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Usually, it's not a good idea to have expectations that are too lofty. But when you bring your expectations to the Loft Film Fest, it should be safe to keep them pretty high. This year's festival is longer and–dare we say–loftier than ever. Festival Director and Program Director at The Loft Jeff Yanc says the team incorporated two screenings of almost every film this year, so you don't have to miss anything–and neither does he.
"When I go to festivals, I like to try to see everything," he says. "So I understand that."
He's looking forward to a screening of Allison Anders' Gas Food Lodging, and Anders being given the festival's Maverick Award for the serious barrier busting and trailblazing she started doing back in the eighties. Hearing the great "Uncle Noam" Chomsky talk about his work in film is another Spotlight Event he's gearing up for, and so is seeing Curtis Armstrong (Booger) at a Revenge of The Nerds screening.
"It's such a big piece of Tucson history, so that's going to be really fun," Yanc says.
It's only eight years old this year, but it's become such a fantastic annual treat that you could say the same of The Loft Film Fest itself.
It runs from Wednesday, Nov. 8 to Thursday, Nov. 16, with a detailed schedule of events on their website, loftfilmfest.org. The week is jam packed with memorable characters: a pseudo Jon Hamm, a gorilla with an office job, a man who forgets to breathe, a profoundly sexy alien, an array of people struggling with aging and death. Not to mention the heartfelt explorations of topics like paid leave and police brutality; chilling accounts of serial killer origin stories and deep dives into satanism; and the chance to look at the world through the eyes of impoverished teenagers, post-apocalyptic critters and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Ready to Rumble
A new documentary looks at how Native Americans have made their mark in rock 'n' roll
Stevie Salas says he would have been equally happy being "a professional surfer, a professional skateboarder or a professional rockstar." He just happened to go the rockstar route.
Back in the '80s, his new wave-y punk band, This Kids, used to come to Tucson to play at UA, opening for Gentlemen Afterdark, the Tucson band once featuring the vocals of Tucson Salvage columnist Brian Smith.
Salas is Apache, something he describes as being a part of who he is as a human being, a part of his soul, but not his calling card as a performer.
"My goal was always to be the greatest musician I could possibly be, and play with the best musicians in the world," he says. "Not to be the best Native American musician."
And indeed, Native American musicians don't need their own niche category to make waves in the music industry: they've had a huge presence there for decades, in ways that most people don't realize.
Salas and his big-time musician friends—he mentions Slash specifically—learned to play guitar from some of the guys they'd put on the Mount Rushmore of rock gods: Jimmy Page, Ray and Dave Davies, Eric Clapton, Peter Townshend, Jeff Beck, James Brown. But who are the heroes' heroes? Some of them, like Shawnee Indian Link Wray, are Native American,
"Pete Townshend was even writing the lining notes on Link Gray albums," Salas says, "Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck used to play to air guitar from Link Wray."
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World, a new film co-created and executive produced by Salas, shares the untold story of the influential Native Americans who have been rocking our worlds for generations—their music as loud as their identities were quiet.
Salas himself got his big break after he "stole" Gentlemen Afterdark's drummer, Winston Watson, and moved to L.A. to start a band. When they got kicked out of the house they were living in, Salas performed busy work at a recording studio in exchange for being allowed to sleep there. He used to introduce himself to every musician who came through, letting them know he played guitar and was available to play whenever. Gene Simmons once told him to fuck off. It paid off one night when George Clinton from Funkadelic woke Salas up at 3 a.m. to play some guitar.
Salas' career took off from there. He was the lead guitarist on Clinton's R&B Skeletons in the Closet, worked with Bootsy Collins, and then joined Rod Stewart on a world tour as his lead guitarist. (Since then, he's collaborated with everyone from Mick Jagger to Justin Timberlake, and sold over two million solo albums.)
He was traveling the world, living his dream and always keeping an eye out for other Native American musicians. He started doing some research into the topic as a hobby.
"I can't be the only American Indian guy out here playing at Madison Square Gardens," he remembers thinking.
Was he surprised to have come across such a strong Native American influence in music? Constantly. One of the biggest surprises was realizing that some of the guitar parts he was playing while touring with Rod Stewart were written by Jesse Ed Davis, a Native American who used to play guitar for Stewart.
"Not only were [Native American legacies] there, I was actually playing some guy's parts every night in front of 20,000 people," Salas says.
Salas hopes the film will help people realize that there are plenty of role models within the Native American community—we just don't always realize it.
"Every great super-musician in the world that I knew knew about these Native American musicians, just no one in the general public did," he says.
To start getting the info out, Salas began working with Tim Johnson, a Mohawk and associate director for museum programs at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. and New York. The exhibit they put together at the Smithsonian in 2010—"Up Where We Belong: Native Americans in Popular Culture"—was wildly popular.
With the credibility to back up their story (who's going to argue about the historical validity of something that was featured in the Smithsonian?) Salas decided to take the next step by making the film.
"A movie could be exciting, and inspirational," he says. "And who doesn't wanna see a movie with all the most famous rock stars who ever lived?"
The rock stars include Iggy Pop,Tony Bennett, Robbie Robertson, George Clinton, Steven Tyler and Slash, to name just a few. Most of them are friends of Salas', so they were easy to get in touch with. And most of them, Salas says, were passionate about the story. It was a chance to pay tribute to their heroes.
It's become big in ways and places Salas and his team didn't expect. For starters, there was the fact that they made it into Sundance at all (they got the call last December, their most recent edit still three-and-a-half hours long, and finished the whole thing in a whirlwind few weeks.) Then there was the special jury award for masterful storytelling at Sundance. And then there's been the international appeal: sold out theaters in Australia that at first had him wondering why people cared in other parts of the world.
"This is a really important development to how we got to where we are in pop music today," he says. "It isn't just a Native American history story. It's become like a global story, because the music that these people made was so global."
Rumble is showing at the Loft Film Fest at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 and 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16. Salas and the film's producer, Christina Fon, will be present at the Nov. 11 screening only, and all-access pass holders have access to a special reception with the filmmakers after the screening.
Coming Attractions
Here's a (not exhaustive!) sampling of some of the films that will be showing throughout the fest.
Revenge of the Nerds. Back in the day before safe spaces and a woke student body, jocks ruled the campus and nerds slept in Bear Down Gym. Watch the Alpha Betas torment the Tri-Lambs until the big Greek Games showdown. And watch for all your favorite UA-area locations, although many of them may have been demolished since the film was shot in Tucson in 1984. Revenge of the Nerds opens up the festival with a big party featuring '80s cover band 80s and Gentlemen, keg beer and even an appearance by Curtis Armstrong, aka "Booger." Maybe we can hear some juicy stories about the bad influence of John Goodman on all those young actors. Armstrong will stick around after the film to sign copies of his new memoir, "Revenge of the Nerd: Or ... The Singular Adventures of the Man Who Would Be Booger." 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8.
I Am Another You. This award-winning film by documentary filmmaker Nanfu Wang starts with her buying a one-way ticket to Florida and a plan to document every conversation she has on the journey. Early in the trip, she meets up with a free spirit who has chosen to be homeless, and joins him on his adventure. The more she gets to know him, the more shadowy the story gets. 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 and 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Oscar-nominated director Kirby Dick will present Wang with the festival's Social Justice Award via Skype at the Nov. 11 screening.
Gas Food Lodging. This 25th anniversary screening of Allison Anders' film will bring back the characters of Nora, a hard-working waitress in New Mexico, and her daughters Trudi and Shade, who leave town in search of something bigger and better and find themselves facing disappointment and discovering their own strength. 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12. Writer/director Allison Anders and cinematographer Dean Lent will be at the screening, and Anders will receive the festival's Lee Marvin Maverick Award for her daring, original and independent work. Anders and Lent will be at a private post-film reception for all-access passholders only.
Faces Places. When an 89-year-old filmmaker who was hugely influential in the French New Wave teams up with a 33-year-old French photographer and muralist to direct a road movie/documentary, you might not expect the result to be so sweet. But as the two peas in a pod (if peas came in drastically different heights) travel around villages in France, meet townspeople, and work together to produce larger-than-life portraits of the people they meet, you can watch their friendship deepen. The film won the 2017 Cannes Golden Eye Documentary Award, and the Loft showing is sponsored by Alliance Francaise. 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8 and 5:15 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13. In French with English subtitles.
Sylvio. Let's not bury the lede here: Sylvio is a gorilla living life like a human, working as a debt collector, hanging out at diners with his friends and—perhaps most human of all—experiencing an onslaught of existential dread. His real dream is to perform with his hand puppet, Herbert Herpels, and when he somehow winds up on a local television show, things don't go as planned. That is to say, Sylvio fumbles his chance at fame, but achieves fame anyway for what the audience sees as lovable oafishness. 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9 and 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14. Preceded by a screening of the short The Poet and the Professor, about a writer who is dating one and in love with the other.
Kékszakállú. This film is loosely based on the 1918 opera Bluebeard's Castle, which is loosely based on the French fairytale Bluebeard. These tenuous connections are some of the only things tying this film to the dock of a narrative plot in a sea of dazzling imagery. Part narrative, part documentary, the film follows the daughters of rich Buenos Aires industrialists as they grow up, and is comprised largely of non-actors improvising scenes. The careful symbolism throughout feels heavy with meaning but deliciously open to interpretation. 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9 and 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14. In Spanish with English subtitles.
Spettacolo. In the movie theater, the lights will dim, the credits will run and the curtains will rise in this film about a play about a life. You see, the tiny Tuscan village of Monticchiello began a tradition half a century ago as a way to get together and talk about their issues: each summer, they stage a play, in which all of the villagers play themselves. As the original thespians grow older and the town's younger residents lack interest in participating, and as the town faces more struggles than ever, plot for this year's play is about the end of life as the townspeople know it. 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9 and 2:45 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13. In Italian with English subtitles. Preceded by a screening of the short Dear Mr. Shakespeare, about the racial themes of and possible intentions behind Shakespeare's Othello.
The Untamed. This film is about a mysterious, be-tentacled alien creature who lives in a cabin in the countryside, and it is about sex: between husband and wife, between husband and brother-in-law, and between human and tentacle creature. It's bizarre and uncomfortable, and it has you reflecting on why you're uncomfortable: is it that death gets brought up throughout the film? Is it the sci-fi aspect? Is it just the sex? And, if you ask us, a film that gets you uncomfortable enough to reflect on your thought process is always worth a shot. One that can do it with beautiful cinematography and solid acting performances, doubly so. Director Amat Escalante was named Best Director for this film's showing at the Venice Film Festival. 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9 and 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Spanish with English subtitles.
Manufacturing Consent. This documentary explores the ideas of Noam Chomsky—sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics"—who was recently hired on as a professor at the University of Arizona. Using evidence such as the massive coverage of communist atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodia while the media was silent on the U.S.-supported Indonesian invasion of East Timor, he discusses the government and big media's roles as propaganda machines that "manufacture consent" of the people. The Loft will present Chomsky with The Lofty Achievement Award to honor his contribution to the world of cinema before the screening. 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10. Pre-sale tickets for the screening are sold out, but all-access pass holders are guaranteed a seat, and those passes were still available as of our deadline. Remaining tickets will go on sale at the box office 20 minutes before showtime.
Dog Years. When a beloved pet passes away, Vic Edwards (Burt Reynolds), a man in his 80s whose glory days as a Hollywood star are far behind him, starts to look back on his life. When an invitation to receive a lifetime achievement award arrives in the mail, it seems like the perfect way to regain his youth. It's not, exactly. Rather than the classy, black-tie affair he expected, he gets the event equivalent of his driver for the weekend, who is an eye-rolling, texting, cursing millennial woman completely uninterested in hearing about Vic's life (Ariel Winter). As the characters soften during their forced time together, and as the film interweaves footage from Reynold's film career, the audience is treated to a story about looking back, looking forward, and looking inward. 2:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 and noon on Thursday, Nov. 16.
The Force. This film tells a story that is at once delicate and explosive, by telling the story of The Oakland Police Department in 2014 as they attempt to make a change, shed their corrupt image and bridge the divide between officers and the community they serve. It's told from the inside of the department, from the inside of police vehicles, from the inside of meetings where a roomful of police officers are reminded that "one police officer can have an impact on his whole country." Director Peter Nicks received the Social Justice Award for his film The Waiting Room at the 2013 Loft Film Fest. 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 and 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
Birdboy: The Forgotten Children. With an animation style vaguely reminiscent of the Cartoon Saloon's The Secret of Kells, and unapologetically dark subject matter akin to the likes of Studio Ghibli, this animated film is not for children, or the faint of heart. Pedro Rivero and Alberto Vázquez direct this feature based on Vázquez's graphic novel, which tells the story of a group of critter friends forming a plan to escape their grim, post-apocalyptic island. But an old friend of the group, Birdboy, is haunted by demonic figures, and shuts himself off from the world, not realizing that he might just have the key to change everyone is looking for. 9:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 and 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 15. In Spanish. Preceded by a screening of the short LOVE, in which a meteoric impact leaves creatures on a distant planet to explore connection in more ways than one.
Zero Weeks. Citizens throughout the United States find themselves looking at a scale with their jobs on one side and time with a newborn child, caring for an aging parent or beating cancer on the other. Why? Because the U.S. is the only developed nation without paid leave. Award-winning female director Ky Dickens is the first to create a film that tackles this subject, and to make a case for how paid leave makes economic, medical, social and business sense, using touching stories and fact-based testimonies. 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 and 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16.
Narrative Shorts. This year's selection of shorts really runs the gamut of genres, narrative styles and aesthetics, so you're sure to enjoy at least one sixth of this presentation. We're pretty sure you'll enjoy most of them though.
• Night Shift follows one day in the life of a bathroom attendant for a swanky L.A. nightclub. (16 minutes.)
• The Man Who Forgot to Breathe gives away the major plot point of a story where a man has a fight with his wife and then gets into bed. But what happens after he forgets to breathe? (15 minutes, in Kurdish with English subtitles.)
• American Paradise tells the story of a desperate man in Trump's America who begins to plot the perfect crime, and is a companion piece to the upcoming feature film The Last Black Man in San Francisco. (18 minutes.)
• Dadyaa: The Woodpeckers of Rotha involves two people from a remote village who find themselves in a haunting dilemma when a friend disappears without a farewell. (17 minutes, in Nepali with English subtitles.)
• Lostfound shares one day in the life of a woman in the Nation of Islam. (13 minutes.)
• Bookends is a story about a young woman returning home, only to remember exactly why she left. (11 minutes.)
Souvenir. Liliane is so used to her simple and routine life as a factory worker that she hardly remembers almost winning a huge European singing competition in her younger days. But when she runs into a dashing 22-year-old whose admiration for her is about as unexpected as her feelings for him, she finds her musical career suddenly reignited. As she begins to learn why her career was cut short in the first place, the audience is reminded that it's never too late to be happy. (French with English subtitles). Preceded by a screening of Love on the Line, a documentary done in animated embroidery about a couple who met online. 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 and 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13.
The Quay Brothers in 35mm. In the mood for something equal parts beautiful, melancholy and macabre? If you're not familiar with the Quay brothers, they're identical twins who work with stop motion and create pieces that are characterized by dark humor, elaborate miniature sets and dreamlike colors, textures and plots. This program features three of their works curated by Christopher Nolan: In Absentia, The Comb and Street of Crocodiles, as well as Quay, Nolan's 2015 short film documentary about the brothers' studio and process. 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11.
My Friend Dahmer. If a man commits his first of 17 murders just weeks after graduating high school, then what was he like in high school? This film, based on the cult graphic novel by Derf Backderf, a former classmate of Dahmer, tells a tale of a troubled home, mental illness, the need for human contact and, ultimately, the makings of a monster. The film is shot not only in Dahmer's hometown, but in his actual childhood home, and former Disney star Ross Lynch gives a haunting performance as teenage Dahmer. Backderf's novel is also this November's Reel Reads selection at the Loft and Antigone Books. 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12.
Documentary Shorts. The guys and gals over at the Loft really have an eye for this stuff—two of the documentary shorts featured in past Film Fests went on to receive Oscar nominations. So don't miss your chance to see this carefully curated selection of films that let you see the world through new eyes.
Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy. Is four minutes enough time to cover the out-of-control series of events that follows accidentally smuggling cigarettes into the country? Apparently. (4 minutes.)
Abby the Spoon Lady. Abby Roach is one of the only people in the world who makes a living playing the spoons, and that might not even be the most interesting thing about her. (11 minutes.)
Metal Road. Explore one day in the life of the 9001 Heavy Steel Gang, a group of Navajos who maintained the transcontinental railroad network. (27 minutes, English and Navajo with subtitles.)
Hairat. It's been over three-and-a-half decades since Yusuf Mume Saleh began traveling to the edge of his city at night to visit with his friends the hyenas. (6 minutes.)
Ten Meter Tower. At the top of a diving tower, you have to decide whether or not you're really going to face your fear, and whether it's worse to face it or turn back. This film explores the way people look when they go through with—and don't go through with—big decisions. (15 minutes, Swedish with English subtitles.)
Tough. As if mother-daughter relationships weren't difficult enough, this film looks at cultural misunderstandings when a Chinese mother and British-born daughter have their first conversation as adults. (5 minutes, Chinese and English with subtitles.)
Waiting for Hassana. In 2014, 276 girls in Chibok Nigeria went to a school for exams, and by the following morning, the school had almost burnt down and almost all of the girls were gone. Jessica, one of the few girls to not disappear, shares her story. (10 minutes, in Hausa with English subtitles.)
My Father's Tools. Steven Jerome takes us from tree to basket in a film about the art of basket weaving. (7 minutes.)
The Diver. This man's job is to dive into the Mexico City sewer system to repair pumps and unclog gutters! Ahh! (16 minutes, in Spanish with English subtitles.)
A Few Things About Robert Irwin. UA Professor Liane Skyler, whose film Brillo Box (3¢ off) showed at the Loft in September, will be present for the screening of her newest film about light and space artist Robert Irwin. (7 minutes.)


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ARS TECHNICA – Dan Goodin, 24 August 2019: Hackers are actively unleashing attacks that attempt to steal encryption keys, passwords, and other sensitive data from servers that have failed to apply
WIRED –TOM SIMONITE – 21 February, 2019 – IN DECEMBER, MICROSOFT President Brad Smith urged lawmakers to set rules on facial-recognition technology to prevent a privacy-threatening "race to the bottom." Now the
BIG THINK – Stephen Johnson – 24 January 2019 – A measles outbreak has spread across an anti-vaccination "hotspot" in Clark County, Wash., causing officials to declare a public health emergency.
(GIZMODO) – Tom Mackay, 4 May 2018 – Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has until Tuesday to decide whether to approve a dubious bill that would make it illegal to access
(TECHCRUNCH) 19 March 2018, by Connie Lozios – According to a new report from Raleigh, N.C. television affiliate WRAL, Google might have quietly helped local detectives in their pursuit of two gunmen who committed
(RTÉ News) – German regulators have banned an internet-connected doll called 'My Friend Cayla' that can chat with children, warning that it was a de facto "hidden spying device". Parents
(ZDNet) – An expansion of powers that would have allowed the government access to Americans' browsing history and email records has been dropped from the latest intelligence authorization bill. The
(REASON.COM) – Cryptocurrency startup Coinbase has been scrupulously compliant with government demands, until the IRS asked for millions of innocent customers' records. By Andrea O'Sullivan Should the Internal Revenue Service
(LIFE HACKER) – Airbnb renters keep finding hidden Wi-Fi cameras watching them without them knowing. If you want to ensure your privacy in a rental, this shell script will find
(Waypoint) – Inmates at a Colorado's maximum security prison use Dungeons & Dragons to collaborate and exercise their creativity… all without dice. By Elisabeth d Kleer, 27 October, 2016 Sterling

subset: commoncrawl


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Digital financial management for your business customers
The BFM is used in particular for simple and effective liquidity planning. All cash flows are automatically categorised and analysed and evaluated with regard to future developments. Based on the structured data, forward-looking and highly personalised recommendations can be made or tailor-made products offered.


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Run, Rabbit
[Originally published 28 October 2015]
When James B. Duke decided to turn his sprawling farm along the Raritan River in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey into a grand estate and public park, one of the first things he did was to ban hunting. Sure, poaching was always strictly discouraged right from the time the tobacco tycoon began to acquire the lots that would make up Duke Farms in 1893. Now, nine years later, the taking of game was to be outlawed.
|Bronze statue on the estate of James B. Duke in Hillsborough, NJ, circa 1904
It didn't take New Jersey rabbits very long to learn of the ban. No doubt the furry creatures had already heard about the hundreds of thousands of delicious trees and shrubs being planted on the grounds, now the news that bunnies were permanently "out of season" sent them scurrying by the hundreds across the stone bridges of Duke's Brook into the heart of the estate.
|New York Evening Herald, January 20, 1904
With no competition at the buffet (New Jersey was in the first year of a nine year program to import deer from Pennsylvania and Michigan because the herd was at zero, if you can imagine that!) the rabbits quickly multiplied and were overrunning the place within two years. After expensive plants were destroyed by the voracious chompers, Duke decided a hunt was in order.
The newspapers had a good laugh when it turned out that Duke was going to be subject to a fine of $20 per rabbit for hunting out of season. The four hired sharpshooters took 37 in less than two hours, resulting in a whopping fine of $740 for the multi-millionaire!
There was no report that Mr. Duke himself joined in the hunt, but he did almost bag an escaped circus tiger on his estate in 1921 - but that's another story.


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One Child Policy Contributing to Chinese Brain/Entrepreneur Drain
Sept. 26, 2011
Last Friday, September 23rd, Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights (Committee on Foreign Affairs) held a hearing on Chinas One-Child Policy. The same day the Washington Times carried an article by Louise Watt (Associate Press) talking about whyChinas moneymakers are interested in leavingChina. The story contained the amazing statistic of the 20,000 Chinese with at least $15 million in individual assets, 27% have already emigrated and 47% are considering it. The source of this statistic was a report by China Merchants Bank and U.S. Consultants Bain & Co. published in April. Shouldnt these people want to stay given their success?
There were a number of reasons given for this lack of enthusiasm for remaining in China. They included the following: 1) the test-centric Chinese educational system; 2) the desire to live in a place with better health care; and, 3) the objective of preserving their assets and preparing for retirement. Also of interest to these Chinese was having more children and making it easier to develop overseas business. (emphasis added)
This is fascinating: the communist state cannot even relax the rules suppressing family size to accommodate the business leaders who are making the economy grow.


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Remarks by Governor Ben S. Bernanke
At the Federal Reserve Board Models and Monetary Policy Conference, Washington, D.C.
March 27, 2004
Monetary Policy Modeling: Where Are We and Where Should We Be Going?
Our honorees, Dale Henderson, Richard Porter, and Peter Tinsley, have already received much well-deserved praise. I will add only one brief observation. Although I am a relative newcomer to the Federal Reserve, I have already had numerous occasions to be impressed by the research staff here. The Board staff has what a management expert might call a terrific corporate culture. They understand that they make crucial contributions to the policymaking process, not only in the realm of monetary policy but in banking, payments, consumer affairs, and other areas, and they bring great pride and professionalism to their work. Moreover, they understand the value of sophisticated and subtle economic analysis, which they apply both to day-to-day questions of policy and to more fundamental research questions. A culture like that doesn't just happen; it requires senior people who lead by example. In their times at the Board, Dale Henderson, Dick Porter, and Peter Tinsley, each in his own way, have promoted a culture that combines the best in policy-oriented research with the intellectual rigor and curiosity needed to address questions that go beyond the immediate economic situation. That is an outstanding contribution, one that should be recognized in addition to the many intellectual contributions that each of these scholars has made to the economic literature.
The theme of the panel is "Monetary Policy Modeling: Where Are We and Where Should We Be Going?" Forecasting the direction of successful research is inherently very difficult. There is a kind of efficient markets principle at work; if a promising direction for research were obvious, someone would have already pursued it. So I think the best I can do is highlight three general areas in which much good work has already been done, including research by Messrs. Henderson, Porter, and Tinsley, but in which further progress would be enormously helpful to monetary policymaking in practice.
The first area is the characterization of good monetary policy in increasingly realistic and complex model environments. Henderson, Porter, and Tinsley have all made significant contributions to macroeconomic modeling at the Board. For specificity, I will focus on a piece of recent research that I like very much and which has already received much attention at this conference: Dale Henderson's paper with Christopher Erceg and Andrew Levin (2003).
We have learned a great deal in recent years about the effects of monetary policy in dynamic, stochastic, sticky-price models, with Michael Woodford's recent book (Woodford, 2003) perhaps best representing the state of the art. This line of research is potentially of great importance to applied macro modelers, because it addresses areas in which some may feel that our current policy models need to be strengthened, notably the treatment of expectations, the specification of model dynamics, and the relationship of the economic structure to the form of the policy rule. However, naturally enough, the earliest models in this genre have tended to be highly simplified representations of the economy, only loosely matched to the data. Like the models themselves, the optimal policy rules derived in the models are often unrealistically simple. For example, in some of these models, strict inflation targeting--a policy of keeping inflation at zero at all times--is the optimal policy.
To make these models relevant for applied policy analysis, the natural next step is to add new frictions and more complex dynamics to the benchmark models. The Erceg-Henderson-Levin (EHL) paper explores the implications for monetary policy of a plausible complication, the inclusion in the model of nominal wage stickiness as well as price stickiness. As was discussed yesterday, this relatively simple addition makes an important qualitative difference in the policy results. Specifically, in the EHL model, monetary policy can no longer achieve a fully optimal outcome but instead faces tradeoffs among its objectives. Because the optimal rule in their model is relatively complex and depends on model parameters and shocks, EHL use model simulations to examine the performance of some simple policy rules. Interestingly, they find that relatively simple policy strategies can achieve results close to the optimum.
The contribution of the EHL paper goes beyond the specific findings; equally important is the direction that this work sets for the collective research program. Erceg, Henderson, and Levin have shown by example that incorporating additional, realistic frictions into the basic new-Keynesian model changes both the behavior of the model and the nature of the optimal policy rule in nontrivial ways. The papers at this conference by Canzoneri, Cumby, and Diba (2004) and by Benigno and Woodford (2004) both take up the EHL challenge. For example, Canzoneri, Cumby, and Diba consider further complications of the sticky-price, sticky-wage model, including capital investment and habit formation in consumption, while Benigno and Woodford explore the case in which the steady state of the model is not Pareto optimal, as assumed by EHL. This progressive analysis of the implications of alternative assumptions is part of what Thomas Kuhn called "normal science." The insights from these types of modeling efforts are already informing policy analysis at the Board, and their influence will only grow as they become more detailed and realistic.
A second important area, one that will always be central to monetary policy, is macro forecasting. Because monetary policy works with a lag, the ability of policymakers to stabilize the economy depends critically on our ability to peer into our cloudy crystal balls and see something resembling the future. One of the key variables to be forecast is inflation. A variety of approaches to forecasting inflation are used at the Board, of course. One of Dick Porter's many contributions was to develop a monetary approach to forecasting inflation at medium-term horizons.
Dick's so-called P-star approach, originally developed with Jeffrey Hallman and David Small (1991) and updated in a 2000 paper with Athanasios Orphanides, combines simplicity with insight. Porter's analysis begins with an equation so basic that, at one time at least, it appeared on the California license plate of Milton Friedman's personal automobile. That equation is of course the quantity equation, MV = PY, or money times velocity equals the price level times output. This equation can be used to define a link between money growth and inflation that depends on the evolution of the velocity of money. Hallman, Porter, and Small (1991) analyzed the predictive power of that relationship under the assumption that M2 velocity is a constant--an assumption that seemed reasonable at the time they wrote, but, as these things are wont to do, broke down soon after they did their initial work. Orphanides and Porter (2000) have developed a more sophisticated version of the P-star model, which employs information about the opportunity cost of holding M2 to track the evolution of equilibrium M2 velocity. This approach seems to work reasonably well at predicting inflation at medium-term horizons, and the forecasts of this model are reported routinely to the Board of Governors. Of course, something very similar to Porter's approach was used by the Bundesbank prior to the formation of the euro area and is used by the European Central Bank today.
My own view is that a reliable macroeconomic forecast requires looking at many different types of economic data and considering a variety of forecasting models; any single model or approach is likely to go off the rails at one time or another. For this reason, I am personally attracted to factor models, which summarize large amounts of data (as in Bernanke and Boivin, 2003), and to model averaging, along with more structured analyses. Interesting alternative models, like Porter's P-star model, are useful because they give yet another perspective on the likely evolution of a critical macroeconomic variable and thus provide a check on other forecasts that one might have in hand. Because good forecasts are so crucial to good monetary policy, I hope and expect to see a great deal more work exploring the robustness of alternative forecasting methods.
The third and final research area that I would like to highlight is the analysis of how the public forms its expectations, and of the effects of various expectations formation mechanisms on macroeconomic dynamics. For example, a rich recent literature on learning and macroeconomics has emphasized that actual inflation and inflation expectations may to some degree evolve independently, and that effective monetary policy stabilizes inflation expectations as well as inflation itself (Orphanides and Williams, 2003). Peter Tinsley, in a series of papers with Sharon Kozicki, has explored this theme in great detail. For example, Kozicki and Tinsley (2001) show that it is far easier to make sense of the term structure of Treasury yields if one assumes that expectations about long-run inflation adjust in a reasonable adaptive manner. In a paper presented at a recent conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Kozicki and Tinsley (2003) develop an empirical model of the economy under the assumptions that the Fed's implicit inflation target is subject to permanent shocks and that the public learns about the Fed's target over time. Although simple, their model allows for a much richer and realistic description of the evolution of monetary policy and the economy. For example, their approach gives empirical content to the idea of imperfect monetary policy credibility; in their model, monetary policy is credible when private expectations of long-run inflation tend to align closely with the central bank's true underlying inflation target. Their model also illustrates clearly the benefits of central bank credibility for macroeconomic stability. I think that further theoretical and empirical work on expectations formation mechanisms and their links to economic dynamics will prove highly fruitful.
I will conclude by thanking the organizers for their hard work in putting together this conference. A research conference of the quality of this one is exactly the right way to honor the scholarly contributions of Dale, Dick, and Peter.
Benigno, Pierpaolo, and Michael Woodford (2004). "Optimal Stabilization Policy When Wages and Prices Are Sticky," (PDF) presented at a conference on Models and Monetary Policy, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 26.
Bernanke, Ben, and Jean Boivin (2003). "Monetary Policy in a Data-Rich Environment," Journal of Monetary Economics, 50 (April), pp. 525-46.
Canzoneri, Matthew, Robert Cumby, and Behzad Diba (2004). "Price and Wage Inflation Targeting: Variations on a Theme by Erceg, Henderson, and Levin," (PDF) presented at a conference on Models and Monetary Policy, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, March 26.
Erceg, Christopher, Dale Henderson, and Andrew Levin (2000). "Optimal Monetary Policy with Staggered Wage and Price Contracts," Journal of Monetary Economics, 46 (March), pp. 281-313.
Hallman, Jeffrey, Richard Porter, and David Small (1991). "Is the Price Level Tied to the M2 Monetary Aggregate in the Long Run?" American Economic Review, 81 (September), pp. 841-58.
Kozicki, Sharon, and Peter Tinsley (2001). "Shifting Endpoints in the Term Structure of Interest Rates," Journal of Monetary Economics, 47 (June), pp. 613-652.
Kozicki, Sharon, and Peter Tinsley (2003). "Permanent and Transitory Policy Shocks in an Empirical Macro Model with Asymmetric Information," Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, RWP 03-09 (November).
Orphanides, Athanasios, and Richard Porter (2000). "P* Revisited: Money-Based Inflation Forecasts with a Changing Equilibrium Velocity," Journal of Economics and Business, 52 (January/April), pp. 87-100.
Orphanides, Athanasios, and John Williams (2003). "Imperfect Knowledge, Inflation Expectations, and Monetary Policy," National Bureau of Economic Research working paper no. 9884.
Woodford, Michael (2003). Interest and Prices: Foundations of a Theory of Monetary Policy. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.


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BJ's PM Porter® - American Craft Beer Week
Giving some focus to the darker beers during American Craft Beer Week, we have to feature BJ's PM Porter®. Our BJ's PM Porter is a nitrogen-conditioned beer that is consistent with the British porter traditions. The porters that worked the train yards in London in the 18th century needed a smooth beer that they could enjoy after their long, hard days of work in the yards; a beer that was low in alcohol volume and very drinkable, yet comforting and flavorful all at once. A new darker style of ale filled this need and the style became known as Porter.
BJ's PM Porter has all the qualities of a traditional, smooth porter. At the same time, ours is a little darker and stronger than British porters. With notes of caramel, molasses and chocolate flavors, this porter is sweet at the start with a pleasant roasted finish. However, don't let the dark, rich color and sweet notes fool you; this beer is not too heavy as to weigh you down after a pint.
Our porter is a wonderful complement to our barbeque entrees and other smoky dishes as well. Try with our Chicken Bacon Ranch Deep Dish Pizza, Crispy Jalapeno Burger, or any of our Barbeque dishes. Or pair it with a chocolaty dessert like BJ's Famous Chocolate Chunk Pizookie®. You will go home feeling pleasantly full and comforted.
We have been lucky enough to have received the Gold Medal for BJ's PM Porter at the 2010 North American Beer Awards in the category of Brown Porters. We are extremely proud of this beer and can't wait for you to have a pint.
Prev: Nutty Brewnette® - American Craft Beer Week


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The options keep on coming, as single-mountain season passes for next season have more add-ons than ever before to compete with the multi-resort mega-passes.
While you may not want to commit to the full ski bum lifestyle, plan your course schedule correctly and the student life can still accommodate plenty of slope time, especially if there's a mountain resort nearby. While some just want to head to the mountains for spring break, living within easy reach of a resort means you can take full advantage of the many college-age season passes out there.
If you're looking for the best deal on New Hampshire season passes, now is the time to buy. Many ski areas are offering additional incentives when you purchase before this season ends.
Lookout Pass has popular Learn to Ski & Ride and Bring a Friend programs that run all season long. (Bob Legasa Freeride Media)
There's never been a better time to find ski/snowboarding discounts, freebies, and deals.
New skiers and riders will be all smiles at Ragged.(Ragged Mountain)
For many people out there, the reality of the expense of becoming a skier or 'boarder is an obstacle in the path of finding their way to the mountain lifestyle. New Hampshire's Ragged Mountain is on a mission to change that. Ragged has committed this year to making skiing and snowboarding something that everybody can get into again.
Hopefully there's going to be some new ski gear waiting for you under the tree this year, and if you are lucky enough to be able to celebrate Christmas on the slopes this year, you'll find some great deals and fun activities as well a some quieter runs before the vacation week starts.
Ragged Mountain Resort is offering $25 lift tickets for all skiers and riders Friday, Dec. 5. It;s Benefit Day and all proceeds go to Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, also known as CHaD.
Winter Storm Hercules hit the east coast with all the strength of the mythological Greek figure, and eastern resorts are enjoying the wallop.
Timing is everything, and if you have considered a New Hampshire ski and ride vacation this month, your timing is corduroy perfect. Ski New Hampshire is offering substantial ticket savings that can be used during the Presidents' Week holiday and beyond.
The most intriguing piece of the "greenlighted" Ragged Mountain expansion will be access to Pinnacle Peak, the ski area's third mountain. That means adding more than 30 percent to the skiable terrain.


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Our Change Management and Readiness Programs are designed to provide you with the right mindset and skillset to deal effectively with Change and its impact in your Organization. We support your people managers at all levels to understand the need of change, be aware of their impact, design, plan and implement successfully change in their people and teams. We empower them to build change competencies by defining their critical role and provide them with practical change frameworks and tools to support their being effective Change Leaders. Our Change Programs are aiming to help your people overcome their own barriers to change and proactively lead their people to a future desired state.
Methodology & Tools
Management / Leadership collections
Being Essential LEAD™ Academy


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In Memoriam
Jo lived with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She held a B.A. in English, a master's in English, and another in philosophy. A member of Fallbrook United Methodist Church in California, she served as treasurer and on the worship committee. She began publishing Wings after attending a retreat sponsored by the California-Pacific Annual Conference, for which she has been honored as Laywoman Of The Year.
Wings was a pioneer effort, an unofficial quarterly newsletter for United Methodists with disabling conditions as well as all persons who are interested in issues of disability and accessibility in the church. It was founded and edited by Jo D'Archangelis, who referred to Wings as a "faithletter." In addition to news, each issue contained Jo's observations in "From Where I Sit," as well as other commentary, poetry, theological reflections, and some artwork. Of Wings, Jo wrote "I am grateful to God and to those family members, friends, personal care assistants, church family and friends, and Wings supporters who have enabled me to get to this point in my life journey and in my faith journey. Both those journeys have been—and at times continue to be—difficult and frustrating, but they have always been grace-filled."
Jo was a member of the United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities, and we are pleased to provide an archive of the available issues of Wings. The issues are in Adobe PDF format, with some also in Microsoft Word or plain text, without graphics, optimized for screen readers.
home | who we are | what we do | links | donate | join | contact |


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Why the South Carolina attorney general is suing makers of OxyContin
As South Carolina struggles to combat its growing opioid crisis, Attorney General Alan Wilson is taking the fight to a new arena — the courts.
Earlier this month, Wilson filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma LP, accusing the OxyContin maker of deceptive marketing practices that have contributed to a deadly rise in heroin and opioid addiction.
"We don't blame Purdue for the whole opioid epidemic, but we have identified them for their role in feeding this epidemic," Wilson told The Greenville News in a one-on-one interview this week at the newspaper's building downtown.
The suit, filed Aug. 15 in the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, contends that Purdue violated the state's Unfair Trade Practices Act by telling doctors that certain opioid drugs weren't as addictive and that doctors could screen patients for addiction.
Purdue, based in Stamford, Connecticut, denied the allegations in a statement and said it shares the concerns of South Carolina officials about the opioid crisis.
"We are committed to working collaboratively to find solutions," the statement said.
Related:Greenville's opioid problem brought to forefront at public hearing
More:Grieving parents shed light on addiction in 2 obituaries
The suit also alleges Purdue blamed abuse and addiction on people snorting or injecting opioids and told doctors that patients who appeared to be addicts were instead "pseudoaddicted" and needed more drugs.
"They basically hid the risk in order to have doctors prescribe more to get a bigger market share," Wilson said.
The damages, Wilson said, have been in the millions.
In the last 10 years, the attorney general said South Carolina has spent more than $40 million on Purdue Pharma drugs through the state's health plan and Medicaid.
The state logged the ninth-highest rate of opioid prescriptions in the country last year, according to figures provided in the lawsuit.
And when people can't find or afford prescription painkillers, Wilson said they increasingly turn to heroin.
Heroin accounted for nearly 13,000 of the 52,404 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2015, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. Heroin-related overdose deaths have more than quadrupled since 2010, the CDC said.
Combined, heroin and prescription opioid deaths in South Carolina exceeded the number of homicides in 2015, health department officials said.
More:Traffic stops lead to seizure of 'Gray Death' and large amounts of heroin
More:Feds focus on SC heroin epidemic
In a series of stories detailing heroin's toll on the Upstate in 2015, The News found that roughly half of Greenville County's 95 drug overdoses involved either heroin or fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 30 to 50 times more powerful than morphine.
"We're using this to raise awareness in general about the opioid crisis in the country," Wilson said of the lawsuit.
Wilson said he isn't trying to ban Purdue's drugs but to "go after those who have deceptively marketed their product."
He added: "Our intent is not to freeze or cool doctors to prescribing opioids to patients who truly do need it."
Wilson didn't say how much money the state is seeking but said it would be "in the millions."
Any money recovered would go toward recouping what the state has spent on health care costs attributed to opioid abuse, he said.
If there is money left over, Wilson said he would encourage the General Assembly to consider putting it toward recovery programs and treatment centers.
Opioid abuse "is a multi-faceted, complex, convoluted problem," he said. "We have got to be proactive in addressing this issue."
Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri and New Hampshire have also filed lawsuits against Purdue.
In 2007, the privately held company reached a $19.5 million settlement with 26 states, including South Carolina and the District of Columbia, over similar conduct, according to court records.
Purdue and three executives pleaded guilty that same year to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and was ordered to pay more than $634.5 million in penalties, Reuters reported.
In the current lawsuit, South Carolina claims that Purdue has continued to use misleading marketing practices instead of conforming to its 2007 consent order.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Improving your own home's worth, consolation and sweetness with laborious-working USA-made merchandise installed by professionals and backed by lifetime warranties. Get impressed to begin a home improvement mission by looking these pictures, ideas and movies. According to Weiher, a customer's willingness to take time to talk to you is an efficient indicator of the connection they had with the contractor. Utilizing only prime-high quality products and experienced contractors, we offer a high-tier remodeling experience with the honest pricing that your family deserves.
Householders undertake residence improvement to make residential properties more snug, upgrade air-con and heating methods, waterproof roofs and basements, soundproof rooms, and to increase their houses and boost power savings. Brillo House Enhancements is an award winning, full-service residential and business remodeling agency serving the greater Milwaukee area together with Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee Counties.
As a result of we wish to be your without end alternative for dwelling enhancements, we're totally dedicated to delivering unsurpassed product high quality, unbeatable affordability, skilled workmanship and lifetime service. Learn to get began on a home improvement mission, like evaluating contractors and where to start.
Contact us for extra data or complete our on-line private loan software to start planning your next renovation undertaking at present. A few years later, uninterested in observing her messy closet whereas working in her pristine office, Benavidez finally decided it was time to finish what she started.
The estimated value of the whole undertaking, together with paint, lattice strips, caulk, sanding blocks, and door pulls is simply $seventy five, however the completed doorways look many times that worth. If you're having a house improvement or adding on one other room, now would be an excellent time to think about future electrical wants.


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Claudia Austin Travel, LLC
- Travel Consultants & Tour Agencies
Claudia Austin Travel is a boutique travel agency that specializes in customized trips for the discerning traveler. All trips are tailored to your specific tastes and requests. It all starts with a call to learn more about what kind of a traveler you are, where you've been, your favorite travel memory, the activities you enjoy, and even your favorite cocktail.
Claudia A. Fernandez-Davila is a hospitality and travel professional with more than 15 years of experience. Born and raised in San Francisco, CA with a love for hotels, she worked at some of the best the city has to offer. From a concierge at the Sir Francis Drake to Front Office Manager at the Mark Hopkins, she understands how how important it is to exceed client's expectations.


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This test will check that Bulk Renamer can be run separately from the file manager (Thunar), by running a command at a terminal window
This test will check that Bulk Renamer can be run from within the file manager by selecting two or more files in the main area
If all actions produce the expected results listed, please submit a 'passed' result.
If an action fails, or produces an unexpected result, please submit 'failed' and file a bug. Please be sure to include the bug number when you submit your result


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A mother and daughter from World Land Trust's native county of Suffolk have raised more than £2,000 for wildlife conservation by walking over 300 miles around the UK.
When 14 year old Arabella Woo, who attends Downe House School in Berkshire, told her mother Wendy Woo Lake that she wanted to spend her summer holiday walking around Britain, Wendy thought it would be an excellent opportunity to fundraise for her favourite charity.
"Arabella planted the seed, and when she said she wanted to walk I just thought 'yes!'" Wendy told WLT, who has been trying to pass on her love of hiking and the outdoors to her daughter since she learned to walk. "I guess I decided to fundraise for WLT because I've always loved conservation, and I wanted to do something towards it. I can't work there because I don't have any skills which would fit (I trained as a home birth midwife), but at least I can raise money, which I think is a worthwhile contribution."
Planning the walk
Arabella planned the walks, which added up to 300 miles over 21 days spread over the summer trekking the Suffolk Coast Path, Norfolk Coast Path, South West Coast Path and The West Highland Way.
They began the walks in Norfolk, which meant they could return to their home in Nedging Tye each night, and the first day was the hardest, although she didn't plan it that way, says Arabella "I think the first day was the longest, or at least, one of the longest. I didn't plan it that way, it was an accident! And then it rained the entire day."
On their way
Apart from occasionally getting lifts from Arabella's father, they had no support crew, so some of the walks required meticulous planning and timing, "Arabella had to figure out how to get the timings right for the buses, so we'd have to park the car where we were going to end up, then get a bus to where we wanted to start and walk back. It's quite tricky, and in fact it's almost impossible in Suffolk because the buses have got to wind so far back and forth with the coast."
There was one stretch of coastline on the South West Coast Path which they were told repeatedly would be impossible. The day they were to walk 23 miles between Zennor and Sennen in Cornwall, the bus driver stopped to tell them he had just realised what they were planning to do, and there was no way they would make it.
"But we did it!" Wendy says, "I think it was a longer section than people usually do, and it is also very up and down. We actually passed everyone on the walk, only Arabella kept telling me to hurry up, like I was slowing her down."
More information
Wendy and Arabella have exceeded their £2,000 target and are still receiving donations sponsoring their walk. If you'd like to support Wendy and Arabella's efforts, you can donate to their page here.
If you are interested in fundraising for World Land Trust, find out more at our fundraising page or contact our donations team.
Contact details:
Telephone no.: 01986 874422 (Office hours are 9am – 5pm Mon – Fri.)
Email: [email protected]
Visit our office: Blyth House, Bridge Street, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 8AB


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There are a few major obstacles in the way of 3-D printing's imminent mainstream success: affordability, easy-to-use hardware, and easy-to-design objects. The MakerBot Digitizer isn't exactly cheap -- it costs $1,400 by itself and $1,550 with a year-long service plan -- but it does address those latter two ease-of-use issues with promise.
The Digitizer is about the size of a portable 45 rpm record player -- with a laser-shooting accessory attached to the back. MakerBot head honcho Bre Pettis debuted a prototype of the Digitizer at his SXSW keynote address back in March, and now the device is almost ready for sale. The MakerBot Digitizer starts shipping in October.
Here's how it works. You start with a relatively small object -- you're limited to a maximum weight of 6.6 pounds, and the object has to be less than 8 inches wide and 8 inches tall. Put it on the Digitizer's turntable, and the device scans it with two "eye-safe" lasers as the turntable spins. After the object has been fully scanned, the Digitizer outputs a 3-D design file. The entire scanning process takes about 12 minutes, according to the MakerBot website -- there are 800 individual steps within a full 360-degree rotation.
The Digitizer isn't a 3-D printer in and of itself, but MakerBot says this 3-D desktop scanner will cooperate with printers outside the MakerBot universe. After it scans an object, it outputs either an .STL file that can be used with other 3-D printers or a .THING file that works with MakerBot's Replicator 2 ($2,200) or Replicator 2X ($2,800) printers. The scanner also comes bundled with MakerWare for Digitizer software, which runs on Mac OS X, Windows 7, and Ubuntu Linux.
I'm waiting for the plugin that lets DJs create mutated 3-D monstrosities by scratching the turntable back and forth during a scan. Reeeeeemix!


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Here's the top 10, but explore, make your own Straddie Story.
Surfing & Stand Up Paddle Boarding
Brisbane's best kept secret. Sizzling surf breaks and quiet, calm waterways.
The local reefs are teeming with marine life like rays, turtles, dolphins, octopus, pelagics, corals and hundreds of tropical fish species.
Diving & Snorkelling
Fishing & Four Wheel Driving
Take a deep sea fishing charter, launch the tinny into Moreton Bay, cast a beach rod from the sandy shore or simply dangle a line from a jetty.
Point Lookout hosts Queensland's best land based whale watching every year between around June and October. Turtles, rays, dolphins, birds, koalas and wallabies stay all year round.
Whale & Wildlife Watching
Cycling & Bush Walking
The best way to see the island. Walk or ride the island bush tracks or the paths within townships. Cyclists love riding accross Straddie, but please be careful on the roads.


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There's been a definite 'chill' in the air as a strong north-westerly wind and frequent hail or sleet showers can make for unpleasant conditions. A couple of late Chiffchaffs on 5th included a ringed 'tristis' type at Brigg and there was an equally late (or perhaps even wintering) Black Redstart at Hooking on 6th. A check of the waders on the links the same day saw 45 Ringed Plovers and 76 Dunlin counted and 25 Shovelers were on the loch at Hooking. The drake Green-winged Teal has been present throughout and the hybrid American x Eurasian Wigeon reappeared on the latter two dates. Some other good counts of ducks were made on the 7th amounting to 407 Wigeons, 10 Gadwalls, 177 Teal, 20 Pintails, 33 Tufted Ducks, 20 Long-tailed Ducks, 8 Goldeneyes and 338 Eiders. There were still 12 Tundra Bean Geese (including the juvenile which hadn't been seen since 30th Nov) plus the Greenland White-fronted Goose, 59 Pink-footed Geese, 7 Barnacle Geese and the Pale-bellied Brent Goose. Other odds and sods of note included 9 Red-throated Divers on the sea, 148 Purple Sandpipers and 14 Snow Buntings.
Sunday, 7 December 2014
Thursday, 4 December 2014
1st-4th December
Paperwork, maintenance and all those jobs we ignored in the autumn tend to take priority at this time of the year but we do always try and get some fresh air each day-even if its just a walk with the dogs. Decent weather during the period has allowed most sections of the island to be visited at least once and its the current influx of Tundra Bean Geese which have been the most noteworthy. Between 7 and 10 have been seen daily, but we know there are at least 15 actually present while the juvenile Greenland White-fronted Goose remains, as does the Pale-bellied Brent Goose, 7 Barnacle Geese but some new Pink-footed Geese have arrived as their number reached 62 on 4th. Other wildfowl include 4 Whooper Swans, a Shelduck (3rd-4th) and peak counts of 215 Wigeon, 15 Pintails, 25 Tufted Ducks, 184 Eiders (all 3rd), 22 Shovelers (2nd), 163 Teal and 86 Mallard (4th) and the drake Green-winged Teal has been present throughout. The Grey Plover is still here, a late Short-eared Owl was at Ancum (2nd) and there have been up to 3 Hen Harriers, 2 Merlins and a Pergrine present. Passerine numbers are thinning rapidly but the Dunnock, Blackcap and at least 3 Chiffchaffs remain and peak Thrush counts came to 62 Blackbirds, 23 Fieldfares, 67 Redwings and 8 Song Thrushes. Perhaps as many as 40 Robins are lingering on the isle but the highest daily count has been 17 on 2nd and Twite and Snow Bunting numbers both peaked at 48 on the 3rd.
Reed Bunting
Posted by northronbirdobs at 22:00 No comments:
Monday, 1 December 2014
28th-30th November
There was nothing significant to report from a wet 28th and other than a Jack Snipe and Chiffchaff the 29th was a quiet day too. A mild and calm 30th drew most attention but a chance to work through the Geese revealed little change with the juvenile Greenland White-fronted Goose still present as were 9 Tundra Bean Geese (including the unassigned juvenile from 27th which we now believe to be of this race), 48 Pink-footed Geese and the 7 Barnacle Geese still. The drake Green-winged Teal remains on Gretchen, but 6 Woodcocks included a few new birds and the 20th individual of 2014 was caught and ringed with a new Water Rail also caught somehow in the falling apart Heligoland 1! The calm conditions also allowed the nets at Holland to be opened and with nearly 40 birds processed (29 new) it was a surprisingly productive session. Thrushes made up the majority of the days passerine total with 72 Blackbirds (23 new birds trapped/ringed), 39 Fieldfares, 28 Redwings and 4 Song Thrushes logged. A new Dunnock and Blackcap were also ringed, with a second of the latter at the Post office with 9 Robins, 14 Rock Pipits, 13 Twite and 35 Snow Buntings also recorded-not a bad day considering its December tomorrow..
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When I visited New York one December, I admit that despite thermals and layers, I was freezing. The cold temperatures – sometimes reaching lows of -2°C – were further blighted by biting Arctic winds. Yet streaming eyes and a face pinched by the frost did not deter me from enjoying an hour-long narrated horse and … Read More "Why New York is a great winter destination" »
Category: News and Technology
Games, News and Technology, Sport, Travel
Games, News and Technology, Sport, Travel
Holidays in Florida look a bit different, with white sands replacing a snow-filled white Christmas. Yet, holiday magic throughout the sunshine state includes seasonal traditions and memorable experiences – starting at your hotel. Check out these creative and over-the-top holiday packages below. A Key West Holiday at The MarkerMarker hotelMarker Garden Reception.Where: The Marker Key … Read More "Festive Packages at Hotels in Florida" »


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New Telephone Service
by Julian Dale
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new telephone service where you can access our latest sermon, a regular thought for the day, or you can join us daily for a short Bible reading and prayer. Simply call 01323 914909. All calls are charged at the local rate.
Not everyone has internet access, so, if you know someone who would benefit from this service, please pass the details on to them.
Recommended Posts
November 11, 2020
Grapevine 11 October
October 10, 2020


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What Is an Epic Tale?
Thousands of years ago in Ancient Greece, the blind poet Homer wandered from place to place telling tales of heroic warriors, mythical beasts and powerful gods. His classic poems, passed down by mouth through generations, set the standard for the epic tale -- lengthy narratives using poetic forms to tell of the exploits of a great hero. While traditional epic tales are told as poems, the genre has been expanded to include novels, films, plays and even video games.
Elements of the Epic
Based on the example of Homer's works, epics traditionally use elevated language and poetic form to tell of heroes who represent the values of their nation. The hero traditionally encounters significant conflicts along a journey of some sort, accomplishing tasks that affect their entire civilization. The hero's actions usually have a deeper meaning or message about life.
Examples of Epics
The earliest known epic poem is "The Epic of Gilgamesh," from Ancient Sumeria. Homer's works, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," established the genre, which was continued by Virgil's "The Æneid" and Dante's "The Divine Comedy." Modern epic tales include J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and films such as "Avatar."
Writer Bio
Bethany Richardson has been an educator in Texas public schools since 2007. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English rhetoric with a professional writing certificate from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.


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Eddie Mekka
Mini Biography
After performing on Broadway in The Lieutenant, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, he moved to Los Angeles. He landed the role of Carmine for Laverne & Shirley in 1976, acting on the series until it was canceled in 1983. His recent television credits include 24, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Bold and the Beautiful, and as Detective Murdoch in the Fox television movie Catch Me If You Can. He had a small role in the 1992 film A League of Their Own whose credits list him as "Mae's guy in bar".
On stage, he has performed in Hairspray at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada and in a national tour of Grease with Cindy Williams. Mekka returned to Broadway on July 15, 2008, starring in Steve Solomon's long-running comedy "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm In Therapy!" at the Westside Theatre.[2]
Mekka reunited with his Laverne & Shirley co-star Cindy Williams in a November 2008 regional production of the Renée Taylor–Joseph Bologna comedy play It Had to Be You.
In 2008, Mekka wrapped production in the independent film Code Enforcer. He stars opposite Erin Moran of Happy Days.
Mekka starred as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, New York, from April 29, 2010, until June 20, 2010.


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Via afsa.org:
We are now one year away from the 2020 Presidential election – the perfect time to review the provisions of the Hatch Act. If you are uncertain about how the Hatch Act applies to Foreign Service members in Washington and overseas you are probably not alone.
On December 3, come to AFSA headquarters (across Virginia Avenue from the 21st Street entrance to the State Department) to have pizza and drinks and a frank discussion on the Hatch Act. Our presenters will be Ana Galindo-Marrone from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Kathleen Murphy from State's Legal Advisor, and Deputy General Counsel Raeka Safai from AFSA's Labor Management office. All AFSA members from all Foreign Service agencies are welcome.
For this event to be as useful as possible to our members, we are inviting questions in advance so the speakers can address them in their presentations. There will also be a live question and answer session after the presentations. The presentation will cover traditional area of political activity covered by the Hatch Act and will focus on the Hatch Act and social media as well.
Click here to register for the event. To send in a question you would like addressed in the presentations, please send the question to Sam Miglani at firstname.lastname@example.com with the email title "Hatch Act Topic." We will try to incorporate as many of your questions into the presentation material as we can.
This event will be recorded and made available for online viewing at www.afsa.org/video. For those who prefer gluten-free refreshments, we will have gluten-free pizza available. See you there!


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Oh, the joys of getting older and developing new food sensitivities (and poorer eyesight, but that is a different post). After reacting poorly (I won't bore you with the gastrointestinal details) to several foods, but not knowing exactly which foods, my doctor has suggested an elimination diet. It sounded like a great plan: cut everything, and add things back slowly, then you'll figure out what is bothering you. The reality: I am surviving on lettuce.
That might be a slight exaggeration, but the truth is that for the past two and a half weeks I have eaten vegetables and animal protein exclusively, and I have been surviving just fine. It means I am the annoying person that goes to a restaurant and asks for seventeen changes to my meal ("no tomatoes, mayo, fries, or bread, please!") but most places are willing to accommodate, and I am feeling, generally, better.
Yes, it is similar to the Paleo diet (which I did with some success a couple of years ago), but the intention here is to add back things that don't cause problems for me. Hello, beans, I am looking at you.
I learned a while back that neither eggs nor mayo work for me, which is entirely unfortunate as I could eat eggs every day. And a good tuna melt? Giving that up is pitiful. The new, tragic discovery are mangoes. I will experiment again this week, but it seems thatI will have to banish mangoes from my diet. And it is nearly mango season in my neighborhood, with trees overflowing with the ripe, juicy fruits. No mango daiquiris for me this season.
What else could be a bother? In the next couple weeks, I will be testing out all of my favorite foods: things that contain gluten, eggplant, tomatoes, beans, and because I am truly a glutton for punishment, I will be trying eggs again. While I have no idea how this will play out, I have avoided eggs and mayo for about a year and have managed to survive. I am eager to find out what else I will have to avoid to feel great. On the other hand, I am not going to be pleased if eggplant parm is not in my future ever again. We will see.
How do you cope with food allergies or sensitivities? Leave a comment (and word of encouragement) in the comments below.


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UPS To Add Shipping Surcharges For Online Black Friday And Cyber Monday 2017 Orders
United Parcel Service announced last week that they will be adding a surcharge to the majority of online orders this holiday season, and the additional fee could potentially be passed to shoppers. According to the official press release, UPS will add a 27-cent fee to all ground orders shipped to residential homes between November 19 and December 2. Black Friday 2017, which will take place on November 24, and Cyber Monday 2017, which is on November 27, could both see their prices and discounts affected.
Margins are already slim for retailers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and a 27-cent surcharge on every order shipped via UPS' ground service is going to quickly add up. While UPS is not adding a surcharge for expedited shipping options during the week of Thanksgiving, most orders during this time period are shipped via the ground service because Christmas is still weeks away, and there is not a ton of urgency for rush delivery.
The surcharge will go away on December 2, but it will return between December 17 and December 23. UPS will once again charge an additional 27 cents for ground orders, but they will also collect a surcharge of 81 cents for next-day air and 97 cents for two-day air and three-day select.
Why is UPS Adding This Surcharge?
While the war between Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other retailers to see who can offer the best free shipping option is heating up, delivery companies, including UPS and FedEx, are finding it difficult to control costs during the holiday season. UPS claims to have hired nearly 100,000 workers for the rush during last year's holiday shopping season. In addition to paying premium prices for additional airplanes and trucks, the cost of training seasonal help is expensive. As we reported in 2014, UPS hired 95,000 seasonal workers during the holiday season, which is about the same number that is expected for 2017.
At the present moment, FedEx does not have any plans to add surcharges during this year's holiday season, but they have the same struggles that competitor UPS does. While both companies are efficient at shipping to retail stores, getting products to residential homes has a unique set of issues. In shipping to stores, UPS and FedEx can do it in bulk and save costs. Known as "the last mile," shipping directly to residential homes is costly and not efficient, and neither company has found a solution to do it cheaper.
Will Stores or Consumers Pay The Surcharge?
Shoppers are now accustomed to speedy and free delivery, and adding shipping surcharges to holiday orders is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Amazon recently reduced their minimum order size to qualify for free ground shipping from $35 to $25. Because of "the last mile," Target increased their minimum free shipping order size from $25 to $35. In what is potentially the best option, Walmart now offers free two-day shipping for most orders over $35. As usual, shoppers can still pay an annual fee of $99 for an Amazon Prime membership and receive free two-day shipping on most orders with no minimum.
While all of those policies are great for shoppers, it may not be sustainable. As GeekWire recently reported, Amazon lost nearly $7.2 billion last year on shipping. The reason is that Amazon is charging customers less for shipping than what the true costs add up to be. In addition to Prime, Amazon loses money from their low free shipping threshold of only $25.
During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many stores, including Target and Best Buy, have traditionally waived their free shipping thresholds all together. While they have taken losses on shipping in previous years, the new 27-cent surcharge is only going to make things that much more expensive, and someone is going to have to cover the additional costs.
Since pricing on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is so competitive, our initial inclination is that most stores will cover the shipping surcharge tab. Since this is going to be so costly, certain items may not see discounts as high as they have in previous years. In paying the surcharge themselves, retailers can simply hide it from shoppers, and they will never even know it was there.
If stores do decide to make shoppers pay the surcharge, it could create confusion and problems. For example, stores could still potentially offer "free shipping" but have the added surcharge of 27 cents. For stores that do not offer free shipping, they could add this additional surcharge on top of their current rate or just build it in.
In order to get an idea of how some of the largest retailers plan to deal with the surcharge, we reached out to Walmart, Amazon, eBay, and Target. The former three stores have not yet replied to our request for comment, but a representative from Target told BestBlackFriday.com the following.
"We've nothing to share here, beyond stating that any Target.com order that qualifies for free shipping (and this includes orders placed with a Target REDcard crdit or debit card) will receive free shipping."
While we were hoping for more specifics, it appears as though shoppers who qualify for free shipping at Target will not have to pay the surcharge, but things can change as it gets closer to November.
Store Pickups For Online Orders May Increase In Popularity
To further cut costs, retailers have promoted store pickup for online orders. While this defeats some of the convenience of online shopping, it still has many advantages over shopping in traditional brick-and-mortar stores. In order to undercut Amazon, Walmart recently introduced their Pickup Discount program, which provides shoppers with an additional discount for picking up online orders at their nearest physical store.
As previously mentioned, shipping companies struggle to control costs when delivering to residential addresses. With UPS' added surcharges this year, stores could get creative with discounts and other promotions on Black Friday and Cyber Monday for customers who opt for store pickup. This could actually be built into the prices for many of the sale items, which would add an entirely new dynamic to holiday shopping.
While this sounds like an effective strategy on the surface for retailers, shoppers have been somewhat reluctant to use store pickup.
Best & Worst States for Online Black Friday Shopping
We recently released our study featuring the Best & Worst States for Online Shopping for 2017, and we do not expect UPS' holiday surcharge to change the order considerably. As seen in the study, shoppers in the lower 48 states and Washington D.C. are charged an average of $2.87 for shipping. This figure was calculated from a sample of 28 of the largest retailers. If stores do not cover the tab for the surcharge, this average will increase during the holiday season this year, but it will rise at the same rate for every single state.
As Black Friday 2017 nears, we will be posting our first annual review of the Best & Worst States for Online Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping. UPS' surcharge and any added surcharges from FedEx and other delivery companies will be taken into consideration.


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All week, we have been sharing extraordinary love stories from our Dunkin' Donuts fans. Share your own Dunkin' love story with us on Instagram with hashtag #DunkinLoveContest by Valentine's Day for the chance to win free DD coffee and donuts for a year!
How has Dunkin' been a part of your story? For Campbell and Kaitlyn, Dunkin' helped make their engagement extra special.
Campbell and Kaitlyn's love story began when they met in Hollywood, CA in March of 2013. Both were new to the city – Kaitlyn had recently moved there from Boston and Campbell was just visiting from South Africa – and instantly they clicked.
When Campbell returned to South Africa, the couple spent weeks talking on the phone constantly, even if it meant waking up at 3am every morning with the huge time difference between them. A few months later, Campbell met Kaitlyn in her hometown of Boston to be with her and her family for Christmas. Every morning while he was there, Campbell got Kaitlyn and her family their favorites from Dunkin' Donuts.
By March of 2015, Campbell was sure Kaitlyn was the one. When she came to visit him in South Africa, he wanted to bring her a sense her home, which is why he reached out to us here at Dunkin'. At a beautiful vineyard outside Cape Town, he got down on one knee surrounded by roses and Dunkin' Donuts "true love" magnets. They married a few months later, and today the couple lives happily together in Los Angeles.
Whether big or small, is Dunkin' a part of your love story like Campbell and Kaitlyn? Post on Instagram using #DunkinLoveContest and tell us all about it. You'll be entered for a chance to win the ultimate Dunkin' Love Valentine's Day gift, including a year's worth of coffee and donuts, as well as $2,500 to go towards an extra sweet Valentine's Day gift.* You might even be featured on the Dunkin' Donuts Instagram!
To stay up to date on all things Dunkin', sign up for our email news alerts at news.dunkindonuts.com/alerts.
*No purchase necessary, must be 18+ to enter. Void where prohibited. For additional terms and conditions related to Dunkin' Donuts' #DunkinLoveContest, visit DDsweeps.com.


text: My buddy was "kicked out" of the apartment by his girlfriend and had take their three kids to spend the night with his mother-in-law who just so happened to be my neighbor. The girlfriend was having grown-up fun with her gang while me and my buddy got some nice kebab and played some classic Starcraft Broodwar after the kids had fallen asleep. Good times.


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The Government was forced to make an embarrassing U-turn on Free School Meals in November this year following a huge amount of pressure from footballer Marcus Rashford, supported by the Liberal Democrats.
The Conservatives had previously refused to extend Free School Meals to cover the school holidays for the duration of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Coronavirus has had a significant impact on people's livelihoods with many people losing jobs and burning through their savings. Free School Meals are a lifeline for many families who would otherwise struggle to afford to feed their children. The Government stubbornly refused to provide this additional support until the pressure from the country became too much and they fortunately changed their minds.
Meanwhile, after Lib Dem pressure, Somerset County Council allocated £125,000 to feed the over 8000 Somerset children eligible for Free School Meals during the October half term. However, we recently discovered that they failed to spend even a penny of that allocation. The Lib Dems called on the Conservatives to step up over the Christmas holidays and we will be checking that they followed through.


text:
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text:
Abe (AFA Public Policy Analyst), Ed (AFA Executive VP), and Walker (AFA's Assistant to the President) discuss the role Chick-fil-A played in the aftermath of the Orlando Islamic terror attack at the gay bar.
Please Note: We moderate all reader comments, usually within 24 hours of posting (longer on weekends). Please limit your comment to 300 words or less and ensure it addresses the content. Comments that contain a link (URL), an inordinate number of words in ALL CAPS, rude remarks directed at the author or other readers, or profanity/vulgarity will not be approved.


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How Bob Mould Found Beauty in the Ruin for His Most Honest Album Yet
"I've realized that one of my strengths as a songwriter is writing very catchy songs with very down lyrics," Bob Mould says in a manner that sounds oddly familiar, almost as if he's revealing a secret. "People enjoy it. I enjoy it. It seems to be one of those things that I do regularly and do well. That kind of contrast is important to me."
Hüsker Dü's 'Zen Arcade' and the 100 Best Albums of the Eighties
That contrast proved to be so important to the former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman that he structured his 11th studio album around it, titling it Beauty & Ruin and designing a cover featuring pictures of himself at different ages. "The idea of me at 18 or 19, chain smoking, versus me at 53 and actually quite healthy struck me as striking and weird," he says. With the idea of contrast in place, Mould settled into a narrative that covered four major themes: loss, reflection, acceptance and the future. The concoction made for a rock-focused album, similar to his 2012 Silver Age, filled with songs – "Low Season" and "Let the Beauty Be," for instance – that have all the acerbic bite of his Hüsker works and the melody that defined his time in Sugar. It's an album that's as deep as it is hummable.
The catalyst for the record's themes occurred in late 2012, right after the release of Silver Age, when his father died. Mould had just come off a series of highs, including seeing his career celebrated by the likes of Dave Grohl, Britt Daniel and Margaret Cho at a tribute concert at Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall, putting out his 2011 memoir, See a Little Light, and touring off and on with the Foo Fighters. In hindsight, he now looks at that period and the release of Silver Age (a "party record," by his estimation) as a "free pass."
"Everything was going great," he says. "My father's death was not unexpected, but it was still a sad event that happened. That October of 2012 was the beginning of a 12-month period of gathering ideas and writing."
But the record became heavier, to use Mould's word, as he entered a rough patch following his father's death. "I'm getting to that point in my life, where I've been losing people and people are getting really sick around me," he says. Then he pauses. "It's weird. It can be a downer, but it can also be very enlightening. I'm very grateful that I'm in a line of work where now that I've stayed around long enough, sadly I get this perspective. It's not a popular one in rock music."
Mould's dark times, and a few of the enlightening moments that came from them, made for a set of 12 songs that fit an arc he now likens to the course of an average day in his adopted hometown of San Francisco. "It starts gray in the morning, and it's usually pretty sunny in the afternoon and it's gray in the evening," he says. "It's a deep record to me. You can drill down with me, or you can put it on in the car and rock out. It works both ways. You don't have to marry yourself to my ideas, but I do think there's a decent amount of thought put into the record."
Although the way Mould describes his creative process sounds dour, he's right about the fact that many of the songs come off sounding a bit more upbeat than their wellspring. Part of that comes from the biggest inspiration behind his songwriting, musically: his two funny bandmates, bassist Jason Narducy (possessor of "Rock's Sexiest Elbows") and drummer Jon Wurster, who also plays in Superchunk and does standup. Together they made a song about disillusionment – Beauty & Ruin's "I Don't Know You Anymore" – sound upbeat enough to make for a Funny or Die music video, the concept for which Mould credits Wurster. And they helped Mould construct a bouncy punk backdrop for his tongue-in-cheek complaints about getting older in "Hey Mr. Grey."
The latter track begins with a series of self-deprecating observations: "'Hey Mr. Grey,' that's what the children say/Life used to be so hard – get off my yard," and escalates with one-liners about Mr. Blue and Mr. White. "That was a cute song, coming up with that first verse and then having somewhere to go with it in a very short amount of time," he says. "It became this silly nursery rhyme. The colors work for two minutes."
But then there's another cheeky allusion in the song that Mould only realized after the fact: The line "the kids don't follow," which comes off like a subtle jab at his onetime Minneapolis rock neighbors in the Replacements, who had a song called "Kids Don't Follow." "That just fell out," he says. "I didn't even see that happen, then I realized, 'Oh, that's funny.' Some people have asked, 'Is that a tip of the hat or is that making fun?' When I remembered it was a Replacements title, now it's the tip of the hat."
Similarly, Mould toys around with wordplay throughout the record. One of his favorites occurs in "Let the Beauty Be," a song about depression that contains the line, "You've been living on the edge of a knife/maybe this could be the time of your life." "It's like, OK, think about what I said for a second, be cynical for a second," he says. "That's the beauty of words. Put the knife down. You can only laugh, right?"
When he thinks back on the whole process of making the record and all its filtered, intensely personal themes – much like the intimate confessions that have defined his songwriting style 30 years ago in Hüsker Dü – Mould says he doesn't regret putting all of his feelings out there. "Sharing personal stuff, that's what I do," he says. "I think that's what people expect. If I'd written bubblegum pop for 25 years and then I made a deeply personal record and regretted it, that would be one thing. This is just what I do. I don't even think about it."
More News
Taylor Swift Shares 'Bejeweled' Song Name as She Continues 'Midnights Mayhem'
- Late Night With Taylor Swift
- By


text:
I'm watching CSI, they found semen in the woman's ear.
Guess she heard her killer coming
You must be Logged in to post a comment
*removes sunglasses*
This person is wasting time with texting and should be writing one-liners for the next 007 movie.
i liked it man. don't pay any attention to the haters above.
Ba dump chhhhh
Fifty some pages of these texts, and this one made me laugh the most... Fucking classic.
That was impressive!
oh come on this is from forgetting sarah Marshall
Oh u punny son of a bitch
I've heard this before
there's a fruitloop in my anus
Lmfao WIN
"the victim was found dead with his penis in a jar of peanut butter."\n"well I guess he was..."\n*removes glasses* \n"fucking nuts"\n\nYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
It was so lame i actually laughed out loud.
Only 973 baby!
Fake. Old joke.
Way to quote the show.
12:50 I tip my hat to you good sir or madam.
This was just funny.
Made of win
1:12 fuck you. It's ignorant little shits like you who ruin America. \n NOBAMA
What a great fucking line ahhaha
witty, love it
What's really funny about this? I'm watching the Family Guy episode where they have sex in the ear. IRONY!
im just really happy that was the response...
Way to put quotes you find on /b/ on tfln...copypasta is copypasta is copypasta is not funny. :/
It seems our victim tried to defend himself with a broken pencil. \nI guess his his efforts were... Pointless!
This was hilarious, anyone that thinks otherwise is taking themselves way too seriously.
fuck yeah essex county! this person... the new and improved horatio caine.
That's both the best and the worst joke I've heard in months!
hahahah love itt
Really no reason to dislike this one
1226 you are a moron. half a year in office and he's done a better job than 8 years of Bush so go fuck yourself
hahah i found this hilarious
i snorted coffee through my nose.
fake or not... this one was kinda funny
i bet he'd been waiting YEARS for that one! a good laugh :-)
Yeah, 12:50 got me too. He shoots off faster than at least three of us.
Hmmmm yep nothing wrong just funny
Hahahaha I want to be 1-973's friend.
This is funny. I don't know why people are trashing it.
haha that is seriously fucking awesome. i dont understand why anyone thinks it isnt.
thats from forgetting sara marshall
I think it's damn hilarious... wish I had thought of it in fact. Ha ha
Hahaha hell yeah she did! Chooooooo Choooooooo
Obviously this person is part of comedy sportz or has played CDs Miami before
...forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Wow this joke is from himoto in 1979 but with no csi
Damn. I hope you write
This is fucking hilarious hahah, very good pun. And yes 12:50 u are genius
Haha, this is histeryical!!!
O'Doyle RULES!!
This was ridiculously funny
Next weeks episode:\n\nThey find another girl linked to the same suspect. He came in this victims eye. \n\n\n\nGuess she saw him coming this time....
Is this a joke forum or real texts? This is an old joke. It doesn't belong here.
hell yeah jersey! what. up.
I see what u did there. What time does the narwal bacon?
OMG this is fuckin hilarious!
Hahahahaha yeah!! Luv that show to. And this txt made me lol at my phone mid-class
12:50 beat me to the punch. I'll just go home now.
OMG!!! This is great!
i though it was funny. nice pun. made me giggle.
this is HILARIOUS. props.
Tap Tap Tap Tap GUUUUUUUYSH Aaaaaaaaaah!
if only it was spelt as CUMing
Ohh it's so punny cuming in the ear\nClever clever clever
Hahaha that is my favorite one so far In this whole list
this literally just made my day. just kidding. WEEK
once u go black
you go deaf
I don't get it.
yes i do.
Wtf does Obama have to do with this? O_o
This is fucking hilarious by the way XD
It's so Horatio to say too
Gotta love the 973.
Seriously. That was awesome.
Omg that's exactly the one liner grissum would have said
1:44 has a tiny dick
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH so good
this text is PUNNY! ha ha get it? yeah it was just as lame as the text.
Probably fake, but god I love cheesy one-liners so much. Made my day man.
ohhh damn. took me a sec to get it, but its funny!
this just made my fucking life. major respect points.
Somone tell me, how the fuck is Obama relevant to a woman having semen in her ear?
Hey, the Internet wants its joke back
It's soooo cheesey, but it's sooooooo freaking funny.
Makes me proud to be from jersey and have the same area code
if its something quick like that, then pun are hilarious! you just cant be an uptight bitch who thinks only intelligent jokes can be funny. stupid jokes can be funny, just in stupid ways.
I won't get fooled again.
bahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! i thought it was funny!!
'nuff said.
i see what you did there. a good pun is always appreciated.
I weep for the future of America. It wasn't Bush's fault, we were attacked! The only thing he did wrong was to pussy foot around the fucking Saudis. Turn the middle east into a parkinglot for F-16s and M-1 Abrams!
Ahhhh!!! I love CSI!!!! Sick fucks have fun at night!!
wow. this is just sad.
obama does equal fail. soo true. good job america on voting for the biggest fuckin moron ever.
essex county, what it do!
i live for these.
12:50 FTW, I could so see him saying something corny like that, HAHA good one!!
i dub thee; Greatest Anecdote Ever!
LMAO literally laughed out loud. I don't care how corny it is, or whatever, I thought that was pure awesomeness.
This is great! Good one.
Don't know why people think this is fake, I always text my friends stuff that happens on CSI, especially when it's something totally unusual like them finding semen.
Omg!! This is by far my favorite txt. Reading a crapload the past hour and this made me laugh so hard I make my dog bark at the house from outside.
Bahahaha 😂😂


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CAT 2018 is scheduled to be conducted on 25 November 2018 in computer based mode and its notification is going to be released tomorrow i.e. on 29 July, Sunday. The CAT 2018 Notification will be published by the convening body, which is IIM Calcutta on the official website of CAT as well as in various newspapers. The CAT 2018 aspirants who are eagerly waiting for the release of the notification can get it by tomorrow. CAT Notification will contain all the important information related to CAT 2018. Information like important dates, eligibility, registration fees, exam convening body, exam centres, list of IIMs etc. will be available on the CAT 2018 notification,
CAT 2018 Notification - Important Dates
Here are some of the tentative CAT dates 2018 prepared on the basis of previous year's time tabe -
CAT Dates
CAT Notification to be released
29 July 2018 (Confirmed)
CAT Registration starts
Second week of August 2018
Last date to For CAT Registration
Last week of September 2018
CAT Admit Card Available
Last Week of October 2018
CAT Exam Date 2018
25 November 2018 (Confirmed)
CAT Result 2018
January 2nd week 2019
Every year, the Common Admission Test is conducted by one of the 20 IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) to provide admission to various Post Graduate Management Programs such as, PGDM, PGP, PGPEM, PGPPM, EPGPM, PGP-FABM, PGPSM and PGP-ABM which are Equivalent to MBA degree. These 20 IIMs offer more than 4000 seats on the basis of CAT score.
For Free SMS Alerts Related to CAT 2018 - Click Here
The candidates who are willing to apply for CAT 2018 are advised to get ready for tomorrow and keep tracking the official website and newspapers to check CAT Notification 2018. After the release of notification for CAT exam, the candidates will be able to proceed for CAT Registration process which is likely to be started from the second week of August 2018.