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GIFFEN Readies DOOM PATROL for BLACKEST NIGHT
Doom Patrol #4 coverThe Doom Patrol is already one of the most dysfunctional teams in comics, but that doesn't stop the Black Lanterns from stopping by to mess with their heads even more.
Beginning with Doom Patrol #4 in November, the new series by writer Keith Giffen will tie into the Blackest Night event that is touching several DCU books. The new comic, just launched last month with a new #1 issue by Giffen and artist Matthew Clark, will dedicate a two-part storyline to what happens when the team is visited by several Black Lanterns.
Newsarama talked to Giffen about Doom Patrol's Blackest Night storyline, what's coming for the comic beyond the tie-ins, and why he is avoiding decompression in both the Doom Patrol and Metal Men stories.
Newsarama: Keith, now that we've gotten information about Doom Patrol crossing over with Blackest Night, can you tell us how the tie-in came about?
Keith Giffen: I was invited in. They basically said, we'd like Doom Patrol to be part of this event. And it can't hurt to tie in to a big, company-wide event that's selling like hotcakes, early on in the run of a new book. There will be a lot of people who wouldn't pick up Doom Patrol who probably will pick it up because it is a Blackest Night tie-in and is part of the overall Blackest Night storyline.
My job will be to make what's going on in those two issues interesting enough to keep those casual Blackest Night drop-ins around for more.
But Geoff's cobbled together something that's a fun playground to play in.
Nrama: You commented online that there would be four Black Lanterns showing up. This cover that you've shared with us makes it obvious one of them is going to be Celsius.
Giffen: Yeah, and that's not imaginary and that's not symbolic. That really happens to the Chief. It certainly is going to change his attitude toward a few things. But yeah, we have Celsius and three others that I hope will be a surprise. I'm pretty sure the fans will guess a total of three of the four. I'm sure that we'll have a lot of people who zero in on who the three Black Lanterns will be, or amid their guesses, they'll include those three. I think the fourth will come as a complete surprise.
Nrama: I think we've seen some hints that it may be Negative Woman and Tempest, but the fourth is anybody's guess.
Giffen: Well, I'm trying to keep it a surprise. I think it's tough to surprise fans anymore. Everyone keeps track of the characters and the continuity, and sometimes it seems like they're reading our minds. But I have high hopes that at least some people will be surprised when they see who the fourth Black Lantern is.
Nrama: What is the history between the Chief and Celsius? They were once married, correct?
Giffen: According to the history of the characters, Arani Desai was supposed to have been married at one point to the Chief. She created her own Doom Patrol, and it was motivated by equal parts of the work with the Chief should go on, and oh, I'll show you I can do this better than you. Other than that, she has temperature powers and is a pretty straightforward superheroine.
Doom Patrol #5 coverOf course, when Celsius shows up and goes after the Chief, there's an emotional level to it. I guess the Chief's about to find out the hard way that the whole "woman scorned" saying can be accurate.
Nrama: Especially when she's the walking dead, right?
Giffen: Exactly. When [Blackest Night writer] Geoff [Johns] explained to me exactly how the Black Lanterns work and how they target different people, Celsius seemed natural. There's nothing more fun than putting an ex-husband and ex-wife in the room who probably had a fractious divorce, and see what plays out.
Now, of course, like you said, we just add the fact that she's one of the living dead, and I'm sure something interesting is going to happen.
Nrama: Is it difficult to write a character like Celsius or the other Black Lanterns who aren't known well by modern audiences?
Giffen: Not really, because a lot of it has to do with how the characters react to the risen Doom Patrol members that they're fighting. One of the elements about the Black Lanterns is that they zero in on the part of you that will generate the strongest emotional response. If you're afraid of spiders, they'll probably start throwing spiders at you. If you have a fear of water, they will play off that. If they know that you're insecure, they'll play off that. If they know that you've got self-image problems.... put it this way: If they know that you're ashamed of being overweight, they'll spend the whole issue calling you tubby. They go after what will bring about the strongest emotional response. So you may not be familiar with these Black Lanterns' past, but it's as simple as, these are villains who have come to Oolong Island, and accept them as villains. Each one of the Black Lanterns, you do get a little synopsis of their past with the Doom Patrol, but you don't have to know every little thing about who they are. It's not about Celsius' personality. It's about how Celsius relates to the Chief and what kind of mind games she's playing to generate the strongest emotional response.
Nrama: And it's a two-issue story?
Giffen: It's two issues, #4 and #5. Then I believe that the Doom Patrol are actually going to become a substantial part of Blackest Night. In other words, they'll have appearances in the Blackest Night series, after my two issues.
Nrama: Is there a chance the team will be different after Blackest Night?
Giffen: Well, the great thing about the Doom Patrol is that there are so many interesting characters, so many people who have been Doom Patrol members, and while I'm focusing on Larry and Cliff and Rita and the Chief, there is Bumblebee and Mal Duncan and the Grant Morrison characters. It's not as if Doom Patrol only exists with these few characters and if something happens to one of them, the book falls apart.
Nrama: And you had said, when this book was announced, that there would be a lot of those other Doom Patrol members participating in the comic. Is that still true?
Giffen: Absolutely. Within the first year, you're going to see more characters than you thought showing up in the Doom Patrol, from all of the different Doom Patrol incarnations. And what I try to do is I try to make sure that I'm keeping my promise of a new character or new concept or a new situation in every issue while at the same time, respecting the Doom Patrol's history and realizing that there are Doom Patrol characters out there that the fans would like to see again. You don't just trot them in and make them completely unrecognizable; you respect the creators' work who have come before you.
And I know people are going to say, "But you killed Nudge in the first issue!" There was a reason for that.
Nrama: Is she really dead? Or is she coming back from the dead?
Giffen: You know, there's this whole idea out there that death is a revolving door in comics. But I will tell you, Nudge is gone. Nudge is gone and yes, the four-armed monkey carried her body off and fled into the jungle. But that is not the end of the story. It was not an "Ensign Redshirt" moment. In other words, I didn't just take the character and go, "Eh, let's take one of the Doom Patrol characters I like the least and slaughter the character." Because if I was going to take one of the Doom Patrol characters that I like the least and slaughter the character, it wouldn't have been Nudge!
Nrama: Having read the first issue, something that seemed to work really well with this team was the setting being Oolong Island. Has that choice worked out well for you as a writer, and will we be seeing more about the place?
Giffen: Well, I had played around with Oolong Island in the Four Horsemen mini-series, and I also had Doom Patrol on the island. Back then, it was just because Niles Caulder was there hanging out with the science guys. And when I got the Doom Patrol, I think it was Dan who said to me, you can keep Oolong Island, if you want. And I thought, what a great setting. It's this fully developed place filled with these mad scientists where you can drop the Doom Patrol down into a setting, and my supporting cast is almost written for me. And I just think it's a unique setting for a superhero book because they're operating out of a place that's kind of a rogue nation. It's like DC's version of Latveria.
And with characters like Cale, Quimby, the various mad scientists, and plus the characters I'm going to start populating the island with. And that will include the last character anyone would ever think would show up on Oolong Island and become a resident. I think it gives a richness to the book, and saves me from having to try to make another secret headquarters work. Although I did like what Geoff did where they were hanging out at Dayton Manor with all the weird Doom Patrol artifacts. And in Issue #7, I do touch on that. Dayton Manor has not been forgotten.
<a href=/11867-dc-preview-doom-patrol-2.html>Doom Patrol has been forgotten. That's the one thing I try to emphasize to the fans out there. I erased nothing. In fact, I'm bring a lot of things back, and in Issue #6, I actually run the readers through the entire Doom Patrol timeline to show that yes, every single incarnation of the Doom Patrol can and does fit.
Nrama: Rocky Davis is also part of the cast on Oolong Island. Is he going to be an ongoing part of the story?
Giffen: He's on Oolong Island for awhile. He's starting to realize there's something going on with the Doom Patrol. And he's almost like their crisis counselor. Whether he'll be around forever, I can't say. Somewhere down the line, somebody might come up with a sterling idea for Challengers of the Unknown, in which case I'd be more than happy to give the character back to them. But as long as I can keep him, he's staying.
Nrama: I like how you've incorporated his new status. Wasn't it Final Crisis: Last Will and Testamentwhere he was shown to be a minister?
Giffen: Yeah, it's established now that he's a priest or minister -- and I don't even know which denomination, to be honest with you. So that wasn't my doing. He came to me with the collar. And it's kind of nice to have a guy there who has been where these people have been. He's the perfect guy to do crisis management for superpowered beings because he's been in the trenches. He knows what it's like. It's nice to have an altruistic character among all the emotional baggage of the Doom Patrol.
Nrama: Is Matthew Clark sticking around after Blackest Night? Because Justiniano is coming on board for those issues, right?
Giffen: Matthew Clark is the ongoing artist. Matthew is one of these artists who puts so much attention and detail into the work, he's not a 12-issues-a-year guy. He knows this and puts it up front. He leads with it. He lets you know. He's not the fastest artist in the world. So we've accommodated schedules to make sure we get as much Matt as humanly possible without putting any kind of undue pressure on him. He was honest enough to say he couldn't do 12 issues.
When Blackest Night came along, Matt was smart enough to say you know, I think it's better if I jump to Issue #6 so I'll be far enough ahead that I can keep the book on track. And with Blackest Night, the deadlines are tight and you have to get things approved, so we brought in Justiniano. And you know, if I can't have Matt, I can't do much better than Justiniano. And he's doing spectacular work on the book. And in terms of the approach he's using on the book, it's pure Justiniano, but he likes the way Matt is approaching doing the book, and he's trying to keep that particular vibe. Not draw like Matt or anything like that, but just make it less jarring for those two issues.
And you have to give Matt Clark a lot of credit, because those two issues that tie into Blackest Night, if anything in Doom Patrol start earning royalties, those two are going to be the ones. You'd think an artist would jump on it. But Matt is more interested in keeping the book running smoothly.
He's like me. He's wanted to work on this book for a long time. Everyone working on this book has wanted to get their hands on these characters for awhile. And that's got to count for something.
Nrama: This week's issue is the end of a two-part storyline, and then we have one issue before the two-part Blackest Night storyline. Are you sticking with mostly short story arcs?
Giffen: Yes, or at least I'm going to try not to do long, extended, drawn-out, decompressed storylines. Doom Patrol stories, as far as I'm concerned, are either one issue or two issues and move on. I don't want to do very many stories that are longer than two issues. I don't think it's really necessary to do a story that lasts much longer than that. I mean, the entire Galactus thing went down in two or three issues. Subplots will run on for as long as they have to until they finally stop being subplots and start being the primary storyline. But once they become the primary storyline, I'll tell the story and move on. Comic books are supposed to, as far as I'm concerned, are supposed to keep the readers interested. If it's a 24-part storyline, where it takes the superhero three pages just to put on his hat, you're not doing anyone any favors. It's not fair to the readers. Look at the price on that cover. We need to supply a lot more bang for the buck. And I'm not just talking 10 extra pages. I'm talking about putting more meat on the bone. That's something I try to keep in mind when doing these books.
Nrama: Are the Metal Men co-features also going to be done-in-one like the first one was?
Giffen: Yes. The first three or four are pretty much done-in-one with the various personalities and subplots in place to connect the dots. Even thought it's only 10 pages, I don't want to go further than two-parters. And Metal Men lends itself to that 10-page, slice-of-live vignette. And of course, it's getting the boys back together again; the Sunshine Boys are back. Working with [co-feature co-writer] Marc [DeMatteis] and [artist] Kevin [Maguire] is like falling off a log -- it's just so incredibly easy to pull these things together and put them out. I know these guys so well. I know when I hand the plot to Marc, he's going to knock it out of the ballpark. And when we give it to Kevin, we're going to get the perfect artwork back. And we start feeding off one another. I mean, Copper was around in the Metal Men mini-series that came out after 52, and I just put her in there as Copper, helping out. And it was Marc DeMatteis who added that, "we can't remember her" Dickens-urchin attitude. "It's me, sir! Copper, sir!" That came out of the blue, but I took it and ran with it. It's the sort of gag that we can and we do so often run into the ground.
But look, Metal Men is myself, Marc and Kevin doing what we do best, and that is going in and having fun with the characters. I mean, look, their arch foe is names Douglas Robot Hunter. So you know, we're not taking it too seriously. That said, it's not a parody, it's not a goof, and it's not making fun of the characters. It's just that you're going to read through the Doom Patrol and, you know, they're pretty grim characters. And you get the Metal Men in the back and they're sort of a way to cleanse your palette before moving on to other comic books.
Nrama: Is there anything coming up in Metal Men that you can tell us about?
Giffen: Yeah: The Clique. What happens when responsometers find their way into high-end fashion store mannequins? It's kind of like Sex and the City by way of Frankenhooker.
It's a lot of fun. For me, it's about working with the people I trust and telling the type of stories we like to do.
And you know, I'm having fun on all the books I'm doing. Even with Magog, I'm really excited about this book. The fans keep asking, why him? why him? why him? You know what? Give me a few issues and I'll show you why him. Everyone thinks, he's the Punisher... mmmm... no, wrong Marvel character.
Nrama: Captain America?
Giffen: No. If you stick with Magog long enough, Thor will be the one you're thinking of.
Nrama: Ah, yes, you had said you were putting a mythological back-story into Magog's character.
Giffen: Yes. Magog is not the story of how this Lance Corporal got the Magog powers. As it moves on, it's more about how David Reid was possessed by Magog. And that Magog and David Reid are not the same person. It's almost like superpowers by way of possession and witch-form. There's a lot more to Magog than meets the eye, and I'm playing with a lot of things here.
But no, it's not going to be just the Punisher. It's not going to just be "I don't like the way these superheroes are doing business." The fans are right -- that's been done a million times. And it's true that we hit upon that part of the character in the first issue, but it's a first issue. I'm setting things up.
But Magog is enjoyable to me because developing this character and Magog's story is just so much fun.
With Doom Patrol, the fun comes from already loving these characters so much and wanting the book so bad and doing everything I can to make sure this book succeeds.
Nrama: Now that your first issue is of Doom Patrol is out, it seems you're suddenly working on a ton of comics again.
Giffen: It's weird, because I've been cranking on Doom Patrol and Magog and Metal Men, and even the Authority, where I'm finishing Morrison's run. I've been working on this stuff for months and months, and now I'm finally getting some reaction. But Doom Patrol is the book I want to succeed so bad.
The across-the-board reaction to the first issue of Doom Patrol seems to be, like it or kind of dislike it or kind of like the Metal Men better, a lot of people seem to be willing to give it a chance. They'll pick it up and see where it goes and that's all I've ever asked.
Nrama: The cliffhanger at the end of the first story in Doom Patrol seems to set up the type of strange adventures the team might be encountering. What are we going to be seeing in this week's issue and beyond?
Giffen: Well, as you saw in the first issue, a supercollider has created a black hole, and the black hole wants to negotiate. In a way, it is the kind of weirdness that the Doom Patrol dabbles in, and I know that the Doom Patrol is the weird book, and I'm going to try to keep it a weird book. Will it be as weird as Grant Morrison's? No. No. It won't be. But it will have bizarre circumstances and situations that the Doom Patrol finds themselves in, that probably wouldn't fit any other book. I couldn't see myself doing another sentient black hole story the way I'm going to do it in Doom Patrol.
As for what's coming up, we've got the sentient black hole, and out of that storyline comes a new character that might or might not turn out to be a Doom Patrol member. We've got the Blackest Night things coming along next. We've got a few interesting characters showing up out of the Doom Patrol's past, as well as brand new threats.
You haven't seen the last of the Botfly. She wasn't just the James Bond opening. She was there for a reason and will play a role in future issues.
I'm trying to do the kind of Doom Patrol I always wanted to read and hoping enough people will be with me. If you're going to slight me at all on Doom Patrol, slight the writing, slight the storytelling, slight the breakdowns, but nobody's going to be able to slight my enthusiasm for this book or my desire to see this book succeed.


text: Each year, a portion of the Federal funding that is provided to the WS Program by Congress through the Federal budget and appropriations processes is dedicated to natural resource protection. In some situations, program recipients provide WS with cooperative funding to support very specific program activities to protect natural resources. Natural Resources are those associated with publically managed parks, lakes, state and national forests, wildlife and fish, (including sensitive, threatened, and endangered species), and wetlands. The Natural Resource category includes the protection of natural areas from the impacts of invasive species such as nutria and feral swine, the safeguarding of rare, threatened and endangered wildlife species from the negative impacts of more abundant ones, and the provision of information and education on the ecology and values associated with wildlife encountered by the public.

subset: commoncrawl


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ELVERTA, Calif. — With your flute of French Champagne this weekend, how about a little caviar on toast from Sacramento?
To the surprise of many would-be gourmands, the halcyon days of caviar are over. Most of the world's production no longer comes from such exotic spots as Russia's Volga River and western Asia's Caspian Sea. Those supplies are almost completely depleted from pollution, poaching, and overfishing of the caviar-egg-bearing sturgeon.
Instead, it turns out that Sacramento County now is the epicenter of U.S. sturgeon and caviar production, and experts say California now accounts for an estimated 70% to 80% of U.S. production.
Quiz: How much do you know about California's economy?
"Wild caviar is gone, and we can all forget about it," said Alexandre Petrossian, sales director and grandson of the founder of the 92-year-old French company that bears the family's name, known worldwide for premium caviar. Farm-raised sturgeon and their eggs are "the next generation of caviar," he said.
And to see where these fish eggs are now being harvested, drive just 20 miles north of the state Capitol to the scruffy, rice-growing community of Elverta (pop. 5,492). Although caviar isn't on any local menu, it's available, custom-packed at up to $2,757 per kilogram — 2.2 pounds — for a bon vivant risking the drive on a narrow, levee-top road to Sterling Caviar, a nondescript fish farm.
Sterling raises thousands of the prehistoric-looking fish that have barely evolved in the last quarter of a million years. The toothless bottom-feeders have shark-like, scaleless skin, bony plates along their backs and four feelers protruding from their mouths.
Segregated by age — fingerlings, adolescent and mature — sturgeon circle and splash in more than a dozen 70,000-gallon tanks. Each holds more than 1,000 fish and is sheltered in dimly lighted, hangar-like buildings where the loudest sounds are the occasional splash of a jumping fish, water pumps and the rattling of high-nutritional food pellets in overhead feeding pipes.
Most of the fish older than 3 years are females. At age 7 or 8, the caviar is harvested from the sexually mature females between mid-February and June. Then it's lightly salted and aged in a cooler for two to three months before being ready to eat. Almost all the males are culled and butchered for meat that goes to wholesalers for shipment to restaurants, fishmongers and for export.
How the sturgeon and caviar business landed in Sacramento County is a serendipitous tale that started with Serge Doroshov, a fish research biologist who defected from the former Soviet Union and got a job at nearby UC Davis. Local farmers approached him in 1978 for help setting up a sturgeon hatchery. Luckily, the nearby Sacramento River already was supporting a population of wild, white sturgeon, enough to create a breeding population. The breeding program with wild fish lasted from 1985 to 1987, but the first farmed caviar wasn't ready for harvest and sale until 1994.
The demise of Caspian caviar and the rise of California's offerings may be well known among dedicated connoisseurs but can be shocking news to the uninitiated, said Petrossian, who operates out of New York. His family's Paris company is a major player in the international caviar trade. The Petrossian family operates restaurants and gourmet shops in West Hollywood, New York, Las Vegas, Dubai and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"They might ask for the famous Beluga that we haven't sold in six or seven years. But we tell people to choose another one they prefer," he said. "Most of the time people tend to take the American caviar because it's not too salty, not too fishy, looks presentable and has larger, firm eggs."
California caviar comes in many names, some with very Russian-sounding ones such as Tsar Nicoulai, Tsar Imperial or Malossol. Some names even have local flavor such as Petrossian's Special Reserve Alverta, referring to eggs from Sterling's farm.
Having a source just a six-hour drive away makes for tastier dishes, said Ashley James, executive chef of the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.
"It's a wonderful thing to buy local whenever you can," James said. "Not only does it benefit the environment, but the caviar retains freshness, which plays into its integrity and flavor."
Caviar is served in many ways, most often as an appetizer. It's customarily accompanied with plain or buttered corners of toasted, thinly sliced white bread or Russian-style buckwheat pancakes called blini, along with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream.
Eating tiny fish eggs isn't for everyone. But for some diners, it's a must-have luxury. Retail prices on the Internet for Northern California caviar range from $62 to $88 for a 1-ounce jar.
Aficionados say they crave caviar's distinctive flavor, the round shape and a texture that literally explodes on the roof of the mouth. It comes in a range of colors including gray, light green, brown, gold and inky black. Caviar, experts stress, is generally considered the eggs of the sturgeon, although sometimes confused with caviar-like delicacies such as the eggs, or roe, of the salmon.
Northern California's premium caviar adds a flourish to many dishes served at Fleur de Lys French restaurant in San Francisco, said owner and chef Hubert Keller. "We use it regularly. When we have a little sole, we put a spoon of caviar on the top," he said. "Caviar is the ultimate indulgence."
Currently, the bulk of the national harvest is shipped from Elverta by Sterling Caviar. A second local caviar producer, Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, is a boutique operation just south of Sacramento. It supplies many top-rated epicurean shops and restaurants.
In 2012, Sterling, the California unit of multinational Stolt-Nielsen Ltd., produced about 22,000 pounds of caviar and 67,500 pounds of sturgeon meat, a byproduct. The company plans to boost caviar output by 50% over the next three years.
But it's a tough business, said Enrique Castaño, Sterling's managing director in Elverta.
"We spend as much on electricity as a small city in the United States," he said. "People think that because caviar is expensive that raising sturgeon to produce caviar is very profitable," said Castaño. Not so, he said: "The per-kilogram cost of caviar is very, very high."


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North Topsail Beach will enact a property tax increase and the fire department will add four new positions if the proposed 2013-14 fiscal year budget is approved.
NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH � North Topsail Beach will enact a property tax increase and the fire department will add four new positions if the proposed 2013-14 fiscal year budget is approved.
According to information Town Manager Stuart Turille presented to the town�s aldermen, the current tax rate of 1 cent per $100 property value that is dedicated to the beach fund will raise $82,593 at a 97.22-percent collection rate. That amount, he said, is not sufficient as a funding source for the $27 million required to complete phases two through five of the Shoreline Protection Project.
According to Carin Faulkner, the town clerk, phase one of the project ended in January and there are 9.6 miles of beach left to complete in the project.
The budget includes a 14-cent per $100 increase in the tax rate, which means the total property tax rate would increase from 23.55 to 37.55 cents per $100 � a 60-percent bump. Of that, 22 cents would go to the general fund and 15 cents would go to the beach fund.
Owners of property valued at $250,000, for example, would shell out an additional $350.
Faulkner said town officials are hoping to complete the project as soon as possible.
The proposed budget also adds four new full-time positions to the fire department while eliminating two part-time positions.
The positions are recommended in order to maintain the ISO rating of six, according to Turille�s information. The rating requires 28 active personnel; and with seven full time and two part time, 19 volunteers with 36 hours of training are needed.
�This is difficult for all 19 to achieve and places the ISO rating in jeopardy,� he wrote.
The addition is also recommended to ensure firefighters are able to respond in a timely manner. Eleven full time positions would allow both the north and south end stations to be both staffed for all shifts.
The budget also includes a police department request for two Ford Interceptor patrol vehicles, totaling $62,700, to replace vehicles with 121,000 and 132,000 miles; a Polaris Ranger Crew 500 (4x4 utility vehicle) to support beach patrol activities, to replace a 13-year old vehicle; 14 mobile car radios; and one control base radio stations.
The proposed budget also includes a 1-percent cost of living increase for NTB staff.
Turille told aldermen that a cost-of-living increase was not given from 2009 to 2011 and that inflation averages around 2 percent annually.
The town�s budget totals $3.46 million in both estimated spending and revenue. There was a $77,635 increase from the 2012-13 fiscal year budget.
The town recently found out it will receive an estimated 51.4 percent increase in sales tax revenue after the Onslow County Board of Commissioners voted to change how it divvies up sales tax revenue. Under the previous plan, NTB received $673,228 in sales tax revenue. The increase is estimated to bring in about $345,864 more.
NorthTopsailBeachwill hold a public hearing on the budget June 6 at 6:30 p.m.at the meeting room in Town Hall, located at 2008 Loggerhead Court.


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Brett Dennen: My Most Important Songs
Seven years before pop star Brett Dennen climbed to the top 10 of the indie music charts, he spent much of his time singing to children about peace, discrimination, and acceptance.
His first album, a simple recording with kids as backup singers, didn't make waves in the music industry. But it helped launch his music career and became the centerpiece of a program called The Mosaic Project, which uses Dennen's songs to get fourth- and fifth-graders talking about subjects that are tough even for adults—like stereotyping, violence, and empathy.
The songs are lighthearted, with lyrics that tell kids, "Everybody's got a different point of view," and, "Don't put me down and don't hurt me." But they speak to a difficult problem. Schools across the country are more segregated than they have been in more than four decades. Since the 1980s, federal policies have dismantled plans to integrate students from racially isolated neighborhoods. Now a rising number of black and Latino children attend schools with few resources in poor neighborhoods, and the average white student goes to a school that's more than 75 percent white, and less than 30 percent low-income.
Even in diverse schools, kids have a tendency to separate into social groups by race and socioeconomic background, a behavior pattern that few schools know how to counteract. Paradoxically, as American society grows more diverse, children have fewer interactions with kids who don't look like them.
Dennen, who was homeschooled by progressive parents in Oakdale, California, may seem an unusual champion for diversity. The shaggy-haired musician, now 30, looks like a high-school kid trying out 1990s grunge.
But in 2000, he met Lara Mendel. The granddaughter of Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany, Mendel had spent years working on anti-racism projects for teens. She felt schools were waiting too long to talk to kids about racial, cultural, and gender differences. Research backed her instincts, demonstrating that children can start exhibiting prejudice before they turn three.
Dennen was in college, a community-studies major planning to work in child education. They got to know each other in a wilderness-safety class and wrote a humorous song together (on backwoods diarrhea) for a class assignment.
Mendel saw an opportunity to use Dennen's musical talent. She enlisted him to cowrite songs for a curriculum to tackle stereotyping in young children.
She chose the name "Mosaic" as both a metaphor for diversity and an acronym for the values she wanted to teach: mutual respect, openmindedness, self-respect, attitude, individuality, and community.
Now Mendel's lessons and Dennen's songs are changing how California teachers and kids approach everything from behavioral problems to bullying.
Crossing the Lines
Nearly 900 kids in total attend the 10 week-long Mosaic Project sessions offered every year. They come from every part of the Bay Area—the West Oakland community that once headquartered the Black Panthers; historic Berkeley farmhouses; the polluted Richmond neighborhoods next to the Chevron oil refinery; and the gentrifying Potrero Hill in San Francisco. The kids are bussed north through wine country to a retreat center outside Napa with a cluster of cabins, a dining hall, a lake, and nature trails that loop through redwoods and madronas.
On the last day of this mid-October Mosaic session, there's something striking about the kids. At breakfast, instead of clustering into cliques, they're jaunty, at ease, and so thoroughly racially mixed they look like an ad for UNICEF. You don't see many hunched shoulders, hands in pockets, or stares directed at the ground.
Lyrics to Dennen's songs hang on the wall, reminders of what the kids have learned all week. Until 2006, Dennen attended every Mosaic Project session. Now he drops in when his tour schedule permits.
The din of nearly a hundred high-pitched voices and the clatter of plates settle as Mendel walks to the front of the room. She's wearing a brimmed cap, from which escape waves of blonde hair, and a purple tank top with the Mosaic logo. At about 5 feet, she's only a little taller than some of the children.
"Hello, my amazing allies," she shouts. "Let's have a moment of silence and appreciation for this beautiful day, our last day. So let's breathe in deep Mosaic breath number one." The noise drops to a few murmurs, kids shifting in seats, and shoes scraping across the floor. "And now deep Mosaic breath number two."
Once the kids have quieted, Mendel rouses them into a cheer. "Drum roll, please," she says, and the children pound their hands on the tables. She announces an award for the cabin that has done the most to act out the Mosaic lessons. Today every cabin gets the award. The kids whoop, and Mendel runs a mini victory lap at the front of the room. Then she cues the staff, who circulate through the room, distributing closing-day surveys.
Maiya Evans, a staff facilitator, pulls aside a brown-skinned little girl with hair in tight braids.
"What did you learn here at Mosaic?" Evans asks.
"We-eeell," says the girl, swinging her feet, "I learned that if you get into a fight, you shouldn't yell at each other. You should listen. And you should cool off and take a deep breath."
She's describing the first steps of conflict resolution, a skill Mosaic teaches using a song and kid-inspired team activities that involve monsters, cookies, and crossing an imaginary river.
Every session includes fourth- and fifth-grade classes from a balance of affluent, low-income, and racially mixed schools. The staff assigns kids from different schools to each cabin.
On the second evening, a game called "Cross the Line" helps them understand how their differences affect their lives. Mendel recites statements that describe a tough experience a child may face. "Cross the line if you've ever been called a mean name or put down just because you're a girl. Cross the line if you've ever been judged or teased because of the color of your skin. Cross the line if you've ever been yelled at, slapped, or hit."
In silence, kids walk over an imaginary line when they hear a statement they identify with.
Ten-year-old Tanaya McCoy, a white, lawyer's daughter from Berkeley, was stunned to see so many kids walk across the room when Mendel called on those who'd experienced gunshots close to home. "You learn that not everyone has the same thing. Not everyone gets to go to bed with a full belly of food," McCoy says. "One of my friends that I met here, I thought it was interesting because she used to actually be homeless."
"Cross the Line" helps children see that they are not alone—others have been teased, hurt, or felt afraid. It's a powerful moment.
"It was pretty emotional," says Erick Linares, an African American boy from Richmond. "But you don't have to worry about crying at Mosaic. I learned that it's OK for a dude to cry."
Such activities create behavioral changes that show up at home and in the classroom.
"Our school is very, very diverse. And you can look at the playground, and it's amazingly segregated," says Mary Loeser, a teacher from Cleveland Elementary School in Oakland. "At Mosaic, you see kids interacting with other kids from their class that they have hardly ever spoken to before."
Teachers consistently report noticing positive behavioral changes in the classroom after their students attend the program. Laurie Grossman, outreach coordinator at Oakland's Park Day School, says teachers play recordings of Dennen's songs when class behavior deteriorates. The songs remind students to cool down. Grossman has also seen Mosaic graduates put a stop to instances of name-calling and bullying on the playground.
"One parent said that when she went to pick her child up at the end of the week from Mosaic, she didn't recognize him walking down the trail because his gait was so much more confident," she says. "She thinks he realized that, since he's supposed to accept everybody else, that means everybody's supposed to accept him."
Such experiences explain why even time-starved and cash-strapped public schools are seeking out Mosaic. Mendel hopes to expand the number of sessions Mosaic offers to accommodate growing demand: She has to turn away several schools every year.
She has also seen a growing interest in diversity training from outdoor programs—a circus camp, an outdoor camp for girls, and a nature center are now using Mosaic methods in their curricula, as are many of the teachers whose students have attended past sessions.
Dennen uses his growing fame to help Mendel raise money and get media attention. He still calls Mosaic "the most important thing I've ever done."
"The work I've done at Mosaic has a direct effect on those kids," says Dennen. "That impact will live on a lot longer than my songs are going to be remembered."
Planting Seeds
In the last hour of the mid-October session, Mendel stands in the shade of redwood and bay trees, holding a guitar. A staff facilitator narrates a fairy tale in which a group of animals forgets how to get along; then they learn about The Mosaic Project. The other staff facilitators are the animals—in dog ears, a green frog hat, blue scarves that represent bird wings, and paper beaver teeth.
The children are rapt and silent, except for moments when the narrator asks them for a sound effect—"knock, knock" to open a door, or "aaah," when the characters find a magic stone.
At the end, kids and staff break into the Mosaic theme song. "M is for mutual respect … O is for openmindedness." Then every child is given a bead he or she made days ago from a redwood seed and polymer clay.
Rebecca Torres, from Le Conte Elementary School in Berkeley, shows off her star-shaped bead. She says it represents a sister who died during miscarriage. "I wish she was here with me, because I only have two brothers," she says. Rebecca's family immigrated from León, Guanajuato, Mexico, and her father paints houses.
She is so excited that she hardly pauses to breathe between sentences. "Me and my friend made a promise that we can come to Mosaic to be [youth] leaders when we're 16," she says. "And when I go home, I'm going to be whoever I want to be. I don't have to listen to anybody that tells me what to be."


text:
Major Section: RELEASE-NOTES
Important Changes:
Concurrent with the release of ACL2 Version 2.5 is the publication of two books about ACL2. See the ``Books and Papers about ACL2 and Its Applications'' on the ACL2 Home Page.
books subdirectory now contains many new certifiable books,
including solutions to the exercises in the two published books and
full scripts for the case studies. See
Improved Unix
Makefile support for book certification has also been
written. See
The list of symbols in
*acl2-exports* has been considerably expanded.
If you have packages built by importing
*acl2-exports* you might want
to look carefully at the new value of that constant. The new value includes
:logic mode functions as of Version 2.5, as well as all documented
macros and all built-in theorem names.
Include-book and
certify-book were modified to
have some additional keyword arguments. It is possible to
certify a book containing
defaxiom and/or
events and get warning messages or errors signaled, according to
the settings of these new flags. In addition, it is possible to
specify in
include-book whether the book must be certified
(under penalty of error if not). The default values of these new
arguments cause warnings to be printed rather than errors signaled.
The above change involved altering the form of certificate files.
When books certified under previous versions are included, more
warnings will be generated because these books are considered
possibly to contain
defaxiom and/or
skip-proofs events.
We anticipate further changes to this aspect of books and consider the current mechanisms (for controlling whether warnings or errors are signaled) just a prototype. See also the discussion below of ``soundness related'' warnings. Your suggestions are welcome.
A discrepancy between ACL2 and Common Lisp was fixed, having to do
declare ignore. In past versions of ACL2, a formal
parameter of a
defun was considered ignored if it was not used
in the body, the guard or the measure of the
defun. That meant
that a variable used only in the guard could not be declared ignored
in ACL2; but some Common Lisp compilers would complain because the
variable was not used in the body. Now, ACL2 considers a variable
ignored if it is not used in the body.
ACL2 can now be built in releases 5.0 and later of Allegro Common Lisp. (Other releases of Allegro Common Lisp and of other lisps continue to be supported as well.) This includes Allegro Common Lisp running on Windows 98 platforms. John Cowles helped us do some testing and answered questions for us. Thanks John!
We incorporated Ruben Gamboa's changes to allow the building of a variant, ACL2(r), of ACL2, in which the user can reason about the real numbers using non-standard analysis. See real. Note that ACL2(r) and ACL2 have different underlying theories, and books certified in one system may not be included in the other. For backward compatibility and to ensure a smooth transition, ACL2 is built by default, not ACL2(r). This is a compile-time switch; see the makefile for instructions. There should be no changes to ACL2 resulting from the capability of building ACL2(r) from the same sources. Also see acknowledgments for more on the history of ACL2(r).
A large number of bugs (some affecting soundness) were fixed, and many small new features were added. See below.
Less Important Changes:
Some warnings are now considered ``soundness related,'' namely,
those that advise you that an uncertified book has been included
or that a book containing
DEFAXIOM or
SKIP-PROOFS events.
DEFAXIOMs do not imperil soundness in the proof-
theoretic sense, though they may imperil the validity of theorems.
But you sould know when a book has added an axiom to your logic!) In
previous versions of ACL2, all warnings were inhibited if the token
warning was included in the argument to
set-inhibit-output-lst. Now, soundness related warnings are
printed even if
warnings have been inhibited. To inhibit all
warnings, supply the token
warning! to
Several bugs in
defstobj were fixed, relating to the
possibility that some of the subfunctions introduced by the
defstobj were already defined.
Puff no longer tries to expand
defstobj events.
Previously, the attempt would cause a hard error.
A soundness bug was fixed. The bug might have been exercised if you
had an alternative definition (implies hyps (equiv (fn ...) body)) in
which equiv is an equivalence relation other than EQUAL. In this case,
calls of fn might have been expanded to body in places that were not
An obscure soundness bug was fixed. The bug was exercised only if you had a metafunction with a computed hypothesis (i.e., a ``meta hypothesis function''), the hypothesis contained a free variable, i.e., a variable not involved in the term being rewritten, and the free variable occurred in the output of the metafunction. The possibility of this bug was brought to our attention by Robert Krug.
We fixed a bug in the handling of
hide related to the question
of whether a variable symbol occurs in a term. The old code did not
find the variable and could cause the system to throw away a
hypothesis about it on the grounds that it was never mentioned. Rob
Sumners helped discover this problem.
The handling of
elim rules was generalized, permitting arbitrary
known equivalence relations instead of merely
equal in the
concluding equality.
The printing of runes (rule names; see rune) used has been made "deterministic," both in proof output and in proof attempt summaries, by sorting the runes before printing.
The handling of free variables has been improved for hypotheses such
(< 0 X), and more generally, any hypotheses involving a
comparison with
0 (even for example
(< X 1) where
X is known to be
an integer, which is handled as
(<= X 0)). Thanks to Robert Krug
for bringing relevant examples to our attention.
A new value,
:comp, has been implemented for the
:load-compiled-file keyword of
include-book. If this
value is supplied, then a compiled file will always be loaded, even
if that requires creating the compiled file first.
The event
include-book now generates a warning when a compiled
file is expected but not found (see include-book). Formerly,
it only did so when executed at the top level; it failed to generate
the warning when executed on behalf of a surrounding
Certain redefinition warnings generated by Allegro Common Lisp have been eliminated.
A new key has been implemented for the
:bogus-mutual-recursion-ok, set with
Thanks to David Russinoff for pointing out the utility of such a key.
A bug was fixed in
defun-sk that prevented its generated events from
being accepted when guard verification is being performed. Thanks
to Bill Young for bringing this problem to our attention. A second
bug was brought to our attention by Pete Manolios, which was causing
defun-sk events to be rejected. That problem has been
fixed, and an "Infected" warning has also been eliminated.
The command
good-bye now works with Allegro Common Lisp.
A low-level bug was fixed that could, for example, cause an error
such as "Error: Expected 5 args but received 4 args" when
interrupting a
local event.
A bug has been fixed in the proof-checker related to definition expansion. Thanks to Pete Manolios for bringing this to our attention with a simple example.
A bug has been fixed related to the
:bdd hint in the presence of
equivalence relations. Thanks to Pete Manolios for bringing this to our
attention with a simple example.
The functions
position and
position-equal formerly
required the second argument to be a true list. In accordance with
Common Lisp, we now also allow the second argument to be a string.
This could cause earlier proofs about these functions to fail unless
true-listp is known to hold where necessary.
Robert Krug wrote a patch, which has been incorporated, to prevent certain infinite loops that can arise in linear arithmetic. Thanks, Robert!
The macro
let* no longer requires the bound variables to be
An obscure bug was fixed related to congruence rules. The bug would sometimes cause ACL2 to behave as though no rules (other than equality) were available for some argument positions. Thanks to Pete Manolios for bringing this bug to our attention.
Documentation topics have been added for
hard-error and
and the documentation for
illegal has been improved. Thanks to Rob
Sumners for a useful suggestion in the examples in documentation for
prog2$ and a fix in documentation for
The event form
certify-book was made more secure, in that it can now
catch attempts to write a book to disk during its certification.
Thanks to Rob Sumners for pointing out the insecurity of the
existing mechanism.
A Y2K problem was fixed with our applicative handling of dates.
Accessors and updaters for
stobjs have been made more efficient when
the underlying lisp is Allegro Common Lisp, by the use of
appropriate simple array declarations.
A raw Lisp break had been possible when a certified book that had no
guard verification was included in a session after
2). This has been fixed.
The keyword command
comp can now be used to compile only raw
Lisp functions, excluding executable counterparts, by supplying the
Rewrite rule
nth-of-character-listp was removed from source file
axioms.lisp since it is essentially subsumed by
Printing has been sped up. In one example the improvement was over 50% in both Allegro and GCL.
We now allow printing in a "downcase" mode, where symbols are
printed in lower case. All printing functions except
now print characters in lower case for a symbol when the ACL2 state
global variable
print-case has value
:downcase and vertical bars are
not necessary for printing that symbol. See IO for a discussion of
the macros
acl2-print-case and
set-acl2-print-case. The default
printing remains unchanged, i.e., symbols are printed in upper case
when vertical bars are not required.
A low-level printing function (
prin1$) was modified so that it is
not sensitive to various Common Lisp globals related to printing. So
for example, the function
fmt is no longer sensitive to the value
of Common Lisp global
*print-case*. (The preceding paragraph
explains how to control the case for printing in ACL2.)
The definition of
array1p was fixed so that the
:maximum-length of
an array must be strictly greater than the number specified in the
:dimensions field; they may no longer be equal. This was always the
intention; the documentation (see arrays) has remained unchanged.
The corresponding change was also made to
array2p. Allegro Common
Lisp formerly caused an error when
compress1 was called on an array
where the numbers above were equal; now, we get a guard violation
instead, which is appropriate.
In the context of theories, a name now represents not just the
:definition rune, as it has done in earlier versions
of ACL2, but also the corresponding
induction rune.
See theories for a discussion of runic designators. Most users
will rarely, if ever, notice this change. One situation where this
change will make a difference is after executing
(in-theory (current-theory 'foo)) followed by
(in-theory (enable bar)), where function
bar is introduced after
foo, and
bar is recursively defined. The latter
form now enables the rune
(:induction bar), which implies that the
prover can use the induction scheme stored at definition time for
bar. Formerly, the rune
(:induction bar) was not enabled by
(in-theory (enable bar)), and hence the induction scheme for
bar was
ignored even when explicit
:induct hints were supplied.
You may now supply
xargs keyword pair
:normalize nil in order to
prevent certain definitions from ``hanging'' when there are many
if-subexpressions. see defun.
We now translate type declarations of
real into guards, as we have
already done for other types such as
rational. For example,
(declare (type real x)) generates the guard
(rationalp x).
See type-spec.
The theorem prover now behaves reasonably under the combination of
specifying a value of
t both for
otf-flg and for a hint
:do-not-induct. Previously, it aborted the first time it would have
otherwise pushed a goal for induction, but now, it will continue and
wait until all induction subgoals have been pushed before it aborts.
We changed slightly the definition of
round. However, we believe
that the new definition is equivalent to the old.
The definition of Common Lisp function
substitute has been added.
The following changes have been made in the use of file names within ACL2. We thank Warren Hunt and John Cowles for running some tests of these changes on Macintosh and Windows 98 platforms (respectively).
It is no longer necessary to issue
(1) Names of directories and files now use a syntax like that used for Unix (trademark of AT&T), where directories are separated using the ``
/'' character even when the operating system is not Unix or Linux. See pathname. ACL2 also continues to support its notion of structured pathnames from Version 2.4 and before, but might not do so in future releases and hence no longer documents such syntax.
(2) The command
set-cbdmay now take a relative pathname as an argument.
(3) When the macro
ldis given a file name as a value for
standard-oi, then if that file name is a relative pathname it refers to the result of prepending the connected book directory (see pathname, see cbd, and see set-cbd) in order to obtain an absolute pathname. Simiarly for the
t if you
include a stobj declaration for
state, for example:
(declare (xargs :stobjs state))See declare-stobjs.
The proof-checker has been cleaned up a bit, including the documentation and the capability (once again) to define pc-macro commands (see define-pc-macro) and proof-checker meta commands (see define-pc-meta).
Recall that events generate summaries that include a line beginning
with ``
Warnings:'', which is followed (on the same line) by zero or
more brief strings that summarize the warnings generated by that
event. Formerly, this warnings summary for an
encapsulate or
include-book event did not include the summary strings for
warnings generated by subsidiary events. This has been fixed.
cw has been documented and now expands to a call of
logic mode function. See cw for a way to print to the screen
without having to involve the ACL2
state. Thanks to Rob Sumners
for suggesting that we document this useful utility.
evens, and
odds are now
logic mode functions.


text:
Nearly three-quarters of the 141 information workers (iWorkers) responding to a recent Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) online poll indicated that they would be willing to pay at least part of the cost for productivity-enhancing technology for work if they could choose it themselves.
The respondents were answering the question, "What percentage of the cost of your job's IT tools would you be willing to fund if you had freedom to choose what you could use?"
Nearly one-third (32 percent) of the iWorkers said that they would be willing to pick up the full cost. Twenty-one percent said that they would pay up to half of the cost, and another 21 percent said that they would fund up to 30 percent of the cost.
"By clinging to old ways in today's hyper-competitive marketplace, employers could miss a golden opportunity to mobilize and unleash the innovation of an army of tech-savvy employees who want to use the technologies they rely on in their personal lives for work," said Sam Gross, vice president, Global IT Outsourcing Solutions, Unisys.
But how do companies make the transition to a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) structure? This slideshow highlights 12 steps identified by Unisys that businesses should follow when creating a BYOT program.
10 Ways to Keep Hackers in Check and Ensure Safe Web Resources Safeguard your Web resources with these security guidelines.
Movers and Shakers: Where Some of IT's Top Executives Are Going September 2010 was a tumultuous month for CEOs as the turnover rate surged to a four-month high.
Seven Types of Presentations to Avoid Avoid these presentation duds with proper planning and practice.
Related Topics : IBM Looks to Redefine Industry Standard Servers, APC, Brocade, Citrix Systems, Data Center
While HCI is certainly innovative in design, its true measure lies in the practical benefits it brings to data center management and operations. ... More >>
Survey findings include pain points for secondary storage, average restore times, the growth of hyperconvergence and rate of cloud adoption in enterprises. ... More >>
IT administrators need to identify zombie assets, verify idle status and shut off anything that is unused. Here's how to get your dormant infrastructure back in shape. ... More >>


text:
I only thought I had been to Brussels!
I took the Eurostar from London to Brussels
once, spent the day at Grand Place and
soaked up the culture. Ate waffles for lunch,
washed them down with beer, (they have over
400 brews), stuffed my face with decadent
chocolate while shopping for lace, then roamed
the artist stalls with my entourage of pigeons
close behind.
Well, that was the Dutch version.
The French version, Bruxelles, I missed!
With dreams of Paris on my mind, I didn't
linger long in northern France.
Perhaps, if I would have known about
Bruxelles Antiques in Ennelevin, close
to Lille, that rental van would have
taken a detour.
What a stunning antique store and just my style!
My container would have been full before
heading south and I could have saved on the
transport to LaHarve.
I won't make that mistake again!
They even have a restaurant, a good excuse,
to linger for the afternoon.
J'adore la version française !!
Nothing against the Dutch mind you, I just happen to have a French fetish going on here.
Jeetje, I mean ça alors, I wish I would have known! Visit their website here if you would like to see more.
Brussels or Bruxelles?
Now, on another note..... Someone out there, sent me an email about demi-johns. I was too quick with the clicks and accidentally sent you to cyberspace! I apologize !!!@!
I have a large inventory ranging from 8" to 18". Clear and varying shades of green. All are $125 each, regardless of size or color. If you are interested email me back.
Bisou mes ami's et bonne journee!


text:
Challenge Entertainment TRIVIA
- 2-13-2018 | 7:00PM - 9:00 pm
- Hikes Point
The pursuit of free food is never trivial! Play for gift certificates at this high energy, weekly trivia event, hosted by Challenge Entertainment.
$ 3 Pints of Sweetwater 420
Plus, every Tuesday, get Two 10" Specialty Pizza's for $25*
*Valid on Tuesdays for dine in, delivery or carryout. Not valid with other offers. Premium toppings count as 2. Subject to change. Max Discount $14.98


text:
There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Door/Floor Mat
Feeling The Need To Get Away?
- For fans of IPs and maybe the Wizard
- Click your heels and pretend you're already there
- White print on a indoor/outdoor mat
Tired of people stepping all over you? Well take your frustrations out by stepping all over these choice door/floor mats. Adorned with the peculiar 'There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1' phrase, consider them your own personal wormholes to a place where users invented clue and upper management gets outsourced. Just step on 'em, click heels twice, and off you go! Perfect for both outdoor home and indoor office use alike, so that makes them extra tastylicious!
Includes one Polypropylene surface, vinyl backed entrance mat with the phrase 'There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1' with raised printing front and center. Dimensions: 2' x 3'. Extremely hardy!
This floor/door mat is a densely needle punched, polypropylene carpet mat that combines durability with attractive appearance. The high low surface pattern promotes aggressive cleaning action while its rugged vinyl backing provides skid resistant traction. A great mat for stopping dirt and moisture at the door and promoting cleaner, safer interior floors. Ideal for use indoors or outside and built to handle heavy traffic! Easy to keep clean by sweeping, vacuuming or spraying with an ordinary garden hose.
Magical wormhole transporting enzymes not included.


text:
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text:
National Fire Codes, Volume 2
National Fire Protection Association., 1938 - Fire extinction
From inside the book
16 pages matching pulverized fuel in this book
Where's the rest of this book?
Results 1-3 of 16
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
and 1939 and adopted by the N F P A in 1939
Magnesium Powder or Dust Code for Explosion and Fire Protection
Pşn of Condensation and Drying in Conveyor
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accumulation aluminum powder American Standard American Standards Association apparatus approved Article 500 authority having jurisdiction automatic belts bins Blower and Exhaust building carbon dioxide choke cleaning coal combustible connected construction crushing and pulverizing discharge drier ducts dust collecting system dust collectors Dust Explosion Hazards dust-tight Elevator legs enclosed enclosures Exhaust Systems extinguishing fire doors fire-resistive floor Foreign material furnace garners glass or equivalent grain elevators grinding handling heating ignition inches incombustible inert gas Installation of Blower Killed Injured light located machinery machines magnesium powder metal mill motors National Electrical Code operation oxygen partitions permitted pipe plant pneumatic positive air aspiration pressure PREVENTION OF DUST produce pulverized fuel pulverizing department recommended relief vents roof screens screw conveyors Section separate Sept Spark spouts starch Static electricity steam Stock and Vapor storage sulphur surfaces Systems for Dust tanks temperature tight Unknown Unknown Vapor Removal vault ventilation walls


text:
Another fantastic day of reflecting and playing.
While I had initially thought that the Exposition phase would be kind of a let-down after the fierce activity of Exploration and Expression, I asked a few kids today what they thought of this portfolio idea and they said they were really liking it. Such a good sign.
Sharing bits and pieces of writing and pictures.
Portfolio work.
And of course, a break at the park.


text:
Amanda Nisbet: What She's Up To/
Recently, I had the opportunity to catch up with Amanda and ask her a little bit about what she is up to right now. And believe me when I say, she has been up to quite a lot!
I was a struggling actress and found myself getting more attention for the design of my apartment than for my acting talents so I transitioned from one creative role to another. I have to say my background as an actress comes in very handy as a decorator.
I am so lucky to live in New York where I'm constantly stimulated and inspired by the art fashion, architecture and all the creative people who make their mark on this city.
Comfortable cozy, elegant and not too perfect. I like things to be a tad off balance and not too matchy and predictable. Formulaic decorating seems too "easy" for me I'd rather stretch myself and create more of a personal environment for my client.
Amanda has been working recently on a new line of chic fabrics and brilliant lighting.
Tell us a little about your new fabric line:
My new fabric line is essentially about the transformative powers of colour. I have 10 designs and 32 colours all hand-printed on either oyster linen, oatmeal linen or silk.
What was the inspiration for this particular project/product?
Some of my patterns are very painterly and loose some are more precise and clean. Achieving exactly the right shade and tint for my colours was of paramount importance. I was really inspired more by what I felt I needed yet couldn't find for my own client' projects.
What color are you and why?
Fuschia- its bright and happy gets along with everyone yet isn't wimpy.
What is on your nightstand?
An Aquiesse candle, my kindle, ""The Week" "Laughter On The Stairs" by Beverly Nichols and "the New Yorker"
Here is just a peek at Amanda's new fabric line. Fresh, classic, colorful. I can just imagine all of the possibilities!
Pizzetta and Positano
Maderia and Chip 2
Alannah 2
Note in the first Living Room photo above, Amanda used her Chip 2 fabric on the stool behind the sofa. So perfect!
Amanda's full fabric line can be viewed on her website HERE and is available though the Holland and Sherry Showrooms.
Amanda has also introduced a fantastic lighting line which you can also see on her site. It is available through The Urban Electric Company.
It was so much fun corresponding with Amanda Nisbet. She is one of my all time favorites, and I have to say everyone in her office is top notch as well. Thank you all very much for your gracious attention!
Last, but not least, I just wanted to mention that Amanda Nisbet is one of the judges for the Bedroom Design Contest being held over at Ronda Carmen's All the Best blog HERE. If you have not had a chance to check out all of the amazing entries, please hop on over! AND there is going to be a "Reader's Choice Award", so do stop by and vote!


text:
Sun & Rain necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 18 diseños de 5 diseñadores freelance.
Always Ready LLC
I spent most of the past decade working in South America, where I managed sustainable development and disaster relief projects. Through these experiences I learned to appreciate how quickly modern amenities and basic services and supplies can disappear, leaving people and communities to fend for themselves. As a result, I created a business called Always Ready that helps families and communities improve their preparedness and resiliency by simplifying their lives, decreasing their reliance on the overcomplicated and often susceptible modern systems, and making plans to deal with disasters and emergencies. Always Ready is preparing to launch a website and blog: http://www.alwaysreadyllc.com. The blog will provide information about improving community preparedness and resiliency, offer consulting services to help families and communities improve their preparedness and resiliency, and sell relevant supplies, such as emergency kits. This business is NOT a survival school and it is not fear based.
Always Ready works with individual families as well as communities that are concerned about or vulnerable to natural and manmade disasters. Always Ready also has some institutional clients. Families tend to be middle to upper income, and have little to no experience with preparedness but are now concerned about it because of growing uncertainties related with what seems to be increasingly severe weather, the economic downturn, etc.
I would like to the logo to inspire confidence. Also, living simply and in harmony with nature is important to family and community resiliency, so, if possible, it would be good if the logo communicated this.
A few other considerations:
1. No cartoons or clip art.
2. Again, it should inspire confidence but not be grave or scary (like I wrote above, this business is NOT a survival school and it is not fear based).
3. Use mostly blue, green and brown (earth tones).
I have attached a logo I had designed for another website to give you an idea of something that worked for me.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Kansas Senate expects final vote on $14 billion budget bill
Legislators are one step from beginning negotiations over how Kansas will spend some $14 billion on government programs in the next fiscal year.
The Senate is scheduled to take final action Thursday on its version of the bill after debating the measure for nearly five hours Wednesday.
The House gave final approval to its version of the budget Wednesday.
Both bills generally follow spending recommendations laid out by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. Each would spend some $6 billion in general state revenues and $8 billion from federal funds and other sources in each of the next two years.
Negotiator will try to forge a compromise on spending priorities before legislators are scheduled to take a one-month break starting in early April.


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DENVER � Cherryville American Legion Post 100�s baseball team is in familiar territory.
After all, Cherryville is making its record 33rd North Carolina Area IV Final Four appearance Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when it visits Lincoln County at East Lincoln High School in the opener of a best-of-five semifinal series.
The winners of this series and the Shelby-Hickory series that also begins Tuesday will earn spots in the Area IV championship series as well as gain berths in the July 26-30 state tournament in Wilson.
�Getting to the state tournament is what�s it�s all about,� said Cherryville coach Bobby Reynolds, whose team has won a record six straight Area IV titles. �Our goal every year is to get to state tournament because you can�t win the state title if you don�t get there.�
Cherryville (16-12) enters the series after a grueling 20-inning doubleheader split on Sunday at Charlotte�s Independence High against Mint Hill to win that quarterfinal series three games to one.
Lincoln County (17-11), meanwhile, comes in after sweeping Caldwell County in three straight games by a combined 41-16 margin.
Does that give Lincoln a short-term advantage?
�We should be behind the 8-ball a little bit,� Reynolds said. �Their pitching rotation is set up and ready and ours is in a bit of shambles.�
However, as Reynolds notes, nine of Cherryville�s 18 players were on last year�s N.C. runner-up team and three of those were on the 2011 state championship team.
�We�re not much of a rah-rah bunch because we know what�s at stake and what�s expected,� Reynolds said.
After a rocky 10-11 regular season that included three-game losing streaks at the start and finish of that schedule, Cherryville has won six of seven playoff games.
Cody Dellinger (.385) has been the top postseason hitter, with Heath King and Cameron High (2-0 records) sparking the pitching staff. High pitched a complete-game 7-hitter with 10 strikeouts in Sunday night�s 6-2 playoff-clincher over Mint Hill.
�That�s the best outing he�s had all year,� Reynolds said of High, who had pitched only in a 2 2-3-inning relief effort previously in the playoffs before Sunday. �He gave us a great game. All of his pitches � the curve, the change and the fastball � were going for strikes.�
On the season, King is 5-0 and High 3-0, with Clay Fuller (.375, 17 RBIs), Dalton Towery (.350), Dellinger (.326), High (.306) and Shumaker (.292, 17 RBIs) leading a balanced offense.
The Cardinals are making only their second Area IV Final Four appearance; They lost in 2007 to Caldwell County in their other appearance.
But they come in with some hot bats after beating Henderson County 3-2 in the opening round and sweeping Caldwell County 3-0.
Danny Sullivan is hitting .531 with 12 RBIs in eight playoff games, with Jacob Hoover hitting .440, Bradley Hallman .438 and Randal Ortiz .379.
For the season, Sullivan is hitting .474, Hoover .372, Ortiz .338, David Scoggins .328, Nathaniel Scoggins .318 and Hallman .308.
Justin Norton, the projected starter for Lincoln County in Tuesday�s opener, is 4-1 on the season. That includes victories in Games 1 and 5 of the Henderson County series. Other top Cardinals� pitchers have been Hayden Deal (4-3), David Scoggins (3-0), Hallman (2-0) and Sullivan (2-1).
� Cherryville leads the all-time series between the teams 20-3.
Due to this season�s excessive rainfall, their regular season meeting was cancelled, marking the first time since 2006 the teams hadn�t met. Twice previously, Cherryville has swept playoff series � in 2008 and 2010 by 3-0 margins in the first round.
And while the two teams are 25 miles apart, they�ve been divisional rivals in only three seasons � in the 1996 Western Division and in the 2004 and 2005 Eastern Division.
You can reach Richard Walker at 704-869-1841 or by twitter.com/JRWalk22
Area IV playoffs
First round (best of 5): July 3-9
Gaston Braves d. Rutherford 3-0
Hickory d. Kings Mountain 3-0
Asheville d. Union County 3-1
Shelby d. Haywood 3-0
Mint Hill d. Burke 3-0
Cherryville d. Huntersville 3-0
Lincoln d. Henderson 3-2
Caldwell d. Gastonia 2-1 (after rain forced series to revert to best-of-3)
Second round (best of 5): July 10-14
Hickory d. Gaston Braves 3-1
Shelby d. Asheville 3-0
Cherryville d. Mint Hill 3-1
Lincoln d. Caldwell 3-0
Semifinals (best of 5): July 16-20
West-3 (Hickory) vs. West-1 (Shelby)
Game 1: July 16 at S
Game 2: July 17 at H
Game 3: July 18 at S
Game 4 (if necessary): July 19 at H
Game 5 (if necessary): July 20 at S
West-4 (Cherryville) vs. East-3 (Lincoln)
Game 1: July 16 at L
Game 2: July 17 at C
Game 3: July 18 at L
Game 4 (if necessary): July 19 at C
Game 5 (if necessary): July 20 at L
Finals (best of 3): July 21-23
West-3/West-1 vs. West-4/East-3
Game 1: July 21 at unknown
Game 2: July 22 at unknown
Game 3 (if necessary): July 23 at unknown


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Get the biggest deals delivered to your inbox! Click here to sign up for the DEALBOSS newsletter.
BUY NOW: You can find a selection of sale items with reductions of 15-40 percent right here.
Any day you can save up to 40 percent and upgrade your home is a big day in my bargain books.
A couple of weeks ago we saw huge savings on Kohler products, and today the price drops get kicked up a notch as we help you save on products from one of the highest-end kitchen and bathroom brands.
If you've ever seen a Moen showroom or examined the bathroom faucets or kitchen fixtures of a higher-end home, you may have yearned for an upgrade. Amazon's sale of the day is tied to Moen products, and you can cut your costs by up to 40 percent. In fact the sale is mislabeled by Amazon. The heading of the sale says up to 15 percent off but I found some top-rated kitchen products and bathroom faucets at 38 percent and 39 percent off.
If you have a leaky faucet, a shower head that needs an upgrade or a simple DIY project you'd like to undertake, I have you covered.
Click the play button for some more insight on today's Moen sale.
BUY NOW: You can find a selection of sale items with reductions of 15-40 percent right here.
- The top charcoal toothpaste for whiter teeth is on sale
- You can easily spot these suitcases
- This $40 white noise machine can help you sleep and work
- How to get two tiny but powerful wireless speakers for under $15
- Wolfgang Puck pressure ovens are half price today
- A great set of insulated shopping bags is on sale on Amazon
- The top deal on an iPhone and Android case
Who is Matt Granite?
- Matt Granite is a freelance consumer reporter who produces stories and video for this Station, Amazon and others. He is not compensated by the brands featured here. This Station and its parent company may receive a share of the revenue from the site that sells the product if you purchase one of these products using the link on this page.


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Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) Protest Berkeley 1969
Annotated color photos of Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) protests, marches, and police actions on UC Berkeley campus in 1969. For higher resolution photos from original slides, or questions, write a comment on this page and include your email address. (The e-mail address will not show up on the web page.)Read More
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All canvas artwork is printed exclusively on 100% premium cotton canvas using archival inks. Combined with a patented non-toxic coating that water and UV proofs them, every Giclée is guaranteed to last over 100 years. When you frame these prints, they do not need to be framed behind glass, making them ideal for any room in your home.
Canvas for Gallery Wrap
When you purchase Canvas prepared to be gallery wrapped, we add a 2½" mirrored border (on all sides) which allows you to have a stretcher bar frame made up to 2" deep. The mirrored borders may throw you off, but that border is designed to be seen on the side of the stretcher bar frame. This ensures that the complete image is shown on the face of the frame. Gallery wraps are ideal for large prints.
About The Artist
Local artist George Young began studying art and painting under the guidance of his father who was also an artist and teacher. A native of Newport Beach, California, Mr. Young has resided near coastal locations for most of his life and that proximity has cultivated a love of lush ocean landscapes and warm tropical climates.
His beautiful oil paintings are primarily images of Maui's paradise. He skillfully blends vivid color and shadow, and he genuinely captures the languid beauty that his subjects inspire.
Copyright © 2019 Lahaina Printsellers, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


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I've heard through the grapevine that this bag above is what Roger Federer's using to lug around all his tennis goods for the 2007 U.S. Open. (I haven't seen it in person… can anyone confirm?)
The black bag (with a blue swoosh) is similar to the what R-Fed used at Wimbledon. Great colorway, but I would have preferred it in a matte finish.
What do you think of the bag? Tell us!
(photo via Midwest Sports)
>> roger's u.s. open shoes: a closer look
>> roger's wimbledon outfit


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J.K. Rowling is Writing a Book for Grown-Ups
Good news for people who love the Harry Potter series but are maybe too old to be seen reading any of the books in public: J.K. Rowling is writing a novel for adults.
There are literally no details about the book so far, except that it will be published by the Little, Brown Book Group, and that it will be, according to Rowling, "very different" from the Potter series. Bloomsbury and Scholastic, which published Rowling's work in the past, are likely lamenting their loss. This is like Biggie leaving Bad Boy for Death Row, or something.


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A warm-hearted
welcome to Lancombe
We are here to offer Dorset holiday cottages and lodges in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty!
With a beautiful countryside setting, in Thomas Hardy Country, you are assured of a rural get-away like no other. Lancombe is quite simply unique in being able to offer something for everyone; whether a relaxing retreat, or activity-fuelled fun.
When you have found your way across the rolling hills, and into Lancombe's beautiful grounds, you will first notice our wonderful array of eye-pleasing accommodation. There is something to suit everyone's taste. The charming holiday cottages and lodges offer fantastic comfort and are well-equipped with everything you need; what's more, we offer dog friendly holiday cottages and lodges too.
Whether you are here for tranquillity and enjoyment of your favourite pastimes, or more energetic and exhilarating pursuits for you and your children, our extensive onsite facilities will have exactly what you are looking for. From a leisurely dip in the indoor heated pool, fun in the games room, a relaxing woodland walk or feeding the chickens; it's all here on your doorstep. As are the plethora of local tourist attractions.
At Lancombe Country Cottages and Lodges, we cater for a variety of group sizes. And above all else, there's one thing you can be certain of: as your hosts, we are here to make sure you have the most wonderful holiday, and leave you with great memories to look back on.
Click here for our latest Special Offers and Events.
Step into our world, breathe in the fresh air.
Time to unwind now, or explore if you dare.
Get the Lancombe brochure
To download our brochure, simply enter your email address
Lancombe offers:
- Fantastic self-catering holidays
- Holiday cottages in Dorset
- Holiday lodges in Dorset
- A fabulous range of facilities
- Vast gardens and woodland
- Themed festive breaks
- Easy access to tourist attractions
- Child friendly
- Baby friendly holidays
- Pet friendly accommodation
- Indoor heated pool & Sauna, all year round
- Games Room
- Complimentary Wifi
- Credit/Debit payments accepted
- Some properties with private Hot Tubs


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A&B necesitaba un nuevo diseño de papelería y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 104 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
A&B American Style, LLC
A&B American Style is a young company specializing in hand-made, small-batch condiments. Our products are about freshness and the natural flavors of our all-natural ingredients. Our hot sauces are certainly spicy, but our goal is not to set customers' mouths on fire. Instead, we want our condiments to bring out the flavor in all kinds of dishes.
Our target is the kind of customer whose purchasing decision is swayed by a food manufacturer's small company image. In addition to people who buy hot sauces merely for their heat, we are specifically targeting the shopper who appreciates all-natural products. The likely customer will be attracted to labels that do not look mass produced.
The label should feature one of the attached logos (we would like to see label possibilities involving both). Our branding concept emphasizes simple designs with a small company feel. We definitely DO NOT want hot sauce label standards like flames, devils or other cartoonish nonsense. The label will be attached to this bottle: http://www.couronneco.com/5534-sc-s…bottle.htm
We would also like the words "small batch pepper sauce" on the label, probably below the logo (but we're open to suggestions). Also please include "all natural". Before the contest ends, we will need to list the sauce's ingredients on the edge of the label paper. We will provide the recipe (and a short blurb about the company) in private comments to anyone who submits a label with a strong chance of winning. In the meantime, please just focus on the central aspects of the label.
The label will be printed on light brown paper (like the color of a sandwich bag) and the text should be in a dark color (probably black). Eventually, as A&B American grows, the plan is to have the logo and color concept be a familiar attraction for food shoppers. Accordingly, this label should be flexible so we can use something similar in the future for products other than hot sauce.
We've had good experiences working with this site's private comment feature, so please feel free to send any questions and any suggestions for changes or additions. Thanks.


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Street map of Edinburgh showing location of all our Edinburgh hostels - Click on a hostel icon on the map of Edinburgh or on the hostel name for more information or to book that hostel online.
Top rated hostels in Edinburgh
- Castle Rock Hostel Edinburgh
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His Brother's Instructions
in the early morning on a sunny, a young hispanic boy makes his way to school. he passes his tagged fences, dogs barking in his neighborhood and passing cars with radio blasting loud music. he comes across his school and no one greets him, no one says hi to him, waves to him, taps him, or even looks at him. hes invisible to the world. he suddenly gets pushed into the lockers by a bigger boy. hes a white boy smirking the little boy,, the latino boy looks around for help but he doesnt see any. the girls are distracted by their own conversation and the guys are doing the own thing. when they see the boy being pushed around and getting punched and kicked they start laughing. no one comes to offer aid, no one comes to defend him, no one comes to stop the abuse. the bell rings and the bully keeps going, his friend points out that they can mess with the hispanic boy later. everyone then disappears and hes left alone in the hallway. he walks into the bathroom and cries, looking at the mirror, staring at the reflection that everyone despises. he goes later that day, walks past his major surroundings and puts himself to sleep. his older brother comes home and sees his little brother sad and frustrated about everything. he goes over to him, lifts his chin up and wipes a tear off his cheek, he asks his little brother why he frowns, and he tells him. the older brother goes to his room and comes back to hand his brother a gun, he looks up to his brother in assurance, the older then tells him wat to do when he encounters the bully next time. the next day, the little boys walks to school on a now gloomy day, hes excited and nervous at once, he imagines how its all going to go down, he wants to feel the intensity, he cant help feeling hes doing the right thing. but the whole day he doesnt see the bully, he goes to the bathroom and starts to doubt hes doing the right thing. he looks in the mirror, is this him anymore ? he goes home feeling hopeless he couldnt do it. as he walks it begins to rain, the rain jst bounces off his head and puts up his hood. as he makes his way home, he sees the bully standing alone at the bus stop. his heart suddenly starts beating, he makes his way to the bully, trying to dodge being sight, but the bully stand upright staring straight. the little boy begins to sweat, he swallows hard and starts running at high speed towards the bully, he advances on him, the rain pours harder, he hood slides off, he grabs the gun from behind his waist and at 3 feet away he points straight at the bully. the bully slowly turns to him but doesnt budge, 5 seconds turn to 30 turns 60, the little boy has his hand on the trigger, slightly trembling, the bully pours out a single tear that gets mixed in with the rain. the boys are filled with fury, but after seeing his tear he slowly lowers the gun. he takes one last look at him and turns around to walk away. the bully continues to stare and he sees the boy walk away. the little boy then tossed the gun in the trash can next to him and walks homing knowing he listened to his brother's instructions.


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Mark Binelli's book The Last Days of Detroit is a relevant account for many languishing post-industrial cities
The logic which determines how American book titles are adapted for a UK audience is inscrutable. In the case of Rolling Stone contributing editor Mark Binelli's recent lovesong to his native city, the American title Detroit City Is the Place to Be nails the essence of the book far more effectively than the humdrum UK version. This is not a humdrum book, and it's a compelling read for anyone interested in cities.
Ever since I can remember, Detroit has suffered from a bad reputation: a failing, crime-ridden black inner city surrounded by affluent white suburbs, made worse by the beleaguered American automobile industry incapable of grasping new realities and competition from abroad. Why would outsiders visit Detroit, except perhaps to attend the annual automobile show in January?
The city is what Binelli calls 'porous', literally up for grabs. It's cheap, and it's broke
But they do, and in droves. Artists, photographers, urban planners, architects and creatives generally: lots of New Yorkers and many Europeans too. As long ago as 1995, Chilean photographer Camilo Jose Vergara observed that Detroit's abandoned downtown could become an 'American acropolis.' What was America's fourth largest city almost a century ago, when Henry Ford's Model T rolled off the production line, now reports 90,000 vacant buildings. Of the city's 139 square miles, up to 30 per cent is vacant land. The city is what Binelli calls 'porous', literally up for grabs. It's cheap, and it's broke.
Two recent photography books, one by the American Andrew Moore and the second by the French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, document the eerie beauty of these abandoned buildings in excruciating detail, a vogue of photography termed 'ruin porn.' While the more dramatic of these are office buildings and theatres from the city's heyday, as well as the obsolete automobile production plants (such as Albert Kahn's 3,500,000 sq ft Packard Plant located on 35 acres and closed since 1958 – a legendary site of techno raves in the 1990s), others are just the usual stock of urban blight, empty storefronts and many, many abandoned homes.
Detroit is ground zero for 'the beginning of something else'
'Greenland might be called ground zero of the broader climate crisis,' says Binelli, while Detroit is ground zero for 'the beginning of something else.' A buoyant DIY culture has erupted from Detroit's political and economic collapse. Binelli describes eastside African-American artist Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project, an ongoing sculptural installation which occupies several city blocks and now receives upwards of 50,000 visitors annually, and work by community gardener Mark Covington, one of the more enterprising of the 875 gardeners and urban farmers documented in a 2009 study. Researchers from Michigan State University have calculated that Detroit's nearly 5,000 acres of vacant land, if cultivated, could provide 75 per cent of the vegetables and 40 percent of fresh fruits for all the city's residents.
The cumulation of these initiatives makes them much more than one-off events. Art happenings abound. New York artist Matthew Barney's 2010 Khu began with a buffet brunch for 200 in the Detroit Institute of Arts' Great Hall (which boasts 27 Diego Rivera frescoes commissioned in 1932 by Henry Ford's son) and concluded with a performance in an abandoned automobile plant.
'..it makes for a very creative cocktail which encourages risk-taking and experimentation'
Detroit hosted DC3, its second annual design festival, last autumn. Lizzie Hines, deputy head of South Kensington exhibitions at the V&A, recently completed a review of the Detroit Design Festival. Hines describes Detroit as 'the most exciting city I've been to in a really long time. It's oozing with potential. What it has and what it lacks are so different to any other city that it makes for a very creative cocktail which encourages risk-taking and experimentation.'
The most insightful parts of Binelli's book chronicle his encounters with former autoworkers, local firefighters, pregnant teenage girls in a special charter school and the local justice system. His experience of enrolling in a gun safety and proficiency class, required for anyone who wishes to carry a concealed weapon, is an apt reminder of Detroit's seamier side. Binelli's description of showing up at 8am on a Sunday morning in the conference room of a suburban hotel along with nine others to learn the basics of self-defence makes the stark reality of Detroit's high murder rate much more immediate than the equally shocking statistics he cites.
The policy challenge that Detroit faces is bleak. The city is shrinking, suffering what Binelli terms 'a decades-long population bleed', confirmed by the 2010 census, which reported a 25 per cent decline in population in the previous decade. Last month, following the publication of Binelli's book, Detroit's mayor officially launched Detroit Future City, a strategic framework for economic and community development, the culmination of a two-year planning process supported by the Michigan-based Kresge Foundation. The $4 million study funded Harvard professor and urban planner Toni Griffin to lead a community engagement process throughout the city with a team which included SOM for urban design, AECOM for a landscape, ecology and environment audit, and Boston-based Stoss Landscape Urbanism.
This is a vision of landscape as a tool for urban regeneration
The 357-page framework identifies neighbourhoods for investment, as well as setting out a decades-long transformation plan for the approximately 30 per cent of the city that is currently vacant, proposing woodlands, orchards, urban farms and reservoirs. This is a vision of landscape as a tool for urban regeneration. According to Binelli, many Detroiters – natives and newcomers alike – are highly sceptical of this top-down approach. Currently the plan has no financial backing, but Binelli suggests that the plan 'could end up being one of the boldest reimaginings of urban space in modern US history'.
Could the Detroit Works Project spell a comeback narrative for Detroit, an approach with relevance for many other languishing post-industrial areas in America and abroad? A group of students from the University of East London is among many who are flocking to Detroit to find out. In preparation for a study trip this summer, which has seed funding of £3,000 from the university, a group of six Part 1 and Part 2 students, dubbed the 'Project Detroit' team, plan to compare developer-led regeneration in east London with community-led regeneration in Detroit.
With private foundation funding, Detroit's Wayne State University has launched the Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program to attract talented professionals to a two-year employment period in a 'Detroit-centric' organisation. The biographies of the first 29-strong cohort range from native Detroiters educated elsewhere and returning to teach in the public schools to a landscape architect interested in 'urban wilds' snapped up to work for a local utility company.
Though the creative industries and urban greening are gaining traction in Detroit, one can't help but wonder about the other desperate narratives in Binelli's book: failing schools, rampant crime and arson, and a heavily disenfranchised population for whom skateboard artparks and design happenings only scratch the surface of the fundamental change required to turn the city around. A recent study revealed that 60 percent of Detroit children live in poverty. But Binelli is optimistic and, if you read Detroit blogs – Model D, Detroit Urban Innovation Exchange, Data Driven Detroit, to name a few – it's contagious, despite inevitable underlying tensions. At a minimum, it makes you want to see it for yourself.
The Last Days of Detroit: Motor Cars, Motown and the Collapse of an Industrial Giant, by Mark Binelli, Bodley Head, January 2013
Readers' comments (1)
A great read if you are obsessed with the decay of the great American cities. Mark Campbell and I took our Architectural Association unit to Detroit in December 2012 following on from our previous trips to the Mississippi Delta and the Salton Sea. Detroit resonates with post industrial failure, the once great Motor City which has now forgotten the car and the people who produced them. The enormous empty industrial plants like the Packard are a reflection of this once great city, but now there lingers only wasteland and poverty. On the fringes there is a hope, a few pockets of energy percolate through the city, like Phil Cooley's Pony Ride and Slows BBQ. Maybe there is hope for the Motor City in the future, although it will be hard to stop the ruin obsessed photographers flying in to capture the death sentence.
Stewart Dodd, April 2013.
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