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Highbrow birtherism: Conservatives attack Obama as an "African colonial"
Research ››› ››› OLIVER WILLIS
Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich recently made news by suggesting that President Obama is engaged in "Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior," but he isn't alone in using the African heritage of Obama's father and grandfather as fuel for ridiculous smears.
Gingrich attacked Obama for "Kenyan, anti-colonial" worldview
Gingrich: "What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?" From a September 11 interview with National Review Online:
Gingrich says that [Dinesh] D'Souza has made a "stunning insight" into Obama's behavior -- the "most profound insight I have read in the last six years about Barack Obama."
"What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?" Gingrich asks. "That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior."
"This is a person who is fundamentally out of touch with how the world works, who happened to have played a wonderful con, as a result of which he is now president," Gingrich tells us.
"I think he worked very hard at being a person who is normal, reasonable, moderate, bipartisan, transparent, accommodating -- none of which was true," Gingrich continues. "In the Alinksy tradition, he was being the person he needed to be in order to achieve the position he needed to achieve . . . He was authentically dishonest.
Conservatives claim Obama is "African colonial," his "faith" is "African nativism"
D'Souza: "For Obama, the solutions are simple. He must work to wring the neocolonialism out of America and the West." In a September 27 article in Forbes magazine, Dinesh D'Souza wrote:
It may seem incredible to suggest that the anticolonial ideology of Barack Obama Sr. is espoused by his son, the President of the United States. That is what I am saying. From a very young age and through his formative years, Obama learned to see America as a force for global domination and destruction. He came to view America's military as an instrument of neocolonial occupation. He adopted his father's position that capitalism and free markets are code words for economic plunder. Obama grew to perceive the rich as an oppressive class, a kind of neocolonial power within America. In his worldview, profits are a measure of how effectively you have ripped off the rest of society, and America's power in the world is a measure of how selfishly it consumes the globe's resources and how ruthlessly it bullies and dominates the rest of the planet.
For Obama, the solutions are simple. He must work to wring the neocolonialism out of America and the West. And here is where our anticolonial understanding of Obama really takes off, because it provides a vital key to explaining not only his major policy actions but also the little details that no other theory can adequately account for.
Beck claimed Obama resents the British because they tortured his Kenyan grandfather. On his June 29 Fox News show, Glenn Beck cited the return of a bust of Winston Churchill to the British government as a sign that Obama harbored resentment for the torture of his paternal grandfather by British soldiers during Kenya's Mau Mau Uprising in the 1950s. In fact, Obama never met his paternal grandfather, the bust was scheduled for return to the British prior to Obama's presidency, and other British-based artifacts and gifts remain in the Oval Office. Beck rehashed this theory on August 9.
American Thinker: "Obama, the African Colonial." A June 25, 2009, article in the conservative American Thinker titled, "Obama, the African Colonial" by L.E. Ikenga, said, "[D]espite what CNN and the rest are telling you, Barack Obama is nothing more than an old school African Colonial who is on his way to turning this country into one of the developing nations that you learn about on the National Geographic Channel." Ikenga also wrote of Obama, "The key to understanding him lies with his identification with his father, and his adoption of a cultural and political mindset rooted in postcolonial Africa."
Limbaugh: Obama "more African in his roots than he is American." On the June 26, 2009, edition of his radio show, after reading from Ikenga's piece, Rush Limbaugh commented, "[Obama] wants to turn this into a Third World country. ... The only way to try to do this is to just attack the private sector and deplete it of its resources, of its money, of its capital, which is exactly what he is doing." He later added, "We've elected somebody who is more African in his roots than he is American, loves his father who is a Marxist, and is behaving like an African colonial despot."
Pruden: Obama lacks "blood impulse" for what America "is about" in part due to "Kenyan father." In a November 16, 2009, column, Washington Times editor Wesley Pruden wrote: "It's no fault of the president that he has no natural instinct or blood impulse for what the America of 'the 57 states' is about. He was sired by a Kenyan father, born to a mother attracted to men of the Third World and reared by grandparents in Hawaii, a paradise far from the American mainstream."
Beck: Obama "chose to use his name Barack ... to identify, not with America," but with "[t]he heritage, maybe, of your father in Kenya." On the February 4 edition of his radio show Beck said: "He chose to use his name Barack for a reason -- to identify, not with America -- you don't take the name Barack to identify with America. You take the name Barack to identify with what? Your heritage? The heritage, maybe, of your father in Kenya, who is a radical?"
Investor's Business Daily: "The core" of Obama's faith "is African nativism." In a January 16, 2008, editorial, Investor's Business Daily claimed that "the core" of Obama's "faith -- whether lapsed Muslim, new Christian or some mixture of the two -- is African nativism" and that Obama's familial ties to Africa "have potential foreign policy, even national security, implications."
James Humes: "Perhaps Obama ... took umbrage" at Churchill's actions "wiping out the Mau-Mau." On March 12, 2009, Newsmax columnist James Humes (in a column which featured an apparently false quote attributed to Obama) wrote: "Perhaps Obama, the son of a Kenyan, took umbrage at Prime Minister Churchill's actions in 1953 of wiping out the Mau-Mau, the Kenyan terrorists who made a specialty of slitting throats of sleeping white and Black Kenyans." Humes claimed that this "umbrage" explains why Churchill's bust was returned to the British.
Jim Quinn: Obama "is an African colonial" who "hates" "the Brits." On June 11, syndicated radio host Jim Quinn said that BP "stands for the two things that Obama hates the most in his life ... the Brits and petroleum." Quinn continued, "Let us not forget, he is ... an African colonial," adding that "this guy's got a hard on for the Brits in particular, and Western civilization in general."
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- The Rush Limbaugh Show, Glenn Beck show, Forbes, American Thinker, The War Room With Quinn & Rose
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|Glastonbury, Conn.
|High School:
|Aerospace Engineering
|Oakwood Soccer Club
2012: Played in 20 games and started 19 … recorded eight goals and two assists for 18 points … ranked second on the team in goals and third in points … scored the game-winning goals against Roger Williams (9/19), WPI (10/06), where he also set up the only other MIT goal of the game, and Clark (10/27) … scored one of only two MIT goals against Oneonta (11/10) at the first round of the NCAA tournament … NEWMAC All-Conference.
2011: Played and started eight games … had five goals and one assist for 11 points … ranked third on the team in goals and points … posted two goals at Southern Maine (9/2) … scored the game-winner against St. Joseph's of Maine (9/3) … notched one goal and one assist against Framingham State (9/7) … found the back of the net at Emerson (9/12).
Off the Field at MIT: Majoring in aerospace engineering with minors in economics and management science … Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.
High School: A 2011 graduate of Loomis-Chaffee High School … captain … WNEPSA all-star … also a member of the lacrosse and track and field teams … Cum Laude Society … Math Honors … History Honors.
Club/ODP: Oakwood Soccer Club … U.S. Development Academy League player (2009-11).
Personal: Son of Ann and Jeff Kramer … Relative played lacrosse at the University of Vermont.

subset: commoncrawl


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Debate Over Military Drone Strikes Divides Democrats
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's appointment of John Brennan to serve as director of the CIA has brought to the fore some troubling questions about the rationale for lethal drone strikes. These questions are also exposing a political divide on the left.
For the most part, the left-wing in American politics is a combination of cultural liberals, concerned with maximizing personal freedoms, and economic progressives, focused on tempering the negative consequences of unrestrained capitalist accumulation on society. With the possible exception of the 2nd Amendment, which liberals tend to argue is being conveniently and egregiously misread to ignore the "well-regulated militia" part, the Bill of Rights is considered sacrosanct by the left. This is the reason why the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that exists only to protect the freedoms accorded by the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments, is considered by right-wing entertainment media to be an ultra lefty extremist group.
The actions of the Obama administration with respect to eliminating terrorist groups like al-Qaida, has put Democrats in an uncomfortable position. During the previous administration, every controversial move from the Patriot Act to warrantless wiretapping was scrutinized and created a fresh outpouring of healthy liberal outrage. Now that a Democrat resides in the Whitehouse, we have heard little about this controversial expansion of executive powers.
Partisan loyalty to, and trust of President Obama have allowed Democrats to ignore the fact that our country has been prosecuting a secret war in the Middle East through the use of drone attacks. Reports of the Obama administration's legal justification for skirting due process requirements and using drones to kill American citizens, who are both linked to al-Qaida and operating abroad, have been quietly making the rounds for months. Despite these reports, there were precious few protests, and nothing like the white hot fury that would have surfaced if it were a Republican secret panel deciding who lives and who dies.
The election is over and the Democrat won in a landslide. It is time for Obama supporters to join the rest of the left, and Libertarians for that matter, in holding the President's feet to the fire and demanding the constitutional scholar in chief recognize that this is a dangerous executive overreach and unnecessary degradation of civil liberties. After all, Obama isn't going to be President forever, and the next guy might not be so trustworthy.


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The owner of a Jackson Township animal feed store destroyed in a Wednesday morning fire wants customers to know the business will still be there.
The owner of a Jackson Township animal feed store destroyed in a Wednesday morning fire wants customers to know the business will still be there.
"We're going to stay open somehow," said owner Jim Fallenstein, surveying the burnt-out rubble of the Mountain Road Feed Store on Mountain Road off Route 715 in Reeders. "This store has been here since 1986, and I've owned it since 2001. We're going to rebuild."
The fire was spotted at about 4 a.m.
"Someone knocked on the door of the caretaker who lives on the property and alerted him," Jackson Township Fire Chief Les Wolcott said.
Fallenstein said he was then contacted at home and raced to the scene. He could see the glow all the way from Route 715 at Warner Road in Pocono Township.
Jackson Township, Pocono Township, West End, Blue Ridge Hook & Ladder, Stroud Township and Pocono Mountain fire companies, along with Central Pocono Ambulance, responded to find the two-story brick structure fully engulfed in flames.
"The biggest challenge for us was keeping the fire from spreading to exposed nearby structures," Wolcott said.
These include a hay and feed storage building, silos and a fertilizer storage building. None were damaged.
"Though the store was pretty much gone when I got here, the firefighters did an excellent job getting here quickly and protecting the rest of the property," Fallenstein said.
Firefighters had the blaze under control within an hour and a half, Wolcott said, estimating the damage at about $300,000.
"I have the insurance agent coming over to talk about the status of the coverage on the building," Fallenstein said.
"This is the feed store's slow time, when we're open five days a week," said Fallenstein, who had one full-time employee working there. "April through December is our busier time, when we're open six days a week."
The feed store shares the property with Fallenstein's other businesses, which are Jim's Drywall Supplies, Diesel Express and Mountain Road Landscaping.
A state police fire marshal also was contacted to investigate the fire's cause and point of origin.


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Nate Wolters Watch: November 20th vs Portland
For just the third time in 10 games this season, former South Dakota State guard Nate Wolters was not in the starting lineup for the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night, as the Bucks (2-8) lost at home to the Portland Trailblazers, 91-82.
Wolters finished with 6 points on 3-of-5 shooting in a season-low 18 minutes. He had 4 assists, 1 rebound, and 1 blocked shot.
For the season, Wolters is averaging 8.3 points, 5 assists, and 3.3 rebounds a game. He's averaging 30.8 minutes a game and hitting 38.6% from the floor.
The Bucks play at Philadelphia Friday night.


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Find out more about this issue at AARP's second in a series of free webinars. Social Security – Why It… Read More »
Beginning July 1, Kansas drivers will be able… Read More »
AARP asks Congress to pass legislation improving age bias protections for older workers. Passing POWADA would… Read More »
Key steps family caregivers can take to prepare their loved ones for an emergency or natural disaster, whether they… Read More »
Learn essential networking and interviewing skills at our free, two-part webinar. Sharpening Your… Read More »
A new report from AARP found that adults over 50 now hold $289.5 billion in student loan debt, up from just $47 billion… Read More »
The World Health Organization is recommending people get regular exercise and avoid harmful habits such as smoking to… Read More »
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Wednesday, Jun 26, 2019 at 10:00am
Livingston's Cafe
Wichita, KS
Wednesday, Jun 26, 2019 at 10:00am
Beautiful Day Cafe
Wichita, KS
Wednesday, Jun 26, 2019 at 10:00am
Want Coffee
Wichita, KS


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1950s Inspired Button Swimsuit
Added Jun 29, 2012
by melonhead
Roanoke, Indiana...
Here's a swimsuit that I actually made last year, but I just never got around to photographing it…it's a bit hard trying to photograph swimwear when I'm surrounded by cornfields. Haha. So last week my family and I went up to Lake Michigan and it was the perfect place to finally document my swimsuit.
I drafted my own pattern using my measurements. The swimsuit is made from a print cotton and the inside is fully lined with a cream jersey. I wanted a mix between a two piece and a one piece so I thought that key holes would make a nice touch for that. There's a zipper in the side seam for getting in and out of. I've swam in this swimsuit so many times, and I think that the cotton actually holds up pretty well. There are a couple of tears here and there, but that's just from all the crazy use that it's gotten. This was my first swimsuit of this style and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I've made the same swimsuit a couple different times since this one; using different fabrics and working out some of fit kinks that were in this one. I hope that you like it and happy summer :)
Material Notes
Cotton, Jersey, Invisable zipper, buttons.
- Season
- Summer
- For
- Women
- Garment Type
- Swimwear
- Style
- Beach, Business, Evening Wear
- Material
- Cotton, Knits/Jersey
13 Comments Sign in to add a post
Jan 13, 2013, 01.59 PMby DorisS
Beautiful, I love how you arrange a lovely photoshoot for each of your projects.
Jul 15, 2012, 09.48 PMby Dawnqirl
Amazing swimsuit, the vintage looks really suits you & fab photography!
Jul 1, 2012, 12.08 PMby pambox
Want want want want want want want….
You get the idea.
Jun 30, 2012, 09.31 PMby kess
Love this! I love the color and the unique pattern! Is it not weird that the swimsuit is made out of cotton? I would think that when it got wet it would stick to all the wrong places if you know what I mean.
1 Reply
Jul 1, 2012, 11.14 PMby melonhead
Thank you! Actually it surprisingly doesn't. I was very careful though to make sure that there was plenty of the knit jersey lining in the places where sticking would not look good. It's been fine so far :)
Jun 30, 2012, 03.40 PMby madyb
I love it!!
Jun 30, 2012, 12.37 AMby mollykatherine
Utterly amazing!!! I'm so impressed your drafted your own pattern and the workmanship looks immaculate. Love the picture sequence too, super neat! x
1 Reply
Jun 30, 2012, 03.51 PMby melonhead
Thank you for your kind words :)
Jun 29, 2012, 10.54 PMby Milena Bella
Fantastic suit! I've been planning on making one from cotton, thanks for the swimming review.
1 Reply
Jun 30, 2012, 03.51 PMby melonhead
Thank you! Oooo I bet that it will turn out lovely!
Jun 29, 2012, 09.51 PMby mariapopia1
whouuu! very very 50s-sweet!
Jun 29, 2012, 09.49 PMby junaluska
I love the way you complement your sewing projects with amazing photography. Wonderful, as always! I need to get sewing.
1 Reply
Jun 30, 2012, 03.56 PMby melonhead
Thank you Juna! My little brother didn't want to be seen with my while I was taking pictures though. To quote him, "You are the most embarrassing person to ever go to the beach with." Haha it was quite funny ;)
Jun 29, 2012, 09.48 PMby Pepper Toast
Pure vintage loveliness.
Jun 29, 2012, 08.15 PMby jacquipardue
very very cute!! I'm in the planning stages of a similar two piece project, and I want to use cotton, so I'm glad to hear you're happy with it.
1 Reply
Jun 30, 2012, 03.58 PMby melonhead
Yes, I've used cotton a couple times since this swimsuit and I think that it works out really well. The only thing that I would suggest is that you sew over the seams twice to prevent ripping. Good luck with your project! :)
Jun 29, 2012, 06.55 PMby vintagegal
You are a wonder, young lady! Is it not enough that you are immensely talented (Love this suit!), but you look like you should be in a fashion mag as well? Lovely as usual; you have a great career ahead of you……….
1 Reply
Jun 30, 2012, 03.58 PMby melonhead
Awe thank you for your kind words :)
Jun 29, 2012, 05.27 PMby linen1
It's outrageously wonderful!
Add to Favorites 55 people added it


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LOWELL - NASA Commander Christopher Cassidy received the key to the city from Mayor Rodney Elliott at a breakfast with local politicians on Thursday morning. He returned the favor by giving the mayor a signed poster featuring him and his fellow NASA mission-mates, but he said he still felt guilty.
"I was going to have a key to the Space Shuttle made out," said Cassidy, "but it's keyless!"
Cassidy made up for it with a busy itinerary for his trip to Lowell, which started Thursday and continues today. Cassidy, a NASA astronaut who's logged 182 days in space, visited the James F. Sullivan Middle School, Lowell High School and the S.
Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting our Smugmug site.
"We're pretty excited," said Adam Norton, manager of UML's NERVE Center, a robotics-systems test facility. "We're going to be giving him a tour of the center and demo-ing the 'Rover Hawk,' which we're excited to show him given that he's worked with the types of rovers and machines our system's emulating."
Cassidy was born in Salem, Mass. He considers York, Maine, to be his hometown, but he has fond memories of Lowell.
"My father grew up here in Lowell, and my grandmother lived here, so I remember always coming here for Christmas," said Cassidy.
Cassidy is the nephew of Lowell School Committee member Dave Conway, who spent the last few months working with local leaders such as former state Sen.
"When he was in the Space Station, he Skyped with the family and told me, 'Don't forget Dave: when I come back, I want to come to Lowell,'" said Conway. "This is an opportunity that not a lot of kids have, to listen to someone who's an active astronaut who can share these incredible experiences."
Cassidy spent 10 years as a member of the Navy SEALs before he was selected by NASA in 2004. His first mission was a 16-day trip on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in July 2009 to assist assembling a section of the International Space Station. He then went back into space on March 28, 2013, when he began a 166-day stay at the Station.
He said that on the Station, you have a regular Monday-to-Friday work week, with a half day of working and cleaning on Saturday and a day off on Sunday. Cassidy said that 60 percent of work time is devoted to experiments, with large portions of the remainder allocated toward maintenance and exercise.
"If you went up and did nothing (for exercise), your major load-bearing muscles like your butt and your back would atrophy significantly," said Cassidy. "But we have great exercise equipment up there now, so you can pretty much keep yourself at the same muscle level you launched at."
During his NASA career, Cassidy has done six spacewalks totaling 31 hours and 14 minutes. He said that between suit assembly and the gradual adjustment to the outside pressure, it can take up to five hours just to get outside the ship. And then once you're out there, you don't come in for another six or seven hours.
But according to him, it's not quite like what you saw in Gravity.
"They did an amazing job of researching what everything actually looks like - the inside of the Space Station, the instruction books, the buttons on the suit," said Cassidy. "But the physics of it was basically impossible. You can't just go from one station to another by nudging yourself toward it."
For Cassidy's trip to the McAuliffe School (named for the Concord, N.H., teacher who died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion), the third- and fourth-grade chorus sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the school theme song for him. Cassidy walked them through the entire launch process and tried to inspire them to be excited about space by using accessible comparisons, like comparing the Space Shuttle to a big pickup truck or the cockpit to a smart car.
Then, students lined up and asked him questions they had prepared in class about what it was like to be an astronaut. The school prepared for weeks for his visit, with students learning about astronauts and making signs for him titled "Rocket Man."
"I think one of the things that is really important is that if you're well informed, it's easier for you to be excited about something," said McAuliffe Principal Nan Murphy. "And anyone can relate to the dream of going to space."
Follow Pete McQuaid on Twitter @sweetestpete.


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Screenweek recently posted 4 new images from Terminator Salvation. Click below to view the never before seen photos from this film...
Related: Terminator: Dark Fate Will Be Rated-R Promises James Cameron
In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
Terminator Salvation comes to theaters on May 22 from Warner Bros. pictures.


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Whether you are looking for an acting position doing commercials, theatre, or movie work, there will come a point in your search where you find yourself about to enter an interview. The good news is that you don't have to rehearse your part. The bad? Many actors still do.
In this book excerpt, award-winning actor, writer, playwright, and screenwriter Glenn Alterman tells you what interviews are about and the different types, as well as how to get them, prepare for them, and get through them.
What is an Interview?
An interview is a meeting with a casting director, director, producer, or agent. It's an opportunity for that person to get to know you. It's very rare that an actor is cast just from an interview, but it does happen (more in England than in the US). Some casting directors schedule general interviews on a regular basis.
How to Get an Interview?
Usually the best way to get an interview is through personal recommendation. As you've heard, I'm sure, in show business, "who you know" quite often can get you in the door.
The second way to get an interview is to contact casting offices or agents by mail. Send your picture and resume with a good cover letter specifically requesting an interview. Unfortunately, more often than not, you won't hear back from them. But occasionally you do (especially if you're gorgeous or very interesting looking, or wrote a letter that intrigued them).
The third way to get an interview is to call them on the phone and request one. But before lifting that receiver:
- Make sure you're in a good mood and feeling positive.
- Be prepared to be businesslike, direct, and brief.
- Take a breath, dial . . . and go for it!
- Understand that if you don't get past the receptionist, it's nothing personal, and it shouldn't be taken as a rejection.
You Get the Interview. What are You Afraid of?
That casting director has agreed to meet with you for an interview. Hurrah! Many actors, however, become filled with fear and trepidation as the day of the interview draws near. Why? They worry because they don't know what will happen at the interview and fear the worst. Questions like, What will she be like? Will she like me? What should I talk about? What shouldn't I say? What should I wear? Should I dress upscale or be more casual? The uncertainty can terrorize you. The best way to combat this fear is to find out everything you can about the person you're going to meet and the office that you're going to. The solution to your fear is simple: Prepare.
Preparing for the General Interview: First the Facts
Find out as much as you can about the person you're going to meet. If it's an agent, try to find out who some of the agency's clients are, how long the agency has been in the business, what type of reputation it has, if it accepts videotapes, if it has offices on both coasts, what it's franchised in (theater, TV, film, commercials)-everything. Ask around, network, and ask your friends.
If it's a casting director, find out what she's cast in the past, what she's presently casting, and what she's slated to cast in the future. Find out how long the office has been in existence. Does it have offices on both coasts? What type of reputation does it have? Again, research, network, and call your friends. The more you can find out about the person who will be interviewing you, the more comfortable you'll feel. That knowledge will be helpful in alleviating your fears.
Improvising the Interview
Once you have all the information you can find, the next step is to imagine the situation. When you think about it, most interviews, no matter what they're about, have a certain commonality. They begin when you enter the door; you say hello, you sit down, you talk, you say good-bye, and then you leave. In addition, in some interviews, you're asked to perform a prepared monologue or read some cold copy or sing a prepared song. That's about all that's going to happen. There shouldn't be too many other surprises.
While at home, improvise what you'll say. I use the word "improvise" because the last thing you want is to sound like some kind of machine spewing out memorized facts and information about yourself. Don't rehearse a memorized script, improvise. Remain loose.
You can be assured that interviewers will ask certain basic questions such as, So what have you been up to? and Tell me about yourself. After looking at your résumé for a moment, they may start chatting with you about a theater that you've mentioned or a director they're familiar with. This is not a quiz! Don't get uptight. Prepare in advance by being very familiar with everything on your résumé. While improvising at home, create imaginary conversations about items on your résumé. Try to be positive in everything that you say. Even in the case of those horrible professional experiences that you may have had, give them a positive spin. Nobody wants to hear an actor whining or complaining at an interview.
One of the great residuals of doing all this preparation before the interview is the feeling of confidence you'll have when you actually go in for the interview. You know that you've prepared to the best of your ability. And even though you still may be a little nervous, you'll be a lot more confident.
Types of Interviews and How to Prepare for Them
There are several types of interviews for which you may be called in. I'll briefly explain what some of them are and how you can best prepare for them.
First there's a commercial interview. Sometimes, rather than having an audition for a TV commercial, casting directors will have a commercial interview instead. The best way to prepare for this is to find out as much information as you can about the product and the specific commercial you're up for. Ask your agent to fill you in on what he knows. If you feel that what he knows isn't sufficient, then politely, professionally call the production office. Ask questions such as, Will this be a comedic commercial? and Will it be scripted? Find out as much as you can. Whatever you learn will be helpful. Unfortunately, many times the agent won't be able to tell you too much. The best you can do is try.
Next there's the theatrical interview. This is when you're auditioning for a play to be performed in a theater. The more you know about the particular play (not just your role or the scenes you're in), the better. Again, ask your agent specific questions about the play and the character for which you'll be auditioning. If the play is published, get a copy. If it isn't, call the casting office, and politely ask if you could come by and get a copy to read in advance. If not, could you at least come in earlier the day of your interview to read it? Find out as much as you can about the director and producer for whom you'll be auditioning. What other plays have they done? What are their backgrounds? Knowing as much as you can about them can be fodder for a good conversation when you meet with them at the interview.
Once you have some information about the play and the character, it's always wise to dress accordingly. In some situations (period dramas, historical plays), actors have made the mistake of costuming themselves. That is, rather than dressing in a manner that suggests the appropriate wardrobe, they'll rent the actual costume for that period. Aside from perhaps looking somewhat foolish, you may come across as being too desperate. I wouldn't advise that. Suggesting the wardrobe is all you need to do.
In the case of soap opera or episodic TV interviews, find out as much as you can about the show. If you're familiar with the show, don't hesitate to tell the interviewer how much you've enjoyed watching the show (and specifically tell them why).
For a movie interview, see if you can read the script in advance (more likely than not you won't be able to). Once again, make sure that you get as much information from your agent as possible about the movie (and specifically your character).This text has been excerpted from Promoting Your Acting Career, by Glenn Alterman. Published with friendly permission by Allworth Press©, publishers of business and career advice for creative professionals. To learn more about the book or to order it, visit Allworth Press at www.allworth.com.


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Art Modell, a marketing executive who helped negotiate the NFL's first television contract and later enraged fans when he moved the Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore, has died. He was 87.
Modell died Thursday of natural causes at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the Baltimore Ravens announced. He had a history of heart problems.
"Art Modell's leadership was an important part of the NFL's success during the league's explosive growth during the 1960s and beyond," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Art was a visionary who understood the critical role that mass viewing of NFL games on broadcast television could play in growing the NFL."
A high school dropout who made a fortune on Madison Avenue and married a television actress, Modell bought the Browns in 1961 for $3.9 million. The team had won three NFL championships during the 1950s and added another under Modell in 1964.
He would later leave Cleveland as a pariah for moving the team in 1996 to Baltimore, where, under a deal with the NFL, it became the Ravens, leaving the Browns name in Cleveland for a new team to adopt.
In 2001, a year after Modell sold 49% of the Ravens for $275 million, the team won its first championship since 1964 and its only Super Bowl, beating the New York Giants, 34-7.
Modell finally sold his majority share in 2004, ending 43 years of active ownership, during which time he shaped not only a franchise but the entire league.
He was one of former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle's most trusted advisers as the league rose in the 1960s and '70s to become the most popular U.S. spectator sport.
Modell helped negotiate the league's first national television contract, a two-year, $4.6-million agreement with CBS in 1962. In 1970, he participated in negotiations with ABC that led to "Monday Night Football." He was chairman of the owners' committee that negotiated the first collective-bargaining agreement with players in 1968.
He also helped develop the NFL's revenue-sharing system, which he called the biggest reason for the league's success and popularity, since it helps teams in smaller media markets compete with those in big cities. "It's imperative that revenue sharing be the hallmark of this league," Modell said shortly before stepping down as owner in 2004.
Despite his impact and influence on the league, Modell was never elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"He worked alongside Lamar Hunt, Tex Schramm, Well [Wellington] Mara and Art Rooney, and all of those men are in the Hall of Fame," former Browns guard John Wooten said. "He worked with them in all of those meetings. He was there. It is indeed a shame that he is not in the Hall of Fame."
Arthur Bertram Modell was born to George Modell, a day laborer, and his wife, Kitty, on June 23, 1925, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
When Modell was 14, his father died. He soon left high school and got his first job as an electrician's helper, cleaning out the hulls of ships in a local shipyard. He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, the predecessor of the U.S. Air Force, during World War II, then made use of the GI Bill to attend a television school in New York. Starting in 1948, he helped create some of the earliest daytime programming on ABC.
In 1954, he joined the New York advertising firm of L.H. Hartman Co., where he became a partner and made his fortune.
Cleveland fans expressed skepticism, and sometimes hostility, when the New Yorker Modell bought the Browns in 1961. After the 1962 season, Modell dismissed Paul Brown, a legend in Cleveland, as the team's founding head coach.
After the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964, they lost the title game in 1965, 1968 and 1969. On three other occasions, they came one game short of reaching the Super Bowl, losing all three times to the Denver Broncos.
Though Cleveland had one of the most loyal fan bases in the NFL, Modell said in the 1990s that he couldn't compete with teams that had modern stadiums with luxury boxes. The city refused to build him a new stadium, so after the 1995 season, he moved the franchise to Baltimore, where they became the Ravens.
Cleveland didn't let the team go without a fight. The city sued Modell for more than $300 million as fans marched on the stadium carrying signs reading "Art the Ripper." At one game, a fan sat a Modell effigy in an electric chair with a sign reading "Pull the Switch," while another group marched around the parking lot carrying a coffin.
After a settlement with the league and the city, Modell wound up owing Cleveland $12 million in damages, and the NFL promised to put an expansion team in the city. That team, the current Browns, started play in 1999. Even then, Cleveland fans didn't exactly forgive Modell. "There are people in Cleveland today who still can't forgive Art for taking his team to Baltimore," Wooten said. "It's an injustice."
Saddled with $185 million of debt he incurred during the move, Modell agreed in December 1999 to sell a 49% stake in the team to Stephen Bisciotti, owner of temporary-employment company Allegis Group Inc.
In 1969 Modell married Patricia Breslin, who starred in the 1950s television show "People's Choice" and played Meg Baldwin on the soap opera "General Hospital." He adopted her two sons, John and David, from a previous marriage. She died last October.
Modell is survived by his two sons and six grandchildren.
"I have a great legacy, tarnished somewhat by the move," Modell said in 1999. "The politicians and the bureaucrats saw fit to cover their own rear ends by blaming it on me."
Modell chose to remember the good times in Cleveland, saying in another interview, "The fans in Cleveland were loyal and supportive. They lived and died with me every Sunday for 35 years."


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Home › Honduras › Private Tours › Natural History ›
Natural History
7 days / 6 nights from/to San Pedro Sula
Day 4: Celaque National Park and Gracias
In the morning we transfer to the nearby Celaque National Park. Today's hiking in the Celaque National Park leads us through typical Central American pine forests and cloud forest. Honduras' highest peak with its 2,849 m can be found here, the Cerro de Las Minas. Celaque means Box of Water in the local Lenca language. In the afternoon we discover the colonial history of Gracias with its churches and the fortress San Cristobal. In 1537, Gracias and the surrounding mountains were the setting for the last battle lead by the Lenca leader Lempira. In honour to this famous indigenous leader who resisted the Spaniards for such a long time, the Honduran currency has been named after him. Seven years after his fall, in 1544, the Spaniards proclaimed the town of Gracias as headquarters for the garrison of Guatemala.
Day 5: Gracias - Cerro Azul Meambar National Park
We transfer to the region around Yojoa Lake, which is rich in different habitat types. It is home or temporal host to a huge amount of migratory birds. Before we arrive at the park we visit the impressive Pulhapanzak Waterfalls. Our way up to the visitor's center is made possible thanks to our 4-wheel drive. The national park Cerro Azul Meambar works as a retreating area for a lot of species because of increased human activities around the Lake. Toucans, orioles, motmots, parakeets and parrots are just a small sample of the bird species living in the park. We explore the magnificent tropical forest types of the Cerro Azul Meambar National Park. The national park is one of the main protected areas around Lake Yojoa, which is fed by the small rivers of the surrounding mountains. 2 overnights at Cerro Azul Meambar Visitor's Centre.
Day 6: Cerro Azul Meambar National Park
Today we explore the magnificent tropical forest types of the Cerro Azul Meambar National Park. The visitor's centre is the starting point for different trails, offering hiking opportunities of varying lengths and for people of all physical condition. The shorter hikes take you through tropical rainforest and pine forest. Longer hikes of up to three hours are needed to reach the cloud forest. We enjoy amazing views of the Lake Yojoa and discover the park's diverse flora and fauna. Jaguars, ocelots, peccary, coatis and baird's tapir are just a few of the many animals that can be found here. During a visit to Cerro Azul Meambar, a lot of people compare the region with the gardens of Eden. The landscape is marked by an innumerable amount of small brooks and waterfalls that are surrounded by lush tropical vegetation.
Day 7: Cerro Azul Meambar - San Pedro Sula
Your guide takes you back to the airport in San Pedro Sula on time. If your flight is only in the afternoon or you stay for another night in San Pedro Sula, we visit the impressive Pulhapanzak waterfalls. Enjoy the verdant forest and take a refreshing bath in the clear waters. Your guide bids farewell at the hotel or the airport in San Pedro Sula. End of your program or begin of another tour.
Services Included
6 nights lodging with breakfast
Mesoamerica Travel Guide day 1-7
Transfers & entrance fees according to itinerary
19% local taxes
Prices valid until 16.12.2018
Price Per Person
2 persons U$ 1179.-
3 persons U$ 949.-
4 persons U$ 859.-
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Few dreamers believe in their dream the way William Orr did.
He chased his idea, a search for the perfect fuel to put in a gas tank, for three decades. He conducted test after test, applied for patent after patent, and transformed his quest into a business and a cause. He traveled around the world to promote and defend it. He lobbied and borrowed and worked slavishly to keep it running, keep it on track.
But sooner or later, every entrepreneur has to confront a world of disbelievers — people who think the dream is a fantasy and the product is worthless. Orr's brutal awakening came last May, in a federal courtroom in downtown Denver, as he listened to the verdict of a jury of his peers. The verdict form was long and complicated, like the criminal trial itself, but the findings were not. The word "guilty" was uttered 23 times.
William Orr
Read more about this case -- including the government's response to claims by Orr's lawyers that prosecutors engaged in underhanded tactics to win a conviction -- head to the Latest Word blog.
Guilty of mail fraud. Guilty of wire fraud. Guilty of making false statements to the Environmental Protection Agency. Guilty of failure to file tax returns. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Several of the counts carried potential prison sentences of up to twenty years.
Orr stood silently, trying to process what he was hearing. At the end of the trial, after seven weeks of mind-numbing testimony, he'd been convinced that the prosecution hadn't laid a glove on him. Despite the battery of charges he was facing, much of the fraud case came down to a single issue: whether Orr had misrepresented to investors and to the government the potential of the formula he was trying to market — a fuel blend that he claimed would be cheaper, cleaner and more efficient than conventional gasoline. The government had called dozens of witnesses, including a few disgruntled investors, to testify against him; Orr had fought back with well-respected scientists and experts from the arcane world of alternative fuels. He had taken the stand himself for days, describing how the EPA had shut him down, just when an independent lab was ready to begin rigorous testing of his product that would prove or disprove its value once and for all.
He had told the jury how it was, and he'd thought he'd made some points. As the deliberations stretched into five days, he began to wonder if he'd merely confused them. But he hadn't expected to be judged a fraud and a cheat.
"I was stunned," he says now. "To realize that your life effort, doing what you thought was good for the public and the environment, was being rewarded with a guilty verdict, with a long prison sentence potentially attached to it — I just had this massive disbelief. Were these guys at the same trial I was at?"
Orr has not yet been sentenced; a hearing in the matter is scheduled next month before Judge Lewis Babcock. His trial received scant press coverage, and what ink it got was largely devoted to the passing involvement of U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, who served briefly on the board of directors of the National Alternative Fuels Foundation, the nonprofit Orr launched to promote his product and others. (After the trial, liberal bloggers conjectured that the former Republican congressman arranged the $3.6 million federal grant that NAFF received to test Orr's fuel; they were wrong.) Yet interviews with numerous people associated with the Orr case — investors, jurors, chemists, fuel promoters, business partners and others — indicate that Orr's crime isn't quite as clear-cut as the verdict would suggest.
The jury, of course, had a very different impression of what was going on at NAFF and Orr's investment venture, Octane International, than he did. "It seemed like he scammed everybody," says Walter Roberts, one member of the panel. "If I had the money, I probably would have invested in it myself. But a lot of things didn't look right. I think [Orr] was his own worst enemy."
Yet even some jurors don't believe that Orr set out to swindle anyone; they say they were simply following the letter of the law and their specific jury instructions when they found him guilty of making false statements. "He was making bold statements on some pretty slim tests," says one, who asked not to be identified by name, "but I don't think he intended to commit a crime."
Many white-collar fraud prosecutions begin with complaints from the victims of the scam. In the case of William Orr, government investigators had to practically recruit investors to testify against him. Several investors, including some of the prosecution's own witnesses, still defend Orr, saying that his product could be worth millions or even billions of dollars if the government would quit putting roadblocks in its path.
"The pressure to pursue this was always from the government, not the investors," says Scott Shires, a Republican political consultant who worked closely with Orr at NAFF and helped to recruit many of the investors in Octane. Shires, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to file corporate tax returns and testified as a prosecution witness at Orr's trial, earning praise from Babcock for his honesty, has since received a year's probation and a small fine. "Based on what Bill is facing, I consider myself exceptionally lucky," he adds.
Orr and his attorney, Paul Grant, contend that his prosecution is the result of an EPA vendetta. Orr had been involved in a legal challenge of EPA standards for several years, claiming that new sulfur regulations for gasoline were based on bad science, increased the price of gasoline significantly and actually hurt air quality. Testing his product and its supposed benefits might have demonstrated that the costly new standards weren't truly necessary — hence the motive, Grant suggests, for shutting down Orr's operation before further tests could be conducted.
"Had the tests been run, Bill Orr would have been vindicated or proven wrong," Grant says. "Had Orr been proven right, the EPA would have been terribly humiliated. Government agencies don't want naysayers proving them wrong. They had a lot to lose, and I think they would have lost had the tests been run."
The vendetta theory has been strongly embraced by Orr's supporters. That's the only explanation, they say, for how an audit that found some minor irregularities in the administration of a federal grant mushroomed into a lengthy criminal investigation involving the EPA, the IRS, postal inspectors, the Securities and Exchange Commission — even, at one point, the Department of Homeland Security. A motion for a new trial filed by Grant accuses federal prosecutors of misrepresenting evidence in the case, smearing Orr with unproven innuendos and lying to the jury. "The trial tactics of these prosecutors offer a primer in how to convict a defendant without evidence," the motion states.
Federal prosecutors have declined to comment on Grant's allegations, pending a formal response filed in court. But U.S. Attorney Troy Eid has defended the prosecution as a welcome deterrent to the kind of snake-oil schemes foisted on consumers and investors in response to soaring prices at the pump. "With increased focus on alternative fuels," he said, "this conviction is a reminder: Always check under the hood."
Orr compares himself to Preston Tucker, the visionary automaker whose revolutionary "Tucker Torpedo" was quickly sunk by unfounded fraud allegations. "I was told years ago by people in Congress that it was suicide to get involved in alternative fuels," he says. "There's a lot of lip service in support of it, but you're up against an entrenched, big-oil mentality. It's a multibillion-dollar mature industry that isn't going to let any share of its market go to outsiders."
At 56, with short-cropped hair and mild eyes, Bill Orr doesn't seem cut out for the part of mad inventor or conspiracy theorist. His apartment is crowded with stacks of canned goods and files, giving off that lonely air of the middle-aged entrepreneur, definitely single (divorced ten years, two sons), in need of more storage space. It's only when he begins to talk, at length and with great authority, about patent law, fuel recipes and global warming that he reveals the eclectic nature of his obsessions.
Friends describe Orr as frugal, eccentric and brilliant, with the organizational skills of a small child. They say he correctly predicted, more than a year in advance and within 1,500 miles of its epicenter, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. But he's also been known to show up for a meeting with the royal family of Bahrain wearing mismatched shoes. "I have joked that he would have a hard time falling out of a wet paper bag," says Shires, who first met Orr eighteen years ago while working on the John Andrews gubernatorial campaign. "But he's also a near genius in many regards."
An Air Force brat, Orr was born in Ohio but traveled widely as a child. His family put down roots in Colorado long enough for him to finish high school in Aurora. He returned to the state after studying science and engineering at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and earned a degree in business from the University of Colorado. Then he went to work as a CPA, but only for a short while. "I couldn't stand accounting," he says now. "I got headaches."
In 1979, another accountant introduced him to a tax shelter that involved the use of methanol in gasoline. Orr became fascinated with the economics and chemistry of the product. Better known as wood alcohol, methanol has a long history as a high-powered automotive fuel, from the days of the Model T to the modern Indy 500. It has drawbacks, including its corrosive effects on aluminum engines and rubber seals, but Orr saw huge potential for blending methanol with other alcohols as an octane-enhancing additive. At the time, the government was in the process of phasing out the use of lead in gas, and refiners were searching for an alternative octane booster. Methanol extracted from natural gas cost a fraction of the price of gasoline even then, and Orr realized that even a modest piece of the growing market for gas-alcohol mixes could be worth millions.
Over the next few years, Orr organized the American Synthetic Fuels Company, later known as Energos Systems. The company obtained the very first waiver for a methanol-unleaded gas blend from the EPA, then under the direction of former Colorado lawmaker Anne Gorsuch. Orr began working with refineries in the Southwest seeking a cheap source of octane, while giant Arco started selling its own methanol-laced gas on the East Coast. The market seemed poised to take off.
But like many miracle fuels, methanol blends had a short run. According to Orr, other promoters entered the game with lower-quality formulas; reports about methanol eating up car engines showed up in the national press — planted, Orr suggests, by Arco's competitors; and the price of unleaded gas collapsed, making the blended fuel less attractive. The final nails in the coffin were hammered into place by the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act, which set new emissions standards that methanol couldn't meet.
Although the amendments did permit certain types of reformulated gasoline, Orr calls the legislation "a back-door mandate for MTBE" — methyl tertiary-butyl ether, an additive manufactured from methanol that can enhance octane and also happened to meet the new standards. Orr strongly objected to the process that gave MTBE favored status. His concerns weren't environmental; no one foresaw the havoc the new additive would soon cause. Yet the website for the trade group he started takes credit for being "the only environmental and scientific organization to question the fundamental science used by EPA to mandate MTBE."
"We knew if you had bad science on the front end, you're going to get unintended consequences at the back end," Orr says now. "And we were right."
During the 1990s the use of MTBE in oxygenated fuels soared. Domestic production of the stuff, which has been known to cause cancer in lab rats, reached over 300,000 barrels a day. By 2000 MTBE could be found in almost one third of the nation's gasoline. But state officials across the country began to discover that the highly soluble chemical was leaking from underground storage tanks and contaminating groundwater at record speed. Colorado was one of the first states to ban its use in gasoline; California, New York and dozens of other states soon followed.
The bans left refiners scrambling for another source of oxygenated fuel that met EPA standards. Midwest corn farmers and politicians, who'd been pushing corn-based ethanol (and its lucrative subsidies) for decades, found that their time had come. For Orr, the ascendancy of ethanol presented certain opportunities, too.
Starting in the early 1980s, Orr had set about developing patents for a variety of alcohol and gasoline blends that also included MMT, a manganese compound considered to be one of the best octane boosters available. One of the primary patents, which became the basis for launching Octane International and NAFF, is for unleaded gas, ethanol and MMT. From what Orr knew of the components involved, he was convinced that such a blend could increase octane, boost fuel economy and reduce harmful emissions better than conventional gas or a "gasohol" blend of gas and ethanol alone. Research on the use of MMT indicated that it reduced nitrogen oxide emissions and that its octane kick could add as much as 200,000 barrels a day to the gasoline pool, fuel otherwise lost through processing for octane enhancement.
But MMT is regarded with great suspicion in some quarters. Despite the fact that it was used in Canada for many years in almost all of the gas produced, auto manufacturers worry about its effect on their emission-control systems. Environmental groups have denounced its potential for neurological damage if inhaled in sufficient quantity, even though studies suggest it poses no health hazard at the minute levels used in gasoline. The Ethyl Corporation battled the EPA for years, trying to get a waiver to introduce a 32nd of a gram of MMT per gallon of unleaded gas; in 1995 a federal appeals court finally ruled in favor of Ethyl, saying the EPA had exceeded its authority.
Frank Cox, a former research chemist for the Department of Energy and one of the pioneers of alternative fuels, remembers testing MMT for the EPA decades ago and ending up with manganese oxide deposits gapping the spark plugs. "We got the octane boost," he recalls, "but we found that the oxides were retained in the combustion system. The EPA said, 'The hell with this, we're not going to allow it' — rather than cut down the concentrations or use alcohol as a scavenger of the oxides."
"The real problem is that the auto industry was very adamant that they didn't want it," adds Terry Higgins, executive director of refining for Hart Energy Consulting. Like Cox, Higgins testified for the defense at Orr's trial and believes that an ethanol-MMT-gas mixture such as the one Orr patented would be a boon to the American consumer. "There are hurdles to overcome, sure, in terms of approval and acceptance. But technologically, there are a lot of benefits — octane, cost savings and environmental benefits."
At the outset, Orr's quest didn't appear to be a difficult one. Ethyl had managed, through litigation, to win approval for the use of MMT in unleaded gas, and ethanol had become the winner by default in the race to develop oxygenated fuels that would reduce air pollution. Ethanol would surely reduce the combustion problems that occurred when MMT was put in unleaded gas. Given all that, how hard could it be to obtain an EPA waiver for the combined use of MMT and ethanol?
But the path ahead turned out to be more complicated than he could imagine. Simply to obtain the patent for his formula required reams of paperwork stretching from 1984 until 2000. There were side battles with other patent-seekers, including Ethyl, and a maze of bureaucracy and expensive tests to negotiate before he could even apply for the EPA waiver.
Orr put together a brain trust. He launched Octane, teamed up with Shires and, over a period of years, raised more than a million dollars from dozens of investors. Some of the money went to Orr's personal expenses; a great deal went to patent battles and lobbying efforts. "The independent refiners were saying, 'Where the hell is your product? We need octane,'" Orr recalls. "But it took sixteen years to get the patent. I kept wondering, 'Is this innocent? Am I being blocked here? What the hell is going on?'"
The logjam seemed to break in the fall of 2000, when NAFF obtained a $3.6 million grant from Congress to test Orr's patented product. Bob Schaffer had nothing to do with the coup, Orr says; the earmark was put into an appropriations bill by a congressional staffer at the urging of other lawmakers who thought Orr's technology should be investigated.
There was one catch: The grant was to be administered by the EPA, an agency Orr had battled time and again. Just a few months earlier, Orr had sued the EPA over a new round of emissions rules that he believed would be ruinous to his product and to the independent refineries most likely to use it. As in the MTBE controversy a decade earlier, Orr accused the agency of bad science and fraud — but he admits that the lawsuit was about economic survival as much as anything.
"The EPA had been jerking me around a long time," he says. "I'd had enough."
The EPA initiative that prompted Orr to file suit, the Tier 2 Vehicle and Gasoline Sulfur Program, has been touted by the agency as a groundbreaking approach to automotive pollution control. It requires automakers to implement tougher emissions standards between 2004 and 2009 that will make their vehicles run 77 to 95 percent cleaner than 2003 models. Because the manufacturers complained that the sulfur in gasoline would damage the new wave of sensitive emission-control systems, it also requires refiners to remove 90 percent of the sulfur found in their product.
Refiners were understandably alarmed by Tier 2. Unlike lead, which was added to gas to boost octane, sulfur is a natural component of gasoline. Taking it out of the fuel supply would require an investment of billions — industry sources estimated the cost at $5 billion to $20 billion — and could drive some smaller operations out of business. The removal process would shrink the overall gas pool and lower the octane of the resulting product; in addition, some foreign refiners would be unable to meet the standards. The overall effect of a shrinking pool, less capacity, lower octane and less available imports would be an inevitable increase in the price of gas, although industry and government estimates of the actual impact of the program varied widely.
Orr had other objections. On a purely economic level, Tier 2 would devalue his product, which he believed worked better with sulfur in the gas than without it. In fact, one of Octane's selling points was that the MMT additive "grabs" sulfur and produces manganese sulfate — that it was cheaper to remove the sulfur in the combustion chamber rather than the refinery. Orr also maintained that the new rules would contribute to global warming (sulfur may be the only component of car exhaust that actually serves as an atmospheric coolant) and have other harmful environmental effects.
His most basic objection, though, was also the most intriguing one. Orr claimed that the EPA had never adequately demonstrated that sulfur would damage the new emission systems. Melvin Ingalls, an engineer at the Southwest Research Institute, a widely respected nonprofit facility that specializes in emission issues, prepared a detailed analysis of the EPA's test data and found it badly flawed — or, in his words, "a forced manipulation to meet a pre-ordained conclusion." In a report that became an integral part of Orr's lawsuit, Ingalls explained that the EPA had relied on data from only four vehicles to study the effects of high sulfur fuel; that data from one of the cars, an SUV modified to meet the Tier 2 regulations, was assigned disproportionate importance in the final results; and that there had been no reported failures of Tier 2 vehicles that could be blamed on sulfur. In short, Orr charged, the EPA cooked the science to justify a costly new regulation.
EPA officials have never responded directly to Orr's allegations. (A request from Westword for comment received no response.) The legal challenges to Tier 2 by refiners' groups eventually faded away. In testimony before Congress, EPA officials have maintained that the health and environmental benefits of Tier 2 have far outweighed the cost to the consumer, which they insist has been only a few pennies per gallon of gas. Other analysts have disputed that figure, saying it fails to take into account such factors as the decline in refining capacity in the United States over the past two decades due to ever-stricter regulations, which have a direct effect on the price of gas.
Ironically, it's not even clear that the new regs have had a positive impact on pollution, especially ozone levels. While the tighter controls have lowered nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, some scientists contend that the ratio of NOx to hydrocarbons is what matters, since it's the interaction between the compounds in the atmosphere that generates ozone.
"They say the emissions have been dramatically reduced," says Donald Stedman, a chemistry professor at the University of Denver, "but where's the evidence? Ozone hasn't gone down in the last decade, and that means we've done something wrong. Until you get rid of the hydrocarbons almost completely, you shouldn't reduce NOx. If you reduce NOx first, you're just going to make ozone worse where most people breathe. That's what we've been doing in Denver."
Orr's lawsuit challenging Tier 2 dragged on long after the refiners had given up the fight. The battle certainly didn't help his relationship with the agency that was administering his federal grant. With funds from the grant, NAFF had set up a modest screening lab in Golden to try to determine which fuel recipe would work best for the kind of costly, long-term testing in multiple engines that would be needed to prove the value of Octane's patent. Yet the preliminary data from the lab was confusing and unrepeatable; one researcher dubbed it "the frustrated fuel club." Orr's anxiety is evident in an e-mail he sent to a lab supervisor in 2003.
"Our data doesn't confirm anything," he lamented. "It seems we have become a 'never ending' R&D effort with a 'never ending' learning curve with a lot of detours. The EPA sees us as being a garage operation and thinks we are amateurs...They want real data and they want it now!"
In the spring of 2004, the EPA informed NAFF that it would require much more extensive testing of the fuel and its toxicity than had been previously indicated. The agency also launched an audit focusing on how grant money had been spent. Shires, Orr and others involved in NAFF say they received no indication at the conclusion of the audit that anything was amiss. But EPA internal e-mails indicate that people involved in defending the agency from Orr's lawsuit had begun to take an interest in the grant research. "I'd be curious [to know] where he is in terms of getting his product out," reads one communication.
That December, Orr filed a document claiming that the testing he was about to do would demonstrate not only that his fuel worked, but that the Tier 2 sulfur regulations were unnecessary. Around the same time — not so coincidentally, in Orr's view — the director of the EPA's grants administration division, Richard Kuhlman, was conferring with other staffers about pulling the plug on the grant before NAFF could enter into a contract with the Southwest Research Institute for independent testing of the fuel. "We may have to work hard to issue the stop work order," Kuhlman wrote. "They are soon to sign a $1 million contract that I would prefer they not start."
In the next few weeks, Orr's efforts suffered two fatal blows. His lawsuit against Tier 2 was thrown out on a technicality; a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled his trade group didn't have standing to bring the suit. And the EPA notified him that it was withholding future payments under the grant, citing various financial irregularities ranging from NAFF's bookkeeping to Orr's foreign travel to the use of Orr's son David as a consultant.
Shires remembers leaving his house one afternoon in January 2005 and seeing a man and a woman coming toward him in the suburban cul de sac, their hands ducking into their suits. For a moment, he thought they were reaching for guns and wondered "who I pissed off so much to get killed." Instead, the pair produced badges. One was an IRS investigator; the other was from the EPA Inspector General's office. After being assured that he wasn't the target of a criminal investigation, Shires agreed to talk to the agents about Octane and Bill Orr.
It soon became obvious to Shires that the government was probing well beyond the "financial irregularities" cited as the reasons for suspending the grant. The EPA agent, Cory Rumple, seemed openly contemptuous of Orr's patent and declared that it would never go anywhere. When Shires asked why, Rumple said something so startling that Shires took pains to write it down.
"Not in my lifetime," Rumple allegedly said. "Over my dead body and when hell freezes over will manganese come into the U.S. gas market."
Shires was badly shaken. NAFF had already sent a six-figure down payment to Southwest Research to begin the crucial tests. Shires was one week from purchasing the vehicles to use in the tests. After years of wrangling with Orr over his eccentric management style and chaotic recordkeeping, he'd finally persuaded him to step down as NAFF's executive director and bring in a professional to take charge of the organization. He'd felt so confident about the company's direction that he'd recently invited Bob Schaffer to join its board of directors.
Schaffer had not yet attended a single board meeting. He never would. After his conversation with the agents, Shires called up the ex-congressman and urged him to resign from the board immediately.
A globe of the earth sits on Bob Gathers's desk in his airy home outside Castle Rock. The globe spins freely in space, suspended in the middle of an electromagnetic field — except when Gathers slaps his palms on the desk for emphasis. Then the globe bumps into one of the magnets, and the earth stops.
One of Colorado's most experienced entrepreneurs, Gathers has formed dozens of companies over the past thirty years, including Cybernetics and Gathers Software. He launched his first company at age 31, shortly after an eye-opening association with John Vincent Atanasoff, the inventor of the first electronic digital computer. He's had his share of triumphs and failures, but nothing has got him into earth-stopping mode more than the prosecution of his friend Bill Orr. Gathers is an investor in Octane and testified for the defense at Orr's trial; he's also studied the case like a fine-print contract drawn up by a Philadelphia lawyer.
"I spent several months full-time on this," he says. "I've written a lot of letters. I think somebody in the EPA got really upset with Bill."
Gathers first met Shires and Orr during the 1990 John Andrews campaign for governor. He knew he was getting involved in a high-risk venture when he invested in Octane and loaned Orr money. "It's a crap shoot," he says. "Most small businesses don't work. Bill does things in a different way than I would do it. But I believe he's fundamentally honest. When you invest in a small business, it's not like investing in GM. I was investing in Bill. The government people don't understand this."
As Gathers sees it, the reasons cited by the EPA for suspending NAFF's funding were petty quibbles about Bill Orr using a home office and charging the grant for part of his rent, not seeking bids for his office furniture, David Orr using his MBA to do some consulting work for the project, and a few thousand dollars in trips related to the project — operational expenses that Orr had no problem defending as legitimate. But the issues raised in the suspension notice had nothing to do with the criminal charges handed down by a federal grand jury a year later. Now Orr was being accused of defrauding investors and misrepresenting the science behind his product.
Gathers doesn't see how Orr could be found guilty of fraud if he was actually spending the money on research, regardless of the results. "It's the biggest travesty I've ever seen," he says. "This was R&D. You can get brilliant, honest guys who happen to disagree on an R&D issue. That doesn't make them criminals."
Yet part of the government's case is that money intended for research went for other purposes. Orr drew a six-figure salary from NAFF during the course of the federal grant — more than half a million dollars in three years. Money that investors poured into Octane went from company accounts to Orr's personal account. That didn't look right to government investigators; to make matters worse, Orr hadn't filed a tax return since 1988.
Orr attorney Grant responds that the EPA approved his client's salary, and that more than $300,000 of it ended up back in the project in services and costs that he paid for personally. His dealings with investors were more complicated, involving promissory notes and shares in Octane as collateral, but Grant insists that Orr saved the company a great deal of money on overhead and taxes through the arrangements. Orr didn't pay taxes himself for several years because he had net operating losses, he adds, and had documentation from the IRS stating that he didn't have to file a return.
"I didn't live lavishly," Orr says. "It doesn't mean that I didn't have beer in the refrigerator and went to Central City once in a while and spent a hundred bucks gambling. But everyone who knows me knows I don't spend money foolishly and I work like a dog."
Several investors say that the government agents who interviewed them insinuated that Orr was spending their money frivolously, that the screening lab in Golden didn't even exist. Grant says the agents tried to "poison" the investors in an effort to induce them to testify against Orr. "The special agent was telling them that Bill Orr had cheated them and was spending their money on foreign travel, women and gambling," he says.
Some investors didn't need much poisoning. They already had hard feelings about Orr and Octane, having waited for years for the golden payday when the new fuel hit the market. They had read Orr's upbeat newsletters, detailing his meetings with top officials from companies such as Enron, Exxon and Prudential Bache and their interest in investing in his technology. Some of these "confidential updates" suggested that a major infusion of cash was just around the corner.
"I thought they were moving forward, but it just never happened," says Charles Routh, who met Orr through Shires and invested a total of $80,000. "Any investment is a gamble, but I feel a lot of information was withheld. I didn't know what was a lie and what was real."
Routh began by loaning money to Orr. He was promised shares of Octane stock but didn't receive the certificates until nearly a decade later. He never received a prospectus. "They didn't know how many shareholders there were or how many shares they had," he sighs. "I was dealing with some narcissistic personalities. Sometimes I wonder if we were just paying for Scott to have a job and for Bill to pursue his fantasy. I don't think they were working for the investors at all. It was all about them and their dreams."
Toward the end, Routh says, Shires told him that he could afford to lose his investment. "I thought that was kind of callous," he says. "I have been damaged. I haven't seen any remorse."
Orr acknowledges that he's left some angry investors in his wake, many of them brought into the deal by Shires. "A lot of these guys had money in this for more than a decade," he says. "They had every reason to be pissed at me." But he insists that investors such as Routh could still reap a windfall if his fuel ever makes it through the maze of the EPA's fuel waiver requirements.
Orr may have been overly optimistic — and flat wrong — in his reports to investors about major corporate interest in his patent. But documents show that he did have meetings with Exxon, Enron, Prudential and other potential funding sources. His defenders insist that Orr's sin is naiveté rather than fraud. "A researcher should be completely unbiased, but Bill is also a salesman," says Frank Cox. "I don't think he was lying to people. He believes what he tells them. He's very dogmatic about it. And that's what the government used to get him."
"Bill wore too many hats," adds Chuck Thomas, a retired Denver schoolteacher and Octane investor. Thomas had his own problems with Orr's management style but defended him in court, even though he was summoned as a prosecution witness. "He was trying to keep everything alive, and I think it was overwhelming for the guy."
Shires calls his former boss a "North Korean negotiator" — meaning that negotiations with him could stretch on seemingly forever. "There were always people interested," Shires says of the meetings Orr had with major corporations about his fuel. "But the minute Bill got someone close to striking a deal, he upped the ante and asked for more."
At trial, an Exxon executive testified that his company was never all that interested in Orr's patent. Yet the name of the same executive, who met with Orr at Exxon's corporate research laboratory in 1997, is listed on a patent filed in 1999 by Exxon dealing with a fuel process that shares several characteristics with Orr's "vapor phase combustion" technology. To Orr, the implication was clear: The Big Oil boys were so not interested in what he had to offer that they signed a non-disclosure agreement with him, then developed a similar patent.
For some people, the Orr case was about how money was spent, what was promised to investors, and dubious tax practices. For Donald Stedman, though, the case represents something much more important: a lost opportunity to find out if a simple modification in the fuel supply could have wide-ranging environmental as well as economic benefits.
Stedman has impeccable credentials as an emissions expert, going back to his early career as a research scientist for Ford. The DU professor is the father of remote sensing for on-the-road emissions monitoring, as opposed to the costly stationary monitoring program Colorado was plagued with for years — an innovation the EPA strenuously resisted. He has no financial stake in Orr's product, and while he doesn't know if it's the answer, he says it raises interesting questions.
"He has preliminary data that are encouraging, but not extensive enough for me to jump on the bandwagon," Stedman explains. "He's done very few engines under very limited conditions. If you want to show that your additive can solve all these problems, then you have to do a series of expensive tests, which is exactly what he had proposed to do at Southwest. The fuel might have been a failure, but the tests should have been done. That's how you should find out — not in court."
The question of whether Orr's fuel worked was never settled (and scarcely addressed) in court. The critical issue behind multiple fraud charges was whether Orr had misrepresented to the EPA and others the results of testing of MMT fuel blends in his lab and elsewhere. Prosecutors called no expert witnesses. Instead, they brought in former employees of Orr's Golden lab, who said they were unimpressed with their test results, and a witness who testified that Orr had misrepresented the results of tests conducted years ago by NIPER, the National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research.
Defense attorney Grant responded with the testimony of Stedman, Cox, Higgins and other experts, who insisted that Orr had correctly interpreted the NIPER data and that even the troubled Golden tests showed some slight benefits. Given that the EPA's own research shows undeniable octane improvement and nitrogen oxide reductions with MMT, Grant was bewildered by the verdict.
"The whole process was improper," he says. "The jury convicted him of misrepresenting the science, but there were no qualified experts who expressed any negative opinions about that. They must have believed the prosecution witnesses, even though they weren't experts and I wasn't allowed to cross-examine them as experts."
Grant says he was hamstrung by several of Judge Babcock's rulings in the case. He wasn't allowed to question the executive from Exxon about the similar patent developed after his confidential meeting with Orr. He wasn't allowed to introduce the Melvin Ingalls report on the dubious methodology behind the Tier 2 program. He wasn't allowed to go into details about the way the investigation was conducted, the way witnesses were "poisoned" against Orr.
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Members of the jury say they thought Judge Babcock was quite fair and that Orr's government-vendetta theory simply didn't fly. "I think the EPA bent over backwards to help him," says one. "He had plenty of opportunity and money to do more research and never did it."
Orr says he regrets some of the optimistic, "sloppily prepared" reports he sent investors, and never meant to deceive anyone. He just isn't that detail-oriented, he admits, and sometimes he gets immersed in his enthusiasm.
"In my mind, they were not lies," he says. "I really thought we could make this work. I still do."
Orr has resigned as the chairman of Octane. The new chairman has called a shareholders' meeting this month, to discuss the future of the company and its product.


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High Quality, Affordable Web Design and Development
Stellar Web Works is a web design and development company that can help you establish or improve your company's web presence and help you get ahead of your competitors. Based in Nelson, New Zealand and serving a global market, we can work with you whether you are in our local area or on the other side of the globe. We cut through all the jargon and 'geek-speak' and take care of all the details for you, making the whole process of getting your website up and running painless and easy on your pocket too!
We specialise in building websites that you can easily update yourself (even if your computer skills are very limited!). These websites are built with what is known as Content Management Systems (CMS) or, in other words, an administration area on your website that allows you to easily update and manage your website. We also build online shops and custom built database driven web applications.


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Tamoxifen Therapy for Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer
Dear OncoLink "Ask the Experts,"
I am a medical student with a parent who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. I understand that tamoxifen is used for breast cancers and is highly effective in preventing recurrence. However, what is the situation when a breast cancer is weakly estrogen receptor positive? What is the action of a hormonal medication when a cancer is not receptive to the hormone? After much debate about the need for chemotherapy (only one lymph node of sixteen, was affected, with no evidence of spread) followed by the burns from radiation therapy, it is hard to encourage my mother to take tamoxifen. Are there any studies of the efficacy of an estrogen sensitive drug on an estrogen receptor negative cancer? Could you point us in the right direction, so we may be informed when we next speak with her doctor?
Carolyn Vachani RN, MSN, AOCN, OncoLink's Nurse Educator responds:
A breast tumor is tested for the sensitivity of the tumor to the hormones estrogen and progesterone. The result is reported as ER+/PR+, ER+/PR-, ER-/PR+, or ER-/PR- (estrogen receptor / progesterone receptor). The result may also contain a percentage of "activity", if this percentage is low, the tumor is called "weakly positive".
Tamoxifen therapy can provide three main benefits: prolonging survival, preventing reoccurrence, and preventing a second breast cancer from developing in the opposite breast from the first cancer. These benefits have been seen in women with ER and/or PR positive tumors � even weakly positive, but have not been seen in ER and PR negative tumors, therefore current recommendations are for women with ER or PR positive tumors to take Tamoxifen or another aromatase inhibitor ( anastrozole, letrozole, exemestane) for five years. Patients with ER negative tumors should consider the risk of reoccurrence with their oncologist (based on stage, tumor size and histology) and determine whether or not to use chemotherapy based on this risk. You can find more information on current guidelines at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's website (www.nccn.org)


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WiMAC has developed a revolutionary Central Management System (CMS) that is providing Local Authorities the freedom and flexibility to manage their street lighting stock in a way they have never been able to previously, by remotely dimming street lighting whilst at the same time monitoring energy usage.
Working in conjunction with licensees, the WiMAC CMS, which took over 6 years to develop, has been rigourously tested in field trials, ensuring that the system is robust and ready to be widely deployed.
The WiMAC CMS is already in operation in many local Local Authorities across the UK including, Westminster, Somerset, Durham, NE Lincolnshire, Luton, Cornwall, Kirklees, York, Bradford - in Europe, Heerlen (Netherlands), Zürs, Lech (Austria) - in Australia, Hobart and Canberra.


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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Timothy Swager' tag.
Over the past 15 years we have worked in all kinds of areas. Big pharma, defense, bio-tech, aerospace, manufacturing, transportation, the list is pretty broad. When I look back and try to tie it all together, reflect on what keeps me still interested, the thing that always jumps up first is cutting edge science.
Since 1999, I have been very fortunate to have an on-going relationship with MIT as well as professional relationships with many of the Institutions Principle Investigators. It is a relationship that I hold very dear, and one that has allowed me to grow personally as well as artistically.
Last week, an old friend, Prof. Vladamir Bulovic, Dir. of MTL. reached out with a particularly interesting proposition. Could we help some of his group members produce, shoot, and edit a short film explaining their new technology… Oh, and can you do it in 5 days???
Of course the answer was yes, and we dove in head first.
Because there was such a short turn-around time, the production had to be very concise. Pre-production, research, discovery and scripting was not an option… Too much fancy production value (big cameras, dollies, fancy lighting) would cause delays on set and translate into lack of time…. Multiple cameras and too much footage would cause extended logging and editing time… You get the picture. This had to go quick, but still maintain the high level of quality that our customers have come to rely on.
Fortunately for us, (and as so many today know,) we are living in the golden age of film production. With the new generation of cameras, the things that are possible today constantly blow my mind. It has really changed the landscape, and allowed us to move in ways that even five years ago could not be possible.
I wouldn't normally do so, but in order to meet our mandate, I chose to shoot all the location footage with the Nikon D4. The interviews were still shot on the Sony F3 Super35, but using the Nikon in the labs allowed us a freedom of movement that translated into a much higher volume of footage.
- First time saver: All interviews were shot daylight exterior in one general location. Yes there would be ambient noise to deal with, but since we could only afford to use a third of the shoot day doing interviews, compromises had to be made. I also believe that when an interview is outside, the viewer gives much more leeway as the reality is, life can be noisy!
- Second time saver: All footage shot in labs would also be with available light. We always move pretty quickly, but without having to move lights around on set, you can get way more done in the shoot day. Yes it might not look as good as if you took the time to light it, but with careful cinematography, you can still shoot pretty damn good images. The lack of lights also eliminates a case or two along with a heavy stand bag. This means mush less to carry and much less time setting up/tearing down. Its amazing how you can still create beautiful imagery just by paying attention to camera placement in relation to an ambient light source.
- Third time saver: Shoot hand held. Obviously the interviews were shot on stix (tripod,) but almost this entire film was shot hand held. I did bring the small Cinevate rails for one shot I wanted to get, but I primarily stayed off the crutch all day. Again, this allows for a very fast shooting style.
- Fourth time saver: Stock music. Normally we like to write our own music, but at the onset, we made the decision to go for stock. Not only is this a big time saver, but is about half the cost to the client.
- Fifth time saver: No snazzy graphics or Motion work. Traditionally in our MIT work, we have been know for some pretty cool funk. This stuff looks great, but it translates into TONS of post production work. By keeping a simple edit, we could move thru the process much faster.
After an 8hr day of shooting, we had what we needed and it was back to the studio to hit the edit bay. With the close collaboration of the client, and a couple of wee hours editing sessions, we were able to finish and deliver the 4 min film with a day to spare. The net net is a great short film that conveys the clients message, but yet was economically produced in record time. Special thanks to Farnaz Niroui. Couldn't have done it without your collaboration!If your interested in viewing the Investigator Profile we did for Prof. Bulovic, you can view here:
For our other Investigator Profile series for MIT or any other work, click here:


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Inspired by the Kathy Ireland Home™ Americana Style guide™, Huntington Club is a transitional furniture design with a vibrant cherry finish on hardwood solids and veneers. Vertical fluting, dentil molding and light distressing add character and aesthetic appeal.
Huntington Club is a great addition to any home and will surely last for generations to come.
If you like this collection, you may also like the Huntington Club Entertainment Collection by Kathy Ireland? Home by Martin.


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Julian Louie's Tribal Spring 2011 Aldo Wedges Hit Stores and Online Today! Plus, Details on the Fall 2011 Collaboration
Julian Louie's Tribal Spring 2011 Aldo Wedges Hit Stores and Online Today! Plus, Details on the Fall 2011 Collaboration
>> Julian Louie's much-buzzed-about Spring 2011 Aldo shoes start hitting New York flagship stores and online today. (So far, there's one style online, the rest of the collection will be online and in nationwide stores starting April 18). And it's all thanks largely to a Fashion Week tweet from Joe Zee. "His excitement got Aldo very excited about it," Louie said last night at the collaboration launch, "And that's when we started talking about the possibility of launching at retail. That's how it all started." The shoes — the Deanna and the Sobeslava — each come in two variations; all retail for $125. And, according to Louie, they'll be in "stores in America, Canada, and the UK, Europe . . . It's big, it's huge."
The mishmash of textiles on the shoes was inspired by Pieter Hugo's photography book The Hyena & Other Men, the designer explains: "The photographs [are] of a group of men in Nigeria who were street entertainers, and they trained hyenas. They had these crazy outfits that were half American sportswear that they found and half really traditional tribal pieces with a lot of interesting textiles and tassels. So the whole collection was about the mix of those two ideas."
As for all the excitement at the launch last night — many a girl took away a pair — Louie says: "I never expected this response, truly. I am so excited. I keep seeing girls buying them, and I'm like, I hope I see you tomorrow! Hailing a cab, on the train, or something." And he already had celebration plans in the works, post-launch, at his favorite spot, Indochine.
Louie worked with Aldo again for Fall 2011 — "We did about 8 styles of shoes" — so can we expect those in stores, as well? "We still are discussing the details of production for Fall," he says. "I don't know exactly, but hopefully, fingers crossed this [Spring 2011 collection] gets a really great response at retail and they want to do it again. I hope it's the beginning of something that's ongoing." He added that he's already started work on the Spring 2012 collaboration in the meantime, and that Aldo has been "very supportive": "They gave me — it's like total freedom. I can't stress it enough how amazing it is. I keep thinking I wish every other aspect of my business was as easy as this relationship. I feel very, very lucky."


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Cowes & East Cowes
For Cowes weather information click here. For Cowes tide information click here. For travel information click here.
There's nowhere better than Cowes for sailing and water activities. This is the home of Cowes Week, the oldest and biggest sailing regatta in the world.
Cowes is a vibrant, exciting place at any time, with sporting and cultural events throughout the year. It's a sophisticated resort you won't want to miss. The town stretches across the mouth of the river Medina estuary, where the famous chain ferry shuttles pedestrians and cars from one side of the river to the other, in just a few minutes.
Explore our rich and fascinating history by visiting maritime museums or Queen Victoria's seaside palace. Enjoy a stroll along the seafront and see boats of every shape and size, or head for the nearby beaches to soak up the sun.
Browse the town's famous shopping streets and pick up everything from designer socks to artisan cheese and wine. Pretty pavement cafes, bars, boutique shops and galleries can be found in East and West Cowes, Relax over a glass of fizz and then choose somewhere special for dinner, there's nowhere like Cowes after dark.
Stay in Cowes or the surrounding area to take full advantage of everything this resort has to offer, and when you know Cowes, head off to explore more of the Isle of Wight. Welcome to Cowes!


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ECE News
Welcome to the Early Chilhood Education Department and the Children's Center.
The Early Childhood Education Department at Cabrillo College offers an occupational and transfer program that integrates both theoretical and practical coursework to deepen understanding of children, their families, and the teaching and learning process.
Our program is offered at both at the Aptos and the Watsonville campuses. Within this website we are providing extensive information about various aspects of the program including recommended sequence of courses, areas of specialization, the Permit Matrix and career avenues.
Please feel free to read students' testimonials about the program, see where we are located on a map, or find a professional early childhood education organization in Santa Cruz County. Interested parties may also establish a scholarship for our outstanding students.
For more information please use the information to the right to contact us.
|Early Childhood Education
|Jean Gallagher-Heil
|En español
|Ofelia García
|Room 1508 A (lower campus)


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Viking repairs all types of furniture, indoor and outdoor regardless of the place of purchase. Freeze damaged patio sling chairs. Re-cord and re-canvas patio umbrellas, cantilever and offset. Steel & cast aluminum furniture welding. We sell indoor and outdoor glass tops with or without umbrella holes. Re-glue and reupholster kitchen and dining chairs. Replacement swivel, memory swivel and swivel tilt plates for chairs and stools. Custom table tops made in Formica, Granite, Wood and Glass.
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