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This article was originally published in the March/April 1995 issue of Home Energy Magazine. Some formatting inconsistencies may be evident in older archive content.
| Home Energy Home Page | Back Issues of Home Energy |
Home Energy Magazine Online March/April 1995
CCC Huddles with HUD
Citizens Conservation Corporation (CCC) is awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the purchase of a large portion of its assets by EUA Cogenics, a subsidiary of Eastern Utility Associates (EUA). Our company is going off in two directions, said CCC president Steve Morgan. The part that does performance contracting will become EUA/Citizens Conservation Services.
The new affiliation is designed to give CCC stronger financing capabilities to take advantage of new performance contracting opportunities in the public housing market, namely, 1991 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations allowing public housing authorities to keep a portion of the savings generated through energy-efficiency improvements. Morgan said CCC is seeking similar incentives for the assisted housing market, and is proposing to pilot the concept on a project in Lansing, Michigan. More commonly known as Section 8 housing, assisted housing is privately owned, with rents subsidized for low income tenants.
The HUD regulations provide public housing authorities with a fiscal incentive to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. While HUD provides public housing authorities with operating and modernization subsidies, when it comes down to energy-efficiency performance contracting, money is limited and the need exceeds the funds available, said Bill Thorson, director of the maintenance and supply division of HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing. Of the $2.5 billion that Congress appropriates annually for operating the nation's public housing projects each year, about $1 billion goes to pay for utilities.
Regulations now allow housing authorities to enter into performance contracts to implement energy-saving measures, using a portion of the savings to pay off the investment. HUD will freeze the authority's utility subsidy--which is normally based on an historical, three-year average--for up to 12 years, allowing the authority to pay off the project and make a little extra money that can be used for other purposes.
The housing authorities use at least half of the savings to pay the debt service on the project, and keep the rest, said Thorson. It generates some discretionary funds and allows them to shift items they normally cover with modernization funding. So far, only about 20 projects have been initiated under the regulation, but with 3,400 public housing authorities operating facilities nationwide, the potential for energy savings is immense.
HUD's Thorson said energy performance contracting only makes sense for larger facilities, 500-plus unit projects that might expect $200,000-$500,000 in savings. For the smaller projects, however, the HUD regulations provide a simpler mechanism for financing energy-efficiency improvements in public housing. An authority can hire a contractor to do the audit and use non-HUD financing to fund the project. HUD will add the cost of debt service to the authority's operating subsidy for these smaller, short payback programs. We don't freeze the base, but you get to keep the savings for those first three years, Thorson explained.
Power Saving Partners
CCC also opened an office in San Francisco last year, when they won a contract for Pacific Gas & Electric Company's (PG&E) Power Saving Partners Program. It's kind of unique because there's no cost share by the property owners, said CCC program manager Larry Bravo. PG&E pays us over the course of the term of the program, through 2003, based on verified savings. The burden is on us to install measures that are persistent and show good savings.
CCC has completed the lighting phase of its first project under the PG&E contract, two 200-unit apartment buildings operated by Christian Church Homes in Oakland, California. Bravo expects to save the owner $35,000 annually on those two buildings as a result of the lighting measures alone. Those dollar savings translate into an estimated 30 kW peak reduction and annual energy savings of 243,000 kWh. We're phasing the measures in, which gives the owners a comfort level with us, he said. They get some savings, and we get some payments from PG&E, which makes it easier to go on and do the more complicated measures.
CCC has another eight buildings scheduled for retrofits under the PG&E program. PG&E is sponsoring retrofits in a variety of areas under the program, but CCC is the only contractor serving the multifamily sector under the program.
CCC currently employs about 20 people, 15 of whom will move to Lowell, Massachusetts, where EUA is based. Remaining CCC staffers will continue to pursue the organization's mission of promoting energy efficiency in multifamily buildings, with an emphasis on low-income housing, researching the persistence of savings, and providing technical assistance to other non-profits and state agencies. Since 1981, CCC has retrofitted more than 15,000 multifamily units.
EUA Cogenics is the energy-efficiency services subsidiary of Eastern Utilities, a Boston-based electric utility that serves parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The company--which began its life as Citizens Heat and Power, a division of Citizens Energy--has 210 employees and operations in about 30 states. It's a natural evolution for us to get involved in the housing market, said EUA Cogenics president Joseph Patrick, explaining that EUA Cogenics previously concentrated on the institutional building market, serving schools, hospitals and government buildings. It's a pretty logical merger, he said.
--Abba Anderson
Abba Anderson is a freelance writer
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subset: commoncrawl


text: Home & Garden Home How to Kill Mildew Naturally By S.A. Rogers S.A. Rogers Writer Flagler College S.A. Rogers is a freelance writer who specializes in sustainability and corporate responsibility. Learn about our editorial process Updated May 29, 2020 Share Twitter Pinterest Email A leaky faucet can cause mildew to grow, but it can be easily cleaned with vinegar or baking soda. Svetlin Gospodinov/Shutterstock Home Natural Cleaning Pest Control DIY Family Green Living Thrift & Minimalism Sustainable Eating When those tell-tale black spots start to appear on tile, walls and fabric, you know you've got a problem: mildew, the stubborn fungus that loves to colonize dark and damp places. As warm weather brings higher humidity levels to many areas of the home, mildew can get out of control. But you don't have to resort to bleach or other toxic solutions to keep your home mildew-free. Here's how to kill mildew naturally. Air and Sunlight Fresh air and direct exposure to sunlight will eliminate mildew, so portable items like clothing can be hung on a clothesline or placed outside. Just be sure to bring it in before it rains, which can worsen the problem for items that aren't washable. If your mildewed bathroom or basement has a window, open it up and place a fan inside the window to get some air moving in the space and let in light. Then, get ready to attack the mildew with natural solutions like vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil and baking soda. Vinegar and Essential Oils White vinegar is a safe, natural and very effective mold and mildew killer. A study by a microbiologist at Good Housekeeping found that vinegar is 90 percent effective against mold, and 99.9 percent effective against bacteria. You can either soak a sponge in full-strength vinegar, or fill a spray bottle and thoroughly soak affected areas. Let it sit for a few hours, and then scrub it with a brush or a coarse scrubbing sponge. The smell of the vinegar will dissipate within a few hours, but if it bothers you, you can simply add some of your favorite essential oils to the spray bottle to make it more pleasant. Virtually any essential oil will work, but there are some that boost vinegar's mildew-killing power. Not only will grapefruit seed extract tone down the scent of vinegar, it has anti-fungal properties of its own, so it's an ideal addition. Tea tree oil may just be the greatest natural mold and mildew killer of all. While it has a strong scent and is not nearly as cheap as vinegar, it has powerful fungus-killing abilities. You can either add two teaspoons of tea tree oil to two cups of water to spray onto affected surfaces, or add a few drops to your vinegar mildew-killing solution. Baking Soda and Peroxide Baking soda is mildly abrasive, so it's ideal for scrubbing away the remnants of mildew and mold. It works especially well in tough spots like grout, where mildew can leave stains behind even after it's killed. Make a paste out of baking soda and water and simply work it into the surface with a scrub brush or sponge. Rinse with white vinegar to eliminate the white residue that baking soda leaves behind. Hydrogen peroxide is another way to kill mildew naturally. Just apply it full-strength directly to affected surfaces, let it sit for at least ten minutes and then wipe the mildew away. Mold and Mildew Preventatives The best way to prevent mold and mildew from growing in the first place is to be vigilant about leaks. Just a little bit of water leaking from pipes, a sink, a water heater or the roof can lead to a big battle. To prevent mildew growth in the bathroom, you can keep a spray bottle of full-strength vinegar handy. Spray down shower, bathtub and tile surfaces after each shower or bath and allow it to dry. Another natural solution for the prevention of mold and mildew is a new product called Zep Commercial Clear Shell. This non-toxic spray uses an anti-microbial by-product of crab shells to create an invisible, long-lasting shield. Sprayed onto a surface after it has been cleaned of mold and mildew, the Clear Shell product prevents future outbreaks. Ensure that dark, dank basements and other mildew-prone places stay as dry as possible with a de-humidifier, which can pull moisture out of the air and rob fungi of the conditions they need in order to thrive. Choose an Energy Star dehumidifier, which will do the job without consuming excessive amounts of energy. Many de-humidifiers have 24-hour timers that allow you to run them at certain intervals throughout the day. Got other tips for how to kill mildew naturally? Leave us a note in the comments below.


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Whoever you are, you probably use bags every single day. Between messenger bags for work, drawstring bags for day trips and insulated lunch bags, everyone needs a bag to keep their belongings together and secure.
Consider the promotional value that could come from reusable bags with your company's logo on them. Every time some glances at their bag — likely multiple times a day — they'll be reminded of your business. As they go through their daily routines, they'll pass countless potential customers that will see your logo and gain familiarity with your brand. Suddenly, every person with one of your promotional bags is an ambassador for your products and services.
At ePromos, we want to help you grow your business through our range of promotional advertising bags. Whatever kind of bag you're hoping to make part of your brand, we're sure to have something that works for you. Choose from our executive, everyday and eco-easy options and customize the color, material, style and imprint method to get exactly what you have in mind. Take a look at some of our various style options to decide what's right for you!
If you're looking for a long-lasting promotional product that people will use every day, consider advertising your logo on tote bags. Promotional tote bags are one of the most practical, cost-effective ways to get your brand noticed every day. Even just a few people carrying them around town or at an event like a trade show will plant brand awareness in the minds of everyone they pass by.
One of the main benefits people recognize in reusable tote bags is their sustainability. These durable canvas bags can last for years, and people use them for anything from grocery shopping to an everyday purse. We make our tote bags with eco-friendly materials, so along with promoting eco-friendliness through the tote bag itself, your bags will actively help others go green.
Imprinted drawstring backpacks are a favorite among clubs, camps, schools and event planners. These convenient, lightweight bags are great for travel, hiking, running and conference circuits where guests will be collecting a lot of information and free swag. The great thing about drawstring bags is that any industry can find a use for them.
ePromos has many basic drawstring bags available as well as some unique collections for your next event. Choose from bags shaped like footballs, golf balls and other sports equipment for big tournaments, or use cute dogs and cats to appeal to animal lovers. We make all our bags from top-quality canvas that will make people remember your company for years to come.
Insulated lunch and cooler bags are great for daily use in the cafeteria or lunchroom. They're also perfect for trips to the park or beach. Are you taking your company out on a day trip or team-building excursion? Supply your employees with branded lunch bags that keep your company logo front and center. Gain exposure for your brand wherever you go with your custom cooler bag on hand.
Our backpacks, sling bags and duffle or sports bags are some of the most versatile, durable bags in our selection. With your logo, these will make perfect giveaway items at college orientations and sporting events. You can also use them as retail items to promote school spirit or raise money for departments.
These bags are great for more than school and going to the gym. Even high-level professionals can find uses for a good backpack, from carrying files and laptops to serving as a carry-on for a quick business trip. Sports bags are even roomier, allowing anyone to keep everything they need on hand during a trip to the gym, a sleepover or even just a busy day.
Today, the need for reusable shopping bags is higher than ever. Show your brand's commitment to eco-friendliness by providing reusable shopping bags to your employees and customers.
If you're looking for a more lightweight option to send out in mailers or keep available in your lobby, we also offer paper and plastic bag options.
Also, if you sell products or services people love to give as gifts, why not make sure the receiver knows exactly where their gift came from? Branded gift bags add a more high-class feel to your product, reassuring your buyers that every part of your product is thought out and manufactured with care — even the packaging.
On average, owners of custom bags use them about 5.8 times per month. A nice-looking bag is always a conversation starter, too. Harness this powerhouse marketing tool today by connecting with the brand consultants at ePromos. We're sure that you'll find our selections, prices and customer service to be the best in the business. Give us a call at 877-377-6667 to discuss all your options with an expert!
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This photo? It's of the Ear Force X4. I liked the system quite a bit back when I reviewed it. Now, the latest edition of this Xbox 360 wireless surround chat-ready headset sounds even better with one really great update.
(This is the new model. It looks similar, I know.)
The infrared system seen in the X4 has been swapped out for a 2.4Ghz RF system in the X41. In other words, you should never get any hiss on the line from interference or loss of line of sight. The other big upgrade is that the formerly Dolby 5.1 headset now supports Dolby 7.1. I'm not convinced that most users will tell an immediate difference, but surely the detail looks nice on the box.
Apple MacBook Air Laptop
Powerful performance
The M1 chip delivers 3.5x faster performance than the previous generation all while using way less power. Get up to 18 hours of battery life.
(Oh, and the less-promoted upgrade is that the X41's transmitter runs off Xbox 360 USB if you'd like, so there's no need for an AC adapter. Neat.)
Sadly, manufacturer Turtle Beach didn't solve the Ear Force's biggest flaw: its lack of a rechargeable battery pack. While there aren't many other headsets that offer such a niche solution (wireless surround sound gaming with integrated Xbox chatting), most surround sound headsets exploit lithium ion tech so you don't rip through so many batteries. And for $200, it's hard to believe that the X41 goes cheap on the power. [Turtle Beach]


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New book details infamous Avery case
- Hopes prosecutors will benefit from book's publication
MILWAUKEE – An eastern Wisconsin man's conviction for killing a photographer on Halloween 2005 after being released from prison for a rape he did not commit was one of the most dramatic criminal cases in recent state history.
Almost a decade later, the story of Steven Avery's wrongful conviction in 1985 and the murder of Teresa Halbach have been detailed in a book authored by a prosecutor in Manitowoc County, where the crimes happened.
"Out of what otherwise is such a tragic story we should always look for some kind of hope and if anything can come from the whole story is that the criminal justice system can learn something from it," said Assistant District Attorney Michael Griesbach, who started working for the county in 1991 and was only involved in Avery's exoneration.
The book, "The Innocent Killer," will be released Aug. 7 by the American Bar Association. It is slightly different than his 2010 self-published book on the same topic, "Unreasonable Inferences."
Avery spent 18 years in prison for the rape of Penny Beerntsen before he was freed in 2003 after DNA samples linked another man, Gregory Allen, to the crime.
About two years later, Halbach disappeared on Halloween 2005. Avery and his then 17-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey, were accused of killing Halbach and burning her remains on the family's salvage lot. Both got life terms, but Dassey is the only one eligible for parole — in 2048.
In the book, Griesbach accuses the rape case's prosecutor Denis Vogel and then-Sheriff Tom Kocourek of ignoring the strong evidence against Allen, including that he was accused of similar crimes on the same beach where Beernsten was assaulted. But Avery, then 23, already had been in trouble — burning a cat and being accused of exposing himself to a sheriff's deputy's wife, so he quickly became the prime suspect. The prosecutor and sheriff relied heavily on Beerntsen pointing to Avery in a lineup; they never gave her a lineup that included Allen.
In 2003, then-state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager concluded that no criminal charges or ethics violations should be brought against any officials involved in the investigation and prosecution of Avery.
Griesbach, who helped the office during Avery's exoneration, said in a 2011 state bar magazine article that the prosecutor and sheriff had "moral shortcomings."
"Perhaps they failed to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct; after all, ridding the streets of dangerous miscreants like Mr. Avery is part of their jobs," Griesbach wrote. "But regardless of their intent, the devastating aftermath of their actions is a tragic example of the unintended consequences that can flow from a single wrong."
Messages left by The Associated Press for Vogel and Kocourek were not returned.
Griesbach suggested Halbach might be alive today if not for the wrongful conviction, saying Avery's prison time exacerbated "his sociopathic tendencies." He noted that Avery told his wife he was trying to get his life back in line — so maybe Avery would have been successful in changing or going down the same path and landing in prison for a different crime.
He said several law professors around the country have already requested the book and he hopes this will make future prosecutors and attorneys "more aware of the enormous responsibility they will possess."
Meanwhile, Halbach's brother, Mike Halbach, is unhappy about the book.
"Violence doesn't have to be made into entertainment, especially when additional undue harm is caused toward those who were victimized in the first place," he said by email.
Griesbach said his only regret about the book is if it negatively affects the Halbach family.
Beerntsen wrote the book's postscript and said she can understand the sentiments of the Halbach family, but she hopes the book serves as a learning tool for prosecutors using suspect lineups.
"Not to learn from a case is to invite history to repeat itself," she said.


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The 10 Worst Members of Congress
Senator Joe Lieberman (I), Connecticut
Inherent in politics is the fact that someone always loses. Some lose gracefully, some lose poorly, and, as in the case of Joe Lieberman, some lose their minds. Since being defeated by an antiwar candidate in the Democratic primary in 2006, Lieberman (who was subsequently reelected as an Independent) has pursued his campaign of revenge against his former party, thinly disguised as an act of principle, replete with the quavering sanctimony that no country should have to put up with from anyone, much less from this small man.
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R), Georgia
Chambliss is a senator today by sole virtue of the fact that in 2002 he attacked incumbent Max Cleland -- who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam and earned Silver and Bronze stars -- as soft on defense and lacking in patriotism. Where was ol' Saxby during the war? Home, of course, claiming a "football injury." How you get elected reflects your character, and Chambliss should never be allowed to live down the shame of what he did in 2002. Never.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R), Minnesota
One gets the impression that if, in the name of "traditional values," Bachmann could rescind the vote for women, she would. Her vacant, wild eyes recall a doomsday prophet, or one of Charlie Manson's girls. Equal parts religious hack and party hack, she's got spunk and not much else.
Senator John Cornyn (R), Texas
Cornyn has taken up Rick Santorum's cudgel on gay marriage, but whereas Santorum's dark visions were man-on-dog, Cornyn dreams of state-sanctioned unions between man and turtle, and of "a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife." Whoa. None of our business, senator. But you'll have to work it out on your own time.
Rep. Pete Stark (D), California
Stark gives bumbling, dyspeptic old fools who say stupid things a bad name. Choice recent example: accusing Republicans of sending troops to Iraq "to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." Oh, and Stark's been elevating the discourse in the House just like that for 36 years.
Rep. William Jefferson (D), Louisiana
Unraveling Jefferson's web of payoffs and family perks would take pages; in this space, let it be said that he's filthy as a pig in stink and twice as lucky: His colleagues shamefully defended congressional prerogatives after the FBI raided his office in 2006, to document his corruption. Oh, and congressman, we're still waiting for the perfectly good explanation for the $90,000 in cash federal investigators found in your freezer.
Rep. Steve King (R), Iowa
King believes himself to be clever, and his list of idiot declarations is probably the longest in Washington. Now he toes the fine line between idiocy and bigotry when he argues that Barack Hussein Obama's presence in the White House will aid Islamic terrorists. Iowa, please, we're begging you.
Rep. Joe Baca (D), California
As chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Baca steered CHC funds to the campaigns of his two sons. When Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez called him on it, he did the mature thing and called her a "whore." Nice. So Baca's corrupt and venal.
Rep. John Murtha (D), Pennsylvania
Murtha's principled early stand on the war must never be forgotten. But neither must his stand against his own party's ethics reforms in 2006. The reforms were, he said, "total crap." Not because they were bad public policy, mind you, but because they might rein in Murtha's breathtaking earmarks -- more than $100 million annually for his Johnstown district, the richest handout in the country. Oh, and as Defense Appropriations Subcommittee chairman, he routinely punishes other members by taking away their earmarks. Murtha's got to go.
Senator Ted Stevens (R), Alaska
For all its resource riches and talk of rugged individualism, Alaska is by far the welfare state of the Union, relying on Washington to support its economy more than any of the less ruggedly individualistic states. Stevens has always been Alaska's consummate pork farmer. Now, inevitably, he's under indictment for having a donor remodel his vacation "chalet" to the tune of $250,000 or so.
At the Biggest Machine Gun Shoot in the World
Trump's Legal Peril Kicks the Can Down the Road
Because Even Sports Won't Ever "Stick to Sports"
Can Trump Run If He's Indicted? If He's Convicted?


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How To Integrate The Latest Platform (e.g. Pinterest) Into Your Facebook Presence
You need to be where your consumers, fans and prospects are, but, with so many social platforms, it can be difficult to keep up and make sure everything works together. Ensuring the marketing, strategy, and consumer journey is consistent, fits together, and tells a story that ladders up to your objectives and goals is easier said […]
You need to be where your consumers, fans and prospects are, but, with so many social platforms, it can be difficult to keep up and make sure everything works together. Ensuring the marketing, strategy, and consumer journey is consistent, fits together, and tells a story that ladders up to your objectives and goals is easier said than done.
It's safe to bet that Facebook has evolved into the hub of your social media marketing, and the announcement of Timeline for Pages may make it even more central. It is the place where your content, stories, and communication live as well as thrive. But chances are good that your company may also have a Twitter account, a YouTube account, and now you may be exploring Pinterest, Spotify, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, and the list goes on. So what can you do to make sure these channels are connected and, more importantly, have some sort of relationship?
First the disclaimer: not all channels will integrate seamlessly nor does it make sense for all channels to play well in the sandbox together. However, it's important to explore the possible connections and opportunities.
These days you can't go far without hearing about Pinterest. Mainstream media outlets are writing about it, and as the fastest growing site ever, the chances are good that you're thinking about how to use it to market to consumers. For those that have begun to utilize the power of the "pin" it's important to consider how to leverage that on Facebook.
The simple act of cross promoting is always a great first step. Create a well-crafted status with a link to your Pinterest account and let your Facebook fans know where to find you. Looking to take that one step further? With Facebook Timeline you are given the option to pin (not to be confused with Pinterest's act of pinning) the status to the top of the Page. So regardless of what other content you post, that link to Pinterest will always remain front and center until another piece of content is pinned to the top of your Facebook Page.
Sadly, the seamless integration a user gets between Pinterest and their Facebook Timeline isn't offered in Pages. Additionally, what you pin on Pinterest won't show up in the News Feed or on your Page's Timeline unless you purposefully put it there. Since Pinterest centers around visuals and rich imagery, a good workaround is to create an album on Facebook that corresponds to your Pinterest, and update it consistently — offering a "best of Pinterest". This not only presents a great visual but also cross-promotes and adds content.
What Pinterest lacks in Page integration Instagram picks up. Instagram is a photo sharing application that allows users to take a photo, apply a digital filter, then share it to a variety of social networking platforms, including Instagram's own stream. As it's currently only available on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, it becomes even more important to connect the photos you take via Instagram with your Facebook Page, to allow for additional engagement. Instagram's integration with Facebook gives you the option to push your photos directly to the Page's wall. Once you take the photo and craft copy as a Facebook Admin, you have the ability to post it to your Page's wall. Given Facebook's push to emphasize stories and content over tabs, as evidenced by Timeline, Instagram is a great way to incorporate content in a visually appealing way.
Want to give the photo a spotlight? In Timeline you can star the story to make it wider — having the entire picture show on screen.
Tumblr is a great alternative to a traditional blog and has seen quite a following in the fashion/retail and media industry. Similarly to Pinterest, there is no simple way to connect your Tumblr with your Facebook Page the way a user can. However, if you can't bring the social platform to Facebook you bring Facebook to the platform! Ann Taylor is an example of a company doing a great job of integrating Facebook and Tumblr.
Directly on the top left of their Tumblr there's a call to action to join them on Facebook. Scroll down a bit more and you'll notice a widget on the right hand side with another call-to-action to "Like" their Page and a showcase of their latest status updates.
As mentioned above, there's always the ability to cross promote. Have a great entry on Tumblr that you want to share it on Facebook? Share away! Just be sure to avoid using Facebook as an RSS feed. Use the hub of your social networks to highlight the others — not as a place to dump everything and anything.
Everything Else
With Facebook and the industry at large evolving at breakneck speed, it becomes even more critical to step back and evaluate your social media platform strategy. At the end of the day a consumer, fan, prospect wants a clean, simple, fun and engaging experience, and as such, you will need to assess how each of these platforms link up — even at the very basic level.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.
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THURMONT — Voytek Fizyta is not waiting until his grapes mature before beginning the process of turning the succulent treats into wine.
While his grapes grow, Fizyta is using the oldest method to make wines at Catoctin Breeze Vineyard in Thurmont.
Fizyta's grapes will be ready for harvesting later this year, but the Polish immigrant and electrical engineer has already made a variety of honey wines, traditionally known as mead.
The vineyard represents the ninth and newest Frederick County winery, and offers two table wines and three dessert honey wines.
"The growth in wineries has been pretty dynamic lately," Fizyta said. "When we got our license, we were number 34 or 35. Now, there are 50 wineries in Maryland."
The draw may be in the crop's profitability.
"As an agriculture crop, you can get more income per acre than you get with wheat or other crops," Fizyta said.
But the job comes with some challenges.
"It's more than a hobby," Fizyta said. "It takes money. Grapes grow very slow and you face many obstacles from nature."
When Fizyta and his wife, Alicja, looked to relocate from Potomac five years ago, they immediately fell in love with the hilly terrain in Thurmont he described as "our little heaven on Earth."
The couple experimented with the soil to ensure its viability for a vineyard by planting two rows of grapes, then wheat and soybeans were planted to recultivate the soil. The resulting product looked healthy, and two acres were planted in the first year. An additional two acres were planted in April.
"We had some grapes last year, but unfortunately, the birds ate them all," Fizyta said.
Birds were a problem for wineries along the entire East Coast last year, he said.
"They swarmed on vineyards with a vengeance," Fizyta said. "The summer was dry and my only consolation is the grapes were tasty."
Wine production involves a lot of work, and that's why good wine can't be cheap, Fizyta said.
Growing grapes is labor-intensive, which makes the endeavor expensive. Vines grow an inch a day, the grower has to pay attention to minute details and it's difficult to mechanize everything, especially if the vineyard is small, Fizyta said.
"Every vine needs attention," he said. "You have to touch each plant, because you only want a certain amount of fruit from each vine."
Making wine is an art, Fizyta said.
"Sometimes you go by the book, sometimes you got to incorporate your own ways of doing things, learning from the notes you take along the way. That way, you develop your own character for the vineyard."
For example, a vine with too many shoots stresses the plant in the wrong way, Fizyta said.
Perched along hilly terrain, grapes get ample sunlight at Catoctin Breeze Winery. The constant breeze evaporates moisture, which is a main problem for East Coast grape growers. Moisture propagates disease, he said.
"Even in the summer, we have constant breeze," Fizyta said. Hence the name, Catoctin Breeze.
The Fizytas outfitted their home with a 1,200-square-foot basement to accommodate making wines. They expect their first significant harvest from the 2010 planting later this year.
The business is licensed to sell wine directly to consumers and restaurants, using the company's website, www.catoctinbreeze.com.
Only two years in the winemaking business, the Fizytas have already won a bronze medal for a cabernet in the Fingerlakes competition in New York. ("I was hoping for better," Fizyta commented).
A matter of taste
Making wine is fun but it's also a serious endeavor because you're dealing with food, and you have to be cognizant that you are not only making something you like, but other people will like, Fizyta said.
Assisted by their son, Adam, the Fizytas plan to build a cellar and production center into the hill near their home, and a tasting room later. The new location will help with cooling and heating costs.
Fizyta said he encountered many business-friendly Frederick County government workers as he began the winery.
"They look at wineries as having tourist potential for the state," he said.
Catoctin Breeze is now part of the nine-member Frederick Wine Trail, and Fizyta is hoping to capitalize on the flow of tourists who will be passing through the county on their way to Gettysburg for the 150th Civil War anniversary.
The couple came to the U.S. from Poland in 1981 and Voytek Fizyta began working as an automotive engineer with Chrysler in Michigan. They moved to Maryland in 1994. He owns Poltron Corp., an engineering company that produces bearings, temperature sensor components, electric motors and rotating components for the automotive and machine tool industries.


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Apple's deigned to let Skyfire, an iOS browser that transcodes Flash videos into iPhone-friendly HTML5, into the App Store, and it's available there now. In my testing it worked pretty darn well. Yup, porntubes on the iPhone. Updated
Other iterations of Skyfire have been known to be clunky, but their new $3 app works as advertised: when you come across a site with a Flash video element it'll send that video out to its servers, transcode it into iPhone-friendly HTML5, and pipe it back to your iPhone. It takes 10 seconds or so to get itself situated, but once it does, the videos look pretty good. Skyfire's magic doesn't work with Flash games or Flash apps, or some premium sites like Hulu, but for the most part you'll be able to get at all the Flash video you come across while browsing, or the Flash videos you discover with the built-in Skybar feature. $3 [iTunes]
Update: Skyfire's temporarily unavailable for download. According to a post on their official blog, they're essentially "sold out," whatever that means (probably that they don't have the server mojo to keep things going:
Skyfire for iPhone has been received with unbelievable enthusiasm. Despite our best attempts and predictions, the demand far exceeds our initial projections.
The user experience was performing well for the first few hours, but as the surge continued, the peak load on our servers and bandwidth caused the video experience to degrade.
Thus we are effectively 'sold out' and will temporarily not accept new purchases from the App Store. We are working really hard to increase capacity and will be accepting new purchases from the App Store as soon as we can support it.
We are very grateful for the demand. Within 5 hours, Skyfire for iPhone became the top grossing app, the third highest paid app overall and the top application in the Utilities category. Wow!
Please bear with us as we bring our capacity in line with the incredible demand – stay tuned.
Thanks, Robert.


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State has nearly $1B more than expected for budget
LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder's budget director said Friday that a tax cut or rebate is "inevitable" given Michigan's now-confirmed budget surplus of nearly $1 billion, but cautioned that other priorities such as education and public safety also deserve attention.
"Obviously whenever you have this much revenue, a tax cut or tax relief is inevitable, and that makes sense," John Nixon told reporters at the Capitol after the administration and legislative economists settled on consensus revenue estimates. "But the question is, to what extent, what size and how does that compare to all of the other critical investments that we need to make?"
He declined to say whether the Republican governor will call for tax relief in his February budget proposal to the Legislature. Some of the majority Republican lawmakers already have suggested gradually dropping the state income tax rate from 4.25 percent to as low as 3.9 percent over time.
Tax cut discussions have already begun among the Republican leadership, Rep. Joe Haveman's office said, but details are a long way off. The Holland Republican and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee would like to see "discussion about focusing resources in areas that were ignored, such as infrastructure."
"There is a consensus that revenues are up and will continue to grow, but no consensus has yet been reached as to how the increased funding will be spent," Haveman said in a prepared statement. "I want to be clear that this is not the Legislature's money — it belongs to the hardworking taxpayers of Michigan. We will work together to find a way to return it to taxpayers by investing where it will have the greatest positive impact on our state."
The surplus is being attributed to Michigan's modestly improving economy — which is starting a fifth straight year of recovery after devastating job losses in the 2000s — and higher-than-expected business tax revenue. Companies still paying an old, expiring business tax are claiming fewer credits.
Nixon cautioned that two-thirds of the $971 million in unanticipated revenue is "one-time" money that won't be available on an ongoing basis.
Some high-ranking Republicans want a broad, long-lasting tax cut this election year. Another option might be a one-time rebate to taxpayers.
Democrats are hoping for more targeted relief to reverse GOP tax hikes on individuals that mostly offset slashed business taxes in 2011. They want to fully restoring a credit for low-wage earners and again exempt pension and retirement income from taxation. Ending the "pension tax" has support from some Republicans as well.
The GOP also is focused on spending more on road and bridge upkeep, while Democrats say public schools and colleges should be a priority. And local governments contend they shouldn't be left out after the state siphoned off billions in revenue-sharing over the last decade to help address deficits.
"Our ability to recover from the recent recession is disproportionately slower than it is for state government, and without the state honoring their financial obligations to local units, we will continue to struggle to provide the most basic of local services," said Shelley Pinkelman, president of the Michigan Association of Counties' board of directors.
An advocacy group for the poor said cutting income taxes wouldn't create jobs and would help high-income households the most.
The agreement on revenue projections — to be revisited in May before the budget is finalized — came in conjunction with generally positive reports about the state's economy.
University of Michigan economist George Fulton said Michigan had the country's fourth-highest growth in the private sector from 2010 to 2012. Since Michigan began to rebound after the auto industry's near collapse and revival with a government bailout, it has gained jobs.
Still, only slightly more than half of the 857,000 jobs lost from 2000 to 2009 will have been replaced three years from now, Fulton said.
"Overall the news is good," he said, adding that there is still "substantial ground to be made up."
The state will add on average 64,000 jobs a year from 2014-16, and the unemployment rate — third-highest in the U.S. — is projected to drop to below 7 percent in 2016.
Detroit's three automakers, drivers of Michigan's economy, are expected to gain some market share, yet years of strong sales gains will likely slow.
— Sentinel staff writer Andrea Goodell contributed to this report.


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GIBSON v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI(1896)
[162 U.S. 565, 567] The plaintiff in error was indicted in the circuit court of Washington county, Miss., for the crime of having, in that county, and on the 12th day of December, 1892, killed and murdered one Stinson.
When the case was called for trial the accused presented a petition for its removal to the circuit court of the United States for the Western division of the Southern district of Mississippi. The petition was verified by the oath of the accused, to the effect that the facts set forth in it were true and correct to the best of his knowledge and belief, and was as follows:
The petition for removal was denied, and the defendant excepted to the action of the court.
Thereupon the accused demanded that a special venire be summoned to try his case. The regular jury box for the court having been produced for the purpose of drawing therefrom the special venire, the defendant moved 'to quash said jury box,' upon the ground that it was illegal, and had but few names therein. That motion was sustained, and a writ of special venire facias was directed to be issued for summoning 50 good and lawful men and qualified jurors to appear on a named day to serve as jurors in the cause. The sheriff was directed to serve on the defendant or his counsel a copy of the writ of venire facias, together with his return thereon, showing the names of the persons so summoned, and also a copy of the indictment. This order was executed, and, the requisite number of jurors having appeared, on a subsequent day of the court, the defendant moved to quash the special venire. The motion was overruled, the defendant taking an exception. The accused then announced himself ready for trial. A jury was selected, the defendant pleaded not guilty, and the trial resulted in a verdict of guilty as charged in the indictment. The opinion of the supreme court of the state states that this was the third trial of the defendant for the crime charged, each trial resulting in a verdict of guilty.
A new trial was asked upon various grounds, one of which was that the court erred in overruling the defendant's petition for the removal of the cause into the circuit court of the United States for trial; another, that it erred in not sustaining the motion to quash the special venire of 50 'good and lawful' men to serve as special jurors. These points were insisted upon in the supreme court of Mississippi. But that [162 U.S. 565, 571] court held that there was no error in overruling the motion to remove the case into the federal circuit court. It also refused to disturb the verdict and judgment. 17 South. 892.
E. M. Hewlett, for plaintiff in error.
[162 U.S. 565, 579] Frank Johnston, for the State.
Mr. Justice HARLAN, after stating the facts in the foregoing language, delivered the opinion of the court.
The first question presented for our consideration relates to the application of the accused for the removal of the prosecution from the state court into the circuit court of the United States.
By section 641 of the Revised Statutes it is provided: 'When any civil suit or criminal prosecution is commenced in any state court, for any cause whatsoever, against any person who is denied or cannot enforce in the judicial tribunals of the state, or in the part of the state, where such suit or prosecution is pending, any right secured to him by any law pro- [162 U.S. 565, 580] viding for the equal civil rights of the citizens of the United States , ... such suit or prosecution may, upon the petition of such defendant, filed in said state court at any time before the trial or final hearing of the cause, stating the facts and verified by oath, be removed, for trial, into the next circuit court to be held in the district where it is pending. Upon the filing of such petition all further proceedings in the state court shall cease,' etc.
In Neal v. Delaware, 103 U.S. 370, 385 , 386 S., reference was made to the previous cases of Strauder v. West Virginia, Virginia v. Rives, and Ex parte Virginia, 100 U.S. 303, 313 , 339 S., and to sections 641 and 1977 of the Revised Statutes; also, to the act of March 1, 1875 (18 Stat. 337, c. 114), which, among other things, declared that 'no citizen, possessing all other qualifications which are or may be prescribed by law, shall be disqualified for service as grand or etit juror in any court of the United States, or of any state, on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.' The cases cited were held to have decided that the statutory enactments referred to were constitutional exertions of the power of congress to enact appropriate legislation for the enforcement of the provisions of the fourteenth amendment, which was designed, primarily, to secure to the colored race, thereby invested with the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship, the enjoyment of all the civil rights that, under the law, are enjoyed by white persons; that, while a state, consistently with the purposes for which the amendment was adopted, may confine the selection of jurors to males, to freeholders, to citizens, to persons within certain ages, or to persons having educational qualifications, and while a mixed jury in a particular case is not, within the meaning of the constitution, always or absolutely necessary to the enjoyment of the equal protection of the laws, and therefore an accused, being of the colored race, cannot claim, as matter of right, that his race shall be represented on the jury, yet a denial to citizens of the African race, because of their color, of the right or privilege accorded to white citizens or participating as jurors in the administration of justice would be a discrimina- [162 U.S. 565, 581] tion against the former inconsistent with the amendment and within the power of congress, by appropriate legislation, to prevent; that, to compel a colored man to submit to a trial before a jury drawn from a panel from which were excluded, because of their color, men of his race, however well qualified by education and character to discharge the functions of jurors, was a denial of the equal protection of the laws; and that such exclusion of the black race from juries because of their color was not less forbidden by law than would be the exclusion from juries, in states where the blacks have the majority, of the white race because of their color.
But those cases were held to have also decided that the fourteenth amendment was broader than the provisions of section 641 of the Revised Statutes; that, since that section authorized the removal of a criminal prosecution before trial, it did not embrace a case in which a right is denied by judicial action during a trial, or in the sentence, or in the mode of executing the sentence; that, for such denials, arising from judicial action after a trial commenced, the remedy lay in the revisory power of the higher courts of the state, and ultimately in the power of review which this court may exercise over their judgments, whenever rights, privileges, or immunities claimed under the constitution or laws of the United States are withheld or violated; and that the denial or inability to enforce in the judicial tribunals of the states rights secured by any law providing for the equal civil rights of citizens of the United States, to which section 641 refers, and on account of which a criminal prosecution may be removed from a state court, is primarily, if not exclusively, a denial of such rights, or an inability to enforce them, resulting from the constitution or laws of the state, rather than a denial first made manifest at or during the trial of the case.
We therefore held, in Neal v. Delaware, that congress had not authorized a removal of the prosecution from the state court where jury commissioners or other subordinate officers had, without authority derived from the constitution and laws of the state, excluded colored citizens from juries because of their race. [162 U.S. 565, 582] In view of this decision, it is clear that the accused in the present case was not entitled to have the case removed into the circuit court of the United States, unless he was denied, by the constitution or laws of Mississippi, some of the fundamental rights of life or liberty that were guarantied to other citizens resident in that state. The equal protection of the laws is a right now secured to every person wi hout regard to race, color, or previous condition of servitude; and the denial of such protection by any state is forbidden by the supreme law of the land. These principles are earnestly invoked by counsel for the accused. But they do not support the application for the removal of this case from the state court, in which the indictment was found, for the reason that neither the constitution of Mississippi nor the statutes of that state prescribe any rule for, or mode of procedure in, the trial of criminal cases which is not equally applicable to all citizens of the United States and to all persons within the jurisdiction of the state, without regard to race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Nor would we be justified in saying that the constitution and laws of the state had, at the time this prosecution was instituted, been so interpreted by the supreme court of Mississippi as to show, in advance of a trial, that persons of the race to which the defendant belongs could not enforce in the judicial tribunals of the state the rights belonging to them in common with their fellow citizens of the white race. If such had been the case, it might well be held that the denial of the equal protection of the laws arose primarily from the constitution and laws of the state. But when the constitution and laws of a state, as interpreted by its highest judicial tribunal, do not stand in the way of the enforcement of rights secured equally to all citizens of the United States, the possibility that, during the trial of a particular case, the state court may not respect and enforce the right to the equal protection of the laws, constitutes no ground, under the statute, for removing the prosecution into the circuit court of the United States in advance of a trial.
We may repeat here, what was said in Neal v. Delaware, namely, that, in thus construing the statute, 'we do not with- [162 U.S. 565, 583] hold from a party claiming that he is denied, or cannot enforce, in the judicial tribunals of the state, his constitutional equality of civil rights, all opportunity of appealing to the courts of the United States for the redress of his wrongs. For, if not entitled, under the statute, to the removal of the suit or prosecution, he may, when denied, in the subsequent proceedings of the state court, or in the execution of its judgment, any right, privilege, or immunity given or secured to him by the constitution or laws of the United States, bring the case here for review.'
So, in Bush v. Kentucky, 107 U.S. 110, 116 , 1 S. Sup. Ct. 625, which was an indictment for murder, returned before, but tried after, the court of appeals of Kentucky held unconstitutional a statute of that commonwealth excluding from grnad or petit juries citizens of African descent because of their race and color, and had declared that thereafter every officer charged with the duty of selecting or summoning jurors must so act without regard to race or color, this court said: 'That decision was binding as well upon the inferior courts of Kentucky as upon all its officers connected with the administration of justice. After that decision, so long as it was unmodified, it could not have been properly said, in advance of a trial, that the defendant in a criminal prosecution was denied or could not enforce, in the judicial tribunals of Kentucky, the rights secured to him by any law providing for the equal civil rights of citizens of the United States, or of all persons within their jurisdiction. The last indictment was consequently not removable into the federal court for trial under section 641 at any time after the decision in Com. v. Johnson, 78 Ky. 509, had been pronounced. This point was distinctly ruled in Neal v. Delaware, and is substantially covered by the decision in Virginia v. Rives, 100 U.S. 313 . If any right, privilege, or immunity of the accused, secured or guarantied by the constitution or laws of the United States, had been denied, by a refusal of the state court to set aside either that indictment, or the panel of petit jurors, or by any erroneous r ling in the progress of the trial, his remedy would have been through the revisory power of the highest court of the state, and ulit- [162 U.S. 565, 584] mately through that of this court.' See, also, In re Wood, 140 U.S. 278, 284 , 11 S. Sup. Ct. 738.
In his petition for the removal of the prosecution into the circuit court of the United States, the defendant also states that, notwithstanding, at the time of selecting the grand jurors for the said December term, 1892, there were in the five supervisors' districts of the county of Washington 7,000 colored citizens competent for jury service, and 1,500 whites qualified to serve as jurors, there had not been, for a number of years, any colored man summoned on the grand jury in that county, and that colored citizens were purposely, on account of their color, excluded from jury service by the officers of the law charged with the selection of jurors. It is clear, in view of what has already been said, that these facts, even if they had been proved and accepted, do not show that the rights of the accused were denied by the constitution and laws of the state, and therefore did not authorize the removal of the prosecution from the state court. If it were competent, in a prosecution of a citizen of African descent, to prove that the officers charged with the duty of selecting grand jurors had, in previous years, and in other cases, excluded citizens of that race, because of their race, from service on grand juries,-upon which question we need not express an opinion,-it is clear that such evidence would be for the consideration of the trial court upon a motion by the accused to quash the indictment, such motion being based upon the ground that the indictment against him had been returned by a grand jury from which were purposely excluded, because of their color, all citizens of the race to which he belonged. U. S. v. Gale, 109 U.S. 65, 69 , 3 S. Sup. Ct. 1. But there was no motion to quash the indictment. The application was to remove the prosecution from the state court, and a removal, as we have seen, could not be ordered upon the ground, simply, that citizens of African descent had been improperly excluded, because of their race, and without the sanction of the constitution and laws of the state, from service on previous grand juries, or from service on the particular grand jury that returned the indictment against the accused. [162 U.S. 565, 585] We do not overlook, in this connection, the fact that the petition for the removal of the cause into the federal court alleged that the accused, by reason of the great prejudice against him on account of his color, could not secure a fair and impartial trial in the county, and that he prayed an opportunity to subpoena witnesses to prove that fact. Such evidence, if it had been introduced, and however cogent, could not, as already shown, have entitled the accused to the removal sought; for the alleged existence of race prejudice, interfering with a fair trial, was not to be attributed to the constitution and laws of the state. It was incumbent upon the state court to see to it that the accused had a fair and impartial trial, and to set aside any verdict of guilty based on prejudice of race.
The petition for removal also proceeds upon on the ground that the indictment was returned by a grand jury organized under the Code of Mississippi which went into operation in 1892, after the date of the alleged murder, when, it is contended, it should have been organized in the mode required by the Mississippi Code of 1880, in force at the time the offense in question was committed.
The organization of the grand jury under a statute of the state (even if that statute was not applicable to offenses committed before its passage), rather than under a statute that was applicable, constitutes no ground for the removal of the prosecution into the federal court, unless the statute whose provisions were followed either expressly, or by its necessary operation, denied to the accused some 'right secured to him by any law pr viding for the equal civil rights of citizens of the United States.' It is not every denial by a state enactment of rights secured by the constitution or laws of the United States that is embraced by section 641 of the Revised Statutes. The right of removal given by that section exists only in the special cases mentioned in it. Whether a particular statute, which does not discriminate against a class of citizens in respect of their civil rights, is applicable to a pending criminal prosecution in a state court, is a question, in the first instance, for the determination of that court; and its right and duty to finally determine such a question cannot be interfered with [162 U.S. 565, 586] by removing the prosecution from the state court, except in those cases which, by express enactment of congress, may be removed for trial into the courts of the United States. If that question involves rights secured by the constitution and laws of the United States, the power of ultimate review is in this court, whenever such rights are denied by the judgment of the highest court of the state in which the decision could be had. As the judges of the state courts take an oath to support the constitution of the United States as well as the laws enacted in pursuance thereof, and as that constitution and those laws are of supreme authority, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding, 'upon the state courts, equally with the courts of the Union, rests the obligation to guard, enforce, and protect every right granted or secured by the constitution of the United States and the laws made in pursuance thereof, whenever those rights are involved in any suit or proceeding before them'; and 'if they fail therein, and withhold or deny rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the constitution and laws of the United States, the party aggrieved may bring the case from the highest court of the state in which the question could be decided to this court for final and conclusive determination.' Robb v. Connolly, 111 U.S. 624, 637 , 4 S. Sup. Ct. 544.
But it is said that the statute under which facto, when applied to the case of the present facto, which applied to the case of the present defendant, and for that reason the judgment should be reversed. This question does not depend upon section 641 of the Revised Statutes, but upon the clause of the constitution forbidding a state to pass an ex post facto law. It is not clear that the record so presents this point as to entitle us to consider it, under the statutes investing this court with jurisdiction to re-examine the final judgments of the highest courts of the several states. But, as human life is involved, as the defendant pleaded not guilty, and as the state, by its attorney general, has discussed the question upon its merits, without disputing the authority of this court to pass upon it, we will assume, and we think it may be properly assumed, that the plae of not guilty, in connection with the petition for removal, [162 U.S. 565, 587] sufficiently presents the question, and shows that the state court denied to the accused what he specially set up and claimed to be a right secured to him by the constitution of the United States.
By the constitution of Mississippi of 1890, which was in force at the time of the commission of the alleged offense, it was provided: 'No person shall be a grand or petit juror unless a qualified elector and able to read and write; but the want of any such qualification in any juror shall not vitiate any indictment or verdict. The legislature shall provide by law for procuring a list of persons so qualified, and the drawing therefrom of grand and petit jurors for each term of the circuit court.' Section 264. And by the same instrument it was also provided: 'All crimes and misdemeanors and penal actions shall be tried, prosecuted, and punished as though no change had taken place, until otherwise provided by law.' Section 283. By the Mississippi Code of 1880, in force when the alleged murder was committe , it was provided that 'all male citizens of the United States and not being under the age of twenty-one years, nor over the age of sixty years, and not having been convicted of any infamous crime, shall be qualified to serve as jurors within the county of their residence' (section 1661); and by section 1664 of the same Code it was provided that 'the board of supervisors shall, at least twenty days before the term of every circuit court, select twenty persons competent to serve as jurors in said county, to be taken, as nearly as conveniently may be, in equal numbers from each supervisor's district of the county, who shall serve as grand jurors for the next ensuing term of said court.'
The Annotated Code of 1892 went into effect on the 1st day of November, 1892, all prior statutes being thereby repealed. Sections 2358, 2361, and 2365 of that Code provide:
The contention of the accused is that the constitution of the state ( section 283) required that the indictment against him should have been by a jury of the grand inquest, organized as directed in the Code of 1880, because that Code was in force at the date of the murder charged to have been committed; and that the law upon that subject in the Code of 1892 would be ex post facto if applied to his case.
We perceive, in these constitutional and statutory provisions, nothing upon which to rest the suggestion that the accused was tried under a law that was ex post facto in its application [162 U.S. 565, 589] to his case. At the time the homicide was committed no person was competent to be a grand or petit juror unless he was a qualified elector, and able to read and write. This requirement was attended by an injunction that the legislature should provide by law for procuring a list of persons so qualified, and for drawing therefrom grand and petit jurors for each term of the circuit court. Const. 264. And, as we have seen, it was further provided that all crimes and misdemeanors and p nal actions should be tried, prosecuted, and punished as though no change had taken place until otherwise provided by law. Id. 283. It is clear that the provision in the constitution of 1890 prescribing the qualifications of grand and petit jurors became the law of the state immediately upon the adoption of the constitution, and that legislation was not necessary to give it effect; and that the provisions of the Code of 1880 for the conduct of trials were superseded by those on the same subject in the Code of 1892.
It is equally clear that the provisions of the Code of 1892 regulating the selection of grand and petit jurors were not ex post facto as to the case of Gibson, although they were not in force when the alleged homicide was committed. The requirement of the constitution of 1890 that no person should be a grand or petit juror unless he was a qualified elector and able to read and write did not prevent the legislature from providing, as was done in the Code of 1892, that persons selected for jury service should possess good intelligence, sound judgment, and fair character. Such regulations are always within the power of a legislature to establish, unless forbidden by the constitution. They tend to secure the proper administration of justice, and are in the interest, equally, of the public and of persons accused of crime. We do not perceive that the Code of 1892, in force when the indictment was found, affected in any degree the substantial rights of those who had committed crime prior to its going into effect. It did not make criminal and punishable any act that was innocent when committed, nor aggravate any crime previously committed, nor inflict a greater punishment than the law annexed to such crime at the time of its com- [162 U.S. 565, 590] mission, nor alter the legal rules of evidence in order to convict the offender. These are the general tests for determining whether a statute is applicable to offenses committed prior to its passage. Calder v. Bull, 3 Dall. 386, 390; Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wall. 277; Ex parte Garland, Id. 333; Kring v. Missouri, 107 U.S. 221, 228 , 2 S. Sup. Ct. 443; Duncan v. State, 152 U.S. 377, 382 , 14 S. Sup. Ct. 570. The provisions in question related simply to procedure. They only prescribed remedies to be pursued in the administration of the law, making no change that could materially affect the rights of one accused of crime theretofore committed. The inhibition upon the passage of ex post facto laws does not give a criminal a right to be tried, in all respects, by the law in force when the crime charged was committed. The mode of trial is always under legislative control, subject only to the condition that the legislature may not, under the guise of establishing modes of procedure and prescribing remedies, violate the accepted principles that protect an accused person against ex post facto enactments. In Hopt v. Utah, 110 U.S. 574, 589 , 4 S. Sup. Ct. 202, a statute that permitted the crime charged to be established by witnesses who, by the law at the time the offense was committed, were incompetent to testify in any case whatever was adjudged not to be ex post facto within the meaning of the constitution; the court observing that such a statute did not increase the punishment, nor change the ingredients of the offense, nor the ultimate facts necessary to establish guilt, but related 'to modes of procedure only, in which no one can be said to have a vested right, and which the state, upon grounds of public policy, may regulate at pleasure.' Hence it has been held that a general statute giving the government more challenges than it had at the time of the commission of a particular offense was constitutional. Walston v. Com., 16 B. Mon. 15, 39.
It is also assigned for error: (1) That the court ordered the sheriff 'to summon fifty men from the good and lawful body of Washington county,' etc., when he should have been ordered to summon 'persons qualified as jurors,' or 'said fifty men, jurors as required by law.' (2) That the order [162 U.S. 565, 591] di ected the sheriff 'to summon said fifty men to serve as special jurors in the case of State v. John Gibson, when the order should have directed the sheriff to summon fifty men or persons as jurors, and to serve as jurors in the case of the State v. John Gibson as special jurors.' Without stopping to consider whether the particular order complained of was in accordance with correct practice, it is only necessary to say that the objection presented by the assignment of error raises no question of a federal nature. The conduct of a criminal trial in a state court cannot be reviewed by this court, unless the trial is had under some statute repugnant to the constitution of the United States, or was so conducted as to deprive the accused of some right or immunity secured to him by that instrument. Mere error in administering the criminal law of a state or in the conduct of a criminal trial, no federal right being invaded or denied, is beyond the revisory power of this court, under the statutes regulating its jurisdiction. See Andrews v. Swartz, 156 U.S. 272, 276 , 15 S. Sup. Ct. 389; Bergemenn v. Backer, 157 U.S. 655, 659 , 15 S. Sup. Ct. 727. Indeed, it would not be competent for congress to confer such power upon this or any other court of the United States.
We may observe that the former decisions of this court, upon which the counsel for the accused relied with much confidence, do not go to the extent claimed by them. Underlying all of those decisions is the principle that the constitution of the United States, in its present form, forbids, so far as civil and political rights are concerned, discrimination by the general government, or by the states, against any citizen because of his race. All citizens are equal before the law. The guaranties of life, liberty, and property are for all persons, within the jurisdiction of the United States, or of any state, without discrimination against any because of their race. Those guaranties, when their violation is properly presented in the regular course of proceedings, must be enforced in the courts, both of the nation and of the state, without reference to considerations based upon race. In the administration of criminal justice no rule can be applied to one class which is not applicable to all other classes. The safety of the race the [162 U.S. 565, 592] larger part of which was recently in slavery lies in a rigid adherence to those principles. Their safety-indeed, the peace of the country and the liberties of all-would be imperiled, if the judical tribunals of the land permitted any departure from those principles based upon discrimination against a particular class because of their race. We recognize the possession of all these rights by the defendant; but upon a careful consideration of all the points of which we can take cognizance, and which have been so forcibly presented by his counsel, who are of his race, and, giving him the full benefit of the salutary principles heretofore announced by this court in the cases cited in his behalf, we cannot find, from the record before us, that his rights, secured by the supreme law of the land, were violated by the trial court or disregarded by the highest court of Mississippi. We cannot say that any error of law of which this court may take cognizance was committed by the courts of the state, nor, as matter of law, that the conviction of the accused of the crime of murder was due to prejudice of race.
The judgment is therefore affirmed.


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NOTES from the UNDERGROUND…No. 132 | February 5, 2008
Anniversary Edition, No. 6
In Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of
RON WHITEHEAD, ROBERT M. ZOSCHKE —-"THE" BOOK, the Voices, the Movement, the Never-Ending HeartBEAT
Reflections upon the 50th Anniversary of Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD. Edited by Ron Whitehead and Robert M. Zoschke. Published in Heaven Books. Louisville, Kentucky, 2007 175 pp, Illustrated, $25 The book is available here…
My contention: The Beat never stopped with the death of Kerouac. Jack left the American road a little early, hit the dead-end waiting for us all, but left the roadmap in book after book, poem after poem, word after word humming down the centerline of every highway leading us on.
You can't NOT get lost. LOST is the way.
What Kerouac may have never seen in the distance is just how long the road was, just how far many continue to follow it all over America, all over the world.
This one fine book by Ron Whitehead, Leader of the SOUTHERN BEAT BRANCH (Kentucky) world-class performer-poet of substance, sass, sagacity and co-editor, Robert M. Zoschke, wise/true-talkin' poet with hard and fast lines on Chicago streets and Northern climes, is testament to Time's tick-tock Beat, Kerouac's to be-continued connections…essays. photos, artwork, stories and poems. 46 contributors, each with his/her own roadmap to the journey within. With the Ghost of Jack holding a candle to the dark…to get here from there, THIS way…
For openers, venerable Ferlinghetti (High Priest to a life writ to move, follow your own directions) is on the front cover—a picture-poem to Neal & Jack; the back cover, by veteran chronicler of the Beat, Christopher Felver. filmmaker and photographer.
Inside, cover to cover…Anne Waldman, t. kilgore splake, Jerry Kamstra, Carolyn Cassidy, Michael Madsen, Davis Amram, Gerald Nicosia, Frank Messina…to name but a few of the Beat persuasion, who know the words, the way, and the music…
Here's a little taste of the book, starting with Ron Whitehead, who captures the essence of the Beat goes on…and ending with an excerpt from Rob Zoschke's piece…how we got to where we are…Norbert Blei
Norb Blei discusses Reflections upon the 50th anniversary…Jack Kerouac's On the Road with the book's editors Ron Whitehead and Rob Zoschke. Just click on the image to the left to listen to it, or just here…
On First Reading Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD Down and Out in Kentucky Part VII For Madmen Only by Ron Whitehead
We'd just finished our second fifth of Southern Comfort
and the mescaline was kickin in
Jimi Hendrix crosses borders threatening to ascend towards heaven
with lightning and thunder he plays
Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" stereo loud as it will go
here in the only underground bookstore in Kentucky
For Madmen Only
shelves and bins stocked with books and records from
City Lights and bookpeople San Francisco
Atlantis and Alligator New Orleans
teas and herbs candles and incense from mountain communes
turquoise blue Spiritual Sky
and next door in
The Store
our head shop
paraphernalia water beds posters GROW YOUR OWN
blankets and clothes from India Native American jewelry
and we're serving the new consciousness
inspired by the one and only King of The Dharma Bums
Jack Kerouac
and yes there's Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Gary Snyder Richard Brautigan Ken Kesey Alien Ginsberg William Carlos Williams William Blake Hermann Hesse Knut Hamsun Dostoevski Nietzsche Bukowski Thomas Merton The Dalai Lama Gandhi Burroughs LeRoi Jones Diane di Prima
Hunter S. Thompson
and more more more
with Robert Johnson Hound Dog Taylor Howlin' Wolf Jimi Hendrix Patti Smith
and always Bob Dylan Bob Dylan Bob Dylan
on the stereo
but we're Down and Out in Kentucky
failin like no others dare fail
and we're always on the outside outsiders outlaws
bein told you don't fit you ain't shit what the fuck you doin here
and so On The Road
is where we live travelin travelin travelin
in search of IT
headed out of Kentucky cross the usa coast to coast
down to Mexico determined to
keep on keeping on truckin til the wheels fall off and bum
just passin thru searchin searchin yes after all these years
still searchin for IT and yet somewhere somehow one day one moment
at the heights of Machu Picchu we went further in traveled deeper
on the inner road we entered the third kingdom the fourth dimension
where lies the synthesis of apparently irreconcilable differences
and in the heart of The Big Bang Epiphany we discovered
that the power and the glory of IT is bound in the grace
of forgiveness of Beating Karma through love compassion
of persevering through desperate circumstances so now
we GO GO GO we Never Give Up recognizing Now that
The Road that Jack Kerouac's Road that our Road
always leads On.
Visit Ron Whitehead's extraordinary world at: www.tappingmyownphone.com
All That Time, I Was Waiting On The Man (excerpt) by Robert M. Zoschke
…Kerouac's narrative voice so dramatically immerses On the Road with uniquely underlying and overriding tenderness of heart, the life-source of harmonious human being goodness. My first dose of On the Road was a trifecta score of self-awareness, affirmation, and discovery. On the Road made the bells and whistles go off like nothing else.. .it is tenderness of heart that rejuvenates human compassion and love.. .it is tenderness of heart that leads a human being to a gut-check or a look-in-the-mirror during one's darkest hours. You either have it or you don't, sure-as-shit-plain-and-simple. And if you're a writer, you're either on the road or you aint. The Blues Had A Baby And They Named It Rock And Roll. They couldn't name it Jazz, Kerouac and Amram took care of that, in their own different way, and different is good. Different is the hope and the dream and the long shot chance of having the babe hear an outsider's Pull My Daisy offer and wind up sticking around. Rock and Roll is just hollering You Aint Nothin' But A Hound Dog and an even-money-shot at wondering why in the hell she would ever want to stick around afterwards with someone who hollered shit like that at her.
After first reading then re-reading On the Road.. .holding that tattered library copy in my hands.,,1 knew that at some point the peculiar path of my life that I was going to make damn sure to emerge would eventually lead here.. .to a shack of writer's solitude in the savage and treacherous woods of northeastern Wisconsin.. .a place where all the miles on the road and the back alleys and broken glass and broken dreams and blessed salvation of living on the edge finally came to a steady halt at the typewriter.. .a place where the way-too-long detour shit of hustling and winning corporate awards and being deceived by an ex-wife and deceiving myself.. .finally unraveled.. .in earnest-honest-pure-holy-finger-dancing-on-the-keyboard.. .a place where cashing out my 401 K so I could pay hospital bills and divorce lawyers and skate away clean to get to the blank pages and all the words to come finally made smooth sense.. .a place I always knew awaited me.. .a place that finally became NOW instead of SOMEDAY.. .a place that is all too often empty and hollow and sexless and loveless and lonely-worse-than-Mr.-Funk-and-his-crony-Mr.-Wagnall-ever-imagined.. .a place that is all too often beat but never beaten.. .a place that is never unholy and always honest.. .a place that the Great Fortune Teller at the Typewriter in the Sky showed me was in the cards, like a hustling blackjack dealer to a hustling card shark when they both know the pit boss is momentarily distracted by God's ample cleavage on the natural blonde at the table.. .a place that has become and always was the only place left.. .the only place worth anything at all in the end.. .the only place where the currency is my beating heart and the commerce is my blood on the pages everyone else sees as words.. .the value of which I inherently knew and felt and bonded with.. .a long time ago now.. .on that day-into-night-into-day when I first read Jack Kerouac's On the Road.