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CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks Phyllis Salguero, of The Bank of Clovis, counts back cash to customer Mike Reyna of Clovis on Friday. According to local bankers Clovis' economy remains sound despite turmoil in the financial markets.
By Sharna Johnson: CNJ staff writer
Local bankers and economic experts say the Clovis and Portales area is insulated in some ways from the instability gripping the nation's financial markets and filling citizens with trepidation about the future.
Smaller towns such Clovis and Portales, for the most part, depend on small, local banks and the residents tend toward conservative purchases and lifestyles, according to area bankers.
As such, most residents tend to avoid risky markets, misuse of credit and shaky mortgages that are destabilizing many American's right now.
Likewise, local bankers say their banks follow the same conservative practices and have been cautious about lending practices and have invested in the local community through their business as opposed to taking market risks with their capital.
And for the most part they agree; loans, credit, mortgages, jobs and business opportunities still exist, though in some cases the standards may change.
While the effects of the financial meltdown on Wall Street and economic strains can't be entirely avoided and additional burdens such as high fuel costs and dropping grain prices will be felt even in the smallest U.S. towns, local experts say the area can weather the storm and maintain stability through its close relationship with Cannon Air Force Base, continued conservative financial practices and most importantly, they said, by resisting fear.
Local banks and credit unions
Marty Tressell, president and chief executive officer of High Plains Federal Credit Union in Clovis, said while there has been some impact from high fuel costs and a slowdown in the purchase of automobiles, it's been business as usual at his financial institution.
Tressell said credit unions are member owned, a majority of consumer loans have collateral backing and they don't invest capital in the markets.
That localized service has worked to shield the credit union and its members from the shakeup on Wall Street, he said.
"We're not dealing in those realms that the big banks are. … We take in money from local people and we loan it to local people. That's the way we do business —We are stewards of local people's money " he said.
Randy Harris, president of The Bank of Clovis said the Clovis area is steeped in traditional, conservative values and finances are no exception.
Like Tressell, Harris said the money they handle flows to and from the community.
"We are somewhat insulated from the high swings and from the lows, the fluctuations that take place on Wall Street. You have really strong banks that have strong, conservative management. Your local community banks provide service for main street, not Wall Street," he said.
"Our customers that deposit money with us, that money is reinvested in this area."
No local banks have reached for or received federal bailout money and none are on financial institution watch lists, Harris said.
And rumors that credit is unattainable simply aren't true, he said.
Lending practices have always been conservative and cautious in the interest of preserving that relationship with the community, he said, explaining credit is still available on the same terms it always has been, with good credit and a significant down payment.
"We have not changed the way we do business at all. Good, quality credit is still available. When they talk about unavailability of credit, they're talking about those borrowers that should not have gotten credit to begin with," Harris said.
National media attention has caused fear, which Harris said is in many ways, unjustifiable.
That's not to discount what is happening in the markets, he said, but hope is not lost. There is still security and stability, especially in community financial institutions, he said.
He said the large investment banks that are struggling right now operate under different regulations than small local banks.
But the crisis calls for a re-evaluation of the system that allowed those institutions to grow and get out of control, he said.
"The majority of the communities were allowing the large corporations and the large Wall Street (investment banks) to dictate government policy. When in fact the backbone of this country is small farms and ranches and small communities. That is truly the backbone of this country and it is not these mega giants," he said.
David Stone, president of Portales National Bank, said the success of his bank is a direct reflection of the success of its customers.
"We're a mirror to our customers. If our customers are profitable, we're profitable. … Typically, community banks do the same thing," he said.
Several years ago, Stone made the decision his bank would carry its own mortgage notes.
"We didn't have a mortgage department at that time. I decided we would be better off setting up our own mortgage department. I could make loans to people I know, for houses I can walk through," he said.
"I like to be in a deal where I know what I'm doing."
That decision has staved off the repercussions of dealing with the secondary mortgage market. Stone said the nine biggest banks hold 90 percent of the deposits in America. Sub-prime mortgages filled those banks with (mortgage-backed security) bonds.
Customer's financial security comes first, he said.
Tressell said Cannon's future growth is closely tied to how Clovis will fare in coming years, he said.
"We have an interesting, somewhat isolated local economy. We went through our hard times with the base reductions but overall, long-term down the road as the base continues to grow, the hope is that we don't see what a lot of the other cities will. … hopefully we'll come out not too badly bruised on a local level."
Local small business
Gordon Smith, business specialist with the Small Business Development Center at Clovis Community College, provides advisement services to small business owners. Smith said his office has not seen any local fallout from recent market instability and the passage of the bailout plan.
But a tightening of lending standards for small businesses seeking short and long-term credit may emerge. Increased scrutiny, credit checks, down payment requirements and frowning on large amounts of unsecured debt are all factors commercial borrowers can expect to be faced with in the near future, he said.
Smith said if business is slow, it is a good time for small business owners to dust off their business plan and attend seminars or re-evaluate their financial structure.
"One of the largest reasons that businesses fail, especially new businesses, is because they're undercapitalized," he said.
Business owners, just like private citizens, need to break away from use of credit cards and cash advances or other short-term financing and structure their operations so they take on work they can handle and have enough money to live on.
Commercial Loan Officer Connie Connelly with Western Bank in Clovis said in recent months commercial lending has perked up a little, with business owners expanding and preparing for growth, she said.
"It's usually a pretty positive thing. It's a good sign that things are starting to improve," Connelly said.
Local banks haven't really suffered in the mortgage crisis because they didn't engage in sub-prime lending and the majority only extended loans as opposed to larger banks that sold mortgages on the secondary market.
"If you read the legal notices and look at the foreclosures, it is rare for a local bank to be foreclosing," she said, citing large national mortgage companies as the sources of local foreclosures.
"We did not participate in this, we're not being bailed out. We're part of the Main Street that has to pay for this."
A veteran banker with 35 years experience in the industry, Connelly said she moved to Clovis from New England when the Savings and Loan crisis struck in the late 1980s.
"In Clovis so far this is relatively mild," she said.
Smith said he believes there is an upturn on the horizon for the area.
Growth at Cannon will likely stimulate local businesses, create demand for new businesses and services and provide labor jobs and contracts.
"They're going to want products and services that we don't have (in Clovis)," Smith said.
And with the recent award of $726 million in federal funds for construction and new aircraft at Cannon, Smith said the local economy should benefit.
"(Cannon's) big concern is that when the work starts, there won't be enough people to work."
Economic experts
Terry Christesson, an economics instructor at Clovis Community College, believes Main-Street America is susceptible to economic unrest and changes will affect small communities.
It is a time for people to rethink their spending habits, reduce their dependence on credit and pull back from materialistic pursuits.
"We've been in denial about things for a long time (and) we really let our politicians run amuck. The real crisis here is lack of wisdom among our elected leaders — it will take some time to (set things right)," he said. "We just have to collectively decide what we want. We kind of promised ourselves happily every after in the material world."
In the meantime, fear and panic will only make things worse, a lesson proven through the depression when people pulled their money from banks and lost faith in the U.S. monetary system altogether, he said.
"The real issue they're trying to stop right now is a panic that becomes contagious," he said.
"Our monetary system is predicated on faith. If you look back at The Great Depression, the only change that occurred was people's perceptions."
David Hemley, professor of finance at Eastern New Mexico University, said there's no denying times are tough right now for a lot of people.
"People on fixed incomes, who have their money tied up in IRAs, mutual funds or equities — they may be hard put," he said.
And there are difficulties ahead for people nearing retirement, with money in 401Ks or IRAs — "These people could really be hurt badly. They could take a significant hit."
Hemley said mortgage rates just jumped from 5.9 to 6.4 percent, making it difficult for some to purchase homes and only those with near perfect credit are able to finance vehicles.
"The lending business is not very good right now," he said.
Nor is borrowing — "unless you're willing to pay the interest rates and you meet the credit rating. It's making it tough."
It is understandable that there is fear of investing in the markets, Christesson said, but people should not fear banking altogether and small town banks "don't tend to get caught up in the liquidity crisis near as quickly as the big banks," he said. The bottom line is if a bank has a good deposit insurance program, the money is safe.
People need to "just keep moving forward. Panic's the worst thing people can do. That's when you go from making relatively decent decisions to making absolutely terrible ones," he said.


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It's normal for curious young children to explore their surroundings. But, part of this behavior includes putting food and objects in their mouths. These can get stuck in their windpipe (trachea). This can make it hard or impossible for them to breathe. Choking sends thousands of infants and toddlers to emergency rooms each year.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts have worked for years to warn parents and child caregivers about choking risks. They have also worked to improve the safety of toys and products meant for kids.
Food is the most common cause of choking in small children. Before age 4, children aren't able to grind their food into small pieces. Protect your child by making eating safe. Don't give your child certain foods until they are age 4.
At meals:
Supervise your child. Don't leave your child alone while they eat.
Sit your child upright in a highchair.
Tell them not to eat and talk at the same time.
Cut your child's food into small pieces. Do this until their molars come in.
Tell your child not to run with food in their mouth.
Don't allow a child younger than age 4 to have these foods:
Hot dogs
Nuts or seeds
Chunks of peanut butter
Chunks of meat or cheese
Popcorn, pretzels, potato chips, corn chips, and similar snack foods
Hard, gooey, or sticky candy
Whole grapes
Raw vegetables, especially hard ones
Chewing gum
If hot dogs are the only food you have, remove the tough skin. Cut the meat into small pieces.
Nonfood objects are also a choking threat. Keep small household items and toys with small removable parts out of toddlers' reach. Be sure to remove common hazards, such as:
Uninflated or popped balloons
Tiny balls
Pen caps
Button-type batteries
Balloons are the toys most often involved in deadly choking accidents. If a child bites on an inflated latex balloon, it can pop, enter the lungs, and choke the child. Broken pieces of a balloon can also be dangerous. A young child may pick a piece up and put it in their mouth.
Choking can happen even if you are careful. If a child chokes:
If your child has a forceful cough and is crying or able to speak or make sounds, let them try to get the food or object out on their own.
If your child can't make a sound, call 911. Then do abdominal thrusts. Learn the version that's right for your child's age. The American Heart Association gives standard procedures for choking victims of all ages.
Once the food or object comes out, take your child to a healthcare provider. A piece of the object may remain in the lung. Only a healthcare provider can tell if your child is OK.
For Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts members
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is a leading provider of quality health insurance for residents of Massachusetts. Our main goal is to make health care cost-effective by offering health insurance solutions for individuals, families, and large and small businesses at affordable rates.
Our Vision — Making Quality Health Care AffordableOur Promise — To Always Put Our Members First
To learn more about our Massachusetts health plans, please visit our Plans & Products page, where you can compare Massachusetts health insurance plans, buy health plans online, and get Mass health insurance quotes.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Brzezinski tweet again raises question: What will it take?
WASHINGTON — For months, Trump watchers have wondered: What will it take?
Meaning: What would finally force Republicans to face the fact, so obvious to so many, that President Donald Trump isn't quite right? Not in the correct sense but in the head sense.
The answer, apparently, is Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"This is not normal," people are finally saying in response to Trump's latest Twitter attacks in which the president of the United States limboed under his own low bar and chastised Brzezinski and co-anchor/fiance Joe Scarborough with his usual knuckle-dragging flair. Applying his 140-character attention span, he squibbed:
"I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!"
Classic Trump.
This probably isn't the way Brzezinski would have preferred things to go, but in Trump's vernacular, she's been cruisin' for a bruisin' for a long time. That is, she's been calling out The Donald with everything but an engraved invitation to duel at dawn.
And, high time, I might add. For months during the early part of Trump's campaign, "MoJo," as the show is nicknamed, was a welcome station for the celebrity firing squad. Around Washington, people had begun referring to the morning manfest, where Brzezinski gamely serves as reluctant den mother, as "Morning Trump." This was also the period when then-candidate Trump constantly bragged that he hadn't spent any money on advertising — and no one wondered why. He regularly called in to the show, essentially running his campaign from Trump Tower.
Trump had ample coverage elsewhere as well. When your strength is branding and your name is the brand, there's little challenge to getting airtime. Cable television anchors and producers not only became Trump's unpaid marketers, but they bear much of the responsibility/blame for Trump's election.
Then, things got strange. Trump won. Then Trump became even odder than usual, even according to his friends and others inclined to like him. Always fiercely competitive, obviously, as well as flawed, Trump nevertheless was able to control his worst impulses before becoming president, Scarborough and Brzezinski co-wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on Friday.
Or, perhaps, something is actually wrong with the guy. Plenty of physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists think so and have written me volumes in off-the-record diagnoses. A group of them have joined forces to co-author a book due out this fall.
It isn't so much that The Donald always hits back, and harder, as his flacks boast. It's that he's so thin-skinned, such a political amateur — and so utterly lacking in the fine art of disregard — that he can't let anything pass. This is the single greatest concern for the witted, not his idiotic tweets in the night. Impulsivity combined with narcissistic injury is a red flag to many for the man with access to the nuclear codes.
And so, as more and more Americans embrace "This is not normal" as the bumper sticker du jour, many are wondering again: Will this be it? Will the final straw be Brzezinski's alleged badly bleeding face-lift, which she needlessly denied in the op-ed. She only tweaked some skin beneath the chin, she said. CNN's Brian Stelter, meanwhile, has published a photo of Brzezinski on the day in question and she shows no evidence of surgery and certainly not blood. What woman has a face-lift and goes bleeding to a famous club where tout le beau monde is partying?
To the point, is this it? My friends, don't count on it.
Nothing will happen until GOP constituents start shouting and, remember, these are the same people Trump has taught to hate the media. Also, this is hardly the worst example of Trump's errant charm. Yet, suddenly, his insulting Brzezinski, widely characterized as evidence of misogyny (what about "Psycho Joe"?), is supposed to send congressional Republicans into paroxysms of penitential rebuke and replace?
Mika Brzezinski is wonder woman — smart, strong, wealthy — and engaged to marry her best friend. I seriously doubt she's been wounded by Trump's pathetic second-grader taunts. But I get it. The most one can hope for these days is that enough Republican men can be shamed into defending Brzezinski, a woman many of them know personally — and who has thumbs-down power over potential guests on the show everybody in Washington watches.
Whatever works.
Kathleen Parker is a Washington Post columnist. Email her at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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It's always a good idea to stretch your boundaries and try something you haven't done before or are not comfortable with. It's what makes the words "challenge accepted" so satisfying to speak and so motivating to fulfill.
This is a Challenge based upon an observation: there are some gorgeous e-cards we have going on here at theOtaku, but I can't help but feel those skills could be put to use in the arena of wallpapers.
However, I must put up some rules here. It's not a challenge if you make both cards and wallpapers with skill and finesse. This is for those of you who stay away from making wallpapers for one reason or another, and a chance to break out of that shell and try something new. Or, if you have made wallpapers but never felt satisfied, this is also your venue.
1.) You must consider yourself a cardmaker, or someone not used to making wallpapers.
2.) Use whatever you want for your content. Anime, video games, TV shows, music - doesn't matter
3.) Keep content within the site boundaries (obviously).
- The more resolutions you make for, the better.
- You will gain mega-super-ultra points if you make a wallpaper in the maximum resolution allowed by theOtaku, 1920x1200. Catch: It has to look like it belongs at that size.
1st Place: Anything within reason.
2nd Place: Non-colored drawing, wallpaper, or card.
3rd Place: Wallpaper or card.
Questions or comments, feel free to jot 'em down.


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Earnings, Financial Supplements, SEC Filings, Regulatory Filings and Disclosures and Credit Ratings can be found here.
Current and archived Northern Trust financial releases.
The Northern Trust Financial Trends Report supplements our reported financial statements, providing historical financial information in a "trend" format.
SEC filings, including Form 10K and 10Q, and other regulatory filings and disclosures.
Credit ratings for Northern Trust Corporation and its principal subsidiary, The Northern Trust Company.
For our latest earnings information, download our Investor Relations & Media app for iPad.


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How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?Bildad submits that, compared to God, mankind is nothing more than a worm.
~ King James version ~
Humankind is no better nor worse than any other manifestation of Tao.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~
Tao does not rank the forms of the cosmos. A worm merely differs from a human in the form taken. Each follows its own internal nature. Since the essence of Tao is in each of us, we each are part of Tao.
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.


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PhD in
Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Cardinal Stritch University
The Doctorate in Language and Literacy (Ph.D.) program prepares you to act as a literacy leader who understands theoretical and instructional models of literacy, recognizes new literacy trends in our digital age, services literacy acquisition, development and instruction, and fosters systemic change in your organization and community.
The Doctorate in Language and Literacy program is designed for educators, professionals and researchers with a background and/or interest in literacy, curriculum, and instruction, speech, and language or a related field. Faculty members integrate their collective expertise in Reading, Curriculum and Instruction, Writing, Special Education, and Speech and Language Pathology in the design and delivery of our innovative program.
Successful completion of the program may result in Reading Teacher (license #316) and Reading Specialist (license #17) certification from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). This may require additional coursework depending upon your prior experience, and is subject to approval by the Wisconsin DPI.
English Language Requirements
Certify your English proficiency with the Duolingo English Test! The DET is a convenient, fast, and affordable online English test accepted by over 4,000 universities (like this one) around the world.


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Everyone loves doughnuts, but the days when a mix-and-match box of glazed, old-fashioned, and chocolate would suffice are long gone. Around the country, indie doughnut-makers have pushed the classic treat into new terrain, smothering yeasty rounds with Sichuan peppercorn-laced icing, piping in foie gras, and loading on the bacon.
Just as the crazy antics of craft brewers have caused Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors to change up their game, these fried-dough artisans are making waves with their experimental creations, putting the pressure on chains like Dunkin' Donuts to evolve beyond the heart-shaped Valentine's doughnut.
How far are these new-breed bakers willing to push the envelope? From Orangesicle to Mojito, check out some of the wildest doughnut flavors across the country.


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Adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer that begins in the cells that line the glands and ducts within the pancreas. It accounts for 90% of cancers originating in the pancreas. Other types of cancer, such as islet cell tumors, also originate in the pancreas, but are not included in this overview. This treatment overview deals only with adenocarcinoma of the exocrine pancreas, which will be referred to as pancreatic cancer. There are approximately 37,000 individuals diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas in the United States each year, and approximately 34,000 individuals succumb to the disease annually. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States.[1]
The treatment of pancreatic cancer may consist of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, and is likely to involve several different types of physicians. These physicians may include a gastroenterologist, a surgeon, a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, or other specialists. Care must be carefully coordinated between the various treating physicians involved in management of cancer of the pancreas.
In order to understand the best treatment options available for treatment of pancreatic cancer, it is important to first determine where the cancer has spread in the body. The initial growth of pancreatic cancer occurs within the pancreas and may cause blockage of the pancreatic or biliary ducts and produce jaundice, a condition where the skin turns yellow. More advanced cancers may invade adjacent organs, such as the liver, bile ducts, and intestine or spread to lymph nodes, the lining of the abdominal cavity, or other organs in the body via the blood system. Pancreatic cancer cells have a propensity to spread via the blood to the liver and, less commonly, to the lungs.
Pancreatic cancers may cause blockage of the pancreatic and biliary ducts and produce jaundice.. A gastroenterologist may attempt to relieve jaundice using a special procedure where a scope is passed through the stomach into the area of the blockage. This procedure is known as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). An ERCP can also be used to sample (biopsy) any suspicious lesions in the area. Determining the extent of the spread or the stage of the cancer is of initial importance to determine whether the cancer can be removed surgically. Determining the stage of the cancer requires a number of tests including CT/MRI scans of the abdomen and other more-specialized procedures. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) may be used to determine the size of the cancer and whether surrounding lymph nodes may be enlarged. To exclude the possibility of blood vessel involvement, your physicians may pursue a visceral angiogram or MR angiography, which can detect irregularities in arteries.
Upon completion of the clinical "staging evaluation," your physicians will determine whether the cancer can be removed by surgery. If there is no spread to other organs such as the liver, stomach, or spleen, and no involvement of major blood vessels, then surgery is performed through an abdominal incision to remove the cancer. The most common surgical procedure is a pancreaticoduodenectomy, or Whipple procedure. This procedure involves removal of a portion of the pancreas, duodenum, stomach, and the entire gallbladder. The exact surgical procedure may differ based on the location and extent of the cancer within the pancreas. Recent clinical studies have suggested that surgery is underutilized in patients with early-stage cancer of the pancreas, and that there is an opportunity to improve care of pancreatic cancer patients in the United States by offering surgery to all appropriate patients with early-stage operable disease.[2]
Following surgical removal of pancreatic cancer, a final "pathologic" stage will be determined. If the cancer cannot be removed by surgery, then the results of the clinical staging evaluation will be used to assign a stage. The stage is a number from I to IV used to describe the extent of cancer. All new treatment information concerning pancreatic cancer is categorized and discussed by stage. In order to learn more about the most recent information available concerning the treatment of pancreatic cancer, click on the appropriate stage.
Stage I: Cancer is confined to the pancreas.
Stage II: Cancer may extend to the duodenum, bile ducts, or fat surrounding the pancreas, but does not invade any local lymph nodes.
Stage III: Cancer invades one or more of the local lymph nodes and has extended to major blood vessels.
Stage IV: Cancer has spread to the stomach, bowel, or distant locations in the body, which may include the liver, lungs, bones, or other sites.
Recurrent/Relapsed: The pancreatic cancer has been detected or returned (recurred/relapsed) following an initial treatment.
[2] National failure to operate on early stage pancreatic cancer. Annals of Surgery. 2007;246:173-180.


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I will admit that I'm one of those moms who allow their child to watch TV because I don't see the harm. Usually when my daughter watched TV, it was Nick Jr. because she liked the shows. Also I liked the fact that there were no commercials. Ever since we got Netflix, we haven't watched Nick Jr. as much. So I missed some major changes that have quite a few parents up in arms.
On March 1, 2012, Nick Jr. got rid of the little shorts that featured Moose A. Moose and his sidekick, Zee D. Bird. From everything that I've read, they did this without any advance notice. These shorts were in the time slots where commercials would be. I really loved that there was a commercial-free kid's channel, since I'm not a big fan of commercials when I'm watching TV. But since the change, there are now some commercials where the Moose and Zee shorts used to be.
Now, Moose and Zee had been around for a while. They started out on Noggin back in 2003. When Noggin changed to Nick Jr. in 2009, they were moved to the new channel. My daughter, who is three, really enjoyed the shorts and actually learned some preschool skills from them. So we are a little sad that they are gone.
We aren't the only parents who are missing Moose and Zee. There is actually an online petition calling for their return. Also, upset parents are still posting on Nick Jr.'s Facebook Wall, begging for the return of the old format. For us, I'm more unhappy about the addition of commercials than the disappearance of Moose and Zee. It also would have been nice if Nickelodeon would have given some warning of these changes.
For us, it isn't that big of a deal since we hadn't been watching Nick Jr. as much lately. I did sign the petition because I liked Moose and Zee. For my daughter, I don't think she has even noticed the absence of these characters.
If you watch Nick Jr. with your kids, what do you and your kids think about these changes?


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Expert's Rating
- Affordable ink
- High-quality text and color prints
- Slow monochrome printing
- Low-capacity paper tray
Our Verdict
Brother's MFC-790CW is a multifunction color ink-jet device that can scan, print, copy, and fax. Equipped with a flatbed scanner, an automatic document feeder for copying and scanning, a (smallish) 50-sheet printer tray, a built-in answering machine, and a telephone headset, the MFC-790CW is ideal for the home-office setting.
The compact MFC-790CW is black and gray, and equipped with a 4.2-inch LCD touch screen. From the screen, you can control most of the unit's functions, including copying, faxing, scanning, managing photos, and troubleshooting. The MFC-790CW comes equipped with three memory card slots for photos. A built-in 4-by-6-inch photo paper tray is situated above the standard paper tray for easy photo printing.
The USB port is beneath the flatbed scanner tray, making the first connection of the USB cord inconvenient. Afterwards, the cord is neatly tucked away, but I did find the initial cable installation odd.
Setting up the wireless connection for printing and scanning was a clunky process. In order to set up the connection to a password-protected Wi-Fi connection, the user must type in the alphanumeric password on the touch screen, which isn't an easy task. Once the MFC-790CW is connected, however, we were happy to see that scanning over a network worked well—a task other printers have struggled to complete.
We also tested the printer's ability to edit photos that have been saved to a memory card. Through the use of the touch screen, we were able to remove red eye, autocorrect, convert to sepia, and edit the image in several other ways. The controls weren't exactly intuitive, as it wasn't easy to return to the main editing menu once you'd selected an editing feature. But the image was easily editable and could be printed directly from the printer without the use of a computer—a useful feature for fans of direct camera printing.
The standard paper tray is underneath the printer and holds only 50 pages. You'll have to constantly feed the printer new paper for larger projects—no easy task, because you must remove the entire tray in order to change paper types or feed the machine more paper. We also found the printer to be susceptible to paper jams in our testing, and the automatic document feeder on the top of the printer is only for copying and scanning.
Brother says that the MFC-790CW can print 18 pages of black text in under a minute. Our results were more pedestrian. Our 10-page Word test, at the default printer settings, took 3 minutes and 28 seconds. That's not only much slower than the advertised times, but comparatively slower than most competing multifunction printers. We did find that the times became much faster when we set the printer to Grayscale and to a Fast setting, but this greatly reduced the quality of the text. While the standard text received a Very Good rating in our jury evaluation, the document produced at the Fast setting received only a Fair rating.
The color printing speed and quality was more impressive. It took the MFC-790CW 1 minute and 42 seconds to produce our four-page PDF document, and a little over 50 seconds to finish our 22MB Photoshop photo. The prints were of Very Good quality, with only minor details lost in the shadows.
The scans were also judged to be of Very Good quality, with exceptional clarity. Unfortunately, the MFC-790CW struggled when it came to the quality of its copies; our judges awarded the prints a Good rating, noting visible horizontal lines in the copy and a dark image that detracted from the overall picture.
Installing and replacing the ink-jet cartridges is simple, and replacement cartridges can be purchased from Brother directly; it'll cost you $25 per black ink cartridge and $10 per colored ink (yellow, cyan, or magenta) cartridge. Replacing all of your ink cartridges will cost you $55, and a fresh batch can be used to print up to 450 pages. At $0.12 a page, the MFC-790CW is also a comparatively cheap ink-jet printer to maintain.
Timed trials: print
|10-page Word test
|1-page Word test
|22MB Photoshop image
|4-page PDF
Scale = minutes:seconds
Timed trials: scan
|8-by-10-inch photo, 600 dpi scan
|4-by-6-inch photo, 1,200 dpi scan
Scale = minutes:seconds
Jury tests: print
|Graphics: Fine lines and gradients
|Very Good
|22MB Photoshop image quality
|Very Good
|Text quality
|Very Good
Scale = Superior, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor
Jury tests: scan
|Very Good
|Very Good
Scale = Superior, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor
|Print resolution
|600 x 1,200 dpi
|Scan resolution: Optical
|1,200 x 2,400 dpi
|Max. scanning bit depth
|USB 2.0;10/100 Ethernet; 802.11b/g
|Paper sizes
|3.9″ x 5.8″, 8.5″ x 11″, 8.5″ x 14″, 5.8″ x 5.8″
|Cost to replace ink
|$25 for black, $10 each for cyan, magenta, or yellow
|Weight (in pounds)
|Dimensions (height x depth x width, in inches)
|18.1 x 14.8 x 7.1
|Paper capacity
|50 sheets
|Special features
|Answering machine
Macworld's buying advice
Brother's MFC-790CW is a solid multifunction device for the home office. The versatility of having faxing, wireless printing, scanning, copying, and a built-in answering machine makes the machine highly desirable for home businesses, especially those working on a budget. On the one hand, its black text printing tests were slower overall compared to competing printers, which may give businesses that require quick printing pause before purchasing the MFC-790CW. But businesses that need to print color documents like manuals and guidebooks will enjoy the relative speed and affordability of the MFC-790CW.
[Chris Holt is an assistant editor for Macworld.]


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Welcome parents to our website! We added this space for you to let you know that there are a few things that you can do to help your sons and daughters succeed in college. We also want you to know that if you are searching for a university for your son or daughter to attend, we would be more than happy to answer any questions or discuss any concerns that you may have about the biology program or about VSU.
One of the biggest problems our students have is their misuse of cell phones. Getting up and walking out of class to answer a call is not acceptable behavior. Not only is it disruptive to the class, but they will also miss the lecture material. Even when we tell students to turn off the phones during class, many do not. Students often check their phones for messages repeatedly during class. Altogether, cell phones are a huge distraction for the students. And finally, some cell phones have math functions, but they are no substitute for a good calculator.
We live in a society that prizes material possessions, but trying to have it all when your just eighteen years-old is not realistic. Many of our students work to pay for college, but most are trying to pay for new cars, new phones, etc. If at all possible limit work to no more than 20 hours/week, even if that means they will be driving an old clunker around for a few years. Cars come and go, but bad grades are with you for life.
Try and put your sons and daughters into one of our fine dormitories. This will enhance their college experience by being around the campus more often. We also know that students who live in the dorms make better grades.
Remind your children to get involved in the department! Keep asking them about extra-curricular activities such as the biology clubs and working in the research labs of their professors. We know that the sooner students get involved in these activities the better they will do in class and the more likely it is that they will finish college.
Finally, college is not high school. College professors control their classrooms and there is no principal around to force teachers to put up with unruly students. It is quite shocking to a student when they are actually kicked out of class for talking, or not allowed in class because they are tardy. If we say late assignments are not accepted, we mean it. So, all of the bad behaviors that may have been reinforced and enabled in high school will just get you in trouble in college.
We want your sons and daughters to have a fantastic time in college and to leave here well-educated so that they will be successful in their chosen career. Please, speak to your sons and daughters about the items we've mentioned here and if they listen to you, they will be well on their way to that success.
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text: Royal Tourists, Colonial Subjects, and the Making of a British World, 1860-1911 examines the ritual space of nineteenth-century royal tours of empire and the diverse array of historical actors who participated in them. The book is a tale of royals who were ambivalent and bored partners in the project of empire; colonial administrators who used royal ceremonies to pursue a multiplicity of projects and interests or to imagine themselves as African chiefs or heirs to the Mughal emperors; local princes and chiefs who were bullied and bruised by the politics of the royal tour, even as some of them used the tour to symbolically appropriate or resist British cultural power; and settlers of European descent and people of colour in the empire who made claims on the rights and responsibilities of imperial citizenship and as co-owners of Britain's global empire. Royal Tourists, Colonial Subjects, and the Making of a British World suggests that the diverse responses to the royal tours of the nineteenth century demonstrate how a multi-centred British-imperial culture was forged in the empire and was constantly made and remade, appropriated and contested. In this context, subjects of empire provincialized the British Isles, centring the colonies in their political and cultural constructions of empire, Britishness, citizenship, and loyalty.


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Walker, James John
Walker, James John, 1881–1946, American politician, b. New York City. Dapper and debonair, Jimmy Walker, having tried his hand at song writing, engaged in Democratic politics and in 1909 became a member of the state assembly. After studying law at St. Francis Xavier College and at New York Univ. law school, he was admitted (1912) to the bar. He attracted the notice of several Tammany leaders and, under the tutelage of Alfred E. Smith, was elected (1914) to the state senate. In 1921 he became minority leader of the senate and effectively pushed through liberal legislation. With Tammany backing, he defeated John F. Hylan, the incumbent, and F. D. Waterman to become mayor of New York City in 1925. In office Walker backed the adoption of an extensive transit system, unified the public hospitals, and created the department of sanitation. Immensely popular with the electorate, he was returned to office in 1928, defeating Fiorello H. LaGuardia. As a result of several frauds exposed in the municipal government in Walker's second administration, the state legislature ordered an investigation headed by Samuel Seabury. Extensive corruption was revealed, and 15 charges were leveled at the mayor. Walker hastily resigned (Sept., 1932) before the hearings were closed and went to Europe, where he lived for a number of years. Later he returned to the United States and in 1940 was appointed by Mayor LaGuardia as a municipal arbiter for the garment industry.
See G. Fowler, Beau James (1949, repr. 1970); H. Mitgang, Once upon a Time in New York (2000).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History: Biographies


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USC fires football coach Lane Kiffin after 0-2 Pac-12 start
- Kiffin%27s job status had been under scrutiny since before the start of the football season
- NCAA sanctions have stripped the Trojans%27 roster of its depth
- Kiffin has been a lightning rod at all of his head coaching stops - in Oakland%2C Tennessee and at USC
Hours after a 62-41 loss at Arizona State — Southern California's seventh in 11 games — Lane Kiffin has been fired, the school announced.
According to a release posted on the school's website and announced on Twitter, athletics director Pat Haden informed Kiffin of the decision after the team's charter flight arrived in Los Angeles early Sunday morning. The release said there will be a news conference later Sunday.
Kiffin's record at USC in three-plus seasons is 28-15 and 32-19 in four-plus seasons overall. The Trojans are 3-2 but 0-2 in Pac-12 play. Kiffin took the USC job after Pete Carroll's departure for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks in January 2010, and had to deal with the impact of severe NCAA sanctions, including 30 lost scholarships over a three-year period and a two-year bowl ban, for rules violations that occurred during Carroll's era. The Trojans went 8-5 in 2010, 10-2 in 2011 and were ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls in 2012, but finished 7-6 and unranked.
Kiffin, 38, a former USC assistant, was the seventh-youngest FBS-level head coach entering the 2013 season. He was head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders from 2007-08 and at the University of Tennessee in 2009 before jumping to USC after one season. He drew criticism for brash actions during his tenure at Tennessee, and again last season at USC.
USC allowed 612 yards to Arizona State and committed four turnovers. Haden and USC school president Max Nikias were seen on the sidelines in what appeared to be in serious discussions in the late stages of the loss. The Trojans still must play Stanford, Notre Dame and UCLA.
USC has a bye this week, next playing Oct. 10 against Arizona at home. The Trojans could be without star receiver Marqise Lee, who suffered a left knee injury returning a punt in the fourth quarter Saturday. Earlier in the game, Lee set the school record for career receiving yards.
"It didn't look very good," Kiffin said after the game. "It didn't sound very good or look very good, so that's all I got for you."
George Schroeder, a national college football reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.


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The proposed rule maintains the minimum risk-based capital ratio requirements of 4.0 percent tier 1 capital to total risk-weighted assets and 8.0 percent total qualifying capital to total risk-weighted assets. Under the proposed rule, a bank's total qualifying capital is the sum of its tier 1 (core) capital elements and tier 2 (supplemental) capital elements, subject to various limits and restrictions, minus certain deductions (adjustments). The agencies are not restating the elements of tier 1 and tier 2 capital in this proposed rule. Those capital elements generally remain as they are currently in the general risk-based capital rules.31 The agencies have provided proposed regulatory text for, and the following discussion of, proposed adjustments to the capital elements for purposes of the advanced approaches.
The agencies are considering restating the elements of tier 1 and tier 2 capital, with any necessary conforming and technical amendments, in any final rules that are issued regarding this proposed framework so that a bank using the advanced approaches would have a single, comprehensive regulatory text that describes both the numerator and denominator of the bank's minimum risk-based capital ratios. The agencies decided not to set forth the capital elements in this proposed rule so that commenters would be able to focus attention on the parts of the risk-based capital framework that the agencies propose to amend. Question 21: Commenters are encouraged to provide views on the proposed adjustments to the components of the risk-based capital numerator as described below. Commenters also may provide views on numerator-related issues that they believe would be useful to the agencies' consideration of the proposed rule.
After identifying the elements of tier 1 and tier 2 capital, a bank would make certain adjustments to determine its tier 1 capital and total qualifying capital (that is, the numerator of the total risk-based capital ratio). Some of these adjustments would be made only to the tier 1 portion of the capital base. Other adjustments would be made 50 percent from tier 1 capital and 50 percent from tier 2 capital.32 Under the proposed rule, a bank must still have at least 50 percent of its total qualifying capital in the form of tier 1 capital.
The bank would continue to deduct from tier 1 capital goodwill, other intangible assets, and deferred tax assets to the same extent that those assets are currently required to be deducted from tier 1 capital under the general risk-based capital rules. Thus, all goodwill would be deducted from tier 1 capital. Qualifying intangible assets including mortgage servicing assets, non-mortgage servicing assets, and purchased credit card relationships that meet the conditions and limits in the general risk-based capital rules would not have to be deducted from tier 1 capital. Likewise, deferred tax assets that are dependent upon future taxable income and that meet the valuation requirements and limits in the general risk-based capital rules would not have to be deducted from tier 1 capital.33
Under the general risk-based capital rules, a bank also must deduct from its tier 1 capital certain percentages of the adjusted carrying value of its nonfinancial equity investments. An advanced approaches bank would no longer be required to make this deduction. Instead, the bank's equity exposures would be subject to the equity treatment in part VI of the proposed rule and described in section V.F. of this preamble.34
Under the general risk-based capital rules, a bank is allowed to include in tier 2 capital its ALLL up to 1.25 percent of risk-weighted assets (net of certain deductions). Amounts of ALLL in excess of this limit, as well as allocated transfer risk reserves, may be deducted from the gross amount of risk-weighted assets.
Under the proposed framework, as noted above, the ALLL is treated differently. The proposed rule includes a methodology for adjusting risk-based capital requirements based on a comparison of the bank's eligible credit reserves to its ECL. The proposed rule defines eligible credit reserves as all general allowances, including the ALLL, that have been established through a charge against earnings to absorb credit losses associated with on- or off-balance sheet wholesale and retail exposures. Eligible credit reserves would not include allocated transfer risk reserves established pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 390435 and other specific reserves created against recognized losses.
The proposed rule defines a bank's total ECL as the sum of ECL for all wholesale and retail exposures other than exposures to which the bank has applied the double default treatment (described below). The bank's ECL for a wholesale exposure to a non-defaulted obligor or a non-defaulted retail segment is the product of PD, ELGD, and EAD for the exposure or segment. The bank's ECL for a wholesale exposure to a defaulted obligor or a defaulted retail segment is equal to the bank's impairment estimate for ALLL purposes for the exposure or segment.
The proposed method of measuring ECL for non-defaulted exposures is different than the proposed method of measuring ECL for defaulted exposures. For non-defaulted exposures, ECL depends directly on ELGD and hence would reflect economic losses, including the cost of carry and direct and indirect workout expenses. In contrast, for defaulted exposures, ECL is based on accounting measures of credit loss incorporated into a bank's charge-off and reserving practices.
The agencies believe that, for defaulted exposures, any difference between a bank's best estimate of economic losses and its impairment estimate for ALLL purposes is likely to be small. As a result, the agencies are proposing to use a bank's ALLL impairment estimate in the determination of ECL for defaulted exposures to reduce implementation burden for banks. The agencies recognize that this proposed treatment would require a bank to specify how much of its ALLL is attributable to defaulted exposures, and that a bank still would need to capture all material economic losses on defaulted exposures when building its databases for estimating ELGDs and LGDs for non-defaulted exposures. Question 22: The agencies seek comment on the proposed ECL approach for defaulted exposures as well as on an alternative treatment, under which ECL for a defaulted exposure would be calculated as the bank's current carrying value of the exposure multiplied by the bank's best estimate of the expected economic loss rate associated with the exposure (measured relative to the current carrying value), that would be more consistent with the proposed treatment of ECL for non-defaulted exposures. The agencies also seek comment on whether these two approaches would likely produce materially different ECL estimates for defaulted exposures. In addition, the agencies seek comment on the appropriate measure of ECL for assets held at fair value with gains and losses flowing through earnings.
A bank must compare the total dollar amount of its ECL to its eligible credit reserves. If there is a shortfall of eligible credit reserves compared to total ECL, the bank would deduct 50 percent of the shortfall from tier 1 capital and 50 percent from tier 2 capital. If eligible credit reserves exceed total ECL, the excess portion of eligible credit reserves may be included in tier 2 capital up to 0.6 percent of credit-risk-weighted assets. The proposed rule defines credit-risk-weighted assets as 1.06 multiplied by the sum of total wholesale and retail risk-weighted assets, risk-weighted assets for securitization exposures, and risk-weighted assets for equity exposures.
A bank must deduct from tier 1 capital any increase in the bank's equity capital at the inception of a securitization transaction (gain-on-sale), other than an increase in equity capital that results from the bank's receipt of cash in connection with the securitization. The agencies have designed this deduction to offset accounting treatments that produce an increase in a bank's equity capital and tier 1 capital at the inception of a securitization - for example, a gain attributable to a CEIO that results from Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 140 accounting treatment for the sale of underlying exposures to a securitization special purpose entity (SPE). Over time, as the bank, from an accounting perspective, realizes the increase in equity capital and tier 1 capital that was booked at the inception of the securitization through actual receipt of cash flows, the amount of the required deduction would shrink accordingly.
Under the general risk-based capital rules,36 a bank must deduct CEIOs, whether purchased or retained, from tier 1 capital to the extent that the CEIOs exceed 25 percent of the bank's tier 1 capital. Under the proposed rule, a bank must deduct CEIOs from tier 1 capital to the extent they represent gain-on-sale, and must deduct any remaining CEIOs 50 percent from tier 1 capital and 50 percent from tier 2 capital.
Under the proposed rule, certain other securitization exposures also would be deducted from tier 1 and tier 2 capital. These exposures include, for example, securitization exposures that have an applicable external rating (defined below) that is more than one category below investment grade (for example, below BB) and most subordinated unrated securitization exposures. When a bank must deduct a securitization exposure (other than gain-on-sale) from regulatory capital, the bank must take the deduction 50 percent from tier 1 capital and 50 percent from tier 2 capital. Moreover, a bank may calculate any deductions from regulatory capital with respect to a securitization exposure (including after-tax gain-on-sale) net of any deferred tax liabilities associated with the exposure.
The proposed rule also requires a bank to deduct the bank's exposure on certain unsettled and failed capital markets transactions 50 percent from tier 1 capital and 50 percent from tier 2 capital, as discussed in more detail below in section V.D. of the preamble.
The agencies note that investments in unconsolidated banking and finance subsidiaries and reciprocal holdings of bank capital instruments would continue to be deducted from regulatory capital as described in the general risk-based capital rules. Under the agencies' current rules, a national or state bank that controls or holds an interest in a financial subsidiary does not consolidate the assets and liabilities of the financial subsidiary with those of the bank for risk-based capital purposes. In addition, the bank must deduct its equity investment (including retained earnings) in the financial subsidiary from regulatory capital at least 50 percent from tier 1 capital and up to 50 percent from tier 2 capital.37 A BHC generally does not deconsolidate the assets and liabilities of the financial subsidiaries of the BHC's subsidiary banks and does not deduct from its regulatory capital the equity investments of its subsidiary banks in financial subsidiaries. Rather, a BHC generally fully consolidates the financial subsidiaries of its subsidiary banks. These treatments would continue under the proposed rule.
For BHCs with consolidated insurance underwriting subsidiaries that are functionally regulated (or subject to comparable supervision and minimum regulatory capital requirements in their home jurisdiction), the following treatment would apply. The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary would be consolidated for purposes of determining the BHC's risk-weighted assets. However, the BHC must deduct from tier 1 capital an amount equal to the insurance underwriting subsidiary's minimum regulatory capital requirement as determined by its functional (or equivalent) regulator. For U.S. regulated insurance subsidiaries, this amount generally would be 200 percent of the subsidiary's Authorized Control Level as established by the appropriate state insurance regulator.
This approach with respect to functionally-regulated consolidated insurance underwriting subsidiaries is different from the New Accord, which broadly endorses a deconsolidation and deduction approach for insurance subsidiaries. The Board believes a full deconsolidation and deduction approach does not fully capture the risk in insurance underwriting subsidiaries at the consolidated BHC level and, thus, has proposed the consolidation and deduction approach described above. Question 23: The Board seeks comment on this proposed treatment and in particular on how a minimum insurance regulatory capital proxy for tier 1 deduction purposes should be determined for insurance underwriting subsidiaries that are not subject to U.S. functional regulation.
A March 10, 2005, final rule issued by the Board defined restricted core capital elements for BHCs and generally limited restricted core capital elements for internationally active banking organizations to 15 percent of the sum of all core capital elements net of goodwill less any associated deferred tax liability.38 Restricted core capital elements are defined as qualifying cumulative perpetual preferred stock (and related surplus), minority interest related to qualifying cumulative perpetual preferred stock directly issued by a consolidated DI or foreign bank subsidiary, minority interest related to qualifying common or qualifying perpetual preferred stock issued by a consolidated subsidiary that is neither a DI nor a foreign bank, and qualifying trust preferred securities. The final rule defined an internationally active banking organization to be a BHC that (i) as of its most recent year-end FR Y-9C reports total consolidated assets equal to $250 billion or more or (ii) on a consolidated basis, reports total on-balance sheet foreign exposure of $10 billion or more in its filing of the most recent year-end FFIEC 009 Country Exposure Report. The Board intends to change the definition of an internationally active banking organization in the Board's capital adequacy guidelines for BHCs to make it consistent with the definition of a core bank. This change would be less restrictive on BHCs because the BHC threshold in this proposed rule uses total consolidated assets excluding insurance rather than total consolidated assets including insurance.
- See 12 CFR part 3, Appendix A, § 2 (national banks); 12 CFR part 208, Appendix A, § II (state member banks); 12 CFR part 225, Appendix A, § II (bank holding companies); 12 CFR part 325, Appendix A (state nonmember banks); and 12 CFR 567.5 (savings associations). Return to text
- If the amount deductible from tier 2 capital exceeds the bank's actual tier 2 capital, however, the bank must deduct the shortfall amount from tier 1 capital. Return to text
- See 12 CFR part 3, § 2 (national banks); 12 CFR part 208, Appendix A, § II (state member banks); 12 CFR part 225, Appendix A, § II (bank holding companies); 12 CFR part 325, Appendix A, § II (state nonmember banks). OTS existing rules are formulated differently, but include similar deductions. Under OTS rules, for example, goodwill is included within the definition of "intangible assets" and is deducted from tier 1 (core) capital along with other intangible assets. See 12 CFR 567.1 and 567.5(a)(2)(i). Similarly, purchased credit card relationships and mortgage and non-mortgage servicing assets are included in capital to the same extent as the other agencies' rules. See 12 CFR 567.5(a)(2)(ii) and 567.12. The deduction of deferred tax assets is discussed in Thrift Bulletin 56. Return to text
- By contrast, OTS rules require the deduction of equity investments from total capital. 12 CFR 567.5(c)(2)(ii). "Equity investments" are defined to include (i) investments in equity securities (other than investments in subsidiaries, equity investments that are permissible for national banks, indirect ownership interests in certain pools of assets (for example, mutual funds), Federal Home Loan Bank stock and Federal Reserve Bank stock); and (ii) investments in certain real property. 12 CFR 567.1. Savings associations applying the proposed rule would not be required to deduct investments in equity securities. Instead, such investments would be subject to the equity treatment in part VI of the proposed rule. Equity investments in real estate would continue to be deducted to the same extent as under the current rules. Return to text
- 12 U.S.C. 3904 does not apply to savings associations regulated by the OTS. As a result, the OTS rule will not refer to allocated transfer risk reserves. Return to text
- See 12 CFR part 3, Appendix A, § 2(c)(4) (national banks); 12 CFR part 208, Appendix A, § I.B.1.c. (state member banks); 12 CFR part 225, Appendix A, § I.B.1.c. (bank holding companies); 12 CFR part 325, Appendix A, § I.B.5. (state nonmember banks); 12 CFR 567.5(a)(2)(iii) (savings associations). Return to text
- See 12 CFR 5.39(h)(1) (national banks); 12 CFR 208.73(a) (state member banks); 12 CFR part 325, Appendix A, § I.B.2. (state nonmember banks). Again, OTS rules are formulated differently. For example, OTS rules do not use the terms "unconsolidated banking and finance subsidiary" or "financial subsidiary." Rather, as required by section 5(t)(5) of the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA), equity and debt investments in non-includable subsidiaries (generally subsidiaries that are engaged in activities that are not permissible for a national bank) are deducted from assets and tier 1 (core) capital. 12 CFR 567.5(a)(2)(iv) and (v). As required by HOLA, OTS will continue to deduct non-includable subsidiaries. Reciprocal holdings of bank capital instruments are deducted from a savings association's total capital under 12 CFR 567.5(c)(2). Return to text
- 70 FR 11827 (Mar. 10, 2005). The final rule also allowed internationally active banking organizations to include restricted core capital elements in their tier 1 capital up to 25 percent of the sum of all core capital elements net of goodwill less associated deferred tax liability so long as any amounts of restricted core capital elements in excess of the 15 percent limit were in the form of mandatory convertible preferred securities. Return to text


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You must plan to see this exhibition at one of its three forthcoming venues (see traveling schedule below).
From the exhibition's website:
"First published in France in 1958 and in the United States in 1959, Robert Frank's The Americans is widely celebrated as the most important photography book since World War II. Including 83 photographs made largely in 1955 and 1956 while Frank (b. 1924) traveled around the United States, the book looked beneath the surface of American life to reveal a profound sense of alienation, angst, and loneliness. With these prophetic photographs, Frank redefined the icons of America, noting that cars, jukeboxes, gas stations, diners, and even the road itself were telling symbols of contemporary life. Frank's style—seemingly loose, casual compositions, with often rough, blurred, out-of-focus foregrounds and tilted horizons—was just as controversial and influential as his subject matter. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the book's publication by presenting all 83 photographs from The Americans in the order established by the book, and by providing a detailed examination of the book's roots in Frank's earlier work, its construction, and its impact on his later art.
Organization: Organized by the National Gallery of Art.
Sponsor: Access Industries is proud to be the principal sponsor of the exhibition.
The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Trellis Fund.
Early support for research was provided by the Marlene Nathan Meyerson Family Foundation.
The exhibition catalogue is published with the assistance of The Getty Foundation.
–>Schedule: National Gallery of Art, January 18–April 26, 2009; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 16–August 23, 2009; Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 22–December 27, 2009
Passes: Passes are not required for this exhibition.
The exhibition is on view in the West Building, Ground Floor, Outer tier."
Today on NPR's Weekend Edition there was a terrific piece on Frank and "THE BOOK THAT CHANGED PHOTOGRAPHY" interviewing Frank, curator Sarah Greenough, and Joel Meyerowitz and more; listen to it here
Greenough is the author of the accompanying publication:
"Published alongside the softcover edition, Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans"—Expanded Edition includes a wealth of additional materials, essential information for all interested in twentieth-century photography. It contains all of the essays and photographs in the softcover, plus all of Frank's vintage contact sheets related to The Americans, a section that re-creates his preliminary sequence and presents variant croppings of the first and subsequent editions of the book, a map and chronology of his travels around the United States in 1955 – 1956 on his Guggenheim fellowship, along with letters and manuscript materials by Frank, Walker Evans, and Jack Kerouac related to Frank's creation of this seminal book. This groundbreaking 528-page catalogue is certain to be the definitive source of information on The Americans for years to come.
528 pages, 108 color, 168 tritone, 210 duotone plates | 9.25 x 11.5 inches"


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Sunday, May 01, 2005
Lasagna Soup
16 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage
2 cups diced onions
1 cup diced carrots
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 cups chicken broth
14 1/2 ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
10 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup dry Campanelle pasta
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
4 ounces diced provolone cheese
1 ounce fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sliced fresh basil
In a dutch oven over medium-high, add sausage and cook until browned - crumble the sausage as you go with a wooden spoon. Add the onions and carrots - cook 3 minutes. Mix in the garlic, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper - cook 1 minute. Pour in the broth, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and add in the pasta. Simmer soup until the pasta has cooked. Mix in the fresh spinach and cook until wilted - about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
To serve - place 1 ounce of diced provolone in the bottom of 4 bowls. Evenly divide the soup between the 4 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan and basil.
Click here to be taken to the main post
15 comments:
Joe, this sounds just fantastic. I'm nuts about anything with Italian Sausage!!ReplyDelete
Thanks Kalyn - I have to agree with you, I love using it as well!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/20/2006 03:38:00 PM
Oh yum. That picture has my mouth watering! It's cold and rainy here in NYC, I think I may have to make this soup this weekend!ReplyDelete
Ceebee - Thanks!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10/23/2006 09:15:00 PM
Joe, What is your favorite soup recipe? I've been in the soup making mood and thought I'd check in with you first! The lasagna soup looks delicious (is there anything you post that doesn't make me drool?) but I wonder which you enjoy eating the most. IvanaReplyDelete
Ivana - I have to say, I think this soup ranks right up there as the new favorite!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous1/07/2007 07:12:00 AM
Joe: I made this soup yesterday. It was delicious and healthy. I loved the addition of provolone. Have enjoyed reading your blog, which I just recently discovered, and have copied several more of your recipes to try.ReplyDelete
Toby - Glad you gave it a try and thanks for the feedback!ReplyDelete
Oh, this looks so good and comforting, I can't wait to make it!ReplyDelete
Madeline - Let me know what you think!ReplyDelete
It's July in San Francisco...soup season! A cold wet blanket of fog is swirling outside my window, and the lasagna soup is simmering away. Hearty comfort food on a cold night! Thanks for the great recipe, Joe, it's one of my favorite soups.ReplyDelete
Hey you (Limoncello!) - I love this soup too and make it quite often for guests. Probably not appropriate, but I still make it when it is hot and muggy outside!ReplyDelete
I tried this for the family last night and they all loved it. One of the best soup recipes I've ever done!ReplyDelete
Kathy - Awesome! It is high on the repeat list here (which doesn't happen too often).ReplyDelete
- Anonymous1/18/2010 09:00:00 PM
I have had this recipe bookmarked for years... and FINALLY made this soup for the first time tonight! So, SO Good!ReplyDelete


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by Guest Author Keith Jurow
Editor's Note: This excerpt from Keith Jurow's just-released New York City Housing Market Report originally appeared on Minyanville. Keith Jurow's complete, in-depth analysis and report is available by subscription and can be downloaded here.
New York is the largest city and the most misunderstood housing market in the nation. Sellers think that the market in New York has held up rather well and ask a lot for their property. Most buyers look at the listing price, laugh and just walk away. The result has been very low sales volume at prices that cause many analysts to shake their head in bewilderment.
This report is written to help both buyers and sellers. If you are a potential buyer, you will learn why you need to be extremely careful to avoid overpaying on a property. If you are an active or potential seller, you will learn why asking prices throughout NYC are too high and why you must carefully determine a listing price that will actually entice buyers.
How the New York City Bubble Developed
The housing bubble that formed in NYC was 10 years in the making. From 1996 through 2006, the number of annual mortgage purchase loans originated for those claiming to be owner-occupants doubled. This terrific chart from a 2007 report put out by the Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy shows what occurred.
It is important to note that this does not include mortgages originated for the purchase of investment properties. Speculation during the key years of 2004-2006 was rampant throughout the Big Apple.
In 2005, the National Association of Realtors released the results of its annual home buyer survey which found that in 2004, 23% of all purchases were for investment and another 13% were "vacation homes." Clearly, the total number of purchase mortgages originated during these three bubble years in NYC was much higher than the Furman Center's figures.
Fraudulent mortgage applications were also widespread in the midst of the bubble. One report issued in late 2007 by Fitch Ratings found that 2/3 of the applications which they reviewed showed outright lying about the borrower's intention to occupy the property. Yet the Furman Center's report noted that according to data obtained under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), more than 90% of borrowers claimed that they intended to occupy the property. We know today that many were simply not telling the truth.
I have written about the huge number of fraudulent applications by purchasers claiming that they intended to occupy the home. Take the case of someone we will call L. V. At the end of 2006, he went on a 2-month buying spree in Queens in which he purchased 10 investment properties. L. V. obtained 20 mortgages from 10 different banks, putting little or nothing down on any of the purchases. Apparently none of the banks were interested in checking his other recent purchases to see whether he had the financial means to handle 20 mortgage payments.
L. V. never informed the banks that he had no intention of making the payments on any of the loans. One by one he defaulted on these loans. By the end of 2007, eight of the homes were in foreclosure. Undeterred, L. V. continued to collect rent from unsuspecting tenants whom he had put into these two-family homes. When an article about his scam appeared in late 2009, he was trying to evict tenants from two of the properties for non-payment of rent even as foreclosure actions against him were proceeding.
As lending standards collapsed between 2004 and 2006, prices soared along with the volume of property sales. Look at this chart from the Furman Center report showing the growth in the median amount of purchase loans obtained by borrowers.
Notice that during 2004-2006, the median size of a first lien for purchasing was more than $300,000. How could so many New Yorkers afford these huge loans? There were several reasons, but one of the most important was the growing availability of what became known as "piggy-back" second liens. Take a good look at this chart from the Furman Center report.
Banks offered these second liens to homeowners who couldn't afford or did not want to put 20% down. The growing use of piggy-back second mortgages enabled a substantial number of purchasers to buy a NYC property with little or nothing down. By 2006, 28% of all home purchases involved a piggy-back second lien.
Contrary to a widespread view, these piggy-back second mortgages went mainly to middle and upper income buyers. The Furman Center report showed that while only 3% of all borrowers in 2006 with incomes under $50,000 obtained a piggy-back second lien, more than 20% of all buyers with incomes over $50,000 used a piggy-back loan to finance the property.
An important report published in October 2007 by the Wall Street Journal examined 130 million loans originated over the previous 10 years. It found that origination of high interest rate second liens soared in 2006, especially among those who earned in excess of $200,000. Many were subprime loans because the borrower was too stretched to qualify for a prime loan.
Another dangerous development in 2006 In NYC was the large number of refinancing originations. According to the Furman Center report, 40% of all loans originated that year were refinancings. We know from nationwide figures that many were what became known as "cash-out refis." This is where the borrower took out a larger first mortgage to pull cash out of the rising equity in the house. That would come back to haunt these owners once the market turned down.
The Mortgage Delinquency Crisis Begins to Unfold
Tens of thousands of NYC borrowers were stretched out to the max during the bubble years of 2004-2006 with onerous mortgage payments. Since many had put down no more than 5-10%, any downturn in prices was certain to cause severe problems. Compounding the stress was the fact that countless speculators had purchased one or more properties with negative cash flow hoping that rising prices would bail them out.
Once prices leveled out and then started declining, speculators were the first to bail out. Roughly 60% of the 15,000 foreclosure filings in NYC in 2007 were on 2-4 family homes purchased by investors/speculators.
When my first article about Queens appeared in June 2010, I published a chart showing that the delinquency rate for Queens borrowers more than 60 days late in their mortgage payment had climbed from 3.5% at the end of 2007 to 6.1% a year later. These statistics came from Trans Union — the credit reporting firm – and its massive database of credit records. What startled me was that this rate had soared to 11.2% by the first quarter of 2010.
I researched this further and found that for the boroughs of Brooklyn and the Bronx, the rates were almost as bad. By the time I posted a follow-up article on Queens in October 2010, it was clear that the servicing banks had not been foreclosing on these seriously delinquent homeowners since early 2009. Then in May 2011, I published an article on Minyanville (Why NYC Home Prices Are Headed for Collapse) which expanded the discussion to all of NYC. In it, I warned that this huge shadow inventory of seriously delinquent properties would undermine home prices throughout the city.
Finally, in the last week of June 2011, the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (FRBNY) released a massive report on the state of serious mortgage delinquencies for all five boroughs.
Editor's Note: In his Housing Market Report, Keith provides actionable data, charts, in-depth analysis and specific advice to help buyers and sellers make better property decisions. Learn more to find out if a Housing Market Report is available for your area.
Related Articles
Public Construction Spending Contracting Faster than Private Spending Expands In September 2011 by Steve Hansen
Don't Look Now but Construction Spending is Up Y-o-Y by Steve Hansen
Case-Shiller Home Prices Improve Slightly in August 2011 by Steve Hansen
All Analysis posts by Keith Jurow
All Investing posts by Keith Jurow


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Craft Beer vs Mainstream Brands of Beer
Craft beer has been on the upswing for years now and is very much a part of the beer drinkers array of options for an afternoon half pint, pint or pitcher. Mainstream beer companies have of course seen this as an opportune time to join in the fun by producing their own craft-esque beers. However, there is an undeniable charm to knowing that you are drinking a fine craft beer


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Auburn Hills, Mich. , Nov 23, 2011 – Just two-and-a-half weeks after Mopar® introduced the new 800 horsepower V-10 Competition Race Engine for drag racing at the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, the off-road racing derivative of the crate engine made its debut in the 44th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, Nov. 18–19, powering Kent Kroeker and Alan Roach to the Class 8 win in the famed event.
Kroeker, owner of Kroeker Off-Road Engineering (KORE), shared the driving duties of the Ram 1500 with the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine under the hood, with Roach, who hails from Escondido, Calif. The pair covered the distance of nearly 700 miles through the rugged desert of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in just over 20 hours to record the Class 8 victory. Kroeker began the race and drove through the San Felipe loop, with Roach then taking the wheel for the remainder of the distance.
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The 2011 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 drew a total of 278 starters from 34 states and 16 different countries, in more than 30 different classes. The Class 8 division that Kroeker and Roach competed in with the Mopar V-10 Competition Off-Road Race Engine is comprised of full-size, two-wheel drive trucks.
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Updated 9:15 a.m. ET, 3/3/2014
(CNN) - Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday sharply denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin's "stunning, willful" actions in Crimea, characterizing the move as an "invasion" and saying "all options are on the table" as far as a U.S. response.
"You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th-century fashion, by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext," Kerry said, appearing on CBS's "Face the Nation."
[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker'][twitter-follow screen_name='danadavidsen']
International leaders prepare to 'isolate' Russia
In interviews with three U.S. television networks on Sunday, Kerry also said foreign leaders are prepared to put sanctions in place to "isolate Russia economically" if Putin does not roll back his forces in Crimea, an autonomous region of eastern Ukraine with strong loyalty to neighboring Russia. He said options could include visa bans, asset freezes and isolation by the international community on trade and investment, as well as Russia losing its spot in the G8.
"The G8 plus some others and all of them, every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate Russia with respect to this invasion," he said on CBS.
Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday the best leverage the U.S. can exert for now is "financial."
"The Achilles Heel for Russia is their economy–the ruble," the California Republican said on CNN's "New Day."
"We have to lead and we have to rally Europe around a series of steps that would actually impact the Russians economically: sanctions against state-owned banks," he added.
Obama on Ukraine: The U.S. is 'deeply concerned'
Kerry said Sunday that there are still plausible alternatives available to Putin, telling ABC that Russia could work toward a diplomatic solution with the U.S. and the United Nations, and could call for observers to be put in Ukraine.
"There are all kinds of alternatives. But Russia has chosen this aggressive act which really puts in question Russia's role in the world, and Russia's willingness to be a modern nation and part of the G8," Kerry said on ABC's "This Week."
Kerry condemns Russia's 'invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory'
Kerry said that while the U.S. is keeping its options open, escalated military involvement would "not serve the world well."
"The last thing anybody wants is a military option in this kind of situation," Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Will Putin heed Obama's warning?
Putin's military moves in Crimea further stress already weakened ties between the U.S. and Russia.
In a lengthy phone call with Putin over the weekend, Obama condemned the Russian leader's actions in Crimea, saying that Putin is in violation of international law, according to the White House. The administration announced it would suspend participation in preparatory meetings for the G8 summit that will bring world leaders together in June in Sochi, Russia.
"President Obama wants to emphasize to the Russians that there are a right set of choices that can still be made to address any concerns they have about Crimea, about their citizens, but you don't choose to invade a country in order to do that," Kerry said on CBS.
Asked what impact, if any, Obama's call had on Putin's mindset going forward in the crisis, the secretary of state said, "We are going to have to wait and see, but I think it was a very important conversation."
Kerry repeated that Putin's actions are "unacceptable" and could bring "serious repercussions" if they continue.
He called on Congress to help implement a series of economic sanctions against Russia aimed at helping Ukraine, an idea that has gained traction on both sides of the aisle as a bipartisan group of 12 senators from the Foreign Relations Committee expressed support for U.S. assistance in the crisis.
Partisan split on Obama's response to Russia
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Obama warned that Russia should not use military force to change the fate of Ukraine, underscoring the need for Ukrainian independence.
Republicans call on Obama to act on Ukraine
Lawmakers were split, unsurprisingly down party lines, on the effectiveness of Obama's public rebuke of the Russian president.
"I think Putin is playing chess and we're playing marbles," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said on "Fox News Sunday."
"They've really been running circles around us. And I think it's really the naive position on the National Security Council and the President's advisers that if we just keep giving things to Russia, they'll wake up and say, 'Well, the United States isn't all that bad.' That is completely missing the motivations of why Russia does what it does," the Michigan Republican added.
Lawmakers call for suspension of Russia from G8, swift action against Putin
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, told CNN's Candy Crowley on "State of the Union" that Obama needed to offer more than just threats as Putin ramps up military involvement in Crimea.
Democrats quickly rose to Obama's defense.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, also appearing in Fox, said that critics should concentrate their attacks on Putin, not Obama.
"We're 48 hours into an international crisis. I would hope Americans are focused on condemning the actions of Putin rather than in a knee-jerk way again criticizing the President of the United States. Let's stand together on this," the Maryland Democrat said.
Putin overplays his hand and we are now in the Cold War? Grow the hell up people before your ideological American doom and gloom does come true and your childish internet behavior creates a situation that does require another prolonged war.
Rudy...Romney said that Russia was the USAs number one geo-political threat in the world and that Iran was the country posing the biggest threat of "terrorism". Obama chided him and said that the "Cold war" was over and had been since the 80's. Romney said make no mistake , he had eyes on Russia and that his sight was not comprimised by "rose colored" glasses. So obviously, you pick and choose the talking points that promote your left leaning bias, as you consistently do.
Touche, CryBabies. Well done indeed.
Rudy...Romney said that Russia was the USAs number one geo-political threat in the world and that Iran was the country posing the biggest threat of "terrorism". Obama chided him and said that the "Cold war" was over and had been since the 80's. Romney said make no mistake , he had eyes on Russia and that his sight was not comprimised by "rose colored" glasses. So obviously, you pick and choose the talking points that promote your left leaning bias, as you consistently do.
You're the one who attacked by innuendo, not me. You're the one who put the ball on the tee for me to drive.
You've got it wrong. In fact, completely wrong. Romney had declared Russia the world's greatest nuclear threat. Not Iran. Not N. Korea. Russia. I also recall that Romney was heavily criticized for making those statements, too. The remarks only escalated tensions between the two leaders, especially for Putin, who's been snubbed by Bush for nearly a decade.
The Cold War is over. It has been Republicans who have been trying to revive it to give the miliatary industrial complex some business.
Romney said. Palin said. McCain said. Squawk. Squawk. Squawk.
The market will decide what happens in Russia. Not America.
Those that own the world and all who inhabit it today will decide what to do with Putin.
They decide. Not America. Thank you Ronald Reagan.
When Kerry speaks.......No one listens.
Lol. Rudy talking about the military industrial complex. Hilarious. So, in the new budget that slashes the military, guess what wasn't cut Rudy? Contractors is the answer. Obama is just as beholden to the military industrial complex as Bush. The only difference is that Obama cuts the budget and reduces our troops. They both made sure that contractors were not affected.
"Will Putin heed Obamas warning?"... No. But perhaps, if Obama uses his super-power of "endless speeches", he'll bore Putin into submission... leaving him rendered useless and begging Obama to stop talking.
Rudy...Again you don't read , correctly, what is written. What I referred to above was the tape of the debate, replayed by CNN last week explicitly focusing on the exchange between Obama/Romney regarding Russia-Cold war-Iran. Obama chided Romney telling him to "call the 80's regarding the Cold war and that Iran, not Russia, was the number one threat promoting "terrorism" around the world. NO mention, in that exchange was made to nuclear weapons held by Russia....that was your addition to the talking points. Russia was referred to as the "greatest geo-political threat " to the USA. Go on you tube and I'm sure you will find the exchange. I am not wrong.,
john Kerry is out of touch and powerless.Putini senses this and is taking aim.
I am no fan of Palin but she was also correct in assessing what Russia would do. You should read the comments that people made about her, especially rs. The hatred of this woman from the left is palpable. What is so funny is that while they are calling her an idiot and making fun of how she could see Russia from her house none of them would acknowledge that content of the story. The content showing Palin was correct.
Don't cross this line, eeerrr, I mean this line, eerrr No really I mean this line !!! What do you expect after putin handed bammy his backside over Syria ??? Is gitmo still open ???
Putin know Obama is all bark and no bite. He is to busy watching American citizens to know what is going on in the world.
tom I ..... Yes, that is true and was also brought to bare on Fox ( Heaven forbid we mention them!!). It says much about the vision Romney, Palin and others on the right of center had, have regarding Russia and other antagonistic countries. I come on here knowing this site is 80-85% liberal and it is a real eyeopener to the gap in political ideology. But I don't indulge 24/7. Most on here have squatters rights...I beleive it fuels their existence.
Oooo... Putin's bunny slippers are running for cover.
Stop talking & thinking Barrack; & instead start Obaming. In other word do a Kennedy on this Vlad & mean it. Every day lost to this bully doing things to taunt Ukraine will be days lost for Ukrainian lives, because once a shot rings out whether it's meant of not...it will turn into mayhem & don't think the wider world won't be affected...because it will. And there are enough leader nutcases in the world who will side with this Megalomaniac. Doing nothing & Putin will go ahead & may then put his eyes on Poland/Romania/Czechoslovakia...
PS. China are putting out mixed messages telling Russia one thing & since then telling their own they don't agree with the invasion.
President Obama is the President and he will decide what to do. Not Graham or McCain who would of had us in 5 wars by now if they had their way. Ridiculous. Thank God we have President Obama at the helm instead of those two. Too fast to shoot from the hip. President Obama has strategies and won't foot the bill alone. Smart. That is not weak, that's strong. Good leader.
Stop! Or I'll say stop again.... Russia knows we aren't going to do anything so why look so silly with the pointless posturing on our part?
Putin does not care what you say Mr. Kerry. Just head back home and stay quiet. Obama and his administration are total failures. Time to get a real leader for America........Obama do the right thing and resign!!!!!!!!
Quick call easter island and tell them one their statues is missing


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Lady Gaga has nothing on this guy, who has bravely donned a full suit of armor made from slabs of meat and twine. The question is, for the love of Gene the Cow, why?
I'm assuming that this was part of some sort of photo project, which would help explain the tail. Hopefully, this fellow wasn't being used as bait for some hungry carnivore, and presumably, he wasn't off to slay any vegetarian dragons.
Could it be that he's really committed to cosplaying Deadpool in meat armor and just hasn't gotten around to making the pig-head helm?
[Eat Liver via Geeks Are Sexy]