text:
Sexual assaults in the military are a growing epidemic across the services and thousands of victims are still unwilling to come forward despite a slew of new oversight and assistance programs, according to Pentagon documents.
Troubling new numbers estimate that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, according to survey results released against a backdrops of scandals including an ongoing investigation into more than 30 Air Force instructors for assaults on trainees at a Texas base
The report comes just days after the Air Force's head of sexual assault prevention was arrested last weekend on charges of groping a woman in a suburban Virginia parking lot. And it follows a heated debate over whether commanders should be stripped of the authority to overturn military jury verdicts, such as one officer did in a recent sexual assault conviction.
President Barack Obama delivered a sharp rebuke Tuesday, saying he has no tolerance for the problem, and he said he talked to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about it. He said that any military member found guilty of sexual assault should be held accountable, prosecuted and fired.
"I don't want just more speeches or awareness programs or training, or ultimately folks look the other way," he said. "We're going to have to not just step up our game, we have to exponentially step up our game to go after this hard."
The Associated Press obtained documents and memos related to a new Pentagon report slated for release Tuesday. The documents show that the number of sexual assaults actually reported by members of the military rose 6 percent to 3,374 in 2012. But a survey of personnel who were not required to reveal their identities showed the number of service members actually assaulted could be as many as 26,000, but they never reported the incidents, officials said Tuesday.
That number is an increase over the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011.
The statistics highlight the dismal results that military leaders have achieved in their drive to change the culture within the ranks, even as the services redoubled efforts to launch new programs to assist the victims, encourage reporting and increase commanders' vigilance.
Hagel ordered a series of steps and reviews to increase officers' accountability for what happens under their commands, and to inspect workstations for objectionable materials, according to memos and documents obtained by the AP.
Hagel ordered military leaders to develop a method to assess commanders and hold them accountable on their ability to create a climate "of dignity and respect." He has given commanders until July 1 to visually inspect workspaces to make sure they are free of degrading materials, and military leaders have until Nov. 1 to recommend ways to assess officers and hold them accountable for their command climates.
"Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military service and has no place in this department," Hagel said in a new response plan the department will release Tuesday. "It is an affront to the American values we defend, and it is a stain on our honor. DoD needs to be a national leader in combating sexual assault and we will establish an environment of dignity and respect, where sexual assault is not tolerated, condoned, or ignored."
While the latest cases involve Air Force members, the problem extends across all the military services.
Across Capitol Hill, lawmakers demanded the Pentagon take more aggressive steps to address the growing problem and they announced renewed efforts to pass legislation to battle the problem.
"When our best and our brightest put on a uniform and join the United States Armed Forces, they do so with the understanding that they will sacrifice much in the name of defending our country and its people. However, it's unconscionable to think that entertaining unwanted sexual contact from within the ranks is now part of that equation," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "Not only are we subjecting our men and women to this disgusting epidemic, but we're also failing to provide the victims with any meaningful support system once they have fallen victim to these attacks."
This week's sexual battery arrest of Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, who headed the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit, provided a rallying point for lawmakers, who held it up Tuesday as an example of the Pentagon's failure to make progress despite the increased effort.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., told Air Force officials at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday that "while under our legal system everyone is innocent until proven guilty, this arrest speaks volumes about the status and effectiveness of (the Defense) department's efforts to address the plague of sexual assaults in the military."
Members of Congress are putting together legislation to essentially strip military officers of the authority to overturn convictions for serious offenses such as sexual assault. The measure stem from congressional outrage over an Air Force officer's decision to reverse a jury verdict in a sexual assault case.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., are drawing up legislation that likely will be included in the annual defense policy bill that will essentially strip military officers of the authority to overturn convictions for serious offenses such as sexual assault.
Separately Murray and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., introduced legislation on Tuesday to provide victims with a special military lawyer who would assist them throughout the process, prohibit sexual contact between instructors and trainees during and within 30 days of completion of basic training or its equivalent and ensure that sexual assault response coordinators are available to help members of the National Guard and reserve.
"We have learned of an increase in the amount of service members experiencing unwanted sexual contact and a decrease in the rate that those incidents are reported," Turner said. "The exact opposite direction of what would indicate a cultural and statistical shift on a problem that affects mission readiness and overall morale of our forces," he said in a statement. "It's clear much more needs to be done both legislatively and structurally, to root out this problem."
According to Pentagon documents, the key conclusion of the report is that "sexual assault is a persistent problem in the military and remains vastly underreported."
The report says that of the 1.4 million active duty personnel, 6.1 percent of active duty women – or 12,100 – say they experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012, a sharp increase over the 8,600 who said that in 2010. For men, the number increased from 10,700 to 13,900. A majority of the offenders were military members or Defense Department civilians or contractors, the report said.
Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force's chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley were "appalled" by the charges against Krusinski.
"As we have both said over and over and over again, sexual assault prevention and response efforts are critically important to us," Welsh said. "It is unacceptable that this occurs anywhere, at any time, in our Air Force."
Welsh said that while the Krusinski case is being adjudicated by the Arlington County prosecutor, the Air Force has requested jurisdiction. He said Krusinski will be arraigned Thursday on one count of sexual battery and that an Arlington County prosecutor will decide the jurisdiction question.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., one of the most vocal critics of the military's efforts to stop sexual assaults, pressed Welsh on what qualifications Krusinski had for the job and whether Welsh reviewed his personnel file since his arrest to see if there were any red flags.
Welsh said he found nothing irregular in Krusinski's file.
Photo: Capt. Penny Ripperger, the 119th Wing sexual assault response coordinator, reads a poem written on a t-shirt July 28, 2010, at a Clothesline Project visual display on the Veteran's Administration Hospital grounds, Fargo, N.D. The Clothesline Project display USES t-shirts created by victims of military sexual trauma to "break the silence" and to bear witness to sexual violence. (Senior Master Sgt. David H. Lipp/DoD)


text:
HUMANITAS Prize Announces New Finalists and Welcomes New President, New Venue and New Vision
Writer-producer John Wells assumes top spot as ceremony moves to Beverly Hills
Los Angeles, CA � August 25, 2008. The finalists for this year's HUMANITAS Prize
were announced today by John Wells, the new HUMANITAS Prize President. A total of
$95,000 in prize money will be handed out at the annual luncheon on September 17 in the
Crystal Ballroom at The Beverly Hills Hotel. This marks a new date and locale for the
prize. Since 1974, Humanitas has honored feature film and television writing that
explores the human condition in a way which affirms the dignity of the human person
and reveals common humanity.
"It is extremely gratifying to play a role in recognizing and honoring these Humanitas
finalists," said John Wells. "The work of these writers is truly inspiring."
"The HUMANITAS Prize is proud of the work we've done and the life-affirming film
and television writing we've championed over the past three decades," said Cathleen
Young, Executive Director of the Prize. "But at a time when we have an exciting new
location in the heart of Beverly Hills, it is also important that we look to the future. We
believe that John Wells, a groundbreaking writer, producer and director and a proven
leader in the entertainment industry, is the man who can carry us into the future�and
we'll begin to realize that future at the upcoming luncheon when we roll out our new
vision for Humanitas."
One of the most prolific and acclaimed creators in television, John Wells begins his
presidency this year. Writer/Producer Wells' work has included ER, The West Wing,
Third Watch, and China Beach. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including six
Emmys, five George Foster Peabody Awards, five Producers Guild of America Awards,
two Golden Globes, nine People's Choice Awards, and a HUMANITAS Prize, which he
won for The West Wing. Through his Warner Bros-based production company, he has
been involved in numerous feature films, including I'm Not There, White Oleander, The
Good Thief, Duma, Far From Heaven, One Hour Photo, Mrs. Harris, The Notorious
Bettie Page, Infamous, and A Home at the End of the World. Wells served as the
president of the Writers Guild of America, West from 1999 to 2001.
Wells is taking over for Frank Desiderio, C.S.P., who has been president of the
HUMANITAS Prize since 2000. Desiderio will become chairman of the board, but he
will continue in many of his current duties. In addition to his work for HUMANITAS, he
has served as executive producer for both made for television movies and documentary
"Humanitas is close to my heart," said Frank Desiderio. "I care deeply about our mission.
When we honor writers who write life affirming stories, we help move our culture
forward. We are very happy to have John Wells as our new president."
The 2008 Humanitas Prize finalists include three writers who received Academy Award
nominations for their screenplays: Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly),
Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl), and Best Original Screenplay winner Diablo
Cody (Juno). Among the other finalists are three-time Humanitas Prize winner David E.
Kelly, who in the past has won for his TV series The Practice and Picket Fences and was
this year nominated for an episode of Boston Legal. In the 30-, 60- and 90-minute
categories, the programs saluted cover a broad spectrum, from the HBO miniseries John
Adams to the cable-TV series The Wire, In Treatment, and The Bill Engvall Show, to the
network series Scrubs (a previous Humanitas winner) and Boston Legal. For the first
time, The Hollywood Reporter is funding a new Humanitas documentary award ($5,000
prize) to be announced at the luncheon.
The 2008 HUMANITAS Prize finalists are:
Feature Film Category ($10,000)
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY Written by: Ronald Harwood
JUNO Written by: Diablo Cody
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL Written by: Nancy Oliver
90 Minute Category ($10,000)
BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE Written by: Daniel Giat
CHARLIE & ME Written by: Karen Lagasse Struck
A LIFE INTERRUPTED Written by: John Wierick
PICTURES OF HOLLIS WOODS Written by: Ann Peacock, Daniel Petrie, Jr. & Camille Thomasson
60 Minute Category ($10,000)
BOSTON LEGAL: "Roe V. Wade, The Musical" Written by: David E. Kelly & Susan Dickes (teleplay); David E. Kelly, Susan Dickes & Jill Goldsmith (story)
JOHN ADAMS: "Part 1" Written by: Kirk Ellis
THE WIRE: "Late Editions" Written by: George Pelecanos (teleplay); David Simon & George Pelecanos (story)
30 Minute Category ($10,000)
THE BILL ENGVALL SHOW: "Aloha Raffles" Written by: Kathy Ann Stumpe
IN TREATMENT: "Sophie Week 2" Written by: Sarah Treem
SCRUBS: "My Long Goodbye" Written by: Dave Tennant
Children's Animation Category ($10,000)
MY FRIENDS TIGGER & POOH: "Eeyore's Sad Day" Written by: Brian Hohlfeld
SWEET BLACKBERRY PRESENTS: "The Journey Of Henry Box Brown" Written by: Karyn Parsons
TODDWORLD: "Come Out Of Your Shell" Written by: Don Gillies
Children's Live Action Category ($10,000)
JOHNNY KAPAHALA: "Back On Board" Written by: Ann Austen, Douglas Sloan, Max Enscoe & Annie DeYoung (teleplay); Ann Austen & Douglas Sloan (story)
MINUTEMEN Written by John Killoran (teleplay); David Diamond & David Weissman (story)
SHEIRA & LOLI'S DITTYDOODLE WORKS: "Sacrifice" Written by David Lawrence, Bill Rodman & Cory Rosenberg
Sundance Feature Film Category ($10,000)
HENRY POOLE IS HERE Written by: Albert Torres
A RAISIN IN THE SUN Written by: Paris Qualles
THE VISITOR Written by: Tom McCarthy
The David & Lynn Angell Fellowship in Comedy Writing ($10,000)
FAIR: Written by: Cameron Porsandeh
MCKELLAR HALL: Written by: Nik Blahunka & Marcy Holland
The Humanitas Student Drama Fellowship ($10,000)
HEROES: "The Cure" Written by: Marla DuMont
HOUSE: "Witch Is It" Written by: Katherine F. Lovejoy
The Documentary Award ($5,000)
To be announced at the luncheon.
The HUMANITAS Prize money will be awarded at a luncheon on September 17 in the
Crystal Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hotel, which is located at 9641 Sunset Blvd.,
Beverly Hills, CA 90210. This marks a change from recent years, when the Prize
luncheon has been held at the Hilton Universal Hotel each June or July.
Over the past three decades, more than $2.8 million in prize money has been awarded.
HUMANITAS Prize winners have included numerous films and television shows that
have changed the landscape of entertainment by exploring the complexities of the human
experience and shedding light on the positive values of life. They include: Richard
LaGravenese (Freedom Writers); Hanif Kureishi (Venus); Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco
(Crash); Peter Morgan (Longford); Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl); Keir Pearson &
Terry George (Hotel Rwanda); Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Lackawanna Blues); Michael
Kang (The Motel); John Wells (The West Wing); Tony Kushner (Angels in America);
Antwone Fisher (Antwone Fisher); Niki Caro (Whale Rider); David E. Kelley (The
Practice); Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues); Alan Alda (M*A*S*H); Horton Foote
(William Faulkner's OLD MAN); Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List); Tim Robbins (Dead
Man Walking); Matt Damon and Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting); Aaron Sorkin (Sports
Night, The West Wing), and Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me).
For more information, please visit the website at www.humanitasprize.org

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Since 1999, we have helped over 5,500 organizations obtain tax exemptions. Our firm can assist your organization in receiving tax exemption status, and also provide guidance and compliance with the IRS's rules and administrative demands.
Why choose ?
Area of expertise. We are solution-providers for non-profit organizations. As a non-profit organization, you may require a broad spectrum of assistance from the initial set-up to IRS administrative and compliance issues. Whatever the nature of help you need, we're here to assist you.
With the lawyers of on your side, you will have a true advocate for your organization—someone who cares about you and your situation, and who will work diligently to help you reach your organization's goals.
501c3 Applications
Non-Profit Incorporation
California Registered Agent
Learn More
501c3 FAQ's
Non Profit FAQ's
Compliance Requirements
Our Team


text:
Lincoln International Mr Rock MOC
Solid Box Lincoln Monsters- Always buying specifically looking for Dracula and Wolfman.
Mego Super Softie Talking Batman MIB
Black Hole Humanoid Carded
Denys Fisher Giant Robot Boxed
Lincoln International Mr Rock MOC
Solid Box Lincoln Monsters- Always buying specifically looking for Dracula and Wolfman.
Mego Super Softie Talking Batman MIB
Black Hole Humanoid Carded
Denys Fisher Giant Robot Boxed
Mego Wants (loose, in like new complete condition):
Green Goblin
Bones McCoy
Non-Mego Wants (can be loose, at least decent condition):
Tomland Fly (Famous Monsters of Legend)
Other Tomland Mego-scale, like the Chewbacca and Vader knock-offs
Lincoln Frankenstein
AHI Frankenstein
Bootleg/Knock-offs (especially Masters of the Universe scale, but I love any knock-off toy)
Grody Shogun/Super7/Secret Base/RealxHead vinyl toys
Shogun Warriors Godzilla fist and tail
Sparking Godzilla and Creature wind-up toys
Mego-like Creature (not AHI--the one with cloth suit)
Imperial Godzilla (13") and Godzilla knock-offs
Old plastic dinos/monsters (Imperial and the like)
Last edited by GeekyVixen; Sep 5, '12 at 9:32 AM.
I pity the fool who doesn't appreciate a geeky girl.
A. AHI Wolfman in any condition
Wanted : Dukes of Hazzard , Evel Knievel items. Doesn't matter what , looking for just about anythng.
Mego Wants:
Dr. Who figures (loose or like new )
Bat cycle w/sidecar (decent or fair condition)
12" Star Trek figures (loose or like new)
Other VINTAGE wants and needs:
12" Star Wars figures
12" ROM figure
12" Robbie the robot Lost in space figure
Clear Head dome for 18" Alien figure
Remco Dracula
Remco mummy
Remco Wolf-man
Remco Monsterizer
Last edited by dee T.; Feb 17, '13 at 9:49 PM. Reason: update & more want ideas
I'm looking for comics now. Namely Haunt of Horror #12 and ANY comics with Lilith (Daughter of Dracula), especially first Dracula. Also looking for first New Gods and any others.
Also and I know this might be a long shot, any old Italian Horror/Erotica comics (Jacula, Zora, Sukia).
I am not buying much right now, so I will trade. Find my sell/trade thread.
A. 12" Hulk Leg (lower right)
B. 12" Hulk clothes
C. 12" lower legs (for big Spiderman + 12" Kiss dolls)
D. 8" Thor Helmet
E. 8" Thor boots
F. Thor wrist bands
I am open to repro parts too... Thanks!!!
Vintage immediate want: Manglors
i am looking for any manglors in any condition - loose is fine, any character, as long as they "work" and are still soft.
I looking for Topper Tigers Bugle and possibly some other accessories if they are available
I'm looking for all of the Mego 1974 Wizard of Oz dolls complete in their boxes.


text:
Disability Assessor
Job type:
£41000 - £43000 per annum + Fantastic Benefits (See Below)
Martyn Cahill
Contact email:
Job ref:
15 days ago
Expiry date:
Registered Nurse / Paramedic / Occupational Therapist / Physiotherapist
Location: Watford
Remote Working - Non Drivers Can Apply
Salary: £41,000 Per Annum
Permanent contract - full and part time available
We are currently recruiting Disability Assessors (RGN, RMN, RNLD, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist and Paramedics) for an exciting opportunity working on the DWPs disability contract. The role requires you to use your broad-based medical experience and clinical knowledge to conduct independent health assessments and write reports for the DWP. You will not be required to make any decisions within this role but simply assist with the health assessment of the claims process.
As an Assessor, you will utilise your clinical knowledge and broad-based medical experience by carrying out face to face assessments and examinations in a holistic manner. Such assessments focus on how a person's health condition(s) may have an impact on day-to-day life. The role will require you to use IT systems and software to write clear and concise medical reports which will later be used for decision making purposes.
This is a permanent position with both full and part time available. The standard working hours are office hours. No weekends, nights or bank holidays are required.
Previous experience as an Assessor is not required as full comprehensive training is provided. We will consider applications from all levels of Nursing. However, the minimum requirement is 18 months post graduate experience. The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal and customer service skills as well as the ability to communicate effectively with the general public.
- 25 days' annual leave, with the option to buy and sell up to 10 days
- Pension scheme, matching up to 10% of your contributions
- Life assurance, private medical insurance and medical indemnity insurance
- Reimbursement of your annual NMC/HCPC registration fee
- Health screening every two years, after one year's service
- Thorough in-house and professional training and development, covering well over the required CPD hours to revalidate and maintain your professional registration
- All flexible benefits can be tailored to your requirement and lifestyle: travel or dental insurance, child care vouchers, cycle to work scheme and many more
If you are interested in the Disability Assessor position and would like to start an application then please apply to this advert and a member of recruitment team will be in touch. Alternatively, to find out further information or to have a confidential conversation please call or email Carly Riley - 07469351714 / firstname.lastname@example.com
Meridian Business Support is acting on behalf of our Client as a Recruitment Agency.


text:
So, I divided and conquered. For all the clippies, I made a framed organizer. I didn't have a specific tutorial I followed. For the remaining ribbons and headbands, I used the hanging basket tutorial from The Mother Huddle.
I found this frame at our local thrift store. It was the perfect size, and I could reuse almost everything. I had a twinge of guilt removing and throwing away the embroidery, so here is a photo to preserve it in cyberspace:
I removed all but the backing board, and then primed and painted the frame.
I cut batting about 0.25" bigger than the board, and my chosen fabric about 2" bigger than the board with my pinking shears. (Thank you, Michaels, for having your Gingher pinking shears on clearance for $9.99!)
I then glued the fabric to the back. I used hot glue for quick hold, and tacky glue for a more permanent one.
I attached two ribbons equal distances from the center to hold the clippies.
After the glue was dry, I decoupaged scrapbook paper to the back to cover all the folded fabric.
When everything was dry, I fit it to the frame, securing with some glue.
For my hanging baskets, I made fabric labels to organize by color.
I made them with the same method I used for my Toddler Quiet Toy. I measured where I wanted them to be on the front of the pockets, adhered with some heat n bond lite, and sewed them to the outer fabric before assembling. One change I made, rather than interface both the outer and lining fabric, I used fusible fleece to strengthen the outer fabric, and did not interface the inner. I love how sturdy they are. One tip, if you choose to do the same, be sure to trim down the fleece about 0.5" from the tops, so you don't have as much bulk to fold down.
Here are my finished baskets close up:
I spent a total of $6 for this project. I used scraps and materials I had on hand, and only had to purchase the thrift store frame and cafe rod. My girls are having fun picking what to hair accessories to wear that matches their outfit.
And the best part, our drawer now looks like this:
We've also been going through other scary drawers, closets, and other places prone to clutter. It has been very liberating.
Linked up with A Few of My Favorite Things, Just a Girl, Tatertots and Jello, Kojo Designs, Creative Jewish Mom, Under The Table and Dreaming, The Girl Creative, and Skip to My Lou.
Featured on Tatertots and Jello!
Destri added more the tutorial I used for the hanging buckets. You can see the whole post HERE. She even referenced my version. Thank you!


text:
I was just talking with a friend about an upcoming vinyl release of the Gunstar Heroes soundtrack (beautiful packaging, but at the end of the day it's still a game soundtrack) and we were reflecting on our histories with Treasure's titles, I realized that I had not heard a thing from the company since, well, the Steam release of Ikaruga. A quick look on Wikipedia confirmed a few licensed 3DS titles in 2014, but after that nothing.
So was there ever any sort of announcement about taking a break, or upcoming projects, or are they just slowly dissolving like so many other companies from their era have? I thought there was some talk about Ikaruga on Steam being successful and the company was getting excited to start looking into other ports or even original titles, but that's about the last I heard. Was that it, then?


text:
Straddling the line between big and small is National Penn Bancshares, which purchased KNBT last year to become the Valley's second-largest bank by deposits.
The company hopes 2009 is a year of stability and recovery following the bank industry tumult of 2008, when big banks consolidated and the government poured billions into bank companies to thaw credit markets. National Penn reported 2008 income of $32.3 million, down about 50 percent from the previous year.
"We're not immune to the crisis going on around the globe," said Scott Fainor, National Penn's chief operating officer. "What we're trying to do is come back to what really is our strategic vision that will allow us to grow."
For now, that entails promoting the conveniences of a company that has 127 branches in three states and the small-bank style of customer service, Fainor said.
National Penn has reacted to the downturn by taking government money. In December, the bank received $150 million, which it said it will use to issue loans and possibly make acquisitions. The company will be able to make more loans and grow its customer base with the federal money, Fainor said.
Many of the Valley's largest bank companies received federal money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which earmarked $700 billion to help stabilize the financial industry.
"By participating in the capital purchase plan, we were able to further strengthen our capital base and continue to make loans and grow deposits," Fainor said. "We're seeing the government programs working."
The bank is also in continuous communication with its customers to keep on top of consumer interests as the economy changes.
"It will be a deeper and longer recession than many have planned for," Fainor said. "The closer you are to your customers, the more successful you'll be in helping them navigate these difficult times."
National Penn has 39 offices in Lehigh and Northampton counties that control $1.6 billion in local deposits as of June 30, the latest data available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That represents more than 15 percent of local deposits.
It is among more than 20 bank companies competing for $10.3 billion in Lehigh Valley deposits. Wachovia, which is now part of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, is the Valley's largest bank with 44 branches and nearly $3 billion in local deposits. Behind National Penn as the area's No. 3 bank is Lafayette Ambassador, which is part of the Fulton Financial Group in Lancaster. Lafayette Ambassador has 24 Valley branches and just less than $1 billion in local deposits.
Jay Brew, chief executive officer of BNK Advisory Group, a Hanover Township, Northampton County, company that provides research and advice to community banks, said difficulties will continue for local banks as they work bad loans off their balance sheets, which will take a few years.
"You're going to see a stabilization in bank earnings," Brew said. "We still might have another quarter of bank losses. Loan losses won't increase, but they still have to deal with issues So the consumer can expect a much more stringent credit market in terms of getting credit cards and loans. Consumers will find the banks are not easy about credit."


text:
Wednesday, December 02, 2020
The "French initiative" offers new multilateral approach to Israel-Palestine peace process
Lili Martinez
- June 17, 2016
Main News
] [
Peace Process
Send by email:
The rise of ISIS. Massacres and sieges in Syria, attacks and counter-attacks in Iraq. Libya spiraling into chaos, and Yemen falling apart. There are many reasons why the Israeli-Palestinian peace process seems to have fallen by the wayside in recent years. It appears that the great powers have lost interest in finding a solution to this decades-old conflict. With President Obama's term reaching its end, the United States has all but given up, at least for this election cycle. So it came as a surprise, in January of this year, when France announced its intention to organize a multilateral conference to restart negotiations for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. On Jan. 29, former French foreign affairs minister Laurent Fabius announced his country would begin preparing an international conference to bring together the United States, European countries, the Arab league and other partners to "preserve and make happen the two-state solution." Fabius added to France24 that if the conference were to fail, "in this case, we need to face our responsibilities by recognizing the Palestinian state." The Palestinian Authority welcomed the initiative, while senior Israeli officials reacted negatively to Fabius's implied promise to recognize a Palestinian state. A senior US official released a statement which emphasized that "the preferred path to resolve this conflict is for the parties to reach an agreement on final status issues directly." The call for more rounds of bilateral talks comes frequently from the Israeli government and its allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that peace cannot come from international conferences, but must come from direct negotiations. According to Ghassan Khatib, a lecturer of Political Science at Birzeit University and a former negotiator for the PA, this argument is a red herring. "At face value, appealing to bilateral, direct negotiations can be convincing for people who do not know the details," Khatib told Palestine Monitor. "But if you check with any Western diplomat who is involved [...] he or she will tell you that Netanyahu has been manipulating bilateral talks and taking advantage of the bias of the US." Khatib said the repeated failures of bilateral talks only narrow the window of opportunity for establishing a Palestinian state and implementing the two-state solution, "which is the only solution that the international community is in agreement on." It has been two years since the last major peace effort to resolve the conflict failed, and the last international conference on the issue was held in 2007. France hopes to breathe new life into the process with a series of conferences and working groups to discuss issues related to the two-state solution. In order to garner international support for their initiative, France has stepped back from its statement that it would recognize a Palestinian state, and sent a special envoy, Pierre Vimont, to Arab league countries in the months leading up to the first conference. During the first conference, representatives from 28 Arab and Western countries, the Arab League, European Union and the United Nations met in Paris and issued a joint communique. According to the communique, "the participants underscored that the status quo is not sustainable, and stressed the importance of both sides demonstrating, with policies and actions, a genuine commitment to the two-state solution in order to rebuild trust and create the conditions for fully ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967." The parties also expressed their concern about ongoing acts of violence and settlement activities 'imperiling the prospects for a two-state solution." Mustafa Barghouti, founder of the Palestine Medical Relief Society and head of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Palestine Monitor that the statement was vague and missing several key components. "Up till now, the French initiative cannot be called yet an initiative because there are many things that are missing and that we hope will be arranged," he said, including clear terms of reference which allow for the establishment of a Palestinian state and complete Israeli withdrawal from the territories. In addition, "there should be clear determination that the conference will take place regardless of Israeli occupation," Barghouti said. The next step after the conclusion of the first conference is to form smaller working groups, which France hopes will begin their work by the end of the month. The groups will address issues like economic incentives and security guarantees which could encourage the two sides to participate in internationally-led peace talks. Ofer Zalzberg, a senior analyst with the Middle East program of the International Crisis Group, told Palestine Monitor that the success or failure of the French initiative will ultimately come down to the performance of these working groups, and whether they are able to deliver strong incentives to regional and international stakeholders to move forward. "It doesn't look like [the two sides] want to cooperate together directly, and therefore it's really about what the international community will do," Zalzberg added.
Any Western diplomat who is involved will tell you that Netanyahu has been manipulating bilateral talks and taking advantage of the bias of the US.
France hopes to encourage Israel and Palestine to enter into talks by the end of the year. Despite Israeli opposition, a second conference is planned for this fall. "In light of this existing situation, the big question facing this proposal is, what will the international community do when we reach the moment of truth [...] when Israel is trying to reject and obstruct everything?" Barghouti said. "In my opinion, the credibility of Europe and the French initiative itself depends on their ability to exercise pressure on Israel so that if Israel continues to reject peace, they should take punitive action, including sanctions." It remains to be seen whether Israel will accept the outcome of the upcoming meetings and another possible international conference in the fall, but the prospects do not look good. "The other side is completely unhappy with this initiative," Khatib explained. "It's being resisted strongly by the US and by Israel, so I'm not sure about the chances of it." Without Israeli acceptance, it's unlikely the French initiative can get past theory and into practice. Xavier Abu Eid, spokesman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, reiterated the PLO's support for the plan, but said nobody is celebrating yet. "I think there's a sense that there is something, but I don't think people are hopeful that things will work," he said. Their skepticism comes from 20 years of negotiations during which "the only thing they saw is more settlements and more impunity." Nevertheless, "we hope countries understand that it's the only way to move forward."
Back to Top
Related Articles
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dies after contracting Covid-19
November 11, 2020
Saeb Erekat, a veteran peace negotiator and prominent international spokesman for
Israeli forces raze Palestinian village of Khirbet Humsa, leaving 41 children homeless
November 06, 2020
As the world's attention was fixed on the US elections, the Palestinian village
US passport changes for Jerusalem-born citizens an "attempt to erase Palestinians"
November 04, 2020
US citizens born in Jerusalem can now declare "Israel" as their country
Most Popular Articles
Israel's puppet war unmasks apartheid regime
The El-Hakawati theatre was colorfully adorned to host its annual International
Rushdi Tamimi becomes second victim of Israeli army in Nabi Saleh
On Tuesday November 21st, the body of 31 year old Rushdi Tamimi was
Israel Avoids Hard-Right Shift: No Benefit for Palestinians
With many commentators predicting big wins for the settler movement in
Designed & Developed by:


text:
Government IT and security managers face the challenge of delivering the benefits of cloud and virtualization technologies without compromising security. This requires providing robust and granular security for virtual machines across different workloads, and as quickly as a VM instance can be created.
Juniper Networks recently unveiled a set of software tools to address these often competing requirements. The company says its Firefly Suite protects virtual workloads and applications in real-time using security intelligence, automation and unified control over virtual firewalls.
The Firefly suite includes:
According to the company, the Firefly Suite can be embedded throughout a virtual environment, including the hypervisor itself or as VMs connected to the various virtual networks.
The suite allows organizations to "create and manage security policy across physical and virtual firewalls with a high level of flexibility," said Michael Callahan, vice president global product marketing for Juniper.
"We provide complete protection for the cloud and from the cloud," Callahan said. Firefly Perimeter and Junos Space Virtual Director will be released in the first quarter of 2014.
About the Author
Connect with the GCN staff on Twitter @GCNtech.
E-Mail this page
Printable Format
These projects at the federal, state and local levels show just how transformative government IT can be.
The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31.
Advanced Search


text:
Jamal Crawford got himself into a duel with Kevin Durant yesterday, answering KD's 42 points with an incredibly efficient 36 of his own on 13-20 shooting. But Crawford didn't just flex his genius on the court, he also proved that his memory is just as sharp as his crossover.
At halftime, ESPN's Lisa Salters asked Crawford if he could name all 17 head coaches he's played for, right on the spot. And Crawford did it! I am impressed by this, because I've had, like, five bosses in my life, and I could probably only name two of them in the heat of the moment.
h/t The Starters


text:
By ANNABELLE TOMETICH – Associated Press, FORT MYERS, Fla. AP – Florida Urban Organics occupies less than an acre on the industrial outskirts of downtown Fort Myers. The farm's neighbors include a scrap-metal recycling center and an auto body shop. A granite store sits in front of its aquaponics greenhouse. Leafy tiers of hydroponically grown …Read More
Tag Archives: Fort Meyers


text:
Joining up? Check the Recruiting FAQ.
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
High court OKs personal property seizuresMajority: Local officials know how best to help citiesThursday, June 23, 2005 Posted: 1450 GMT (2250 HKT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- -- The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private economic development.It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights.The 5-4 ruling represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex. They argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.As a result, cities have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes to generate tax revenue.Local officials, not federal judges, know best in deciding whether a development project will benefit the community, justices said."The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including -- but by no means limited to -- new jobs and increased tax revenue," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.He was joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.At issue was the scope of the Fifth Amendment, which allows governments to take private property through eminent domain if the land is for "public use."Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Connecticut, filed suit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices.New London officials countered that the private development plans served a public purpose of boosting economic growth that outweighed the homeowners' property rights, even if the area wasn't blighted.Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a key swing vote on many cases before the court, issued a stinging dissent. She argued that cities should not have unlimited authority to uproot families, even if they are provided compensation, simply to accommodate wealthy developers.The lower courts had been divided on the issue, with many allowing a taking only if it eliminates blight."Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random," O'Connor wrote. "The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."She was joined in her opinion by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Lands are "expropriated" on a regular basis for the development say, of an industrial park or shopping centre, usually after the public body, a municipality, a county, Province or the Federal governmen decides.
nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
It seems on this case the majority of the US supreme court dissenters are considered "right" wing. I always thought they were suppose to be for big business, etc....I am still scratching my head on this one. So does that mean that wind power developers could expropriate Ted Kennedy's mansion to put a wind farm there?
This is disturbing because the US bill of rights has the rights to private property written into it. As weak as the US clause is our CCR&F does not guarantee any such rights, considerations or guarantees about property rights.
. As Brad Sallows stated, Eminent Domain is okay as it was intended for the public good, but for a strip mall?!?
I think it may be buried somewhere else in the Constitution, but I'm not to sure if:A) It is entrenchedB) I'm thinking of something elseIn any case, you are right, it is a little disappointing to see property rights, which are rightly considered the foundation of democracy and civil society (everyone back and read your Locke) to not be guaranteed by the State. As Brad Sallows stated, Eminent Domain is okay as it was intended for the public good, but for a strip mall?!?
1. It is hereby recognized and declared that in Canada there have existed and shall continue to exist without discrimination by reason of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex, the following human rights and fundamental freedoms, namely,(a) the right of the individual to life, liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property, and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law;
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-12.3/28981.htmlAs far as I know, the Canadian Bill of Rights is still Law - as it Legislation, I think it only pertains to Federal laws (thus forms of eminent domain would not be applicable to it if it were enacted by a municipal or provincial government). As well, I am not to sure if the Bill of Rights in Entrenched or not.Either way, I think that the Constitution needs to make a fundamental recognition of property rights.
Continuance of existing Laws, Courts, Officers, etc. 129. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, all Laws in force in Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick at the Union, and all Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction, and all legal Commissions, Powers, and Authorities, and all Officers, Judicial, Administrative, and Ministerial, existing therein at the Union, shall continue in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick respectively, as if the Union had not been made; subject nevertheless (except with respect to such as are enacted by or exist under Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland), to be repealed, abolished, or altered by the Parliament of Canada, or by the Legislature of the respective Province, according to the Authority of the Parliament or of that Legislature under this Act.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-12.3/28981.htmlAs far as I know, the Canadian Bill of Rights is still Law - as it Legislation, I think it only pertains to Federal laws (thus forms of eminent domain would not be applicable to it if it were enacted by a municipal or provincial government). As well, I am not to sure if the Bill of Rights in Entrenched or not.Either way, I think that the Constitution needs to make a fundamental recognition of property rights.
Press ReleaseFor Release Monday, June 27 to New Hampshire mediaFor Release Tuesday, June 28 to all other mediaWeare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans."This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.# # #Logan Darrow ClementsFreestar Media, LLC
A New (London) LowA refrigerator box under the bridge: The Kelo Seven prepares for the worstby Jonathan O'Connell - July 14, 2005Those who believe in the adage "when it rains, it pours" might take the tale of the plaintiffs in Kelo v. New London as a cue to buy two of every animal and a load of wood from Home Depot. The U.S. Supreme Court recently found that the city's original seizure of private property was constitutional under the principal of eminent domain, and now New London is claiming that the affected homeowners were living on city land for the duration of the lawsuit and owe back rent. It's a new definition of chutzpah: Confiscate land and charge back rent for the years the owners fought confiscation.In some cases, their debt could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Moreover, the homeowners are being offered buyouts based on the market rate as it was in 2000 .The hard rains started falling that year, when Matt Dery and his neighbors in Fort Trumbull learned that the city planned to replace their homes with a hotel, a conference center, offices and upscale housing that would complement the adjoining Pfizer Inc. research facility.The city, citing eminent domain, condemned their homes, told them to move and began leveling surrounding houses. Dery and six of his neighbors fought the takeover, but five years later, on June 23, the downpour of misfortune continued as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the city could claim the property for economic development.Dery owns four buildings on the project site, including his home and the birthplace and lifelong home of his 87-year-old mother, Wilhelmina. Dery plans to make every remaining effort to keep his land, but with few legal options remaining, he's planning for the worst.And for good reason. It's reasonable to think that people who purchased property years ago (in some cases, decades ago) would be in a position to cash in, especially since they're being forced from their homes. But that's not the case.The New London Development Corp., the semi-public organization hired by the city to facilitate the deal, is offering residents the market rate as it was in 2000, as state law requires. That rate pales in comparison to what the units are now worth, owing largely to the relentless housing bubble that has yet to burst."I can't replace what I have in this market for three times [the 2000 assessment]," says Dery, 48, who works as a home delivery sales manager for the New London Day . He soothes himself with humor: "It's a lot like what I like to do in the stock market: buy high and sell low."And there are more storms on the horizon. In June 2004, NLDC sent the seven affected residents a letter indicating that after the completion of the case, the city would expect to receive retroactive "use and occupancy" payments (also known as "rent") from the residents.In the letter, lawyers argued that because the takeover took place in 2000, the residents had been living on city property for nearly five years, and would therefore owe rent for the duration of their stay at the close of the trial. Any money made from tenantssome residents' only form of incomewould also have to be paid to the city.With language seemingly lifted straight from The Goonies , NLDC's lawyers wrote, "We know your clients did not expect to live in city-owned property for free, or rent out that property and pocket the profits, if they ultimately lost the case." They warned that "this problem will only get worse with the passage of time," and that the city was prepared to sue for the money if need be.A lawyer for the residents, Scott Bullock, responded to the letter on July 8, 2004, asserting that the NLDC had agreed to forgo rents as part of a pretrial agreement in which the residents in turn agreed to a hastened trial schedule. Bullock called the NLDC's effort at obtaining back rent "a new low.""It seems like it is simply a desperate attempt by a nearly broke organization to try to come up with more funds to perpetuate its own existence," Bullock wrote. He vowed to respond to any lawsuit with another.With the case nearly closed, the NLDC may soon make good on its promise to sue. Jeremy Paul, an associate UConn law dean who teaches property law, says it's not clear who might prevail in a legal battle over rent. "From a political standpoint, the city might be better off trying to reach some settlement with the homeowners," he says.An NLDC estimate assessed Dery for $6,100 per month since the takeover, a debt of more than $300K. One of his neighbors, case namesake Susette Kelo, who owns a single-family house with her husband, learned she would owe in the ballpark of 57 grand. "I'd leave here broke," says Kelo. "I wouldn't have a home or any money to get one. I could probably get a large-size refrigerator box and live under the bridge."That's one way to get out of the rain.
A very smart lawyer, retired from the Faculty of Dalhousie University Law School told me one timethat if the Canadian Bill of Rights "was challenged" the legislation would prove to be "unconstitutionsl"-at the moment, the political appointees who staff our Federal judicial system are playing all kindsof legal games based on their interpretation of the Canadian Bill of Rights. When the current political situation in Ottawa calms down, and a possible change in government is achieved, much of thelegislation generated by the Supremes will be challenged, and with majority Government, in somecases simply vanish. I agree with the last (previous post) property law in Canada administered bythe Provinces in particularly complex. But there is a humorous side to this; NS architectural studentsin Halifax NS erected a sign (a very professional sign) indicating that a vacant lot in the absoluteheart of downtown Halifax was cited as the new home for a WalMart superstore - local politiciansessentially lost it, went ballistic, lots of media coverage, and lots of laughs. Retailers of course arescared shitless of WalMart - MacLeod


text:
Roughly a year ago, a paper came out describing some very strange atomic nuclei that had been produced at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, based at Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island. These atomic nuclei were not only comprised of antimatter, but some of their components incorporated strange quarks, instead of the usual up and down versions. The RHIC is back in the news today, as one of its detectors has found evidence of the production of anti-helium-4 nuclei. The rates at which these particles were produced, however, suggests that we won't be seeing anti-nuclei of any greater complexity anytime soon.
4He, also known as an alpha particle, is comprised of two protons and two neutrons, or four baryons in total. Antimatter versions of 3He were first detected decades ago, but the anti-alpha has been harder to identify. They're hard to spot in a particle collider simply because of the process by which they're formed. "A light nucleus emerging from a relativistic heavy-ion collision is produced during the last stage of the collision process," the authors state. "The quantum wavefunctions of the constituent nucleons, if close enough in momentum and coordinate space, will overlap to produce the nucleus."
It's that proximity of both location and energy that makes forming an antimatter version so unlikely. You have to have the right number of antimatter baryons of the right types traveling near each other for a nucleus to condense. The more baryons involved, the lower the probability. RHIC ups the odds of this happening by colliding two gold atoms, which bring a lot of baryons together in a very compact space.
To spot anti-alphas, RHIC's STAR detector team used a filter that selected only head-on collisions (which rejected about 90 percent of the data), leaving 109 collisions from 2010 to work with. Those were filtered for particles that traveled as if they had the appropriate charge and a heavy mass—this required real-time reconstructions of particle trajectories from these collisions, which is an impressive computational feat.
Plotting the particles according to their behavior revealed heavy bands corresponding to 3H and 3He, and a thin band beyond them that corresponded to (depending on the charge) regular and antimatter alpha particles. The production rate apparently agreed nicely with theoretical values.
Both the RHIC and the Large Hadron Collider (which spends part of its time colliding heavy lead atoms), are sometimes referred to as "mini Big Bang machines," because the soup of quarks and gluons they create were last seen during the Big Bang. But the colliders are actually better at producing complex antiparticles than the Big Bang was, since the collisions evaporate off into empty space—the Universe's density immediately after the Big Bang was so high, the antiparticles wouldn't go far without running into something else.
Unfortunately, the theories that the RHIC data support indicate that the LHC's collisions won't be sufficient to produce any anti-nuclei with higher numbers of baryons, like an anti-lithium. The authors do note that, should the LHC produce some, then we'd be spotting some really unexpected physics: "A deviation from the usual rate reduction with increasing mass would be an indication of a radically new production mechanism."
But the results could help provide a new perspective on astronomy. We're just now planning to put hardware into space that could detect an anti-alpha. Given the RHIC results and a clear indication of how much anti-4He is out there, we should get a measure of the amount of antimatter present in the cosmos.
Nature, 2011. DOI: 10.1038/nature10079 (About DOIs).


text:
Marinated beef and pasta bento
Bento is not only rice, but also other ingredients, like... pasta. This recipe came to life when I had some uncooked beef left-overs and just wondered what to do with them. Cooking them as a part of bento was a great idea!
Sweet Mustard Eggs Bento
I got tired of sausages after yesterday's deluxe bento, so today I decided to have some eggs with lunch. I put some sweet mustard over the cooked yolk to have them pack some punch and they were really interesting!
I prepared also hand-made furikake (rice sprinkles) with ingredients I like, which made my rice extra tasty today!
Teriyaki sausages and rice bento
Sausages are a huge part of my bento making — they are easy to prepare, ridiculously delicious and so straightforward to store that I just like to toss some of them into any of my bento!
This particular recipe has a teriyaki twist, thanks to cooking the sausages in water with teriyaki sauce. Yum!


text:
HARTFORD, CONN. - Forty-eight students from across the state have been selected as winners of the 2016 CHET Dream Big! Competition, which asks students to share their dreams about life after college through drawings and essays. The Competition received more than 3,700 entries.
Aspiring doctors, police officers, teachers, scientists, social workers, astronauts, entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, writers and more participated in this year's competition, which drew entries from schools in 113 of the State's 169 municipalities.
Matthew Myslenski a student at Brooklyn Middle School in Brooklyn is one of four grand prize winners who will receive a $1,000 contribution to a CHET college savings account. Matthew won for his essay about finding a cure for cerebral palsy. 44 additional students in kindergarten through 8th grade will receive $500 contributions including the following Windham County students:
• Annina Desabota, Brooklyn Middle School, Brooklyn
• Winston Kvanli, Woodstock Elementary School, Woodstock
• Logan Lee Hogue, Sterling Community School, Sterling
• Sybaljan Tahirova, Pomfret Community School, Pomfret
"This year's entries reflect how keenly aware Connecticut students are of their communities and of the world around them, and how motivated they are to make a difference. The consistent theme from the kindergarten drawings to the eighth grade essays is a great desire to make the world a better place for everyone to live and help others," said State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier, Trustee of the Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET).
All the winners were recognized at a lively ceremony attended by approximately 175 students, parents and educators on May 24 in the Atrium at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, with Scot Haney of WFSB-TV Channel 3 as a special guest. Treasurer Nappier presented certificates to each educator and student winner.
"As Trustee of CHET, my goal is for every child to have the ability to pursue higher education. For some students, Dream Big! is a stepping stone to start on their journey to saving for college. Whether college is a decade away or just around the corner, we hope that every student who submitted an entry stays focused on preparing, both academically and financially, for college," said Treasurer Nappier.
This year's competition also included school prizes. Eight schools, one in each county, won a $500 top prize for submitting the highest number of entries on behalf of students in that county.
The Dream Big! Competition is administered under the banner of the Connecticut Higher Education Trust. It is funded by TIAA, the program manager; no state funds will be used for awards issued through the Dream Big! competition.
To view a full list of winners and their entries visit www.chetdreambig.com.
About CHET
The Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) direct-sold college savings plan was established in 1997 and as of April 30, 2016 has grown to more than $2.8 billion in assets and 125,000 accounts. Nearly $1.3 billion has been withdrawn from CHET accounts to help more than 37,000 students pay for college expenses.
The State of Connecticut offers CHET to help families save for future college costs. Funds deposited into a CHET account have tax advantages and can be used at accredited colleges and universities across the country, including vocational and technical schools, and some colleges abroad.
Latest Community
Connecticut residents are allowed to deduct 529 contributions from their state income taxes - up to $5,000 for an individual or up to $10,000 for a married couple filing jointly. Investment earnings are exempt from state and federal taxes if used for qualified educational expenses.
CHET is an investment vehicle, not merely a savings plan. It offers fourteen investment options, allowing participants to select an option or combination of options that best fit their higher education saving needs and investment philosophy. Options vary depending on the age of the beneficiary and the participant's tolerance for risk.
The CHET direct-sold plan is administered by the Office of Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier, and managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. For more information about CHET, visit www.aboutchet.com or call the customer service center at (866) 314-3939. Find us on Facebook (facebook.com/CHETcollegesavings) or follow us on Twitter (@CHET529).
This item was posted by a community contributor. To read more about community contributors, click here.


text:
Slice open the grapefruit…er…cactus
The Cactus League is upon us. Been having internet issues, so I hadn't posted the lineup until now and I'm guessing you already have it. Pierre, Ausmus, Ethier, Loney, Blake, Kemp, DeWitt, Young and Abreu.
Birthday wishes go out to the Cubs' Ron Santo and Dodger assistant trainer Rick Lembo. And get well wishes to Rick Monday, who is sick with the flu and that's why you're hearing Charley Steiner with Josh Suchon right now on KABC, if you're listening. Ken Levine will pop in the booth for three innings as well and hopefully Mo will be back by Saturday's game.
Other than that, just the usual day of Manny rumors and excitement. ESPN is here at Mesa to cover the story in 24-hour fashion but I don't really have any update to offer. Keeping my fingers crossed, as are all of you.
No Comments
Vargas did pretty good after a shaky start.
Ethier stinks lol
Yeah, thanks a lot, unknown!
Smile when you say that around here, scurtis. Oh, I guess you did!
Yeah thanks unknown.
Yup he's not smiling with 2 strikeouts right now lol Yup I was jk.
Oh, and Happy Birthday to Mr. Lembo and Mr. Santo!!! Mr. Santo, my husband is a HUGE fan of yours!!!
oops I mean thanks joepierre.
Thanks for the update Josh!
Hopefully soon we'll all get the update we're looking forward to!!!
Get well Mr. Monday & happy B-Day Mr. Lembo & Mr. Santo.
For those of you who haven't listened to the Cubs, hearing Santo is hilarious!! He is so into the game. Check it out sometime.
CP — I see your husband agrees!
Get well Mr. Monday again and Happy Birhtday to all 🙂
Spring Training Update: Bottom 3: Eric Milton pitching: Subs begin with Hector Luna replacing Casey Blake at third
Bobby Scales singles to left
Soriano on a full count walks, Scales to second
Theriot lines to Pierre in left
Lee strikes out swinging
Hoffpauir strikes out swinging
0 Runs 1 Hit 2 LOB End of 3 2-1 Dodgers
Kemp, 5 tool player
O.K. Witty, good luck this year with O dog around.
Spring Training Update: Top 4: Mitch Atkins pitching: Brad Schneider replaces Soriano in left, Jake Fox replaces Derrek Lee at first:
Kemp singles to center
With Blake DeWitt batting Matt Kemp steals second base
DeWitt singles to right, Kemp scores 3-1 Dodgers (Kemp looking good running the bases)
Young flies to left
Abreu 4-6-3 DP
1 Run 2 Hits 0 LOB End of 3 1/2 3-1 Dodgers
I'll second that Dodger4life!!!
Spring Training Update: Bottom 4: Eric Milton pitching: Repko replaces Kemp in center:
Soto singles
Fontenot foul pops to third
Johnson singles to center, Soto to second, Sam Fuld runs for Soto
Robnett pops to DeWitt on the infield fly rule (tough sky to see the ball as DeWitt dropped the ball, you'll see this a lot this spring)
Ramon Troncoso replaces Eric Milton
Scales flies to Pierre in left on one pitch
0 Runs 2 Hits 2 LOB End of 4 3-1 Dodgers
Nice going Eric Milton.
Let's go Troncoso.
Hello there Joe. Nice to see you! I hope all is well out there in NY.
By the way I used to live in Port Washington.
I just went over that blog,"Save Dodger History" I had most of the comments on it.
I'll bet JP stays in the whole game!
I have cousins in Port Washington. dcollins
yeah Andre!!!!!!!!!! Scurtis…..I saw that up there 🙂 (jk)
Sweet. It's been a few years for me. '74-77. I was a young guy in those days. They were good times. The snow wasn't a problem when you're a kid. You just get to enjoy it.
Spring Training Update: Top 5: Ken Kadokura pitching:
Pierre tries to bunt for a hit and grounds out to short
Ausmus strikes out swinging
Ethier singles
With James Loney batting Ethier out trying to steal second
0 Runs 1 Hit 0 LOB End of 4 1/2 3-1 Dodgers
Snow's no problem, It's the ice I don't like.
I remember going to the Hamptons before it was what it is now. We'd fish for blue crab and catch tons of them. It was so much fun.
I also loved going to Oyster Point to see Teddy R's place.
I'm sure it's changed quite a bit. One of these days I'll make a trip out there. It would be weird for me.
lol nelly
Perry Como came from Port Washington.
With apologies to Aretha Franklin…
R-I-S-P-A-V-G find out what it is JP
R-I-S-P-A-V-G little Juany's O for 3
Stick it to him, stick it to him, stick it to him, stick it to him, stick it to him, stick it to him…
I remember going down the hill in front of our house on my Big Wheel. I would go as fast as possible and then pull on the brake and turn the wheel and totally spin out or rollover due to the ice.
It sure was fun as a kid but I wouldn't want to deal with it as an adult & having to go to work… spinning out in my car or having the snow plow plow my car! That would be a bummer…
I loved getting a slice of pizza and a lemon ice. They were great!!
We went to the Catskills and saw Raquel Welch do her show.
How'ya Doin' Nelly?
Wow, dcollins, I remember the lemon ices! Yummy!! When i was a young lass, we went to te Catskills too…….all I remember was it was very similar to Dirty Dancing.
We had a cold winter this year, worse in a while.
Well, too bad Grand Salarme for Cubs.
OK dc, I'll ask.
Just what did Raquel Welch show?
joepierre – I am doing great!!! It sounds like you are doing pretty good yourself I am guessing.
enchanted – very good, very good 🙂
Grand slam – what is that all about. Who was pitching?
We've entered the 'who is that?' portion of the ballgame.
Spring Training Update: Bottom 5: Ramon Troncoso pitching: Danny Ardoin catching replacing Ausmus:
Brad Snyder walks
Theriot singles to left, Snyder to second
Darwin Barney reaches first on fielding error by Hector Luna to load the bases (if fielded cleanly it's probably a 5-4-3 DP, so of course…)
Hoffpauir hits a GRAND SLAM to right field, 5-3 Cubs
Fuld flies to Repko in center
Fontenot grounds to short
Doug Deeds hits a comebacker to Troncoso
4 runs 2 hits 0 LOB End of 5 5-3 Cubs
We don't need Manny. We got 0-3 JP!
Lousy inning for Troncoso
Gotta get the bad ones out of the way now, Right? lol
Boy competition for this 5th spot is going to be something else, isn't it?
Juan is just being Juan. He goes out every day and does the same thing. No surprises today!
So Juan's in mid season form – pop to left, grounder to the right side, and a pathetic bunt to the shortstop.
New nickname for Pierre – The Chupacabra – he sucks.
are you hearing this……why can't Juan Pierre play 2nd base? – LOL!!!!!!!
Nels – How many times have we already had to disavow an idiot of the notion of having a lefty play 2B?
Better question is why can't Juan Pierre play somewhere else?
Eric — You asked… She showed enough for me to realize there really was a difference between men & women & that I really liked women… I was like 9 or 10. Yikes she was pretty!
Let JP play the whole game so he can fulfill all the survey choices from the previous thread.
Updates will continue tomorrow as mostly subs are in now. Have a good day everybody!
Thanks Alex!!
Thaks Alex
Thanks again Alex 🙂 Have a great afternoon yourself!
Hey guys, do me a favor. When you go on the ITD tour, if you get to meet Ned, kick him in the nuts for me for signing Juan Pierre.
Thank you Alex! You're a blessing!
That should be thanks
Hoffpauir___Hit him
Thanks Alex!!
That is awesome Eric!!!!!!
Thanks for the PBP Alex!!!
Oh, and Eric. That video never ceases to make me LMAO!!! Especially when thinking that Ned's the one on the floor!!!
Did that guy deserve that dodgereric?
That'd be fine Eric, just not as gingerly.
See you later Alex!!! Thank you soooo much!!!!
dodgereric – love that video!!!!
My brother-in-law sent that to me a couple of years ago after a particularly bad Charger game. The title was changed from Lions to Chargers, of course. LOL!!
SI's Jon Heyman is a little too quiet today……….
Get your sweepstakes tickets ready?????
At least we won the big ones.
See you tomorrow.
Okay, I FINALLY picked up the game on radio!!! Boo. Dodgers just lost the game 5 – 3.
Given that article about Manny that Eric gave us the link, I just went back to get the last "Manny Signing Sweepstakes"
Feb. 25th at 11:59 am trublu44
Feb 26 between 10am and 4pm perumike
Feb 27, noon to 6 pm shepherd96
March 1, dcollins
March 2, 11 am news conference scott_in_arcadia
March 2nd – between noon and 6 pm nellyjune
March 5 noon to 6 PST seeskybout2rain
March 6th @ 4:30PM Pacific Standard Time dodgereric
March 13th between noon and 6 enchantedsunset
March 17th between noon and 6 PST cpompe1
March 23 @ 4:05 pm crash
Tru, it still may be you!!!
Sorry Dodger4life! Boy, I am having MAJOR problems today reading!!!
more giddiness!! Mark mentioned me in his post at http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com/ He said:is
"3:52: "Giddiness! We have a ballgame!!" That is the headline of our friend and Dodger blogger Emma. Every now and then you keep seeing other blogs and message posts and interviews with MLB team owners and fans and all of us who really sum it up with only a few words. "We have a ballgame!!" is one of those things you hear on this day. Gotta love that! She knows that her Dodgers went to the last National League Championship Series and that they are loaded with young guys and a great manager and coaching staff — no reason to think the Dodgers couldn't be in the World Series this fall. Whoever gets there, it all began right now. We are watching and listening all day. This is an amazing day."
I don't know yet how to give a name to a link, but I'll learn.
Using the enchantedsunsetmethod, trumom's deadline is 11PM tonight (I think). Then mike's on the clock.
Thanks for the link, D4. And the flag IS cool!
I seen that Emma, your pretty famous now. I just posted on your site. I hope it is helpful???
Love the flag 🙂
Well guys, The Dodgers have revealed that Ned & Frank are meeting with Borass…
Now, what I want to see is that the Dodgers have SIGNED MANNY!!!
Emma – I like Dodger4life posted on your site too!!!
Interesting about Beimel Eric. Even if it is coming from Rosenboob…
Bring the Ring to L.A. in 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!
I kind of get the feeling that if Franks name has been linked in the press, to the negotiations we are getting warm???
By Gurnick, it is like we are getting the update right from Franks back pocket!!
We love ya Manny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carol & D4! Thanks!! I saw that and responded to you two.
D4 _ I just added your blog. I'll try what you suggested when I get home. I should do some work now.
Thanks Emma 🙂
More suspicions……. GET – R – DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
COME ON NED!!!! Lets wrap this up. Use the power of the stache!
I'm off the Juan Pierre fan club mailing list.
Enchanted ~ with you off the list, there will only be one! Think of all the postage that will be saved.
Tony Jackson is reporting that the Dodgers have offered manny a two yr 45 mil…25 this year and a player option for the 2nd yr at 20 mil..
expect a response by tomorrow
grizzly ~ so, does he take it?
good question..if his smart he will
I wonder if "the agent" will consider this a serious offer.
LOL, lbirken! If this isn't serious, I don't know what is!!!
what did Schmidt make like 4k today? Glad he is feeling blah..He is only able to throw a fast ball and a change up or the 80mpher and the 70mpher..oh this is gonna be a long spring come on eric stultz or tronsco..emerge.
Don't forget jungar, we've got Dennis Weaver and Milton The Toaster too!!
Never fear, we have Huggy Bear!
And, Enchanted, Dennis Weaver walked with a limp!!!!
All we need now is the Little Engine That Could and we have it made!
LMAO, Crash!!! What a group!!!
And to think we thought Randy Johnson was too old!!
"The Dodgers have made another offer to Manny Ramirez, a two-year deal calling for $25 million this season and $20 million for the next — providing the slugger chooses to exercise the second-year option.
"The player option on the second year came at the request of Ramirez's agent, Scott Boras, said a source with knowledge of the situation who did not have authority to speak publicly.
"The Dodgers will now wait to hear back from Boras, who will be carrying the offer to his client.
Ummmmmmmmmmmmm, not so sure that gets it done, if true…
Damn Tru, looks like you'll just miss on the Manny sweepstakes.
Enchanted ~ so close and yet so far lol
It should Kahli. The fact that it was Boras that requested the option, and no one else is exactly lining up to offer 3-4 years at $24-$25M per, I think even Manny can read the writing on the wall.
Hell sign Canseco, sign Lofton – I just don't want to see JP anymore than is absolutely necessary.
45 million – Boras's cut is???? 20 million – Boras's cut????
What an agent!!! I would be a little PO at Mr. Boras right about now!!!
enchanted, why would Manny sign a contract for a $20 million option year in 2010…when he just go out from the very same number in 2010 had he stayed in Boston? Obviously the $25 million this year is the plum…but I just don't see Manny picking up that option if he bites on the contact. So isn't everybody right back to $25 million for 1 year???!?!?!?!?!? My nerves……..
In reading more details, Boras not only dropped the third year option from the original contract offered last Fall, but also requested an escape clause after one year, thus assuirng free agency one year from now. Whatever. Play ball. Sign Manny. Trade Pierre. Repko becomes the late-inning defensive replacement.
Take the deal Manny, then fire Boras. Come tear the league up AGAIN and get a new agent.
What a great day it would be if Manny signed. I would also be thrilled if Joe Beimel returned. I would miss him.
Hello ITD. Hi Trublu, crz, cpompe1, Nellyjune, Dodger4life, enchanted. How was everyones day?? One week until I will be in Blue Heaven
Heartruss Blue Heaven sounds nice 🙂
It seems that Boras the super agent just cant get anybody to rally behind Manny and the Boras Team. The press has been reporting that the problem is that Manny left Boston under less than stellar terms. That and the fact that baseball has been trying to reel in salaries this year, Manny's age is a factor and the belief that he can't produce a better season ever again? Welcome to 2009 in a downturning economy alot of companies and yes 25 million a year constitutes a company in my eyes, are readjusting the way they approach the world in general. Lets say Manny takes the deal providing that noone else re – enters the equation. Then comes to work with nothing but heartfelt appreciation for the ability to collect one of the biggest paychecks anyone on the playing field has the oppourtunity to cash this year. Does a little PR work getting involved in not only being a leader on the ball field but off as well. Becoming a Goodwill ambassador to all the good people out trying to make ends meet day to day only to have doors slammed in there face repeatedly. All while producing another supierior performance between the lines in 2009, and replacing one of the most unliked agents in the game. Can he turn this around in 2010??? I'm willing to bet Yes. Will he only Manny knows the answer to the equation facing Manny. 20 million next year is still pretty good though….especially with the option of renegotiating. With a more favorable agent and all the hard work and Goodwill put foward in 2009, he should have the press writing favorably in his defense. Even the press has to satisfy the hard working out of work Americans to sell thier story, and nobody like's a Storybook turnaround any better than us. So what do you say Manny, I have faith in you…. Come back to L.A. and lets accomplish this goal together.
Good Evening ITD readers and writers!!!!
enchanted – you were on the mailing list? LOL!!!
heartruss – doing great and I can't wait for you to report on your time at Spring Training.
Wow!!!! Dodger4life – fantastic!!!!!!
Nice D4!
I sure would be sweet to get our Manny…
I think he might take this one seeing as they gave Manny the option of dropping the 2nd year & that's what BorASS was wanting. I was thinking 2 @25 but it gives the player the power position by giving them the option, so maybe that is why it's less money the 2nd year. That to me seems like something that BorASS wanted so I think this might happen.
I don't know if anyone commented on the Rangers game today but the ball was flying out of the park.
For everyone except you know who.
0-2 w/2 K's & 3 LOB.
In both of his K's he didn't take a ball. It's probably just he's trying to prove himself to a new team, his knee hurts, or the fans were on him.
I hope you are getting those IOUs ready. Get those pen fingers warmed up.
I've got my accountant on alert!
I feel it, I feel it. ;^]>
I thought dodgereric was paying out this one – LOL!!!!
Shep ~ brag, brag, brag!!! lol
With my luck, the sweepstakes prize will be a broom!
Assuming Dodgers sign our hero…and assuming Joe wants to go left-right-left, etc…here's my feeble guess:
Furcal (S)
Hudson (S)
Manny (R)–over the course of the long season, Manny will get more ABs in the three-hole than four-hole.
Ethier (L)–tough call…Ethier's got more plate discipline than Loney, especially after Manny's many unintentional walks.
Kemp (R)–tough call…Martin will be rested weekly, don't want to tunker with the five-hole.
Loney (L)
Martin (R)
Blake (R)
eric, you're the manager…what say?
Kahli, can one fall in love with a lineup?
Kahli ~ our lineup actually looks pretty good, doesn't it? Not really a weak spot to be found. What a differnce Manny will make………..no……now batting 2nd #9 !!!
Kahli -THAT is an awesome lineup!!!! At least last year, James hit into too many DPs. So, I am thinking Ethier right where you have him because if the table is set and Manny doesn't knock them all in, Andre should at least Sac Fly or walk himself. He led the team in Sac Flies last year, and he hit into very few DPs. However, Kemp could be a nice change in that spot too. I could see them sharing it depending on who's pitching.
You know, James may have hit into a lot of DPs, but I remember the Granny in the PLAYOFFS! 🙂
Was'nt she a sweet ole thing 🙂
That is true shepherd 🙂 I think any of the four/five (Ethier, Kemp, Loney, Martin or Blake) could handle it, but that's what makes having Manny in the lineup so sweet because any of the batters after him can knock one out of the park too so the pitcher can't relax after Manny either.
I don't think we'll ever have 4 hit 30 again, but we might have 6 hit 20!
I would take that shepherd. That would be awesome!!!!
'Night Nells!
And God Bless! |;^]>
–My Red Skelton impression–
Good Night Shepherd!!! You just might win this thing 🙂 Take Care and God Bless!!!
Good evening ITD boys and girls!!! Wow!!! We are oh, so close!!! MANNY, SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE!!!
Hi cp what going on???
CP is in the ITD house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Aaron – best of luck to your Indians this year. I will be watching them as well – 🙂 I was just telling our Dodger friend jhall about you last night. He is from Columbus, and he keeps an eye on the Indians too 🙂
Okay CP !!! Where did you go? …….just left us hanging 🙂
Boy, it would probably have been easier for Larry the Cable Guy to get into MIT than it was for me to get into this site tonight.
29 minutes left, trumom!
That was me the other night. I had to get in through the back door from my own site, and that was a suggestion from dodger4life. How are you doing this evening?
Doin' ok. Tonight was TV catchup night. I taped the last 2 periods of the Kings/Flyers game while we went to dinner and to my mom's, so I watched that when we returned. Then last week's Heroes and the first hour or so of the Oscars (the race came first). Now I see Manny has yet another offer.
How are you? It's a shame your classroom has been disrupted.
I'll be happy once we sign Manny, mainly because i'm workin nights now so I should be asleep, but anytime I start to come out of sleep I have to turn on sportscenter or check the Dodgers site to see if any updates have happened, so for the sake of my sleep schedule….TAKE THE DEAL MANNY!! GO DODGERS!!
Well, it was only for about the first hour and a half. It happened right after my morning post on ITD and came back on about 10:00, in the middle of reading group time. We managed through the day pretty well after that. We got some pretty good writing in 🙂 and math is always good. I guess Michael heard someone was shot during the incident, but I haven't watched the news or heard anything substantiating that claim. The highschool always hears different versions of stories than what we here. Our students, to my knowledge, didn't even know why the power was off.
So, you watch heroes? I watch it during the summer when I can watch it from end to end. It's one of those shows if you don't stay on top of it, you lose alot in what is happening. I do the same thing with 24. I didn't watch any Oscars……….like you, too involved in the race to care.
red pen – "hear" not "here" – I really hate when I do that – geez!!!!!!
You might as well go to sleep, bluesplash! It's 2AM in Florida.
I manage to catch it now and then. You're right, I'm a little lost in it. But like I told your kids, I'm still 16 inside and retained my weakness for superheroes! But if Heroes doesn't start getting somewhere, what I'm going to lose is interest.
kahli (assuming Manny signs) my lineup would be:
Furcal SS
Hudson 2B
Ethier RF (you're right about batting Manny third, but I sure liked Andre hitting in front of him last year and want to try out Hudson in the 2-hole for a while)
Ramirez LF
Loney 1B
Kemp CF
Martin C
DeWitt 3B (I can't help it, he won me over last year. Casey rides my bench unless DeWitt loses the job)
Unfortunately, Joe's team will probably be:
Still not bad though, huh? I think you can interchange them up and down the lineup without a whole lot of difference.
Oh, and sorry tru.
Now perumike is on the clock 🙂
…so you will let me know if Heroes is worth the watch this summer? Dodge16 loves it!!! As far as superhero shows, I really enjoyed Smallville until they kept jerking around the times after a while, then I kind of lost track of it when it was on. I really liked watching to see how Lex turned out evil.
One countdown ends as another begins. 39 days and 15 hours until Opening Day 2009 🙂
"Manny Signing Sweepstakes"
Feb 26 between 10am and 4pm perumike
Feb 27, noon to 6 pm shepherd96
March 1, dcollins
March 2, 11 am news conference scott_in_arcadia
March 2nd – between noon and 6 pm nellyjune
March 5 noon to 6 PST seeskybout2rain
March 6th @ 4:30PM Pacific Standard Time dodgereric
March 13th between noon and 6 enchantedsunset
March 17th between noon and 6 PST cpompe1
March 23 @ 4:05 pm crash
Considering that second year player option that Boras "insisted on", I'd be really surprised if Mike doesn't win my 31K (I just checked). He's on the clock until 2AM Friday, right?
Well, I am glad you are paying out. For some reason shepherd thought it was me. He said I was good for it with UOMes. I told him all I had was a buffalo nickel and I wasn't giving it up 🙂 LOL!!!!!!
No, no, no. That buffalo nickel is not to be used in any subsequent negotiations. Dodgereric says. 🙂
oh! I am not giving up……..no way!!!!!!
Good Night and God Bless everyone 🙂
Wake me if Manny has anything to say 🙂
Bring the Ring to L.a. in 20009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Night Dodger4life!!!! I don't think I will be alive to see the Dodgers if I have to wait until 20009 for the Dodgers to get a ring. LOL!!! (jk) I am just playing with you. Take Care and God Bless!!!!!
Some late night/early morning reading on our division.
How DY, Repko and Paul will fair in all the outfield drama. The scary thing is I would rather any of those guys in left field over JP right now.
red pen – I forgot a verb in there somewhere. Either "rather have" or "be in" – geez again!!!
Eric — I agree. I'd bat Dre 3 & Manny 4. Just for the start and se how it goes. If there were issues, I'd switch it around.
And I did a little research so that Mike will get an idea of what he can expect to pocket.
31K value as of now: $537,614.80
Not bad, but there's the small matter of our government getting their share.
Accounts Receivable Tax $2500
Building Permit Tax $495
Capital Gains Tax $3700
CDL License Tax $595
Cigarette Tax $95
Corporate Income Tax $37,000
Court Fines $65,000
Dog License Tax $100
Federal Income Tax $65,000
Federal Unemployment Tax $32,000
Fishing License Tax $50
Food License Tax $150
Fuel permit tax $3500
Gasoline Tax $490
Hunting License Tax $140
Inheritance Tax $22,000
Inventory tax $1000
IRS Penalties $5000
Liquor Tax $8,000
Local Income Tax $10,500
Luxury Taxes $50,000
Airport Tax $12,000
Marriage License Tax $250
Medicare Tax $35,000
Property Tax $25,000
Real Estate Tax $20,000
Septic Permit Tax $10
Service Charge Taxes $480
Social Security Tax $17,000
Road Usage Taxes $5500
Sales Taxes $14,500
Recreational Vehicle Tax $10,000
Road Toll Booth Taxes $4.50
School Tax $3200
State Income Tax $28,000
State Unemployment Tax $25,000
Telephone Federal Excise tax $170
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax $135
Telephone Federal Tax $350
State and Local Surcharge Taxes $370
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax $650
Telephone Recurring and Non-Recurring Charges Tax $800
Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax $430
Toll Bridge Taxes $8.90
Toll Tunnel Taxes $32
Trailer Registration Tax $780
Utility Taxes $4200
Vehicle License Registration Tax $500
Vehicle Sales Tax $6500
Watercraft Registration Tax $310
Well Permit Tax $500
Workers Compensation Tax $9800
Wow, that seems a little severe. But my CPA has checked and double-checked the figures. The taxes come to $537,615.40. Hmmm …..
Mike, please remit 60 cents should you win!
Hi dc! We're going to need a time of day for your prediction. It might be critical……….
LMAO!!!!!! I am glad I got my buffalo nickel when I did 🙂
It is 1 am pst, and I am going to bed. Take care, good night and Happy Dodger Dreams to all. God Bless 🙂
The real prize if Manny signs is not having JP out in left field.
In that respect, we're ALL winners.
….and we will all (well most of us) will be saying our "HALLELUJAHS" THANK GODS", AND "AMENS"
Good Morning enchanted!!!!!
Good morning Nellyjune and Enchanted ~ Today is the day Manny will sign and JP will ask to be given away……..I would say traded but I know that won't happen……so, maybe he'll just leave in a huff!!!
Good Good Good morning ITD, Dodgerfaithful and Good morning Manny and the rest of our boy's in blue….
It's Gnat smashing day today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bring the Ring to L.A. in 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
According to Dylan Hernandez, Manny hasn't accepted the offer yet (as of 4:40 am pst), and that there's "one other club" he's negociating with. Who – the Hiroshima Carp?
Since Frank 'И' Furter have piddled away every other option that was out there, just give the guy 2 years guaranteed at $25 per and be done with it. Its worth it not to have JP dragging the offense down with him the next two years.
Good morning Dodger4life ~ I agree GO DODGERS!!!!!!!! BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Damn, Enchanted, why can't we get this over with? I suppose he will decide only when he wants to come to ST.
That's probably about it Tru.
I wonder if their is another team interested.
Good Morning ITD readers and writers!!!!
enchanted – how did you do your 'N' backwards? Oh, by the way, this Manny issue is really getting old. Maybe he knows ITD has a pool going and he knows who he wants to win. That's how much we really know about what is going on.
Good Morning Dodger4life!!!!!
Eric, you sound like a government official! My winnings would turn into a debt of $0.60!! Well, the IRS can hunt me down, but I won't pay! 🙂
Good morning Nelly, Tru and Enchanted and every and anyone else in the loop this morning 🙂
Life is good today and I believe in Manny!!!!!!!!!
Let's go Manny, just sign and get your behind to Arizona!!
Eric — 10:00 a.m. announcement on 3/1.
…just in case perumike, have your piano waiting. We are going to need at least a Baby Grand if Manny doesn't sign. I think a Baby Grand ought to do the trick…………..he is a little guy 🙂
Here is a thought… if Manny turned down a 1 year @25 then why would he accept this one?
dcollins ~ I think that was the wording BorASS wanted!
Tru — That was my initial thought. But if they turned down a $25 mil for 1 year a few weeks ago why would they accept what is really essentially the same thing.
I do think there is another team that has interest. Whether they have enough to put down the $$$ we'll see.
Do you think if another team makes an offer, we will try to top it?
Nells – AИcient Chinese secret.
If there is another team interested, why haven't they made a real play? They've known where the Dodgers have stood since the first offer months ago so there's no real need to lurk in the background waiting for what? Probably just a Borass ploy trying to save face or get a second year guaranteed at more than $20M.
If they don't sign Manny, I just don't understand how Idiot Joe could proclaim JPs the LFer without any competition for the spot whatsoever, especially after seeing what he didn't do last season.
No, not Manny. Doug Mientkiewicz.
That begs the question – WHY? Ned not fill his quota of washed-up vets?
Manny LF = 1st in West
JP LF = 3rd in West
Anyone Else LF = 2nd in West
The anyone else could've been any number of decent FA OFers that are no longer available, which probably could've pushed it back up to 1st place. As it stands now, anyone else would be DY, Repko, or Paul.
Very good assessment, Enchanted. With Manny in the lineup we really don't have a weak hitter.
1) – There is no other team.
2) – He's taking the offer because there is no other team AND,
3) – Boras read my post on January 1 @ 11:22AM
We signed Doug Eyechart to ensure that DeWitt plays 2B every day in Albuquerque to get ready for 2010 when Hudson leaves for NY.
"Manny Signing Sweepstakes" update
Feb 26 between 10am and 4pm perumike
Feb 27, noon to 6 pm shepherd96
March 1, dcollins 10AM
March 2, 11 am news conference scott_in_arcadia
March 2nd – between noon and 6 pm nellyjune
March 5 noon to 6 PST seeskybout2rain
March 6th @ 4:30PM Pacific Standard Time dodgereric
March 13th between noon and 6 enchantedsunset
March 17th between noon and 6 PST cpompe1
March 23 @ 4:05 pm crash
I'm almost on the clock!! 🙂
Dodgereric ~ not that I want to play favorites, but I hope Peumike wins and we get this over with.
That was a fabulous post back in Jan, Eric 🙂
Does this guy come with a nickname? Because, I for one, will have a hard time typing Minkeiwitcz all season long. See my problem? How about "Minty Fresh"?
morning all 🙂
Minty Fresh is great, Crash!!!! That will fit in with all of the other nicknames.
(Listening to the game while finishing up my geography lab… didn't know we'd be playing the Jints… And… BOOM goes the dynamite!!!!!!! DRIVE, CAPTAIN DRIVE…)
Alright Russell!!! I just got the text on my phone saying he hit a solo homerun – fabulous start to squashing the gnats!!!!!
I had to click something to get on the audio so I missed Martin's HR.
Go DODGERS!!!!!!!!!
I can only listen until 5:00PM ET, I have be somewhere else at 6:00PM ET.
Waiting for word on Manny, It looks like something should happen today, sometime, the way I see it.
I don't see this offer changing and it looks good for both sides.
Maybe more money could be added.
They say that the 2nd year, 2010 was setup by Boras, so if there is a holdup, it looks like it's Manny that's holding it up, since the Dodgers are in agreement.
Spring Training Update: Top 1: Matt Cain Pitching:
Rafael Furcal grounds to second
Orlando Hudson flies foul to left
Russell Martin HOMERS to left, 1-0 Dodgers
Mark Loretta grounds to first
1 run 1 hit 0 LOB End of 1/2 inning 1-0 Dodgers
JoePierre, yeah, sounds like Boras doesn't have a problem with the contract. I know a lot of talk has been said/written about Boras pulling the strings (myself included), but from the report, since Boras tinkered with it, I would guess from here on out, Manny will be calling more of the shots. Boras probably just wants to get something back for his investment.
Spring Training Update: Bottom 1: Randy Wolf Pitching:
Randy Winn flies to Paul in right
Edgar Renteria pops to Loretta at first
Fred Lewis pops to Hudson at second
0 runs 0 hits 0 LOB End of 1 1-0 Dodgers
Welcome alex and thank you again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like the look of the 1-2 part of today's lineup!
Spring Training Update: Top 2: Matt Cain Pitching:
Blake DeWitt grounds to second
Delwyn Young strikes out swinging
Jason Repko on a full count walks
Pat Misch relieves Matt Cain
Xavier Paul puts out
0 runs 0 hits 1 LOB End of 1 1/2 1-0 Dodgers
This is Martin's big day 2 for 2 2 RBI so far.
Correction make that 3 RBI
Spring Training Update: Bottom 2: Randy Wolf Pitching:
Bengie Molina pops to DeWitt at third
Pablo Sandoval on the first pitch grounds to Furcal
Aaron Rowand flies to Repko in center
0 runs 0 hits 0 LOB End of 2 1-0 Dodgers
Thanks for coming, Alex!
To fill in the Radio experience (since the Dodgers aren't broadcasting the game), Charley Steiner stopped in for an inning with Jon Miller… the most interesting thing happened at the end of the interview in the top of the 2nd:
Miller: Well, I think you'd better get back to your side and see if there's any Manny Ramirez updates
Steiner: I think I have a tuna sandwich waiting. :: both chuckle ::
You can't make this stuff up 😀
Nice goin' Witty.
Updates continue on next thread.
Looks like perumike still has a chance at the Manny sweepstakes, but Manny better hurry up. Using closest time, perumike is on the clock until 2:00 am tonight (early tomorrow morning). Then shepard is on the clock. Or it could drag on….