text:
Who wanna have a motherfuckin orgy?
Word is bond, word is me
Smokin mad blunts, and all the fronts and
Check it out, whatcha want and
Go on with slang, well get to bang, rockin my thang
Funkadelic, hit you with irrelevant, heyyyy
Micraphone check, I walk around the street with black tecs and knapsacks
I'm known for smokin ass-cracks til I get ass flashbacks
So all my niggaz if you're fuckin damage let me hear ya you can
*bo bo bo bo bo bo bo* now did you catch a victim? Hell no
Come back in to fatten to funky tracks
Blast a motherfucker until you're peekin through his back
Cause my brain is twisted, funky realistic on the I'll shit
I rock it til, bitches start givin up that punany
Pajamies, up the coochie, pass the c***, pass the loose shit
Then boo-yaa, I gave you another shot of the good shit
Don't believe me why your pussy breathin hard enough to pinch
The clitoris, dangle it from my c*** I don't feel shit
So check me the original joe pesky freak the s***
I got more gadgets than the inspector, go-go jet-skis
Then swoop through your troops knock the boots on your cutes
Grab you for your loot, wrap my fuckin chain around your tooth
Cause, that's the way it goes when tonight's da nite
The music feelin funkadelic and the mood is right
I stick the nine between your eyes and blast you outta sight
Cause that's the way the knotty-headed nigga, rollin right
Blunts by the boxes, I smuggle the chocolate thai to get me high when
I ran through more niggaz, than any kid that was adopted
Plus an ostrich couldn't swallow my c***, quick cause it's stopped which
Makes the soopaman luva get stockings by the flocks bitch, hrrrahhh
So on and on and let me kick the rab
That light skinned brother with mad shaft up your fuckin ass
You wanna see me get cool, the original rude bwoy, fuck with the new toys
Like pistols, I dismiss crews, so order some new boys
Blast the funky buddha's lockin ash up in my body
For fozzy patsi I bring sad days to niggaz constant...
.. Ly! Freak funkadelic phrases cause I'm true school
I'm fuckin madonna down to smurfette down one down to m'bufu
Funks formatic, the fat shit, the wicked basket from caskets
Plus I'm rollin blunts with niggaz ashes
Smoke on the choke, light a toke until it's proper
I deserve an oscar for pullin glocks out niggaz mouths cuz
I kill like that, plus I roll like that
I'm that guy with cerebral-palsy even bo knows that
But fuck that, we drop the new runner to get some ganja
Goin uptown, we check benny red out, he pulls the smack out
Then roll up the bills-nilz, or better yet the pute
The loo-pay, rank near my nost to rock the block
Hittin niggaz upside the head with rocks in socks, glock on c***
Back, trigger-hap, p p p rockin that unity
Motherfucker! Yeah yeah motherfuckers, it's on it's on it's on
Throw your hands in the air, and wave em like you just don't care
And if you haven't been fucked, by the soopaman luva
Let me hear you say, oh yeahhyeah!
Oh yeahhyeah! Funkadelic, hit you with the irrelevant
Facts and max, and on and on my crew pull gats
Flick slaps em back, come on and fuckin up tracks
Kick the mad wicked, bricks to stick it
Come on and, I get wilson like pickett then stick it
She wanna check me when I'm lickin your ass
And lickin ya down to your clitoris
Do you remember this, bitch, I know you're kinda hearin this
Style that I'm kickin, yes I'm mad wicked
Funkadelic, runs the mad train up your anus!
Baby, cause I'm famous!
Nope, I didn't mean that
The mean fat black fat tracks and old dreams at
I'm all teen strapped, sports a bean hat
Want to rhyme to be down, but homey ain't gonna bean that


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress of the United States of America
At the First Session
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen
To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the triennial International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly, and for other purposes.
Concerning the participation of Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization
Congress makes the following findings:
Safe, secure, and economical international air navigation and transport is important to every citizen of the world, and safe skies are ensured through uniform aviation standards, harmonization of security protocols, and expeditious dissemination of information regarding new regulations and other relevant matters.
Direct and unobstructed participation in international civil aviation forums and programs is beneficial for all nations and their civil aviation authorities. Civil aviation is vital to all due to the international transit and commerce it makes possible, but must also be closely regulated due to the possible use of aircraft as weapons of mass destruction or to transport biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons or other dangerous materials.
The Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed in Chicago, Illinois, on December 7, 1944, and entered into force April 4, 1947, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), stating
The aims and objectives of the Organization are to develop the principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster the planning and development of international air transport so as to . . . meet the needs of the peoples of the world for safe, regular, efficient and economical air transport..
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, demonstrated that the global civil aviation network is subject to vulnerabilities that can be exploited in one country to harm another. The ability of civil aviation authorities to coordinate, preempt and act swiftly and in unison is an essential element of crisis prevention and response.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the ICAO convened a high-level Ministerial Conference on Aviation Security that endorsed a global strategy for strengthening aviation security worldwide and issued a public declaration that
a uniform approach in a global system is essential to ensure aviation security throughout the world and that deficiencies in any part of the system constitute a threat to the entire global system, and that there should be a commitment to
foster international cooperation in the field of aviation security and harmonize the implementation of security measures.
The Taipei Flight Information Region, under the jurisdiction of Taiwan, covers 180,000 square nautical miles of airspace and provides air traffic control services to over 1.2 million flights annually, with the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport recognized as the 10th and 19th largest airport by international cargo volume and number of international passengers, respectively in 2011.
Despite the established international consensus regarding a uniform approach to aviation security that fosters international cooperation, exclusion from the ICAO since 1971 has impeded the efforts of the Government of Taiwan to maintain civil aviation practices that comport with evolving international standards, due to its inability to contact the ICAO for up-to-date information on aviation standards and norms, secure amendments to the organization's regulations in a timely manner, obtain sufficient and timely information needed to prepare for the implementation of new systems and procedures set forth by the ICAO, receive technical assistance in implementing new regulations, and participate in technical and academic seminars hosted by the ICAO.
On October 8, 2010, the Department of State praised the 37th ICAO Assembly on its adoption of a Declaration on Aviation Security, but noted that
because every airport offers a potential entry point into this global system, every nation faces the threat from gaps in aviation security throughout the world—and all nations must share the responsibility for securing that system.
On October 2, 2012, Taiwan became the 37th participant to join the United States Visa Waiver program, which is expected to stimulate tourism and commerce that will rely increasingly on international commercial aviation.
The Government of Taiwan's exclusion from the ICAO constitutes a serious gap in global standards that should be addressed at the earliest opportunity in advance of the 38th ICAO Assembly in September 2013.
The Federal Aviation Administration and its counterpart agencies in Taiwan have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide range of issues related to innovation and technology, civil engineering, safety and security, and navigation.
The ICAO has allowed a wide range of observers to participate in the activities of the organization.
The United States, in the 1994 Taiwan Policy Review, declared its intention to support Taiwan's participation in appropriate international organizations and has consistently reiterated that support.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 17, agreed to on September 11, 2012, affirmed the sense of Congress that—
meaningful participation by the Government of Taiwan as an observer in the meetings and activities of the ICAO will contribute both to the fulfillment of the ICAO's overarching mission and to the success of a global strategy to address aviation security threats based on effective international cooperation; and
the United States Government should take a leading role in garnering international support for the granting of observer status to Taiwan in the ICAO.
Following the enactment of Public Law 108–235 , a law authorizing the Secretary of State to initiate and implement a plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual summit of the World Health Assembly and subsequent advocacy by the United States, Taiwan was granted observer status to the World Health Assembly for four consecutive years since 2009. Both prior to and in its capacity as an observer, Taiwan has contributed significantly to the international community's collective efforts in pandemic control, monitoring, early warning, and other related matters.
ICAO rules and existing practices allow for the meaningful participation of non-contracting countries as well as other bodies in its meetings and activities through granting of observer status.
Taiwan's Participation at ICAO
The Secretary of State shall—
develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan at the triennial ICAO Assembly—next held in September 2013 in Montreal, Canada—and other related meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter; and
instruct the United States Mission to the ICAO to officially request observer status for Taiwan at the triennial ICAO Assembly and other related meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter and to actively urge ICAO member states to support such observer status and participation for Taiwan.
Report concerning observer status for Taiwan at the ICAO assembly
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report, in unclassified form, describing the United States strategy to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the triennial ICAO Assembly and at subsequent ICAO Assemblies and at other related meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter. The report shall include the following:
A description of the efforts the Secretary of State has made to encourage ICAO member states to promote Taiwan's bid to obtain observer status.
The steps the Secretary of State will take to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan in ICAO and at other related meetings, activities, and mechanisms thereafter.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.


text:
MarshallLehr.com > #FreePlay
GSP Principle
A couple seasons back I was talking to a friend about youth baseball. He was coaching his son in tee ball and I was serving as an assistant coach on my son's coach pitch team. We were sharing ideas about practice methods for those younger age groups. I mentioned that sometimes I think we should just throw the kids a tennis ball and tell them…
Read more


text:
By now, everyone from NPR listeners to Slate readers to, bizarrely enough, Republican presidential debate viewers has heard that this September marked the 20th birthday of Nirvana's grunge monolith Nevermind, the record that brought alternative rock to the newly flanneled masses. Even a lifelong Nirvana agnostic like me—at age 11, I'll confess, the anarchic fury of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video had me quaking in my Zubaz—must admit that the attention is deserved. But this tidal wave of tributes threatens to overshadow the 10th anniversary of another towering rock classic, an album that, if not quite as influential as Nevermind, is every bit as dazzling, significant, and stylistically accomplished: the Strokes' masterly debut Is This It.
Given the Mariana Trench-like depths to which the Strokes' reputation has plummeted in recent years, this comparison undoubtedly has Nirvana fans struggling to suppress a giant collective gag. After all, at least in the popular imagination, the Strokes are synonymous with an array of decidedly un-Cobain-like qualities: style over substance, unoriginality, excessive hype, sophomore (and junior, and senior) slumping. (Nirvana, it seems safe to assume, never would have lent its image to Ford Sync ads.) Yet despite these black marks, Is This It was a decade-defining record that set the agenda for how rock sounded and even looked throughout the aughts. More importantly, Is This It remains (takes deep breath, steels self for commenter rage) the single best album released in the past 10 years.
Even before the record hit U.S. shelves on Oct. 9, 2001, sensible public opinion was already biased against the Strokes. Lest we should forget, Is This It was the ur-album of the Internet hype era; the buzz around the band was so deafening that the Strokes were famous before they'd ever done anything. As soon as the U.K. label Rough Trade released a three-song EP of the band's demos, the notoriously excitable music mag NME threw the Strokes on its cover and anointed them rock's newest saviors. Soon, stories began trickling across the Atlantic of crazed fans paying exorbitant sums to get into London gigs. And even worse was what music fans saw on that NME cover: five preposterously good-looking young men who had met at (gasp!) elite private schools. Drummer Fabrizio Moretti and guitarist Nick Valensi appeared to have been stolen from a Calvin Klein shoot, and lead man Julian Casablancas was actually the son of a modeling mogul.
But as offensive as the hype, the pretty-boy photosets, and the privileged backgrounds were to the rock cognoscenti, the most damning early criticism about the Strokes was that they looked and sounded shockingly derivative. From their skinny jeans and vintage shirts to their punky rhythms and distressed guitar tones, everything about the Strokes seemed like it was lifted from '60s and '70s garage rock. It wasn't just that Casablancas' stuttery vocal drawl sounded like Lou Reed; it was that the entire song "The Modern Age" was a Velvet Underground song—specifically "I'm Waiting for the Man." The Strokes themselves openly admitted that their tune "Last Nite" was an outright heist of Tom Petty's 1977 hit "American Girl." Casablancas even jokingly sang the "American Girl" lyrics to the music of "Last Nite" during some live shows.
Of course, these knocks against the Strokes would have landed more sharply if the album wasn't so damn good. To the surprise of those who had called the band talentless, posturing pretty boys, Is This It was nothing less than an 11-song fireball that showed the Strokes to be musicians with a real artistic vision. (And a sense of humor: The record's title is a nice wink at the staggering hype.) As Casablancas then explained it to the Strokes' producer Gordon Raphael, "We want to sound like a band from the past that took a time trip into the future to make their record." Beneath the shaggy haircuts and puppy-dog eyes there lurked an idea for a crisper, more melodic rock album that would radically update the sound of its forebears—one that, crucially, went against the overproduced schlock then infesting the charts. "Everyone was using Pro Tools and digital technology, tripling the snare drum and adding samples to make everything 25 stories tall," Raphael told Pitchfork. "So I thought, 'What could be the opposite of that?' "
The opposite of that, it turned out, was to capture a tightly knit musical unit playing live, all in one room, committing it to tape with a fuzzy and nostalgic analog warmth. The Strokes did take after take of each song until they got one in which they all played extraordinarily; they toyed with microphone placements to give the drums the right distorted, almost machinelike feel; they twisted knobs on their guitar amps until each tone was just right. And to the band's eternal credit, they fought hard to preserve this neo-vintage sound—very much against the wishes of their new bosses at RCA, who thought they were committing career suicide by over-muddling the mix.
Once Is This It finally landed in America (its release here had to be delayed so the band could replace the blistering—and not exactly flattering—"New York City Cops" after 9/11), the response was immediate and seismic. There were plenty of rave reviews, naturally, as critics marveled at the young band's astonishing confidence and the record's clockwork efficiency. But more amazing by far was the great rumbling tremor that Is This It sent through the music industry itself, a change so desperately needed that the Strokes should be considered humanitarians. At the time, remember, bands such as (brace yourself) Limp Bizkit, Staind, Slipknot, and Linkin Park—along with a heavy dose of Creed—absolutely dominated the rock charts. With one sweep of their Chuck Taylors, the Strokes kicked the nu-metal blight to the curb, clearing the way for other garage-influenced bands like the White Stripes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and spawning many imitators, among them Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, and the Killers.
And just as these groups continue to try to sound like the Strokes, they're still trying to look like them as well. Whatever you thought of the band's sound, there was no questioning their effortless cool, and it wasn't long before admiring designers like Hedi Slimane caught on and began peddling skinny jeans first to rockers and fashionistas, and then to the rest of us. Take a look at the 2001 video for the Strokes tune "Someday"—in which the boys pal around a dive bar in their tight jeans, vintage shirts, and denim jackets—and just try to tell me that it couldn't double as a documentary about hipsters in 2011.
Yet even if Is This It hadn't influenced the last decade's look and sound so profoundly, it would remain that rarest of musical artifacts: a truly great album. Early profiles of the Strokes often noted that the band, in the words of Rolling Stone's Jenny Eliscu, "display[ed] a loyalty fiercer than that of most lovers," and this cohesion shines through in every note of Is This It; the album captures the sound of five guys playing as one. For all the griping about the Strokes' lack of innovation, their emotional commitment was never a question. You can hear it in the mournful urgency of "Trying Your Luck," the good-time vibes of "Someday," the heartsick vocal shredding of "Take It or Leave It." Listening to Is This It feels, to this very day, like sharing a moment of lightning-in-a-bottle brilliance in some dark basement studio with five friends. Well, five extraordinarily good-looking friends who would emasculate you with their galling, starlet-attracting cool—but, still, friends.
Which, incidentally, is why the Strokes' most recent record, this year's Angles, is so depressing. The once-inseparable quintet grew so far apart over time that Casablancas didn't even record his parts with the band (he literally mailed the entire album in), and the end result lacked almost all Strokesean spark—much like 2006's equally uninspired First Impressions of Earth. Strangely, the best music to come out of these former rock saviors since the underrated Room on Fire in 2003 is the eponymously titled Little Joy, the unexpectedly charming side project of drummer Fabrizio Moretti. Like DJ Shadow, who recently released yet another critically dismissed follow-up to his legendary Endtroducing…, the Strokes seem doomed never to live up to their outstanding debut.
Then again, no one else has made anything as good as Is This It in the last 10 years either. And while a God who loves his creation will surely see to it that young men won't be wearing skinny jeans and attending Killers concerts another decade from now, they'll still be listening to—and loving—Is This It. They might mistake the Strokes for a band from the mid-'70s, but they'll be listening.


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UPDATE: As Weekly World News previously revealed, Joaquin Phoenix decided to partner with Bat Boy in his new musical career. And now Joaquin's friends are blaming his odd behavior on the little mutant!
The actor-now-rapper went on the Late Show with David Letterman, to disastrous results:
Close friends are now attributing Joaquin's personality change to spending too much time with Bat Boy. An anonymous source stated, "Look, I love Joaquin like a brother. That's why Bat Boy needs to be outed as the culprit and sent packing. This new lifestyle is no good for Joaquin."
Some believe the problems started when the actor switched to Bat Boy's diet of mosquitoes and Mountain Dew. The source continued, "Is that any way for a grown man to eat? That mosquito pulp is messing up his mind!"
[polldaddy poll=1367092]
LOS ANGELES, CA – After announcing his acting retirement to focus on his music, Joaquin Phoenix revealed that he will be partnering with Bat Boy!
At this morning's press junket, Joaquin explained, "I think it's just moving on. It's discovering something else, something new and great. And I've discovered that in Bat Boy."
When asked how he found Bat Boy, he answered, "A package arrived at my agent's office for me, with the return address merely reading 'CAVE'. I opened it up to find a CD case caked in bat guano. I mean, how avant garde is this kid?! The CD was just 80 minutes of shrieking and squealing. Real early Yoko Ono stuff. I had to have him."
In regards to recent exploitation accusations, the band's manager clarified that per Bat Boy's request, he will be paid in jars of mosquitoes and sleep in the recording studio's basement.


text:
In a 15-page pastoral letter, which Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna admitted was the "outcome of intensive dialogue with Rome," the Austrian bishops insist that renewal of faith in full communion with the pope and the church's magisterium, and with special emphasis on church unity, is the only way out of the stalemate between the bishops and the Austrian Priests' Initiative, which demands far-reaching structural church reforms.
The pastoral letter, titled Jahr des Glaubens or "Year of Faith," has a special chapter on the ongoing deadlock in the Austrian church since the Austrian Priests' Initiative, which has more than 400 members, published its "Appeal to Disobedience" in June 2011. The initiative, which has the support of a large number of Austrian lay Catholics, calls for radical church reforms, including the ordination of married men and women.
Schönborn, president of the Austrian bishops' conference, presented the pastoral letter at a news conference in Vienna in the first week of October, before he headed to Rome for the 2012 Synod of Bishops, which has the theme "the new evangelization" or reviving Christian faith in increasingly secular societies. The synod coincides with the opening of a special "Year of Faith," which runs from Oct. 11, 2012, to Nov. 24, 2013, which also has focus on "the new evangelization."
In announcing the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI said, "The church is well aware of the problems facing the faith" and recognizes that without a revitalization of faith rooted in a personal encounter with Jesus, "then all other reforms will remain ineffective."
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a "note" Jan. 7 outlining the aims of the special year. Critical to renewing one's faith and being a credible witness is having a firm and correct understanding of church teaching, it said.
According to Schönborn, after intensive talks with Vatican authorities, the Austrian bishops had agreed to use the Year of Faith to state their "position on the controversial issues under discussion in Austria with absolute clarity."
"And that is what we have done at Rome's request -- but also from our own, personal conviction," Schönborn said at the news conference.
The chapter in the bishops' pastoral letter titled "Reform Backlog?" begins:
We do not want to conceal what we are repeatedly being told in private and in public, namely that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the church situation and particularly with "church leadership," that is, with us bishops and with Rome. Behind this dissatisfaction, there is usually deep concern about a way forward for the church and about its future. Pope Benedict XVI showed how well-informed he was about these concerns in his impressive sermon at the chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday [April 5], in which he went into the "Appeal to Disobedience" by a group of priests in Austria. Many people in our country are under the impression that "no progress is being made," that "we're not moving forward" and so the catchphrase "reform backlog" has established itself. On the other hand, we bishops have been saying quite clearly for more than a year now that an "Appeal to Disobedience" cannot be left uncontradicted. Does this mean that we will now remain in a sort of "no-win situation for everyone involved," in which we continue to goad one another with more and more accusations? We see the Year of Faith as a chance being offered us by the Lord to find a way out of apparent or real deadlocks together.
The bishops go on to say that they share the concerns behind certain demands for reform. "Many Catholics are above all worried about the shortage of priests. In some parts of our country this is being felt more and more acutely. More and more people, whether they belong to the church or not, find it difficult to understand why the conditions for priestly ordination cannot be changed in such an emergency and why 'proven married men' (viri probati) cannot be ordained. They think that we bishops should put pressure on Rome to reform the present stipulations. What most people overlook, however, is that the Second Vatican Council decided in favor of retaining mandatory priestly celibacy in the Roman Catholic church and that all the episcopal synods since the council have confirmed this. Should this not be seen as a sign from the Holy Spirit?"
They then add, "We are convinced that God is calling men to the priesthood today. The question is only whether the humus in which such vocations can grow is there and is being nurtured."
Citing the priest shortage and the drastic reduction in regular church attendance, the bishops appeal to Austria's Catholics to become more mobile, amalgamate with neighboring parishes, travel farther to celebrate the Eucharist, and above all renew their faith.
The bishops repeat that they can understand that the faithful are impatient and expect and demand reforms, but point out that some of the changes could only be made at the cost of church unity and that they "as bishops are bound to preserve and promote that unity."
At the press conference, Schönborn emphasized that this statement did not mean that the bishops were no longer in dialogue with the priests who had signed the "Appeal to Disobedience."
"We remain in dialogue but some demands can only be made at the expense of church unity and that cannot be our [the bishops'] aim," he said.
The Austrian bishops did not think that their differences with the Priests' Initiative would lead to a schism, Schönborn said. He suggested that all those involved should take a "step back" (he used the English words) and take a critical look at the deadlock with the aim of finding out what they had in common.
In his archdiocese, Schönborn said, he would continue the policy of not appointing to leadership posts priests who had signed the appeal. One cannot represent the bishop and at the same time support an appeal against the bishop, Schönborn said.
The bishops had chosen not to write a shorter pastoral letter, he said, so that they could go into problems more deeply. The letter was to have been printed in full in all nine diocesan newspapers, which have a readership of approximately 460,000. "My wish would be for as many of the faithful as possible to study [the document] in their parishes, families and in prayer groups during the Year of Faith," Schönborn said.
Msgr. Helmut Schüller, head of the Austrian Priests' Initiative and initiator of the "Appeal to Disobedience," said that the letter showed church leaders were playing faith and the wish for reform against one another.
" 'Renewal can only come from faith, and wishes for reform obviously cannot.' That is something I reject," said Schüller, a popular media personality and once Schönborn's vicar general.
While the Priests' Initiative wanted consensus, he said, "consensus must be built on a necessary altercation beforehand, otherwise it is a dead consensus. And if the majority of the people of God are excluded from finding the consensus, then the consensus is not very genuine."
He also said that it was "historically untrue" to say that Vatican II had decided in favor of retaining mandatory priestly celibacy, pointing out that Pope Paul VI had specially requested that the topic not be discussed at the council.
[This article includes some reporting from Catholic News Service.]


text:
A few years back, two guys at the U.S. Geological Survey did an exercise with a database that was subjected to a mathematical version of the Big One on the Hayward fault in the middle of the wet season. Their result was published as Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2379, "Seismic Landslide Hazard for the Cities of Oakland and Piedmont, California." Here's a piece of it.
Dark-green areas are relatively fine, red areas are relatively awful, and the in-between colors are in between. Gray areas have slopes less than 5 degrees and don't count. There's a purple line running from top left to bottom right representing the Hayward fault; students of our street patterns may recognize the upper left corner as the intersection of 580 and 13. The lower right corner is 580 at the exit to the zoo. The left edge of the band of orange down the middle is Outlook Avenue. There are two bits of blue; the upper left one is the pond at Mills College and the lower one is the big hilltop reservoir near Toler Heights.
This map is of very little real use, because it's just one worst-case scenario of one particular simulation, but it's well worth studying anyway. (For real uses, like assessing your own property, you should hire a pro.) One big point is that bedrock matters. The big dark-green swath represents the solid metavolcanic rocks that are exposed in the Leona Quarry; they also underlie King Estates Open Space and part of the hill with the reservoir on top.


text:
By Mary Grady, Contributing editor
Lockheed Martin has been at work on a giant high-lift hybrid airship since at least 2005, and the company now is moving toward certification and first delivery as soon as next year. The FAA this week published a notice about the company's application to certify the LMZ1M airship, and noted that because it's a hybrid and incorporates a number of advanced features, traditional airship design criteria have proved inadequate. A new category for "hybrid transport category airships" will be created specifically for the airship. Advanced features of the vehicle include a tri-lobed envelope with displacement of 1.3 million cubic feet, four thrusters to allow thrust vectoring, and electronic fly-by-wire controls for both the aerodynamic control surfaces and the thrusters.
Other features include an air-cushion landing system that enables the aircraft to operate without a ground crew. The airship can land and take off using any flat surface, including water, with no advance preparations required. The gondola carries two crew members and up to eight passengers, plus a large cargo bay. The ship also can carry external loads. The LMZ1M will be deployed for tactical airlift, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, as well as "special missions not currently possible with conventional aircraft," according to Lockheed. The airship can carry up to 500 tons of payload and travel up to 6,000 nautical miles nonstop. Lockheed says the ship can also be operated remotely and stay aloft as long as three weeks at altitudes up to 20,000 feet. Lockheed's proposed certification criteria have been posted in the FAA docket for comment.
Source: AVweb.com
View a Lockheed Martin video describing the hybrid airship.


text:
ResourceWednesday, 13 May 2015
Understanding Glasgow: Review, evaluation and forward lookThis report outlines a review and evaluation of Understanding Glasgow and considers how the Glasgow indicators and website could be developed in the future.
ResourceWednesday, 11 June 2014
Exploring alcohol-related harm in GlasgowA new report from the Glasgow Centre for Population Health explores the increasing burden of alcohol related deaths in Glasgow from a local, national and international context.
ResourceThursday, 27 June 2013
Understanding Glasgow film seriesSeries of films, set in and around Glasgow, reflecting life in in the city.
ResourceTuesday, 11 June 2013
Poverty, parenting and poor healthThis GCPH report compares early years' experiences in three city regions in Scotland and England.
ResourceTuesday, 11 June 2013
Investigating a 'Glasgow Effect'A GCPH report looking at possible reasons for why equally deprived UK cities experience different health outcomes.
ResourceTuesday, 11 June 2013
The Aftershock of DeindustrialisationThis report highlights the findings of a study aimed at identifying the trends in mortality in Scotland and other parts of post-industrialised Europe.
ResourceThursday, 9 May 2013
Understanding Glasgow films launch reportThis report outlines discussion points and news from the launch of the Understanding Glasgow set of films on 16th April 2013.
ResourceMonday, 15 April 2013
Understanding Glasgow film series: Sense of PlaceOne in a series of films, set in and around Glasgow, reflecting life in in the city.
ResourceMonday, 15 April 2013
Understanding Glasgow film series: Bolting Doors, Mending FencesOne in a series of films, set in and around Glasgow, reflecting life in in the city.
ResourceThursday, 6 December 2012
Going to Gothenburg: Reflections on a Study Visit
ResourceThursday, 26 May 2011
Your Better Life IndexA new, interactive index allowing users to measure and compare their lives.
ResourceWednesday, 18 May 2011
The Sustainable Cities IndexProgress on sustainability, highlighting environmental performance, quality of life and their readiness for the challenges of the future
ResourceWednesday, 18 May 2011
Investigating a 'Glasgow Effect'Why do equally deprived UK cities experience different health outcomes?
ResourceFriday, 25 March 2011
Making the Most of Glasgow's Cultural AssetsA 1991 report by Comedia for the Glasgow Development agency
ResourceMonday, 7 March 2011
The Myerscough ReportA digest of Glasgow's cultural statistics
ResourceMonday, 14 February 2011
Population with a Disability in Glasgow2008 Estimates for Glasgow City, Community Planning Partnership areas and Social Work Services Planning areas.
ResourceWednesday, 22 December 2010
Economy & Labour Market BriefingA review of economic and labour market data, with projections on what they mean for Glasgow.
ResourceFriday, 1 October 2010
Moving in the right direction?Findings from a review of transport policy in Scotland
ResourceSaturday, 21 August 2010
Active Travel - VideoQualitative research has been undertaken in order to better understand how and why people currently travel as they do and to explore the scope for encouraging growth in alternatives to car travel.
ResourceFriday, 23 July 2010
Community Safety Strategic AssessmentA strategic overview of community safety issues and priorities for Glasgow 2010/11
ResourceMonday, 26 April 2010
Economies of LifeAn exploration of the principles of ecological and economical thinking and their relationship.
ResourceMonday, 1 March 2010
Towards a Smarter GlasgowA report which covers various aspects of the skills and educational performance of Glasgow, drawing conclusions on Glasgow's performance in relation to the strategic objective of creating a Smarter Scotland.
ResourceMonday, 1 February 2010
Towards a Wealthier & Fairer GlasgowA report which examines the Purpose Targets set out in the National Performance Framework for Scotland, before a conclusion on Glasgow's performance in relation to the strategic objective of creating a wealthier and fairer Scotland.
ResourceSunday, 15 November 2009
A Step Change for Glasgow – Assessing Progress against TargetsAssessment of progress towards the targets laid out in 2006's A Step Change for Glasgow strategy.
ResourceSunday, 1 November 2009
Miniature Glasgow - VideoAn extension of the GCPH's work profiling Glasgow's health, produced in collaboration with the International Future Forum.
ResourceTuesday, 1 September 2009
Attitudes toward active travel in GlasgowFindings from a qualitative research project exploring how and why people travel in and around Glasgow
ResourceWednesday, 19 August 2009
A Games Legacy for GlasgowBrochure outlining the potential legacy of Glasgow's role as Commonwealth Games host city in 2014.
ResourceFriday, 17 July 2009
Views of Health in Glasgow - VideoOriginally produced for an international audience at a conference in Pittsburgh, USA, this film provides insights on health concerns and beliefs drawn from interviews with Glaswegians themselves and with a group of health experts.
ResourceMonday, 1 December 2008
Good Places Better HealthA new approach to environment and health in Scotland
ResourceThursday, 1 November 2007
How can transport contribute to public health?A briefing paper discussing the evidence regarding the potential of transport to improve health, reduce inequalities and improve sustainability
ResourceThursday, 6 September 2007
ACPOS Public Reassurance StrategyIssued by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland
ResourceMonday, 3 April 2006
Let Glasgow FlourishA comprehensive report on health and its determinants in Glasgow and West Central Scotland


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Evangelical Scholar Troubled by Theological Ambiguity at Beck Rally
In the days following Glenn Beck's highly publicized rally in Washington, D.C., conservative Christians have come out expressing their concern not over the increasingly popular broadcaster, but over the apparent confusion among Christ followers.
"There is something very strange going on here. I don't understand the disconnect on the part of Christians," said Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
Americans from across the country converged on the National Mall on Saturday for the "Restoring Honor" rally led by Fox News commentator Beck. Reports indicate that the event drew anywhere from 87,000 to 500,000 people. Beck, a Mormon, was joined by a diverse group of religious leaders – including evangelical Christians – as he called on America to turn back to God.
Mohler, one of the nation's pre-eminent evangelical theologians, found that Beck's rally cries were resonating with many Christians.
"What concerned me about that event on the mall was not so much Glenn Beck and the politicians in the program; it was the picture of those religious leaders standing together," he said Tuesday on The Janet Mefferd Show.
During Saturday's three-hour event, over 200 religious leaders stood behind Beck, linking arms at certain points. Dr. Richard Land, a well-known Southern Baptist, and Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church in Maryland were among the conservative Christians standing there.
While Land does not agree with Beck's theology, he told National Public Radio that the event was about a deep concern of Americans that the country has taken "a fundamentally wrong turn and is headed in the wrong direction."
Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, Calif., who was also at the event, said the rally was about extolling virtue and honoring God.
And the event was evangelical in tone, he said in a commentary on CNN.
"Despite the pre-rally discussions of Beck's Mormonism, the rally's litany of evangelical speakers gave it the Jesus-centeredness of a Billy Graham Crusade. All theological references were clearly evangelical and biblically based," Garlow wrote.
After observing the rally, Mohler came away with a different take and a big concern.
"The bottom line is ... we've been used and we've allowed ourselves to be used at times by politicians and others who co-opted God talk," he said Tuesday on The Janet Mefferd Show.
"We (conservative Christians in America) … have just assumed that because they were using our language, they were talking about the same Gospel or talking about the same understanding of God or talking about the same theological structure and that's just not true," he stressed.
Mohler doesn't disagree on uniting with others on common concerns and moral convictions.
But he underscored the need to "distinguish that from standing together in the faith."
"One of the healthiest things that can happen among conservative Christians is the ability to recognize, to discern the difference between civil religion and authentic Christianity," he explained.
The conservative theologian said he and many other believers agree with Beck on many of his political views. He also expressed appreciation for how Beck identifies "many really horrible and very dangerous liberal ideas."
But "[j]ust to debunk liberal ideas does not give you then the authority to be taken at your word ... to be speaking truth when then you talk about the Gospel," he cautioned.
"We just have to be mature Christians [and say] 'let's look at the Scripture. Let's look at what is being said here. We have a problem."
Continuing, Mohler outlined the fact that Mormons hold to a very different understanding of God than that of Christian theism.
"We're talking about very different deities here," he said. "And I think many Christians just have no idea as they were watching that event."
"How many American Christians who are watching that (rally) and resonating with the call for spiritual revival know that the man who is up there speaking, using words about Gospel and God and all the rest, believes that there was a male and a female deity, that the Godhead is a reproductive pair, that eventually we will be divine ourselves if indeed we follow the path of righteousness?" Mohler added.
Since January, Beck has been working on the themes of faith, hope and charity. He said his aim is to restore history, honor, and "our faith" in the country.
The popular commentator has discussed the Gospel of Jesus Christ repeatedly on his television program, even using evangelical language such as atonement through the shed blood of Christ.
But Mohler commented, "That's bizarre language for a Mormon to be using in this light and to have evangelical Christians affirm that he's talking about the same Gospel we are ... it's the same language but it's not the same Gospel."
What both Mohler and Mefferd believe is happening is spiritual rallying on vague terms.
"When we see some of the talk that has come out of the rally and some of the people associated with the rally, all about God, God, God, I just have really strongly felt that it needs to be a very precise definition when we bring God into the discussion on anything," radio host Mefferd stated.
Mohler described the scenario as having all the cards on the table but turned over so that the faces are not seen.
"You're having the language, but you're not having the definitions here," he noted.
"It really is not so much a concern politically, it's a concern theologically. If we are Christians, we have to understand the name of God is not just some kind of generic noun we can throw around."
While Mohler recognized that some Christians would be irritated listening to his take on Beck and the rally, the theologian hopes they'll be irritated enough to go and look at Scripture.
Amid the theological ambiguity and confusion, Mohler reminded Christians that a revival or spiritual renewal cannot happen without a heart that has known salvation through Jesus Christ.
"You can't have spiritual renewal where biblically speaking there's spiritual deadness," he said. "The reality is we can't biblically believe that they really know the one true and living God unless they know Him through Jesus Christ, our Lord."


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Tagged: midnight cop
The Top 10 Horror Flicks Actually Starring Rock Stars!! No Cameos!
Let's face it folks, we all love a good Rock n' Roll horror flick, especially during the halloween season! There are a lot of good ones out there and many of them feature small cameos from rock stars BUT there's actually not that many that actually feature them in lead or substantial roles in these "terrifying" movies. I here at Universal Dork tho, have decided to give you the top 10 rock and roll horror movies that actually star real rock stars!! So let's not waste anytime messin' around and get to it! Less talk more ROCK!! Here are some odd movies that famous rockers decided to risk their careers on!!!
10. Nick Knight / AKA Midnight Cop (1989)
Hey you remember 'Jesse's Girl' right? Yep, easily one o' the best pop songs of the 80's in my opinion! Well 80's icon Rick Springfield also had an acting career as well and when he wasn't appearing on General Hospital he made some cheezy ass movies, one being this horror flick called 'Nick Knight' aka 'Midnight Cop'! Yep Springfield stars as the hunky vampire detective on the dangerous case of his undead life, this movie was later remade into the first couple episodes of the tv series 'Forever Knight'! Dig this stunning vampiric Rick-o-riffic movie montage!
9. Halloween Resurrection (2002)
Here's one of the worst movies of the 'Halloween' franchise, it took the finale of H20 and made it into some stupid sort of ridiculous "Scooby Doo" style plot twist. However this one makes the list because we get some "rockstar action" with Busta Rhymes, one of the main characters in it who goes toe to toe with Michael Myers in the finale and fuckin' wins! I dig that at least!
8. Monster Dog (1984)
Here's an totally odd little Italian flick called 'Monster Dog' from 1984 that stars superstar rocker Alice Cooper in the lead role!! The movie honestly ain't that good but it's a must watch for anyone looking to see Alice in more than a freaky cameo. Monster Dog is a subpar 80's werewolf film, it starts off pretty cool but quickly begins to feel a lot longer than it's short 84 minute run time. It's got a couple decent werewolf scenes, cool poster art and a totally sweet ass Cooper track called 'Identity Crisis' that makes this one at least worth a view! Fuck yeah!
7. Slaughterhouse Rock (1988)
Another odd 80's movie with totally classic box art and co stars pop star Toni Basil who dominated the charts in 1982 with her mega hit song 'Hey Mickey'. This one's worth a watch for that alone and has a cool soundtrack "featuring" Devo. This follows some teenagers trying to remove a curse, travel to Alcatraz and get some help from a cute 80's ghost played by Basil. The trailer below actually makes the movie look pretty rad, but it's one of those "best of" moments trailers, so if you check it out you'll likely be a bit disappointed with how bland the movie quickly becomes. Still worth a watch for the pure cheez factor it all and a cool dance scene by Basil!


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Dear Speed Lab,
My daughter, who is 16 years old, has just started to race in triathlons. I don't have any major concerns with her training and racing in all three events, but I have read that girls who compete at a young age are more likely to acquire a condition known as the female athlete triad. I am hoping you may be able to tell me what exactly makes up this condition and whether I should be concerned for my daughter's health while she's training for triathlons. She seems to be very committed to doing them.
Jennifer - San Antonio, TX
Dear Jennifer,
The female athlete triad refers to three interrelated conditions: disordered eating, amenorrhoea (or absence of menses) and osteopenia. Osteopenia is the term used to describe bones that have become less dense than normal; however, this condition is not as severe as its better-known cousin, osteoporosis. That said, a person with osteopenia is at risk for developing osteoporosis.
Sports physicians and scientists are becomingly increasingly concerned about the female triad, which occurs primarily in athletic young females. While the condition has only recently been described in medical literature, it has been silently observed by coaches, parents, team physicians and athletes for some time.
The female athlete, driven to excel in her sport or pressured to have a thin physique, may attempt to lose bodyweight or body fat by developing patterns of disordered eating. These patterns may lead to menstrual dysfunction and subsequent osteoporosis. Each portion of this triad can increase an athlete's health risks, but the dangers of the three together are synergistic.
Disordered Eating
A preoccupation with excessive thinness can precipitate a range of poor nutritional behaviours, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Food restriction, bingeing or purging, laxative or diuretic abuse and even excessive exercise are used to lose weight, ostensibly to improve performance. Pressure to be thin to win can come from the athlete, the coach and/or the parents and is often reinforced by cultural, societal and sport-specific expectations.
Very few studies have evaluated the prevalence of disordered eating among female athletes. Several small trials suggest that the prevalence may be as high as 62 percent in certain sports. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, females who participate in sports that emphasise low body weight are at the greatest risk for developing one or more of the components of the triad, including disordered eating.
Disordered eating may impair athletic performance and increase the risk of injury.
Decreased caloric intake, and the resulting fluid and electrolyte imbalances, can result in decreased endurance, strength, reaction time, speed and ability to concentrate. Food restriction and purging can result in menstrual dysfunction, irreversible bone loss and serious psychological and medical complications.
These complications are potentially fatal, as the death rate among non-athletes treated for eating disorders has been reported as high as 18 percent.
Disordered eating involving acute bodyweight loss and marked bodyweight fluctuations has been associated with amenorrhoea. A variety of menstrual disorders, including abnormal luteal phase, anovulation and amemorrhoea, are recognised as occurring more frequently in female athletes than in the general population.
Amenorrhoea is the absence of menstrual bleeding and can be classified as either primary or secondary. Primary amenorrhoea refers to a woman who has not had any menstrual bleeding by the age of 16 or is without sexual development by the age of 14.
Secondary amenorrhoea refers to a woman who has established menstrual cycles but then experiences an absence of menstrual bleeding for six months. The International Olympic Committee has defined amenorrhoea as one menstrual period or less per year in an attempt to standardize future reports.
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[Editor's note: The Georgia Urban and Regional Information Systems Association is hosting a GIS job fair and conference Tuesday April 14th, check it out.]
Republished from a Georgia URISA press release.
Georgia URISA is pleased to announce its next georgia urisa job fair, scheduled on Tuesday, April 14th from 11:30-1:30PM. This event is hosted by Accenture.
If you are enrolled in K – 12 or college/university in Georgia and have applied geospatial solutions to your coursework, you may be eligible to win FREE $$$ for your work!! Please read the Criteria for Nomination and submit your abstracts to email@example.com by MARCH 27, 2009!
This is a FREE lunch, offered as a benefit to students in GIS and friends/members of Georgia URISA.
The location is to be determined (TBD).
We are soliciting professional service providers to attend this event to recruit young talent, share with aspiring learners how your organization is using Geographic Information Technologies to enhance business decisions and delivery of services, etc. Please contact email@example.com for more details.
Professional development credit hours
You can earn 2 hours towards a certification by attending this event.
Registration/RSVP Instructions
Click here to connect to the GAURISA site and register for this event.
Additional Information or Questions
Tags: conference, continuing education, georgia, job fair, urisa


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NEW YORK -- She was still a few weeks shy of her 18th birthday when, with a cascade of white beads in her hair, she announced herself to the world right here in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Serena Williams beat a 16-year-old Belgian named Kim Clijsters in the third round, then took down three Grand Slam champions -- Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis -- on the way to her first major singles title.
That was, impossibly, 14 years ago.
The former champs have all been retired for some time, and that ascendant teenager, who would win four Grand Slam titles, including three US Opens, actually retired twice.
Williams, who at 31 is the oldest woman ever to be ranked No. 1, is not merely still standing. After a nearly fatal second-set hiccup, she's sprinting full stride into women's tennis history.
Fourteen years after that breakthrough win, Serena overcame some seriously gusty conditions -- on the court and in her mind -- to defeat No. 2 Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-1 and defend her US Open title. It's the longest span for a women's champion at the same Grand Slam, although Ken Rosewall won the Australian Open an amazing 19 years apart.
After she won, they played Prince's "Party like it's 1999."
"Gosh, it was amazing winning at 17," Williams said. "It was just a great feeling. The difference is it hasn't settled in yet. I think because I was up so much in the second, and I didn't quite take my opportunities.
"So when I was 17 I remember I took my opportunity right then and there, and I made some shots and I wasn't making as many errors.
"Being older, it's always awesome and such a great honor, because I don't know if I'll ever win another Grand Slam."
It didn't come without nerves -- lots of them. Serena served twice for the title in the second set and ultimately lost the tiebreaker. But she rallied with an astonishing force to win her fifth US Open championship in a superb match that required 2 hours, 45 minutes -- the longest championship match since 1980, when they started keeping track of these things.
"Well, Vika's such a great fighter, that's why she's won multiple Grand Slams," Serena said in her on-court interview. "That's why it's never over until match point."
Like a small child, Serena hyperactively jumped for joy after she won and unleashed a massive "Come on!" Azarenka, who held it together during the handshake, could not hold back the tears when she fell back in her changeover chair.
Just when it seemed this delicious matchup was starting to tilt away from Serena, she wrestled it back under her control.
For if Azarenka had managed to win the first set -- and she was within two points on two occasions -- this might have ended differently. Azarenka, who lost 11 of her first 12 career matches against Williams, would have been in line to take three of the past four, all this year.
Instead, Serena won two of their four matches this year, and their rivalry, going forward, promises to continue to be the WTA's best. Together, they have now won six of the past eight majors.
But Serena has won all eight of their matches in Grand Slam play. That is unsurpassed dominance over the second-best player in the game, although the gap is clearly closing.
Here is how Serena is an even better player today than she was a few years ago: Remember that horrific meltdown against the line judge when she called a foot fault during the 2009 semifinal against Clijsters? There was a moment in the pivotal first set when it looked like it might happen again.
Serving at 4-5 in the critical-mass game, Serena had just hit a serve 121 miles per hour when a foot fault was called, negating an ace. Williams did not flinch this time. She stepped to the line, seemingly composed but perhaps privately breathing fire, and won the point with a crushing backhand winner. That she won the last eight points of the set was probably not a coincidence.
The match, played in extremely breezy conditions, did not begin well for Azarenka, which was hardly a surprise. Serena won four of the five points on Azarenka's serve -- her powerful backhand cross-court winner gave her an early lead. Still, Vika didn't let it become a psychological advantage.
Azarenka, who had her serve broken five times in her semifinals victory over Flavia Pennetta, has grown accustomed to being forced to balance those losses. She immediately broke Serena's first service game and leveled the match.
Williams, who seemed more nervous than Azarenka, mouthed to her box early on, "I can't play in this wind." Would it turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy?
They both grew more accustomed to the conditions as the match progressed and held serve with varying degrees of forcefulness. And then, with Azarenka serving at 5-all, Serena got a sniff. Two errors from Azarenka let Serena back into the game, at deuce. After a huge forehand cross-court winner, Serena hit a terrific backhand service return that was so deep Azarenka had to hit a half-volley just to get a racket on it. Serena held serve for the set, finishing with a flourish.
The second set was one-sided until Serena, up two breaks of serve, tightened up and lost back-to-back services to see the set leveled at 5-all. She dropped two service games over the first six matches, but Azarenka broke her three times. And then Serena broke her back. And then Azarenka broke her for the fourth time to force a tiebreaker, which she won when Serena's windblown backhand sailed long.
Even before that 1999 US Open began, Serena said she knew she was going to win it.
"I told myself I was going to win, and I felt it," she said before this tournament. "I have these weird feelings all the time, and I just felt I was going to win this tournament. I wasn't really surprised. I was happy and elated, but I just had this instinct."
It has served her supremely well (no pun intended).
Serena finishes the 2013 season with two major titles -- twice as many as Azarenka and Marion Bartoli, the unlikely Wimbledon champion.
"It is a tough loss," Azarenka said afterward. "We showed our hearts, and we gave it everything we got."
This was Williams' 17th Grand Slam singles title, only one behind Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. For a different context, consider that she's now tied with Roger Federer, the all-time men's leader. That's impressive stuff; they're the same age, but you get the idea that Serena, unlike Federer, has a few more in her.
"It's an honor to be even with Roger," Williams said. "He's been such a great champion throughout the years, and he's just an unbelievable competitor. So it feels really good to be, you know, in that same league as him.
"Then to be compared with Crissy and Martina, not yet, because I'm still not quite there yet. I can't necessarily compare myself to them, because, numbers wise they're still greater."
One more statistic: Serena has now played in 21 Grand Slam finals -- and lost only four. Only Margaret Court (11-1) has a better winning percentage.
Williams plays in a different, more competitive era than Court. It won't be long before they call her the greatest player ever.


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Electronic Structure Calculation
M. Fukuda, B.J. Braams, M. Nakata, M.L. Overton, J.K. Percus, M. Yamashita and Z. Zhao
Large-Scale Semidefinite Programs in Electronic Structure Calculation
Math. Programming
109 (2007), pp. 553-580.
Published Article
Copy of Published Article (pdf)
Z. Zhao, B.J. Braams, M. Fukuda, M.L. Overton and J.K. Percus
The Reduced Density Matrix Method for Electronic Structure Calculations and the Role of Three-Index Representability
Journal of Chemical Physics
120 (2004), pp. 2095-2104
Published Article
PDF (original submission)
Other Research Topics


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White Nile
White Nile, river, one of the chief tributaries of the Nile, E Africa. The name is sometimes used for the 600 mi (970 km) long section of the river known as the Bahr el Abiad that extends upstream from Khartoum to the junction of the Bahr el Jebel and the Bahr el Ghazal at Lake No, c.100 mi (160 km) above Malakal. In a wider sense it is applied to the entire c.2,300 mi (3,700 km) long stem of the Nile draining from the headwaters of Lake Victoria (Victoria Nyanza). In this wider sense, its remotest headstream is the Luvironza River in Burundi, which flows into the Ruvuvu River and which, in turn, is a tributary of the Kagera River, one of the principal headstreams feeding into Lake Victoria. Known as the Victoria Nile for approximately the next 260 mi (430 km), it flows N and W through Uganda into Lake Albert. It leaves Lake Albert as the Albert Nile and flows north c.100 mi (160 km) to Nimule, where it enters South Sudan and becomes the Bahr el Jebel. From Nimule to Rejaf is a zone of rapids. At Juba it leaves the highlands of central Africa and enters the broad South Sudan plain; downstream at Bor, it flows through the Sudd, a vast swampy area named after the floating vegetation (sudd) that sometimes hinders navigation. At Lake No it receives the Bahr-el-Ghazal and continues E to Khartoum, where it joins with the Blue Nile to form the Nile.


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ALERT: This Saturday, from noon to 1 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church, downtown on the Capitol Square, Madison Music Makers will give a FREE concert in the monthly Grace Presents series of music that includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johann Pachelbel, Antonio Vivaldi and Ludwig van Beethoven as well as popular music, country music and American, Bolivian, French, German, Jewish, English folksongs. Founded in 2007 by Bonnie Green and sponsored by many individuals and groups, including the Madison public schools, Madison Music Makers is dedicated to giving low-income students in the Madison area high-quality music lessons.
For more information about how to support or participate in the organization, visit: www.MadisonMusicMakers.org
By Jacob Stockinger
The Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will present its first concert series of its 50th anniversary season, the Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts, on Saturday, Nov. 14, and Sunday, Nov. 15.
Nearly 400 young musicians will display their talents to the community during the three concerts, which are dedicated to private and school music teachers.
The Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts will be held in Mills Concert Hall in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's George Mosse Humanities Building, 455 North Park Street, in Madison.
WYSO concerts are generally about an hour and a half in length, providing a great orchestral concert opportunity for families.
Tickets are available at the door, $10 for adults and $5 for youth 18 and under.
WYSO's Percussion Ensemble (below), led by director Vicki Jenks will kick off the concert series at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Immediately following the Percussion Ensemble, the Philharmonia Orchestra (below) and its conductor Michelle Kaebisch will take the stage and perform the Masquerade Suite by Aram Khachaturian; Reigger's Rhythmic Dances; the Light Calvary Overture by Franz Von Suppe; and the Berceuse (Lullaby) and Finale from the "Firebird Suite" by Igor Stravinsky.
At 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Concert Orchestra (below) under the direction of conductor Christine Eckel will perform The Quest by Kerr, Romany Dances by DelBorgo and Slane by Douglas Wagner. The Concert Orchestra will also perform two works by John Williams in Star Wars: Episode 2 Attack of the Clones, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which Williams co-composed with Alexandre Desplat.
Following the Concert Orchestra, WYSO's string orchestra, Sinfonietta (below), will take the stage. Conductor Mark Leiser will lead the orchestra in seven works including the Adagio movement from the Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff; Silva's The Evil Eye and the Hideous Heart; Edward MacDowell's Alla Tarantella; Shenandoah arranged by Erik Morales, Forever Joyful and Lullaby to the Moon by Balmages; and the Entrance of the Queen of Sheba by George Frideric Handel.
On Sunday, Nov. 15, WYSO's Harp Ensemble (below), under the direction of Karen Atz, will open the 1:30 p.m. concert.
Following the Harp Ensemble, the Youth Orchestra (below), under the baton of WYSO music director Maestro James Smith, will perform three pieces.
In honor of WYSO's 50th Anniversary, WYSO welcomes back one of their illustrious alumni, violist Vicki Powell (below). Powell began her vibrant musical career studying with UW-Madison faculty members Eugene Purdue and Sally Chisholm, who plays with the Pro Arte Quartet.
From there, she graduated from the Julliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music. She has performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. For her full bio, please visit our website at http://www.wysomusic.org/evelyn-steenbock-fall-concerts/vicki-powell.
Vicki Powell, along with the Youth Orchestra will perform the Concerto for Viola and Orchestra by Bela Bartok. (You can hear the rhapsodic slow first movement played by Yuri Bashmet and the Berlin Philharmonic in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
Following that performance, the Youth Orchestra will continue the concert with Rainbow Body by Theofanidis and the Symphony No. 9 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
This project is supported by Dane Arts with additional funds from the Evjue Foundation, Inc. charitable arm of The Capital Times. This project is also supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information about WYSO, visit:


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Bounce On, Crystal Ballroom
Jan 22, 1914: Montrose Ringler opens the Cotillion Hall. After multiple arrests for violating Portland's dancing regulations, he gets run out of town in 1921.
1920s: Lola Baldwin of the Portland Police's Women's Protective Division repeatedly raids the Cotillion for morally offensive jazz dancing. "A great majority of women and girls owe their downfall to the dance hall," Baldwin declares. →
1928–33: The elderly (yet sprightly) "Dad" Watson hosts old-time dance revivals to buoy spirits during the Great Depression.
1934–62: Casket maker Ralph Farrier renames the venue the Crystal Ballroom and oversees 30 uneventful years of old-time dancing and the occasional gypsy wake.
1960s: The ballroom finds new life as a rock hotbed, showcasing African American performers and counterculture bands.
←1965: James Brown enlists policemen to drag him from the stage to close his concert.
Feb 2–3, 1968: The Grateful Dead bring their psychedelic light show and use some of the concerts' recordings on their second album, Anthems of the Sun.
July 1968: Fueled by a Newsweek report about San Francisco hippies migrating to Portland, public outrage and a failed safety inspection force the venue to shutter.
Feb 19, 1997: McMenamins reopens the building after three decades of vacancy.
Sept 20, 2005: For its finale, Arcade Fire leads the audience onto Burnside, shutting down the street.
Aug 12, 2006: Eddie Vedder joins Sleater-Kinney for the seminal rock band's final show.
June 3–6, 2008: Pink Martini's four FundFest concerts raise over $77,000 for charities.
Jan 21, 2014: A solo show by the Decemberists' Colin Meloy closes out the first 100 years.


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Jon Rappoport
Free speech at an American university? Or not?
James Tracy responds to questions about his firing, and about press reports of events that have swirled around him.
"Why was he fired? I mean, why was he really fired? What did he do? What did he do to bring this down on himself? He must have done something wrong…Wait. Are you saying he was fired because he exercised his natural right to free speech? He spoke freely? That's it? That's all? No, I can't believe that. He must have said something that I would disagree with—in which case, he should have been fired. I feel better. He said something I disagree with. He should be fired. What right does he have to say something that makes me feel uncomfortable? That crosses the line. I have a right not to feel uncomfortable. Isn't that the most basic of all rights? Isn't that written in the Constitution?" (The Underground, Jon Rappoport)
What happened to Professor James Tracy?
Here is what the NY Times had to say ("Florida Professor Who Cast Doubt on Mass Shootings Is Fired," 1/6/16):
"MIAMI — A Florida Atlantic University professor who suggested in blog postings and radio interviews that the 2012 massacre of children at Sandy Hook Elementary and other mass shootings were a hoax designed by the Obama administration to boost support for gun control was fired Tuesday.
"James F. Tracy, 50, a tenured associate professor of communications at the Boca Raton university, has repeatedly called into question the authenticity of recent mass shootings, including the slaying of churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., and office workers in San Bernardino, Calif. In his blog postings and radio interviews, Mr. Tracy has said the Newtown massacre may have been carried out by 'crisis actors' employed by the Obama administration."
Here are a few more news quotes about Tracy:
Orlando Sun-Sentinel op-ed ("Tenure be damned, Professor James Tracy embarrasses FAU," 12/17/2015):
"In our view, academic freedom is not a license to do or say whatever you want, consequences be damned. So we welcome the termination proceedings begun against Tracy this week by FAU, a university he continues to embarrass with his 'didn't happen' conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook Elementary School slaughter, the Boston Marathon bombing, the San Bernardino shooting and other mass attacks."
The Washington Times ("Florida Atlantic University moves to fire professor who questioned Sandy Hook," 12/18/2015):
"Florida Atlantic University moved Wednesday to fire a professor who has faced calls for resignation after claiming the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a staged drill that the community benefitted from financially…The school said in a release on its website that School of Communication and Multimedia Studies professor James Tracy was served Wednesday with a notice of termination, to which he has 10 days to respond."
And then we have this from the Daily Beast ("This Professor Trolled Sandy Hook Parents—And His University Wants Him Gone," 12/17/2015):
"James Tracy, who taught a course chock-full of conspiracy theories at Florida Atlantic University, reportedly harassed parents of a Sandy Hook child, demanding proof of his death… Florida Atlantic University announced on Thursday it planned to fire tenured professor James Tracy for allegedly harassing parents of the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary that left 20 children and six adults dead… After years of Tracy stating that the massacre was a government conspiracy, the professor reportedly sent a certified letter to Lenny and Veronique Pozner demanding they prove that their deceased 6-year-old, Noah, ever existed. When the family notified the police of the harassment, Tracy responded on a 'Sandy Hook Hoax' Facebook page, claiming that the family had 'made out very well for itself financially' from the tragedy… That was enough for the university to take action."
Here is my interview with James Tracy. Let's read, at length, what he has to say:
Q: Did you harass Lenny and Veronique Pozner about their son, Noah?
Absolutely not.
In March of 2015, Lenny Pozner, acting on behalf of his "HONR Network," filed a copyright infringement claim with Automattic, the ISP and parent company of WordPress.com, where my blog, Memory Hole, is housed. Pozner/HONR Network demanded that I take down an image that Pozner purports to hold copyright ownership in. This well-known photograph, purportedly of [Lenny's son] Noah Pozner, was voluntarily provided to the press by the Pozners in December 2012 following the Sandy Hook massacre event and has since been reproduced millions of times in print, electronic, and online media throughout the world.
An identical photo of Noah Pozner also appeared in December 2014 in the wake of a school massacre in Peshawar Pakistan, purportedly representing a child victim in that shooting. I wrote an article in January 2015 on the re-emergence of this image and included the photo in question. Even the BBC eventually acknowledged how the photo first appeared following the 2012 Newtown massacre. When Automattic/Wordpress presented me with Pozner's takedown request it remarked that my inclusion of the photo in the post constituted "fair use" under US copyright law, which provides for republication of copyrighted material for the purpose of "commentary or criticism." Nonetheless, I removed the photograph from my blog, and responded to the allegations, referencing free speech concerns and asking for documentation and evidence supporting Pozner's copyright claims. To my knowledge, I am not aware of any journalistic outlet that has ever attempted to accurately report this.
I should note that by early 2015, Lenny Pozner had become infamous within the alternative media community for filing blatantly frivolous infringement claims. Pozner's objective appears to be to shutdown any commentary or criticism of the controversy surrounding his son's death, as alleged. To contest such claims, anonymous bloggers and YouTubers must divulge their legal identities. Pozner and his HONR Network associates then use this identifying information to stalk and harass Sandy Hook researchers, going so far as to contact their family members, neighbors, and employers, to suggest these researchers are emotionally harming Sandy Hook victims' families. But there's nothing unlawful with such study and criticism. On the contrary, it is Pozner and his group who are involved in unlawful stalking, harassment and defamation. This very harassment and defamation of myself reached a crescendo with the Sun-Sentinel's December 10 publication of an article by Lenny and Veronique Pozner entitled, "Sandy Hook Massacre 3rd Anniversary: Two Parents Target FAU Conspiracy Theorist; FAU Professor Taunts Sandy Hook Parents."
Q: How do you view free speech and the 1st Amendment, in light of what is happening to you?
Free speech and academic freedom are closely intertwined. When school officials at FAU [Florida Atlantic University] initially expressed their concerns about my blog in 2013, I explained to them that if I could not practice my constitutional rights during my personal time, then my right to academic freedom and professional autonomy on the job is likewise threatened. This is the case for university faculty at FAU and throughout the country. The American Association of University Professors and The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education supported my stance in letters of protest to school officials when FAU first attempted to discipline me for my personal blogging in March of 2013. Regardless of the lies told by the Pozners and their media allies, I don't think there's any question given what has transpired that FAU has acted wrongfully, and in violation of its own principals of academic freedom, institutional tenure and my constitutional rights.
Q: On what basis did the University fire you?
FAU's contention is that I failed to file "outside activity" forms for my personal blog. In January of 2013, they made the same request and at that time I explained that such endeavors are personal and protected by the First Amendment. The administration fell silent for 34 months, and then abruptly resurrected this unconstitutional basis as cause for termination in late December 2015. For their exact "reasoning", see FAU's Notice of Termination, dated January 6, 2016.
Q: Before this situation finally blew up, you must have known you were on a collision course with the University. What were your thoughts about that?
I had no idea that university officials would so brazenly violate the well-established principals of academic freedom and my constitutional rights. In 2014, a new president, John Kelly, was recruited from Clemson University and installed at Florida Atlantic. His administration was characterized to me by one senior FAU faculty member as the most anti-faculty administration in thirty-plus years. This administration has proceeded to discipline or threaten with discipline several faculty who've made public pronouncements that Kelly and his inner circle disfavor.
In September 2015 the Kelly administration attempted to effectively eliminate tenure by implementing a controversial post-tenure review process that faculty eventually caught wind of and protested. I also reported on that episode.
See James Tracy, "Academic Freedom Threatened in America: The Policy of Post Tenure Review," Global Research, September 20, 2015.
Q: In a similar vein, people must have been telling you, in the past few years, that you were treading on dangerous ground, relative to job security. How did you respond?
I can't recall any colleague suggesting that I was in danger of being disciplined, much less being stripped of tenure and fired. I was confident that tenure and the First Amendment still had meaning at FAU. I was obviously proven wrong.
Q: Do you believe your present situation is a test case for academic freedom in America?
Absolutely—for academic freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. All of these protections exist so that faculty and citizens can examine, research, and publicize the potential malfeasance and wrongdoing of those in power. As some academics and journalists have come to realize, however, is the unwritten code guiding what topics can actually be addressed. Political assassinations and similar events are often deemed suspect and off-limits.
I think this is strongly-rooted in the misleading yet almost uniformly adhered to notion that we live in an "open society," a mythic pluralism overseen by properly functioning political institutions inhabited by fair-minded political leaders and bureaucrats, all of whom have our best interests at heart. Of course, universities are a central part of this mythic democratic order. Researching such difficult subject matter calls the legitimacy of this system into question. At the same time controversial and poorly-understood topics are exactly what tenure and academic freedom exist to foster and protect.
Q: Is anyone at your University defending you?
I have maintained contact with most of the colleagues I've come to know in my thirteen years at FAU. They understand how I have been defamed in the press and recognize the grave injustice of the termination. Yet not nearly enough people have condemned the FAU administrators' action, particularly the egregiousness of their conduct. As noted, some faculty clearly fear retaliation, and rightly so. Others both at FAU and elsewhere have simply bought the disinformation the news media have circulated without examining the facts, which is the most painless and convenient course of action.
Q: What would you say to people who believe your claim about Sandy Hook is completely absurd?
You can't reason someone out of a position they weren't reasoned into in the first place. Most challengers of my analyses and criticisms of unbelievable official narratives have not even attempted to explore the evidence researchers and journalists have presented through alternative media. It's much easier to shoot the messenger, particularly when the messenger is framed as an insensitive deviant, and refrain from critical thinking.
Q: Playing Devil's advocate for a minute—it's one thing to espouse a controversial view in a college classroom, but when grieving parents feel pain because you're going after them, all bets are off, and your University has a right to terminate you, on the basis that you're crossing a moral line and bringing shame to the institution.
I didn't "go after" anyone, even though that's how the legacy news media chose to present and cultivate the controversy. In the immediate wake of FAU's public announcement that it was poised to terminate my employment on December 16, 2015 the media assumed that I was being fired because of my public comment and letter to Pozner's HONR Network. Yet the administration fired me on a technicality that cannot warrant the termination of any tenured faculty member, particularly one such as myself who since 2002 has established an impeccable record of research, teaching and service at FAU. I contend that I merely sought the truth, did my job and engaged in constitutionally protected activities. I did not bring shame on FAU. The disclaimer on my blog specifically states that I don't speak for FAU. In fact, FAU has brought shame to itself by violating long standing principals of academic freedom, and by violating constitutional rights that it is supposed to safeguard and protect.
Q: There is going to be a University hearing, at which you'll defend yourself against job termination? What shape do you anticipate that hearing will take?
In January 2016, I dropped the faculty union-appointed attorney and hired a counsel of my own choosing who I believe will be a stronger advocate. While I cannot discuss any case details or specifics, it is my understanding that any legal action will be directed at those who have violated my constitutional rights, and I have the right to a trial by jury. This is how the proceedings will take shape, unless a Court determines that I am entitled to relief as a matter of law without a trial.
Q: Here are several questions together; sort them out in whatever way you want to: How do you separate the right to free speech, the right to express your conclusions about Sandy Hook, from the content and substance of your conclusions? What's the primary issue here? Did your University fire you because you've expressed a very controversial view, or because you've become embroiled in a conflict with the Pozners?
George Orwell once remarked, "At any given moment there is orthodoxy, a body of ideas which it is assumed all right-thinking people will accept without question. It is not exactly forbidden to say this or that or the other, but it is not done. Anyone who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in highbrow periodicals."
I maintain that the primary issue is FAU violated my constitutional rights, which exist to provide the basis for rational argument and exchange, and protect "unorthodox" views, which with the benefit of hindsight often demonstrate their significance. According to the U.S. Supreme Court: "The hallmark of the protection of free speech is to allow "free trade in ideas"–even ideas that the overwhelming majority of people might find distasteful or discomforting." (Virginia v. Black 2003)
Regardless of how the FAU administration dressed this matter up I don't believe there's really any question that I was fired for exercising my constitutional rights.
Q: If your tenured employment is re-established there, how will you go forward?
A perfect definition of an intellectual slave, in my view, is someone who recognizes truth but fears to publicly acknowledge or affirm it. I would very much wish to have my job back. Yet if this were achieved I would remain concerned about efforts by school officials and others to infringe on my constitutional rights and harm me for standing up for my rights, as well as the rights of others.
Q: Do you believe there are people trying to avoid the issue of free speech and academic freedom in your situation? Do you believe they're shading this controversy and mischaracterizing it, in order to invent other reasons for firing you, so they don't have to face the question of freedom head-on?
The fact that FAU administrators have chosen to fire me on pretextual grounds is ample proof that they must at all costs avoid the questions of academic freedom and free speech.
Q: Have you looked for help where you thought you might get it, only to be ignored or rejected?
I want to thank those who have stood by me and shown their support. I think it would be best to leave it at that.
—After receiving Tracy's answers to these questions, I sent him a few follow-up questions. Here is the rest of the interview:
Q: I understand the Pozners claim you questioned, or doubted, or denied that their son died during the Sandy Hook School shooting. Is that correct?
Yes, this is what the Pozners claim in their December 10 article published by the Sun-Sentinel.
Q: Did you ask the Pozners for proof that their son died, that he wasn't still alive?
My correspondence was not sent to Lenny and Veronique Pozner, but was rather directed to the business address of Lenny Pozner and his HONR Network. The letter requested written verification of Pozner's identity, his ownership of the copyrighted image, and evidence of the image's origin. In other words, I asked for Lenny Pozner to back up what he swore to be true under penalty of perjury in his copyright infringement complaint against my ISP and website. This is the specific passage from that letter:
I have reason to doubt the good faith nature of your March 22, 2015 DMCA copyright infringement claim. An action with such potential weight to stifle free speech needs the utmost scrutiny. I am therefore requesting written evidence of the following from you:
1. Proof of your identity via copy of a government-issued document, such as a state driver's license or passport.
2. Proof of your relationship to the deceased party, Noah Pozner, whose alleged photograph appears in the image in question referenced above.
3. Proof of your ownership of said image via a signed and notarized statement from a qualified and licensed forensic expert substantiating your legal ownership of said image, including the date and time of the image's capture.
The text of the letter is available here: "HONR Network, 'Lenny Pozner' Fall Silent on Copyright Infringement Claim".
Very few publications chose to provide this important context. Instead, they collectively reinforced the much more sensational yet erroneous notion that I made an out-of-the-blue request for "proof that their son died."
Q: Could you describe the position you've taken regarding the Sandy Hook school shooing?
My position from December 2012 has been that the corporate news media never did their job in reporting the Sandy Hook massacre. We now know without any doubt that the actual event differed greatly from what the American public have been told, and as with most poorly-understood terror events the media never backtracked to further investigate the case and admit their "errors" in reportage, some of which now appear to have been intentional. If Americans are going to have an honest debate and possibly endorse policy changes further compromising the Second Amendment such an exchange needs to be based on facts rather than on the media disinformation that's created a mythology of misplaced fear.
Q: Just to clarify, your letter to Lenny Pozner's HONR group was essentially asking him to verify he was who he said he was; that he was the father of Noah Pozner; and that the photo of Noah was owned by him. These requests were part of your investigation into the Sandy Hook shooting. You were trying to establish whether the shooting actually took place or was a staged hoax in which no one died. Correct?
Yes, that's correct.
—end of interview—
My opinion:
Florida Atlantic University is a Florida state institution. It is an extension of state government. Therefore, its decisions about free speech and limits are government decisions. The government is telling a tenured professor he went too far in speaking and writing freely. It fired him.
It entered the dark regions, where morbid dislike for someone else's reasoning process takes precedence over his right to speak and write.
It's as if the University said: "You can write this. You can write that. But over here, you can't write that. No. We don't like that. It reflects badly on us and, well, we just don't like it. So we're going to find a reason to fire you. We're going to find a reason that doesn't attack free speech per se, because that, too, would reflect badly on us. We're not that stupid. So we've put our people on the case. How can we fire you on some technicality? How can we appear to be neutral? How can we nail you, while appearing to be as calm and neutral as a surgeon operating on the brain of a stranger?"
This is what bureaucracy does. It likes doing it. It wants to limit free speech. It's tired of free speech. It's an annoyance. And worse, free speech can expose the nature and the actions of the bureaucracy.
Free speech is untamed. Free speech can even, God forbid, employ reasoning and evidence and actually make a formal argument, and attempt to establish a case. People "have to be cured of that practice." It's dangerous to the State.
The State wants all debate to occur within a chosen context. Outside those boundaries, debate should be belittled. It's "conspiracy theory."
Well, here is a theory. If one college in America had the balls to defend one of its own who is expressing a very unpopular view—if one college made that call and stood by it and loudly attacked anyone who tried to impinge on that freedom…who knows what might happen? Who knows how the tide might turn? Who knows how many people might wake up?
You know, suppose something like this happened instead of what has happened:
"As president of Florida Atlantic University, I wanted to bring Professor Tracy here today to give us a complete presentation of his views and his position on the Sandy Hook school shooting. He has now done that, for the last three hours, in front of five thousand people and the press. I thank him for that. There is no 'we' here. I'm not going to tell you what 'we, the University' think of all this. I'm not in the business of making 'we' pronouncements when it comes to research and conclusion. I don't care what anyone thinks or believes or concludes about Professor Tracy's stance. He has made his case. If any person or group thinks they can come at this University now and demand we censure Professor Tracy or fire him, be ready for war. I hold up the First Amendment of the Constitution. It's not just a shield. It's a sword. I will use it. And you won't like what it does to you. Somewhere, people have to make a stand for the law and what the law embodies and refers to—which is the natural right of the individual to speak freely. This University is that place. Right now. If you can't tell the difference between what you think of what someone else is saying and his right to say it, without interruption or censure, you are socially and politically insane. You need help, and the help should come in the form of education. This University is in that business. We are that island. If you want a war on that subject, bring it. But I warn you.
"Don't screw with me. I'll crush you."
You know, something like that. Something we really need.
Jon Rappoport
The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.


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Google's secret Wi-Fi snooping was powered by new sniffing technology that the company wants to patent, court documents filed Wednesday alleged.
A just-amended complaint in a class-action lawsuit first submitted two weeks ago claims that a patent Google submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in November 2008 shows that the search giant purposefully created technology to gather, analyze and use data sent by users over their wireless networks.
The lawsuit, which was filed by an Oregon woman and a Washington man in a Portland, Ore. federal court May 17, accused Google of violating federal privacy and data acquisition laws when its Street View vehicles snatched data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks as they drove up and down U.S. streets.
Google acknowledged the privacy issue May 14, but said it had not known it was collecting data from unprotected wireless networks until recently.
The company faces multiple civil lawsuits in the U.S., and is under investigation by authorities in several countries, including Canada , the Czech Republic, France, Germany Spain and Italy. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has said it will take a "very, very close look" at the Google practice.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Oregon lawsuit upped the ante Wednesday when they amended the original lawsuit to include charges that Google filed for a patent on Wi-Fi sniffing technology more than a year and a half ago.
According to the modified complaint, Google's technology can collect the make and model of wireless routers, the street address of that router and even the "approximate location of the wireless AP [access point] within the user's residence or business."
In its patent application , Google noted that multiple antennas could be mounted on vehicles, which would be able to obtain a more accurate estimate of the router's location based on a "stereo" effect.
Google has admitted that it sniffed basic wireless network information -- including the network and router identifiers -- to map those networks, which would then be used by mobile devices such as smartphones to pinpoint their locations in Google's mapping services. Google has claimed, however, that the code which grabbed data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks was added to the Street View vehicles data sniffers by mistake.
But the plaintiffs' lawyers said Google's patent application showed that the company's Wi-Fi locating technology had more in mind than just basic information.
"As disclosed in the '776 Application, the more types and greater the quantity of Wi-Fi data obtained, decoded, and analyzed by Google from any particular user, the higher its 'confidence level' in the calculated location of that user's wireless AP," the changed lawsuit stated. "Collection, decoding, and analysis of a user's payload data would, therefore, serve to increase the accuracy, value, usability, and marketability of Google's new method."
"Payload data" is the term given to the information transmitted over wireless networks, including the data that Google said it unintentionally snatched from the air as its Street View cars and trucks drove by homes and businesses.
"Google has employed one or more of the methods disclosed in the '776 Application to collect, decode, analyze, store, and make beneficial use of wireless data (including payload data) it collected from plaintiffs and class members," the lawsuit alleged.
The advocacy group Privacy International has had similar thoughts. In a letter last month to European Union privacy commissioners, the group said, "We are deeply unsettled by Google's assertion that this situation was caused by a mere 'mistake' brought about by accidental use of inappropriate code developed for sniffing the content of Wi-Fi networks. This explanation to us seems entirely implausible."
As part of the amended complaint, the plaintiffs' lawyers added another charge to the three original, alleging that Google violated Title 47 of the U.S. Code . They also asked that Google be forced to pay up to $100,000 to each person whose data it obtained.
Google did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Company lawyers have not yet responded to the class-action lawsuit with a court filing of their own.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld . Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com .
Read more about privacy in Computerworld's Privacy Topic Center.


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You may have heard how a portion of the Soyuz-2 rocket destroyed some poor guy's house in Siberia. That wasn't the only shenanigan Soyuz debris pulled last weekend. A portion of the Soyuz rocket that transported three astronauts to the International Space Station flared up the skies over Germany, Belgium, and France on Christmas Eve, leading confused observers to assume that Santa Claus had fed his reindeers napalm.
[Via Universe Today]