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The abandoned property dilemma
A reader bought a box at a local flea market and was enchanted to find that it contained letters — more than 100 letters — written during World War II by a Seabee to his girlfriend.
The Seabee made it home safely after the war, and the girl he was writing to later became his wife. They lived locally for the rest of their lives, and the reader was able to find their obituaries. So the letters can't be returned… but could they be published?
At the same flea market, the reader also found old ledgers from a no-longer-active Rebekah chapter. (Rebekahs are the women's arm of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.1) The ledgers have significant local historical interest, listing people and information who were active in the community, and maybe the local historical society would be able to make good use of them.
Both of these finds, as exciting as they were, raised tough questions in the mind of the reader, who puzzled over them and then tossed them over to The Legal Genealogist:
I was wondering what sort of laws might come into play if these (letters) were published. …
I was considering perhaps donating (the journals) to the historical society but … was asked if I would sign something that I had legal rights to them, knew where they came from, etc. etc.. There was not an option to say 'bought them at a flea market'… Therefore they are still sitting in a box in my basement.
So the question is really as you find things that reflect ancestors that are not your own are there restrictions on their use?
The simple answer here is yes, there are restrictions. That doesn't mean you can't make any use of the materials, but it does mean that you'll need to think through the pluses and minuses, the benefits and the risks, of the uses you have in mind.
Copyright basics
Let's go over some basics first.
First and foremost, we need to remember what's eligible for copyright protection and what isn't. Copyright law protects "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression."2 That definition doesn't include "facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed."3
Second, we need to understand that owning specific physical items — those letters, the Rebekah chapter journals — is entirely separate and apart from owning any copyright there may be in the items. The U.S. Copyright Office explains that:
Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyright. The law provides that transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyright.4
Clearly, the reader here is the legal owner of these items. They were bought, fair and square, after being given away or sold or somehow abandoned. But owning the items themselves doesn't affect ownership of the copyright.
Third, the fact that the Seabee's family or the Rebekah chapter let these things end up at a flea market doesn't have any effect on the copyright protection they get. Because ownership of the thing is separate from ownership of the copyright, abandoning the thing doesn't mean abandonment of the copyright. The law on this couldn't be clearer:
"In copyright, waiver or abandonment of copyright 'occurs only if there is an intent by the copyright proprietor to surrender rights in his work.'" A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004, 1026 (9th Cir. 2001)…. Abandonment of a copyright "must be manifested by some overt act indicative of a purpose to surrender the rights and allow the public to copy." Hampton v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 279 F.2d 100, 104 (9th Cir. 1960).5
So the issue here on both of these items really is a garden-variety copyright issue. Were the letters and the journals ever copyrighted? If they were, are they still copyrighted today? If they are, then who owns the copyright?
The letters
Copyright as to the letters is an easy question. Because they were "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression,"6 and because the letters were never published, the letter writer had full copyright protection on them. Under the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act as amended to today,
Works originally created before January 1, 1978, but not published or registered by that date… have been automatically brought under the statute and are now given federal copyright protection.7
Copyright in unpublished works lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator.8 Now basic math is not my strong point, but even I can subtract 70 from 2012: for those letters to be out of copyright, the Seabee would have had to die in 1942. Since that didn't happen, those letters are still protected.
So you have two choices. One is to use only the smallest portions of the letters that might qualify under what's called the fair use doctrine. That's set out in federal law at 17 U.S.C. § 107, which provides that:
the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means …, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include –
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Chances are, you'd be okay if you published bits and pieces. In reality, if the family thought so little of these letters that they let them go at a flea market, chances are you'd be okay if you published them all. (I'm not suggesting that, just commenting on the realities of the situation.)
But there is, of course, a better way:
Ask for permission.
Sounds easy, until you start wondering who you would have to ask. "Ownership of a copyright . . . may be bequeathed by will or pass as personal property by the applicable laws of intestate succession."9 That means, simply, that whoever has the rights to the Seabee's estate owns the copyright to those letters too.
The possibilities are:
• The Seabee left a will, left his personal property to someone in particular, and that someone is still alive. That person is the copyright owner and his or her permission is all you need.
• The Seabee left a will, left his personal property to someone in particular, and that someone isn't alive today. You'd need to find out who that person's estate went to — by will or by intestacy — because the copyright would have been part of that estate.
• The Seabee didn't leave a will, so his estate went to his heirs-at-law under the laws of your state. That means, of course, you'll need to figure out who his heirs-at-law were. If he outlived his wife, you only need to trace his side. But if he died first, and state law gave part of his estate to his widow and part to his heirs, you may need to trace both sides.
But hey… we're genealogists, right? We should be able to find the heirs… and it might be fun to try.
The Rebekah journals
The Rebekah journals are a bit more problematic. The hitch here is that they may not qualify for copyright protection at all. Again, you only get copyright protection on something if it has some basic element of originality or creativity. A journal that simply lists dates and places and memberships — in other words, a recitation of facts — may well not qualify for copyright protection.
But if the journals do have some prose descriptions, some even small creative spark, you're better off erring on the side of caution and assuming that they were copyright-protected as unpublished documents just as those letters were.
And you'd be well advised to treat them as works of corporate authorship, and that means they're protected for 120 years after the records were created.
Now you can still use any of the facts from these journals without having to try to find anybody that you can ask for permission. Facts, again, can't be copyrighted. It's only if you wanted to copy whole segments of the journals or make digital images and the like that you'd need to worry about asking anybody.
What makes them a little easier than the letters, though, is that there is somebody who's easy to find to ask for permission: the national Rebekahs. The national organization is the natural successor in legal interest to the local chapter, and there's a Contact Us link at the top of the website for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Bottom line
It's always a good idea to stop and think about copyrights and usage permissions any time you come across original works by a third party. Though using portions of both of these types of records should be safe, it's safer still to follow that simple rule:
Ask for permission.
And at least we, as genealogists, are better-equipped than most researchers to find the people we'd need to ask!
- See "Rebekahs," IOOF (http://ioof.org : accessed 2 Dec 2012). ↩
- 17 U.S.C. § 102(a). ↩
- U.S. Copyright Office, "Copyright in General: What does copyright protect?," Copyright.gov (http://www.copyright.gov : accessed 2 Dec 2012). ↩
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 1: Copyright Basics, PDF version at p. 2 (http://www.copyright.gov : accessed 2 Dec 2012.) ↩
- Melchizedek v. Holt, 792 F. Supp. 2d 1042, 1051 (D. Ariz. 2011). ↩
- 17 U.S.C. § 102(a). ↩
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 1: Copyright Basics, PDF version at p. 5. ↩
- For a chart outlining the basics of copyright duration, see Judy G. Russell, "Copyright and the old family photo," The Legal Genealogist, posted 6 Mar 2012 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 1 Dec 2012). ↩
- 17 U.S.C. § 202(d)(1). ↩


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Sylva town board to appoint Graham's replacement
The Sylva town board is in for another shakeup. The board will vote at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 1, to appoint a replacement for Sarah Graham, who had to step down from her position because she and her family have moved outside the town limits.
It's the second time in less than a year that Sylva's board has had to vote on an appointment. Mayor Maurice Moody vacated his commissioner's seat after the November municipal election.
Harold Henson, who lost his board seat to Danny Allen, was bypassed for the appointment when the remaining members tapped Chris Matheson for the seat Moody left.
Now Matheson, Allen, Stacy Knotts, and Ray Lewis will have to vote to fill Graham's vacant seat. As with the November appointment, the newest town board member could provide a decisive third vote on key issues.

subset: commoncrawl


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The fact that this looks like a Diesel is only a red herring. In truth, it's a submersible, Infrared spy watch from your Ethan Hunt fantasies.
Deadly Mississippi Tornado Kills More Than 2 Dozen | Extreme Earth
The IR Night Vision Waterproof DVR Spy Watch does just what it says, recording 30FPS, 1080p video with audio to its 4GB internal memory for playback on HD TV's and monitors. 4 IR LED's allow you to surveil in low light conditions and its water-resistant construction captures images in up to 3 meters of water. Unfortunately, video capture is limited to a mere 5 meters, you've got to be within 2 meters to get audio, and tailing people while pointing your watch at them isn't exactly subtle. [via EtronixMart]


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Bahrain's Unsettling Standoff
The country's instability should not be viewed as a simple push for democratic reforms, and the outcome has implications for Iran's role in the region, says CFR's Ed Husain.
April 27, 2012 9:50 am (EST)
- Interview
- To help readers better understand the nuances of foreign policy, CFR staff writers and Consulting Editor Bernard Gwertzman conduct in-depth interviews with a wide range of international experts, as well as newsmakers.
Bahrain has been in political turmoil since February 2011, shortly after the start of pro-democracy uprisings in other Arab countries. But Ed Husain, a Middle East expert for CFR, says the situation in Bahrain is more complicated than "just a straightforward demand for democracy." The monarchy of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Husain says, is willing to open a dialogue for changes sought by Shiites, who make up a majority of the population. But the protestors--led by Ayatollah Isa Qassem, a supporter of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini--are refusing dialogue and using violence to try to unseat the government, Husain says, which would only strengthen Iranian influence in the region, and would be met with opposition from Saudi Arabia. "If it is democracy the protestors want, then that can only be achieved by returning to the negotiating table and seeking a political settlement," Husain says.
You've just come back from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. In Bahrain, there has been considerable controversy over the long-simmering dispute between the Shiites and the ruling government of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. What's the situation on the ground?
More on:
The situation on the ground is one that's radically different from the predominant narrative here in the West about Bahrain. What struck me in Bahrain was [that] the fine line between demonstrations and riots had been blurred. There were nightly riots in many of the villages, some of which I visited; attacks on police officers in Bahrain, who incidentally are for the most part unarmed. The officers use tear gas canisters for crowd control purposes--granted, many have argued that their use of tear gas is questionable. So what we are seeing on the ground is people who are increasingly using violence, and are responding to the regime's attempts to open dialogue by a) ignoring it, b) not condemning the violence by the activists on the ground, and c), trying to derail the government. It's important for the international community, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, to realize that what's going on here is not just a straightforward demand for democracy.
These demonstrations started in February 2011, in the wake of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Originally it seemed that it was the majority Shiites seeking to get more of a voice in the ruling of the government, not necessarily to overthrow the monarchy. Are there different protesters, and have the parliamentary protesters been eclipsed?
The main opposition party is called al-Wefaq. When they walked out of parliament last year and then boycotted by-elections in September and October, al-Wefaq chose to walk away from dialogue with the government and with the strongest reforming voice in the royal family, Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa. Since pulling out of the parliament, the face of the opposition has been almost entirely restricted to the protesters, whose tactics have become increasingly violent. They must return to the negotiating table and empower the Crown Prince's liberal, pluralist initiative for Bahrain.
The situation on the ground is one that's radically different from the predominant narrative here in the West about Bahrain.
The initial wave of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt was led by secular liberals, but that's not the case in Bahrain. This makes the situation with the current protests more complicated. These are Shiite sectarians who have not expressed progressive pluralist objectives for reform in Bahrain--unlike the revolutionaries in Tunisia and Egypt. In parliament, members of the al-Wefaq party blocked bills that would empower women's rights, women's freedom to divorce, and women's identity measures in Bahrain. They objected on hardline religious, sectarian grounds. Their main leader, Ayatollah Isa Qassem, has a ten-year track record of attacking the United States in the language of Ayatollah Khomeini [the leader of the Iranian revolution] and he quotes Khomeini calling the United States "the Great Satan," attacking democracy, and supporting the Iranian system of government and praising Hezbollah. For al-Wefaq's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Isa Qassem, to enter the Arab uprisings without nullifying his previous remarks on democracy as Western and evil makes a farce of what the Arab Spring was all about.
Do you think the United States is a bit naïve? The United States keeps issuing statements like it did on April 25, calling on both sides to show moderation, as if the government and the protesters are equal.
More on:
I think the United States' government is caught between reality and idealism--and rightly concerned about consequences on the ground. Saudi Arabia will not stand by and watch the government in Bahrain fall. We are seeing nightly attacks on police stations and on police personnel. Rioters are throwing Molotov cocktails and arrows are being pierced into civil servants and police forces on a nightly basis, which I have seen happen on the ground in Bahrain. With that going on, to say the Bahrain government should not respond to that level of violence in villages is simply irresponsible.
How involved is Iran in this uprising by Shiites?
I'm not suggesting for a moment that Tehran is in direct control of events. But we have yet to hear Ayatollah Isa Qassem openly distance himself from Iran or condemn the Iranian system of government (wilayat al-faqih). Iraq's Ayatollah Sistani and Sunni Islamists in Egypt and Tunisia have jettisoned Iran's theocracy—[so] what stops Ayatollah Isa Qassem from condemning Iran, and thereby allaying Saudi and GCC fears? Therefore when both Saudi Arabia and many in Bahrain say that the opposition movement in Bahrain is basically their version of Hezbollah, in that it has ideological links and patronage from Iran, I think we should be concerned about that. [We should] ask ourselves this one question: If the al-Khalifa family in Bahrain falls, which is the ultimate aim of many of the agitators among the opposition, would the West, particularly the United States, be happy to see Iranian influence extend over yet again another Arab nation, another Arab country in addition to Hezbollah's Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq? Do we really want to hand over Bahrain to the Iranian sphere of influence? And that I think is the bottom line in Bahrain.
When you were in Saudi Arabia and officials talked about the situation in Bahrain, I expect the Saudis are linking the protests to the Iranians. Is that correct?
You are right, but I think the Iranian card is overplayed by the Saudis. What is going on is that the Bahraini protesters' movement has not clearly differentiated itself from the Iranian system of government or thought. The debate should be framed not in terms of Iran and Shiite influences, but in terms of citizens' rights within the constitutional monarchy. They are an oppressed people in a country, as they see it, and those grievances should be addressed through a political settlement, through genuine reform, which the monarchy seems keen on. But this constant raising of the Shiite card, framing everything in Shiite language, in victimhood and longstanding grievances, doesn't necessarily help lead to a political settlement.
For al-Wefaq's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Isa Qassem, to enter the Arab uprisings without nullifying his previous remarks on democracy as Western and evil makes a farce of what the Arab Spring was all about.
What the Saudis are concerned about, and I think it's worth remembering, is the reluctance of al-Wefaq to distance itself from Iran. When I met with Shaikh Ali Salman, who is the main leader, the general secretary of secretary-general of the al-Wefaq party, I pressed him on Wilayat al-Faqih [the Iranian leadership philosophy]. When I probed him on what they ultimately wanted, he couldn't give me an answer that says, "We condemn Iranian intentions in the region and its animosity towards the United States." But more problematically, the question is this: If pro-Iran elements came to power in Bahrain, does that weaken U.S. influence in the region, endanger the Fifth Fleet, irreversibly anger the Saudis, destabilize the GCC and other U.S interest? My answer is yes. And does that strengthen Iranian influence over another Arab country? Yes.
We should expect that the Saudis will prop up the al-Khalifa monarchy as a matter of self-preservation--the question, then, is: Can the United States afford to upset its Saudi allies, the most loyal friend among all the Arab nations in the region?
If you were parachuted into the center of Bahrain today, and you didn't know anything about the history, what would you see around you? Would it look an Arab country? Would it look like a Western country?
Bahrain without doubt feels like an Arab nation, a progressive Muslim nation, where people of various backgrounds seem free to dress and behave how they want. In the many malls and public spaces of the country, there's a great deal of freedom with people from all around the world there. Religious minorities, whether they're Hindus or Christians, seem to enjoy a greater degree of freedom than they do, say, in neighboring Gulf countries. But that said, there's a real anger among the Sunni population, and that anger is that the current king is being too generous and too weak in his response to not just the uprisings, but in inviting back Ayatollah Isa Qassem from Iran in 2001, because the current king's father had put these people in political exile because he saw them as Iranian agitators. Now with him coming back and with the Arab uprisings, there's a feeling among the Sunnis that the monarchy is being too liberal and too lenient and too weak and too generous for the opposition, and it should be much harsher along the lines of the prime minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa, the king's uncle, who is viewed to be stronger.
For Bahrain to maintain its stability, it's important that the opposition become serious and the monarchy genuinely embrace reforms. The current rhetoric of Shiite sectarianism must go, and genuine democracy of citizenship and individual rights must come forth. We are in 2012. Some in the opposition wish to frame the current conflict as ongoing hostilities between Sunnis and Shiites dating back to the battle of Karbala in 680 AD, and the Sunni king represents the forces of evil, or Yazeed. That type of thinking needs to end. If it is democracy the protestors want, then that can only be achieved by returning to the negotiating table and seeking a political settlement. The violence and nightly riots must stop.


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Aperture: Lab Ratt is a fan film based on the Portal universe. And, as you'll see five seconds into this trailer, it's looking very professional.
Proper music, proper outfits, an expensive camera, good lighting...yes, it's looking lovely.
If it helps sell you on the quality behind this flick, it's being made by the same crew who put together last year's charming Aperture Science documentary.
This one, though, looks a lot more serious.
Oh, and bonus: the site of the production team also sells Aperture Science ID cards.


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Federal agencies have posted their Customer Service Plans, to comply with President Obama's Executive Order, "Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service." Agencies specifically were to create a signature initiative that improves online service. Many of them are pretty good. Check out all the General Services Administration has on its radar, for example.
But when you put the Customer Service Plans next to the interim Web Improvement Plans, they seem inconsistent. In many cases, you wonder: did the person who wrote one talk to the person who wrote the other? No, they probably didn't. Why not? Because they weren't under one governance structure.
If we're going to improve customer service in government, we've got to have strong governance. Governance brings consistency, and consistency is essential for great customer service.
I think of "management" as a hierarchical structure with official delegated authorities. "Governance," on the other hand, usually is a group of management officials or hierarchies who must collaborate and cooperate across the agency to be successful. A governance structure doesn't have to be hierarchical – it can be collaborative. But everyone in the structure (and everyone in the Agency) has to understand it clearly. Good governance often is hard to pin down and harder to achieve. But it is absolutely critical to improving and maintaining great customer service.
So here we go again…governance. What is it? It's the infrastructure that enables efficient, effective, collaborative cross-agency (or cross-government) progress. I use 5 "R's:"
- Roles – who, by title, must be involved?
- Responsibilities – what must they do?
- Relationships – how/when must they interact?
- Rules – how will they operate (policies, publication rules, and operating rules)?
- Review – how will they make sure that the first four "R's" are followed (management controls) and opportunities for improvement are spotted (evaluation)?
A couple of years ago, I tacked on two other critical "R's:"
Reason – what are you trying to achieve? What's the purpose? Yes – there may be multiple purposes (deliver services, provide information and data, involve the public, share the Agency's plans and accomplishments). But when push comes to shove, what comes first (and second and third and…)? Everyone needs to know so when it comes to decisions about strategies, priorities, and resources, you're on the same page.
Roadmap – a plan. If you don't have one, your customer service efforts can go awry really fast, and you can waste precious resources (not to mention making your agency look bad). Everyone needs to be going in the same direction, toward the same goals.
My friend Nicole Burton, who runs GSA's First Fridays program (they do FREE website usability reviews for agencies) tells me that governance issues are at the root of many of the problems they identify. Right hand doesn't talk to left hand, even though they're working on the same customer tasks. Fiefdoms compete or duplicate efforts. No central oversight to make sure the site represents the best of the entire agency and that it works seamlessly, even though content comes from different parts of the agency. Bad governance shows.
Where to start? Begin by assembling the right people:
- A high ranking management official who has authority to trump all others in the governance structure, if there are issues. It could be the agency head or deputy agency head or some other program-neutral official. It must be someone who is clear on the agency's customer service objectives and keeps abreast of the actions.
- The designated Customer Service Official
- The Chief Communications Officer (because we cannot serve effectively if we don't communicate effectively)
- The designated Plain Language Official (because we don't communicate effectively if we talk gobbly gook)
- The designated Open Government Official (because being transparent and participatory and collaborative is a big part of great customer service)
- The Chief Information Officer
- The Chief Web Manager
- The New Media Director
- The head of publications
- The head of call centers
- The head of the agency correspondence unit(s)
- The manager responsible for field operations (because a whole lot of customer service happens out there in field offices)
- The Chief Procurement Officer (because contractors often are a critical part of our customer service efforts)
- Top content owners – the executives in charge of program areas or bureaus or other major organization components
Yep – that's a lot of people. Each of these people has a stake in the goal. These players must be involved in your customer service strategy and operations – working together, going in the same direction – or your customers will suffer.
Next, figure out what each must do and how (and when) they must interact. Write that down, so everyone knows. Start with what you have and then fill in the holes or make fixes. I've got a little governance self-assessment worksheet that can help. Don't forget to figure out those "review" processes to make sure it all works. And figure out consequences – don't wait for things to break down.
We could be witnessing the beginning of culture change that will make customer service a permanent driving force in government. But it takes a good infrastructure – good governance – to make it work.


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Goodbye, Big Bird? Presidential election revives debate about PBS funding
NEW YORK (AP) - Big Bird has never been so hot.
"Saturday Night Live," Jimmy Fallon, Piers Morgan, the "Today" show and "Good Morning America" all asked for appearances from the "Sesame Street" character on Thursday after he was unexpectedly thrust into the presidential campaign by Mitt Romney.
Sesame Workshop says the giant yellow Muppet is declining all appearances, but there was this tweet from Big Bird on the Sesame Street account: "My bed time is usually 7:45, but I was really tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7! Did I miss anything last night?"
Yes, Bird. During Wednesday's debate with President Barack Obama, Romney called for cutting federal funding to PBS, despite saying, "I love Big Bird." It renewed a long-running debate over subsidies to public broadcasting.
"I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS," the former Massachusetts governor, a Republican, said during a deficit-cutting discussion. "I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too, Jim (Lehrer, PBS newsman and debate moderator). But I'm not going to ... keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it."
Obama brought up his opponent's plans for Big Bird during a campaign stop Thursday in Madison, Wis.
"I just want to make sure I've got this straight: He'll get rid of regulations on Wall Street, but he's going to crack down on 'Sesame Street,'" Obama said of Romney. "Thank goodness somebody's finally cracking down on Big Bird! Who knew that he was responsible for all these deficits! Elmo's got to watch out!"
PBS chief Paula Kerger said she "just about fell off the sofa" when the issue suddenly came up during the debate. She said that if the subsidy goes, so will some PBS stations.
Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting totals $450 million this year, accounting for about 15 percent of the CPB's budget, she said. Federal money supplements the budgets of PBS' 179 stations nationally. For some of the smaller stations in rural areas, this subsidy accounts for more than half of their yearly budget, so many can't operate without it.
Considering Romney stressed the importance of education, she said she hopes he realizes the extent of educational programming that PBS offers. Four out of five children under age 5 watch public television, where "Sesame Street" is a long-running hit, she said.
"To me, public television is like mom and apple pie," she said. "Maybe it's because I'm just too close to it. Maybe it's because I talk to so many people for whom public television is a lifeline."
But public broadcasting funding has been a frequent target of congressional Republicans, who believe PBS and National Public Radio favor liberal points of view.
"It is demoralizing to have our work put in the middle of this debate," Kerger said. "We don't belong here."
The issue quickly became a hot topic on social media, where Twitter reported a peak of 17,000 tweets per second about Big Bird. The hashtag #SaveBigBird quickly sprouted up.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof tweeted: "Hey, I figured out how Romney will balance the budget: sale of TV rights to broadcast the decapitation of Big Bird."
For several years, "Sesame Street" has produced videos and other materials for the Pentagon to help children deal with parents' absences during tours of duty as well as other stresses suffered by the children of troops. Asked at a Pentagon briefing whether the Defense Department wants to see its relationship with the program continue, press secretary George Little sidestepped the question.
"I will say that we've had a long-lasting and effective partnership with 'Sesame Street' and they have supported military children," Little said. "But I'm not going to get into politics here - I wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers, so to speak."
Sesame Workshop, the producers who make "Sesame Street," noted that while it is not part of PBS, it depends on the stations to distribute its work.
"Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational organization," said Sherrie Westin, Sesame Workshop spokeswoman. "We do not comment on campaigns, but we're happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird."


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Over the last nine years, those of you who regularly read the health posts will know that I am very keen on the 'cook from scratch' with 'fresh produce' approach to eating.
I have been of that mind for over 25 years, even though I do enjoy buying the odd thing that is manufactured such as crisps (potato chips) cereals, bread, they are nearly always from the in house bakery, own brands fresh sauces or organic brands.
But even then, when you see bread displayed without packaging and oddly shaped, it may have been created from frozen dough from thousands of miles away, defrosted, formed into loaves and baked in the ovens.
I came across the following article back in 2015 and I have the link in a special folder of those that I want to keep and reread from time to time.
This particular post lays bare some of the behind the scenes manufacturing processes that go into the foods that are packaged and that are bought by millions to feed their families.
There are certain foods that we eat daily that are processed, such as dairy products and certainly milk is pasturised for safety reasons. (There is a new movement towards raw milk that I am not quite sure about for the time being).
We eat a lot of cheese and we assume that is completely natural… but did you know that in the making of this delicious fatty and salty product various additives are used. These include Cheese colouring to add either a lovely creamy finish or a red cheese. Some colourants are made from natural plant sources such as the Annatto tree but the product itself contains potassium hydroxide and castor oil.
Whilst the consumption of castor oil in these small quantities present in cheese making might not be classified as harmful, it is commonly used for constipation and in some people can cause an allergic reaction. If you have ever wondered why eating too much cheese causes you to have a stomach upset, it may be due to the additives rather than the dairy content.
And the yellower your piece of cheddar is the more colourant it contains. The whiter the cheese the more natural. You will also find calcium chloride (for a nice thick curd and is an E number 509) Lipase to give your cheese a more cheesy flavour and citric acid for some of the soft cheeses such as mozzarella.
Then of course there is the mold that is added to certain cheeses that look very pretty with their blue veins running through them. This is from a site that is not longer available but I did find it very interesting.
"Penicillium Roqueforti (blue mold) is used to ripen and give flavor to Blue, Gorgonzola, and Stilton cheeses. This mold gives an intense blue-green marbled interior, piquant aroma and creamy consistency." It is thought that if you have an allergy to penicillin that you may react to this additive and should eat blue cheese with caution.
Changes that occur in cheese with the fermenting and "ripening" process include the production of a toxic alkaloid called roquefortine, a neurotoxin which can cause mice to have convulsive seizures. Probably, all blue cheese contains roquefortine. The alkaloid is produced by the mold Penicillium roqueforti.
Milk, produced by mammary glands that are actually modified sweat glands, is naturally high in salt. Cheese shares in this high salt content. A higher than normal salt intake may increase the likelihood in some people of high blood pressure. Although there are several other factors that cause high blood pressure and salt is not necessarily the leading one. Smorgasbord Health High Blood Pressure and the Salt Debate
The rennet for the curdling process in cheese-making is commonly obtained from calves' stomachs. A combination of rennin and pepsin is sometimes used, or plant enzymes derived from fungus. The pepsin is obtained principally from fresh hog stomachs. Many processed cheeses have preservatives, emulsifying agents, and other chemicals added to them that can have a harmful effect on the body. The putrefactive process through which milk goes to produce cheese reduces the vitamin content. Cheese is almost completely devoid of water soluble vitamins. Losses of both vitamins and minerals occur with the loss of whey.
Am I suggesting that you give up cheese? No, I actually eat cheese myself from time to time although in recent years I can no longer indulge in a cheese platter with lots of butter and crackers. But like most high fat and salty foods, moderation is definitely the key with cheese.
So that is the processed foods that we assume are natural…
Now a look at what happens when the food industry gets hold of a natural ingredient and then transforms it into a pre-prepared meal for the family, cakes, biscuits, bread, yogurts, desserts, pies etc. Apart from the sugar content… there are many more ingredients we would not recognise as healthy.
Here are some extracts from the article that I keep in my file as a reminder of why I rarely buy industrially manufactured foods.
"Read this and you'll never eat a ready meal again: JOANNA BLYTHMAN spent months probing Britain's convenience food industry. Her findings will turn your stomach – Daily Mail – Why you may never eat a ready meal again!
- More than three billion ready meals were eaten in Britain in 2012
- They make up the biggest sector of the UK's £70 billion a year food budget
- Food manufacturers carry out little or no preparation of raw ingredients
- They buy treated ingredients, mainly frozen or dried, from other companies
- Meat, fish and vegetables are kept at sub-zero temperatures for months
- But when the food is thawed and cooked it can be marketed as 'fresh'
- A ready-meal factory can churn out 250,000 portions a day using 70 different ingredients
Finding out the truth about what we are really eating eventually became my career, as a food journalist.
Most people love ready meals, however; three billion were eaten in Britain in 2012 and they make up the biggest sector of the country's £70 billion annual retail food budget.
Processed food is everywhere, despite numerous news stories warning of the dangers.
In the past few days headlines, taken from my book, highlighted the risks of eating bagged salad: the greenery can be as much as ten days old and have been submerged up to eight hours in tap water heavy with chlorine, to inhibit bacteria.
Citric, tartaric and other fruit acids are also painted on to the leaves to keep them looking fresh. It sounds revolting but it does not stop millions from buying bagged leaves"
And in another section of the article
"When an ITV investigation on the Tonight programme analysed a typical supermarket 'British lamb hotpot' ready meal, it discovered the ingredients were from ten countries and included New Zealand lamb, Israeli carrots, Argentine beef bones and Majorcan potatoes.
Irish authorities were equally shocked to discover that a pizza bearing the label 'country of origin Ireland' in fact contained 35 ingredients that had passed through 60 countries during preparation and packaging.
Most of the meat, vegetables and fish in our convenience food has been transported and stored while frozen.
Typically, it is kept at sub-zero temperatures for months, even years, but when it is thawed and cooked, it can be marketed as 'fresh'.
Eggs are supplied to food manufacturers in many forms but almost never in their shells.
Instead, they come as powders, with added sugar, as products made just from albumen (egg white) or they come hard-boiled in a long cylinder so that, when cut, every slice of egg is identical."
Anyway – for those of you who are not taken in by the food industries marketing… this will confirm why you 'cook from scratch' and I do suggest that you read the entire piece for yourself.
Thanks for dropping in today. It is not my intention to be the food police as I would be arrested frequently. However, I do think that particularly when we are responsible for the health of our children as well as ourselves, it is a good idea to think about the long term effects of using a high percentage of industrially manufactured foods in our diet.
A little bit about me nutritionally. .
About Sally Cronin
I am a qualified nutritional therapist with twenty-four years experience working with clients in Ireland and the UK as well as being a health consultant on radio in Spain.
Although I write a lot of fiction, I actually wrote my first two books on health, the first one, Size Matters, a weight loss programme 21 years ago, based on my own weight loss of 154lbs. My first clinic was in Ireland, the Cronin Diet Advisory Centre and my second book, Just Food for Health was written as my client's workbook. Since then I have written a men's health manual, and anti-aging programme, articles for magazines, radio programmes and posts here on Smorgasbord.
You can buy my books from: Amazon US – and: Amazon UK – Follow me :Goodreads – Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin


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Sometimes even I am blown away by how mind-numbingly stupid people can be when it comes to technology. I'm not talking about people who can't find the "any" key. I'm talking about institutional stupidity, the kind you only get when you mix technophobic bureaucrats and geeks with no sense of boundaries.
In case you haven't been following the plot of Webcamgate, starring the Lower Merion School District in Southeastern Pennsylvania and a cast of thousands, here's the skinny.
[ Want to cash in on your IT experiences? InfoWorld is looking for stories of an amazing or amusing IT adventure, lesson learned, or war tale from the trenches. Send your story to email@example.com. If we publish it, we'll keep you anonymous and send you a $50 American Express gift cheque. ]
Last week the Robbins family, whose son Blake attends LMSD's Harriton High, filed a class-action suit against the district alleging that it's been spying on its students via webcams on school-supplied MacBooks.
The suit came about after Blake Robbins was called into the assistant principal Lindy Matsko's office last November to discuss "inappropriate behavior" he was displaying -- at home. The proof? A snapshot of him taken with his laptop's Webcam.
Apparently Matsko thought Blake was popping pills. According to Robbins, he was merely eating candy: Mike-N-Ikes. (A classic gateway drug -- before you know it, he'll be deep into Good-N-Plenty and then totally hooked on Tic Tacs.)
The idea that the school could peer into the Robbins' home -- and by implication, the homes of nearly 2,400 other students in the district -- blew their minds. It also may have violated dozens of federal and state laws regarding privacy, wiretapping, and electronic communications, as alleged in their suit [PDF].
The school district's response? Yes, we have the ability to activate students' webcams remotely, but it's strictly used for tracking lost or stolen laptops, says school superintendent Dr. Christopher W. McGinley. No, we didn't tell any of the students or their families about it. Oops. Our bad.
(Apparently Southeastern Pennsylvania is plagued by bands of roving laptop thieves, most of them cheerleaders and prom queens between the ages of 14 and 17. Or so I hear.)
Interestingly, while the district failed to inform parents about the technology, it did take time to create a video lauding the remote access features of the software, LANrev 4.6 (now Absolute Manage), which it created for MacEnterprise.org in June 2008.
How often have they used the technology this year? According to McGinley, 42 times. He writes:
At no time did any high school administrator have the ability or actually access the security-tracking software. We believe that the administrator at Harriton has been unfairly portrayed and unjustly attacked in connection with her attempts to be supportive of a student and his family. The district never did and never would use such tactics as a basis for disciplinary action.
It's clear somebody's not telling the whole truth -- clear enough that the FBI is investigating. But you have to wonder: If Robbins' story isn't true, how else did he find out that the school could be watching its students -- and anyone else who wanders in front of their laptops -- 24/7?
The media is on this like a pack of hyenas on a McDonalds delivery truck. Other students have reported noticing their webcam's green "on" light coming on randomly and having been told by school officials that this was just "a glitch."
Savanna Williams, a statuesque sophomore at Harriton, appeared on CBS's "The Early Show" with her mother, talking about how she takes her school-supplied notebook everywhere -- including the bathroom when she showers. If that doesn't give you a strong mental image of the potential for abuse, nothing will.
For a thoroughly creepy demonstration of how another school, the Bronx's IS 339, spies on its students using webcams, check out this video. Assistant Principal Dan Ackerman cheerfully shows how he watches sixth and seventh graders in real time without their knowing it while they preen in front of an app called Photo Booth.
Photo Booth is always fun... a lot of kids are just on it to check their hair, do their makeup, the girls, you know. They just use it like it's a mirror... They don't even realize that we're watching...I always like to mess with them and take a picture.
At least he's doing it on school grounds and not in their bathrooms.
Still, even if the LMSD's motives were pure -- and the techies in charge of activating the webcams didn't abuse the privilege -- the cluelessness displayed by the school district is breathtaking.
First, what good does taking a snapshot via the webcam do, exactly? It doesn't prove that whoever's in front of the camera actually stole the thing. That would be laughed out of court. The district gets much better location information from the IP address. It's totally gratuitous -- but the kind of thing geeks eat right up.
The school district has many other questions yet to answer. Like: Who had the authority to initiate remote access? What events trigger it? Does a police report have to be filed? Why were school techs invoking remote access and not law officers? Are the legitimate laptop users notified when pictures are snapped? How many pictures were taken and where are they stored? Who else has access to them? How long are they kept? How secure is access to these controls?
In short: What the hell were they thinking?
Imagine some tech-savvy teen hacking that system, activating cameras at will, then posting the images to Facebook or YouTube. Oh the fun they could have!
You wouldn't give a crack pipe and a gun to a monkey and set him loose in a crowd. Likewise, you shouldn't give Big Brotherish software to school districts and expect them not to misuse it. Regardless of what happens in this suit (I predict a quiet yet healthy cash settlement), it's clear that administrators at Lower Merion have earned an F in computer management. I'd recommend a years' detention, if not outright expulsion.
Does webcam spying cross the line? Post your thoughts below or email me: email@example.com.
This article, "When schools spy on their students, bad things happen," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Field blog.


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Lindsay Lohan's Home Decor: Two Giant Pictures of Herself
House arrested Lindsay Lohan invited two cameras into her home this week. One filmed her most desperate product endorsement yet, an 18-second, one-sentence endorsement for a penny auction website. The other photographed her in repose for Life & Style magazine. Each image captured LiLo seated beside a different image of herself.
Conclusion: Lindsay Lohan is a home decor onanist. She belongs to that strange, specific class of people who wallpaper their homes with pictures of themselves. Not family portraits. Not pictures of them actually doing stuff. We're talking solo, posed portraits, usually with bedroom eyes, often in a state of undress.
Unsurprisingly, many celebrities are autodecorators. Padma Lakshmi has a painting of herself in a see-through top hanging above her bed. (Sort of like having a mirror above your bed.) Kim Zolciak had pictures of her boobs in nearly every room of her impossible-to-sell townhouse.
Esquire described Paris Hilton's home as "Parisworld," littered with "pictures, images, likenesses everywhere. Many are of Paris herself—only the hottest justify display." At right, a pillow Paris had screen printed with her face.
Though every autodecorator is a narcissist, not every narcissist is an autodecorator. After Harper's Bazaar started a rumor that a painting of an angel in Kanye West's home was meant to depict the rapper, Kanye angrily denied the claim:
That made me so mad. Because who would want to hang out with a guy with an 8-foot picture of an angel of himself? Harper's Bazaar came to my home, took pics, asked a lot of questions and then assumed the painting in my dining room was of me as an angel. This isn't true and it bothered me greatly because people think I'm so so so cocky that I would have something like that. [...] I was made out to be Ben Stiller's character in the movie Dodgeball with the huge pic of him wrestling a bull in his office. Why didn't they write that my house had no pics of me, no plaques or awards, just art.
Even Kanye West is more modest than Lindsay Lohan. [Life & Style, images via Life & Style, Beezid, Esquire]
Previously:Lindsay Lohan Is Filming Commercials in Her Living Room While Under House Arrest


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Your turkey, stuffing, and pies galore are all planned and ready to go, if not already done. But what about the wine? No doubt, there are so many flavors-sweet and savory-all on the same plate, that trying to find one wine to match it all isn't easy.
Your best bet is to choose wines that don't go too far in one direction or the other. Super dry and they'll clash with the candied yams, too alcoholic and you'll be napping before dessert.
Amongst white wines, Rieslings work really well with Thanksgiving flavors. They very often have a bit of sweetness along with some acidity and pair well with most foods. My cheat for figuring out whether a Riesling is on the sweeter side, especially with an unfamiliar bottle: check out the alcohol content. Lower alcohol (9 to 11%) often means an off-dry wine, which is what you're looking for. Bonus: you can drink it throughout the meal without feeling bogged down. Save the obviously sweet dessert wines for the end of the meal, though.
For reds, Beaujolais wines from France, made with the gamay grape, are lightweight (their alcohol is also on the lower end for reds - about 12%) and often full of red fruit flavors, which go nicely with poultry of all types, not just turkey. While nouveau Beaujolais (meaning the new bottlings of the year) are cheap and easy to find, try the Beaujolais Villages wines, or even the cru Beaujolais, which come from the specific regions within the area (such as the villages of Fleurie or Morgon, as specified on the label) and are often a little more complex, yet still fairly inexpensive.
More From Good Housekeeping
Finally, sparkling wines are always a hit, and, in my opinion, worthy of drinking throughout your Thanksgiving meal.
Still looking for that perfect Thanksgiving stuffing recipe, or prefer to buy your cranberry sauce? Check out the rest of our website for tons of holiday entertaining tips.
Happy Thanksgiving!


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Gudrun demands Revenge for Bolli, A.D. 1019.
Online Medieval and Classical Library Release #32
In "Twinmonth" that summer Gudrun, Osvif's daughter, went from home up into the Dales. She rode to Thickshaw; and at this time Thorleik was sometimes at Thickshaw with the sons of Armod Halldor and Ornolf, and sometimes at Tongue with Thorgils. The same night Gudrun sent a man to Snorri Godi saying that she wished to meet him without fail the next day. Snorri got ready at once and rode with one other man until he came to Hawkdale- river; on the northern side of that river stands a crag by the river called Head, within the land of Lea-Shaw. At this spot Gudrun had bespoken that she and Snorri should meet. They both came there at one and the same time. With Gudrun there was only one man, and he was Bolli, son of Bolli; he was now twelve years old, but fulfilled of strength and wits was he, so much so, that many were they who were no whit more powerful at the time of ripe manhood; and now he carried Footbiter. Snorri and Gudrun now fell to talking together; but Bolli and Snorri's follower sat on the crag and watched people travelling up and down the countryside. When Snorri and Gudrun had asked each other for news, Snorri inquired on what errand he was called, and what had come to pass lately that she sent him word so hurriedly.
Gudrun said, "Truth to tell, to me is ever fresh the event which I am about to bring up, and yet it befell twelve years ago; for it is about the revenge of Bolli I wish to speak, and it ought not to take you unawares. I have called it to your mind from time to time. I must also bring this home to you that to this end you have promised me some help if I but waited patiently, but now I think it past hope that you will give any heed to our case. I have now waited as long as my temper would hold out, and I must have wholehearted counsel from you as to where this revenge is to be brought home."
Snorri asked what she chiefly had in her mind's eye.
Gudrun said, "It is my wish that all Olaf's sons should not go scatheless."
Snorri said he must forbid any onset on the men who were not only of the greatest account in the countryside, but also closely akin to those who stand nearest to back up the revenge; and it is high time already that these family feuds come to an end.
Gudrun said, "Then Lambi shall be set upon and slain; for then he, who is the most eager of them for evil, would be put out of the way."
Snorri said, "Lambi is guilty enough that he should be slain; but I do not think Bolli any the more revenged for that; for when at length peace should come to be settled, no such disparity between them would be acknowledged as ought to be due to Bolli when the manslaughters of both should come up for award."
Gudrun spoke, "It may be that we shall not get our right out of the men of Salmon-river-Dale, but some one shall pay dear for it, whatever dale he may dwell in. So we shall turn upon Thorstein the Black, for no one has taken a worse share in these matters than he."
Snorri spake, "Thorstein's guilt against you is the same as that of the other men who joined in the raid against Bolli, but did not wound him. But you leave such men to sit by in quiet on whom it seems to me revenge wrought would be revenge indeed, and who, moreover, did take the life of Bolli, such as was Helgi Hardbeinson."
Gudrun said, "That is true, but I cannot be sure that, in that case, all these men against whom I have been stirring up enmity will sit quietly by doing nothing."
Snorri said, "I see a good way to hinder that. Lambi and Thorstein shall join the train of your sons, and that is a fitting ransom for those fellows, Lambi and Thorstein; but if they will not do this, then I shall not plead for them to be let off, whatever penalty you may be pleased to put upon them."
Gudrun spake: "How shall we set about getting these men that you have named to go on this journey?"
Snorri spake: "That is the business of them who are to be at the head of the journey."
Gudrun spake: "In this we must have your foresight as to who shall rule the journey and be the leader."
Then Snorri smiled and said, "You have chosen your own man for it."
Gudrun replied, "You are speaking of Thorgils."
Snorri said so it was.
Gudrun spake: "I have talked the matter over already with Thorgils, but now it is as good as all over, for he gave me the one choice, which I would not even look at. He did not back out of undertaking to avenge Bolli, if he could have me in marriage in return; but that is past all hope, so I cannot ask him to go this journey."
Snorri spoke: "On this I will give you a counsel, for I do not begrudge Thorgils this journey. You shall promise marriage to him, yet you shall do it in language of this double meaning, that of men in this land you will marry none other but Thorgils, and that shall be holden to, for Thorkell Eyjolfson is not, for the time being, in this land, but it is he whom I have in my mind's eye for this marriage."
Gudrun spake: "He will see through this trick."
Snorri answered, "Indeed he will not see through it, for Thorgils is better known for foolhardiness than wits. Make the covenant with but few men for witnesses, and let Halldor, his foster- brother, be there, but not Ornolf, for he has more wits, and lay the blame on me if this will not work out."
After that they parted their talk and each bade the other farewell, Snorri riding home, and Gudrun unto Thickshaw. The next morning Gudrun rode from Thickshaw and her sons with her, and when they ride west along Shawstrand they see that men are riding after them. They ride on quickly and catch them up swiftly, and lo, there was Thorgils Hallason. They greeted each other well, and now ride on in the day all together, out to Holyfell.


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How to Get Out of a Long-Term Contract
It's possible, but the best solution is to not sign on in the first place
A trip to the massage studio is supposed to leave you refreshed. But that's not how AARP member Teri Weaver of Clarksburg, Md., felt after her encounter with feel-good franchise Massage Envy.
Weaver, 66, redeemed a birthday gift certificate for a one-hour treatment at her local Massage Envy in Germantown. Post-rubdown, Weaver got the hard sell for a $708 annual contract of monthly treatments, and she went for it. "I don't know whether I was too relaxed after the massage to guard against a sales pitch or what," she recalls. "I should have known better. Besides, I was left with the impression that I could cancel if I wanted."
Weaver tried to do just that about two weeks later. But when she tried to cancel the contract, the shop said she'd still be billed for the entire year. She could void the contract only with a doctor's order or if she moved more than 25 miles away from a Massage Envy location. Weaver didn't want to pay for services she'd never use, so she contacted On Your Side.
Many consumer agreements include fees for early cancellation. Often the fees cover start-up costs or equipment such as a cellphone or cable box. Frequently, though, the charges are purely punitive disincentives.
Massage Envy's limited cancellation policy, which is part of the standard contract the company provides to franchises, requires contractees to pay 100 percent of the remaining contract amount. We contacted the firm's Arizona headquarters but were shuttled to its Florida-based PR firm, Fish Consulting. After hearing Weaver's story, firm CEO Lorne Fisher conferred with Massage Envy management, which agreed to stop billing Weaver for the remaining contract and refunded her for the months she had already been charged.
While Massage Envy's no-cancellation provision is not illegal, Teri Weaver's knotty dilemma should serve as a warning for anyone who is considering a similar long-term commitment, commonly offered as "memberships" by gyms, nail salons and, of course, massage studios. When you put your name on the last line of such agreements, you're essentially giving up your leverage as a consumer if you receive poor products or shoddy service.
3 Ways to End a Contract
1. Do your research: Several states have laws restricting long-term, binding personal service contracts. Check with your state's consumer-affairs agency to find out what the rules are where you live.
2. Negotiate: Businesses don't want customers bad-mouthing the company. Before publicly airing a grievance, tell the management that giving you a refund may cost less than enforcing the contract.
3. Go public: If all else fails, gently inform the management that you plan to distribute flyers telling your story on the public sidewalk in front of the business. Don't be surprised if the company reconsiders.
Ron Burley is a consumer advocate. He writes the On Your Side column for AARP.
Also of Interest
- 7 loans you should never cosign
- Are you an indispensable employee?
- AARP is working to protect reverse mortgage borrowers
Join AARP Today — Receive access to exclusive information, benefits and discounts


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The following is a collaborative effort by myself and eight other writers. It's always a pleasure to bring our minds together. Enjoy!
The words we cannot say
Will be wept
Into silence between us (CER)
Breathe deep, dear love;
Be still with me
Listen to my heartstrings
A song meant just for you (KMA)
Each tear
An eloquent elegy
To tortured truths (AP)
Each note played
On a hand carved lute
Strung with strips
Of my soul (JWL)
Your breathless aura
Beats in time
Undulating ululation
With my exhaled psyche (AP)
Intertwined, tangled,
Unified: whole
Healed. (JWL)
Yet with hearts torn open
Bleeding out the notes of our song
You turned from me (ME)
I am fire
In desire
I beg
Save me (1W-W)
Fetch me an instrument,
For the untrained ear
Is soothed by that
Which it cannot comprehend. (LEL)
Not everything is black and white.
For even the eclipsed moon
Is not without a little light. (SD)
Whispers through the distance
I remember
As you reach for my hand
my heart (CER)
Our words
Drip like fire
Into embers
Wanting back
Their flame. (SFF)
The words we cannot say
Will be wept
Into silence between us (CER)
Written by:


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Many marketers now have more fans and followers across social media than they do e-mail or direct subscribers. Brands are forced to adopt new customer relationship management (CRM) practices quickly as legacy technologies, previous partner relationships, and organizational structures are challenged in meeting the needs of today's social consumer. There is no question that consumer behavior has changed. But how can large enterprises shift to effectively connect with their consumers while leveraging the power that good CRM provides?
While there is no silver bullet, practices and technologies are emerging that make the most of connecting with the social CRM channel. Understanding key themes and sifting through the noise is crucial to getting an organization set up. The war for dominance in this area will be brutal, with a landscape that is likely to see upsets while a handful of marketers build solid names for themselves.
Social CRM Defined
An effective Social CRM strategy must focus on better understanding, anticipating and responding to the needs of existing and potential customers by leveraging social data to create stronger, mutually beneficial relationships. Technologies, content, and data management strategies are likely to vary wildly from previous CRM practices, thus creating a new landscape for the marketer.
Why Social CRM Matters
Customer data has no value in itself. What you do with that data is imperative. Social media gives a marketer a unique lens into content, campaign, and customer insight that has not been available until now. Using this new data source to better understand your customer can drive increased marketing effectiveness across all channels. Each vertical will use this data differently and see the power and progression of social CRM unfold in different ways.
Techniques Will Vary By Vertical
Unlike the early days of social media management, one size does not fit all. Big Data management, systems integration, and real-time analytics are coming to a marketing boardroom near you. For many marketers, including consumer packaged goods, automotive, fashion, retail, and airline, social CRM should end, or greatly reduce legacy CRM practices, as relationships managed through the social channel take the lead. This phenomenon has already been experienced with companies like Ben & Jerry 's that eliminated their e-mail marketing in July of 2010 to map evolving customer communication preferences.
Other verticals like telecoms and financial service organizations are more likely to see their legacy practices continue as they seek to add a social component to their existing systems. This makes sense as their business challenges are often driven more by direct sales and customer care CRM scenarios than by pure brand-building marketing relationship management. However, even the practices of conservative organizations will continue to evolve over time as their customers shift the ways in which they expect communication.
Guide to Getting Started
The good news is that most brands have already started to build direct connections with their consumers across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Ren Ren and the like. If your brand has not yet ventured even this far, it is unlikely that this article will help you.
Start by mapping customer touch-points—understanding the data provided by each touch-point to better realize consumer expectations for contact by your vertical. This is not solely a marketing exercise and unlikely something that should be tasked to a digital communications agency. This process works best if a consultative process is used that includes PR, digital, marketing, customer care, IT/IS and marketing operations together with other areas, depending on the vertical.
Next step is designing your new "social stack" or the collection of software and services you'll require to reach your customers and achieve your objectives. There is no single-solution software on the market today so you'll likely need some integration processes. This will require yourorganization to map software and services in parallel and to define a project implementation lifecycle. Depending on company size, it may take one to two years to operationalize and realize the full potential of your new stack.
Key areas of focus in this stack should be (1) publishing and customer contact infrastructure, (2) data storage and management systems, (3) analytics and visualization software, and (4) third-party data sources (Facebook, Radian6, Twitter, paid media, web analytics, etc.). It sounds complex but significant work has already been done throughout the industry to make this all easier.
Marketers should speak with a number of vendors to understand their approaches and objectives prior to issuing an RFP. At this stage in the market, it is appropriate to venture forward with a more open RFI model. I continue to see many RFP's that are overly specific and that seek tactical solutions instead of approaches aligned to a company's long-term priorities and integrations. The danger in such a methodology is that it ends up developing solutions in search of a problem or tactical solutions that will not survive over the long-term as they are not connected to a core business challenge.
Ready or not, the world of social marketing and CRM are coming to a new place in market maturity and marketer opportunity. Over thenext few years, the social marketing landscape will shift from one of fragmented tools to a future of integrated platforms interwoven for marketing effectiveness. Marketers who embrace the change early will be best suited to serve their organizations and to meet the expectations and demands of their customers.


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Breached Property Purchase Involves Various Legal Issues When the Buyer Fails to Close a Realty SalePage last modified: March 15 2022
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Does a Buyer Risk a Lawsuit For Failing to Close a Real Estate Deal?
Generally, When A Buyer In a Real Estate Deal Fails to Close the Buyer Is At Risk of Being Sued By the Seller. The Seller May Sue For Extra Carrying Costs, Potential Decrease In a Subsequent Sale Price, and Forfeiture of Any Deposit. The Seller Must Act Reasonably By Minimizing Losses.
Similar Questions About Breach of a Real Estate Sale Include:
- Can a Buyer Be Sued For Failing to Complete a House Sale?
- Can I Sue If the Buyer of My House Walked Away From the Deal?
- What Happens If a House Sale Falls Through?
- What Happens When a Real Estate Sale Falls Through?
- What Happens When the Buyer Walks Away From a Real Estate Deal?
Understanding the Various Liabilities Arising From Failure to Close a Real Estate Transaction Including Deposit Forfeiture
For various reasons, including a sudden market downswing that follows a strong market upswing, many buyers are unable to fulfill the contractual obligations within an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS). Simply stated, buyers may abort, or be unable, or unwilling, to properly complete a realty deal in accordance to previously agreed terms. When the buyer fails to complete a sale, the seller may incur various losses and may bring legal action against the breaching buyer. The losses may involve the difference between the sale price agreed upon within the sales agreement within the breaching buyer and a subsequent price with a subsequent buyer as well as the expense of various carrying costs the seller incurs during the period of time following the breached sales agreement and the time until the seller can sell to a new buyer.
If the Real Estate Market Changes Dramatically, Can a Buyer Walk Away?
A Sudden Change In the Market Is Insufficient Reason For a Buyer to Walk Away.
Whereas a buyer that aborts or otherwise fails to close a realty sale may defend the breach on the basis that the contract (APS) was legally frustrated by a force majeure, being a sudden and unexpected change in market conditions, the courts have stated that such is generally viewed as a potential occurrence and is therefore a foreseeable possibility rather than a force majeure event. Specifically, it was stated in Forest Hill Homes v. Ou, 2019 ONSC 4332 that a frustration would require an unforeseeable event that would render the contractual obligations impossible to fulfill, being something more than a market change, whereas it was said:
[5] Defendants' counsel submits that the Defendants' performance of their obligations under the APS was made impossible by a drastic and unforeseeable drop in the real estate market which made it impossible for them to obtain the financing they needed. I note that the onus is on the party claiming frustration of a contract: Bang v Sebastian, 2018 ONSC 6226 (CanLII), at paras 27, 30. Despite this, the Defendants have not obtained any appraisal of the Property, nor have they submitted any other real estate market evidence. They simply say they could not get financing, and they subjectively attribute this to a change in the market.
[6] Even if there were evidence to support the Defendants' assertion, there is nothing about a change in the market that amounts to an unforeseen event that substantially changes the agreement. This was confirmed in Paradise Homes North West Inc. v. Sidhu, 2019 ONSC 1600 (CanLII), at para 11, where the court reasoned that a change in the market is not the kind of radical change that transforms the nature of the contract:
In this case, the defendant defaulted because he was not able to borrow the amount of money he required to close the deal…. While he states that he was unable to borrow the money because the market prices fell and that this was unforeseen and such a radical change that it completely changed the nature of the APS. I do not find that to be the case. The contract was not rendered totally different from what the parties had intended. The parties had intended that 10 Truro Circle would be sold by the plaintiff to the defendant for the agreed-upon amount of $819,990. The contract did not change and was not altered.
[7] There is nothing in the record to support the Defendants' assertion that something has occurred that frustrated the contract and made it impossible to perform as agreed.
Damages by Failure of Closure
As above, when the buyer fails to complete a realty deal, the seller may incur a loss between the selling price established with the breaching buyer and the selling price established with a subsequent buyer. The difference between these two sums becomes a compensable loss suffered by the seller; Forest Hill Homes:
[15] The authorities on damages state that damages "for breach of contract should place the plaintiff in the monetary position that it would have been in had the purchaser not breached the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.": Bang v Sebastian, 2018 ONSC 6226 (CanLII), at para 39-40. The loss of the bargain, or loss of the value of the sale (contract price minus market value of the land), is therefore the largest portion of the damages calculation: 100 Main Street East Ltd. v WB Sullivan Construction, 1978 CanLII 1630 (ON CA), 1978 Carswell Ont 1459, at para 55 (Ont CA). This refers to the market value as of the closing date, DHMK Properties Inc. v 2296608 Ontario Inc., 2017 ONCA 961 (CanLII), at para 15, which must be established by appraisal: River Oaks Convenience Plaza Inc. v Al-Qauasmi, 2009 Carswell Ont 1153 (SCJ) at para 6.
Seller Duties, required to mitigate
As is trite, being very common to the law, a duty to mitigate exists whereas a seller must take effort to minimize losses and the failure of reasonable efforts to minimize loss arise due to the conduct of the non-breaching party rather than the breaching party as such was stated in Southcott Estates Inc. v. Toronto Catholic District School Board, [2012] 2 SCR 675:
[23] This Court in Asamera Oil Corp. v. Seal Oil & General Corp., 1978 CanLII 16 (SCC), [1979] 1 S.C.R. 633, cited (at pp. 660-61) with approval the statement of Viscount Haldane L.C. in British Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co. v. Underground Electric Railways Company of London, Ltd., [1912] A.C. 673, at p. 689:
The fundamental basis is thus compensation for pecuniary loss naturally flowing from the breach; but this first principle is qualified by a second, which imposes on a plaintiff the duty of taking all reasonable steps to mitigate the loss consequent on the breach, and debars him from claiming any part of the damage which is due to his neglect to take such steps.
[24] In British Columbia v. Canadian Forest Products Ltd., 2004 SCC 38 (CanLII), [2004] 2 S.C.R. 74, at para. 176, this Court explained that "[l]osses that could reasonably have been avoided are, in effect, caused by the plaintiff's inaction, rather than the defendant's wrong." As a general rule, a plaintiff will not be able to recover for those losses which he could have avoided by taking reasonable steps. Where it is alleged that the plaintiff has failed to mitigate, the burden of proof is on the defendant, who needs to prove both that the plaintiff has failed to make reasonable efforts to mitigate and that mitigation was possible (Red Deer College v. Michaels, 1975 CanLII 15 (SCC), [1976] 2 S.C.R. 324; Asamera; Evans v. Teamsters Local Union No. 31, 2008 SCC 20 (CanLII), [2008] 1 S.C.R. 661, at para. 30).
[25] On the other hand, a plaintiff who does take reasonable steps to mitigate loss may recover, as damages, the costs and expenses incurred in taking those reasonable steps, provided that the costs and expenses are reasonable and were truly incurred in mitigation of damages (see P. Bates, "Mitigation of Damages: A Matter of Commercial Common Sense" (1992), 13 Advocates' Q. 273). The valuation of damages is therefore a balancing process: as the Federal Court of Appeal stated in Redpath Industries Ltd. v. Cisco (The), 1993 CanLII 3025 (FCA), [1994] 2 F.C. 279, at p. 302: "The Court must make sure that the victim is compensated for his loss; but it must at the same time make sure that the wrongdoer is not abused." Mitigation is a doctrine based on fairness and common sense, which seeks to do justice between the parties in the particular circumstances of the case.
Whereas the duty to mitigate is upon the seller, the onus to prove a failure to mitigate is upon the buyer. This which was stated in Degner v. Cabral, 2019 ONSC 1610 at paragraph 54. Furthermore, it was also said in Degner at paragraph 56 that the efforts to mitigate must be performed reasonably rather than perfectly by taking steps that are reasonable to minimize loss rather than needing to take all possible steps to minimize loss. Specifically, the Court said:
[54] In the decision of 642947 Ontario Ltd. v. Fleischer (2001), 2001 CanLII 8623 (ON CA), 209 D.L.R. (4th) 182 (Ont. C.A.), the court found that as a general rule in a falling market the court should award the vendor damages equal to the difference between the contract price and the highest price obtainable within a reasonable time after the contractual date for completion following the making of reasonable efforts to sell the property commencing on that date.
[56] The innocent party need only act reasonably and not perfectly or flawlessly in his efforts to mitigate; he need not take all possible steps to reduce his loss. O'Hare v. Wyton, 2018 ONSC 3946 (CanLII); Janiak v. Ippolito, 1985 CanLII 62 (SCC), [1985] 1 S.C.R. 146. That principle was recently followed in the Ontario Court of Appeal decision of Saramia Crescent General Partner Inc. v. Delco Wire and Cable Limited, 2018 ONCA 519 (CanLII) where the Court @ para 80 confirmed that the duty to mitigate only requires the plaintiff to take reasonable steps, not any and all steps.
Accordingly, the seller of a property who suffers harm when a sale fails to close must take reasonable steps to minimize that harm; however, those steps may be imperfect. Furthermore, the burden of proof to demonstrate that the seller failed to take reasonable steps to minimize the loss and that those reasonable steps were available is on the buyer. More easily said, the buyer must prove that there was a failure to mitigate, being a failure to reduce the harm, or some of the harm, by the seller.
Forfeit of Deposit
When a realty deal fails to close, as above, the seller often incurs hardship such as the unexpected carrying costs, the need to re-list the property, the possible need to re-stage the property, and the potential need to lower the price, especially where an economic downturn occurred since the original deal was entered into.
Generally, a term of a real estate deal involves a deposit. When the real estate sale fails to close due to a breach by the buyer, the issue often arises as to whether the seller may rightfully retain the deposit as a 'forfeiture'. In the case of Azzarello v. Shawqi, 2018 ONSC 5414, it was said:
[58] In De Palma v. Runnymede Iron & Steel Co., 1949 CanLII 73 (ON CA), [1950] O.R. 1 (C.A.), at p. 8, the Court of Appeal held that where the sale of land does not close due to a default by the purchaser, the vendor is entitled to the deposit without having to prove actual damages. The purpose of the forfeiture of a deposit is compensation to the disappointed vendor "for the fact that his property was taken off the market for a time as well as for his loss of bargaining power resulting from the revelation of an amount that he would be prepared to accept": Baker v. Wynter (2006), 49 R.P.R. (4th) 134 (Ont. S.C.), at para. 35, citing Leading Investments Ltd. v. New Forest Investments Ltd., [1986] S.C.R. 70 (S.C.C.), at pp. 86-87.
[59] The court must decide whether the parties intended an advance payment to be partial payment or a deposit to be forfeited in the event of non-completion of the transaction: Mikhalenia, at para. 32. The use of the word "deposit" has been interpreted as indicating that the payment was intended to be forfeited in the event of a breach: Mikhalenia, at paras. 32, 35; Iyer v. Pleasant Developments Inc. (2006), 2006 CanLII 10223 (ON SCDC), 210 O.A.C. 90 (Div. Ct.), at para. 8.
[60] As was the case in Mikhalenia, the Agreement is silent on the forfeiture of the deposit in the event of the purchaser's default. This silence was found to weigh in favour of an interpretation that the deposits are to be forfeited: Mikhalenia, at para. 38. Similarly, in River Oaks Convenience Plaza Inc. v. Al-Qauasmi (2009), 2009 CarswellOnt 91 (S.C.), at paras. 17-18, Daley J. found that the deposits "were paid to secure the performance of the agreement of purchase and sale and as a result of the default by the respondents in completing the transaction, the applicant is entitled to have those funds paid over to it from the trust account where they presently sit."
There is a possibility, perhaps remote, that the buyer may find relief from forfeiture of the deposit if it is demonstrated that the forfeiture of the deposit would be unconscionable. Generally, to obtain relief from forfeiture it must be demonstrated that the forfeiture of the deposit is grossly disproportionate to the harm or reasonable expectations. Specifically, per Azzarello, it is said:
[62] Relief from forfeiture is an equitable remedy: Redstone Enterprises v. Simple Technology, 2017 ONCA 282, 137 O.R. (3d) 374, at para. 20. A court should consider the factors enunciated in Redstone, at para. 15, when determining whether to grant relief from forfeiture:
(i) Whether the forfeited deposit was out of all proportion to the damages suffered; and
(ii) Whether it would be unconscionable for the seller to retain the deposit.
[63] The Court of Appeal in Redstone noted that unconscionability is an exceptional finding (at para. 25). Relief from forfeiture is not warranted in the circumstances of this case because the deposit was not out of all proportion to the damages suffered and it would not be unconscionable for the Plaintiffs to receive it.
[64] First, while it is possible to establish unconscionability because the forfeited amount is disproportionate to the damages suffered, there is no disproportionality in this case: Redstone, at para. 26. Upon a breach of an agreement of purchase and sale, a vendor's failure to establish damages does not necessarily render forfeiture of the deposit unconscionable: Redstone, at paras. 17, 38. Courts have allowed parties to retain transaction deposits even when they may not have suffered any damage from failure to close: Hatami v. 1237144 Ontario Inc., 2018 ONSC 668, 2018 CarswellOnt 1740, at para. 57.
[65] In this case, the Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they did suffer damages due to the Defendant's breach. I see no disproportionality between the deposit and the damages suffered that would warrant relief from forfeiture.
[66] Second, the deposit amount is not disproportionate to the purchase price. Courts have found that deposits in the amount of 4.8 percent, 20 percent, and 25 percent of sale price were not unconscionable: Signal Chemicals Ltd. v. Dew Man Marine Trade Inc., 2011 ONSC 3951, 8 R.P.R. (5th) 151, at para. 16 (citations omitted). The percentage is not determinative, but is merely a factor. In Redstone, the deposit was approximately 7 percent of the purchase price and was found not to be commercially unreasonable. In Mikhalenia, at para. 46, the deposit was $100,000.00 on a total sale price of $1,300,000.00 (6.67 percent) and was found not to be unconscionable. In this case, the $75,000.00 deposit was approximately 4.8 percent of the $1,555,000.00 purchase price. This factor suggests that forfeiture is not disproportionate or unconscionable.
[67] Where there is no gross disproportionality in the size of the deposit, the court must consider other indicia of unconscionability: Redstone, at para. 29. In Redstone, the Court of Appeal identified "inequality of bargaining power, a substantially unfair bargain, the relative sophistication of the parties, the existence of bona fide negotiations, the nature of the relationship between the parties, the gravity of the breach, and the conduct of the parties" as useful factors to assess unconscionability emerging from the case law (at para. 30). The unconscionability indicia are context-specific and non-exhaustive: Redstone, at para. 30. The facts of this case do not suggest the existence of any of the unconscionability indicia, or any potentially new unconscionability factors. The Plaintiffs acted in good faith to attempt to close the transaction. In the circumstances, it would not be unconscionable for the Plaintiffs to receive the deposit.
Summary Comment
A buyer in a realty transaction is required to complete the deal by properly closing in accordance to the agreement and is without an opportunity to abandon the deal when faced with a dramatic change in market value between the time the deal was agreed to and the closing date. If the buyer fails to close, the seller may bring legal action for the difference in price between the agreed price and the price within a subsequent transaction. It is notable that a duty to mitigate exists and the seller must make reasonable efforts by acting with reasonable diligence to pursue a subsequent transaction and the selling price within the subsequent transaction must be reasonable. Should the breaching buyer seek to argue that the seller failed to adequately mitigate, the breaching buyer must demonstrate that seller failed to act reasonable whereas the seller is without a duty to act perfectly in the mitigation efforts. Furthermore, unless the buyer is able to demonstrate that the forfeiture of a deposit, if any, would be unconscionable, meaning grossly disproportionate, the seller may keep the deposit when the buyer fails to close.


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