinc and copper deposit. The company also landed exclusive exploration rights to an estimated 1.4 million tons of copper and 270,000 tons of cobalt (about ten times the volume of current world cobalt production). While AMF admits that political problems have slowed the pace of its DRC operations, the company continues to develop plans for the Kipushi mine.
Also in 1997, Bechtel, the engineering and construction company, established a strong relationship with Kabila. Bechtel - whose history of collaboration with the CIA is well-documented in Laton McCartney's 1989 book, Friends in High Places - drew up a master development plan and inventory of the country's mineral resources free of charge. Bechtel also commissioned and paid for NASA satellite studies of the country for infrared maps of its mineral potential. Bechtel estimates that the DRC's mineral ores alone are worth $157 billion.
At the same time, Kabila enjoyed the support of Western military interests. Kabila was in frequent contact with Richard Orth, former deputy of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency for Africa. The agency, which operates as an arm of the Pentagon, supplies military intelligence to warfighters and weapons dealers around the world. During the Clinton administration, Orth was appointed U.S. military attaché to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, shortly before Kabila began his march across the DRC. Additionally, former Pentagon officials acted as military advisers to Kabila in Goma, producing a dangerous mix of business, politics, and military power.
After Kabila's rise to power, the desire for mineral wealth helped to escalate conflict between the DRC on the one hand and Rwanda and Uganda on the other. In August 1998, after falling out with Kabila, Kagame of Rwanda and Museveni of Uganda launched a new invasion of the DRC. Both leaders claimed that they entered the DRC to undermine Kabila's power and protect their borders from rebel groups that threatened to destabilize their countries.
In the name of pursuing peace, Kabila's former allies have been able to advance their own mineral interests. During the AFDL war, top Rwandan and Ugandan military officials learned first-hand about the lucrative business of mining. Since the 1998 war began, territories controlled by Rwandan- and Ugandan-supported rebel groups have become defacto states where mining companies have openly expressed interest in investing. Rwanda is allied with Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCDGoma), while the Ugandan government has formed a close relationship with leaders of the Congolese Liberation Front (CLF), a Mobutuist rebel movement. The RCD and the CLF now control the entire eastern region of the DRC, the wealthiest in terms of natural resources.
Both Rwanda and Uganda provide arms and training to their respective rebel allies and have set up extensive links to facilitate the exploitation of mineral resources. Along with their rebel allies, the two countries seized raw materials stockpiled in DRC territory and looted money from DRC banks. Rwanda and Uganda also set up colonial-style systems of governance, appointing local authorities to oversee their territories in the DRC. Meanwhile, high-ranking members of the Rwandan and Uganda military (including relatives of Kagame and Museveni) retain significant control over illegal mineral exploitation. Local Congolese, including children, are forced to work in the mines for little or no pay, under guard of Rwandan and Ugandan troops. Rwanda prisoners also participate in mining. To transport weapons to the rebels in the DRC, and to fly resources out of the DRC to Rwanda and Uganda, the authorities rely on private companies owned or controlled by Kagame's and Museveni's friends and relatives. They also utilize international connections made during the AFDL war.
The illegal mining has been a huge windfall for Rwanda and Uganda. The two countries have very few mineral reserves of their own. But since they began extracting the DRC's resources, their mineral exports have increased dramatically. For example, between 1996 and 1997, the volume of Rwanda's coltan production doubled, bringing the Rwandans and their rebel allies up to $20 million a month in revenue. Also, the volume of Rwanda's diamond exports rose from about 166 carats in 1998 to some 30,500 in 2000 - a 184-fold increase! From 1997 to 1998, the annual volume of Uganda's diamond exports jumped from approximately 1,500 carats to about 11,300, or nearly eight-fold; since 1996, Ugandan gold exports have increased tenfold. The final destination for many of these minerals is the United States.
Western corporations and financial institutions have encouraged the exploitation. For example, in 1999, RCD-Goma's financial arm - known as SONEX- received $5 million in loans from Citibank New York. Additionally, a member of the U.S. Ambassador to the DRC's honorary council in Bukavu has been promoting deals between U. S. companies and coltan dealers in the eastern region. He is also acting chair of a group of coltan-exporting companies based in Bukavu. (Bukavu is located in RCD-held territory.)
U.S. military aid has contributed significantly to the crisis. During the Cold War, the U.S. government shipped $400 million in arms and training to Mobutu. After Mobutu was overthrown, the Clinton administration transferred its military allegiance to Rwanda and Uganda, although even the U.S. State Department has accused both countries of widespread corruption and human-rights abuses. During his historic visit to Africa in 1998, President Clinton praised Presidents Kagame and Musevini as leaders of the "African Renaissance," just a few months before they launched their deadly invasion of the DRC with U.S. weapons and training. The United States is not the only culprit; many other countries, including France, Serbia, North Korea, China, and Belgium, share responsibility. But the U.S. presence has helped to open networks and supply lines, providing an increased number of arms to the region.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have knowingly contributed to the war effort. The international lending institutions praised both Rwanda and Uganda for increasing their gross domestic product (GDP), which resulted from the illegal mining of DRC resources. Although the IMF and World Bank were aware that the rise in GDP coincided with the DRC war, and that it was derived from exports of natural resources that neither country normally produced, they nonetheless touted both nations as economic success stories. Although Uganda in particular has made significant strides in improving access to education and reducing the rate of new AIDS infections, debt relief has also allowed it the space to appropriate more money for its military ventures.
Although rebels control half of the DRC's territory, deals with the Congolese government itself are still attractive. In January 2000, Chevron - the corporation that named an oil tanker after National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice - announced a three-year, $75 million spending program in the DRC, thus challenging the notion that war discourages foreign investment. In 1999, the company, which has been present in the Congo for 40 years, was producing 17,700 barrels of oil a day. It hopes that, by 2002, production will increase to 21,000 barrels per day. The gamble seems to be paying off. When Joseph Kabila, Laurent Kabila's son and successor, visited the United States earlier this year, he reassured Chevron officials that stability under his leadership would ensure a safe environment for investment.
Of course, because of war and ongoing political unrest, these deals may not endure. But considering the potential for billions of dollars in profits, many mining corporations believe the investment is worth the risk. As one investor put it, "It is a good moment to come: it is in difficult times that you can get the most advantage."
In August 1999, Uganda, Rwanda, and their rebel allies, among others, signed a cease-fire agreement with the DRC at Lusaka, Zambia. The agreement, which the U.S. government heavily supported, gave the Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels significant power in developing a new Congolese government. It also allowed them to collaborate with the Congolese army in monitoring the withdrawal of foreign troops. If implemented, the Lusaka accord could bring the peace and stability that some Western corporations prefer.
But the demand for mineral resources continues to drive the DRC conflict. In April 2001, a scathing UN report argued that Presidents Kagame and Museveni are "on the verge of becoming the godfathers of the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo." The two leaders, the report alleged, have turned their armies into armies for business.
In light of these findings, the UN report calls for sweeping restrictions on Uganda, Rwanda, and their Congolese-based rebel allies. These would include: embargoing the import or export of strategic minerals; embargoing the supply of weapons; freezing the financial assets of rebel movements and their leaders, and freezing the assets of companies or individuals who continue to illegally exploit the DRC's natural resources.
These proposals, however, would obstruct Western corporations' access to strategic minerals. Not surprisingly, the U.S. State Department has indicated that it is unlikely to recommend sanctions against its African allies. According to East African media reports, U.S. diplomats continue to view Rwanda and Uganda as "strategic allies in the Great Lakes region" and "would not want to upset relations with them at this time." Additionally, UN sources say that James Cunningham, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, has simply asked Uganda to "address in a constructive way" the UN's findings. The IMF and World Bank have also indicated that their policies toward Rwanda and Uganda will remain unchanged.
Since 1994, close to four million people have perished in Rwanda and the eastern region of Congo. Many of the deaths are due to direct combat and torture by the belligerent parties, but most have been caused by starvation and malnutrition. Health services are practically nonexistent, and even where they do exist, many cannot reach them. Thousands of people hiding in the forest from soldiers have watched their villages burned to the ground and their families tortured. Soldiers have looted their possessions, their crops, and their life's savings. Foreign soldiers have manipulated ethnic tensions and encouraged neighbor killing neighbor. Oblivious to the suffering, many Westerners continue to reap the benefits of the rich Congolese soil.
Despite recent troop withdrawals, the illegal mining and trade continues unabated. The real party fueling the conflict is foreign capital investment by corporations, with the tacit support of their own governments. This war of genocidal proportions cannot end until U.S. and other Western corporations and governments are forced to change their priorities. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other organizations have helped to raise international awareness about the urgency of the situation in the DRC, through campaigns against "blood diamonds," economic exploitation, and the massive humanitarian crisis the country faces.
But the DRC's future is in the hands of its youth, the next generation, the students and grassroots organizers who are dedicated to establishing peace and stability in their country. It remains to be seen whether the United States will encourage this hopeful spirit of change and democracy, or continue to enable the exploitation and destruction of the most resource-rich country on the African continent.
Dena Montague and Frida Berrigan are Senior Research Associates at the Arms Trade Resource Center of the World Policy Institute, located in New York City.
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text: Looking for a Fort Bend area attorney who is qualified in handling Medication Errors claims? If so, you can use this directory to compare lawyers in order to determine which you feel will be best suited to handle your case. With the right Fort Bend Medication Errors lawyer by your side, you have a far greater opportunity of securing a positive result and maximum financial compensation. These cases have the potential to be complex and you will need to present a compelling argument that the defendant (the individual or facility you're bringing a Medication Errors lawsuit against) should be held liable. Because all of the attorneys listed below handle Medication Errors cases in Fort Bend, Texas, you can easily compare their services and make the right choice.


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DIN must be obtained from the director of a company by ministry of corporate affairs. It can be get by the identity and address proof.It should be certified from the chartered accountant cost accountant.Read more


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Legacy of WWII: It was a 'Woman's War Too'
Beverly Newak wasn't picky.
When she finished boot camp at the end of 1943, the Navy gave her three job choices. "Just put me where you need me," she told them.
Which is how a 20-year-old home-economics student from Fargo, N.D., wound up in Florida teaching bomber crews how to shoot machine guns.
World War II changed America in countless ways, and this was one of them. A nation that had encouraged women to think of themselves mainly as wives and mothers suddenly needed them to be something else. Dozens of something elses.
"It's a Woman's War Too!" the recruiting posters said.
Answering the call by the hundreds of thousands, they worked as nurses on hospital trains in Europe. They broke enemy code in top-secret offices in Washington, D.C. They built airplanes in San Diego.
U-T San Diego reporters Peter Rowe and John Wilkens explore how WWII shaped the "Greatest Generation" and our home. These stories will focus on local men and women who helped preserve our nation and re-create our city. The series is supported by U-T's video partner, the Media Arts Center San Diego.
Monumental salutes to 'Greatest Generation'
Preserving the memories of World War II
Legacy of WWII: It was a 'Woman's War Too'
Japanese-Americans in San Diego; A couple's bond, both were sent to internment camps in their youth
The Battle of Midway's unsinkable San Diegan
Historians look back on that period now and see a great awakening, a broadening of female horizons that's ongoing — not just in the military, which this year began easing restrictions on women in ground-combat jobs, but everywhere.
"Many times I've thought, my goodness, what are all these feminists complaining about?" Newak said. "We were doing things that weren't very feminine a long time before they started complaining."
Newak is 88 now and lives in La Mesa. She still has her uniforms from the war, still has her gunnery-school instruction manual. She still remembers how on the day her Navy class graduated, somebody with a sense of humor put this sign in front of the group: "College of Mortuary Science."
As a sister of an Army soldier and daughter of a civilian instructor in the Army engineers, Beverly Newak of La Mesa was enlisted in gunnery school in Pensacola Florida for 6 weeks during World War II.
Funny, but kind of true, too. Death was their business. Teach someone how to shoot a machine gun effectively from inside the turret of a B-17 and they have a better chance of making it home. Teach them to recognize the silhouette of enemy aircraft and they're less likely in the heat of combat to shoot down one of their own.
If it bothered the men to be taught by women, they never said so out loud to Newak. There was some teasing — they called the instructors "nags" (short for naval aviation gunner school) — but "everybody understood how serious this was," she said.
"They all paid really good attention to what was going on because their lives depended on it."
Making Mom mad
Patriotism isn't gender-specific. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, women itched to get into the fight, too. "I wanted to be somewhere, do something of value," said Evelyn Coy.
The Navy's Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES) program required enlistees to be at least 20 before signing up, and if they weren't yet 21, they had to get their parents' permission. Easier said than done in Coy's case.
Her mother wouldn't sign the slip. "She had friends who would ask her, 'Why would you let your daughter go into the service? There's nothing but whores in there, especially the Navy,' " Coy said.
As she neared 21, her mother hid her birth certificate, which she needed to enlist. So Coy went to City Hall and bought a duplicate for $3. And signed up for the WAVES on her birthday. "My mother was so mad," she said.
She was sent to Washington, where she was a cryptologist, helping to break Japanese and German codes. They worked behind 12-foot electrified fences, had top-secret security clearances, and were prohibited from going into any office except their own.
"We couldn't talk about what we did with anybody," she said.
The women's uniforms hadn't been designed yet when she joined in August 1942. "It was a challenge, everything was so new," she said. They had official shoes, but not uniforms, so to gain entrance to USO dances, they pointed to their feet.
"They'd go 'Oh, yeah, she's in the WAVES,' " Coy said.
Eleanor Roosevelt, the president's wife, invited servicewomen to the White House every week for tea and conversation. Coy went. "It was mostly women's subjects. Eleanor Roosevelt was a big promoter of women, one of the first to do that."
Coy absorbed the message. After the war, she worked in city planning. Now 90 and living in Point Loma, what she remembers when she looks back on her three years in the service is "how it made me a much broader person than I was before. The things I learned, the people I was in contact with — it was something in my life I never would have expected."
She's proud that what she did then paved the way for later generations. "The girls of today have so many opportunities," she said. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
Riveting work
In April 1942, 21-year-old Esther Furst commuted from a North Park rental to her job at the Consolidated Aircraft factory. Building wings for B-24 Liberators, she took pride in her contribution to the war effort and her budding independence.
"It was exciting, to us anyway," said Esther Furst Terwilliger, who now divides her time between Eugene, Ore., and La Mesa. "We were young."
Consolidated, founded in 1923 by pioneer aviator Reuben H. Fleet, was hopping. The month Terwilliger started, the plant was toured by Lt. Gen. William Knudsen, the Defense Department's production chief, and Charles Lindbergh, the famed aviator.
Terwilliger didn't notice either visitor. She was focused on her work, using an electric drill to turn out six to eight wings a day. "It really wasn't tedious because I had to change the drills, put it in the right place," she said. "I liked my job."
She worked on a second floor loft, surrounded by women — Consolidated's workforce would be 40 percent female by 1943. Down below, she could see the machinists, mostly men.
Renting in North Park with one of her sisters, and later with another sister in Mission Beach, hers wasn't a cloistered life. She remembers seeing a lot of big bands — even Frank Sinatra, who came down to San Diego occasionally.
Not everyone saw the work she and others were doing as vital and valued. In his 1942 Easter sermon, the Catholic bishop of Seattle took aim at divorce, "worldwide godlessness" and Rosie the Riveter. With so many women taking wartime positions once reserved for men, "the purity of our womanhood is at stake," warned Bishop Gerald Shaughnessy.
Later that month, though, Lt. Gen. Knudsen called the women at Consolidated "a godsend." "Their work," he added, "has been a revelation to me."
As the decades passed and more and more American women entered the workforce, Terwilliger thought about the excitement she felt in San Diego, being part of something bigger.
"You're doing it for your country, like the servicemen," she said. "I'm still behind them — they are my favorite charity."
Hospital train
World War II didn't change Rita O'Neil's career plans. Just the location.
She already wanted to be a nurse, and went into training right out of high school. Before too long she was in the Army, headed to Europe. Trauma care was her unexpected specialty.
"Usually in a hospital setting the patients you see are older," she said. "I was worried about how I would be, seeing so many young people injured."
After the D-Day invasion at Normandy in June 1944, she worked in hospitals in France, and her ability to sleep soundly right next to the emergency room made her eligible for special duty: the hospital train.
Railroad cars followed the troops as they fought into Belgium and Germany, picking up casualties, treating them, and then taking the most seriously wounded to ships for transport back to England and the U.S.
She saw a lot of gangrene, especially after the Battle of the Bulge, fought in the snow in the winter of 1944. Gangrene often led to amputation. "It's an awful thing to tell a young man he's going to lose his leg," she said.
Tank victims — usually so heavily burned — were the worst. Their wounds caused them great pain, and often led to something that still makes O'Neil grimace: maggots.
She saw other things she'd like to forget. She was working at a hospital in Germany when Gen. George Patton was brought in with injuries from a car crash that ultimately killed him. She was jitterbugging outside a concert in Paris, waiting for Glenn Miller to show up, when an announcer interrupted the show to say the bandleader's plane had disappeared into the English Channel.
Ask her what makes her proudest about her three years in the Army and she says, "That I didn't fall apart."
A couple of times she talked suicidal men out of jumping off the train. "There is a future," she'd tell them. After the war, she worked as a psychiatric nurse. Now 89, she lives in La Jolla and still talks about the future — one she'd like to believe might one day be free of war.
"Even with all of our computers, with all of the texting and other things, we don't communicate," she said. "There's still an awful lot of violence in the world, and that worries me."
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Three people killed in Northern California as major winter weather hits West
LAS VEGAS - Three people were killed in blustery Northern California, football playoffs were called off because of rain in Arizona, and dozens of cars became stranded in snowy rural Nevada as winter weather barreled through the West.
The weather system was expected to head east and reach the opposite coast by the middle of next week, but not before dropping rain on the Southwest through Saturday morning, National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Anderson said.
A low pressure front dropped down from Alaska, followed closely by a high pressure system that stirred up the fierce winds linked to three deaths Thursday in California.
Police responded to reports of an unresponsive person in Oakland and found fallen sections of a tree and power lines. The person was pronounced dead at the scene; the cause of death was being investigated.
Another man died in Oakland less than an hour later after he crashed into a fallen tree while apparently trying to avoid debris in the road, the Contra Costa Times reported. Neither man has been identified.
In Yuba County, Sherri Pesich, 52, died when part of a 30-inch tree fell on a parked car in which she was sitting, Undersheriff Jerry Read said. Another woman in the car was taken to a hospital; her condition was unknown.
Meanwhile, a homeless man had to be rescued from a tree by helicopter and four others were plucked from an island after becoming trapped in the swollen Santa Ana River in California's San Bernardino County.
In northern Utah, transportation officials warned truck drivers of potential trailer-toppling gusts. No accidents had been reported, but big rigs were pulling off to the side of the freeways to wait out the winds Friday morning, Utah Highway Patrol officials told The Salt Lake Tribune.
The rain was turning to heavy snow in higher elevations, including rural eastern Nevada's Lincoln County, where 50 to 60 cars got stranded early Friday in "a long stretch of absolutely nothing," dispatcher Shannon Miller said. No injuries were reported, but U.S. 93 was closed south of Ely.
Snow in New Mexico and Arizona prompted some schools to delay opening Friday. Interstate 25 and roads throughout northern New Mexico were icy and packed with snow.
A flood watch was in effect until early Saturday in the Phoenix area, where several miles of the Loop 303 freeway in the western suburbs were closed due to flooding. The weather service said rain totals through Saturday morning could exceed 2 inches in the Phoenix area.
The wet conditions prompted the Arizona Interscholastic Association to push back high school football semifinal games set for Friday and Saturday. Officials rescheduled the games to Monday "due to the weather conditions, field conditions and safety of the players and fans attending the games."
Showers in Las Vegas rained on the parade Thursday at the Latin Grammy Awards, where the green carpet was shut down and starlets in sparkling skin-tight gowns scampered indoors to avoid real fashion disasters.
Authorities, meanwhile, responded to hundreds of crashes as the storm dropped rain over desert dwellers.
Trooper Loy Hixson said the Nevada Highway Patrol responded to 141 collisions between 7 a.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday, including 37 with minor injuries. That's four to five times what the agency sees on a normal day.
Las Vegas police reported 112 accidents on surface streets during a rainy five-hour period Thursday.
"This happens every time we get bad weather," said Las Vegas police officer Laura Meltzer. "People need to slow down and leave more space."
At least one business in thirsty southern Nevada was rejoicing over the storm system. Officials at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort north of Sin City measured 11 1/2 inches of snow at midday Friday, with a week to spare until opening day.


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Japan has a date with Korea in final
Backed by five-run fourth, country will defend Classic title Monday
By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com
- Box score >
- Recap: JPN 9, USA 4: Watch
- Darvish seals Japan's win: Watch
- Japan's five-run fourth inning: Watch
- Dice-K's strong outing: Watch
- Ichiro's RBI single: Watch
- Nakajima's second RBI double: Watch
- Inaba scores to tie the game: Watch
- Photo galleries: 1 | 2
- Classic: Tickets | Gear | Schedule | Home
On Sunday, the journey led Japan to Dodger Stadium and a clash with a Team USA squad loaded with Major Leaguers and a boisterous crowd of 43,630, the most for a World Baseball Classic game on American soil.
The result was one for the Japanese history books.
Japan 9, USA 4.
Japan is now headed to the World Baseball Classic championship game to defend its title against Korea in the fifth meeting between the two countries in this tournament. The teams split two games in Pool A at the Tokyo Dome and split two games at PETCO Park in the second round.
Overall, Korea holds a 4-3 advantage in two Classics, although Japan defeated Korea in a single-elimination semifinal game three years ago on its way to the inaugural championship. Korea defeated Venezuela, 10-2, in the other semifinal game on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Japanese won by employing the style that has made them famous: fundamental baseball and strong starting pitching, this time from Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka. The country also played flawless defense and pounded out 10 hits. Japan manager Tatsunori Hara did his part, writing in seven left-handed hitters in the starting lineup against Team USA starter Roy Oswalt.
The strategy worked. Of the six hits Oswalt allowed, five of them came to left-handed hitters.
Oswalt's only hit allowed to a right-handed hitter was an RBI double by shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima that capped Japan's five-run fourth and knocked Oswalt out of the game with his team behind, 6-2. Major League pitchers have not been a problem for the Japanese offense. Before the start of the second round in San Diego, Japan beat the Giants with starter Tim Lincecum, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, on the mound in Scottsdale, Ariz. The next day, Japan beat Cubs right-hander Carlos Zambrano in Mesa, Ariz.
"We came up with strategies and were able to come up with variations of the strategies," Hara said. "I believe that was apparent today. We were able to get the big win."
Matsuzaka did his part. He gave up a home run to Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts on his second pitch of the game, and gave up another run when Mets third baseman David Wright smashed a double to center field that scored Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins to push USA ahead, 2-1, in the third inning.
It would be Team USA's only lead of the game. As for Matsuzaka, he was replaced two outs into the top of fifth inning by reliever Toshiya Sugiuchi after allowing two runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Dice-K picked up the win, his third in this year's tournament. He is 6-0 in two Classics.
Japan began to take control of the game in the fourth, when designated hitter Atsunori Inaba and first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara hit back-to-back singles. Inaba scored on a fielding error to tie the game at 2, and Ogasawara came home on a sacrifice fly to right field by Kenji Johjima, the second of three sacrifices by the Mariners catcher in the game.
Second baseman Akinori Iwamura followed Johjima with an RBI triple to extend the lead to 4-2. Third baseman Munenori Kawasaki's single scored Iwamura for Japan's fifth run to set up the showdown between Oswalt and Nakajima.
Nakajima won. You can argue the entire country won Sunday.
"I really respect American baseball, so the fact that we were able to play against the American team was wonderful," Hara said. "The fact that we won today is something that even for the Japanese baseball world is something that will remain in history."
USA did not go down without a fight.
Trailing, 6-2, with one out in the top of the eighth inning, Team USA scored two runs on a double by first baseman Mark DeRosa to cut Japan's lead to two runs. But Japanese reliever Takahiro Mahara recovered to strike out pinch-hitter Evan Longoria and Roberts grounded out to the pitcher for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Johjima contributed again with a sacrifice bunt that moved pinch-runner Yasuyuki Kataoka from first to second base. Kataoka eventually scored as part of a three-run inning to give Japan a 9-4 lead. In the second inning, Johjima's sacrifice to right field scored Inaba for Japan's first run of the game.
"I was able to play against America is something that is very much going to be a memory for me," Johjima said. "It's overwhelming for me."
Jesse Sanchez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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From the Washington Post:
Simply, Ron Paul is just too popular to ignore. Republicans will find it very hard to win with him running as an Independent. If anything, a three-way split might play out even more strongly for Paul, as he can bash both the incumbent and the Republican as emblematic of the establishment — an establishment that more and more is failing America.
Of course, many forces are deeply opposed to Ron Paul, because for better or worse, his small-government anti-Federalist policies are a drastic change from the status quo, and embarrass big-government Republicans like Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and George W. Bush who claim they want to balance the budget and end up spending a heck of a lot more.
So Paul supporters can expect a deluge of negative claims: claims that he is a racist, claims that his foreign policy is dangerous, claims he wants to return to segregation, claims that he cannot win and is unelectable.
Ultimately, everyone knows that it is the status quo that is more unsustainable than anything else. America is now the most indebted nation in the history of our planet, bogged down in expensive wars and its role as global policeman, and increasingly in denial of her constitution and the principles of her founders. Congress and Obama — as well as extending the reactionary and unconstitutional Patriot Act — have recently signed some of the most reactionary and illiberal legislation ever in the NDAA of 2011, which allows for the indefinite detention of American citizens without due process. Americans voted for Obama hoping for change from the big-spending interventionist corporatism of George W. Bush, and got much more of the same.
Paul's non-interventionist foreign policy, his civil libertarianism, his strict adherence to the constitution, his rejection of banking bailouts and his willingness to cut spending are not what every voter is looking for, but are a tonic to the disastrous policies of the status quo that are sucking down the American economy.
Of course, many Americans fear radical change. That's why establishment contenders like Cain, Gingrich, Bachmann and Perry have rapidly risen in the polls and fallen, as voters scrabble around hunting for a viable alternative to the status quo. Paul's gains have been slow, steady and consistent. This has been in spite of an earlier campaign of media ignorance, and now a campaign of media smears, including the charge that he is either or a racist, or has associated himself with racists.
These media attacks will prove ineffective. Voters are turning to Paul because of his policies, and the fact that he represents a radical departure from what to many Americans is a disastrously failed status quo. He could be the Grand Wizard of the KKK, a shapeshifting Reptilian from Alpha Draconis, or a cross-dressing drug addict, and that would not change a thing because Ron Paul will ultimately be judged on the content of his policies, not superficial smears that have nothing whatever to do with policy.
Voters — middle class voters, poor voters, factory workers, the unemployed — like the idea that the President will cut the debt. Voters like the idea that the President will respect a strict interpretation of the constitution, instead of passing authoritarian legislation like the NDAA, SOPA and the Patriot Act. Voters like the idea that the President will end wars, close foreign bases, and defend America, instead of practicing expensive nation building in the middle east and central Asia. Voters like the idea of not pledging future tax dollars to bailing out badly managed and corrupt banks.
While some of his stances are unpopular with some segments of the population, there is no other declared candidate from either of the major parties who offers any of the above. None. Ron Paul's rise is just a symptom of the establishment not delivering to the people what they want, need and deserve.


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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) _ Dressed in rainbow wigs and masks, gays and lesbians in Kenya on Monday joined a global effort to protest against an anti-homosexuality bill passed by Uganda's parliament that is now in the hands of the country's president.
Activists are trying to pressure Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni into not signing the bill, which increases prison times for homosexual acts. The bill, which legislators passed in December, also prescribes a seven-year jail term for a person who conducts a marriage ceremony for same-sex couples.
A leader of the protest in Kenya, Eric Gitari, executive director of Kenya's National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, said the Ugandan legislation has major repercussions on human rights conditions across East Africa. Some gays and lesbians in Uganda have already fled to a Kenyan refugee camp, he said.
The Ugandan-related protests come as gay activists focus on many issues around the globe: A new law in Nigeria last month increased penalties against gays; Russia has faced questions in the run-up to the Olympics about gay discrimination; and an American university football player on Sunday announced he is gay, setting up the possibility of the first openly gay pro football player.
Rights activists around the world were holding street marches Monday ``in solidarity'' with Uganda's homosexuals, said Pepe Julian Onziema, a gay leader in Uganda who said at least 15 homosexuals have fled Uganda since the bill was passed out of fear for their safety.
Gays and lesbians face severe discrimination in many African countries.
The American Jewish World Service, a U.S.-based group, also promoted the global protest against the Ugandan legislation. The group, which supports groups working to advance human rights of vulnerable and marginalized communities, sent a letter to Museveni from 400 rabbis asking that the legislation not be signed.
``Jews were marginalized for centuries and the history of the Europe's Jews during the 20th Century reminds us that stripping away the rights of minorities by states is often a prelude to the worst kind of treatment,'' Stuart Schear, a spokesman for the group, said by email.
The Ugandan bill was passed Dec. 20 by lawmakers, and many of them have since urged the country's president to sign the bill.
Uganda's constitution gives the president 30 days to sign a bill or return it to parliament for amendments. But some bills have stayed with Museveni for months _ even years _ apparently because the ``law is silent'' about what happens when the president is slow to make a decision, said Ugandan lawyer Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi, who has represented gay Ugandans in court.
If the bill is returned to lawmakers, Rwakafuuzi said, they could still pass it into law with a two-thirds majority vote. But that can only happen when Museveni officially returns the bill to the speaker of parliament.
``Museveni can keep the bill for a long time,'' said Rwakafuuzi, who predicted upcoming court cases over the legislation.
Museveni has opposed the bill as harsh, but gay activists say Museveni's other recent thoughts on the matter _ that gays are often ``abnormal'' people who should be ``rehabilitated'' _ fuel discrimination against gays in a country where homosexuality is already illegal.
The bill is popular with lawmakers and Christian clerics who say it is needed to deter Western homosexuals from ``recruiting'' in Uganda.
In Kenya, demonstrators held signs and chanted slogans outside Uganda's High Commission on Monday in hopes their message would reach Museveni.
``President Museveni, from the letter he sent, he sounds like a man who wants to be persuaded by science and research,'' Gitari said. ``I'd want to persuade him with scientific evidence that in 1992 the World Health Organization struck homosexuality from the list of diseases. He should know that homosexuals are not sick people.''


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How the Gorgeous, Sometimes Fictional Sound of the Olympics Gets Made
The audio from your favorite events isn't real. It's much better than real.
When the London 2012 Olympics begin in a couple of weeks, a menagerie of sports will take over the world's TV screens. Tens of millions of people will watch archery, diving, and rowing.
Or at least we call it watching.
Really, there are two channels of information emanating from your flat screen: the pictures and the sound. What you see depends, in part, on what you hear. To be immersed in a performance on the uneven bars, we need to hear the slap of hands on wood and the bar's flexing as the athlete twirls. Watching sports on mute is like eating an orange when you have a stuffy nose.
For the London Olympics, Baxter will deploy 350 mixers, 600 sound technicians, and 4,000 microphones at the London Olympics. Using all the modern sound technology they can get their hands on, they'll shape your experience to sound like a lucid dream, a movie, of the real thing.
Let's take archery. "After hearing the coverage in Barcelona at the '92 Olympics, there were things that were missing. The easy things were there. The thud and the impact of the target -- that's a no brainer -- and a little bit of the athlete as they're getting ready," Baxter says.
"But, it probably goes back to the movie Robin Hood, I have a memory of the sound and I have an expectation. So I was going, 'What would be really really cool in archery to take it up a notch?' And the obvious thing was the sound of the arrow going through the air to the target. The pfft-pfft-pfft type of sound. So we looked at this little thing, a boundary microphone, that would lay flat, it was flatter than a pack of cigarettes, and I put a little windshield on it, and I put it on the ground between the athlete and the target and it completely opened up the sound to something completely different."
Just to walk through the logic: based on the sound of arrows in a fictional Kevin Costner movie, Baxter created the sonic experience of sitting between the archer and the target, something no live spectator could do.
On the gradient between recording and creating, diving requires even more production. "You can really separate the 'above' sounds in the swimming hall and the 'below' sounds, the underwater sound. It really conveys the sense of focus and the sense of isolation of the athlete," Baxter continues. "We have microphones on the handrails as the divers walk up. You can hear their hands. You can hear their feet. You can hear them breathing."
Then, as they reach the water, a producer remixes the audio track to pull from the underwater hydrophone at the bottom of the pool. Now, you are literally pulling audio from in the pool. "You can hear the bubbles. You get the complete sense of isolation, of the athlete all alone," Baxter concluded.
But sometimes, there is no way to capture the sound of being there. There are vast differences in the physics of recording light and sound waves. Camera lenses can provide better than 100x zoom with near perfect fidelity. Microphones are not lenses; sound waves are not photons. Moving air has to strike a diaphragm and move it to generate the electrical signals we play back as sound. You have to get close and you can't block out all background noise.
Baxter's answer to this problem appears on Roman Mars' spectacular 99% Invisible podcast, which excerpted the BBC program.
"In Atlanta, one of my biggest problems was rowing. Rowing is a two-kilometer course. They have 4 chaseboats following the rowers and they have a helicopter. That's what they need to deliver the visual coverage of it," Baxter explains. "But the chaseboats and the helicopter just completely wash out the sound. No matter how good the microphones are, you cannot capture and reach and isolate sound the way you do visually. But people have expectations. If you see the rowers, they have a sound they are expecting. So what do we do?"
Well, they made up the rowing noises and played them during the broadcast of the event, like a particularly strange electronic music show.
"That afternoon we went out on a canoe with a couple of rowers recorded stereo samples of the different type of effects that would be somewhat typical of an event," Baxter recalls. "And then we loaded those recordings into a sampler and played them back to cover the shots of the boats."
The real sound, of course, would have included engine noises and a helicopter whirring overhead. The fake sound seemed normal, just oars sliding into water. In a sense, the real sound was as much of a human creation as the fake sound, and probably a lot less pleasant to listen to.
So, in order to make a broadcast appear real, the soundtrack has to be faked, or to put it perhaps more accurately, synthesized. We have a word for what they're doing: This is sonic fiction. They are making up the sound to get at the truth of a sport.
There is clearly a difference between making up the audio for the rowing competition and using a bunch of different mics, mixes, and production techniques to achieve the most exciting effect in diving. But how bright is the line that separates factual audio from fictional audio a bit thinner and more porous than we'd like? If we want hyperreality as an end, can we really quibble about the means?


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ETSU has sights set on top-three finishes for both the men and women
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Feb. 20, 2014) – The ETSU men's and women's track & field teams will compete in the 2014 Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday and Saturday at the JDL Fast Track Indoor Track & Field Facility.
After both the men and women earned second-place finishes at the 2013 A-Sun Indoor Championships inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletics Center in Johnson City, the ETSU track & field program will aim to again have strong performances a year later in Winston-Salem. Last season, multiple solid showings were highlighted by four meet records broken by the Buccaneers. The ETSU women earned their best placing in the eight-year history of the A-Sun Indoor Championships with 127.50 points – their best-ever point total – to finish in second place behind eight-time defending champion Jacksonville. The ETSU men totaled 184 points to finish runner-up to champion Kennesaw State for the second year in a row.
This season, a number of ETSU student-athletes will have the opportunity to place in their respective events. Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) will look to repeat as the women's champion in the pentathlon where she posted a score of 3466 in 2013. Junior Tyler Stepp (Dandridge, Tenn.) will also look to defend his title in the men's long jump where he scored a mark of 7.51 meters which was a personal best at the time last year.
In addition, senior Lexie Burley (Johnson City, Tenn.) appears to be a challenger for the top spot in the women's triple jump where she has placed near the top in a number of meets this indoor season. Furthermore, freshman Brett Squibbs (Rock Hill, S.C.) is poised to be in the hunt for the event title in the men's pole vault where the rookie has already broken the ETSU indoor record with a launch of 5.15 meters two weeks ago at the Samford Multi & Invitational.
ETSU has already competed at the JDL Fast Track Indoor Track & Field Facility twice this indoor season after participating in the JDL Kick-Off Classic on Dec. 7 and in the Hilton Garden Invitational on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
Meet information for the 2014 Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships can be found at AtlanticSun.Org. Live results can be accessed at Half-MileTiming.com. Complete recaps of ETSU's performances each day will be available at ETSUBucs.com.
ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for "Buc Updates." Click here to sign up today!


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This is a death metal song about painfully-hard PS3 game Demon's Souls, sung by a band apparently inspired by Shadow of the Colossus. I think that's all you need to know.
OK, if you want to know more here goes: The band is called Wanda and The Colossus and the song is called Sticky White Stuff. Here's the lyrics:
Forgotten realms torn apart by the greed of the old kings.
Boletaria will never be the same.
Our savior to prevail gain the souls of the lost withdrawn from its vessle.
Each archstone brings you one step closer to freeing you from your torment, the nexus, the place you now call home.
Soul of the mind, the key to life's ether
may the maiden guide you through the light and may strength be granted
so the world might be mended,
so the world might be mended.
But you will fail again and again,
your soul in eternal pain and your journey everlasting.
All of this cuz i fucking i deam it to be so
for i am the old one,
i will break you.
In blood filled water, you will remain.
You may have a heart of gold but i will take it from you.
[Thanks Kawaiizilla and 4 Chan]


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Hanukkah's passed us by. Christmas Eve slipped into Christmas morning and the denouement of Boxing Day. The most pressing decision right now is when one might pull down the lights and dispense with the tree.
Your author's been whiling away the time researching 914 brake and suspension upgrades and poring over a recently acquired first edition of Karl Ludwigsen's Excellence Was Expected. The original incarnation of Porsche's definitive history ends with the development of the 928. While the final shape of the company's first watercooled, front-engined V8 car wound up a slippery fastback hatch, a shooting-brake design was also studied.
Later in the 928's life, Porsche went so far as to lengthen an S4 model and add rear-passenger half-doors to aid ingress and egress. The result, the ungainly928 H50 concept, wasn't nearly as tidy as the two-door shooting brake rendition, nor did it meet Porsche's standards for structural rigidity. After a bit of developmental work, it found itself shelved.
Conversely, the Sport Turismo, the company's vision of a possible future Panamera, irons out the odd proportions that make the fast-hunchback Panny resemble a cybernetic manatee.
Porsche's now released a video chronicling the concept car's journey from clay model to show-floor centerpiece. A hit at this year's Paris show, we were hoping to see it up close at Los Angeles. Apparently, Porsche wanted the assembled crowd to focus on the unveiling of the new Cayman.
While they've yet to hand off copies the mid-engined hardtop to the press corps, Stuttgart has released some shiny, shiny video of the Boxster's new brothers romping around San Francisco. We know those roads. We've always wondered what they'd be like with no traffic. As long as we're dreaming, we'll fantasize about tackling them in a 906. Sort of a Streets of San Francisco/Miami Vice hybrid, don'tcha know.


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May the caffeine be with you.
T from Delfina's
cool pictures, you took. :)ReplyDelete
Love the butterfly in your hair - is he staying with you for the winter?ReplyDelete
Thanks for posting the link to the Presidio, I had no idea about it and found the whole concept really interesting.
Your pictures would normally make me sad seeing the gorgeous weather like that... but I'll be in SoCal in another 10 days to experience it myself... ahhh some sunshine and above freezing temperatures!
You captured a beautiful mood.ReplyDelete
I arrived by a search.Please watch my blog.
I am glad if connected at this opportunity.In addition, I come to look.
saw your comment
moseyed on over
breath taken away by beauty in all forms
it looks amazing over there! a bicycle paradise!
Ha! Great photos--love the butterflies and also the photos in the spokes in the wheels (above post). Your photos are some of my favorites.
xo Mary Jo
Peter/ thanks!
Lynn/ ha ;) yes of course, they're ready for spring
Samuel/ you're welcome. it is quite an very interesting layout within an area in the Presidio, I think they did a good job preserving the look of it (with a hidden parking lot underneath, who wouldve guessed?)
and happy for you for some sun soon!!
zach/ ;) thanks for stopping by
micro1985/ ok cool! welcome :)
Anya/ thank you my pretty &ride on
maryJo/ thanks so much for your sweet comments.
Love your pics especially the butterfly shots.
(Those are real, right?)
Cool shirt too by the way - where'd you get it?
thanks man! yes they're real, as real as paper craft gets♥
Thanks -the shirt is from local Pizzeria Delfina by a local artist.


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Even middle schoolers are protected from unreasonable search and seizure when it comes to the contents of their cell phones, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The organization has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Mississippi middle-school honor student, alleging that a 2008 cell phone search and the sixth-grader's subsequent expulsion were not only unnecessary, but also unconstitutional.
Southaven Middle School in Southaven, Mississippi has a policy against cell phone use during school hours, as many schools do nowadays. In August of 2008, 12-year-old Richard Wade was discovered to be in violation of that policy after he received a text message from his father (who was traveling out of state) during "football class." That's when his cell phone was confiscated by his football coaches and then searched by the principal, as well as the Southaven Police Department. At that time, authorities found what they considered to be extremely scandalous, "gang-related activity"—that is, photos of Wade and a friend dancing in the bathroom at Wade's home. The friend held a BB gun across his chest while he danced.
Wade was suspended and then eventually expelled for having "gang signs" stored on his phone. That's when the ACLU got involved—the organization says that the football coaches, principal, and police violated Wade's constitutional rights and even acted outside of the school's policy of merely confiscating phones during school hours. In its complaint, the ACLU quotes directly from the school district's policy book that says students using cell phones in class will "have them taken by the teacher and turned into the office" for pickup by parents after school. The book also has a policy saying that the first violation could result in a one- to three-day suspension as the maximum punishment (Wade's SMS incident was his first offense).
The ACLU says that authorities had no reason to suspect Wade of being a danger to the school and that they not only overextended their authority by searching the cell phone, school officials also overreacted by expelling Wade. "As a result of this incident, R.W. has suffered and continues to suffer ongoing harm, including, but not limited to, missed school, a permanent negative report on his school record, and emotional distress," reads the complaint.
The school has defended its decision by claiming officials reserve the right to look through confiscated phones to see if students were cheating on tests or conducting illegal activities, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. However, this doesn't appear to be stated in the district's handbook, making it seem more like an unofficial policy. The ACLU, of course, insists that students retain the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, even after walking through schoolhouse doors. "The entire incident was a gross violation of Richard's constitutional rights, including his right to freedom of speech. Like most of us, Richard carries personal and private data on his cell phone, including photos that are for his own viewing," ACLU staff attorney Kristy Bennett said.
There have been numerous lawsuits in recent years over students' rights, and the number appears to be on the rise thanks to the proliferation of cell phones and the ubiquity of the Internet. Even activities that appear to have taken place off of school grounds, such as questionable blog postings made from home, have become a subject of debate. The ACLU has argued in the past that schools cannot restrict a student's speech "anywhere it is uttered" simply because it's vulgar and targets school officials, though the courts have not always agreed.


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All apartments or rental properties must be registered, inspected, and licensed prior to anyone occupying the residence, pursuant to City of Owatonna code Chapter 115: Registration of Rental Units. This is a 2-year cycle in the City of Owatonna.
In 2003, the City of Owatonna passed four ordinances regarding rental property in Owatonna. The goal of this program is to improve the rental property in Owatonna by working with landlords and tenants to effectively resolve problems in rental housing.
A task force was created with representatives from the community to provide input for this program. This is a proactive inspection program which utilizes a Minimum Housing Code to reduce the number of problems in rental property. The program also includes a Crime Free Housing Program and a Disorderly Use Ordinance that will provide the tools necessary to reduce crime in rental property.
There is a penalty for failing to license a rental property.