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What's the Opportunity at Enterprise Product Partners?
Enterprise Products Partners (NYS: EPD) is the country's biggest publicly traded midstream master limited partnership by market cap. The partnership has an incredibly diverse asset base that targets some of the most important shale plays in the United States, including the Marcellus Shale, the Permian Basin, and the Eagle Ford Shale. All told, the company operates more than 50,000 miles of pipeline, the majority of which carry natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).
Being on top doesn't make it any easier to stay there, and the midstream market is becoming increasingly competitive. However, I think Enterprise is one of the best midstream investment options out there, and I created a premium report on Enterprise to help guide investors on whether the company merits consideration for their portfolio.
Following is an excerpt from the report, laying out the company's opportunity. We hope you enjoy it.
The opportunity
In 2010, Enterprise merged with Enterprise GP Holdings, effectively ending incentive distribution rights to its general partner. This simplified structure results in a lower cost of capital and an increase in financial flexibility for the partnership. It was perfect timing, and the new and improved Enterprise Products Partners is positioned perfectly to take advantage of three key trends in the energy world.
Trend No. 1
First, its processing assets along the Gulf Coast are ideal for exports. The U.S. recently became a net exporter of petroleum products, and the global demand for petrochemicals is poised to increase as well. In fact, petrochemical companies like Dow Chemical are building or reopening ethylene crackers on the Gulf Coast for the first time in years, which bodes well for Enterprise's planned ethane pipeline, ATEX Express, that will run from the Marcellus Shale to the Gulf Coast.
The Marcellus Shale is an invaluable connection for Enterprise's Gulf Coast assets and export potential. Currently, there is a tremendous amount of natural gas - some estimates put it at 489-trillion cubic feet - trapped in the shale under the ground in Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia.
There have been approximately 5,900 unconventional wells drilled in the Marcellus since 2008, but only 2,875 wells reported production in the first half of 2012. The lag is caused by a dearth of midstream infrastructure to bring the gas to market once it is produced. More than 1,000 wells drilled in the last year and a half are waiting to come online, and analysts predict Marcellus production will increase 78% over the course of the next three years as the build-out of midstream infrastructure allows these wells to begin producing.
Enterprise's ATEX Express is expected to transport 190,000 barrels of ethane per day from Pennsylvania down to Texas, and it is scheduled to begin service in the first quarter of 2014.
Trend No. 2
Second, NGLs are Enterprise's bread and butter. The depressed price of methane has driven many explorers and producers to switch production focus from dry gas to wet gas, and no one was more ready for it than Enterprise. NGL pipelines and related services make up 58% of the partnership's business mix. Be it pipelines, storage, fractionation, or import/export terminals, Enterprise can fulfill a wide array of needs for NGL producers.
For a better understanding of Enterprise's range, let's take a quick look at two recent announcements.
In April, Enterprise announced it had struck a deal with Anadarko and DCP Midstream to develop the Front Range pipeline. The new 435-mile line will transport NGLs from the Denver-Julesberg basin in Colorado to Skellytown, Texas. Expected to start service by the end of next year, it will provide connections to other lines in the Enterprise network, including the Texas Express and the Mid-America Pipeline, the latter being one of the partnership's most significant systems.
In May, Enterprise announced that the first train at its new cryogenic natural gas processing plant was up and running. The entire facility will be able to process 300-million cubic feet of natural gas per day, and, at first, draw almost exclusively from the natural gas supply of the Eagle Ford shale.
These two projects highlight Enterprise's ability to reach out to newer NGL plays, like the Denver-Julesberg basin, and capitalize on existing demand in more traditional natural gas producing regions.
Trend No. 3
Finally, Enterprise is big enough to create business for itself. The demand for cheap ethane, combined with a switch to methane for home heating, has significantly reduced the use of propane in developing ethylene. As a result, there has been a decline in the associated production of propylene, a key component of plastic. Seizing this opportunity, the partnership announced that it is building one of the world's largest propane dehydrogenation facilities. It will be located on the Gulf Coast, and exports will go through an Enterprise terminal while domestic supply will be shipped to nearby chemical customers via Enterprise-owned pipelines.
All told, Enterprise has more than $8 billion in infrastructure coming online to meet needs just like this one. Much of that is directed at the Eagle Ford Shale play in Texas, one of the nation's most prolific plays right now.
Looking for more guidance?
That was just a sample of our new premium report on Enterprise. If you're weighing whether the company is a buy or sell, the report is an essential resource for investors seeking more information on the company. Not only that, but the report comes with updated quarterly guidance and dives into upcoming catalysts on the horizon. To get started, simply click here now.
The article What's the Opportunity at Enterprise Product Partners? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Aimee Duffy has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Enterprise Products Partners. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Click on the following for all the information regarding the titled Service Alert:
The mission of the Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority(MMVTA) is to provide safe, dependable and reliable public transportation services to the Middle Monongahela River Valley (Mid Mon Valley). MMVTA continues to partner with stakeholders to improve the quality of life throughout the areas served.
© 2023 Mid Mon Valley Transit | Phone: 724.489.0880 | After hours (MV Transportation - MMVTA Transit Contractor) 724.379.5956
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Should You 'Foster' a Pet?
Providing an animal with a temporary home can fill a void and be a lesson in how to love — and let go
When my only child headed off for school last fall, the house was quiet. Tomb quiet. Even my 6-year-old bichon frise, Rosie, felt the emptiness.
My home needed new energy, which soon arrived in a crate of three wiggling, yapping, licking and bounding dachshund puppies, who needed a foster home. Soon, 8-week-old Sunny, Red and Vinnie were filling big spaces in my heart and house with little antics — latching on to the same toy, tumbling over long-suffering Rosie, snuggling in my lap for a midmorning snooze.
Fostering rescue pets is a lesson in loving and letting go. It's a great fit for older animal lovers who want to share themselves and their homes fully, but not forever.
"Fostering is particularly attractive to older people who generally have more flexible schedules and more time to devote to animals in need," says Kim Intino, director of shelter services for the Humane Society of the United States. Also, many shelters foot the bill for food, toys and vet bills, which makes fostering "attractive to folks on a fixed income," Intino says.
Fostering, which usually lasts between one week and three months, also can be a labor of love for snowbirds and frequent travelers, who shelter animals between trips.
"Some older people own two homes and aren't in one area for a whole year," says Lois Lefkowitz of Virginia, who has fostered 24 animals over four years. "Fostering is a great way to have some companionship and help some dogs and cats."
Although national rescue groups don't keep statistics on pet fostering, the Humane Society estimates that tens of thousands of families foster pets every year. In Sacramento, Calif., alone, the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals placed 1,000 animals — including rabbits and rats — with Sacramento-area foster families in 2009.
"Retired people are a prime resource for us," says Leslie Kirrene, a spokeswoman for Sacramento SPCA.
Foster families provide not only temporary shelter for rescue animals, but also training and socialization. Retirees especially have the time and experience to devote to training animals to walk on a leash, sleep in a crate or do their business outside.
"These animals don't need to be locked in a kitchen all day when someone goes to work," Kirrene says. "They benefit from someone who is at home and can give them the attention they need."
Fostering pets often begins with an application designed to match human with critter: dog or cat, puppy or adult, big or small, high energy or couch potato.
"I like older dogs," says Lefkowitz, in her early 50s. "Puppies are really energetic and a lot of work."
Most shelters offer a short pet care and training class, then support a foster placement by paying all costs attached to the animal, even trainers to help change antisocial behaviors.
Foster parents are expected to introduce their charges to prospective adoptive families during private meet-and-greets and at adoption fairs. Although the rescue group makes the final decision, fosters greatly influence who adopts the pet.
Often, a friend or relative falls in love with the pet. Sometimes, the foster family becomes the forever family. Rescue groups half-jokingly call them "foster failures" with hearts two sizes too big.
"Every time a foster family keeps an animal, we risk losing them as a foster home," says Kirrene. "Foster parents need the ability to care, form a bond and then let go."
I just about died when sweet newlyweds adopted my Sunny two weeks after she arrived. But when Red and Vinnie pranced out two months later with a single woman who couldn't bear to break up the pair, my heart soared: The siblings could grow up together, and I could finally shampoo my rug.
"When a dog leaves your house it's always bittersweet," says Lefkowitz. "I'm sad to see a dog go because I become attached. But I'm really happy because I'm free to save another dog's life."


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Welcome to the City of Savanna
Lead Service Line Survey
Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
Savanna is located along the banks of The Mississippi River and picturesque bluffs of Carroll County. Savanna is a part of the very active consolidated school district of West Carroll and is proud to support THE THUNDER WAY. We have community minded families, volunteer organizations, churches and local businesses. There are many reasons to choose the City of Savanna and Carroll County to become your new home. Let me share a few.
Safe and secure small town community located on the Mississippi River along Pool 13 with three public river ramps within the city limits.
Savanna Park District promotes and maintains Marquette Park, the Savanna Marina, 6th Street Park, and Old Mill Park.
Home of the Mississippi Palisades State Park. A 2500 acre park with trails, camping, fishing/boating, hiking, picnicking, and rock climbing
Public Schools: Consolidated school district with strong teachers, administrators, and students. Savanna hosts West Carroll Primary and West Carroll High School. For more information visit www.wc314.org
Shopping & Recreation includes: a fitness center, a jeweler, downtown retail shops, local florists, a local radio station, plus shopping opportunities that include a Dollar General, locally owned supermarket, hotels/motels, and B&B's.
Entertainment: several local taverns and pubs including a motorcycle museum, a movie theatre, performing arts venues, cafés, pizza parlors, and the Savanna Cultural Center
Medical amenities: a pharmacy, local eye doctor, dentist, chiropractor, and a FHN location all within Savanna. About 20 minutes from Mercy Hospital, a full service facility with an emergency department.
Affordable and higher end housing available for sale and rent with several subdivisions with lots available to build.
Pride shines throughout Savanna and is evident in our residential areas and business district.


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"All things noble are difficult as they are rare."
They forged streams, climbed boulders and pounded dirt. Those with the tenacity to complete the distance returned to Woodstock, to the very point from which they embarked. For 21 of those runners, however, the journey was not over. Theirs would continue on for three more 100-milers, over three more months, across three more states. It would end in the gritty town of Midway, tucked somewhere between two Wasatch Mountain foothills in wild Utah. Those runners were the finishers of the Grand Slam of ultramarathoning.
More From Runner's World
To Grand Slam is to run the following four 100-mile trail races in one summer: Old Dominion, Western States, Leadville and Wasatch. Each is considered progressively more difficult, and each offers its own tricks and treats. Old Dominion is run in early June through the rolling and verdant mountains of antebellum Virginia. Runners contend with thick humidity, and spend much of the day swatting at horseflies and relieving their legs of bloodthirsty ticks and briars. Cobble strewn across the trail sections continually tear at ankle ligaments. Spectacular views of historic Fort Valley assuage the torment. As an alternative to Old Dominion, Slammers may run the Vermont 100-Mile, which loops through the undulant Green Mountain foothills during the heat of July.
Western States is run in late June, and traverses the Sierra Mountains of northern California. The race is known for its extremes: Runners may stumble through 20 miles of snow and sub-freezing temperatures in the morning, and then descend the scorching tinderbox canyons in the afternoon, where temperatures can reach 100 and shade is nowhere to be found. The trails on Western States are dusty and desolate, and the ubiquitous downhills are enough to jar fillings loose. Western States is the Boston Marathon of trail running, complete with media helicopters, masseurs and 1,300 volunteers.
The third leg of the Slam is Leadville, an out-and-back across Colorado's Rocky Mountains held in late July. Aptly monikered "Race Across the Sky," Leadville is run entirely above 9,000 feet of elevation, where oxygen is a rare commodity. Mere mention of the race's name sends runners' chests heaving in Pavlovian anticipation. Its crucible climb, and possibly the most merciless of the Grand Slam, is over the 12,600-foot Hope Pass, where runners ascend 3,500 vertical feet in a matter of miles. Participants navigate it not once, but twice. Because of the altitude, Leadville's finishing rate hovers around 45%, the lowest among the Slam events.
The final event is considered the toughest of the four. Wasatch sends runners through remote mountains of northern Utah in early September. It gleans the most tortuous elements of the other three races and packages them into one haymaking gut-punch. The climbs are taxing, the trails brutal and the weather raw and tempestuous. Runners climb 26,000 vertical feet over the 100 miles, like scaling the Empire State building 21 times. Wasatch is frequently mentioned as the most beautiful of the Slam events, with much of the course crossing high alpine meadows strewn with wildflowers and glacial ponds.
The origin of the 100-mile trail run can be traced to Gordy Ansleigh, a gritty woodsman-cum-chiropractor. Ansleigh regularly participated in a 100-mile endurance horse race in northern California known as the Tevis Cup. Just before the 1979 event, Ansleigh's horse became lame. In what can be called either a stroke of genius or a lapse of common sense, Ansleigh covered the course on foot. He finished just shy of 24 hours, keeping pace with the equine competitors. The Western States 100-mile footrace was born. (Ansleigh continues to run Western States regularly, and Grand Slammed in 1995.)
Soon after, other 100-mile trail races appeared, the next three being the other Slam events. Ultrarunning editor Fred Pilon in 1985 contrived the concept of running all four 100-milers in one summer, and offered the name "Grand Slam" to the task. Pilon's own Slam attempt proved unsuccessful. Tom Green, a house painter and seasoned ultramarathoner from Columbia, MD, took a fancy to Pilon's idea, and in 1986 become the first person ever to complete the Grand Slam. "I did it as redemption," the venerable Green recently ruminated. "In 1985, I ran poorly, dropping out of two of my three 100-milers. I thought I would feel much better if I could come back the next year and Slam." According to Stan Jensen, the Grand Slam's unofficial historian, 97 runners (14 of them women) have completed the Grand Slam a combined 113 times. Jensen himself Grand Slammed in 1999; his Web site (www.run100s.com) is the repository for Grand Slam data and information.
Twenty-one runners (three of them women) Grand Slammed in 1998, the most ever in one year. The oldest, at age 66, was Richard Opsahl, a retired consultant from New York; the youngest, Robert Youngren, a 24-year-old student from California (and the youngest American Slammer ever). The group represents a mish-mash of abilities and personalities, each with his or her own story.
Dan Barger and the inimitable Ann Trason were clearly the class of the 1998 Grand Slammers. Barger finished all four 100s with a combined running time of 78 hours, 46 minutes, the fastest ever (average time: about 19:41). He won Old Dominion outright, a rare accomplishment because Slammers tend to run conservatively. Trason is unquestionably the finest female runner in the sport. She runs with the silken stride of a fleeing doe, her feet barely touching the trail. Trason won all four Slam events that year, and holds the course record for each. Her combined Slam time was 79 hours, 23 minutes (average time: 19:50), just minutes behind Barger's record.
Though the speedsters garner the headlines, formidable tales are often cultivated from the other side of the pack. Bill Andrews is a medical researcher from California whose stocky and bearded physique seems more attuned to chopping wood than hammering miles. He runs in bohemian black and is rarely seen without his trademark straw hat. Andrews started running in 1997, and ran 13 50-milers that year. In 1998 he encored by running eight 100-milers, including the Grand Slam. He attributes his success to his profound love of the process of running. "I greatly enjoy being out there," he says. "Reaching the finish line is not my goal. Being out there is."
Andrews experienced a frightening episode in the final miles of the final Slam event. "I had already completed 98 miles of Wasatch, and was feeling like I could run it again," he said. "The weakness hit me very suddenly. I immediately collapsed to the ground, convinced I was having a heart attack."
Paramedics revived Andrews, and performed an on-site EKG. His fears were allayed when paramedics determined the malady to be potassium deficiency. "They said my muscles wouldn't function without potassium, and a potassium IV would have disqualified me from competition," Andrews added. "So I drank some electrolyte solution, got up, and finished the race." An ambulance escorted Andrews the final two miles.
Stephen Simmons is clean-cut and affable, a landscaper from rural West Virginia. Like Andrews, he took up running three years ago. Simmons, however, was a voracious hiker, which fostered a seamless transition to trail ultramarathoning. His passion for running is surpassed only by his religious zeal. Simmons sometimes carries a Bible during races, and at the finish often drops to his knees and reads Bible verses, which is often mistaken for a call for medical attention. On a bet, Simmons ran the entire 100 miles at Western States with his race number pinned directly to his chest skin.
Simmons' exhaustive efforts to reach the starting lines make for better yarns than his efforts to reach the finish. He drives cross-country to most races, lives sometimes for weeks out of his truck (leaky truck, he reminds others), and subsists on the most basic of comestibles. A Grand Slam summer for Simmons goes like this: drive 30 hours, run 100 miles, and drive 30 hours home. Repeat three or four times. When driving becomes too tedious, he hops a Greyhound or hitchhikes. Simmons' vagabond escapades dispel the belief that Slamming is merely a quixotic adventure of romance and intrigue; it can also be a grind.
Janine Duplessis flies 747s for United Airlines, and partakes in endurance events as time permits. She was suffering severe back pains in the spring of '98, and doctors advised her to quit running. Janine responded by Grand Slamming.
Robert Youngren injected youthful exuberance into the Slam. When asked the most difficult aspect of Grand Slamming, he responded, "Being away from my girlfriend, Kathy, for so long. What I spent using my calling cards was crazy." Youngren ran each race with his hair dyed a different Crayola color.
Kevin Sayers is tall and unassuming, with hair as gold as Leadville aspens. He works as a systems analyst for a government contractor. Sayers' Grand Slam hopes were nearly derailed by foot problems. Repeated blistering over the course of the four races cost Sayers both foot pads and several layers of skin. Metatarsal ailments compounded his difficulties. But Sayers persevered and finished. Asked what impelled him to Grand Slam in the first place, Sayers offered, "It just sounded neat."
The fraternity of Grand Slammers has interesting members from past years. Deaf runner King Jordan is president of Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C., the country's premier institution of higher education for the deaf; he Grand Slammed in 1996. Joe Schlereth is a two-time Slammer who relies on extraordinarily high training mileage; in 1997, he logged over 9,000 training miles, almost a marathon a day.
Grandmother Helen Klein waited until the age of 55 to begin running. She Grand Slammed in 1990, at age 67, and continues to shatter age-group records today.
Gary Wright completed what can only be called the Grandest Slam, when in 1993 he finished 10 100-mile trail races in one year. His attempt to complete all 11 available 100-milers was sullied only by a DNF at Hardrock, in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, considered the toughest ultramarathon of all. In 1998, the prolific Burgess Harmer completed his sixth Grand Slam. "One for each grandchild," he quips.
In his book Beyond the Marathon: The Grand Slam or Trail Ultrarunning, Bob Boeder wrote: "To enter a 100-mile race, you have to have a dream, a want, or a void. It's not for everyone." I'd add to that list a rapacious appetite for adventure. The spiritual lineage of the Grand Slammer traces back to the great explorers—to Merriwether Lewis and Robert Byrd and even John Glenn. Grand Slammers are their modern-day equivalents, at once exploring remote geographical regions, absolute physical thresholds, deepest visceral emotions and the ability to mentally endure.
Completing the Grand Slam can be reduced to training; time and money; logistics; and lots of luck. Running the 400 miles could be considered the easiest part of Grand Slamming. Those who toe the line tend to be adequately trained for the distance and are well-versed in the attendant physical and medical issues. All Slammers, however, possess one physical attribute that warrants mention—an almost inhuman ability to recover from body trauma. Conventional wisdom is that total recovery from an ultramarathon is one day for each mile raced, more than three months for a 100-miler. Slammers must come back strong in a matter of weeks.
Slamming is time-demanding, and not only from a training perspective. Sea-level-dwelling runners may need to arrive at the high-altitude races weeks in advance to properly acclimate. And Slamming comes with a hefty price tag—about $1,000 per race, more if you pay travel expenses for your pacer and crew, as protocol dictates. Jason Hodde, a 1997 Grand Slammer from Indiana, ran six 100-milers in the summer. He tabulated his expenses (including entry fees, travel, car rentals, lodging and food) to be about $4,300. East coasters relying on air travel can expect to pay even more.
When asked to identify the greatest challenge of Slamming, veterans often dwell on the logistics. Juggling the time and travel demands, arranging for crew and pacers, and organizing gear and drop bags can be far more exhausting than actually running the 400 miles. "More than anything, we're strategists," notes Sayers. "We have to be analytical and disciplined." Perhaps that's why a disproportionate number of Grand Slammers work in analytical professions such as engineering, accounting, research and computer science.
It's difficult to overemphasize the role luck plays in successfully Grand Slamming. The most critical stumbling block to completing the Grand Slam happens on paper and not on the trails. Each year about 2,000 runners apply to run Western States, and 400 are accepted through a lottery system. No preference is given potential Grand Slammers; with one clean slice, perhaps 80% of potential Slammers are TKOd before the shoes are even laced. Those lucky enough to make the cut at Western States still hinge their success on life's vagaries: planes arriving on time, drop bags making it to the aid stations, car tires not going flat, ankles surviving pothole twists, alarm clocks sounding, nausea fending off until after the race and the body successfully holding off all those upper-respiratory infections so common to ultrarunners. Even with impeccable training and preparation, the runner remains at the mercy of life's daily rhythms.
Finally, Grand Slamming is not without its risks. Several recent trail running incidents served a sobering reminder as to the inherent dangers of the sport. Seasoned ultramarathoner Joel Zucker died in 1998 shortly after completing Hardrock. Doctors attributed his death to "brain bleed," likely the result of a lethal combination of high blood pressure, high altitude and overexertion. A few years prior, ultrarunner Barbara Schoener was mauled to death by a cougar while training on the Western States course. It's not uncommon for ultrarunners to suffer renal problems, the result of perpetual jarring of the kidneys. There are rattlesnakes and lightening strikes and hypothermia and severe wind gusts. Trail running is said to be kid's play, but Grand Slamming is surely not.
Michael Strzelecki is a veteran of more than 50 ultramarathons, and writes from his home in Baltimore, MD.
So You Want to Give the Slam a Go?
Training for the Slam demands more than just high-mileage training runs. You need to tailor your runs to the specific conditions you'll encounter during the races by running on similar terrain and in similar weather and climactic conditions. Back-to-back long runs are advisable to accustom your body to running while fatigued. Partake in occasional nighttime training runs to acclimate yourself to running in the dark on trails, with a flashlight. During your training runs, experiment with food and liquid intake because you'll need to replenish the approximately 15,000 calories you'll burn during each race, and the five gallons of liquid you'll perspire or pass.
Pay attention to race day coordination. Decide beforehand whether you'll need a crew and/or pacer, and where you'll meet them throughout the race. Pacers are typically allowed later in the race for safety reasons. Calculate how often and when you'll change clothes and shoes. Find out where water and food are available on the course, and figure how much nourishment you'll need to carry between aid stations. Do you want to carry such amenities as Vaseline, spare batteries, electrolyte tabs, medications, bug spray, toilet paper and perhaps a coat?
Develop a running strategy. The ultrarunner's credo "start out slow and taper" cannot be overemphasized. Eat early and often; drink early and often. Monitor your urine for blood (an indication of dehydration and possible kidney problems). And be mindful that most 100-mile races require participants to be weighed occasionally to check for possible dehydration. Develop a comfortable run/walk cadence; on trails, most runners walk the uphills and run the downhills and flats. And during the race, seek the company of other runners, as 30 hours of continuous trail running can lose its novelty.
Leadville Trail 100
Old Dominion 100 Mile One Day Endurance Run
Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Race
Western States Endurance Run 100 Miles


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Little house of secrets! Former child star Melissa Gilbert didn't hold back during an appearance on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live on Wednesday, Jan. 22. The Little House on the Prairie actress — whose '80s romance with Rob Lowe is more well-known — revealed that she dated a young Tom Cruise before he became famous, and would punch a certain Beverly Hills, 90210 alum in the face.
PHOTOS: Odd couples in Hollywood
"When I dated him, he was Tom Mapother still," Gilbert, 49, recalled of dating 51-year-old Cruise. "He had just moved to Los Angeles."
She added: "I did not have sex with him. We made out, but honestly, there was no sex.He was a struggling actor and I was working, I actually bought him his first set of dishes."
Cruise wasn't the only ex the former Dancing With the Stars contestant dished about. Gilbert also talked about her first husband, Bo Brinkman, and actress Shannen Doherty's had a one-night stand with him. "[I] would just punch her in the nose," she said if she ever ran into Doherty again. (Doherty briefly starred on Little House on the Prairie with Gilbert from 1982-1983.)
But she wasn't finished yet! Gilbert also discussed her displeasure with former costar Melissa Sue Anderson, who played her blind older sister Mary Ingalls on the program for nine years. "[Anderson was] "hateful, horrid, mean, terrible, mean, difficult," Gilbert said to host Andy Cohen. "She hated me. She knocked me off the wagon when I was nine."
For access to all our exclusive celebrity videos and interviews – Subscribe on YouTube!


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07/12/2013 - OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría welcomed the historic deal reached by World Trade Organisation members during their recent ministerial meeting, which concluded today in Bali.
Mr Gurría said the trade facilitation agreement at the core of the new package would cut red tape and speed border crossings worldwide, offering an important boost to world trade and the global economy. "As OECD work has highlighted, the benefits of lowering costs for traders are significant, and are particularly welcome today, given the slow growth seen in so many countries," Mr Gurría said.
The agreement reached in Bali also addressed the specific concerns of countries, particularly developing countries, in the area of agriculture and food security.
"That a deal was reached in Bali is not only good news for the world economy - it's a victory for multilateralism," Mr Gurría said. "The WTO has proved it can bridge differences across diverse views and build on countries' shared interest in a well-functioning and rules-based international trading system."
Congratulating WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo and trade ministers for reaching this important milestone, Mr Gurría urged all parties to maintain momentum and apply the same commitment to resolving other aspects of the Doha Development Agenda. "The OECD will continue to contribute towards our common goal of a freer and fairer world trading system."
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Automotive Tire Technician Installer
- Posted: over a month ago
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Take the first step on an exciting career path by becoming an Automotive / Tire Technician with Mavis!
You'd be a great fit for the Automotive / Tire Technician position if you:
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At Mavis, we understand that our people are our greatest asset. We value our team members' hard work and that's why we proudly offer you benefits and rewards to support your lifestyle and well-being. As an Automotive / Tire Technician, you can expect:
- a safe, positive working environment;
- an excellent combination of fringe benefits, like health and dental insurance;
- a 401(k) retirement savings plan with employer match;
- paid vacations;
- paid personal and sick time;
- paid holidays;
- paid on-the-job training; and,
- opportunities for career growth and advancement.
To learn more about working with Mavis, click here!
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A House representative said Thursday she is requesting an investigation after learning a CNN reporter was put on the federal no-fly list shortly after his investigation of the Transportation Security Administration.
Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee demanded to know why a CNN reporter's name was put on the no-fly list.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas asked Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff about "a curious and interesting and troubling phenomenon" that CNN Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin was added to the list.
"My question is, why would Drew Griffin's name come on the watch list, post-his investigation of TSA?" Jackson Lee said.
"What is the basis of this sudden recognition that Drew Griffin is a terrorist? Are we targeting people because of their critique or criticism?"
In response, Chertoff said it was "not my understanding the reporter was put on," but that Griffin may share a name with someone put on the list.
"We do have circumstances where we have name mismatches," he said.
Griffin learned in May he was on the list, about two months after he reported on the federal air marshals program.
In a March story, Griffin reported that of the 28,000 commercial flights taking off in the United States every day, fewer than 1 percent have on-board, armed federal air marshals on board.
In response to Griffin's story, TSA said on its Web site that it would not disclose the number of air marshals flying on a daily basis so as not to "tip our hand to terrorists."
"The actual number of flights that air marshals cover is thousands per day," read a statement on the Web site.
Jackson Lee said she was using Griffin as an example. Committee members noted during the meeting that Congressman John Lewis, D-Georgia, is also on the no-fly list and has been trying for years to get removed.
"He's still having trouble," said committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, showing a letter from Lewis.
"And according to this letter, it's still not happening," Thompson said, "even to the point that the department gave him a letter attesting that he was John Lewis and he should be allowed to get on planes."
He asked Chertoff to "find out how many other John Lewises are out there, who are having difficulty explaining to the department who they are so they can get off this no-fly list. We see more and more of it happening and I know Sen. Kennedy had a problem with it, and for whatever reason it was worked out."
Chertoff said he would be "happy" to help Lewis in his efforts to get removed from the list.
Jackson Lee said Griffin also attempted to provide documents indicating he was not involved in terrorism to the Department of Homeland Security.
Chertoff said if Griffin has a complaint, he should go to the department's inspector general. He pointed out, however, that the database of people on the no-fly list is maintained by the Department of Justice, not the TSA.
TSA spokesman Chris White said earlier this week that any connection between Griffin's reporting and his name being added to the no-fly list "is absolutely fabricated."
Griffin reported earlier this week that the database has grown to 1 million names, citing the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims the list is so huge it is "ineffective" and "likely useless" as an anti-terrorism tool.
Federal officials who manage the list say the ACLU's claim is exaggerated, and that about 400,000 names are currently on the list. The Terrorist Screening Center, a division of the FBI, said about 5 percent of those on the list are Americans, and most aren't even in the United States.
"We strive to have the watch list contain all appropriately suspected terrorists who represent a threat to the U.S., but only appropriately suspected terrorists," the center said in a written statement. "Independent government audits have recognized our ongoing efforts to constantly check watch list data to improve quality, reduce the number of misidentifications or mitigate their effects and enhance traveler redress efforts."
Washington attorney Jim Robinson, a former assistant attorney general who told CNN he is among those on the watch list, said he cannot utilize some of the conveniences of air travel, such as electronic check-in, automated ticketing kiosks and curbside baggage checks.
Instead, after he checks in, he has to wait in line while airline agents verify by telephone "that I am not the James Kenneth Robinson who is the cause of my being on the watch list."
The ACLU drew its 1 million figure from an October report by congressional auditors, who put the number of names on the list at more than 750,000, with another 20,000 names being added each month.


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For Immediate Release
Celebrate The Life Of Former WARRANT Singer JANI LANE With This Collection Of Superb Solo Performances!
Los Angeles, CA – In 2011, the rock world lost an incredibly gifted singer and songwriter, a man whose voice reverberated around the world on such blockbuster hits as "Cherry Pie," "Down Boys," "Sometimes She Cries," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and the unforgettable ballad "Heaven." Jani Lane joined Warrant in 1985, and together the band lit up the L.A. club circuit, becoming an international sensation with multi-platinum albums and an adoring fanbase. Always a music lover at heart, after Lane left Warrant in 2004, he continued to write and record, often paying homage to some of his musical heroes by participating in tribute projects to Cheap Trick, Judas Priest and others. Now a new CD compilation collects some of these superb solo performances in one convenient package and for the first time ever on vinyl! Catch A Falling Star, which includes Lane's takes on UFO's "Doctor, Doctor," Def Leppard's "Photograph," and Bon Jovi's epic "Lay Your Hands On Me, will be released February 26 on Deadline Music.
In addition to guest appearances by two of Lane's bandmates, guitarist Erik Turner & bassist Jerry Dixon, Catch A Falling Star includes liner notes by former Warrant drummer Bobby Borg who shares his personal recollections of Lane. There is "no better tribute to Lane than a collection of covers," Borg writes, "Those who saw Warrant perform live know that Lane loved to mix cover songs into the show…songs by The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Joe Walsh, Queen, and other artists throughout our live sets. (I loved that about the band.)." Speaking of Lane's distinctive vocal style, Borg writes "Lane was able to convey the subject matter of a song emotionally—whether soft and heartfelt or loud and aggressive—while always maintaining a certain charm as if he were grinning warmly." This collection is the perfect way to remember both the man and immense musical gifts, and is sure to leave a warm grin on the face of his fans everywhere.
Track List:
1. I Want You To Want Me feat. Ryan Roxie (Alice Cooper / Slash's Snakepit)
2. Panama
3. Photograph
4. The Ocean
5. Doctor, Doctor
6. Electric Eye
7. Free For All feat. Jake E. Lee
8. No Surprise feat. Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.)
9. Lay Your Hands On Me feat. Erik Turner & Jerry Dixon (Warrant)
Buy the CD: http://flyt.it/JaniLaneCD
Buy the LP: http://flyt.it/JaniLaneLP
Press inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
Billy James
CLEOPATRA RECORDS, Inc.
11041 Santa Monica Blvd #703
Los Angeles CA 90025


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Yesterday, Somalia's new parliament selected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country's new president. The voting proceeded in three rounds; the first round yielded four candidates, including incumbent President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali. Ali and another candidate dropped out of the second round, and so Sheikh Ahmed and Mohamud went directly into the third round, which Mohamud won 190 to 79. As of a few weeks ago I had the impression that many analysts expected Sheikh Ahmed to win re-election; Mohamud's selection comes as a surprise to some.
Reuters has a sketch biography of Mohamud:
Mohamud [born 1955 and from Jalalaqsi in central Somalia] graduated from the Somali National University in 1981 before obtaining a master's degree in education from India's Bhopal University in 1988.
During the early years of Somalia's civil conflict, he worked for the U.N. children's agency, UNICEF.
In 1999, the fluent English speaker co-founded the Somali Institute of Management and Administration Development in Mogadishu, which later became Simad University, and served as its dean until 2010.
In 2011, he founded the Peace and Development Party.
Wikipedia and the BBC have more. The BBC states that Mohamud is from the Hawiye clan.
Both the United Nations and the White House have issued statements praising the outcome, each describing the election as a "step forward."
International media coverage of Mohamud has been largely positive so far, although different outlets have characterized his background in different ways. A few examples:
- Xinhua: "The civic activist and academic is seen as new breed of leaders coming to power in the war ravaged Horn of Africa nation following the similar landslide victory for the new speaker of the Somali parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari."
- New York Times: "Mohamud, a moderate political activist and academic, took on one of the world's most challenging political posts on Monday."
- BBC: "Mohamud could represent a different kind of future for the country because he is not associated with the violence and corruption of the past."
AFP's article on Mohamud is well worth reading – it stresses how little the world knows about him, and includes a few morsels on his religious background and his experience holding talks with Al Shabab. AFP stresses, "Unlike many Somali political figures, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is not part of the diaspora. The new president has never served as a minister, nor, up until the past few days, as an MP."
Last but not least, here is an article on Mohamed Osman Jawari, the new speaker of parliament.
What is your opinion of the election, and of Mohamud?


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"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone. I should think so – in these parts! We are plain, quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner."
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
There are many more rivers to explore and many miles to wander in this beautiful world. We have not finished our river journeys. There is Julius Caesar's Rubicon, the Mekong River, one of the great rivers of SE Asia, and the legendary Amazon River that carries more water than any other river in the world.
For now, I am taking a couple of weeks to share an adventure with my husband and son. I am uncertain whether I will be able to access the internet on a regular basis, even though I am equipped with a new iPhone that I know very little about. I confess that I have not attained the level of proficiency to access WordPress. I am going to use this time to stretch my knowledge of technology.
We are all on a remarkable adventure, we call life. Over the past months, I have come to realize that we may be on opposite sides of the world, yet we are travelling the same path.
Safe travels….and remember….
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings


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Update: The Iraq War Ledger
Update: The Iraq War Ledger
A Look at the War's Human, Financial, and Strategic Costs
Matthew Duss and Peter Juul look at the human, financial, and strategic costs of the U.S. intervention in Iraq as the last of our troops pull out.
Media Contact
Government Affairs
See also: Turning the Page in Iraq by Brian Katulis, U.S.-Iraq Relations Enter a New Era by Peter Juul
Download this memo (pdf)
Read the full memo in your web browser (Scribd)
The United States is withdrawing the last of its troops from Iraq this month, which makes now an appropriate time to begin weighing the costs and benefits to U.S. national security from our intervention there.
On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush stood aboard the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and declared to the country and to the world that "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."
As Americans would quickly find out, President Bush's declaration of victory was severely premature. Iraq would soon be in the throes of a violent insurgency and, eventually, a full-blown sectarian civil war.
More than eight years after that speech, as President Barack Obama prepares to keep his promise to end the war, Iraq has made progress but still struggles with insecurity and deep political discord. Though the level of violence has remained down from its 2006–2007 peak—when dozens of bodies could be found on Baghdad's streets every morning—Iraq still endures a level of violence that in any other country would be considered a crisis. Still, the end of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein's brutal regime represents a considerable global good, and a nascent democratic Iraqi republic partnered with the United States could potentially yield benefits in the future.
But when weighing those possible benefits against the costs of the Iraq intervention, there is simply no conceivable calculus by which Operation Iraqi Freedom can be judged to have been a successful or worthwhile policy. The war was intended to show the extent of America's power. It succeeded only in showing its limits.
The tables and charts below tell the tale. We have grouped these costs into three categories:
- The human costs, dealing with American and Iraqi casualties
- The financial costs, dealing with the expense of the war and of the continued care for its veterans
- The strategic costs, dealing with the impact of the Iraq intervention on U.S. power and influence in the Middle East and on the global stage
Before turning to those tables and charts, however, we would like to make two additional points.
First, it is critical to remember the shifting justifications for the U.S. intervention in Iraq. The Iraq invasion was sold to the American public on the basis of Saddam Hussein's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction and his alleged relationship with Al Qaeda. When both claims turned out to be false, the Bush administration justified the intervention on the idea that a democratic Iraq would be an ally in the "war on terror" and an inspiration for democratic reform in the Middle East. These arguments remain, at best, highly questionable.
Second, the authors would like to make clear that this analysis of the costs of the Iraq war in no way diminishes the sacrifice, courage, and honor displayed by the U.S. military in Iraq. Americans troops have served and died in Iraq at the behest of the American people and two of their commanders-in-chief. This is why it is important to draw the correct lessons from our nation's invasion of Iraq. In order to do that, its costs must be examined honestly and rigorously.
Human costs
- Total deaths: Between 110,663 and 119,380
- Coalition deaths: 4,803
- U.S. deaths: 4,484
- U.S. wounded: 32,200
- U.S. deaths as a percentage of coalition deaths: 93.37 percent
- Iraqi Security Force, or ISF, deaths: At least 10,125
- Total coalition and ISF deaths: At least 14,926
- Iraqi civilian deaths: Between 103,674 and 113,265
- Non-Iraqi contractor deaths: At least 463
- Internally displaced persons: 1.24 million
- Refugees: More than 1.6 million
Financial costs
- Cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom: $806 billion
- Projected total cost of veterans' health care and disability: $422 billion to $717 billion
Strategic costs
The foregoing costs could conceivably be justified if the Iraq intervention had improved the United States' strategic position in the Middle East. But this is clearly not the case. The Iraq war has strengthened anti-U.S. elements and made the position of the United States and its allies more precarious.
Empowered Iran in Iraq and region. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the primary strategic beneficiary of the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq. The end of Saddam Hussein's regime removed Iran's most-hated enemy (with whom it fought a hugely destructive war in the 1980s) and removed the most significant check on Iran's regional hegemonic aspirations. Many of Iraq's key Iraqi Shia Islamist and Kurdish leaders enjoy close ties to Iran, facilitating considerable influence for Iran in the new Iraq.
Created terrorist training ground. According to the U.K. Maplecroft research group's most recent index, Iraq is the third-most vulnerable country in the world to terrorism. The years of U.S. occupation in Iraq created not only a rallying call for violent Islamic extremists but also an environment for them to develop, test, and perfect various tactics and techniques. These tactics and techniques are now shared, both in person and via the Internet, with extremists all over the region and the world, including those fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Loss of international standing. While abuses are perhaps inevitable in any military occupation, the images and stories broadcast from Iraq into the region and around the world have done lasting damage to the United States' reputation as a supporter of international order and human rights. Gen. David Petraeus has said that the damage done to the United States' image by Abu Ghraib is permanent, calling it a "nonbiodegradable" event.
Diverted resources and attention from Afghanistan. Rather than stay and finish the job in Afghanistan as promised, the Bush administration turned its focus to Iraq beginning in 2002, in preparation for the 2003 invasion. Special Forces specializing in regional languages were diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq, and Predator drones were sent to support the war in Iraq instead of the hunt for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Stifled democracy reform. While the Arab Awakening of 2011 is a potentially positive development, there's no evidence that the Iraq war contributed to this in any positive way. A 2010 RAND study concluded that, rather than becoming a beacon of democracy, the Iraq war hobbled the cause of political reform in the Middle East. The report stated that "Iraq's instability has become a convenient scarecrow neighboring regimes can use to delay political reform by asserting that democratization inevitably leads to insecurity." Rather than supporting democratic forces in neighboring Syria, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has repeatedly voiced support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Fueled sectarianism in region. The invasion of Iraq replaced a prominent Sunni Arab State with one largely controlled by Iraq's Arab Shia majority. While the end of the oppression of Iraq's Shia majority is a positive thing, this shift has exacerbated regional tensions between Shia and Sunni, including in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, and Bahrain (where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based). Lingering disputes in Iraq between Sunni and Shia Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen also continue to invite exploitation by both state and non-state actors.
More detailed costs
- Total U.S. service members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan: More than 2 million
- Total Iraq/Afghanistan veterans eligible for VA health care: 1,250,663
- Total Iraq/Afghanistan veterans who have used VA health care since FY 2002: 625,384 (50 percent of eligible veterans)
- Total Iraq/Afghanistan veterans with PTSD: At least 168,854 (27 percent of those veterans who have used VA health care; does not include Vet Center or non-VA health care data)
- Suicide rate of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans using VA health care in FY 2008: 38 suicides per 100,000 veterans
- National suicide rate, 2007: 11.26 per 100,000 Americans
Iraq reconstruction (as of September 30, 2011)
- Total funding: $182.27 billion
- Iraqi government funds (including Coalition Provisional Authority spending): $107.41 billion
- International funds: $13.03 billion
- U.S. funds (2003-2011): $61.83 billion
- Total U.S. unexpended obligations: $1.66 billion
Download this memo (pdf)
Read the full memo in your web browser (Scribd)
Matthew Duss is a Policy Analyst and Director of Middle East Progress and Peter Juul is a Policy Analyst at American Progress.
See also:
- Turning the Page in Iraq by Brian Katulis
- U.S.-Iraq Relations Enter a New Era by Peter Juul
- Reasons to Keep Our Word—U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq by Lawrence J. Korb and Alex Rothman (Near East Quarterly)
- The Iraq War Unnecessarily Prolonged the Conflict in Afghanistan by Lawrence J. Korb (U.S. News and World Report)
- Leave Iraq on Time, with Dignity by Lawrence J. Korb (Boston Globe)
The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.
Matthew Duss
Policy Analyst
Peter Juul
Former Senior Policy Analyst


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Savannah woman set to walk across the country to spread message of hope
A Savannah woman is taking her message to the streets by walking 21-days to spread hope to those in need.
Emra Smith, the founder and CEO of The International School of Story will walk in across the country while participating in a HOPE walk.
As Smith travels she will share her message of hope by giving free life-coaching phone calls to those going through difficult times.
"I really believe that we all have gifts in life, and we all can make a difference in our communities, and for me, I don't have land, I don't have money to give, but I have me to give," Smith said.
She began her journey Monday morning at the Isle of Hope Marina and will make several other stops in the Savannah area before heading to California Thursday. The journey from San Rafael, CA to Los Angeles will include the historical El Camino missionary road to Los Angeles CA.
Smith will walk 6-10 miles a day for 21 days.


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In this episode, Scott B. is joined in the virtual studio by Robert Moncrief, a young LDS film maker in Southern California. Among other topics, they discuss Robert's current film projects, his experiences as an LDS film student in California during Prop 8, the current state of LDS cinema, and the Mormon cultural aversion to R-rated movies. Also, they talk about the scourge to humanity that is George Lucas.
Links For Your Convenience:
[Read more…]


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Take Care of Cold Sores
How To Get Rid Of Cold Sores
It's easy to get them confused, but cold sores are not the same as canker sores. Cold sores are red blisters that appear on the lips as a result of infection with the herpes simplex virus. They almost never occur inside the mouth and they are not associated with gum disease. By contrast, canker sores, which are not associated with herpes or gum disease, almost always occur inside the mouth.
Usually, cold sores last for seven to 10 days, after which time the pus-filled blisters will rupture and ooze. Fortunately, cold sores usually heal without leaving scars. Most cold sores will resolve without treatment, but you can apply a topical medication such as lidocaine or benzyl alcohol to relieve pain and itching.
If you develop a cold sore, avoid skin-to-skin contact. And don't share razors, eating utensils, or towels-those are other ways the infection spreads to other people. If you have frequent cold sores, or a cold sore that doesn't go away after seven to 10 days, talk to your doctor.
It can be hard to reduce the risk of cold sores, but it certainly won't hurt to maintain a consistent personal hygiene routine including regular hand washing. Also, using a lip balm with sun block throughout the year, not just during the summer, can help prevent cold sores, too.
The above article is from: OralB.com
Jones & Copeland Smiles
Sedation ~ Cosmetic ~ Family Dentistry
7330 Spout Springs Road, Suite C15
Flowery Branch, GA 30542
(770) 965-3048


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Congress should allocate sufficient funding to strengthen the administrative capacity of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to better meet the needs of applicants and benefi
The number of years used to calculate benefits should not be increased beyond the 35 years designated in current law.
Policymakers should retain wage indexing of both the average indexed monthly earnings and the thresholds used in the formula for the Prim
Policymakers must maintain adequate funding rules for defined-benefit pension plans.
Employers should be required to keep plan participants informed adequately and in a timely manner about the state of plan funding.
The Department of Labor must stringently enforce fiduciary rules to ensure that pensions are handled prudently and in the best interest of plan participants and beneficiarie
Public retirement systems should establish a maximum vesting period of five years for DB plans and one year for employers' matching contr
Minimum distribution requirements for retirement savings should periodically be examined to reflect changes in life expectancy and income needs at older ages while ensuring
Policymakers should promote the creation of mixed-use livable communities.
National, state, and local parks should be age-friendly, accessible, and sufficiently funded. They should be equitably located throughout communities.


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Gary Brown: I will always have a front-row view on the Fourth
Porches are for watching fireworks.
The porch on my family home when I was growing up faced toward the north end of Canandaigua Lake in western New York. Those who stood or sat on it looked across acres of vacant land between our street and the open space upon which Fourth of July fireworks were ignited. Bombs bursted openly in the air in front of us each year.
We had the neighborhood fireworks stadium, with an unobstructed view, except for a stand of trees that hid the fireworks from us while they were waiting on the ground.
Our porch drew neighbors from houses kitty-corner across the street, whose porches faced, well, just at us. All they would have seen on any Fourth of July night were people "ooo-ing" and "aah-ing." Maybe some pointing.
Fireworks are not to be enjoyed vicariously. Booms at your back are a tease.
Next-door neighbors sometimes showed up, too. They had small concrete porches and steps. These were no more than stoops. You can't watch fireworks on a stoop. No room for porch furniture. How is Grandma going to sit with a couple of the little ones on a glider?
Bigger venue
Our porch was a long wooden one that stretched the width of the front of the house. It was divided from shrubbery on two sides by a solid wooden railing, topped by 2-by-8-inch planking. Wide steps descended on the third side to the driveway. My dad was a carpenter. It isn't surprising his porch was so sturdy.
At the first sound of Fourth of July fireworks, my siblings and I burst through the screen door, climbed up on the railing, dangled our legs behind the bushes and started our appreciation of the moment.
"Mom, he's sitting too close to me. ..."
Even the most awesome pyrotechnical displays can have a few early bugs in them.
And fireworks displays are awesome. They're inspiring in their illumination.
Certainly they're patriotic in their reds and whites and blues. And most of all, they're memorable -- maybe not individually, but as an experience. I still can see us sitting on that railing. I can see Dad standing behind us with Mom. And I can see Grandma, crippled from a stroke, sitting on that glider, smiling through the latest of her 80-some Fourth of July celebrations.
Even on holidays, we move on.
First they built an apartment complex across the street, blocking our view of what my dad called "the low ones." Then we moved away -- the oldest children first, and then the whole family when the home was taken for an expressway.
It's true. You can't go home again. Especially if the house has been torn down.
Still, you can remember, and even revisit that home in your mind.
Wherever I am this Fourth of July, whatever fireworks I'm watching, I'll still be sitting on my porch.
Contact Gary Brown at (330) 580-8303 or email@example.com.


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NCC and ABRAPA Issue Joint Statement
U.S. and Brazilian Cotton Industries Seek Cooperative Efforts
Cotton industry leaders from Brazil and the United States met in Atlanta, Georgia, to discuss issues of mutual concern and to search for avenues of greater cooperation. Sergio De Marco, President of ABRAPA, Brazil's national cotton producer organization, led a delegation of Brazilian cotton leaders. Chuck Coley, Chairman of the National Cotton Council, led the U.S. delegation.
The meeting focused on risk management, cotton's sustainability and international promotion. Every cotton producer has been impacted by the extraordinary price volatility exhibited by the cotton futures market since early 2008. Price volatility disrupts orderly market activities and creates costly uncertainty that market participants must address.
Cotton is being challenged in the retail market to demonstrate its sustainability. The Brazilian and U.S. cotton industries have individually taken steps to address these concerns. It was recognized that collaborative actions would produce greater recognition of cotton's contribution to environmental improvement.
Cotton's share of the world fiber market has been eroded as synthetic fibers have gained ground. Promotion programs acquainting the world's consumers to the benefits of the cotton apparel and textiles are vital to securing cotton's future. Brazil and U.S. cotton industries are strong supporters of promotion programs. They will explore opportunities to jointly enhance consumer awareness.
This statement also appears on ABRAPA's website.


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An active exploration of team dynamics using problem solving challenges where key 'breakthroughs' in team thinking lead to success.
Program outline
Teams are presented with a series of 'problem solving' challenges, each carefully designed to explore communication and highlight aspects of team working that all too often go unnoticed!
Following an introductory icebreaker, the group is formed into teams ready to follow a tight schedule. After understanding the desired outcomes of each challenge, participants quickly evaluate the resources at hand, set realistic goals and reach a consensus on how these will be achieved.
The allocated time slots are 'just enough' to complete each challenge, so teams are pushed but remain motivated by their successes. Teams are encouraged to review their performance and take learning's forward to the next challenge.
After completing their journey, the group is reunited for the final challenge. This can be competitive or collaborative so everyone is a winner.
Breakthrough is professionally presented in a menu format that can be tailored to venue, delegate number and specific business issues.
Learning and development outcomes
Breakthrough can be a platform for team profiling techniques such as Belbin or Myers-Briggs, and an in-depth review can draw out many other key learning's, however, we often find that the activity outcomes speak for themselves.
In a comparatively short time teams learn about the basics of team working while individuals appreciate how their interpersonal styles may effect their team's success.
Corporate Social Responsibility ideas
Considering that Breakthrough is a great platform for learning, how about considering an 'event in kind'? Donate a full Breakthrough event to a school, youth group or any charitable foundation that would benefit from the educational relevance of this challenge. To play our part we will provide this at a heavily discounted price.
Key Business Benefits
- Fun & Motivation
- Practical leadership
- Project planning
- Team Dynamics
- Uniting Teams


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Are you seeking the perfect present to give for Christmas? Try some gift-giving tips from President Thomas S. Monson, and enjoy an inspiring song:
The Christmas season, with its special meaning, inevitably prompts a tear, inspires a renewed commitment to God, and provides, borrowing the words from the lovely song "Calvary," "rest to the weary and peace to the soul."
I reflect on the contrasts of Christmas. The extravagant gifts, expensively packaged and professionally wrapped, reach their zenith in the famed commercial catalogs carrying the headline "For the person who has everything." In one such reading I observed a four-thousand-square-foot home wrapped with a gigantic ribbon and comparable greeting card which said, "Merry Christmas." Other items included diamond-studded clubs for the golfer, a Caribbean cruise for the traveler, and a luxury trip to the Swiss Alps for the adventurer.
Such seemed to fit the theme of a Christmas cartoon which showed the Three Wise Men traveling to Bethlehem with gift boxes on their camels. One says,
"Mark my words, Balthazar, we're starting something with these gifts that's going to get way out of hand!"
Then there is the remembered Christmas tale of O. Henry about a young husband and wife who lived in abject poverty yet who wanted to give one another a special gift. But they had nothing to give. Then the husband had a ray of inspiration: "I shall provide my dear wife a beautiful ornamental comb to adorn her magnificent long black hair." The wife also received an idea: "I shall obtain a lovely chain for my husband's prized watch which he values so highly."
Christmas day came; the treasured gifts were exchanged. Then the surprise ending, so typical of O. Henry's short stories: The wife had shorn her long hair and sold it to obtain funds to purchase the watch chain, only to discover that her husband had sold his watch, that he might purchase the comb to adorn her beautiful long hair, which now she did not have. . .
. . .My own father, a printer, gave to me a copy of a piece he had printed. It was entitled "A Letter from a Father" and concluded with this thought:
"Perhaps my greatest hope as a parent is to have such a relationship with you that when the day comes and you look down into the face of your first child, you will feel deep within you the desire to be to your child the kind of parent your dad has tried to be to you. What greater compliment could any man ask? Love, Dad."
. . .He who was burdened with sorrow and acquainted with grief speaks to every troubled heart and bestows the gift of peace.
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
. . .May we give generously to Him, as He has so abundantly given to us, by living and loving as He and His Son have so patiently taught, is my earnest prayer."
– excerpts from Gifts, by Thomas S. Monson, April 1993
"Life is God's gift to man. What we do with our life is our gift to God."
Happy Birthday today, Mother! Thank you for all the priceless gifts you have given to me in partnership with God. I love you! – MoSop


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Water conservation
Tips to conserve water
Nelson sometimes experiences dry weather and drought conditions. Conserving water in homes and businesses means that we reduce our impact on river flows and are better prepared to cope with prolonged periods with no rain. Harvesting rainwater to use during droughts can also help provide a water supply during periods of water restrictions.
Following are some hints about conserving water.
Why not download a copy of these tips (61KB PDF) and put it up on your fridge? It's a great way to remind everyone in the house that we need to save water now.
Average household water use
On average, each household connection uses 272 litres of water per day.
How water usage breaks down
- A typical dishwasher uses around 16 litres of water per load
- Summer gardens could drink 1,000 litres per hour
- Washing your car with a running hose can use up to 400 litres
- A deep bath can use more than 200 litres of water but a three-minute shower uses only 80 litres.
How to save water
You can make savings on discretional water use - the non-essentials around your home and garden. Water savings are about preventing waste, like being careful with the hose and attending to leaky taps. The more water you save, the less you will pay. Here's a few simple tips to save you money AND save a little water.
- Hand watering is a very efficient way to use water
- Water the garden only on calm days, during the evening or early morning to minimise evaporation
- A wisely used timer or irrigation system can save water
- A dripper pipe system is an efficient watering method. Moveable sprinkler systems are the least efficient method
- Cover soil around plants with mulch, straw or grass clippings. This helps the soil retain moisture while discouraging weeds, which compete for water
- Save 'grey water' for garden use
- Don't hose down or 'water-blast' the yard or paths
Don't be a drip
A hose left running can waste up to 40 litres per minute - that's 2,400 litres an hour
A dripping tap can waste over 1,000 litres per day
- Install water saving shower heads (less than 10 litres per minute) or flow restrictors
- Keep bath levels to a minimum
- Wait until you have a full load before using your dishwasher
- Wait until you have a full load before using your washing machine or use the half load switch. You'll save as much as 125 litres per full wash.
- When buying a new washing machine, consider a front loading type. They use less water, power and soap powder. You'll save around 50 litres per wash.
- Insulate the hot water pipes, starting from the hot water tank and moving towards the taps
- Don't use the loo as a waste bin
- Turn off the tap once you have collected enough for the task, either in a bowl or in a sink with the plug fitted.
Flush facts
It's easy to reduce the amount of water used to flush the toilet:
- Put a brick or a two-litre bottle of water in the toilet cistern
- Install a flush saving device
- Install a dual flush cistern when buying a new toilet or cistern. A dual system uses between three and six litres per flush
In the yard
- Cover your swimming pool - you'll stop the water evaporating
- Use a bucket and brush when you wash the car and the house windows
More information
The Government had a useful website with helpful hints on water conservation as well as other tips on sustainable living: see water advice from an archive of sustainability.govt.nz.


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"It was while looking at Google's scan of the Dewey Decimal Classification system that I saw my first one—the hand of the scanner operator completely obscuring the book's table of contents," writes the artist Benjamin Shaykin. What he saw disturbed him: it was a brown hand resting on a page of a beautiful old book, its index finger wrapped in a hot-pink condom-like covering. In the page's lower corner, a watermark bore the words "Digitized by Google."
There are several collections of Google hands around the Web, each one as creepy as the one Shaykin saw. A small but thriving subculture is documenting Google Books' scanning process, in the form of Tumblrs, printed books, photographs, online videos, and gallery-based installations. Something new is happening here that brings together widespread nostalgia for paperbound books with our concerns about mass digitization. Scavengers obsessively comb through page after page of Google Books, hoping to stumble upon some glitch that hasn't yet been unearthed. This phenomenon is most thoroughly documented on a Tumblr called The Art of Google Books, which collects two types of images: analog stains that are emblems of a paper book's history and digital glitches that result from the scanning. On the site, the analog images show scads of marginalia written in antique script, library "date due" stamps from the mid-century, tobacco stains, wormholes, dust motes, and ghosts of flowers pressed between pages. On the digital side are pages photographed while being turned, resulting in radical warping and distortion; the solarizing of woodcuts owing to low-resolution imaging; sonnets transformed by software bugs into pixelated psychedelic patterns; and the ubiquitous images of workers' hands.
The obsession with digital errors in Google Books arises from the sense that these mistakes are permanent, on the record. Earlier this month, Judge Denny Chin ruled that Google's scanning, en masse, of millions of books to make them searchable is legal. In the future, more and more people will consult Google's scans. Because of the speed and volume with which Google is executing the project, the company can't possibly identify and correct all of the disturbances in what is supposed to be a seamless interface. There's little doubt that generations to come will be stuck with both these antique stains and workers' hands.
Shaykin was an M.F.A. student in graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design when he was given an assignment to choose a book from Brown's library that would serve as the basis for a series of projects. Even though he had the physical books readily available, he found it easier, as many people do, to access them through Google Books. Once he came across the first hand, he was hooked, and started digging deeper into Brown's special-collections library, which was digitized by Google. He came upon many more anomalies. "In addition to hands and fingers, I found pages scanned through tissue paper, pages scanned while mid-turn, and fold-out maps and diagrams scanned while folded," he explained. "The examples were everywhere. I quickly became obsessed, and filled my hard drive with gigabytes of downloaded PDFs." He collected his strangest findings in a book called "Google Hands," which ended up as one in a series of a dozen small hand-sewn books, each focussed on a different type of glitch. Through social media, he came into contact with like-minded collectors, and they began swapping artifacts.
One of those was Paul Soulellis, the proprietor of the Library of the Printed Web, which is housed in a pristine industrial space in Long Island City. Earlier this year, Soulellis, a graphic designer turned book artist, began to build his library, which consists entirely of stuff pulled off the Web and bound into paper books. One book is nothing more than dozens of images of highways rendered flat by flaws in Google Earth's mapping algorithm. There are grubby, stapled zines consisting of printed Twitter feeds, books of CAPTCHA codes presented as visual poetry, collections of photos of dogs with glowing eyes culled from Flickr, and lots of books where the "authors" have selected uncanny moments from Google Street View, including a book of prostitutes on roadsides caught by Google's cameras. While most of them are cheap, print-on-demand editions, a few are highly produced art books. One of the most beautiful books in the library is a collection of hundreds of crummy JPEGs of variations on the Mona Lisa (think the Mona Lisa morphed with E.T., made by a fourteen-year-old), printed on thick, handmade paper, and accordion-folded into an expensive slipcase; the combination of the crappy and the crafted is weirdly effective. Then there are absurdly large projects, such as a ninety-six-volume set called "Other People's Photographs," which scoops up material from random Flickr pages.
Amusing and titillating as these images are, it's easy to forget that they're the work of an army of invisible laborers—the Google hands. This is the subject of an art work by the Brooklyn-based artist Andrew Norman Wilson called "ScanOps." The project began in 2007, when Wilson was contracted by a video-production company to work on the Google campus. He noted sharp divisions between the workers; one group, known as ScanOps, were sequestered in their own building. These were data-entry workers, the people to whom those mysterious hands belonged. Wilson became intrigued by them, and began filming them walking to and from their ten-hour shifts in silence. He was able to capture a few minutes of footage before Google security busted him. In a letter to his boss explaining his motives, Wilson remarked that most of the ScanOps workers were people of color. He wrote, "I'm interested in issues of class, race and labor, and so out of general curiosity, I wanted to ask these workers about their jobs." In short order, he was fired.


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Criminal Justice
Criminal justice investigates into the nature, incidence, prevalence, distribution, causation and remedies to crime and delinquency in our society; historically and contemporarily, domestically and cross-culturally.
It further explores the philosophy and ideology, theory and practice, structure and process, policy and programs, and problems and issues of police, courts and corrections. Upon graduation, students are equipped with research skills, theoretical understanding and practical knowledge on how the criminal justice system operates.
Criminal justice involves a thorough understanding of the dynamics of criminal and delinquent behavior, the nature and scope of the crime and delinquency complex in contemporary society, and the current philosophy, ethics, methodology and techniques of law enforcement, the courts and corrections.
Criminal justice majors may graduate with either a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in criminal justice or an Associate (A.S.) degree in corrections or criminal Justice. Upon graduation, students in criminal justice and/or corrections will be equipped with knowledge of basic criminal justice and corrections, its current and specific areas and problems within the system.
A basic core curriculum of approximately 64 hours in areas such as foreign language, mathematics, philosophy, science, theology and fine arts rounds out the program.
A minor in criminal justice is earned by completing 15 credit hours of required criminal justice courses. Students should consult the program director concerning specific requirements for the minor.


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In the previous post, I noted that Darrell Issa's witnesses in the House Oversight hearings on Benghazi would make life difficult for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Fox News reported late yesterday that one witness in particular will testify that Hillary purposefully cut out of the loop the State Department's bureau for counter-terrorism as Benghazi burned — which will prompt all sorts of questions as to why any Secretary of State would make that decision:
On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide effectively tried to cut the department's own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making, according to a "whistle-blower" witness from that bureau who will soon testify to the charge before Congress, Fox News has learned.
That witness is Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for operations in the agency's counterterrorism bureau. Sources tell Fox News Thompson will level the allegation against Clinton during testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Fox News has also learned that another official from the counterterrorism bureau — independently of Thompson — voiced the same complaint about Clinton and Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy to trusted national security colleagues back in October.
Thompson considers himself a whistleblower, Fox reports, and wanted to tell this story all along — but the Accountability Review Board suppressed it:
Thompson considers himself a whistle-blower whose account was suppressed by the official investigative panel that Clinton convened to review the episode, the Accountability Review Board (ARB). Thompson's lawyer, Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney, has further alleged that his client has been subjected to threats and intimidation by as-yet-unnamed superiors at State, in advance of his cooperation with Congress.
Sources close to the congressional investigation who have been briefed on what Thompson will testify tell Fox News the veteran counterterrorism official concluded on Sept. 11 that Clinton and Kennedy tried to cut the counterterrorism bureau out of the loop as they and other Obama administration officials weighed how to respond to — and characterize — the Benghazi attacks.
"You should have seen what (Clinton) tried to do to us that night," the second official in State's counterterrorism bureau told colleagues back in October. Those comments would appear to be corroborated by Thompson's forthcoming testimony.
To quote Hillary, what difference at this point would it make? It's about to rain all over her 2016 parade by painting her as an incompetent, of course, but that's actually a by-product of her own choices. The bigger issue now is the cover-up. Why would the Obama administration try to keep a counter-terrorism response group on the sidelines during a terrorist attack? Who got to the ARB and made it into a CYA exercise rather than a real investigation?
Who knew what, and when?
Stay tuned, because Issa's carrying dynamite, and it's not clear exactly how the explosion will manifest itself. Expect lower-level officials to throw themselves on it to protect both Obama and Clinton, but so far it looks like higher-level officials want to go on the record, and that's bad news for the White House.