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This blog post sets out some of the main benefits of blogging for business, public relations, public affairs and corporate communications. It doesn't just apply to business but could equally well apply to not-for-profit organisations, governments, politicians and non-governmental organisations. It's a follow up to a post I wrote in December about 'Why blogging still matters for public relations' which focused mainly on the professional benefits for me personally.
It is timed to coincide with the publication of new ebook 'The Business of Blogging | A collection of essays by business bloggers exploring the future of blogging for business.' The book originally started as a blog post, but became too big and hence morphed into an ebook. It was the idea of my friend and fellow PR blogger Stephen Waddington, European digital and social media director for Ketchum and current president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), who invited all the contributors and edited the book.
Many commentator have dismissed blogging as dead or dying, but the essays in 'The Business of Blogging' should put pay to that idea and show that they are even more relevant today than 10 years ago.
So these are my top 10 reasons why it pays to blog for business:
- Knowledge and expertise – Professional or business blogs enable you to actively demonstrate the expertise and experience of your organisation and its people. No matter what your organisation does there is always a huge range of topics and issues that you can discuss. A blog is one of the most effective ways to showcase this expertise. A blog isn't the place to talk about how wonderful your company is and to try to sell things. A good blog helps to create a good reputation that improves the likelihood of achieving your objectives – be they sales, recruitment, lobbying or investor relations.
- Personality – It might be a cliché to say that people don't buy from companies, but that people buy from people, but that's because it's largely true. A well written blog isn't simply a dry showcasing of your company, but actually lets the personality of your people shine through therefore creating a far more positive impression of your organisation. It doesn't have to be the CEO or another c-suite executive that blogs, but it can also be real experts or frontline workers. In fact very often it is these experts, who are too often behind the scenes, who will do most to improve the reputation of your organisation. The best blogs are always written by real people in the company with a by-line to identify who they are. They should never be ghost-written by PR or marketing people, but that doesn't mean to say the experts who write the blog can't have professional support and advice with ideas, research and writing good copy.
- Transparency – Around the world people are becoming more cynical and distrustful of 'authority' – be it business or political leaders or big companies and organisations. They are demanding the truth and rejecting old-style spin and marketing hype. Neither spin nor marketing hype works on a blog so it is an opportunity to demonstrate more openness and transparency. More conservative companies can start with increased transparency on their corporate blogs and once they see that it works extend it into other more traditional channels.
- Niche – No matter how niche or specialist your industry or sector it's possible to publish a compelling and interesting blog. The barriers to publishing a specialist blog are low enough to mean that you can write for small and niche stakeholder groups. Some companies and individuals make the mistake of chasing a bigger audience by writing about unrelated or semi-related topics, in order to attract more readers and subscribers. A small audience that is relevant to your business or organisation is far better than a large one largely made up of irrelevant people. In fact very niche or specialist blogs can be more effective as they are so targeted and interesting to the people interested in that subject.
- Trust – A good blog is great for engendering trust. If people feel that they really know an organisation and its people they will be far more likely to trust and respect what it says and does. Because it is two-way and people can comment (and you should respond) it also increases understanding and mutual respect.
- Rapid response – The trust that the blog can help to build can be invaluable when an issue or crisis breaks. The blog also provides a place where you can rapidly respond to explain the situation and answer questions and comments.
- Content marketing – Advertising agencies and digital agencies are desperately trying to reinvent themselves as content marketing specialists. However, it's exactly what good PR professionals have always been doing. At its purest content marketing means eliminating the marketing bullshit and actually publishing something that people will be genuinely interested in. A corporate blog is one of the best ways of publishing stuff that people will be genuinely interested in.
- Shareable – There is little point in publishing fantastic content if you don't make it easy for people to share it.You can do this by adding sharing buttons for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ as well as social bookmarking and news sharing sites such as Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg, Reddit and numerous others. However, don't forget email as it's the 'dark social media' that is still used most frequently for sharing. And don't forget to share it yourself on your own social networks. Another useful idea is to 'flip' each new post into a your Flipboard magazine alongside other interesting content about your industry or sector as I explain in 'How PR can use Flipboard to create magazines.'
- Integration – Build a blog and they will come isn't true and it will only work if it is part of an integrated communications strategy (which includes offline as well as online). A blog is a great place for long-form, intelligent content that has the real potential to inform and influence stakeholders. Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Instagram and other more 'sexy' forms of social media can be the 'sound bites' that will help people to discover your quality content. Once you've attracted people's attention on social networks your blog can actually influence them. It also provides a social media hub where you can curate your best content from other social media platforms and direct them to other networks where you are active.
- Search – If you're just blogging for the SEO (search engine optimisation) benefits then you shouldn't be blogging. But there is no doubt that a good business or professional blog can help your search engine rankings. Google is increasingly cracking down on the awful marketing blogs created primarily for search, but this can actually help your blog if it contains genuinely quality posts and articles intended to be really useful and informative to real people. In fact the more specialist your industry or subject area the more likely it is that Google will rank your posts highly on niche search terms that you are writing about naturally.
'The Business of Blogging' contains essays by Richard Bailey, Heather Baker, Judy Gombita, Andrew Grill, Neville Hobson, Chris Lake, Rich Leigh, Rachel Miller, Mat Morrison, Lee Odden, Dan Slee, Heather Yaxley and Philip Young. The names are hyperlinked to the respective author's blogs.
If the ebook or this blog post has sparked (or reignited) your interest in blogs then please subscribe to mine via email, RSS feed (in any newsreader app such as Feedly), or I flip all of the posts into my PR News and Views Flipboard magazine.
The ebook is embedded below and you can read and download it on SlideShare,


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By analyzing fMRI scans of a subject?s brain, neuroscientists are able to identify images that subjects have seen. Although the process has no practical application currently, the technology is attracting attention by both scientists and alarmists.
The research team lead by Shinji Nishimoto and Jack Gallant at UC Berkeley use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity in the visual cortex to reconstruct what the subject saw. A motion encoding model was developed identifying the spatial position, motion direction and speed filters the brain uses to make sense of visual input.
They foresee the technique helping to diagnosis brain conditions and expand research in neural prostheses or brain machine interfaces. Neurological evaluation and diagnosis involving conditions such as stroke or dementia might be improved with the help of such techniques. Gallant says, "The visual system is also tightly integrated with other sensory subsystems and systems for memory and language." Applications in visual trauma and even blindness could be pursued. It could possibly assist in determining the mental state of a person who lies in a coma.
Original and Retrieved Image
However, alarmists jump to conclusions involving nefarious uses. The foremost threat, they think, is that the technology would be used to extract scenes from a person's memory. They conjure up spy movies or science fiction novels where subjects are forced to undergo treatment to reveal covert information. Dream images might be used to uncover unconscious motives, or plans. Big Brother would not only be watching, he would be probing, and worse yet, interpreting to meet forgone conclusions.
Gallant did admit: "It is possible that decoding brain activity could have serious ethical and privacy implications downstream in, say, the 30 to 50-year time frame." For now, the process is too complicated, involves too many sophisticated devices, and requires such in depth knowledge that the casual malevolent is incapable of duplicating their work.
Jack Gallant, is Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, and is affiliated with the graduate programs in neuroscience, bioengineering, biophysics and vision science. He says that in his lab, "Our main experimental tools are functional MRI and electrophysiology; our main theoretical tool is nonlinear system identification ('reverse engineering')." Gallant?s lab also is involved in the STRFPak system, a Matlab toolbox for estimating the linear and nonlinear stimulus-response mapping function of sensory systems. The software can be used to estimate quantitative encoding models for any sensory system, based on data collected using neurophysiology, EEG or fMRI.

subset: commoncrawl


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WP06 - Project Management
The management WP is led by GABO:mi, a German SME with longstanding, hands-on expertise in the management of EU Framework projects. Acting as the right hand of the Coordinator and the Managing entity and as a permanent help-desk for all project participants, GABO:mi takes on full responsibility for project management and controlling, contractual management, communication management and resources management. Hence, all issues relating to project administration will be handled professionally by GABO:mi.
Scientific coordination and management of the scientific activities and their progress is in the experienced hands of the Coordinator (F. Hoffmann - La Roche) and the Managing Entity (King's College London).
The objectives of this workpackage are:
- Ensure the proper scientific management of the project in order to strengthen and support the Participants to achieve the objectives, complete the milestones in time and deliver the deliverables.
- Advise and guide the Participants to comply with the IMI JU regulations and their contractual and legal requirements. Abide by the "good practice" of resources management as presented in the Financial Guidelines.
- Set-up an effective communication infrastructure and foster the integrative process within the consortium.
- Manage the processes for the capture and the protection of intellectual property, including confidential information and patents properly.
WP Leads
Dr. Claudia Speiser, GABO:mi together with the Coordinator and the Managing Entity
Workpackage partners
- all partners


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Hair Touching Is A No-No
I'm Celeste Headlee. This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Michel Martin is away. Coming up, we'll talk to the CEO of a six-figure company who launched a hair business when she was 9. But first, can I touch your hair? It's a question many black women say they're often asked. And sometimes people don't ask; they just reach out and grab it. It's a familiar topic here on TELL ME MORE, but a recent project in New York has started the conversation again.
Antonia Opiah and her sister Abigail organized an event in Union Square in New York City. They asked three black models to stand side-by-side, holding signs that read, "You can touch my hair." They hoped people would take them up on the offer, and then begin a conversation about the taboo of hair touching. The Opiah sisters join us now. Antonia is speaking to us from Paris. Welcome, Antonia.
ANTONIA OPIAH: Hello, there.
HEADLEE: And Abigail joins us from our New York City studios. Welcome to you as well.
ABIGAIL OPIAH: Thank you very much.
HEADLEE: Antonia, this all began with an essay that you wrote for the Huffington Post called, "Can I Touch Your Hair?" And, you know, this is a long-standing debate. What made you weigh in at this point?
ANTONIA OPIAH: Well, I guess because this year in January, I launched a hair site, or a site dedicated to black hair, just because it is a topic that's rich with things to talk about. And I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about the whole hair-touching phenomenon with a larger audience, because most of the time, or prior to January, or prior to me having this site, I was really just having conversations about my encounters with strangers with just my friends. And it's one thing to just have a conversation with your friends and another thing to have it with a bigger forum.
HEADLEE: Well, a bigger forum, I would assume, would include non-African-Americans, non-black people, who ask that question, can I touch your hair? And in many cases, they say, look, it's not - I'm not trying to be offensive; I'm just curious. My hair feels different, and I want to see how yours feels. How do you explain to, say, a white person, a non-black person, why this is so emotional?
ANTONIA OPIAH: Well, it's a hard thing to explain, but I guess when it comes to hair, black hair is not just hair in America. There's so much history that we carry on our heads, so to speak. For the longest time, we've been told that our hair isn't acceptable in its natural state, so we were always encouraged to straighten it or wear weaves.
And so now, especially, and there's been a few moments in time when we sort of, you know, put aside what everyone was telling us about our hair and did what we want - the black power movement, for example. And right now, there's currently a natural hair - some call it a renaissance, or a movement, happening. And it's doing a lot to reacquaint us with our hair.
And so, I guess to sum all of that history up in a nutshell, it's a difficult thing for any one person to explain, which is why I thought having a larger discussion about it could help sort of disseminate everything, the weight that our hair carries.
HEADLEE: Which seems to have been the purpose behind the - I guess you'd call it an art exhibit or art project in New York. But here's Maya Chung, one of the hair models that stood in New York with the sign saying, "You can touch my hair." And here she is describing her motivation, at least, behind participating in the event.
MAYA CHUNG: Yeah, I think there's a lot of misconceptions about black hair, a lot of questions that people have, curiosities. And I don't think there's anything wrong with addressing it. Just like, I mean, people have curiosities about everything, so we're just creating a forum for people to talk about it.
HEADLEE: So there, she is saying that there's curiosity, and we're trying to create a forum for people to talk about it. But Abigail, there were people, African-American women especially, really offended, who felt as though this art project trivialized their feelings of exploitation when people touch their hair or ask to touch their hair. What's your response to the people who're outraged over the project?
ABIGAIL OPIAH: Well, my response would be, you know, I think one of the main distinctions that we wanted to make with what we did versus what, you know, Sarah Baartman went through, for example, is the fact that...
HEADLEE: I should explain, Sarah Baartman was the South African woman in the 1800s who was exploited, displayed all over Europe.
ABIGAIL OPIAH: Right, exactly, and some of the people had signs that saying, I'm not your Sarah Baartman. So what made what we did a little bit different is the fact that, you know, we did this on our own volition. You know, Sarah Baartman was duped, so to speak, into being put on display by white people.
So I think, you know, they had seen images of the first event, they had seen the hashtag and they didn't really understand the larger frame of the story that we were trying to tell.
So I think they became very incensed about that and came out to really just add another layer to the dialogue, just to kind of let people know that this is not a free pass to let people, you know, just touch random women's hair. So that was their stance and we kind of welcomed them, because they were essentially saying the same things we were saying, just in a more direct form.
HEADLEE: Well, let me have one of those people say those things directly. This is playwright Radha Blank, who showed up to protest the event. Let's listen to her comment.
RADHA BLANK: You're not inviting me into your home to talk to me about your money and your finances. Why do I have to then talk to you about how I style my hair and let you know how it feels so you can feel better about it? Not only can't you touch my hair, but I don't care what you think about it and I don't care if you like it or not today.
HEADLEE: Antonia, how do you respond to that. I mean, first of all, I wonder if you were surprised by the strength of the protest.
ANTONIA OPIAH: I wasn't surprised by it. I mean, I understand where it comes from. We're a protective community and we have reason to be, or to protect ourselves. Racism isn't something that happened in the past, it's something that continues to happen today.
And the way it happens today is in a very, sort of, it's not as visible as the way it happened in the past, which makes it more dangerous. So we're always, as a community, protecting ourselves from that kind of danger. So I understand where the protests came from.
I think what - I took a couple things away from the protest. One, I welcomed it. I wanted their voices to be heard, because it's interesting, if you take a step back and look at what actually happened, you had women on one side saying, you can touch my hair, and women on the other side saying, you can't touch my hair, and not those exact words.
But I think that, if you look at that whole picture, it shows exactly where people stand. It shows that it's not, we all don't think, feel the same way about it. Radha has her opinion and her opinion is completely valid, but it can't be applied to everyone.
Not everyone sees it as someone stroking them like an animal. Some people actually welcome it, and that's one of the big takeaways that I got from the entire project, that the response to that question varies from woman to woman and even from moment to moment.
HEADLEE: So you wanted to start a conversation with people who are not African-American, perhaps, to help them understand the issue better. So let me allow you to do that. Let me play the role here of someone who says, look, I don't even know why you mentioned racism. It's not racism. I think your hair is beautiful. I've never felt anything like it and I want to see. I want to understand what it's like. When you say racist, that makes me feel hurt. How do you respond to that?
ANTONIA OPIAH: Well, gee, that's a hard one to respond to. But I guess the way I could respond to it is that when, if you're someone I don't know and you're putting me on the spot, it makes me feel self-aware, and it makes me feel self-conscious. It makes me aware of my difference from you, even though I'm American, too, in a time when I don't necessarily want to feel different.
So I think, so there's a two way sort of - oh, this is a hard one to respond to - I think the underlying issue here is that America, we all go around touting, you know, integration and we're all equal and we're all the same, but there are these small moments that are happening in everyday lives that do a lot to make people aware of their race and aware of their differences.
In some moments, I may be open to celebrating my differences and sharing that, those moments, or sharing my differences with you and also learning about how you're different. Other moments, I don't necessarily want that responsibility. I may just want to go about my day and just be a normal person, be an American, not a black American or a white American or someone that has hair that's different to you, because my hair isn't different to me, it's normal.
It's something that I don't have to explain to myself or anyone else like me. So the fact that I have to explain it to you is something that I shouldn't necessarily have to do, because you don't have to explain your hair to me. Because I know everything to know about your hair. The media tells me about your hair. The media doesn't necessarily expose my hair or my kind of hair to you.
HEADLEE: You certainly had plenty to say about it in the end, didn't you? That's Antonia Opiah and Abigail Opiah, two sisters who held a public event in New York City called "Touch My Hair," hoping to start a conversation. Antonia joined us from Paris. Abigail was in our New York City studios. Thank you so much.
ABIGAIL OPIAH: Thank you.
ANTONIA OPIAH: Thank you for having us. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text: In the 1970s, a wealthy Arizona farmer and businessman named David Radius Hudson came across a peculiar-looking substance that had formed on top of the soil while he was farming. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and so he sent it in to a lab for testing. Results showed that Hudson's discovery was a mass of monatomic minerals. Supposedly, this substance had ... Continue Reading


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Bessenyei, György
Bessenyei, György dyör´dyə bĕ´shĕnyā [key], 1747–1811, Hungarian dramatist and writer. In Vienna he came in contact with French rationalism and was an ardent follower of Voltaire and the Encyclopedists. Bessenyei's major importance lay in his encouraging the revival of the Hungarian language, rather than in the merits of his own works. His play The Philosopher (1777) was among the first modern comic works written in Hungarian. Bessenyei has been called the father of modern Hungarian literature.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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Franklin Island Windswept Canvas Print
Please note that we assume all canvas prints ordered via the web site will be picked up at 18 James Street in Parry Sound. If you require shipping, please contact us prior to placing your order to discuss available options.
This canvas print is a reproduction of Jessica Vergeer's Franklin Island Windswept painting. The original painting is 60x48, acrylic on canvas, and is available for sale.
Our canvas prints are printed directly onto thick Oxford-weave canvas using high quality archival inks in a semi-matte finish. Canvases are hand-stretched onto Canadian kiln-dried solid wood frames, and larger sizes include back strainer bars to ensure that the canvas will not warp or sag over time.
All canvas prints are printed using a "wrap" technique where the edge of the painting image is wrapped around the 1.5" side of the stretcher frame, creating the appearance of a painted edge. This makes the canvas suitable for hanging without a frame for a more modern look. All canvas prints can also be framed using solid wood float frames. We generally choose the Espresso (darker brown) option for Jessica's paintings and prints, but we also offer a matte black option that suits the work well.
All of our canvas prints are made to order, are shipped directly from our print supplier, and are usually shipped within 2 weeks of the order date. Canvas prints can also be shipped directly to us at 18 James Street in Parry Sound and held for pickup.


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Judging from the recent award shows in Hollywood, red carpet style is finally evolving thanks to risk-takers like Emma Stone. At the SAG awards she wore Dior's chic take on the tuxedo. A few weeks earlier at the Golden Globes she showed up in a Lanvin jumpsuit complete with a jeweled bustier. So who will really take the plunge at the Oscars and wear Dior's haute couture catsuit? Call Cher.
The Timeless Slipper
I'm always looking for the perfect summer shoe (even in the depths of winter). It's hard to find an easy slip on shoe that is also super comfortable. Shoe experts swear by these Repetto ballet flats–they fit like a glove and have a tiny little heel, so the foot is not totally flat. Brigitte Bardot wore them in red. Catherine Deneuve is a fan, too. Can't get better endorsements than that, n'est-ce pas?
The New Gucci: Androgynous, or just odd?
Couldn't help but notice all the press on the latest Gucci menswear show in Milan over the weekend. Apparently creative director Frida Giannini had been abruptly dismissed a week or so ago, and the head of accessory design stepped in with a whole new collection. And a new aesthetic. It's androgynous–chiffon shirts tied at the neck with romantic bows–and it's very different from the retro-sleek style Giannini embraced for the decade she designed for Gucci. Some said the white blouse and necktie look and the bleue, blanc, rouge color palette were a tribute to French cultural figures in light of the recent attacks in Paris. Certainly the berets, silk poet's blouses, and fur-lined capes alluded to a kind of bohemian, Gallic cool. Overall, I like Gucci's new direction. It's definitely quirky, but it feels more in tune with what's happening on other runways and more responsive to larger cultural themes.
Would You Rather…Dr. Scholl's or Birkenstocks?
It took awhile for me to finally succumb to the Birkenstock trend last summer (I bought two pairs). Now Marc Jacobs is selling velvet-lined Dr. Scholls. What is it with the current fashion craze for ugly orthopedic shoes? Maybe designers are finally getting smart and targeting consumers in the demographic that actually spends money: Boomers (with failing knees and unhappy feet).
Effortless Effort: What is Style?
While browsing through photos of the pre-fall collections the other day, several looks from Michael Kors jumped out at me. They looked so familiar and for a moment I couldn't place them. Then it me: something in the slouchy chic of Kors' classic pea coat and bright red tuxedo pants or the simplicity of a black suit instantly recalled the crisp, clean, all-American style of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. But more than just the clothes themselves, it was the attitude in these images that reminded me of the late style icon. The writer Dani Shapiro wrote a blog post recently about this kind of attitude as it relates to writing and creativity and, well, life. Shapiro quoted Buddhist thought when she identified this attitude as the effortless effort, this idea of serendipity or risk or an openness to life's possibilities. It's a definition you could apply to style too, particularly this brand of seemingly effortless style.


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Sunstone due to its quality is also known as a barrier and filter crystal. Where barrier protects a seeker against unwanted and negative energies, filter helps in providing clarity and stabilizing one's thought process and awakening the sense of oneness with the cosmos.
Orgones are a mixture of resin, metals, and crystals that are hardened into various shapes. They form energy generators that are powerful tools for transforming negative energy, charging the environment with positive energy and protecting from EMF and radiation.
The crystals contained within the orgone increase and focus it's energy and are polarized electrically, enhancing their power.
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Our products are handmade by local artisans using genuine materials. Our mission is to support local goods and our fellow beings. By purchasing from us, you are helping us support a community.


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Bedrock Restoration Minnetonka
#1 Water damage restoration service in Minnetonka
Bedrock Restoration is a disaster recovery company that serves Minnetonka, and many other surrounding cities. We offer customers a variety of restoration services including water damage restoration, fire damage restoration, and mold removal. Our mission is to take care of people by doing things the right way every time. Our customers choose us to help them when they need it the most and we pride ourselves on being there for them every time. We know that when disaster occurs you want reliable professionals that care about you and your property as if it were their own. Bedrock Restoration is a local disaster restoration company that proudly serves all seven counties in Minnesota.
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4336 Highland RoadMinnetonka MN 55345USA
Neighborhoods in Minnetonka, MN
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Things to do in Minnetonka, MN
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View Record #8343
|Q1. Name of locality or area you are reporting about
|Jeth Nagar, Mandaivelli, Chennai
|Rough Address/Area
|Tamil Nadu
|Location Latitude
|Location Longitude
|Q3. What time period are you reporting about?
|Q4. What kind of general area are you reporting about?
|City (main)
|Q5. What kind of locality is/was this in the time period chosen above?
|Old residential area
|Q6. Roughly how large is the locality/area from which you are reporting sparrows?
|500 m to 1 km across (eg, a residential colony, commercial area or small village)
|Q7. How well do/did you know this place in the time period chosen above?
|I lived there
|Q8. How frequently did you see House Sparrows in the time period and locality/area chosen above?
|Often: I saw sparrows several times a week
|Q9. When you did see House Sparrows in this time period and locality/area, how many did you typically see?
|A fair number: When I saw sparrows, there were usually between 5 and 30 birds
|Q10. If House Sparrows are/were present in this time period and locality/area, did you observe active nests?
|Nests seen occasionally
|Q11. Would you like to share a story about House Sparrows from this time period?
|Birds used to nest in our house above the ceiling fan and other such areas.
|Q12. What kind of buildings are/were present during this time period in this locality?
|Q13. Please describe this locality/area in your words.
|Q14. Does or did anyone feed sparrows in this locality/area, or put out nestboxes?
|Q15. If this is an agricultural area, what are the main crops grown?
|Q16. How much green space exists/existed in this locality?
|Q17. If you have seen sparrow nests, where were they?
|Q18. When did mobile phone coverage arrive at this locality?


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Alaska releases Sarah Palin's emails
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska officials on Friday released thousands of pages of Sarah Palin's emails, giving a glimpse of her time as governor, her struggles in dealing with gossip about her family and her rise to national prominence as the GOP ...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska officials on Friday released thousands of pages of Sarah Palin's emails, giving a glimpse of her time as governor, her struggles in dealing with gossip about her family and her rise to national prominence as the GOP vice presidential nominee.
Reporters and photographers crowded into a small office to pick up the six boxes of emails -- 24,199 pages and weighing 100 pounds. Some carried boxes down the stairs and others, wheeling them on dollies, scrambled to be the first ones to reach elevators.
Within minutes of the release, Palin tweeted a link to the website for "The Undefeated," a documentary about her time as governor and her entrance onto the national political stage.
Her supporters encouraged everyone to read the emails.
"The thousands upon thousands of emails released today show a very engaged Governor Sarah Palin being the CEO of her state," said Tim Crawford, the treasurer of her political action committee, Sarah PAC. "The emails detail a Governor hard at work."
Palin has been placing in the top tier of potential presidential candidates in polls of Republican voters, but she has said she has not yet decided whether she will enter the 2012 race.
Many news organizations, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and msnbc.com, began scanning and posting the emails on their websites. The New York Times asked readers to join reporters in reviewing the documents.
The emails released Friday were first requested during the 2008 White House race by citizens and news organizations, including The Associated Press, as they vetted a nominee whose political experience included less than one term as governor and a term as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
The nearly three-year delay has been attributed largely to the sheer volume of the release and the flood of requests.
The emails cover the period from the time she took office in December 2006 to her ascension to vice presidential nominee in September 2008.
In the months before she was named the nominee, Palin's emails showed a governor dealing with complaints, rumors and gossip about her family. In several, she asked about the identity of someone who alleged that she had not buckled her son, Trig, properly into his car seat.
In another, she lamented about gossip about her family and marriage. Palin and her daughter, Bristol, appeared to be traveling in a car, and Bristol emailed a Palin staffer in July: "Mom and I were just praying about the hurt and anger that comes with her job. Thank you for your faith in God.
"We share it and we love you!" Bristol wrote, from her mother's personal email account.
After she was selected the GOP vice presidential nominee, news organizations began vetting her record.
On Sept. 15, 2008, Palin responded to a host of news media questions presented to her by her gubernatorial spokesman. Among them were one about a tanning bed at the governor's mansion in Juneau and whether it was her "belief that dinosaurs and humans co-existed at one time?"
According to the emails, Palin responded, "I am so sorry that the office is swamped like this! Dinosaurs even?! I'll try to run through some of these in my head before responding. And the old, used tanning bed that my girls have used handful of times in Juneau? Yes, we paid for it ourselves.
"I, too, will continue to be dismayed at the media and am thankful you and (deputy press secretary) Sharon (Leighow) are not part of the stange (sic) going's-on in the media world of today," Palin wrote.
Palin resigned partway through her first term, in early July 2009. Requests also have been made for Palin's final 10 months in office. State officials haven't begun reviewing those records. Leighow, now spokeswoman for Gov. Sean Parnell, said she doubted the release of those emails would come soon.
Alaska is releasing the thousands of emails in paper form only in Alaska's capital city, accessible by only air or water. Reporters from several news organizations arrived in Juneau and made various plans to disseminate the emails to the public.
The emails were sent and received by Palin's personal and state email accounts, and the ones being released were deemed state business related.
Palin told Fox News Sunday that she was unfazed by the release of emails, saying there are no more rocks that could be turned over about her life or time as governor. But she also said "a lot of those emails obviously weren't meant for public consumption" and that she expected people might seek to take some of the messages "out of context."
There may not be any surprises to Palin in the emails, however.
Once the state reviewed the records, it gave Palin's attorneys an opportunity to see if they had any privacy concerns with what was being released. No emails were withheld or redacted as a result of that, said Linda Perez, Parnell's administrative director in charge of coordinating the release.
The voluminous nature of the release, the isolation of Juneau and the limited bandwidth in the city of 30,000 people has forced media outlets to come up with creative ways to transmit the information.
In addition to The New York Times' reader outreach, Mother Jones, ProPublica and msnbc.com are working with Crivella West Inc. to create a searchable database. The Associated Press plans to scan the paper copies to make searchable files available to its members and clients.
The state said it was not practical to provide electronic versions of the emails.
Prior records requests have shed light on the Palin administration's efforts to advance a natural gas pipeline project and the role played by Palin's husband in state business.
Palin and top aides were known to communicate using private email accounts. Perez said Palin gave the state a CD with emails from her Yahoo account, and other employees were asked to review their private accounts for emails related to state business and to send those to their state accounts.
Another 2,275 pages are being withheld for reasons including attorney-client, work product or executive privilege; an additional 140 pages were deemed to be "non-records," or unrelated to state business.
Some emails may have been previously reviewed in other, earlier public records requests, such as in the Troopergate investigation, in which Palin was accused of putting pressure on public safety officials to fire her brother-in-law, an Alaska state trooper who was going through a bitter divorce from Palin's sister.
Clive Thomas, a long-time Palin observer who's writing a book on Alaska politics, said he's not sure what the emails will contain -- or whether their contents will affect people's perceptions of her.
"I guess most people, I think, who don't like Sarah Palin are hoping there's something in there that will deliver the final sort of blow to her (politically)," he said. As for Palin's supporters, he said he doesn't think their opinion of her will be changed regardless of what comes out.


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Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
CNN's Lisa Sylvester looks at the stories of victims from Sandy.
RELATED STORY: Victims fall to superstorm's wrath
Looking at the number of homeless folks as well as people without power, I was wondering how folks living with celiac disease are managing for their food. Celiacs need a gluten free diet, & I watched on CNN about food banks & others distributing sandwiches and processed food in the affected areas. My stomach cramps from the thought of that, as this kind of food would make celiacs very sick.
there are plenty of us who would like to help with gluten free food & the like, Can you tell us where people can send food especially for gluten free diets? Thanks!
I am shocked that the marathon decision took this long to come to the sensible and responsible conclusion. There are so many people who where stranded, in the dark and cold. If they had canceled this immediately, hotel rooms could have been freed up to handle the thousands of people who where stranded and in harms way – including my daughter and her family who returned home to dark, cold and isolated every night after working on the part of town that apparently gets to stay lit. Unbelievable that NY officials would think that this wouldn't detract from the rescue efforts. Staten Island – devastated – lower Manhattan in the dark, transportation at a stand still, Queens reeling – gas delivery and distribution – what took so long and how was the justification to even have the discussion take all week-should have been done immediately. Money over people -Stupidity over common sense. Damage done if one minute of the collective conversation was spent on anything other than rescue , restoration and securing the basic needs of the citizens of NY. Apparently it was. Face it Bloomberg – your town got hammered, act accordingly. Acting like all is under control, or is not as bad because that is not the view out of your door – is ignorance and arrogance at it's most irresponsible level. Shameful.
I'd like to ask what could be a silly question? Where is aid from the rest of the world: the ones we are so in debt for? It appalls me that I haven't heard one peep on the news with concern and care from other countries of the world. America is broke from giving, giving, giving. We care, and stay in harms way for the rest of the world. We are so hated by many, and, in some cases rightfully so; but, on the whole, we are always there when no one else is. It woud be nice to hear that somewhere else in the world, someone is offering prayers and help as we always do.
John King (and Wolf, implicitly) just said Obama's 3% lead was a "statistical tie" because "it's within the margin of error." Didn't you ever take a stat class, John? That's NOT what it means. Assuming a 3% plus or minus margin of error, that means that Obama's 50% to 47% lead COULD be a statistical tie OR he could actually be ahead 53% to 44%. Get it right. This misreporting might be good for ratings, but it just makes people dumber.
I hate to say this but what are the liberals going to do when the aftermath of Sandy turns really bad and the people find out it could have been prevented. Hurricanes are different than most storms you know about 7 days in advance who is going to be hit and how hard. One person in this country could have helped the Northeast coast more than anyone else but because of the Presidents politics it did not happen. That is Jeb Bush. Florida is the most prepared state in the nation when it comes to hurricanes. All of are gas stations have generators. Within 12-24 hours food and fresh water are in an area. I can go on but you in the media care only about the President getting re-elected not the American people as proven by Benghazi. Where was Obama a week before the storm. I wonder if he would have talked to Jeb he would have known that he needed genorators not days after the storm. I could list many things but you the media do not care you are only interested in getting Obama re-elected. How many Americans are going to die or get severely sick before you get your priorties straight?
Fine. You don't want the FEDs involved and want to do what Mitt suggested and privatize aid to victims. Pay for it. Don't ask the rest of us who don't live near the water to subsidize your federal flood insurance with out taxes like we do now. You don't want government? Don't call the cops or firefighters. Get Mitt to call his private company and PAY FOR IT YOURSELF.
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Chargers close losing season with win over Raiders
San Diego, CA – Philip Rivers tossed a pair of touchdown passes and the San Diego Chargers concluded their 2012 campaign with a 24-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium.
Rivers connected with Antonio Gates and Danario Alexander for scores and helped the Chargers (7-9) claim three of their final four contests. However the late season success probably won't be enough to save the job of head coach Norv Turner, who is expected to be let go following San Diego's third consecutive season without a postseason berth.
"Obviously, we're going to meet with the team and I'm sure they'll start looking for a new coach," Turner said of his future in San Diego.
In his first NFL start, Terrelle Pryor showed flashes of solid quarterback play and helped the Raiders (4-12) pull within a field goal late, but Oakland ultimately fell for the eighth time in nine tries to end its season.
In replacing an injured Carson Palmer, Pryor threw for 150 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on 13-of-28 efficiency, while also rushing for 49 yards and a score on nine carries.
"With Terrelle, like any young quarterback, you take a little bit of the good with the bad but overall I thought, not bad," Raiders coach Dennis Allen remarked of Pryor.
Darrius Heyward-Bey and Denarius Moore each caught touchdown passes from Pryor, while Darren McFadden rushed for 57 yards on 19 carries in defeat.
Trailing 24-7, Oakland got two scores late in the fourth to make it a game, but were unable to finish the comeback.
They cut the deficit to 10 midway through the final period, as Pryor completed three passes to Rod Streater during a 76-yard scoring drive.
After making 14 and 15-yard receptions, Streater caught a 38-yard pass from Pryor down to the Chargers' 3-yard line. On the following play, Pryor ran it in on a scramble to make it 24-14.
Coye Francies then blocked a punt following a Chargers three-and-out to set up the Raiders offense on the San Diego 11. Three plays later, Pryor rolled to his right a lobbed a pass to Moore for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:52 remaining in the game.
However, with no timeouts remaining, the Raiders were forced to onside kick and were unable to recover, sealing the victory for the Chargers.
San Diego took the lead right away to start the game, as Week 16 special teams player of the week, Micheal Spurlock, returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
Nick Novak then added to the Chargers' advantage with a 30-yard field goal to put them ahead 10-0.
After the Raiders went three-and-out on their first two touches, Pryor began to get comfortable on their third possession.
During a 12-play, 80-yard march, he helped the Raiders convert three times on third down to prolong the drive, which culminated with a touchdown on a 9-yard toss to Heyward-Bey on 3rd-and-6, bringing the Raiders within 10-7.
However, the Chargers responded with a lengthy 14-play march to get back into the end zone. After converting 4th-and-1 on a fake punt, Rivers connected twice with Jackie Battle before firing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Gates to bring San Diego's lead back up to 10.
Trailing 17-7 going into the third, Pryor again had the Raiders on the move but on the 10th play of the drive, his pass intended for Heyward-Bey was intercepted by Quentin Jammer in the end zone, resulting in a touchback.
The Chargers started to create some separation with just under five minutes left in the third, as Rivers lofted a beautifully thrown ball to Alexander for a 34-yard touchdown, increasing San Diego's edge to 24-7.
Game Notes
Chargers Linebacker Takeo Spikes and Raiders running back Mike Goodson were ejected for fighting in the second quarter ... Rivers completed 13-of-17 throws for 151 yards. He becomes the first Charger ever with five straight seasons with at least 3,500 passing yards.


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The Fair Trade USA/FLO break-up and its ramifications is seeping into the mainstream media. Recently, for example, the New York Times published an article on the debate on the future of fair trade, and NPR carried a radio segment. A piece in Mother Jones magazine by Tom Philpott summed up the kerfluffle nicely, but what really resonated with me in that article was the paragraph on what sparked the genesis of the fair trade movement. It neatly summarizes (much of) exactly what is wrong with big, cheap, corporate coffee:
Huge, rich-world companies like NestlÁ© and Folger's (now owned by JM Smucker) dominate trade and drive prices down, reaping windfalls. Production consolidates onto huge plantations that employ workers (often, children) at poverty wages; small producers get squeezed out. And as these high-production plantations expand their monocrops to meet global demand, they gobble up high-quality farmlands that might otherwise be supporting smallholders who grow food staples for domestic consumption along with foreign-exchange-earning crops like coffee.
…and destroy biodiversity in the process, I might add. Read more about the practices and impacts of corporate coffee here.Revised on November 14, 2019


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Emails sent anonymously accuse Sen. Menendez of having sex with underage prostitutes. Keeping Them Honest, CNN's Drew Griffin goes to the Dominican Republic to investigate.
Post by: Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick
Filed under: Keeping Them Honest • Special Investigations Unit
well someone doesnt, like him or it,s a witch hunt,I cant understand why would he come to domincan republic alone without the wife?? and I think it,s all because of the Eye doctor from Miami who has caused his problem it,s better he put a large distance from him, and how does a Eye Doctor from Miami get to have a contract in Dominican Republic Port??? and why did the senator give it to him??? there needs to big big investagateing in this alone.
I was a child sex slave. I did not get paid. I was raped in child care as part of this process and it is a common occurrence in Europe and a lot of women and men travel to south america to look for male and female child prostitutes and slaves for the porn industry and sex industry here in Europe. They and me were used for profit and that involves controlling people in Power or those who could be dangerous.
I do not know Menendez but if he is doing this then either he is under control and breaking free from his enslavement as drugs are also used on the alleged offender as well as the child.
Or he could just feel it is his right. But I doubt that if it is a child prostitute that he knew initially as they sneaked me and others gradually into the process with drugs and older looking child prostitutes.
I think they should consider carefully
I think its not true,
Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
Questions or comments? Send an email
Want to know more? Go behind the scenes with AC361°


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The disastrous deluge of BP oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico evokes the memory of a blowout more than 40 years ago that, although not a carbon copy of the Deepwater Horizon incident, remains hauntingly similar in several important ways. The 1969 Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field spill in the Santa Barbara Channel was an unprecedented ecological disaster at the time caused by a natural gas-induced offshore rig blowout that caught the oil and gas industry off guard and required a tremendous effort to fix.
What remains to be seen, in addition to just how long the Deepwater Horizon leaks goes unplugged, is whether its legacy leads to the kind of profound changes brought on by the Santa Barbara spill, which amounted to an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil in the sea and covered hundreds of square kilometers. Santa Barbara's misfortunes were influential in the formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act, the California Environmental Quality Act, and the inaugural Earth Day observance—all in 1970.
BP's woes are, of course, on a much grander scale, given that estimates put the leakage at between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day, and counting. And, thanks in part to the Dos Cuadras, Exxon Valdez and other infamous spills, there are a lot more regulations that BP may have violated (the Obama administration announced a criminal investigation into Deepwater last week).
Just like the fallout 40 years ago, changes may be on the horizon. The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) last week notified BP of its intent to file suit under the Clean Water Act over the ongoing Gulf oil spill. This came one day after the CBD notified the EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard that it was suing them for authorizing the use of toxic dispersants without ensuring that these chemicals would not harm endangered species and their habitats. And last week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar called for new operating standards and requirements for offshore energy companies as well as ordered a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.
In 1969, as an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Harvey Molotch had a front-row seat to the Dos Cuadras disaster and its subsequent ramifications. His article, "Oil in Santa Barbara and Power in America," based on the incident would go on to become a founding document in the then-fledgling field of environmental sociology. Scientific American caught up with Molotch, now a sociology professor at New York University, to get his thoughts on Deepwater, its causes and its likely legacy.
What was the Santa Barbara community's initial reaction to the oil leak in the Santa Barbara Channel?
Offshore oil drilling was for most people a new phenomenon in 1969, even though the Summerland Offshore Oil Field had been discovered there in 1957. [Oil was drilled from that location, a little more than a kilometer into the Santa Barbara Channel and under 30 meters of water, until 1996.] Although the area had hosted terrestrial drilling sites for decades, most residents initially protested the new offshore rigs for aesthetic rather than ecological reasons. People never imagined an underwater blowout. On land, you could have control and more direct access to what you're doing. This was not so in the ocean.
Do you see parallels between the current situation unfolding in the Gulf region and the events that took place in Santa Barbara County in 1969?
There are several stark differences between Santa Barbara in the late 1960s and the Gulf region of today. For one, the residents of Santa Barbara and its surrounding area had a different social and economic relationship with the oil industry. At least in the city of Santa Barbara, but also to significant degree in the surrounding communities of Santa Barbara County there was less dependence on the oil industry than in the current Gulf situation. Indeed, the Santa Barbara vision was one of tourism, higher education and, as it was termed at the time "clean industry". There was also well in place a strong presence of major affluence, including a good number of people who were politically, culturally and economically well connected to power centers in the country.
Another difference with the Gulf situation is topographical. The oil in the Santa Barbara Channel was immediately visible to almost anyone with decent eyesight because the city is built almost as an amphitheater to the sea. In contrast the "coastline" of the Gulf is not really a line at all. Instead there are bayous, inlets and wetlands that stretch for miles from the open waters of the Gulf toward higher lands farther in. So you do not experience the open water unless you make a deliberate effort to do so. The major population centers are thus removed from direct exposure (at least in the currently affected zones).
Despite these various regional and topological differences, and despite all the changes in drilling technology that have occurred over the decades, the scenario is in some ways eerily similar. Just like BP, Union Oil at the time was caught unawares, and it took them some time to shut down the leak. And it certainly took them awhile to get their stories straight. As a result, in part [because] of the continuous suspicion of the industry, controversy persisted for years in Santa Barbara about whether or not the leak had actually been altogether stopped or diverted into seats elsewhere in the Santa Barbara Channel (although at greatly reduced volume).
Did government, not to mention the oil industry, fail to learn an important lesson from the Dos Cuadras spill?
Neither Union Oil nor BP planned to have these accidents. But accidents, precisely because they are unanticipated, reveal underlying political realities, including the nature of the regulatory process. In both cases those processes were revealed to be inadequate. Accusations now being made that the [U.S.] Minerals Management Service [MMS] is "in the oil industry's pocket" haven't changed; they're still the same as they were after the Santa Barbara spill.
Is the solution to pass more laws and tighten industry regulations further?
I'm a regulation person; I think that's key. The whole idea of a business having to file an environmental impact statement before starting any work, for example, was really a transformative thing that grew out of the oil spill and the California Environmental Quality Act. And, of course, we learn in both cases how important it is to not rely on industry self-policing. There must be independent regulation, however difficult that goal may be to achieve.
The oil industry hasn't exactly been seen as a vanguard of the green movement. Will they have to work harder now to improve their image?
Beyond tougher regulations, for the oil industry to continue to operate they will have to ante up in some way and probably accede to some of the demands that are made for reform. They did not seem, for example, to be resisting the breakup of the MMS that President Obama is putting into place.
Learning from Santa Barbara, we might also expect the industry to be more willing to, in effect, give back to the affected communities through environmentally relevant contributions. That might include things that do not really involve the environment in a direct way but consist of in-kind donations for things like parks, schools and other scenic amenities. In the case of the Gulf there may be focused efforts to remediate impacts on fisherpeople's lives. In the case of Santa Barbara some of this was generated as part of legal settlements launched by local governments that placed conditions on further land-based and offshore developments.
Although the BP response has not [showed] strong evidence for it, oil companies' public relations operations are so much more evolved compared to Union Oil['s] in 1969. I would expect a much more dedicated and smooth effort to bolster local support.
What does this mean for the development of renewable energy sources?
This is certainly a gift to the green movement; you could call it that. A harsh gift, but it will strongly influence interest in the National Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and other types of environmental groups. The sort of ground swell of activity that happened in Santa Barbara because of the dawning of this environmental issue won't happen here, though. It will be more of an eking out of change in a more environmentalist direction.
So, even though the Deepwater oil leak will end up being orders of magnitude larger than the spill near Santa Barbara, you're expecting that less will change as a result?
There'll be some political impact from this leak but this impact will be less than it was in the late 1960s and early 1970s because at that time there was almost a religious awakening to the importance of protecting the environment. Something like that could only happen once.
Gulf Spillover: Will BP's Deepwater Disaster Change the Oil Industry?
New York University sociologist Harvey Molotch compares the devastating 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill with Deepwater to see how far the U.S. government and the oil industry have--and have not--come
The disastrous deluge of BP oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico evokes the memory of a blowout more than 40 years ago that, although not a carbon copy of the Deepwater Horizon incident, remains hauntingly similar in several important ways. The 1969 Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field spill in the Santa Barbara Channel was an unprecedented ecological disaster at the time caused by a natural gas-induced offshore rig blowout that caught the oil and gas industry off guard and required a tremendous effort to fix.


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Everyone is busy writing or sharing their favorite books of 2010 list, but I'm already thinking about all of the books coming out next year that look interesting, or that I've already read and loved. Here is a very incomplete list.
- The Diviner's Tale by Bradford Morrow
- The Still Point by Amy Sackville
- The Melting Season by Jami Attenberg
- Swamplandia by Karen Russell
- The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier
- The Sweet Relief of Missing Children by Sarah Braunstein
- The Correspondence Artist by Barbara Browning
- Townie by Andre Dubus III
- The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
- Other People We Married by Emma Straub
- The Gospel of Anarchy by Justin Taylor
- Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind by Ellen F. Brown and John Wiley, Jr.
- Pacazo by Roy Kesey
- The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore by Benjamin Hale
- We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen
- West of Here by Jonathan Evison
- The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
- Volt by Alan Heathcock
- My Ruby Slippers by Tracy Seeley
- When Tito Loved Clara by Jon Michaud
- So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman
- Otherwise Known As the Human Condition by Geoff Dyer
- You Think That's Bad by Jim Shepard
- The Architect of Flowers by William Lychack
- Galore by Michael Crummey
- The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke
- The Bee-Loud Glade by Steve Himmer
- One Hundred Names for Love by Diane Ackerman
- Reading My Father by Alexandra Styron
- If You Knew Then What I Know Now by Ryan Van Meter
- There Is No Year by Blake Butler
- The Coffins of Little Hope by Timothy Schaffert
- Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb by George Rabasa
- The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
- The Monkey's Wedding and Other Stories by Joan Aiken
- Fire Season by Philip Connors
- The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
- The Burning House by Paul Lisicky
- The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson
- The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak
- Giller prize-winning novel The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud will be published in America by W.W. Norton
- The Fires Beneath the Sea by Lydia Millet
- In This Light by Melanie Rae Thon
- The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
- The Astral by Kate Christensen
- My American Unhappiness by Dean Bakopoulos
- I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive by Steve Earle
- The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
In addition to the books listed above, here's a great list Scott Esposito put together over at Conversational Reading.


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CyberAlert - October 10, 1996 - "Decidedly Nastier"
Four items today:1. Dole's reaction to a man in a crowd calling Bill Clinton "Bozo" generated media condemnation on Wednesday. Boston Globe and USA Today stories portrayed Bozo as part of a grand strategy. On Today, Katie Couric charged that the campaign "turned decidedly nastier in the Dole camp yesterday" and she blamed "the right wing" for his new strategy.
2. Dole's intentions are scrutinized on Today, but Al Gore gets a softball interview that began with this challenging question: "Many can see that you have indeed been the most powerful Vice President in our history."
3. To the media Willie Horton symbolized GOP efforts to "play the race card," to "exploit racial fears," but to CNN reporters on Tuesday, Al Gore mentioning Horton showed how "tough" he can be.
4. CBS reporter Eric Engberg fact checked Bob Dole's debate performace, but Engberg's correction needs correction.
1) On Tuesday a man in a crowd yelled at Dole "Please get Bozo out of the White House." Dole shot back: "Bozo's on his way out." But to believe some media reports you'd think Dole set out Tuesday to launch a new campaign strategy based upon insulting Clinton.
Here's the headline in the Wednesday, October 9 Boston Globe: "Dole Goes On Attack, Calls Clinton 'Bozo.'" The subhead: "Comment Draws White House Retort."
USA Today's headline declared: "Dole Quips That He'll Beat 'Bozo.'" The lead of Judy Keen's story: "Bob Dole politely called his rival 'Mr. President' during Sunday's presidential debate. But on Tuesday, he referred to him as 'Bozo.'"
On Wednesday morning's
Today Katie Couric talked with Tim Russert. Here's part of their
discussion, as transcribed by MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens:
2) Meanwhile, Al Gore gets a little nicer treatment. Later on Wednesday, Today aired an interview with the Vice President caught by MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens. Here are all the "questions" posed by Ed Gordon (a frequent host of MSNBC's InterNight).
- "Many can see that
you have indeed been the most powerful Vice President in our history. You
satisfied with the role that you played for four years?"
Five questions, but Gordon couldn't squeeze in an inquiry about Al Gore's hypocritical tobacco speech at the Democratic convention.
3) Speaking of sucking up to the VP, ever since a pro-Bush independent expenditure campaign in 1988 highlighted the Dukakis furlough of Willie Horton, for the media Horton symbolized how the GOP "plays the race card." Conservatives regularly pointed out, to no avail, how Gore first raised the issue in a 1988 primary debate.
But in a story for CNN's AllPolitics.com Web site two CNN reporters on Tuesday cited Gore's question not as an example of racial politics but as a sign of Gore's toughness. MRC analyst Steve Kaminski noticed the following sentence in a VP debate preview story by CNN reporters Marc Watts and Bob Franken:
"Gore can also fire off the tough question. In 1988, as a Senator, he first raised what became known as the 'Willie Horton issue' with Michael Dukakis during a primary debate."
In a February 13, 1992 CNN special on race and the campaign, MRC associate editor Tim Graham reminded me, Ken Bode placed all the onus on the GOP: "David Duke's exploitation of white working class fears about blacks echoes a theme from the 1988 election. This is the Maryland State Penitentiary. Inside resides the most politically notorious convict in America. William Horton, Jr., the focal point of a major national campaign designed to exploit white fear of black crime....The Horton case illustrates the readiness of political leaders to exploit the racial divide."
4) Monday's CBS Evening News (October 7) included a "Reality Check" segment by Eric Engberg on facts asserted during Sunday's debate. Here's a piece of the story:
Eric Engberg: "Some
facts got mangled."
As Engberg would say, TIME OUT! On Tuesday the Tax Foundation released a report showing Dole was correct and Engberg was wrong. The Tax Foundation discovered that the government report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics "greatly understates taxes paid....Among the omissions, the survey does not list the employee's share of Social Security tax payments among taxes paid....Similarly, the BLS survey does not report sales and excise taxes paid....Just as important, the BLS survey results altogether ignore the effect of indirect levies, such as business taxes, on American households."
Factoring in all these taxes, the Tax Foundation calculated that for households from $22,500 to $750,000 plus, taxes took a larger bite than the total for food, clothing, and housing. The Tax Foundation found that households in the $45,000 to $60,0000 category spent $16,000 as Engberg said on "the basics," but had a $25,000 tax burden.
We need a Reality Check for the CBS Reality Check.


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Automation Updates Make ALPHACAM Even Faster
A number of new and enhanced items in the latest release of ALPHACAM software provide improvements with automation, machining and feature extraction. ALPHACAM 2016 R2 also contains a range of general improvements, along with new user interface commands for faster and simpler ways of working.
For example, ALPHACAM Clipboard enables entities to be cut, copied and pasted in the Drawing Area between different versions of the software open on the same PC. An additional option has been added for pre-drilled holes as the entry type on waveform roughing operations.
A new method has been added for extracting contours in work planes – by selecting faces to create the work plane for the extraction direction. "This improved feature extraction on user-selected multiple angled faces, is a real time-saver," says EMEA Sales Manager Michael Pettit. "Feature Extraction has also been enhanced using an updated algorithm for finding contours."
Some machining dialogs now have a new tab containing specific options for either 2D or 3D lead-in and lead-out paths, and there is also an option to save and open user-configured lead settings in addition to the defaults. "It's now possible to copy all settings both ways between the lead-in and lead-out section."
A new option achieves tool angle direction entry into a part when machining features such as grooves and slots. Selecting Sloping / Ramp Angle in the Lead-In/Out dialogs accesses this new function. "When this checkbox is ticked it can be set to the same angle as the tool in the aggregate holder." And there are changes to the separate, standalone, dialogs used for editing the leads of existing operations. Both the 2D and 3D versions of these dialogs – which are accessed by right clicking in the Project Manager – now have an apply button, for previewing leads before accepting changes.
"The Project Manager's Insert page now contains commands for automatically inserting files in user-configured positions when they're dragged into the Drawing Area. And additional dialogs create 'new' and 'edit existing' configurations can be selected from either the screen or user layers, specifying one or more snap points.
A new surface machining pattern has been added to the advanced 5-axis cycle. Flowline creates a toolpath aligned to either the U or V direction of the machining surface. "The user can determine the toolpath's style, choosing the direction of the surface parameter lines. As only a single face is required, calculation is extremely fast." A typical application for Flowline is where a specific surface texture, or grain, is required.
Still with 5-axis, the progress bar showing machining has been improved to give more feedback during complex toolpath calculations.
Automation Manager
A number of updates to ALPHACAM's powerful Automation Manager include changes to Job Settings, Machining Order, Layer Mapping, and added support for nesting small parts into defined zones.
Job Settings: When adding new files to a job, Automation Manager sets parameters for Layer Mapping Setup, Material and Machining Order to 'From Job' by default. They can be overwritten if necessary, for a particular file.
Machining Order: The new Machining Order tab replaces the former Tool Ordering tab, defining the order of machining operations. The order lists are associated with layer mapping setups and machining styles...and multiple machining lists can be configured.
Layer Mapping: A New Drawing Layer command button has been added to the ribbon bar in the Layer Mapping Setup tab enabling users to create layers manually, and add layer names without having to import them from a drawing.
DXF/DWG Import Support For Z Levels From Parallel Planes: The Layer Mapping Setup tab has a new import option for DXF, DWG and ALPHACAM drawings and functions, meaning that parts which would have had work planes are simplified to Auto Z, and can be nested correctly.
Added Support For Nesting Small Parts Into Defined Zones: After drawing a sheet and adding it to the sheet database, parts can be defined as small parts for nesting zones by using the new Small Nested Part option in the Processing tab.
Among many changes to how ALPHACAM 2016 R2 handles geometry, new ribbon bar command buttons have been added to the Parametric Sketcher dialog, enabling users to associate an image with Parametric Sketches (.aeps) and Variables (.aepsvars). The associated images will be displayed in the Project Manager's Insert page. Another benefit is that the dialog displayed when using the Run Parametric Sketch command is resizeable, and a toggle button switches between the associated image and preview.
Enhancements have been made to the Cut Spline/Polyline command for the machining of sharp internal and external corners. A new option within the Panelling command function now automatically closes geometries in each panel by creating geometry elements along the panel edges.
Processing time is reduced when creating a simplified version of a detailed model where roughing paths do not require a high level of detail. Using the 3D / STL Utilities / Simplify command, the number of facets in a model can be reduced as a percentage of facets in the original. "This simplified STL model either replaces the original, or is created in addition to it."


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Climate change contributed to Sandy
As Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast last week, meteorologists and climate scientists were repeatedly asked to explain what role climate change played in amplifying the storm.
We did our best to answer: We know that a warming climate puts more energy into storms, including hurricanes, loading them with more rainfall and the stronger winds pushing more of a storm surge. That makes flooding more likely. We also know that storm surge now rides higher on sea levels that have risen over the last century due to global warming, amplifying losses where the surge strikes. On the stretch of the Atlantic Coast that spans from Norfolk to Boston, sea levels have been rising four times faster than the global average.
Overall, we know that climate change has stacked the deck so that this kind of event happens more frequently. That answer, however, prompts a deeper, more unsettling question that many want to know: is climate change worsening some recent extreme weather events like super storm Sandy?
The short answer is yes. Climate scientists broadly agree that the extreme weather we've seen over the past few years is exactly what we'd expect to see in a changing climate. And it's not just Sandy; we're on track to have the hottest year in more than a century of record-keeping in the continental United States, the country has suffered one of the most crippling droughts in history, as well as one of the worst wildfire years in history. Last year, when Hurricane Irene hit the United States, meteorologists called it "unprecedented," yet Sandy has already outpaced the damage from Irene.
We'll probably never know the exact point when the weather stopped being entirely natural. But we should consider Sandy—and other recent extreme weather events – an early taste of a climate-changed world, and a grim preview of the even worse to come, particularly if we continue to pump more carbon pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes up into the atmosphere.
Last weekend, millions of Americans prepared for the storm by turning to meteorologists to tell them where the storm would hit. The meteorologists relied on detailed computer models to form an accurate prediction of where it would hit and how strong it would be.
We climate scientists use models too, and our results are remarkably consistent and remarkably dire. For example, our models predicted an increase in extreme precipitation with global warming, and that's exactly what we have witnessed. In the northeast U.S. extreme precipitation has gone up 67 percent in recent years, due to the same rain-loading action that pumped up both Sandy and Hurricane Irene. Our models also predicted more heat waves, and again that's exactly what we have gotten as the most extreme summers are now much more frequent around the world, setting the stage for intense heat waves.
This new world is expensive – damage from Sandy will be in the billions of dollars, with estimates as high as $50 billion. In 2011, the United States broke a record for the most billion dollar weather disasters in one year, fourteen, totaling $47 billion dollars.
It's time to stop asking when climate change will arrive. It's here, and we need to move aggressively to curb carbon emissions while also preparing for a changed world. We are at nothing less than a critical juncture.
In addition to more extreme weather, failing to change our ways will mean extreme costs. Not acting on climate change could cost our nation more than 1 percent of GDP by 2025, or $218 billion a year, according to an analysis by Frank Ackerman, an economist at Tufts University. And it skyrockets from there, possibly to an estimated $1.8 trillion by 2100.
Fortunately, scientists have outlined what is needed to meet this challenge. We need to cut industrial carbon pollution. There are several ways to achieve that goal, many of them also money-savers, and as scientists we stand ready to help policymakers figure out the best, most cost-effective ways to do so.
Dr. Bob Corell is a senior policy fellow for the American Meteorological Society and former Chair of the United States Global Change Research Program.
Dr. Jeff Masters is the founder and Director of Meteorology for Weather Underground and a former NOAA Hurricane Hunter.
Dr. Kevin Trenberth is a Distinguished Senior Scientist in the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.


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Black Cabs of London Get a Bailout
LONDON — For more than six decades, black cabs have been as much a part of London's street scene as gray rainy days.
Now the troubled maker of a vehicle that is as British as the double-decker bus is getting a lifeline from a Chinese automaker whose last big acquisition was paying $ 1.3 billion for Volvo in 2010. The Chinese company, the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said on Friday that it had agreed to pay $ 17 million for the assets of Manganese Bronze, whose London Taxi Company unit produces the taxis.
"I am delighted that Geely has successfully secured the future of the London Taxi Company, ensuring the continuing manufacture of a world famous, fully accessible and instantly recognizable vehicle synonymous with London," Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, said in a statement.
After posting losses for more than five years, as well as higher costs and accounting errors, Manganese Bronze, which made ship propellers in the 19th century, entered into administration, the British equivalent of bankruptcy, in October. A recall of about 400 of its taxis had pushed the company over the edge. The recall came after it discovered faults with some steering boxes it had ordered from a new supplier in China
Geely, which acquired a 20 percent stake in the company as part of a joint venture in 2007, said it planned to develop new taxi models, including one that is more environmentally friendly, and to sell more vehicles abroad.
Manganese Bronze produced the first London cab in 1948, but the vehicles trace their roots to 1919 and a coach building company. More than 100,000 taxis have been built at the company's factory in Coventry, in the English Midlands. The taxis have also found homes outside London. Last year, Azerbaijan ordered more than 1,000 black cabs to upgrade its taxi fleet in Baku, the capital.
The car's design has not changed much over the last 65 years, still bearing the same round shape. With seats to fit five passengers, it is more spacious than most passenger cars. The black cab is still the only taxi that can be hailed in the streets of London. Rival cabs must be hired by phone or through their offices.
The word "cab" comes from "cabriolet," which used to describe a two-wheeled carriage pulled by a horse. London drivers must pass a thorough exam, which includes memorizing streets and landmarks and which is called "the Knowledge." Each model has to go through 600,000 miles of taxi duty cycle testing before being let onto London's streets.
The London cabs are still popular, but strict rules for the car and the driver dating to the 1940s, including a specific tight turning circle that allows the cars to make a U-turn even in narrow streets, made the vehicles less competitive. Rival taxi companies started to emerge, won customers with cheaper fares, and raised doubts about whether the Knowledge was still necessary when electronic navigation systems were available.
In 2008, the traditional black cabs also faced competition from the German carmaker Daimler, which teamed with a British company, KPM-UK, to make a bigger taxi based on the Mercedes-Benz Vito van, a vehicle sold in Britain since 1996.
Riki Stark, who drives a traditional black cab, says he pays £40 ($ 62.80) a week for his black cab, while colleagues pay much more. Many cabdrivers have started to display corporate advertising on their vehicles because of the higher costs.
Waiting for a customer near the Parliament building, Mr. Stark said that he was glad that Manganese Bronze "got granted an extension" but doubted whether the company would survive in the long term.
"Don't get me wrong," he said. "I love this car. But it's just not worth the money."


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Terror, terror! Everybody's made a big stink about how terrifying Detroit's ace, Justin Verlander, is. We, of course, agree: nine strikeouts, two walks, and six hits per nine is plenty terrifying. And everyone's made a similar stink about how un-terrifying Detroit's other starters—Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, and Rick Porcello—are. We agree, despite Fister's terrifying control in the second half.
But, jeez, have you seen the Tigers' bullpen? Jose Valverde, late of cellar-dwelling Diamondbacks and Astros clubs, has excelled: almost nine strikeouts per nine, no blown saves, only five home runs, with that sizzling fastball. Terrifying, no? What about Joaquin Benoit? You might not think much of him, because he is Joaquin Benoit, but he's whiffed more per nine, and walked fewer, than Valverde! Terrifying! Daniel Schlereth strikes out eight per nine, and whiffs 27 percent of the lefties he faces. They hit .171 against him. Terrifying! Even though he essentially threw batting practice all year, Brad Penny was awesome in the 2003 World Series. Terrifying! Phil Coke and Ryan Perry fucked in this MLB slash fiction. Incestuous, and therefore terrifying.
And, lordy, Al Alburquerque. Want a 95.2 MPH average four-seamer velocity and a 95.6 average two-seamer velocity? Al's your man. Want a spectacularly nasty slider? Al's your man. Want 13.9 (13.9!) strikeouts per nine? AL-BUR-QUER-QUE. It goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway: He's terrifying.
Watch out baseball, and watch out, New York. You can't spell "Tiger Roar" without "terror."


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The Code of Federal Regulations is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. The Code is divided into 50 titles which represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. Each title is divided into Chapters which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each Chapter is further subdivided into Parts covering specific regulatory areas. The individual volumes of the Code are revised as of January 1 of each year.
The contents of the Federal Register are required to be judicially noticed (44 U.S.C. 1507). The Code of Federal Regulations is prima facie evidence of the text of the original documents (44 U.S.C. 1510).
The Code of Federal Regulations is kept up to immediate date by the individual issues of the Federal Register. These two publications must be used together to determine the latest version of any given rule. By consulting the "List of CFR Sections Affected," which is issued monthly and is cumulative and the "Cumulative List of Parts Affected" in the Federal Register, the user of the Code can quickly determine whether there have been any amendments since the preceding January 1 to the provisions of the Code in which he is interested. These lists will refer the user to the Federal Register in which he may find the latest amendment of any given rule.
Each volume of the Code contains amendments published during the preceding calendar year. Source citations for the regulations are referred to by volume number and page number of the Federal Register and date of publication. Publication dates and effective dates are usually not the same and care must be exercised by the user in determining the actual effective date. In instances where the effective date is beyond the cut-off date for the Code a note has been inserted to reflect the future effective date.
Provisions that become obsolete before January 1 are not carried. Code users may find the text of provisions in effect on a given date in the past by using the numerical list of sections affected. For the period before January 1, 1964, the user should consult the "List of Sections Affected, 1949-1963" published in a separate volume. For the period beginning January 1, 1964, a "List of Sections Affected" is published at the end of each book.
Other tables and guides that relate to the Code of Federal Regulations include the following:
The subject index to the Code, which is revised annually, is contained in a separate volume entitled "General Index." This volume also contains a table of CFR titles, chapters, and parts, an alphabetical list of CFR subtitles and chapters, and lists of current and superseded CFR volumes. An index to the text of Presidential documents is found at the end of each compilation of Title 3, The President.
Inquiries concerning technical or legal aspects of the Code should be addressed to the Director, Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, Washington, D.C. 20408. Sales are handled exclusively by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
January 4, 1971.
Title 7-Agriculture
(This book contains Parts 1060 to 1089)
SUBTITLE B-REGULATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE(Continued):
CHAPTER X-Consumer and Marketing Service (Marketing Agreements and


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US brief 3
Staff Writer
The Intelligencer
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Rock Island police are investigating after a man destroyed a 100-year-old statue of Jesus outside a Catholic church.
The 6-foot-tall concrete statue was damaged on Easter. A surveillance video shows a man pushing and pulling the 750-pound icon to the ground on Sunday night.
On Monday, church members were surveying the damage. The statue was lying on the ground, with both arms broken off, a missing shoulder and a crack running the length of its body.
The head of security at Sacred Heart Church tells the Rock Island Argus that the damage is "heartbreaking."
Parishioners plans to raise money to try to replace the statue, which is valued at about $20,000.
— From The Associated Press


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Review: 'Civil War Shorts' in Goshen
Cornerstone production proves powerful
GOSHEN — Sunday afternoon at the Goshen Music Hall, Cornerstone Arts Alliance presented "Civil War Shorts," two one-act historical dramas: "My Hands Is Full o' Gifts" by Edward Finnegan, directed by Justin Pietropaolo, and "The Curtain Falls" by Charles George, directed by Lisa DiBlasi.
Nine actors are involved in the plays, and there is plenty of action in the small, intimate hall so the audience feels involved in the searing conflict of that era. Sponsored by the Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, the dramas deliver an important message: Memories of past sacrifices should not be shoved aside for the success of present-day profit, ignorance and indifference. We pay a great price when we forget the past.
"My Hands" opens on a real estate deal in Maryland. Realtor Miss Whipely (Rebecca Robbins) and her assistant Miss Nolan (Lisa DiBlasi) want Mrs. Trostle (Susan Mormile) to sign off on Battle Meadow to turn it over for development. Two Union soldiers are buried on the grounds: they were killed in a skirmish with the Rebels in June 1863, and of course the cemetery must be removed.
Whipley is pushy and provocative in the future vision of her firm, Happy Homes, which will transform Battle Meadow into Pleasant Meadow. Robbins makes her a force to be reckoned with in the power of her positive nonthinking.
Mrs. Englehardt (Marianne Hahn Ciuffetelli) arrives to voice her opposition to the deal as destructive to the memory of the Civil War, but her voice is drowned out by Whipley and department store owner Sarah Blazer (Crystal Gilbert), who seeks new customers for business.
Schoolteacher Frank Pye (Mark Von Oesen) rattles off a sketchy summary of the historical facts, but he is more enamored with the sound of his own voice and the obvious interest of Miss Nolan in a possible romance.
What lifts this melodrama to graphic drama is the presence of a half-naked ghost of a Rebel soldier, John Nobody (Benedict Hudson), who comments on the inanities of the deal and who offers a movingly eloquent final soliloquy of the bloody events of the war. Hudson gives a remarkable performance that is part ballet and deeply poetic in its imagery and sincerity.
"Curtain Falls" involves the trunk of John Wilkes Booth, which arrives at his brother's house after Lincoln's assassination. Edwin, played by B.J. Boothe, has the treasure chest opened and examines its contents of costumes and props from Wilkes' acting career.
"Hamlet," "Julius Caesar," "Romeo and Juliet," "Merchant of Venice," "Macbeth" and "Richard III" involved roles he had played, and Boothe weaves in Shakespearean speeches with emotional conviction and new meaning in a mellifluous acting voice.
Von Oesen plays Pete, a stagehand, who has learned his lines from the Bard and shares in the dramatic dialogue. Tending the furnace into which all these memorabilia are cast is Elmer, portrayed by Myles Corrigan as a citizen in shock from Lincoln's death, but who overcomes his reluctance and throws the relics into the fire. The play enacts a telling symbol of how the Civil War itself can become an unwanted memory to be reduced to ashes.
Attend these unique short plays if at all possible.
What: "Civil War Shorts" Where: Cornerstone Arts Alliance, 223 Main St., second floor, Goshen When: 7 p.m. April 12, 13 19 and 20 and 2 p.m. April 14 and 21 Admission: $10 Call: 294-4188 Visit: cornerstoneartsalliance.com


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If you are not aware that there are actually government seized car auctions for you to go to, getting a new car has indeed a terrifying process. Besides, buying a brand new one is only a considerable option for those who are financially capable. Given the fact that you can actually ask for financial assistance from banks to purchase a new car, there is a great possibility that you might fail to comply your financial obligations with the bank. You need to realize that repossessed car market has become a productive market for individuals who seek to buy huge assets like secondhand cars. Government seized car auctions has a wide array of cars that you can choose from if you wish to purchase a car of your own.
Government impounded car auctions have assorted car models and makes. Such repossessed cars range from old to new models, from utility vehicles up to the most comfortable cars. Repossessed car markets are almost identical as the typical car dealership markets. However, the two car markets might differ on the execution of sales because in repossessed car markets, cars are sold fast at affordable prices. You just need to do a frequent visit to some government seized car auctions to see its displayed secondhand cars and get your most desired one.
So, why settle for a brand new car at the mainstream car dealership markets if this would leave you in a pool of debt? Why not consider buying repossessed car at some car auctions so avoid further financial problems? Besides, buying repossessed cars at some government seized vehicle auctions can give you a great chance of grabbing one at still perfect condition at amazing discounted price. It takes you only to take hold of auction information from your local newspapers and simply follow the details of the auctions.
Before going to public bidding at government impounded car auctions, you need to personally contact the proper authorities responsible for the car auctions for any inspection arrangements. This step will usher you to decide whether to participate in the auction or not, as you are given the chance to personally see the car you want to purchase. In case you fail to get your most desired car at your first visit at auction venue, you just have to consider frequent visit in some car auctions. To make your secondhand car hunting worthwhile, try to widen your auction searches so to finally settle your dream car at some government seized car auctions.


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Step 1: Be Horde
I'm sure you could do this as Alliance over Stormwind, but why would you want to do that? Quit being stupid and just play horde.
Step 2: Be a caster
This guide is for Druids, Mages, Priests, Shamans, and Warlocks ONLY. Death Knights, Hunters, Paladins, Rogues, and Warriors are losers.
Step 3: Dragonwrath
Go through the legendary questline to obtain Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest. This is the longest step and will probably take you about 2-3 weeks to complete. Don't turn in the last quest just yet though.
Step 4: Don your pimp suit and cane
You do have a pimp suit and cane, right?
Step 5: Finish the last quest
You're gonna ride this disk up top and look like such a badass while you do it.
Step 6: Get dat staff
There's gonna be some crazyballs electricity and then the staff is gonna show up and you're gonna pick it up.
Step 7: Splooge all over the internet now that you have a legendary
And don't forget to take screenshots of funny things your guildies say:
Please be sure to look forward to my next post, entitled "How to be the first person the enemy targets in PvP (or) How I learned to quit riding into battlegrounds as Tarecgosa"


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We have worked with Lego to painstakingly collect and catalog almost every minifig ever produced into a photographic timeline. You will be able to see the evolution of the iconic figure starting with the iconic 1970s space, city and castle sets that you can see in our exclusive tour of the secret historic Lego vault. Sensory overload ahead.
Introduction of the first minifigs as part of the Town, Space and Castle sets. They are all plain. The first female minifig is introduced two months after the first male minifigs.
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First changes in faces introduced with the Lego Pirates. They maintain the basic expression but add extra features, like eye patches and beards.
The first specialized minifig appears in Lego Castle: a ghost.
Lego Island Adventure theme is introduced. That means minifigs wearing bikinis and thongs. Lego truckers also appear in Lego Town. Obviously, there's a connection between truckers and thongs.
The Lego skeleton comes out of the closet, the second specialized minifig. Aquanauts line introduced.
Lego Western appears, at last opening the possibility of forming the Village People with Lego minifigs: The sets include cowboys and, for the first time ever, a different Lego race: Native americans. By the way, this contradicts the answers about race that Lego gave us in our Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lego Guide.
Adventurer Johnny Thunder, an Indiana Jones wannabe, appears. This comes before Lego ever got into the whole licensing of movies intellectual property.
The now famous Lego Star Wars appears, introducing the first ever licensed minifig: Luke Skywalker.
Lego Soccer scores a few goals with spring-loaded tabletop game action. This is a very bad year for the history of the minifig, however: Jar-Jar Binks minifig appears, the first figure with a molded head ever. It should have never happened. The minifig. And the movie.
Lego Studios appears, so people can film movies with minifigs as characters. You know what that means (see bottom of post).
Shorter legs appear for the same time. Now you can have short characters like Yoda. Double-sided heads are added too, so you can change the expresion of the minifig on the go.
Real races are introduced at last, as part of the licensing program. Lego Mars Mission is announced, marking the return of astronauts.
First Lego minifig with an electrical part appears: A lightsaber.
Manga comes into Lego minifigs with Exo-Force, introducing new wacky hairdos made of rubber.
Today, there are 4 billion minifigs in the world, making it the largest population on planet Earth.
You're reading Leg Godt, the blog with the latest Lego news and the most awesome Lego models in the web. Follow us on Twitter.
Important note: I thought about this timeline would be a good way to illustrate how minifigs have changed through the last three decades. We have finally restored this unique timeline after being lost during Gizmodo's move to the Kinja network. Since so many of you always ask for it, here it is again, in all its glory.
It covers the minifigs till 2008—which leaves lots of room for your own more modern favorites. Help us improve this catalog by adding new ones in the comments.