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Snack Attack! Healthy Snacks, Happy Kids
(NewsUSA) – Crunch, munch, dip, dunk, sip and savor. We are a nation of snack fanatics!
In fact, in a national survey among moms conducted by California Raisins, half said their kids enjoy at least one to two snacks each day, with another 44 percent indicating snacks are the norm for their kids three to four times each day. Among those surveyed, the go/no-go on what snacks make it into the cart boils down to if they consider it healthy and the ultimate test: a thumbs up or down from their child.
California Raisins are a great choice for that sought-after intersection of healthy snacking and happy kids. Naturally dried-by-the-sun, this fat-free, no-sugar-added versatile fruit adds a delicious burst of sweetness on its own or as an addition to favorite snacks.
"As a busy full-time working mom of three young kids, I'm always looking for convenient and healthy snacks for my children," said Laura Fuentes, California Raisin Blogger Ambassador and founder of Momables, a company dedicated to helping parents create healthy school lunches. "California Raisins are a great choice for wholesome, on-the-go snacking, and I make them a key ingredient in many of my homemade baked goods."
Raisins are a great value, too. They're ranked as the most economical dried fruit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Get your family on board the snacking wave by introducing wholesome and fun-to-make recipes like California Raisin Cinnamon Fruit Roll Ups. Check out loveyourraisins.com for this recipe and hundreds more.
California Raisin Cinnamon Fruit Roll Ups
Courtesy: Laura Fuentes, founder of Momables
Serves: 14-18 roll ups
- 2 cups natural or golden raisins
- 1 small pear, peeled and cut into pieces
- 2 cups water
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- Bring 2 cups of water to boil.
- Meantime, place raisins and diced pear inside a large bowl.
- Once water boils, pour inside the bowl. With a fork, mix ingredients around, and wait 20 minutes for raisins to plump up.
- Using a 1-cup measuring cup, remove 3/4 cup of liquid. Add cinnamon, and mix ingredients around.
- Carefully pour cinnamon-plumped fruit and liquid inside a blender or food processor, and blend well until it becomes a paste or thick puree.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
- Pour half the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spread it thinly on first sheet with the back of a spoon. You might need to add more to cover entire baking sheet. Less is more here. Pour remaining mixture onto a second sheet.
- Bake in mid to lower parts of your oven for 2.5-3 hours. This is one recipe that is OK to open up the oven to check for doneness. After 2.5 hours, check every 15-20 minutes. You are looking for the fruit to peel away easily from the parchment, and has become dehydrated. Oven temperatures and cooking times will vary, so keep an eye on these after 2.5 hours.
- When done, remove from oven and allow to cool. Using scissors, cut into 1-inch strips across your pan. It will be sticky. Roll them up and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks (if they last that long)!


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Usain Bolt is Jamaica's not-so-secret weapon for shattering track and field records. But at this summer's Olympic games, Nike's cooked up its own secret weapon—a track suit dimpled like a golfball—that will help athletes from countries like the United States, Germany, and Russia chase him down.
The Pro TurboSpeed, as Nike calls it, leaves no doubt as to what the suit is designed to do. Taking inspiration from what is probably the world's laziest sport, golf, the suit is covered in hundreds of tiny dimples designed to reduce its aerodynamic drag. And after thousands of hours of testing in a wind tunnel, Nike claims it can cut 100-meter dash times by as much as 0.023 seconds compared to the company's previous generation track suits. Which of course could easily be the difference between a world record, a medal, or not placing at all.
The suits are also designed to be as comfortable as possible to not hinder an athlete's performance. They're created with fabrics that are lighter than ever, and have all of the elastics and edge finishes placed on the outside so there's nothing rubbing against their skin that could distract them.
Of course critics will point out that such events should only come down to the capabilities of the individual runners, not the highly engineered garments they're wearing. But until the naked 100-meter dash is recognized as an official sport (I've almost got enough signatures) the athletes are going to have to wear something. So why not make it as minimal a hindrance as it can be? [Nike via FastCo Design]

subset: commoncrawl


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Thanks to researchers at the University of Calgary, you no longer have to be ashamed of your gigantic thumbs. In fact, their Fat Thumb smartphone interface takes advantage of your opposable digit's monstrous dimensions to let you fully interact with your device with just one hand.
You're probably thinking to yourself, "I can already send texts and emails single-handedly," which is most certainly true. But if you've ever tried to zoom a map when your other hand is occupied, you'll know that multi-finger gestures are downright impossible. So the Fat Thumb approach manages to provide the same functionality using the large contact surface of your thumb. When using just the tip it's detected as a single finger, but when using the larger area where you find your thumbprint, the device will recognize it differently allowing you to perform gestures like zooming, which usually requires two fingers.
Sadly, the Fat Thumb technology is only a research a project at this point that won't be officially presented until September. So let's hope that soon after that Apple either buys or steals the idea. [University of Calgary GroupLab via Engadget]


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Redditor surprisemailbox says that his friend's 7-year-old sister left this note on her parents' computer:
If you put a paswward on that I will make your life a nitmare.
I can't wait to have kids—they are such lovely psychopaths. [Reddit via HappyPlace]
One of the images left in the comments of that Reddit thread:


text: TIME WARP!!! Dance your cares away with Gobo, Mokey, Red, Wembley and Boober when Fraggle Rock's fourth and final season comes out on DVD November 3rd. Envisioned in the mind of Jim Henson, creator of Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock debuted on January 10, 1983, broadcast in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It soon became an international phenomenon, with the "Fraggle Rock Theme" reaching number thirty-three on the British charts. Of all Henson's series Fraggle Rock was the most conceptually rich, with Gorgs, Doozers, and the Silly Creatures of Outer Space all comprising the family-friendly syndicate. The magical world of Fraggle Rock will enchant anyone who is a kid at heart. Here's Fraggle Rock's version of "We Are the World," with "Children of Tomorrow" (queue warm, fuzzy feelings):


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Shortage of Ingredient May Cause Power Disruption
The New York Times reported October 8, 2013 on the possible shortage of lithium, produced only by China and Russia, and used in 65 out of 100 nuclear reactors in the U.S. The shortage may cause a disruption of electricity provided by the U.S. nuclear reactors.
The shortage concerns lithium-7, which is what's left over when separated from lithium-6. Lithium-6 is used to make tritium, the hydrogen in the hydrogen bomb. The equipment needed to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7 was shut down by the U.S. in 1963 due to a huge surplus. Given the shrinking inventory of U.S. nuclear weapons, little tritium has been required and the surplus of lithium-7 has been mostly consumed.
China and Russia apparently still have their equipment in place, but because it is related to their weapons program, outsiders do not know how much capacity they might have. At the same time, Chinese domestic demand for lithium-7 is likely to increase soon because they are working on a new type of nuclear reactor that uses vastly larger quantities of the material, according to independent experts.
For decades, the U.S. has sought "energy-critical materials" from distant places due to the environmentally damaging processes associated with procuring the "rare-earth" materials. These materials are used in high-efficiency motors, while other materials are used in solar cells.
This free webinar will inform attendees on the most significant updates and modifications in the new standard, known as E1527-21 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.


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Seventy days. Four thousand miles. Texas to Alaska. My name is Noa Farou, I am a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, and next summer I will be embarking on the longest annual charity bike ride in the world to help fight cancer.
Texas4000 for Cancer
Texas4000 is a UT leadership program and 4000+ mile bike ride from Austin to Anchorage for which a small team of UT students train 18 months, raise $4,500 dollars, ride 2,000 training miles, and volunteer over 50 hours in the community to train for. Every aspect is student planned and executed from fundraising to each stop along the three routes: Sierra, Rockies, and Ozarks. During our travels we rely on the generosity of host homes, churches, and schools for shelter as well as camp when necessary. Riders also are responsible for driving the "SAG" support vehicle, creating rest stops, and securing food donations. After sharing life-saving cancer prevention information and messages of hope for those cancer has affected to communities we pass through, the three routes converge in Canada and ride the last days together into Anchorage.
A Little About Me
I am a senior Neuroscience major/English minor pre-medical student at UT Austin. I am a cellist of 11 years, Delta Gamma, cycling instructor, and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). My passion for biking was inspired by my father, an accomplished engineer and frequent Marathoner, Iron Man participant, and cyclist. As I grew up, he motivated and trained me for running and biking races and a variety of competitive sports. My parents are my biggest fans, supporting all my academic, musical, and athletic endeavors.
Why I Ride
My mother experienced her father, Carl, battle lung, skin, and bladder cancer for years, and undergo several major surgeries. In his final days he had very little quality of life—breathing through a stoma and still wanting another cigarette.
Cancer is more than a biological phenomenon; it affects every layer of our existence, including our spirit. I see this 70-day excursion as an opportunity to pay tribute to my grandfather's life, comfort my mother who suffered deep loss and promote the importance of cancer preventative lifestyle choices. Despite cancer's prevalence, "we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)."
I was called to apply to this program to ride in honor of my grandfather, Carl, and my great-aunt, Brigitte. Brigitte was a force of nature. She loved travel, adventure, and her relentlessly cheerful attitude was contagious. Brigitte bravely fought leukemia for many years and passed last February. I ride also for the several other cancer victims and survivors in my family, both in America and the Middle East.
The Power To Act
Since applying, God has only continued to reveal more reasons to ride, one of the most prominent being a six-grader–Aly. I volunteer with the Dell's Children Survivor Challenge, a semester-long 5K-training program for pediatric cancer and blood disorder patients and families. Through the program I became Aly's running buddy. Aly is three years in remission from cancer, has a zest for musical theatre, and has more self-confidence and cognizance than most adults I know. As I fundraise thousands to for cancer research, every dollar now reminds me of Aly and the innovative medical research and treatments that save bright kids like her.
Though this 18-month program is difficult in many aspects, I maintain motivation through God's reminder to "not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act (Proverbs 3:27)," and ride in honor of those who can't.
Our loved ones don't get to choose to stop fighting cancer, so I won't stop fighting for them.
A Lifetime Of Preparation
I have spent years in YoungLife ministries getting to walk beside hundreds of kids as they are introduced or reminded of Christ and His love for them. Christ utilized me as a tool of encouragement for campers to achieve physical goals by serving as a Bikes Wrangler, leading campers on mountain bike rides.
I also served as the EMT at a camp that hosted YoungLives, YoungLife's ministry for teen mothers and their babies. Many faced socioeconomic strain, immigration issues, or minimal access to healthcare. It was a privilege to provide medical and spiritual counsel for hundreds of strong, beautiful young women and their babies, being reminded of "not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:4)."
Ministry work has expanded my capacity to care for others beyond what I believed I was capable of. I look forward to allowing Christ to use me as a light to "shine before others (Matthew 5:16)" from Texas to Alaska. It only takes a spark of hope to set spirits ablaze. In 1 Peter 4:10, we are told "just as each one has a received a gift, use it to serve one another."
As I am training and fundraising for this 70-day excursion ("reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward to goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ"–Philippians 3:13-14), I can't help but feel that God has been preparing me my whole life. Physically, I thank my father, who instilled his athletic drive in me. Spiritually, I thank those who have inspired me through their testimonies of strength and courage. Years fostering strength, faith, courage, and heart for people have led up to this grand act of service. He is intentional with our purpose, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29)."
To Look More Like Him
As I continue growing for this challenging journey, I hope He continues to shine through those I interact with to remind me of the reason why: to look more like Him (1 Peter 2:21).
Something unique I am incorporating into my ride is daily prayer dedication for specific people or families. To achieve this, I am collecting stories of cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones. Each day of my ride I'll be praying for someone by name. It is indescribably moving to have friends, Professors, and even strangers share heartwarming stories of loved ones. We know prayer is powerful and "this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us (1 John 5:14)."
Compassion is the cornerstone of my personal mission and I ride not only to share benevolence but hope. During this season of my life, I am excited knowing God will only continue to reveal new reasons for me to ride. I hope the patients, survivors, and families we encounter find some comfort knowing we are fighting with them.
As the Apostle James said, "consider it pure joy, my brother and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4)."
Serve The Masses
This experience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve others on a mass scale and play a small role in creating a cancer-free society.
Seventy days. Four thousand miles. Texas to Alaska. Let's ride.
Support My Journey
If you would like to support me, please consider contributing to my fundraising efforts via a tax-deductible donation. Every dollar makes a difference in funding cancer research.
Donations can be online or by check made out to Texas 4000. Place "Noa Farou" in the Memo section, and mail to:
Texas 4000 for Cancer
PO Box 6459
Austin, TX 78762
Tax-deduction forms will be mailed to contributors send donations via check. Texas 4000 for Cancer is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (EIN 20-0371876), therefore many companies will also match their employee's donations. I truly appreciate and thank you for your support in advance.
Have Someone You Want Me To Ride For?
Please use the link or email included to share your story and how they've touched your life.
Please use this link to follow my journey and send donations, pray requests, or encouragement:
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Ray Mears is a man who can shape a canoe out of natural materials, make fire without matches, track man or wolf, make shelter of snow or sticks, and knows which plant is good to eat and which is not. But where his drive to be outside came from, what prompted his interest in nature, and why he took the route he has in life is now clear, through this, his autobiography:
Published today, My Outdoor Life tells the story of how a young boy growing up on the North Downs of England eventually became one of the world's most highly regarded figures in the field of Bushcraft and survival.
My Outdoor Life is now available to purchase in the following formats:
- My Outdoor Life – Hardback (signed by Ray Mears)
- My Outdoor Life – Hardback (unsigned)
- My Outdoor Life for iBook
- My Outdoor Life for Kindle
On the morning of the book's release day, Ray was a guest on the BBC1 Breakfast Show; catch his appearance below:


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Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Mandarins (the intellectual elite) make lousy leaders
The book was The decline of the German mandarins: the German academic community, 1890-1933, by Fritz K Ringer.
The cherished belief was that it would be best if countries were led by their intellectual elite, i.e. by 'Mandarins' - by the likes of Professors, senior administrators and professionals - by those whose jobs require high level formal educational certification.
In other words, I had assumed, up to that point, that if only things were run by people 'like me', then things would inevitably be run better.
Before reading the book I had not been aware that I believed this, but although unarticulated, a belief in leadership by intellectals had been a basic assumption.
It is, indeed, an assumption of the modern political elite, and has been the assumption of Dichter und Denker (poets and thinkers) for a couple of hundred years (since the Romantic era) - but it was *not* an assumption of traditional societies before this.
Indeed, as I read in Ernest Gellner at about the same time, in traditional societies the intellectual class (priests and clerks) was subordinated to the leadership - which was essentially military.
Intellectuals were - Gellner said - essentially 'eunuchs' - in the sense that they were not allowed to build dynastic, hereditary power - this was reserved for the military leadership.
So priests and other intellectuals with power were sometimes actual eunuchs, or servants and slaves, or celibate (legally, not sexually, celibate - i.e. they could not have legitimate heirs), or members of a legally circumscribed minority (such as Jewish merchants and money lenders), or - like the Chinese mandarins - they were prohibited from handing on their status to their children (entry to the mandarinate being controlled by competitive examinations).
The 'natural' leaders of human society throughout most of history are the military leaders - the 'generals'. The aristocracy were essentially the military leaders.
But in modern societies, the Mandarins have progressively taken over the leadership.
People 'like me' run things; the military leadership (unless they are themselves mandarins - as increasingly is the case - and servile to political correctness) are officially feared, hated and despised; indeed any aspirant for power who is not 'an intellectual' is officially feared, hated and despised.
Fritz Ringer's books was a revelation because he described a familiar and recent society that had indeed been a mandarinate - and this was Germany in the nineteenth century and leading up to the first and second world wars. Germany was at that time the academic intellectual centre of the West.
And 'yet' the mandarinate had been a disaster - leading to two world wars and National Socialism and also (ironically) to the eclipse of the German mandarins - who were purged virtually overnight in 1933 (only a few obedient Nazi mandarins were allowed to stay - like Martin Heidegger).
The German mandarins were nationalist, that was the focus of their ideology (the distinctive superiority of German culture) and that is one variety - very rare nowadays except in small nations and would-be nations like Scotland or Catalonia.
Of course the most widespread mandarinate was the Soviet Union whose ideology was (mostly) anti-nationalistic/ international communism. And international left-mandarinism is now the dominant form of government in the West.
Since reading Ringer, when my eyes were opened, my experience has hardened into conviction that - as a generalization - mandarins make very useful servants but very bad leaders. Good professors make bad kings.
The main problem is, I think, that mandarins are expert at ignoring common sense reality and focusing on abstraction.
Mandarins live 'in culture' - they are 'Kultur' experts. Culture is the source of their expertise and prestige - culture comes between mandarins and common sense.
When, as is normal, mandarin abstractions are substantially incomplete and significantly biased, then there is no limit to how bad mandarin leadership can be; because any feedback provided by 'reality' can be ignored by mandarins in ways which are impossible to normal people.
Mandarins can wreck an organization, a nation, with a completely clear conscience; and will then write history to show that they were correct all along.
Conversely, there is no achievement of their enemies that is so large or blatantly obvious that mandarins will not ignore, sideline, or subvert it.
(In pursuit of discrediting their enemies, mandarins are utterly unscrupulous, dishonest and coercive - they perceive this as nothing less than their duty, indeed heroic.)
Nothing that could conceivably happen would conceivably affect mandarin ideology - which explains everything in advance.
Mandarins are therefore unique among humans both in their perspective on life - in their evaluations of what is important; and in being immune to learning from experience.
And mandarins really are, on average, the most knowledgeable and cleverest people, and they know it and they value smartness very highly; so they will not listen to any critics who they think of as dumb.
Undeniably smart critics are labelled crazy or evil (they *must* be, obviously), so they are ignored too.
When mandarins have closed the loop between education, media and power; they are hermetically sealed from alternative perspectives - change can only arise from within the loop, and this change will tend to bolster the power of the mandarinate, and be directed against their enemies in the natural military leadership.
So, once they have taken-over, the mandarinate is uniquely unreformable by argument and experience.
And that is the present situation in the West.
22 comments:
- dearieme said...
I am at a loss - how could anyone who worked in a university think for long that a mandarinate was a strong contender for running a country? Apart from anything else, observe the quality of the university people who elect to give up scholarship and devote themselves to university management. (Yes, yes, it's scarcely scholarship that many of them give up, but at least it tends to be a simulacrum thereof.)
- 3 August 2010 at 09:22
- Bruce Charlton said...
Well, quite.
But I regarded all problems with the 'actually existing' rulership of intellectuals as remediable corruptions of what was basically the most desirable state of affairs.
(Just as leftist intellectuals regard all problems with 'actually existing' socialism in the ex-USSR, Maoist China, North Korea, ex-Cambodia etc. as being remediable corruptions of what is nonethless the ideal system.)
I saw it in terms of good mandarins versus bad mandarins - the actual leaders of universities were (mostly) bad mandarins, while people more like myself would be good mandarins (given the chance).
But there was no doubt in my mind that mandarins ought to be in charge.
No amount of evidence about the actual badness of rule by mandarins could ever dent my presumption that - if only things were properly arranged by people more like myself - then that was how things should be.
- 3 August 2010 at 10:14
- Bruce Charlton said...
Dearieme - could you e-mail me please? I have forgotten your human identity, which I used to know.
(The hard drive e-mail records were, ahem, inadvertently wiped when my work computer was being compulsorily 'updated' to new and inferior software.)
- 3 August 2010 at 11:01
- Unknown said...
Isn't the real problem not the intellectual eliteness but the stunted growth, the lack of maturity, the perpetual adolescence?
Isn't it just the simple act of the nerds getting back at the "in" high school crowd that shunned them?
The evidence seems overwhelming, especially regarding 'professors' and 'administrators'. They remain in the high school environment, they many times get the girls they never could have gotten, they never had to work very hard and they continue that pattern. The only change is they now have a venue to relieve their anger.
It is immaturity and ego that destroys the world and rule by the "intellectual elite" places the most immature in charge.
Other random proof:
Almost all of man's motivation for anything has to do with "getting the girl".
The mass appeal of Islam has to do with their treatment of women.
Most of the world's tyrants have been short men.
- 3 August 2010 at 11:41
- Bruce Charlton said...
Maybe, but I'm not sure abut the short men.
Most of the men in the world, both tyrants and tyrannized, have been, and still are, distinctly 'short' by modern Western standards - although apparently Hitler was above-average height for his time and place, and of course he won an Iron Cross in the best infantry in the world - so presumably was not a wimp.
In general, I would guess that most world leaders in the past were physically dominant - not necessarily tall, but strong, tough, imposing, physically courageous... They had to be.
Also more intelligent than average; but probably seldom intellectuals - perhaps more like a modern senior NCO than an officer.
- 3 August 2010 at 12:17
- Anonymous said...
Well, military men like Franco, Pinochet, "The Colonels" in Greece, actually did a pretty good job running their respective countries, and oddly enough, their regimes, while certainly repressive and marred with violence, were much less bloody than those run by "intellectuals" like Lenin, Castro, Pol Pot, Mao, etc. So you certainly have a point.
- 3 August 2010 at 13:24
- Unknown said...
I would submit that while gaining their "authority" your typical tyrant may need a certain amount of physical strength but what they have in abundance is ruthlessness, zero regard for rules or fair play, complete lack of any 'natural' moral restraint, to be conscienceless, sadistic, more like an ultimate fighter and your typical James Bond villain rolled into one, possessing the look and mindset that young Mike Tyson had entering the ring, absolutely soulless eyes.
Intelligent without a doubt but an intelligence wholly of this world.
And, this last is what makes today's madarin so implacable, so blind, and so desirous of misery in this world.
- 3 August 2010 at 13:47
- Anonymous said...
dearieme: Because smart people significantly over-value the importance of intelligence on complex matters like leading. Sure, leaders are smarter than average, but that isn't what distinguishes a great leader from a mediocre one. A leader, of a company or a country, cannot know 20% of the material they are responsible for making decisions on. It is entirely possible that great leaders could comprehend the vast majority of that material if they tried, but they simply do not have enough time to do so. This is where intelligence may matter.
But it seems like the primary skill that distinguishes leaders is their interpersonal skills. I am younger, but I do not remember Bill Clinton's intelligence ever really being in question. Yet, it's his interpersonal skills that floor me. A friend from high school does catering for the Clinton library in Little Rock. According to him, Clinton knows the name and general facts about every person who works there, down to the summer interns. These interns do not matter in the grand scheme of things, but Clinton will pass by and ask how they are doing by name and ask about how family members are doing by name (recalling previous conversations). I am quite confident I could rival Clinton's intellectual gifts, but those sorts of interpersonal skills are on another level compared to me or the common person.
The same issue, the devaluing of skills that one does not have by smart people, happens if you bring up managers or salespeople. Intelligence and creativity are important for an engineer, creator or the like. Smart people will constantly laud these people while demeaning the contributions of the managers and salespeople that allow those masters of creation to do their craft. I'd guess it's the plethora of bad managers that we tend to interact with that blind us to how much a good manager can matter to a business or organization. Like how eating poor cooking for extended periods of time makes me forget the deliciousness of a well crafted dish; I'll retain the knowledge that a good dish is exquisite, but that visceral sense is dampened.
- 3 August 2010 at 14:27
- Bruce Charlton said...
The common factor in the incomparably monstrous 20th century totalitarian regimes, the factor which unites the relatively lowbrow National Socialists with the intellectuals of Communism, is atheism.
But my point here was that West is in the historically unique (or at least very unusual) situation of partly destroying itself and partly passively allowing itself to be destroyed; while wilfully blinded to the peril - until the point where the peril is undeniable, then refusing (for purportedly high minded reasons) to do anything about it.
As in my example yesterday - this is the first society to *allow* piracy when it has the capacity to stop it; and the reason that piracy is allowed is self-hatred.
The strangest thing is that the modern intellectual elite is not even coherently self-interested!
This is why I think of the decline of the West as a kind of moral insanity; and why (assuming, as I do, that humans are naturally 'religious') atheism is a plausible ultimate cause.
- 3 August 2010 at 14:32
- Bruce Charlton said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- 3 August 2010 at 14:37
- Bruce Charlton said...
@ Anonymous 15.27 - excellent comment, but please could you post under a pseudonynm in future - even when 'Anonymous' - i.e. like 'Tschafer' does above.
- 3 August 2010 at 14:37
- Anonymous said...
Another wonderful book on the subject of the fate of the German intellectuals is Anthropology and Antihumanism in Imperial Germany, Zimmerman 2001.
I haven't read any of the new biographies of Goethe on the period, but the picture of his management of matters in Weimar in the Eckermann's Conversations makes one grateful that German unification didn't take place earlier in history. And yet the experience was probably good for Goethe as an artist, if not for the Weimeraners.
On your account, Bruce, we in the States should be grateful that our president has been careful to keep what academics would regard as first-rate minds off the Supreme Court, the cabinet, etc. (even though he does so not out of Gellnerian convictions but from motives of vanity and jealousy).
- 3 August 2010 at 15:25
- Bruce Charlton said...
@ Anonymous 16.25 - excellent comment, but please could you post under a pseudonynm in future - even when 'Anonymous' - i.e. like 'Tschafer' does above.
A system of group preferences for an out-group (soi disant 'affirmative action', whether by race as in the US or by class as in the UK university admissions) is an example of the insanity of the modern intelectual elite since these policies are self-destroying, society-destroying, inefficient and ineffective.
Of course group preferences, like mass 'low skill' immigration, benefit leftist parties in the short term, by increasing the pool of state dependents hence left-wing voters.
But even elementary enlightened self-interest from the intellectuals would reveal that this is a fast track to self destruction in the not-very-long-term.
What makes this possible is the compulsive abstraction characteristic of intellectuals; but in addition some-thing or -things must have driven modern elites crazy with the suicidal despair and self-loathing that shows itself in moral inversion and an embrace of the active annihilation of that culture which is the sole source of intellectuals' own prestige.
- 3 August 2010 at 15:58
- Unknown said...
"...we in the States should be grateful that our president has been careful to keep what academics would regard as first-rate minds off the Supreme Court, the cabinet, etc."
So what? The result is the same. Throughout history the result has always been the same. Rule by intelligentsia or militia the nature of man precludes any other outcome.
Certain men may delay the inevitable but they are outweighed by men who accelerate it (our current president). Men are men and no man of this world will interfere with its destination.
As the wisest man who ever lived has said, "All is vanity".
- 3 August 2010 at 17:05
- dearieme said...
There's a yarn about the first cabinet meeting that Wellington convened as PM. "I gave them their orders" said the Duke "and do you know they wanted to stay and discuss them."
- 3 August 2010 at 21:32
- a Finn said...
Bgc: "When, as is normal, mandarin abstractions are substantially incomplete and significantly biased, then there is no limit to how bad mandarin leadership can be; because any feedback provided by 'reality' can be ignored by mandarins in ways which are impossible to normal people."
- Yes, but even if they would take feedback eagerly that wouldn't help much. The problems go deeper. The whole idea of constantly increasing control, manipulation, direction and regulation (= power) is wrong. To increase power means to make power more continuous in people's lives and actions; to make it cover more of the interactions, relationships and bonds between people, and between people and environment or organizations; to define greater part of inner life, thinking, emotions and inner rules of people; to define a growing part of the living environment, machines and tools of people; etc.
Why this goal of continuously increasing power is not only impossible, but harmful? A slightly pointed story:
Let's imagine a professor of psychology (X) who has wide knowledge in his field, but he doesn't know and can't know everything in his field. He wants and is empowered to rule A and his relationship with B, whatever it requires; this should be the simplest thing. We notice that X lacks the knowledge of all the other scientific fields; so his scientific knowledge is radically incomplete, let alone other information. Human capacity to know is limited when compared to available and unavailable information. Even if X would be superhuman who would know and understand all the scientific knowledge that has been published (still incomplete knowledge), the question in what way to select, in what proportions, how to apply, coordinate, direct, control and regulate this information in different situations would require superscience.
X starts by analyzing psychologically A and his relationship with B. He notices that psychologically A is silly and goofy; he could be more "efficient" in his relationship with B. But X doesn't know that B likes A precisely because he is silly and goofy and their relationship has formed around that. The first orders of X make A increasingly alien to B. A and B have 35 years history in their relationship; A has held B's first born baby in his hands a couple of ours after he was born; they fought together in a street fight when they were attacked; they have had countless of conversations about different topics of varying levels of intimacy; they meet each other regularly to have a dinner; they participate in the same sport, and know each others hobbies and work; they know each others social web and it's interactions fairly accurately; they know memorable events in each others lives (embarrasing, funny, beautiful, sad etc. events) and countless everyday, less memorable events; they know when to speak and when to stay silent and what to say in different situations; they know each others weaknesses, strenghts, likes and dislikes, trustworthiness etc.; they have been members of the same congregation 30 years; etc. They also know how to use or not to use this information in their interactions. All the interactions of A and B is embedded in this knowledge.
Continued ...
- 3 August 2010 at 23:04
- a Finn said...
Part 2.
Despite profound analysis, X is almost totally oblivious about this information. His orders to A make A act in such a way that B perceives it to be increasingly akward, artificial, rude, manipulative, exploitative, distasteful, etc. B starts to think there is something wrong with A. B starts to dislike A. Because A has to act in unnatural ways to him, he feels tense and akward, and this exacerbates the problems caused by the orders.
A is obliged to give feedback to X, but he can't or don't want to tell about different nuances; A wishes things would return to normal. A starts to resist X in his mind and secretly in his actions. X suspects this, and increases surveillance and threats of different kinds of punishments. Punishments can stabilize almost any kind of social system, including bad systems. X starts also to rearrange A's living environment, work, incentives, hobbies etc. to better control and regulate his relationship. X understands that different things in A's life are interdependent, so he must extend his control and regulation to everything in A's life. Because B threaths to end his friendship with A, X must expand his power to B's life. Because A's and B's relationship is embedded inseparably in their social webs, X stretches his power to include them. Because their social webs are irremovably connected to their society, X sows his power over the whole society.
A and all the people in the society become stupid puppets going through simplified, emotionless, inhuman, mechanical and "efficient" movements, dictated by a madman. People can't react to different situations and changes in the environment. People can't adjust and create. People can't improvise. People can't form relationships, they become atomized and they can't form efficient cooperation. People are profoundly dissatisfied and demotivated. The production and functions of society weaken.
One way or another this society faces it's end; by collapse, gradual weakening and disappearance, revolution, gradual subversion, outside influences or manipulation, outside competition, attack of enemy, immigration and/or something else.
Thus scientists can produce and give useful information, which can then be applied by others as they see fit or scientist can do things themselves, but there can not be such a thing as scientific rule, unless someone wants to call clumsy, harmful, inefficient and inhuman dictatorship scientific. Elites are unfortunately expanding "scientific" rule.
Sometimes exasperated anarchists, like Proudhon, say things well (the blog owner Bill Vallicella is a conservative and Christian, but I wouldn't take heed of the latter part of his motto "join nothing"):
- 3 August 2010 at 23:06
- Pseudothyrum said...
"also (ironically) to the eclipse of the German mandarins - who were purged virtually overnight in 1933 (only a few obedient Nazi mandarins were allowed to stay - like Martin Heidegger)."
That isn't true. Only Jews, Communists, and far-leftists were purged.
Many academics supported German National Socialism, and academia - especially the hard sciences - flourished under the regime.
Also, you might not know that one of the groups which most supported the Nazis were physicians. Look it up.
- 4 August 2010 at 01:44
- Bruce Charlton said...
@ A Finn.
That's a good parable. It illustrates how trying to control one things in society (and failing, inevitably) leads to trying to control everything in society.
It reminds me of the chilling New Left/ feminist phrase: 'the personal is the political' - which subordinates absolutely everything to political goals.
- 4 August 2010 at 06:46
- Bruce Charlton said...
@ Pseudothyrum - fair enough - 'purged' may not be the best term. I did not mean that they were arrested or killed
What I meant was that the Professoriate, the mandarins, were almost instantly subordinated, lost all their independence - their autonomy, lost status, were locked into the political heirarchy, became Nazi functionaries (subordinated to unintelligent men who lacked culture and education).
In essence, the German academic system was at best suspended, but more like destroyed: what recurred after the war was a mere shell of continuity wrt the great German academic tradition, which had lost its best people and its spirit, its culture.
- 4 August 2010 at 07:06
- Anonymous said...
I came across the page because I'm looking for an Ernest Gellner quotation, the source of it I mean. He says somewhere that a military aristocracy is essentially a random method of selecting society's leaders, genetically random that is. He adds that so long as society was relatively uncomplicated, it worked well enough, given that the qualifications for leadership were so meagre: ride a horse, use a sword. WHat I'm wondering is – do you know the source, in Gellner, of that quotation. A long shot, I know, but I'm hoping you can help.
Jon Paul Henry
Douglas Collge
- 20 October 2014 at 23:10
- Bruce Charlton said...
@JPH - Sorry, I don't recognize it, I'm afraid. Also it is wrong!
- 21 October 2014 at 05:22


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The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
I love going on trips and visiting places. I am more of a tourist and sightseeing kind of person so when I visit any travel website I like to get complete and practical information about xyz place..not only the places to see but also how they are really, what are the do's and dont's, the timings, where to eat etc. I found many travel websites and blogs lacking in that. Some just hyped up few things about a place whereas in reality it was not so cool! Some blogs would focus more on experience and photos and not real useful information! So I decided to mix my hobby of traveling with another passion – blogging! Thus the travel blog "Ghumakkar Chronicles" came into existence where I began writing my travelogues of all the places I have visited.
What is WIN 2014?
WIN 2014 is the first ever Bloggers' conference which will see a mix of Bloggers, Industry Specialists & Influencers hosted by BlogAdda. Write. Inspire. Network – The three core elements around which the day long event will revolve. WIN 2014 promises to have something for everyone: Sessions & workshops which will highlight the various aspects of writing for the bloggers. Icons from the blogosphere and renowned speakers who will inspire the budding author in every individual attending the conference. An evening where every blogger, writer, reader, listener, learner will get an opportunity to network with the best of speaker, bloggers & brands. We aim to provide a physical platform to bring together all the knowledge and learning about blogging followed by an evening of recognizing and honouring the best of the blogs that won the hearts of thousands of readers and the esteemed Jury of BlogAdda Blog Awards.
For the contest part of the event, Blogadda's jury comprising of Shobhaa De, Dilip Cherian, Simi Garewal,Krishna Prasad, Mukul Deva, Ashwin Sanghi, Gayatri Iyer, Vasundhara Das, Arjun Ravi, Pranav Bhasin, Malishka, Jessie Paul, Karl Gomes, Shradha Sharma, Paroma Roy Chowdhury, Ekalavya Bhattacharya and Sabyasachi Gorai have shortlisted blogs in various categories like Arts Crafts and Design, Humor & Satire, Personal, Parenting, Food & Drinks etc
And my blog "Ghumakkar Chronicles" has been shortlisted by the jury for the Blog Adda awards WIN 2014 in the travel and living category!!! Yayyyy!!!
I was utterly shocked and so happy when I received the notification email from Blogadda. My blog among so many seasoned bloggers!! 🙂 🙂 Nothing like such news to renew the blogging spirit and faith!! 🙂
So please please please my dear readers and visitors go over and vote for me!!!! Click the Facebook like button or tweet, to vote, by clicking on the icon below or by going to the page here. You can also leave an encouraging comment on the page to make sure my blog wins!
And do share this link with your friends who may like my blog. Thank you for your time!
Voting open till 31st Jan 2014.
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Thanks once again!!


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By Katie Glueck
November 28, 2012
Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman on Wednesday praised GOP lawmakers who have signaled a willingness to break with Grover Norquist's anti-tax hike pledge.
"Whatever they want, however they want to gloss it over is fine by me," Whitman said on CNN's "Starting Point. "It makes no sense to tie your hands before you know what you may actually be facing and what you're going to have to deal."
The former Republican governor's comments come as several senior lawmakers have distanced themselves from the pledge, offered by Norquist's organization, Americans for Tax Reform, to not raise taxes as both parties look for a deal to head off the looming fiscal cliff.
She said that by backing away from the pledge, policymakers will have more "room to negotiate."
"Now what's happening, and I think it's a good sign, as far as the ability to come to some kind of compromise on the issue of the fiscal cliff, is that you have thoughtful leaders finally saying, 'Look, we cannot tie our hands this way,'" she said. "And I don't care if you want to say it's a revenue enhancer or really it's closing a loophole and that's not raising a tax, whatever it takes to be able to give yourself some room to negotiate. You can't negotiate if you've said, 'I absolutely won't consider this.'"
The pledge has been signed by the bulk of congressional Republicans, but Whitman said she never took it during her time leading the Garden State.
"I never took it even though I cut taxes, and kept the budget spending low and all the rest of those good things, and Grover's group would never endorse me because I wouldn't take the pledge," she said.


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Whalley, Edward
Whalley, Edward hwā´lē, hwô´– [key], d. 1675?, English regicide. During the English civil war he served under his cousin Oliver Cromwell in the parliamentary army. He was given custody of Charles I for a time in 1647, served on the high court of justice that tried him, and signed the death warrant. After 1655, Whalley was one of the major generals who ruled the country until the restored Long Parliament withdrew his commission and those of other prominent Cromwellians. At the Restoration (1660), Whalley, with his son-in-law, William Goffe, fled to New England. He lived successively in Boston, New Haven, Milford (Conn.), and Hadley (Mass.), hunted by English agents but never betrayed.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies


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On a cool mid-October day, I realized that it had been a few weeks since my last blog posting, so I thought about some good possible runs, and went online to perform a little cleanup to this blog. Then I realized that this was going to be my 100th posting! Should I come up with something particularly epic, or maybe even a little bit dangerous? Nahhhhh…. Instead, I decided to retrace the steps of the same run that I did for my very first posting, way back in June 2009. So, here goes – my inaugural run for "The Middlebury Trailrunner", the run from the Falls of Lana/Silver Lake trailhead, up past Silver Lake to the Goshen Trailhead on the hillside above the lake, and back. I have done more runs from this trailhead than from any other starting point, but had not written up a new posting on this identical route, although I have run it countless times. Whilethis is probably not a recommended for for running neophytes, it is an appropriate, adventurous run for folks for whom road 10K's are "about right", but want to start exploring more adventurous terrain. This particular route has some significant hill climbing, but is primarily on double track forest service roads (only open to maintenance vehicles), so it is a great place for decent runners to start exploring trails. Kind of like me, 5 years ago.
A lot has changed in the last 5 years, at least as far as my running goes. When I first blogged this run, I thought of this as a pretty adventurous route, between the significant climbing, and its backcountry feel in a very scenic part of Addison County. Regular readers will note that while I do continue to weave in runs of moderate length, my longer runs have gotten…well….longer! I have also become more adventurous in my choice of new routes, with my attitude to new routes evolving from "Gee, I would like to know where that trail goes, so I can give it a try", to "I bet that trail goes somewhere new, let me check my map", to "OK – there is a path I have never noticed before, here goes!". Adventure follows! Trailrunning has also rejuvenated my running, as I have found that I can go out on longer runs with greatly diminished frequency of injuries. This is key for middle-aged athletes, as every ache and pain becomes an excuse to not run, and a gradual acquiescence to the inevitability of old age – prematurely. Trail running puts one in the situation where every footfall is unique, and that fact, combined with its slower pace, minimizes the repetitive use injuries so common in distance runners. The other wonderful discovery I have made is that a steady diet of trail running on challenging terrain, with a longer runs every few weeks, is great preparation for marathon running, an empowering aspect of running which I had given up on for close to 20 years due to frequent annoying injuries.
Now – on to the run! When I first blogged this run 5 years ago, it was an early summer run in June of 2009, and the run reflected that season. This time? Mid-October, while still lovely, at least this year, is the very end of fall foliage, and the summer resort around Lake Dunmore is mostly shut down for the season. The Kampersville Squirrel? Still there, but she somehow looks a little creepier on a grey day. As I drove around the shoreline towards Branbury State Park, I also noticed a lot of "For Sale" signs in front of lakeside homes. I suppose their owners wanted one last summer on its shores before starting the process of turning over their summer haven to new owners? I also noticed that, at least on this blustery Sunday afternoon, that there were no cars or beachgoers along the shoreline of the state park. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Falls of Lana trailhead, just south of Branbury, was pretty close to full. I guess trailrunners and hikers are a hardier sort than beach folks? Apparently, although I suspect some Maine coast beachcombers would beg to differ, or even those who brave the Atlantic coasts further south in the off-season.
I am not going to spend a lot of time describing the details of the route – it is pretty easy to follow. Run up the forest service road departing from the Lake Road a hundred yards or so south of the parking lot, and follow its switchbacks all the way to Silver Lake, at about a mile and a half, and continue up the hill above Silver Lake on this road until you reach the Goshen trailhead , at which point you follow the trail descending back to Silver Lake, reaching the lakeside Leicester Hollow Trail, where you take a right turn. After slightly less than a half mile on this trail, take the left turn, following the campground sign pointing to the picnic area, which will bring you to the Silver Lake "beach" and then back to the original road on which you initially climbed, where you complete your descent back to your waiting car, for about a 5.6 mile run, with about 800 feet of climbing and descent.
That said, since I have run this trail countless times, but never at this specific time of the year (past-peak foliage, segueing into stick season), I made a point to look for things I had never noted before. So, for the rest of this posting, I will share these bits of minutiae. So – here goes!
1. A little over a mile into the run, if you look to your left through the trees, you will notice what looks like a small body of water to your left. I had always called this "Moose Pond" in my mind, but had never done the very short bushwack to actually stand at its shores. I associated it with moose, as I had envisioned it as a great place to see a moose someday. I finally took a few moments to actually step onto its shore, and while moose sightings continue to evade me when I am running, I realized that my name was a moosenomer: This is a rather substantial beaver pond! If you look at the picture carefully, you will see the beaver hut in the middle of the pond. There is also a rather substantial beaver dam, just to the right of the frame of this photo.
2. When you get to the shores of Silver Lake, you will notice a campsite for a campground host to your left. Over the last few years, there was an elderly gentleman who filled this role, and while I stopped to chat with him a few times, I never inquired as to his name. He was not there this summer, and for most of the summer, the campground host camp site was empty. I hope he is in good health? That said, I had always romanticized he notion of spending a summer in the forest, away from the comforts of home. On this run, I took the time to look around the empty site, and found its dirty little secret – it has electrical power. Set me up in the campground, and let me rock tunes on my portable electronic devices!
3. Much of the road ascent during the summer has a tunnel-like feel. The overhanging foliage blocks most views, and keeps the road more or less permanently in the shade. On this run, with most of the trees bereft of leaves at the higher elevations, rather expansive views opened up!
4. As I approached the Goshen parking lot at the end of my ascent, I noticed an old wooden sign, with the number 9 painted on it. Does anyone have any idea what this means? It was not one of the blue signs with yellow numbers, which the Blueberry Hill Ski Touring Center uses to mark its trails. Nor was it one of the far more polished numerical signs which grace the shores of Silver Lake, which I assume accompany a pamphlet which I have never seen, probably with a name like "Groovy Trees of Silver Lake". Maybe the Number 9 was referring to one of my favorite summer microbrews? I doubt it!
5. There are a few well placed marble blocks on the shoreline of Silver Lake. I have never noticed these before, and I can only assume that these remain from the old Silver Lake Hotel. If you would like to learn more about this long gone hotel, you should purchase "Leicester Vermont's Silver Lake — Beyond the Myths" By William Powers. You can find it on Amazon, or at the Sheldon Museum!
I am going to finish with a few observations I have made associated with management of this blog, as I have learned a few interesting things about how the internet really works through the use of WordPress (the software I use for this blog) analytics.
1. About 90% of the information transferred on the web is total spam. We are all familiar with the junk mail that fills our inboxes, but the amount that assaults this blog, in an attempt to post links leading to god knows where when clicked, blows my mind. I probably see 10,000 spam messages for every real reader response. Fortunately, the brilliant software which the WordPress programmers have added to the blogging software is ruthlessly efficient at blocking this, so it only takes me a few moments each week to delete, and it never clogs up the blog comments. For some reason, spam touting the wonders of Luis Vuitton handbags, and Adam and Eve sex toys seem to be the worst offenders. I have also noticed that every time I mention my Garmin GPS watch, I get inundated with Garmin spam for a week or two. Yes, the web is dominated by spam bots!
2. One of my very first posts, describing a run I did in Bristol entitled "Things to do in Bristol when you are bored" seems to get a lot of hits due to people Googling the terms "bored in Bristol". For the life of me, I cannot figure out why almost every day, one or two people somewhere in the world google "bored in Bristol" and end up on my blog. I have googled these terms, and seen nothing of note. I wondered at one point if my mischievous teenage daughter was messing with me, but she claims innocence.
When I first posted this run, I also mentioned the ready availability of creemees and other frozen treats at the Kampersville Deli. Alas, this summer attraction is also closed for the season, but its whiteboard price list is still inviting. I wonder if the price list will still be there in the spring?
So now, I have to ask my readers (both of you?)- Do you know of any good treasure troves for trail traversing which I (we) might explore at some point? I have a few good ideas of new places in the vicinity to explore, but am always looking for some new suggestions. Feel free to respond with any of your inspirations!
Cheers, and hope to see you at post #200


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Curd Semiya / Thayir Semiya is one of the most favourite side dish or dessert at my home specially in Summer. Just love to relish it chilled. Actually , you don't need anything to serve with this . You can serve as dessert or side dish.
Cooked Vermicelli is added into chilled curd and later have to temper it. Serve after at least an hour. Taaddaaa, a super yummy , soul satisfying dish is ready.
Hot Burning Summer afternoon , don't ask for full , heavy spread. Such delicious chilled Curd Semiya bowl will satisfy your soul and tummy too 😍😍😍. It's a hot favourite dish in Summer ,specially in South region of India.
Thayir Semiya is a great alternative of Curd Rice. Like Curd rice , there are many variation for this Curd Semiya too ..
Variations :::
- One can add grated Carrots ..
- Adding Pomegranate is purely optional.
- We , at home also add finely chopped Apples and chopped green grapes. This fruit loaded semiya also tastes amazing.
- One can add little Milk too to adjust the consistency. But if serving immediately , add only curd.
- Semiya will absorb the curd and will be thicken with time.
- It taste best when serve chilled.
- Always add salt only at times of serving, this way curd will not turn sour.
Checkout the Video recipe for Curd Semiya here..
So now let's see the detailed recipe..
- 1 cup Vermicelli / Semiya
- 1 cup Chilled curd
- 3 to 4 tbsp Milk (Optional)
- Few drops Ghee
- Pomegranate, to garnish
- Salt to taste
For Temper:
- 1 tsp Oil
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp Urad Dal
- 4 to 5 Cashew, broken
- Some Curry Leaves
First , we will cook the Vermicelli. For that boil 3 to 4 cup water. Once it starts boiling add Vermicelli , some salt and few drops of ghee . Ghee will help to keep semiya non sticky ..
Let it cook for few mins. Cook until semiya becomes soft.Drain water and set aside to cool down completely. Add half cup water to stop further cooking of semiya..
Fluff it with a fork when it is still warm else it will become very sticky.
In a wide mixing take cooked semiya, add whisked curd, Milk (optional). Give good Mix.
Heat oil in pan and add Urad Dal, Mustard seeds , chopped Cashews … When it's all properly done , add some curry leaves and asafoetida… Now add this temper on curd semiya.
Keep this curd semiya in freeze until you serve. Add salt at time of serving only.
I made this curd semiya as my entry to #VermicelliManiaAtHW at Healthy Wellthy Cuisins group where this time theme was Vermicelli.
One can checkout the brilliant entries by fellow bloggers..
- Vermicelli Kheer by Poonam
- Namkeen Jave by Swaty
- Semia Payasam by Seema
- One Pot Vermicelli Pulao by Vanitha Bhat
- Vermicelli Cups with Shrikand by Shalu
- Ragi Vermicelli Upma by Veena
- Turmeric Vermicelli Soup by Sasmita
- Tomato Garlic Sevai by Geetanjali
Do try this recipe , and don't forget to share your feedback with me..
Kindly rate the recipe and give your feedback in the comment box below..
Stay connected with me on following social medias….
Follow blog , YouTube Channel , FaceBook Page , Instagram, Pinterest , Twitter
Happy Cooking 🙂 🙂


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Just announced for a Christmas Day, 2013 release last week, Platinum Dunes' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to feature a very non-traditional origin for its reptilian heroes. In fact, producer Michael Bay hints that the turtles may not be mutants at all.
Word arrives via Stuff We Like and a video of Bay speaking at last week's Nickelodeon Upfront in New York where he states:
"When you see this movie, kids are going to believe, one day, that these turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable."
To be directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will feature a script from Josh Appelbaum, Andrew Nemec, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway and John Fusco.
The franchise, which began as a black and white comic book series in 1984, rose to tremendous popularity when it became an animated series in 1987. Following the first live-action film in 1990, the series spawned two live-action sequels, a live-action television series, a second animated series and a CGI feature film.


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BENNETT v. KENTUCKY DEPT. OF EDUCATION(1985)
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, provided for federal grants to States to support compensatory education programs for disadvantaged children upon the States' assurances that the grants would be used only for eligible programs under Title I. At the time of the grants involved in this case, both the statute and its implementing regulations required that Title I funds be used to supplement, not to supplant, state and local expenditures for education. Federal auditors found that Kentucky had approved Title I programs for fiscal year 1974 - involving "readiness classes" offered by some local education agencies for educationally disadvantaged children in place of regular first-and second-grade classes - that violated the prohibitions on supplanting state and local expenditures. Administrative proceedings ultimately resulted in a determination by the Secretary of Education (Secretary) that supplanting had occurred, and the Secretary demanded repayment from the State of the misused Title I funds. In reviewing the administrative order, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that the Secretary's interpretation of the supplanting prohibitions was reasonable and would govern subsequent grants, but concluded that it would be unfair to assess a penalty against Kentucky since there was no evidence of bad faith and the disputed programs complied with a reasonable interpretation of the law.
The Secretary properly determined that Kentucky violated its assurances of compliance with Title I requirements by approving the "readiness classes" and thereby misused Title I funds. Pp. 662-674.
O'CONNOR, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C. J., and BRENNAN, MARSHALL, REHNQUIST, and STEVENS, JJ., joined, and in Parts I, II, IV, and V of which WHITE and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined. POWELL, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Deputy Solicitor General Geller argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Solicitor General Lee and Harriet S. Shapiro.
Robert L. Chenoweth, Assistant Deputy Attorney General of Kentucky, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief was David L. Armstrong, Attorney General. *
[ Footnote * ] Fred H. Fishman, Robert H. Kapp, Norman Redlich, William L. Robinson, and Norman J. Chachkin filed a brief for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the State of Texas et al. by Richard L. Arnett, Jim Mattox, Attorney General of Texas, David Richards, Executive Assistant Attorney General, J. Patrick Wiseman, Assistant Attorney General, Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General of Iowa, Stephen H. Sachs, Attorney General of Maryland, Paul L. Douglas, Attorney General of Nebraska, Brian McKay, Attorney General of Nevada, William E. Isaeff, Chief Deputy Attorney General, and L. Duane Woodard, Attorney General of Colorado; and for the National Association of Counties et al. by Joyce Holmes Benjamin and Stewart A. Baker.
JUSTICE O'CONNOR delivered the opinion of the Court.Fn
This case, like Bennett v. New Jersey, ante, p. 632, concerns an effort by the Federal Government to recover Title I funds that were allegedly misused by a State. There is no contention here that changes in statutory provisions should apply to previous grants. Instead, the dispute is whether the Secretary correctly demanded repayment based on a determination that Kentucky violated requirements that Title I funds be used to supplement, and not to supplant, state and local expenditures for education. Although the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found that the Secretary's determination was based on a reasonable interpretation [470 U.S. 656, 659] of Title I and its implementing regulations, the court nonetheless excused the State from repayment on the grounds that there was no evidence of bad faith and the State's programs complied with a reasonable interpretation of the law. Kentucky v. Secretary of Education, 717 F.2d 943, 948 (1983). We granted certiorari, 469 U.S. 814 (1984), and because we disagree with the standard adopted by the Court of Appeals, we reverse.
As explained more fully in Bennett v. New Jersey, ante, at 634-636, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27, as amended, 20 U.S.C. 2701 et seq., provided federal grants to support compensatory education programs for disadvantaged children. In order to assure that federal funds would be used to support additional services that would not otherwise be available, the Title I program from the outset prohibited the use of federal grants merely to replace state and local expenditures. This prohibition initially was contained in regulations, see 45 CFR 116.17(f) (1966); 45 CFR 116.17(h) (1968), and explained in a program guide distributed to state education agencies. Office of Education, Title I Program Guide No. 44, §§ 4.1, 7.1 (1968). Despite the regulations, the Office of Education 1 received public complaints that Title I funds were being used to replace state and local funds that otherwise would have been spent for participating children. See S. Rep. No. 91-634, pp. 9-10 (1970). Congress responded by amending Title I in 1970 to add a provision that specifically prohibited supplanting. Id., at 9-10, 14-15. [470 U.S. 656, 660] That provision, in effect when the grants involved in this case were made, required that Title I funds be used
Kentucky sought further administrative review. The Education Appeal Board (Board), after extensive proceedings, issued an initial decision in 1981 sustaining the auditors' findings. App. to Pet. for Cert. 17a-32a. The Board rejected the State's argument that the supplanting provisions were satisfied because state and local funding was not reduced for the school districts, schools, or grade levels involved. Id., at 24a. The statutory and regulatory provisions, the Board concluded, clearly required that state and local expenditures be maintained for pupils participating in programs supported by Title I. Id., at 24a-25a. On remand from the Secretary, id., at 33a-35a, the Board reaffirmed its initial decision. Id., at 36a-37a. The Secretary subsequently affirmed the Board's finding that supplanting had occurred, but reduced the demanded repayment to [470 U.S. 656, 662] $338,034 to reflect the benefits presumed to result from smaller pupil-teacher ratios in the readiness classes. Id., at 38a-42a.
In reviewing the final order demanding repayment, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that the Secretary's interpretation of the supplanting prohibition was reasonable and would govern subsequent grants. 717 F.2d, at 946-947, 948. Nonetheless, the court concluded that Kentucky was not liable for misusing Title I funds during fiscal year 1974. The Court of Appeals viewed the issue to be "the fairness of imposing sanctions upon the Commonwealth of Kentucky for its `failure to substantially comply' with the requirements [of Title I]." Id., at 947, quoting 20 U.S.C. 1234b(a), 1234c(a). The statute and regulations concerning supplanting, the court maintained, were not "unambiguous." 717 F.2d, at 948. Moreover, Congress specifically gave state and local officials discretion to develop particular programs to be supported by Title I funds. Ibid. In these circumstances, the Court of Appeals concluded that it would be unfair to assess a penalty against Kentucky where there was no evidence of bad faith and the disputed programs complied with a reasonable interpretation of the law. Ibid. Relying on Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 451 U.S. 1, 17 (1981), the court further reasoned that the State did not accept Title I funds with "knowing acceptance" of the condition the Secretary now seeks to impose, and therefore the Federal Government was not justified in demanding repayment. 717 F.2d, at 950.
We note initially that the Court of Appeals erred in characterizing the issue to be the fairness of imposing sanctions against the State for its failure to comply substantially with the requirements of Title I. Although recovery of misused Title I funds clearly is intended to promote compliance with the requirements of the grant program, a demand for repayment [470 U.S. 656, 663] is more in the nature of an effort to collect upon a debt than a penal sanction. See Bell v. New Jersey, 461 U.S. 773, 782 (1983). The State gave certain assurances as a condition for receiving the federal funds, and if those assurances were not complied with, the Federal Government is entitled to recover amounts spent contrary to the terms of the grant agreement. Id., at 791. More specifically, the State gave assurances that Title I funds would be used only for programs which had been reviewed and approved by the state education agency and which met applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. 20 U.S.C. 241f(a)(1) (1976 ed.). The issue in this case is not the fairness of imposing punitive measures, but instead whether the Secretary properly determined that Kentucky failed to fulfill its assurances by approving programs that violated the requirements of Title I.
Because of the nature of the obligation to repay misused funds, we also disagree with the suggestion by the court below that substantial compliance with applicable legal requirements affects liability. The Court of Appeals relied on provisions which authorize the Secretary, pursuant to specified procedures, to withhold funds or to issue cease-and-desist orders if a recipient fails to comply substantially with the law. 20 U.S.C. 1234b(a), 1234c(a). Cf. 2836 (specific authority to withhold Title I funds). These references to substantial compliance in provisions governing prospective relief do not by their own terms apply to the recovery of misused funds. Cf. 1234a(c) (filing of application by recipient for review of audit determination does not affect authority of Secretary to take other adverse actions); 124 Cong. Rec. 20612 (1978) (remarks of Rep. Corrada) (noting that post-audit recovery and withholding are distinct enforcement mechanisms). Other provisions that address the Secretary's authority to demand repayment do not limit liability to instances where there is failure to comply substantially with grant obligations. See 1226a-1, 1234a, 2835(b). This silence cannot be ascribed to legislative inattention to the [470 U.S. 656, 664] details concerning recovery of misused funds. Congress specifically limited liability for repayment to expenditures made in the five years preceding the final written notice of liability and also authorized the Secretary, in certain circumstances, to settle claims involving less than $50,000. 1234a(f), 1234a(g). Given the detailed provisions concerning audit determinations contained in 1234a, we do not believe that Congress intended impliedly to engraft upon that section the "substantial compliance" standard expressly stated in 1234b and 1234c for prospective relief. 2
Nor do we think that the absence of bad faith absolves a State from liability if funds were in fact spent contrary to the terms of the grant agreement. In Bell v. New Jersey we explained that where a State obtains grants by providing assurances that the funds will be used on programs that comply with Title I, the State has no right to retain funds that are in fact misused. 461 U.S., at 787 , 790-791. See also S. Rep. No. 91-634, at 10, 84 (assurances must be enforced and misused funds recovered). Our discussion in no way suggested that the "misuse" of Title I funds depended on any subjective intent attributable to grant recipients. Instead, Bell v. New Jersey indicates that funds were misused if the State did not fulfill its assurances that it would [470 U.S. 656, 665] abide by the conditions of Title I. 461 U.S., at 790 -791. Provisions of the 1978 Amendments clarifying the Secretary's right to recover misused funds also do not condition that right on a recipient's bad faith. Indeed, Congress expressly placed on the grantees the burden of "demonstrat[ing] the allowability of [disputed] expenditures" in proceedings before the Education Appeal Board. 20 U.S.C. 1234a(b). There is no indication that grantees may avoid repayment by showing that improper expenditures were made in good faith. 3
Finally, we do not agree that Pennhurst State School and Hospital v. Halderman, 451 U.S. 1 (1981), bars recovery of misused Title I funds because the State did not accept the grant with "knowing acceptance" of its terms. In Pennhurst, we rejected the argument that acceptance of federal grants under the Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 6000 et seq., required States to provide mentally handicapped persons with appropriate treatment in the least restrictive environment. Such a requirement, we noted, would have imposed a "massive" and "largely indeterminate" financial obligation on the States. 451 U.S., at 24 . We observed: "Congress must express clearly its intent to impose conditions on the grant of federal funds so that the States can knowingly decide whether or [470 U.S. 656, 666] not to accept those funds." Ibid. The requisite clarity in this case is provided by Title I; States that chose to participate in the program agreed to abide by the requirements of Title I as a condition for receiving funds. Bell v. New Jersey, 461 U.S., at 790 , and n. 17. There was no ambiguity with respect to this condition, and Pennhurst does not suggest that the Federal Government may recover misused federal funds only if every improper expenditure has been specifically identified and proscribed in advance.
In reviewing a determination by the Secretary that a State has misused Title I funds, a court should consider whether the findings are supported by substantial evidence and reflect an application of the proper legal standards. Bennett v. New Jersey, ante, at 646; Bell v. New Jersey, supra, at 792. The disagreement in this case concerns whether the Secretary properly determined that the readiness programs approved by Kentucky violated assurances that Title I funds would be used to supplement state and local expenditures. The Government argues that a reviewing court should simply defer to the Secretary's interpretation of the requirements of Title I so long as it is reasonable. Without disputing the reasonableness of the interpretation advanced by the Secretary, Kentucky contends that because the grant program was in the nature of a contract, any ambiguities with respect to the obligations of the State must be resolved against the party who drafted the agreement, i. e., the Federal Government. Thus, the parties dispute the fundamental nature of the obligations assumed under Title I: the Government suggests that the State guaranteed that the use of the funds would satisfy whatever interpretation of the program requirements the Secretary might reasonably adopt; the State argues that liability for the misuse of funds results only if grants were spent in violation of an unambiguous requirement. [470 U.S. 656, 667]
The contentions of the parties can be properly evaluated only against the background of the actual operation of Title I. The grant program provided federal aid for compensatory education for disadvantaged children, but expressly left the selection and development of particular projects to local control. State education agencies approved program applications and monitored compliance by local school districts, obtained funds from the Federal Government, and subsequently channeled the money back to the local level. Thus, the States essentially served as conduits for what became a massive flow of federal funds. Title I grew from an annual appropriation of $959 million in 1966 to more than $3 billion by 1981, and assisted compensatory education programs in every State and in more than 14,000 school districts. See 2 U.S. Dept. of Education, Fiscal Year 1981 Annual Evaluation Report 3 (1981); National Institute of Education, Administration of Compensatory Education xiii (1977) (hereinafter NIE Report). During the period involved in this case, fiscal year 1974, Kentucky received more than $32 million in Title I funds. App. 11.
Although Congress in 1965 articulated the general goals of Title I, the statute and the initial regulations did not precisely outline the permissible means for implementing those goals. Uncertainty in this regard was compounded by the fact that during the first years following the passage of Title I, the Office of Education did not vigorously enforce the requirements of the program. See L. McDonnell & M. McLaughlin, Education Policy and the Role of the States 13, 90-91 (1982); Murphy, Title I of ESEA: The Politics of Implementing Federal Education Reform, 41 Harv. Ed. Rev. 35, 41-45 (1971). In 1970, Congress acknowledged that funds had been misused because of weaknesses in administration, and directed the Office of Education to strengthen its monitoring of the program requirements. S. Rep. No. 91-634, at 8-10. Management of Title I by the Office of Education improved during the 1970's, but problems in clarifying the [470 U.S. 656, 668] program requirements remained. See J. Berke & M. Kirst, Federal Aid to Education: Who Benefits? Who Governs? 377-378 (1972). Congress in 1974 directed the NIE to conduct a comprehensive 3-year study of federal compensatory education programs, including Title I. Pub. L. 93-380, 821, 88 Stat. 599.
The NIE study was the primary impetus for the Education Amendments of 1978. In considering those Amendments, Congress noted evidence that the Office of Education was "implementing administrative requirements in a manner which is neither clear nor consistent, and that this inconsistency is confusing States and local education agencies about their obligations." H. R. Rep. No. 95-1137, p. 49, (1978); S. Rep. No. 95-856, p. 27 (1978). This confusion, Congress observed, resulted in part from the diffuse legal framework for Title I. In addition to the statutory provisions and the regulations, the Office of Education sent program guides to state education agencies explaining the requirements and their application to particular situations. Id., at 34; H. R. Rep. No. 95-1137, at 55. Office of Education Program Review teams visited local Title I projects and provided advice, and the Office also sent interpretative letters in response to state and local inquiries. NIE Report 18, 27; Office of Education, Title I Program Guide No. 24 (1968) (compilation of interpretative letters).
Congress accepted the NIE's conclusion that many of the questions concerning the requirements of Title I would be resolved if the various materials prepared by the Office of Education were "assembled, summarized, and interrelated." S. Rep. No. 95-856, at 34; H. R. Rep. No. 95-1137, at 55. Accordingly, the 1978 Amendments directed the agency to prepare a policy manual compiling the applicable statutes, regulations, advisory opinions, and other materials. 20 U.S.C. 2837. Congress indicated that such a manual would help to "ensure that federal officials uniformly interpret, apply, and enforce Title I requirements throughout [470 U.S. 656, 669] the country." S. Rep. No. 95-856, at 138; H. R. Rep. No. 95-1137, at 161. The NIE study and the extensive review of Title I's administration by Congress indicate that the requirements of the program, while not always clear, evolved and became more specific over time and were explained in materials beyond the statute and its implementing regulations.
Although we agree with the State that Title I grant agreements had a contractual aspect, see Bennett v. New Jersey, ante, at 638, the program cannot be viewed in the same manner as a bilateral contract governing a discrete transaction. Cf. United States v. Seckinger, 397 U.S. 203, 210 (1970) ("[A] contract should be construed most strongly against the drafter, which in this case was the United States"). Unlike normal contractual undertakings, federal grant programs originate in and remain governed by statutory provisions expressing the judgment of Congress concerning desirable public policy. See R. Cappalli, Rights and Remedies Under Federal Grants 53-55 (1979). Title I, for example, involved multiple levels of government in a cooperative effort to use federal funds to support compensatory education for disadvantaged children. The Federal Government established general guidelines for the allocation and use of funds, and the States agreed to follow those guidelines in approving and monitoring specific projects developed and operated at the local level. Given the structure of the grant program, the Federal Government simply could not prospectively resolve every possible ambiguity concerning particular applications of the requirements of Title I. Cf. Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc., 467 U.S. 51, 64 (1984). Moreover, the fact that Title I was an ongoing, cooperative program meant that grant recipients had an opportunity to seek clarification of the program requirements. Accordingly, we do not believe that ambiguities in the requirements should invariably be resolved against the Federal Government as the drafter of the grant agreement. [470 U.S. 656, 670]
We find it unnecessary here to adopt the Government's suggestion that the Secretary may rely on any reasonable interpretation of the requirements of Title I to determine that previous expenditures violated the grant conditions. Our review of the operation of Title I explains how the States assumed an intermediary role in monitoring compliance with requirements that were not always clear. In this particular context, we are reluctant to conclude that the States guaranteed that their performance under the grant agreements would satisfy whatever interpretation of the terms might later be adopted by the Secretary, so long as that interpretation is not "arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to [Title I]." Chevron U.S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 844 (1984). As we noted in Bennett v. New Jersey, ante, at 639, 646, the State agreed to comply with, and its liability is determined by, the legal requirements in place when the grants were made. Consequently, in evaluating past expenditures, the Secretary's interpretation of the requirements of Title I should be informed by the statutory provisions, regulations, and other guidelines provided by the Department at that time. As explained infra, we have no occasion in this case to address the circumstances, if any, in which the Secretary could impose liability for expenditures made in reliance upon an earlier interpretation provided by the Department, cf. Bell v. New Jersey, 461 U.S., at 794 (WHITE, J., concurring), or to decide if a State may be held liable where its interpretation of an ambiguous requirement is more reasonable than an interpretation advanced by the Secretary after the grants were made.
We agree with the Secretary that the readiness classes approved by Kentucky clearly violated existing statutory and regulatory provisions that prohibited supplanting. It is undisputed that Title I funds were used to pay substantially all [470 U.S. 656, 671] the costs for the basic education of students in the readiness classes. Absent these classes funded by Title I, the participating students would have received instruction in regular classes supported by state and local funds. Both the statutory provision and the implementing regulations expressly required that Title I funds not be used to supplant state and local funds for the pupils participating in Title I programs. The statute declared that Title I funds must be used "to supplement . . . the level of funds that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be made available from non-Federal sources for the education of pupils participating in programs and projects assisted under this subchapter, and . . . in no case, . . . to supplant such funds from non-Federal sources." 20 U.S.C. 241e(a)(3)(B) (1970 ed.). The applicable regulation similarly provided: "Federal funds made available . . . will be used to supplement, and to the extent practical increase, the level of State and local funds that would . . . be made available for the education of pupils participating in that project [and] will not be used to supplant State and local funds available for the education of such pupils." 45 CFR 116.17(h) (1974).
Based on the language of the statute and the regulation, we cannot agree that there was an ambiguity whether the supplanting prohibition would be satisfied if state and local funding was maintained at the level of the school district, school, or grade. Separate statutory provisions required that state and local spending not be reduced at the level of school districts, 20 U.S.C. 241g(c)(2) (1970 ed.); 45 CFR 116.45 (1974), or individual schools. 20 U.S.C. 241e(a) (3)(C) (1970 ed.); 45 CFR 116.26 (1974). See generally NIE Report 9-10 (explaining relationship of various provisions). Although funding was maintained at the level of particular grades, because Title I students were placed in separate classes supported by federal funds, the consequence was to increase per-pupil state and local expenditures for [470 U.S. 656, 672] students who remained in regular first- and second-grade classes. No plausible reading of the statute or regulations suggests that this result comports with the prohibitions on supplanting. As noted by the Board, if the State was uncertain on this point, it could have sought clarification from the Office of Education. App. to Pet. for Cert. 27a. In fact, the grant applications approved by the State expressly required the local school districts to explain:
We note, finally, that the possibility that application of the supplanting provisions might be unclear in other contexts does not affect our resolution of this case. Congress, in considering the 1978 Amendments, observed that the supplanting regulations had been applied in an unclear and inconsistent manner. See H. R. Rep. No. 95-1137, at 29, 49; S. Rep. No. 95-856, at 15, 27. This situation resulted in part from debate within the Office of Education concerning the desirability and practicality of measuring supplanting at the level of expenditures upon individual students. See NIE Report 29-38. Difficult questions of interpretation may well arise in determining if a particular program violated the supplanting provisions, and we do not suggest that the prior position of the Department is irrelevant in this regard. We conclude, however, that the programs approved by Kentucky for fiscal year 1974 clearly violated then-existing requirements for Title I, and therefore neither ambiguity in the application of those requirements to other situations nor the policy debates that later arose within the Office of Education avail the State here. 5
We hold that the Secretary properly determined that Kentucky violated its assurances by approving the readiness [470 U.S. 656, 674] classes and thereby misused funds received under Title I. Before the Court of Appeals, Kentucky also challenged the calculation of the amount to be repaid. The Court of Appeals did not address this argument, 717 F.2d, at 950, and the State may renew its contentions in this regard on remand. Accordingly, the judgment below is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Fn [470 U.S. 656, 658] JUSTICE WHITE and JUSTICE BLACKMUN join only Parts I, II, IV, and V of this opinion.
[ Footnote 2 ] In Bell v. New Jersey we held that provisions in the 1978 Amendments expressly authorizing judicial review of final decisions by the Secretary or the Board applied retroactively. 461 U.S., at 777 -778, and n. 3. We declined to decide, however, whether the provisions allowing the Secretary to recover misused funds were also retroactive, id., at 782, because we held that 415 of the General Education Provisions Act, Pub. L. 91-230, 84 Stat. 170, 20 U.S.C. 1226a-1, created a right to impose liability on the States. 461 U.S., at 784 , 791. Neither the language of 415 nor Bell v. New Jersey suggests that the Secretary's right to recover is affected by a recipient's substantial compliance with the law. Given our conclusion that the references to substantial compliance in 1234b and 1234c do not limit the right to repayment provided in 1234a, we need not decide whether the latter section is remedial, rather than substantive, and thus retroactive. Cf. Bennett v. New Jersey, ante, at 637 (substantive standards of 1978 Amendments are not retroactive).
[ Footnote 3 ] Although the view of a later Congress does not definitively establish the meaning of an earlier enactment, it does have some persuasive value. Bell v. New Jersey, 461 U.S., at 784 -785. Accordingly, we note that Congress has rejected a proposal to amend the audit provisions to add a substantial compliance standard. See 130 Cong. Rec. H7902-H7903 (July 26, 1984) ( 808(a) of H. R. 11); id., at H10756 (Oct. 2, 1984) (deletion of 808(a) in conference). Similarly, when a proposal to excuse liability for funds misused before 1978 was debated and ultimately defeated on a point of order, Members of Congress noted that the Department had sought repayment notwithstanding the absence of bad faith or fraud on the part of recipients. See 127 Cong. Rec. 10644 (1981) (remarks of Sen. Thurmond); id., at 10646 (remarks of Sen. Stennis). These actions suggest that later Congress understood that liability is not conditioned on substantial compliance or bad faith.
[ Footnote 4 ] At oral argument before the Board, the State argued that some "measure of estoppel" should operate against the Department and moved to reopen the record to present additional evidence. The Board ruled that estoppel would not apply absent affirmative misconduct by the Government, and because Kentucky had not alleged such misconduct, it declined to reopen the record. App. to Pet. for Cert. 28a. The Court of Appeals did not discuss estoppel arguments, and Kentucky acknowledged before this Court that it was not making any estoppel claim. Tr. of Oral Arg. 39, 43. Accordingly, we do not address the application of the defense of estoppel. Cf. Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford County, Inc., 467 U.S. 51, 60 (1984) (reserving issue of assertion by private party of estoppel against Government).
[ Footnote 5 ] Because the disputed expenditures violated a substantive requirement concerning the use of Title I funds, we do not address in this case whether the Secretary could demand repayment for no more than a technical violation of a grant agreement. Cf. Bell v. New Jersey, 461 U.S., at 794 (WHITE, J., concurring). [470 U.S. 656, 675]