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Greene slaying: One victim was attacker turned artist
15 commentsMichael 2 May 4th, 2011 | 10:56am
Did he spend time in prison for assaulting UVa students?Jack M May 4th, 2011 | 12:57pm
Charged with malicious wounding; convicted of 18.2-51 ("shooting, stabbing, etc., with intent to maim, kill)
Offense date was 02/08/04. And then a more recent (2010) probation violation.Jack M May 4th, 2011 | 1:03pm
Two Charlottesville residents have been arrested and charged with mob assault, active participation in a criminal street gang, and recruitment of a juvenile to join a street gang, following an attack on two UVa students two weeks ago. According to Chief Longon, 27-year-old Paul Jones and the 17-year-old selected their victims at random, an assertion that runs contrary to initial reports. A third suspect is wanted, 18-year-old Dustin Knighton. Each have been identified as members of the "D-Block" gang. Reed Williams had the story in today's Progress.cvillebob May 4th, 2011 | 2:36pm
Both of the id'd dead were friends on Facebook. The girl victim will be one as well. Highly likely the murderer is in their group. Looking thru some of the public profiles of their friends the police will have more than a couple to interview.BROOMDUST May 4th, 2011 | 2:51pm
HALF OF THE PROFILES ON FB ARE IMAGINATIONS RUNNING WILD. HECK, I HAVE 18 PROFILES, AND I COMMENT ON EACH'S WALL ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS INCLUDING BIRTHDAYS! CARRY ON!boooo! May 4th, 2011 | 3:02pm
Well, he was definitely a talented artist. My artistic renderings are about on par with an eight year old. Most people can't draw the way he did. It's too bad. Seems like he had a wayward youth, probably due to the homelife. If only his talent and energies could have been channeled into positive pursuits early on. (same goes for all wayward youths who come from dysfunctional families and fall through the cracks. If somebody had been there to steer them on a better path and catch them when they're falling early on....)J May 4th, 2011 | 5:10pm
That link to WTJU is shite, it doesn't work.Angel Eyes May 4th, 2011 | 9:12pm
Don't know about the woman, but the two guys do sound like people who dedicated their lives to "having it coming". Another misdemeanor murder goes down and a couple wannabe gangbangers get their just desserts. Reminds me of Spike Lee's ghetto movie: "Clockers" where the cop played by Harvey Keitel said of another murder that "this neighborhood's like a self cleaning oven". I'm aware this sounds callous, but: "Live by the sword, die by the sword" and it appears choices were made that led them to their destiny.Former classmate May 5th, 2011 | 2:36pm
I am just shocked at evrything that has happened. 3 young souls lost for nothin, may they all RIP and to all you people out there that are slandering these young mens names, should be ashamed of yourselves!! No matter what they done in their past the point is they lost their lives and NO one has the right to take a life no matter what. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims!!BROOMDUST May 5th, 2011 | 4:04pm
So how were they as students? School life it totally different from personal life. I don't condone killing, but I do teach my kids, that if you are minding your business and someone comes to bother you, handle it. This situation got handled. They were not going door to door spreading the word of GOD, they were on a mission. Running in that shack waving guns in peoples faces, then running off? Who does that? Like I said, if you are going to do the dirt at least go in with your balls in between your legs and not in your pocket.
Can't play with fire! You might get burned. I feel for the children, and Lisa, but the other two......tsk tsk. It was bound to happen. No one deserves to be at home where they feel safe, just to have someone with guns barge in demanding what they don't have. How fair was that? If you want sympathy for them, fine, but have sympathy for all the victims. Including the people that these two have robbed in the past and left naked. Feel sorry for them too, because if they would have died, would you still be saying "they made some mistakes but they are still good people." Probably not. I assume it would be MUMS the word. Carry on!BROOMDUST May 5th, 2011 | 4:11pm
"3 young souls lost for nothin"
****Who initiatied the robbery? 2 of the 3 young souls lost. They lost their lives as a result of threatening to take someone elses life.
"No matter what they done in their past the point is they lost their lives and NO one has the right to take a life no matter what."
****No matter how light your pockets are, no one has the right to barge in while someone is watching Good Times, with shotguns, demanding goods, then run off, and think that that's all that will come of that.Sam May 6th, 2011 | 3:37pm
Hook Editors: I'm extremely disappointed in your coverage of this story. I live not too far from where that car was found and nobody is offering any information on where the suspect might be. You've had the same 2 grafs up for the last 2 days. Even the DP is doing a better job than you on this. Could you at least call the police spokesperson for an update? What does our community do when there's a lack of information or investigative reporting? We're so disappointed in you. I'm starting to think you discriminate against stories about violent crimes or stories that happen in Albemarle County (also known as Not Cville). Seriously, what is up?boooo! May 6th, 2011 | 4:30pm
@ Sam
If you think that The Hook has something against stories about violent crime and/or ones that take place outside of Cville then you obviously haven't really been reading The Hook for any amount of time. If there's one thing The Hook is good at it's covering salacious murder stories.
- Justine Abshire
- Morgan Harrington
- The Blue Ridge Parkway shootings
- UVA rape victims
- The Morris-Shifflett murder case
- Jayne McGowan
- The 30+ year old Staunton double homicide of Connie and Carolyn Henever
- Darrell David Rice, suspect in the 29 Stalker case, suspect in the double homicide of Lollie Winans and Julie Williams in Shenandoah Forest, who also unsuccessfully tried to abduct a bicyclist in Shenandoah Forest
- Katie Worsky, the 8 year old who disappeared/was murdered back in 1982
.....and the list goes on and on. I know I'm forgetting many other stories the Hook has covered in-depth.Just wait May 8th, 2011 | 9:42pm
If the cops screw up the investigation, the Hook will be ALL over it. That's why you see little coverage now.Brenda June 8th, 2011 | 6:54pm
I am a family member of Lisa and I can't believe that the police have not yet charged anyone with these murders. What the hell is taking so long it's been amonth now and we don't know anything other than what was reported.For all you commenters that didn't know Lisa she was a good,kind person and a wonderful mother.Don't speculate on what you don't know anything about.This whole thing has been hard on her 3 small children and they deserve to know why their mother was killed and who the hell did it? So cops get off your asses and do something.


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TAMHSC research symposium Nov. 11-12
The Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) is hosting a two-day scientific research symposium Thursday-Friday, Nov. 11-12, to foster scientific exchange. Major focus areas include developmental biology and stem cell research, infection and inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolism, neuroscience, and translational medicine and core centers.
The symposium, which includes oral presentations and poster sessions, is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Henry D. Smith Operations Complex at the Brayton Fire Training Field, 1595 Nuclear Science Road in College Station. It is sponsored by the Office of Research and David S. Carlson, Ph.D., vice president for research, dean of the TAMHSC-School of Graduate Studies and interim director of the TAMHSC-Institute of Biosciences and Technology.
Media contact: Dee Dee Grays, 979.436.0611.

subset: commoncrawl


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The African Children's Choir of Uganda has been singing for their future since 1984. The choir is once again bringing their angelic voices to our area when they perform Sept. 15 at Vision Church at Christian International.
The choir is a nonprofit humanitarian and relief organization dedicated to helping Africa's most vulnerable children today so they can help Africa tomorrow. The children, ages 7 to 10 years, travel the United States and other countries for 12 to 16 months straight before returning to their homes. During that time, their only contact with family is via cards and letters. However, the children have the full support of their parents to be away for such a long period of time because the tour and their performances give them all hope for the future.
"They are spreading a message of God and hope, and their needs," said Catherine Wake, tour leader. "It's a great experience for them. Traveling and experiencing a different world opens their eyes and minds to what is out there and what they can be � teachers, dentists, doctors, lawyers, firefighters � all the possibilities that are out there that they could become if they put the work into it. This tour helps the kids and helps Uganda and their future."
All the children in the choir are from poor families in Uganda, and all can benefit from going on the tour, said Wake.
While on tour, the children and their chaperones stay at churches or with host families, and all have at least four sponsors who provide for their needs on the tour.
Admission to each of their performances is free, but offerings are taken with all contributions going toward their continuing education when they return home. Most of their sponsors are in the United States, but some are in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
Wake has been on tour with this particular group of children since January, touring the eastern United States, including Ohio, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, working its way down along the coast.
She earned her teaching degree last year in her native Canada.
"I knew I wanted to do something fulfilling and to help people, so when I heard about this, I checked into it and applied," she said. "To be able to be with these kids is exciting, and to travel and be with people from all over. I see the good work. I would like to stay involved in some way when my tour is up."
The choir has melted the hearts of its audiences with their smiles, beautiful voices and lively African songs and dances.
The children sing beloved children's songs, traditional spirituals and gospel favorites, including "Amazing Grace" and "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands."
Offerings taken at each performance go to support African Children's Choir programs such as education, care and relief and development programs.
Music for Life (The parent organization for The African Children's Choir) works in seven African countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. MFL has educated more than 52,000 children and impacted the lives of more than 100,000 people through its relief and development programs during its history. MFL's purpose is to help create new leadership for tomorrow's Africa, by focusing on education.
The African Children's Choir has performed before presidents, and heads of state including the Queen of England for her Diamond Jubilee. The choir has also sung alongside artists such as Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Keith Urban, and others.
The group will deliver its performance Sept. 15 at Vision Church at its 10 a.m. service. The church is located at 5200 U.S. Highway 98E in Santa Rosa Beach. For more information call 231-2660 or visit www.africanchildrenschoir.com.


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Associate Professor of Computer Science
Office: CS 216
Phone: (541) 552-6148
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
website: http://webpages.sou.edu/~nordquip/
Education & Experience
M.S. in Computer Science, 1985, Oregon Graduate Center
Thesis: Interactive Display Generation in Smalltalk
M.A. in Choral Conducting, 1996, University of Missouri at Kansas City
B.A. in Music Education, B.A. in Math Education, 1979, George Fox College
- Digital Media Foundations III (EMDA 203)
- Machine Structures and Assembly Language (CS 275)
- Databases (CS 360)
- Advanced Databases (CS 460 / 560)
- Compilers (CS 450 / 550)
- Systems Analysis (CS 469 / 569): Introduction to Parallel Programming
- Capstone Project I (CS 470)
- Capstone Project II (CS 471)
Research Interests
- Effective uses of computers to aid the development of musicians -- particularly choral singers
- Teaching Requirements and Testing by Grading Labs Automatically
Pete studies musical sounds. He sings in the SOU Chamber Choir and has extensive experience with music and things vocal. He has been the principle developer of a program that displays a visual representation of the intervallic relationship between an input sound and a user-chosen reference pitch. He, and others, developed a program that takes an audio signal as input and produces a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies present in this signal. This frequency spectrum is also processed by an algorithm for detecting the fundamental frequency in the spectrum, commonly referred to by musicians as the pitch of the sound. This program also has the ability to compare the current fundamental frequency with a set of predetermined frequencies and output the frequency in the set that is closest to the input fundamental. In addition, it will output the difference between this closest frequency and the actual fundamental.
Pete has written a program that automatically grades student programming labs by compiling and running them against a set of instructor-written test cases. This program gives the students instantaneous feedback and teaches good testing methodologies as well as submitting student labs for manual inspection by the instructor.
He co-oversees the Capstone sequence which entails providing guidance for students as they first develop their projects and then implement them in the final quarter of their degree plan.


text: Some people take their coffee & tea seriously. For them, it's not just a beverage -- it's an experience to be savored. With our coffee & tea accessories, you can create great tasting drinks while adding style & substance to the kitchen. We have grinders, coffee makers, carafes, commercial makers, programmed coffeemakers and single cup dispensers. Other preferred items include travel sets, electric hot water kettles, espresso machines, percolators and tea pots, sets & cups for splendid serving situations. Just a few of the choice brands are BUNN Products, Kahla, La Pavoni, Mamma Ro, Black and Decker & Hamilton Beach.


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Hi, I'm new to this forum and to mtb too! I recently went back to my parent's house to bring back my old mtb at my apartment. I started to ride a little with it and realized I don't even know which Brand / Model / Year it is for real.
Since then I'm trying to find out more about this bike which may be old but ride greatly!
I have made a little website to keep track of what I discover about my Unknown Bike and need help to fill the numerous blanks. If somebody could take a look here http://unknownbike.iampm.org to study the pictures and information about the bike to help me, it would be very nice!
And yes, I already asked for information at Ritchey Logic ... I did not receive anything helpful but a link to the oldmountainbikes.com's website which I already consulted to find out that I'm stuck at the same place as I am right now.
Thank you very much!


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We're going to start digging through old videos and Tweets to get the answers, but if you can find the answer and link us let us know. We are keeping a master list of what is each actor's favorite Twilight book.
Ashley Greene
Elizabeth Reaser
Justin Chon
Edi Gathegi
New Moon
Kristen Stewart
Robert Pattinson
Peter Facinelli
Kellan Lutz
Taylor Lautner
Chaske Spencer
Tyson Houseman
Mike Welch
Jackson Rathbone
Breaking Dawn
Christian Serratos
***Note stars have changed their minds in some cases after rereads or just in general. So what we have done is gone with date coding and their most recent answer. For example, there are interviews of Chaske Spencer citing both New Moon and Eclipse. Peter has said "whichever one I'm rereading." We have gone with the most recent answers.


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Hood River, Oregon: Double Mountain Brewery
Another West Coast dispatch from our man in Oregon, Jim Bonomo. Take it away, Jim! —The Editors
Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom
8 4th St, Hood River, OR 97031; (map); 541-387-0042; doublemountainbrewery.com
Pizza Style: New Haven-inspired
Oven Type: Gas-fired brick oven
Price: 14ish-inch pies, $14 to $20
Hood River, Oregon is a strange multi-faceted microcosm. I'm sure people live there, but it's mainly wayward traveling ski bums, windsurfers, kiteboarders, and yuppie families on daycations that inhabit its retail spaces. Tourists drive terribly and wander its streets aimlessly spending money on handcrafted jewelry, new ski boots, and native pottery. This vibe is primarily what keeps me from visiting more often than I do, despite the allure of small-batch beers and the promise of a New Haven-style pizza. That's right, the cozy Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom set into the Hood River hillside says they're churning out New Haven-style pizzas alongside their decidedly Oregon-style brews. Since I grew up in Connecticut, I had to check it out.
Double Mountain's menu declares: "We make our pizza pretty much the same way they do it in New Haven, Connecticut, the pizza capital of the world. We run our ovens at close to 700 degrees F, cooking the pizzas super-fast and creating spots of superficial char on the crust. It creates great flavor...but if you think you'd like less char, please inform us ahead of time."
I can only imagine the expression on the face of the New Haven pizzaolo who is asked to put less char on a pizza.
The space itself is quite cozy, all dark wood and leather. Exotic plants pepper the windowsills and local artists' wares hang randomly between time-worn tchochkes. Service is laid back with all business handled in self-motivated trips to the bar. If you take too long to decide on pizza or beer, the bartender will reluctantly approach. Those in the know seem to beeline for the bar, where all the action is on a snowy Sunday afternoon. Sandwiches and salads are offered, but all I see emerging from the kitchen are pizzas.
The Mountain boldly offers only seven pre-designed pies without an advertised option to pick your own toppings. There's some standard fare, including a basic cheese, a Margherita, a sausage pie, and a pepperoni pie. On the more esoteric side, they offer a Greek-inspired pie with goat cheese, an Italian-themed pie with hot capicola and pickled peppers, and a white truffle pie with portobello mushrooms and green onions. As a former New Havenite, my first thought is that strong psychedelics were probably required to draw this sort of inspiration from the hardnosed tradition of Connecticut pizza.
The first pizza to hit our table was the Margherita ($17). Immediately, I noticed a pleasant yellow/white contrast to the surface indicating a liberal use of fior di latte alongside a more conventional aged mootz. An initial bite confirmed this, and the cheese provided a milky foil to a pleasantly fresh, tangy, and plentiful tomato base which was zippy with a hit of red chili. The hand was also heavy with fresh cut basil, a welcome addition to any Margherita. The crust, despite being on the thinner side, possessed an excellent seesaw of exterior crisp and interior chew. The cornicone tasted buttery and begged for a bit more saltiness and contrasting depth. Still, the slice was flavorful and well-crafted.
Next up was the Jersey Pie ($18). It's a red pie topped with hot capicola, provolone, and pickled goathorn peppers. This pizza was pretty much the antithesis of its more delicate predecessor: beefy, messy, and heavy. The slice definitely sagged under its own weight and required some folding expertise to eat. The vinegar from the peppers and the heat from the spiced ham dueled atop a thick coating of cheese. The dairy component was listed as provolone but is most certainly not aged piccante; I'd guess that they use a young provolone/mozzarella blend. Sizeable tomato chunks dotted the landscape and salt level was surprisingly spot-on despite the overabundance of thick-cut cured meat and pickled veg. Lack of refinement aside, the Jersey seeks to satiate the soul and succeeds.
It would be criminal not to mention the beer produced on site which provides the most perfect sidecar to Double Mountain's pizza. Their sudsy offerings range from the quaffable, refreshing German-style Kolsch, to the bracingly bitter Hop Lava IPA. Double Mountain even produces a sour Belgian-inspired Kriek made with cherries from the brewer's own orchard. Creative seasonal offerings included a black lager and hoppy Christmas amber.
Fat and happy, I allowed my aggravation over the menu's cocky New Haven reference to wash away. Truth is, I'm actually finding more similarities between Double Mountain pizza and the fabled pies of Wooster Street than this former Connecticut resident cares to admit: gas-fired brick oven, distinct char flavor on the crust, vibrant tangy tomato base. It's just presented in a different sort of package. The overall impression I got from my meal at Double Mountain is one of dedication to a craft. These pies come from a respect for tradition, just not a real urge to imitate it.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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On behalf of voter rights advocate Joyce McCloy, the EFF has filed a complaint against several government agencies in North Carolina, requesting that the Superior Court nullify the certification of proprietary electronic voting systems that failed to meet the state's selection critera.
North Carolina established strict new voting machine requirements after system failure led to the loss of 4,000 votes in an election last year. The Public Confidence in Elections bill requires that all voting machine manufacturers disclose their proprietary source code for review by government technology experts. When Diebold was given an exemption last month, the EFF took the matter to court, where Diebold lost. The government of North Carolina proceeded to certify Diebold anyway, despite revocation of the exemption. Certification of technology that fails to meet the legal requirements established by the Public Confidence in Elections bill is essentially illegal, and the EFF wants the government to be held accountable for their disregard of a critical law. In the press release, the EFF condemns the government's decision:
"This is about the rule of law," said EFF Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman. "The Board of Elections has simply ignored its mandatory obligations under North Carolina election law. This statute was enacted to require election officials to investigate the quality and security of voting systems before approval, and only approve those that are safe and secure. By certifying without a full review of all relevant code, the Board of Elections has now opened the door for North Carolina counties to purchase untested and potentially insecure voting equipment."
Regardless of the legal implications, Diebold has an extremely poor reputation. The state of California banned Diebold voting machines and then sued the company for fraud after dicsovering uncertified software on the Diebold voting systems. The ethics of Diebold's CEO have also been called into question following the public discovery of a statement in which he said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president." Is it right for the state of North Carolina to certify technology produced by a partisan company with morally dubious tactics when that certification clearly violates state law? One can only wonder what is going on in North Carolina.


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Against a backdrop of nerve-wracking stock market volatility in the second half of 2011, wealth managers, investment banks, and research and investment firms have come out in droves to give their best equities predictions for the new year.
Here's what the experts are saying about the investment outlook for stocks in 2012:
1) Watch the S&P 500 Index. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index is more likely to be above 1400 this time next year than below 1000, predicts Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, while S&P's own Capital IQ Investment Policy Committee believes the index will end 2012 at 1400. Pete Gunning, Russell Investments' global chief investment officer, meanwhile, eyes an S&P 500 Index target of 1300 (along with a Russell 1000 Index target of 720).
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Equity Strategist Kate Moore, whose 1350 S&P 500 target is at the top end of recent trading ranges, says that the balance of risk versus reward for equities is improving, but a long-term bull market in equities requires a "good" bear market in bonds–and we're not in that good bear market yet.
"The next major inflection point in bond yields will occur when the U.S. economy is strong enough for the Fed to raise policy rates–and we see a recovery in the property, banking, and labor markets," Moore says. "Until then, global equities will be in a big fat trading range."
For now, BofA-Merrill maintains an underweight equities position as the global economy is crushed by European debt troubles and government policymakers' inability to reach agreements on taxes and spending.
"We firmly believe that equity markets will stop panicking when policymakers start panicking, and that hasn't happened yet," Moore says.
2) Buy Dividend-Paying Stocks (and Say Hello to Technology). High-quality, high-return-on-equity companies with strong free cash flow are an area of potential interest for investors in 2012 because they will pay attractive dividends, says MFS Chief Investment Strategist James Swanson.
"As the world teetered on the brink of financial disaster in 2008, the short-term paper market–the ATM for corporations, in essence–froze. Corporate America does not want to be caught again not being able to finance short-term needs and payrolls," Swanson says. "All that cash has to go somewhere."
That "somewhere,' for Swanson, includes stock buybacks, mergers and acquisitions and further corporate deleveraging of outstanding debt.
Swanson believes the U.S. expansion since the Great Recession of 2008 is roughly at midcycle and doing far better than headlines would suggest. The U.S. corporations that comprise the S&P 500 are enjoying record profitability, he notes, and cash on their balance sheets has not been this high since just after World War II.
Swanson especially likes the Technology sector, saying it's a good destination for investment flows. In addition to under-spending and pent-up demand on hardware and software, the Tech sector has matured and now offers investors a more defensive play. The sector has little to no debt, is the second most leveraged to the global economy (with the Energy sector at No. 1) and has profit margins that are more than double what they were a decade ago. Furthermore, valuations are roughly in line with the broader market, which is not nearly as healthy in terms of cash flow, margins and leverage.
3) Go Global. Making gains in 2012 will require a global outlook that identifies outperforming managers in every sector and region, according to Russell Investments' global Chief Investment Officer Pete Gunning.
"Gaining access to nontraditional securities through alternatives will also be a key potential return enhancement strategy," Gunning says. "In a world of increased volatility and lower returns, we believe a dynamic approach to investing will increasingly become the norm for successful investors."
The global economy may very well find itself weathering "a normal size recession" in Europe, said Ethan Harris, co-head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Economics Research. However, ING Investment Management CIO Paul Zemsky says the U.S. itself won't slip into recession–"it just doesn't look like it's going to happen—though Zemsky also foresees a "normal" European recession.
"The U.S. faces its own challenges," notes Harris, "with gradual fiscal tightening and considerable uncertainty around policy after the election. As a result, while we expect solid 3% GDP growth in the current quarter, we look for growth to slow to just 1% by the end of 2012."
Michael Hartnett, BofA-Merrill's chief global equity strategist, added that "the very real risk" of policy mistakes causing a recession in the U.S. or a hard landing in China means that investors should conservatively allocate assets in 2012.
"Despite our short-term caution, however, we anticipate that global equities could rally by 10% next year from current levels, aided by liquidity, modest earnings growth and cheap valuations," Hartnett says.
4) Take a Look at Small Banks. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' North America equity research group is moving its position on the Regional Bank group to overweight from market weight for the first time since it started coverage on the group four years ago.
"We believe this group has relative advantages versus its larger peers," according to KBW analyst Jefferson Harralson and his team. "We believe the smaller banks have much greater license to return capital, have greater prospects for impactful M&A for both buyers and sellers, will have opportunities to increase market share from the large banks, and have no direct European exposure."
KBW's "Top 12 for '12" picks among regional banks are:
- Highly profitable banks, including Bank of Marin (BMRC), Bryn Mawr Bank (BMTC) and CVB Financial (CVBF)
- Overcapitalized banks with a proven track record of deploying excess capital through dividends, buybacks or acquisitions, including Columbia Banking System (COLB), CVB Financial (CVBF), F.N.B. Corp. (FNB) and People's United Financial (PBCT)
- Special opportunities for strong operating leverage from recent acquisitions, including: Hancock Holding Co. (HBHC),Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ) and BBCN Bancorp (BBCN)
- Credit-sensitive names that have the capital and ability to sell or reduce nonperforming assets, including Flushing Financial (FFIC) and PrivateBancorp (PVTB)
- Wintrust Financial Co. (WTFC), a lowrisk, highquality Chicagoland bank that is "a good steward of capital"
5) Consider Kate's Ideas. At a Dec. 15 press conference, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Equity Strategist Kate Moore suggested these 10 equity trades for 2012:
1) Long deflation/short deflation until the ECB capitulates;
2) Spring rotation into global cyclicals;
3) Aggressively buy Best of Breed stocks in Europe;
4) The contrarian trade: buy European Materials;
5) Long US Consumer Staples and Tobacco;
6) Long Japanese Discretionary/short US discretionary;
7) Long Australia banks/short Chinese banks;
8) Buy EM Energy;
9) Long Russia (creditor)/short Turkey (debtor);
10) Hedge consensus positions. Moore identifies the biggest positioning contrarian trade as long European banks/short Tech, and the biggest price action contrarian trade as long French banks/short U.S. Utilities.
Read Best 5 Investment Picks for 2012 at AdvisorOne.com.
Read AdvisorOne's complete lineup of Outlook 2012 stories.


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Too many states fail to ensure the safety of children in child care during disasters
During normal working hours – which total more than 2,000 hours a year – the safety of nearly 68 million children is in the hands of school officials and child care providers. Most parents logically assume that when they drop their children off at school or child care, they will be safe if disaster strikes. But, a new report by Save the Children found that two-thirds of states fail to require basic emergency preparedness for child care programs and schools. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia do not meet four basic preparedness recommendations. Twenty-seven states do not require a plan that accounts for children with disabilities and infants and toddlers who can't help themselves evacuate safely. Twenty states do not even require an evacuation and relocation plan!
Children should be safe in child care – particularly during a disaster, which can strike with no warning.
Save the Children looked at four very basic disaster preparation requirements.
- A Plan for Evacuating Children in Child Care. The state requires all regulated child care programs to have a written plan for evacuating and moving children to a safe location for multiple types of disasters. The plans must go beyond the provisions of a basic fire drill. [20 states do not require an evacuation plan].
- A Plan for Reuniting Families after a Disaster. The state requires all regulated child care programs to have a written policy to notify parents of an emergency and reunite parents with their children. [18 states do not require a plan reuniting families after a disaster].
- A Plan for Children with Disabilities and Those with Access and Functional Needs. The state requires all regulated child care programs to have a written plan that accounts for any special assistance an infant, toddler, or child with physical, emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges may need. [27 states do not require a plan to address the needs of our most vulnerable young children].
- A Multi-Hazard Plan for K-12 Schools. The state requires all K-12 schools to have a disaster plan that accounts for multiple types of hazards. [9 states do not require a disaster plan for children in schools].
Five states (Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan and Montana) fail to meet any of the four requirements. Another eight states (Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and South Dakota) fail to meet any of the requirements related to child care programs.
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the law that allocates funds to the states for child care and sets the framework for state child care laws, has no requirement with regard to disaster preparation for child care programs to ensure children's safety. Requiring emergency plans for child care programs as part of CCDBG makes sense. Disaster plans and preparation can reduce chaos and danger when disaster hits.
Urge your Members of Congress today to require emergency plans for child care programs as part CCDBG reauthorization. The safety of children in child care depends on it.


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You never know where you're going to end up in your career, said Michigan state representative Nancy Jenkins. She's a prime example of that, she said, never expecting to serve in the state capitol as an elected politician.
Rep. Jenkins spoke to Morenci's eighth grade career education class Monday morning to talk about her career own path.
She said that when she was the age of the students in her audience, she took the tests that showed career choices based on interests and the suggestion was parker ranger or conservation worker.
She really didn't think that's where she would end up.
Rep. Jenkins said she was an avid reader and books opened her eyes to a lot of possibilities.
"I wanted to do something to affect peoples' lives," she finally decided. "I wanted to do something bigger than myself. I didn't want to do the ordinary; I wanted to do the extraordinary."
She took part in a Washington, D.C., study trip while in college and learned how decisions there had an effect on her life as a Clayton resident.
She spent a lot of time volunteering on the campaigns of other people running for office, while serving as a real estate title examiner.
She returned to college and earned a master's degree in political science and thought she might some day serve as a legislative aide.
She learned the importance of making contacts with others and soon had a job with the Michigan Family Forum organization in Lansing. Funding problems led to a downsizing of the group and eventually she returned to Lenawee County.
She stated working on county committees and began serving as the Lenawee County representative for State Senator Cameron Brown.
When Sen. Brown suggested that Jenkins would make a good state representative, she was honored but not ready to take the plunge. But it planted a seed in her mind and eventually she decided it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She was voted into office last November.
She concluded her talk by urging students to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.
She asked students about their career goals and was impressed with the answers that included marine biologist, chef and religion professor.


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Detroit missionary target of firebombing
Molotov cocktail likely cause of door fire at Detroit's PIME Missionary
DETROIT – A Detroit organization dedicated to helping others was the target of a firebombing Wednesday morning.
The doors of PIME Missionaries are charred after someone threw a Molotov cocktail at the building. Father Dino Vani, who heads the ministry, said he was in the chapel praying when he and the other priests suddenly smelled smoke.
"I was in chapel praying and smelled smoke so I, along with my (the others), we came out, we saw the fire. We had to put it out with fire extinguishers," Vani said.
The priests were able to put out the small fire to the door. Arson investigators say they don't know exactly what caused the fire at this point.
Parishioners hope the church wasn't targeted.
"It's an old-fashioned oak door, panel door, and it's hard to replace," said Vani.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detroit police.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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|A screen capture from BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games, 2013)
Confession over.
For non-gamers (lots of people), I'd like to say a little about a fun game that draws creatively off the past.
BioShock, which rolled out in 2007, was set in a disturbingly macabre, underwater, Ayn Randian dystopia. (Shooting libertarian fish in a barrel?) The submerged city, populated by psychopathic surgeons, genetically altered loonies, and a raft of creepy grotesqueries, is the gamer's playground, where she/he looks for clues and tries to set things right. Calamitous fun all around.
It was not like other games. So thought Greg Howson of The Guardian, who reported back in 07:
|A screen capture from BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games, 2013)
I'll admit it. I was hooked after I finally bought the game for my Mac. For this religious historian, I was surprised to see strange religious themes here and there. An apocalyptic subplot didn't add too much to the game, but certainly didn't subtract from it.
The time frame for BioShock was also mesmerizing. The dilapidated underwater Art Nouveau city called Rapture is a trashed mall in 1960, the year of the game's actual setting.
All that to say that I was delighted to read in the new issue of Wired about Irrational Games latest venture: A new installment called BioShock Infinite, due out in February 2013. My guess is that there will be as much buzz surrounding this as there was swirling around the 2012 release of Assassin's Creed 3, with its remarkably detailed romp through Revolutionary era New England.
What can gamers (and historians) expect? For one thing, more wall-to-wall creative anachronism reminiscent of films like Brazil, City of Lost Children, Time Bandits, and Delicatessen or the novels of Kurt Vonnegut and Philip Dick. BioShock Infinite is set in a cloud city, called Columbia, from our future's past. Surprise, it's another dystopia. But this time of the Gilded Age/Prog Era, steam punk variety. Rival factions vie for influence and control. Gamers witness socialists and anarchists churning it up with a conservative faction of know-nothing style racists who pine for a simpler, more pure America. Haywire exceptionalism and violent political causes should add plenty of fireworks.
Here's what Ken Levine, president and creative director of Irrational Games had to say about it in the Washington Post:
The anachronistic playfulness sounds positively fun. For instance, the rightest faction called the Founders creates a robot tour guide, the Motorized Patriot. But instead of enlightening tourist on the glories of the Founding Era, this lumbering automaton becomes a menacing enforcer, a Disney Hall of Presidents George Washington gone Westworld. The dark humor of the creators is back in force.
As in the first BioShock, players will piece together evidence, bit by bit, to figure out how this crazy world came to be.
There are certainly better ways to spend one's time. Read a book. Go jogging. Knit. Churn butter. Watch a good movie. But sophisticated games like BioShock are becoming more and more like good films. And so, I will be one of the likely few historians ready to play this when it comes out in February.
Now, let's see if we can get a historian of the Gilded Age and Prog Era to tell us what he/she thinks!


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A Daily Chronicle story Tuesday about Northern Illinois University police officers working under new (perhaps temporary) leadership at both departmental and university levels was upbeat.
"We're off to a good start in the right direction," said Bill Nicklas, NIU associate vice president for institutional planning and sustainability, speaking also as the new, temporary, acting director of public safety at NIU.
"What I saw [Monday] morning was positive."
It's too soon to declare a bright new day at NIU.
In fact, one of the most convoluted local stories in recent memory (which is why it's drawing such negative attention) reveals only one conclusion thus far: NIU's reputation has suffered again.
Here's a condensed sequence of events:
Oct. 28, 2011: NIU police officer Andrew Rifkin is fired after an NIU student tells university police that Rifkin had sexually assaulted her two weeks earlier.
Rifkin was charged with felony sexual assault the next month.
Nov. 2, 2012: Robbin Stuckert, DeKalb County presiding judge, ruled that NIU police intentionally withheld witness statements favorable to Rifkin.
Rifkin's lawyer said the case should be dismissed because police didn't share witness statements (saying the woman said sex with Rifkin was consensual) with prosecutors.
Nov. 5: Clay Campbell, DeKalb County state's attorney, said he asked the Illinois State Police to investigate the NIU police.
Because Campbell faced re-election the next day (he lost), some claimed his request was politically motivated.
Nov. 8: 13 NIU police sergeants publicly defend Lt. Kartik Ramakrishnan, the officer who mishandled witness statements (placing them in Rifkin's private personnel file rather than an investigative file).
The sergeants said Ramakrishnan passed a polygraph test showing the mishandling was a mistake, not intent to hide evidence.
The sergeants also said NIU Police Chief Don Grady has "incontrovertible integrity and commitment."
Nov. 9: NIU appoints Nicklas temporary acting director of public safety. Nicklas reports directly to NIU President John G. Peters.
Saturday: Nicklas places Grady on paid administrative leave pending an investigation and announces NIU's intent to fire Ramakrishnan.
Here are some questions we need to see more fully and publicly addressed.
Why wasn't every document in this case – no matter what file it was in – sent to the state's attorney?
Perhaps a rhetorical question, but incontrovertible integrity or not, how long will NIU maintain that Grady's stormy tenure is worth $206,000 a year?
Salary.com (based on HR data this month) says the median expected salary for a typical U.S. sheriff or police chief is $96,462.
A Nov. 9 NIU Today article said Eddie Williams, chief of operations and executive vice president of Finance & Facilities, recommended the temporary restructuring of public safety reporting to Nicklas to Peters to "provide a more direct and concerted management focus of the Department of Police and Public Safety during this interim period."
The NIU police previously reported directly to Williams.
Why does he now think he shouldn't oversee the police department? What does "direct and concerted management focus" mean?
The last item on my list isn't a question, but here goes: It's a running joke on campus that every time the "castle crowd" tweaks the organizational chart, administrators (already the highest paid people at NIU) get paid more money.
That needs to stop.
Nobody is laughing.
• Jason Akst teaches journalism and public relations at Northern
Illinois University. You can reach him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Palm Coast's transportation needs have gotten bigger and its urban boundaries have expanded. That's why a representative from the City Council will soon be joining the 19-member Volusia Transportation Planning Organization.
The city of Palm Coast is grabbing a seat at a big table.
Based on the 2010 census, the city grew exponentially during the previous decade in terms of both infrastructure and population. As a result, its transportation demands have gotten bigger and the urban boundaries across Flagler and Volusia counties have expanded. That's why a representative from the Palm Coast City Council will soon be joining the 19-member Volusia Transportation Planning Organization.
That means the city could receive a lot more federal and state grant money down the line for street, bridge and sidewalk improvements.
Palm Coast has been declared an urbanized zone and the Florida Department of Transportation sees it as an extension of other urbanized zones across neighboring Volusia County.
"By law, we have to become part of the (organization)," Palm Coast City Manager Jim Landon said Tuesday during a City Council workshop.
"We are guaranteed a seat," he said. "The largest city always gets a seat at the table of any urbanized area."
Mayor Jon Netts, who expects to be appointed next week to the regional board, said he hoped the city would have "veto power" based on it being the largest city in the area.
"This is extraordinarily important for the future of our city," Netts said.
Palm Coast, once the governor approves its membership, will actually be the second-largest city in Flagler and Volusia counties with representation on the board behind Deltona, according to the 2010 census.
Flagler Beach City Commissioner Marshall Shupe, who sits on the board and also serves on the bylaw committee, said input is given equal weight among the larger cities.
"Size gets you into the group, but it doesn't give you any more (influence) than that one vote," he said.
The smaller cities, such as Flagler Beach, Bunnell, Daytona Beach Shores, Oak Hill, Beverly Beach and others with populations of less than 4,500, will combine for one vote once Palm Coast's membership becomes official. The number of seats will remain at 19, which is mandated by state law.
The Volusia Transportation Planning Organization decides how federal and state transportation funds will be spent.
Now that Flagler has a larger presence in the organization, a name change will be in store, said interim executive director Lois Bollenback.
Among the Volusia projects the board selected for grant money were the widening of State Road 44 near Interstate 95 and the system's interchange construction at U.S. 92 and Interstate 95, Bollenback said.
"This is a good opportunity to bring everyone together," she said about bringing in Palm Coast. "We can identify projects ... and base them on everybody's priorities.
"One of the benefits for local areas is that we get to have a stronger local voice when it comes to those really large transportation decisions that get made," she said.
Landon said one key issue to consider is Palm Coast's rookie status on the board. He told council members that Volusia municipalities might have priority status in the beginning, so the projects impacting Palm Coast could get stuck at the bottom.
Regardless, both he and Netts said they hope Palm Coast could receive some mass transit funds that now flow through the organization.
Netts called Votran, which is Volusia's bus and shuttle service, "a robust system."
By comparison, Flagler's system is "sadly lacking," the mayor said.
"This gives us the opportunity to make ours better, I hope," said Netts.
The latest census numbers showed Volusia had a total population of 494,593 while Flagler had a total of 95,696 residents.


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Global Forum Seminar Tackles Big Challenges
POSTED ON: September 10, 2012
In the Fall 2012 semester, President Jamshed Bharucha is offering a Global Forum seminar, a class that invites students from all three of Cooper's programs to explore some of the pressing global challenges of our time, with a focus on the developing world. How should we strive to alleviate poverty? How should we educate vast populations for a rapidly changing global economy? How should the United States and the West respond to competition from Asia and security threats stemming from global disparities, historical grievances and nationalist movements? These are just a few of the questions tackled by students and an impressive list of invited guest speakers from fields as diverse as macro economics and global entrepreneurship, to contemporary art and sustainable engineering.
Class time will be devoted to thinking critically about big problems from a multidisciplinary perspective. Registered through the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, a mix of diverse backgrounds from participating students will enrich discussions with creative inquiry dislodged from any single, narrow academic field.
Some course materials from the semester will be preserved and made available throgh a class blog. After each guest lecturer presents a topic of their expertise and personal experiences, the students in the seminar will be invited to respond. Their papers will be published on the class website.


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I can't imagine anything less than desperation and a severe psychological disorder would possess someone to perform DIY plastic surgery. I'm no expert, but I find that refraining from looking at magazines and watching television shows that promote unrealistic body types and lifestyles help decrease my desire for frivolous purchases and procedures.
DIY Plastic Surgery: This Is Not A Hoax.
I do a lot of research on the Internet for information about home-made solutions to everyday problems. In fact, I'll be posting one soon that covers recipes for home-made car wax, air freshener and even glue. But on my travels, I discovered a horrifying fact - in these tough economic times, people out there are taking medical matters into their own hands. DIY plastic surgery is on the rise.
Around two years ago, a reliable English paper called Metro reported the outbreak of DIY plastic surgery. The obsession with celebrity culture, and media pressure that make everyone feel bad if they don't look amazing, was leading people to take matters into their own hands. It did not go well.
"In the worst case, a man gave himself a nose job with a chisel and replaced the cartilage he removed with a chicken bone," according to consultant psychiatrist Dr David Veale. "Others have cut their stomachs in DIY tummy tucks, and used glue to try to pin back their ears."
Ouch! It seems more like a story that would appear in the National Enquirer, but unfortunately it's true. That was two years ago, and sadly, things have not improved. A lack of self-confidence and a rise in BDD (body dysmorphic disorder) continues to make people long for the plastic surgeon's knife. And with people suffering from a lack of money and no access to credit, they are becoming desperate. DIY plastic surgery, as horrific as it sounds, continues to gather momentum.
In late 2008, news broke of Hang Mioku, a Korean woman who became so obsessed with plastic surgery that she injected COOKING OIL into her own face.
Her face became so grotesquely large that she was called "standing fan" by children in her neighbourhood - due to her large face and small body. And it would seem that even Hang can now see the damage she has done; she now says that she would simply like her original face back.
Last month, WCCO's Esme Murphy told the story of a woman who injected herself with silicone to save money on plastic surgery.
"I really thought that I was getting a bargain and I really didn't do my homework like I should have," said the woman who did not want to be identified. Her lips and left cheek are disfigured from silicone she self-injected. She was trying to make her upper lip fuller and fill acne scars. A year and a half ago, another doctor had given her silicone injections. That treatment went well but it wasn't cheap. It was $2700 for a series of three treatment. So she turned to the Internet and found a site advertising silicone for $10."
As you can see, the results are awful. She will be disfigured for life unless she pays for a certified plastic surgeon to try and reverse the results.
"Initially I thought I did a good job," said the unfortunate mom from the Twin Cities. However, within a day her lips and cheek were disfigured. "Its very frightening, its very embarrassing having to be in public," she said.
There is even a Technorati page devoted to DIY Plastic Surgery gone wrong, which you can check out yourself here.
And now, which may be even worse, more "legitimate" ways to do the treatment yourself are reaching the market.
For $129 and up, you can buy a hand-held personal laser to remove blotches and smooth out wrinkles. And the REJUVAWAND costs $159 and uses two infra-red wavelengths of laser energy to promises to give similar results to the more expensive Botox and microdermabrasion treatments. Does it work? Doctors say it's too weak a laser to do any damage, but in effect you're wasting a lot of money on an almost useless product.
You can also buy a DIY chemical peel. Dr Denese's Triple AHA/BHA at-home fizzing facial peel promises the same results as a beauty salon treatment at a fraction of the cost. But is it ever a good idea to put these kinds of chemicals on your skin with no medical supervision?
Perhaps the most harmless DIY solution I found was the CoCo "nose job" device, which will give you Cleopatra's Nose! To be honest, it just looks like a strong clothes peg.
"CoCo - Beautiful New Look of Nose is available at discerning stores in Japan, Korea and Taiwan from only $7.50. Why spend more on expensive plastic surgery and fancy doctors when you can just 'do it yourself'?"
With the average rhinoplasty procedure costing roughly $5000, what do you think the chances are that a $7.50 product could do the same job? Exactly.
Look, I'm no doctor, but I would like to summarize by saying please, please don't take the frugal option on this and attempt to do it yourself. There is no substitute for medical training and your body is too important to mess with by yourself. There are very few shortcuts to a better body, but plastic surgery is one of them...and it comes with a hefty price. Be prepared to pay it, or you may end paying significantly more to reverse your own home-made medical mistakes. Or worse, pay for it for the rest of your life with horrible disfigurements, bad health and chronic pain.
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I think the worst one I have heard about is this fellow in England who decided he needed a circumcision, so he gave himself one - with nail clippers. Here is the link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5694913/Man-uses-nail-clippers-in...
There are many things I do to save a few bucks, and many, many more that I'd like to do or wish that I could, but self-surgery never crossed my mind. Not only that, but I have this thing about... pain.
This looks like the pathetic, contrived stuff you see in the supermarket tabloids, but if it's real, you really have to feel sorry for these people, both for the sad condition they're in now and for the state of mind that drove them to it.
The girl who injected herself with cooking oil was quite pretty in the before photo (hope my wife isn't on this blog) so you have to wonder what it was she was going for.
Paul--Is it just a coincidence that an ad for WIN FREE LASER HAIR REMOVAL appears just below the article, or is it just another one of life's cruel ironies???
(You just have to love Google AdSense, if nothing else we know they do have a sense of humor)
I don't know - these seem less like DIY anything and more about serious mental illness. It's scary and sad, but certainly not something that you're going to see a rash of anytime soon. The economy is bad, but these people would have likely done this even in a great economy. They probably suffer from some sort of dysmorphic disorder.
The bizarre thing is that the Hang woman found mental illness treatments too expensive, yet spent who-knows-how-much on disfiguring surgeries for almost 20 years.
I bet I'm not the only guy crossing his legs at the thought of the nail clippers! And Google, well, there's not much we can do about those contextual ads!
Actually ... the DIY nose job device -could- theoretically work ... that is ... IF ... you start wearing it every night while you sleep from around the age of 5 years old onward until you reach college age. Of course, you'd probably just end up with two permanent indentations in your nose as the clip doesn't cover the entire nose cartilage area. The ancient Mayans (or was it the Incans ... I'm a bit fuzzy?) used to strap their children into "head boards" which would over time give them that "fashionable" slanted forehead. Over time, the subtle pressure of the pressing board on young, growing bones and cartilage would slant the forehead into a "fashionable" 45 degree angle.
Hmmm ... sounds more like child abuse ...
Actually ... the DIY nose job device -could- theoretically work ... that is ... IF ... you start wearing it every night while you sleep from around the age of 5 years old onward until you reach college age. Of course, you'd probably just end up with two permanent indentations in your nose as the clip doesn't cover the entire nose cartilage area. The ancient Mayans (or was it the Incans ... I'm a bit fuzzy?) used to strap their children into "head boards" which would over time give them that "fashionable" slanted forehead. Over time, the subtle pressure of the pressing board on young, growing bones and cartilage would slant the forehead into a "fashionable" 45 degree angle.
Hmmm ... sounds more like child abuse ...
I wouldn't consider plastic surgery when a qualified doctor was in charge, let alone entertain the idea of doing it myself!
The doctor who fixed the silicone lady is in California.
His website is trivalleyplasticsurgery.com
There's also video of the interview with him and her -
Tri Valley Plastic Surgery fixes self surgery gone wrong
looks are a major factor in SK. Even when my brother was a young child, my grandma would pinch his nose so he would have a prominent nose. Of course, he didn't really need it because we both have prominent noses although I didn't get my nose pinched...
With the average rhinoplasty procedure costing roughly $5000, what do you think the chances are that a $7.50 product could do the same job? Exactly.
I totally agree.
Skeptical about the "nose-job" device. It doesn't look like it would give one a permanent result.
Hello!! I read ur story and I truly get you. I am so sorry to hear what happened to you. I am glad you are turning this horrible experience into something positive. I I am actually doing a report on people doing their own blotch plastic surgeries and was hoping if you or anyone knows any contact information on people who have performed their own blotch plastic surgeries. Thank You.
I've got a cleft pallet, misshaped nose,upper lip scar and now my face is wrinkling up so bad I look 90 years old. I'm only 54. I lost my home,, my job,, now I hide in an apt. never go out, don't talk to anyone.I can't take it much more. I was a bright and happy building engineer and loved being around people in the hospitality industry working at hotels. Why do people try DIY surgery.. ? its because people like me and others see it as our last hope. The physical defect and emotional distress becomes an unending circle of self doubt and a complete loss of self esteem. Its painful,, its a misery.. no one can help and we don't have the resources to get corrective surgery. Personally I'm scared to try DIY, Emotionally,, I would try anything to get my well being back. If you would like to discuss this further my e mail is firstname.lastname@example.com


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Levels in interconnected cave system exceed EPA limits
High concentrations of naturally occurring arsenic are present in interconnected water bodies within Wind Cave National Park, S.D., according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report.
The USGS study, in cooperation with the National Park Service, revealed that arsenic concentrations in Wind Cave groundwater exceeds 10 µg/L, the Maximum Contaminant Level for drinking water supplies set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The high arsenic concentrations are likely naturally occurring and originated from shale layers in overlying rocks.
"The fact that the source of the contamination is from the rock layers through which the groundwaters naturally flow means that it is not possible to remediate the arsenic in the water," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "This study points out the fact that part of what makes the park a geologic wonder also creates challenges for the water supply."
The study also found that the water may be flowing among various connected cave water bodies within the park. Groundwater in Wind Cave drips from cave ceilings and exists in underground streams, pools and lakes. As part of the study, a harmless dye was injected into one of the Wind Cave lakes. The dye was subsequently detected in two other cave water bodies within the park, traveling fast at a minimum velocity of nine meters per day.
"The rate of flow is very fast for groundwater," said Dr. Andrew Long, USGS hydrologist and lead author of the report. "This indicates that groundwater in Wind Cave is connected to a unique aquifer consisting of a network of underground pipes."
According to a further groundwater chemistry analysis, the water in Wind Cave is a mixture of local precipitation that has infiltrated the ground and groundwater inflow from multiple aquifers.


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Yep, that's right – for every friend, loved one, and coworker you invite to LastPass who then signs up for an account, we'll give you both one free month of Premium!*
From your LastPass vault, you can click the "Tell a friend!" option. You can then get the word out by:
- Using your email contacts – After you allow access to your Gmail or Yahoo contacts, you can select friends, family members, and coworkers to invite. You can remove someone from the list by unchecking them. You can also manually type someone's email address to ensure they're included.
- Posting on Facebook or Twitter – Post a simple invitation in one go to suggest that your followers check out LastPass.
- Sharing your unique referral link – Copy-paste your unique referral link to your blog, emails, personal site, other social accounts, or wherever you'd like! Anyone who signs up for LastPass after using your link will count toward your referrals.
You can return to the page directly at https://lastpass.com/friendemail.php at any time to send out more invites. When someone signs up as a result of your recommendation, you'll get a confirmation email, and one month of Premium will be added to both of your accounts.
You can each rack up a total of 2 years of complimentary Premium – if you want more, you can extend your Premium by purchasing more at any time for $12 per year.
Remember, Premium gives access to our suite of mobile apps for smartphones and tablets, as well as additional security features, LastPass for Applications, and priority support from the LastPass team.
With your help, we can continue to spread the word on how to better manage and secure your online life with LastPass, and help people remember those pesky passwords, no password reuse needed!
Thanks for spreading the LastPass love!
The LastPass Team
*We reserve the right to revoke Premium for anyone who is found to be referring LastPass to fake accounts.


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THURSDAY, July 28, 2011 (HealthDay News) -- Summer is a time to be out and about, but it's also a time when high temperatures can take a big toll on health.
Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that from 2001 to 2009, almost 6,000 people annually were seen in emergency rooms for heat-related illness caused while playing sports or engaged in other outdoor activities.
"Because heat-related illness is a preventable illness, any number is too high," said lead researcher Ellen E. Yard, an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the CDC. Her team published a study on the problem in the July 29 issue of the agency's journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Their concerns are especially timely as many areas in the nation are suffering through record heat waves, with probably more blistering temperatures to come before fall arrives.
"You need to be proactive in protecting yourself from heat illness," Yard said. "If heat illness does occur, recognize it right away and treat it appropriately."
Yard said there are things that can be done to prevent heat-related illness, particularly for active people. First, drink lots of water when you are outside. In addition, try to limit activity to the coolest parts of the day -- early morning and late evening, she said.
"It's really important to pace yourself. Especially when it first starts getting warm, your body is not going to be used to that," she said. "You really want to slowly increase the intensity and frequency of your activity over one to two weeks."
In the study, the most common activities linked to heat illnesses were football and exercise. Most of the illnesses -- about 73 percent -- occurred among males. One-third of the illnesses were in teenagers.
Among women, the most common activities causing heat illness were baseball and softball for those aged 14 and younger, track and field for those 15 to 19 years, and exercise for women 20 and older, the researchers found.
Heat illness includes a range of symptoms, usually starting with mild dehydration and quickly progressing to heat exhaustion and possibly to heat stroke, Yard said. Heat stroke is rarer, but can be potentially fatal.
Signs of possible heat illness include heavy sweating, feeling weak, headache, nausea or vomiting. These are signs of heat exhaustion, Yard said.
"That's a sign that you need to get these people immediately out of the heat and into air conditioning or an ice bath," she said. "That's why it is important to have an exercise partner or teammates or coaches who can recognize the signs of heat illness and get you the prompt attention that it needs," she added.
If a person starts to show signs of mental confusion it could be heat stroke, Yard noted. "That's a medical emergency that needs immediate emergency attention," she said.
According to Dr. Lisandro Irizarry, chair of the emergency department at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City, the most common heat-related illness sending people to the emergency room is heat exhaustion.
"It's rare to see someone in heat stroke," Irizarry said. "Usually the person you see who has heat stroke is an elderly person on multiple medications that restrict the person's ability to sweat," he explained.
However, there are times when heat illness should be treated in an emergency room, he added. "If you are significantly confused you should go to the emergency department," he said.
"In addition, if you have symptoms of another illness you have, like heart disease with chest pain or shortness of breath, that's another reason to go to the hospital," Irizarry continued. Also, feeling faint is another reason to go to the hospital, he said.
For most people who are active outside during heat waves, Irizarry recommends limiting the time spent exercising and keep drinking water. "Know your limitations," he said.
Irizarry also suggests exercising indoors where it is air conditioned. "If you're a runner, get to the gym and run on a treadmill," he said.
More information
For more information on heat-related illness, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A professor in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has been honored by The Wildlife Society for his wildlife research.
Duane Diefenbach, adjunct professor of wildlife ecology and leader of the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit based at Penn State, received the Caesar Kleberg Award for Excellence in Applied Wildlife Research during the society's recent annual conference in Milwaukee.
Diefenbach has worked with biologists and wildlife managers at the Pennsylvania Game Commission conducting a wide range of research involving several species of wildlife, including white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, snowshoe hares, Allegheny woodrats and grassland songbirds.
"He embodies the vision of this award with his sustained, high-quality research that has direct application to high-priority needs in wildlife research, management and conservation," said Ken Williams, executive director with The Wildlife Society. "In his role as unit leader with the U.S. Geological Survey's Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State, he conducts research, teaches and supervises graduate students."
Diefenbach's expertise and experience span multiple disciplines and taxa, Williams noted, adding that his research emphasis is on the estimation of population parameters. Results from Diefenbach's research regularly are incorporated into population management or monitoring strategies and inform further studies that enable managers to better monitor and manage wildlife populations.
"While much of his work has focused on game species in the northeastern United States, it also has included research on declining and sensitive species," Williams said. "His knowledge and expertise are increasingly recognized and sought after at both national and international levels."
According to a news release from The Wildlife Society, Diefenbach is skilled at bringing together a variety of clientele to address research issues and translate results into management applications. And he is willing to tackle complex and controversial research questions while staying true to the scientific process.
"A primary example is his extensive work on white-tailed deer populations and harvest management in Pennsylvania, a controversial subject," the release stated.
"His work has contributed significantly to the scientific foundation of the state's deer-management program, which has included population monitoring, an interagency response plan for managing chronic wasting disease and development of habitat quality metrics."
The Wildlife Society was founded in 1937 and is a nonprofit scientific and educational association of more than 10,000 professional wildlife biologists and managers, dedicated to excellence in wildlife stewardship through science and education.
The group's mission is to represent and serve the professional community of scientists, managers, educators, technicians, planners and others who work actively to study, manage and conserve wildlife and its habitats worldwide.


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The town of Coolangatta has been the perfect training ground for professional surfer's for decades. It is littered with world class point breaks and has produced some of the best surfing footage ever recorded.Watch Trailer
Known as the proving ground of surfing, Angie introduces the Hawaiian surfers that have earned the reputation as the most hardcore posse in the industry - both in and out of the water.
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Bali has fast become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and is a hot bed for surfing talent as the region is home to a range of world class surf breaks.
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Next Generation
In this episode our Angie follows the progression of the next generation of world class surfers from the micro grommet to the teenager and beyond.
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The Dawn of Surfing
Our host explores the historical roots of surfing dating back to the ancient Polynesian Kings. Along the way, she touches on the characters that helped establish the sport and customs of surfing.
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Road to the Title
Follow the world's best surfers into the first event of the year at the Quiksilver Pro on Australia's beautiful Gold Coast. For tour rookies it is an opportunity to prove themselves.
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The Reach of Surfing
In this episode our host Angie explores the great benefits that surfing and the ocean offers to us all.
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Chasing Swells
In this episode we are on a swell hunting adventure. Starting out in California, we spend a winter season with some of the areas best surfers.
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Cooly Kids
The town of Coolangatta has been the perfect training ground for professional surfer's for decades. It is littered with world class point breaks and has produced some of the best surfing footage ever...
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|The legend of the Coolangatta Kids originates from the early 1960's with rare archive footage of the infamous trio Michael Peterson, Wayne "Rabbit" Batholomew and Peter Townend.
More recently, a fresh generation of Cooly kids has evolved. Mick Fanning, Dean Morrison and Joel Parkinson have picked up where there elders left off and have taken professional surfing to new heights. The town of Coolangatta has been the perfect training ground for professional surfer's for decades. It is littered with world class point breaks - Kirra, the Superbank, and Snapper Rocks are the most popular and have produced some of the best surfing footage ever recorded including some of the longest tubes ever surfed. In this episode, we find out from the locals what it is that makes this town so special and why there are so many world champion surfers that live in the region.
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|Running Time
|22 minutes
|Audio Language
|English | Stereo
|Download Resolution
|SD | 852x480
|Streaming Resolution
|HD | 1280x720
|Additional Features
|Chapter Markers
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Excellent outing by Bailey. This type of command he showed today is what I've been hoping to see out of his development.
A sweep was paramount, and we got it. Now it's time to win two of three this weekend. I might have to get down to the park on Friday night if the weather isn't lousy.


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Mildred Pierce [1945] (DVD)
Michael Curtiz
Amoeba Review
Joan Crawford grabbed at life the only way she knew how—by the balls, baby. She fled a hard scrabble childhood full of the horrors to become the reigning queen of Hollywood. She defied so many odds put in front of her and she almost always came out on top. Joan was many different versions of herself throughout her life: gold digger, jazz baby, Pepsi hawker, perennial MGM shop girl, terrible, terrible mother, the greatest star the world has ever known, poster woman for mental illnesses, bizarre recipe creator, transgender identity pioneer, role model to the uneducated, black market baby taker, dubious advice giver, enemy of slovenly hippies, the world's most famous neat freak, world class fashion don't… she did it all. Her crazy life was her greatest work of art.
When people talk about Joan's essential artifice (and likewise the supposedly superior talents of her chief star rival, Bette Davis) I don't understand why they mean it in a bad way. Her artifice was the whole picture and it was riveting. It gave her a unique kind of depth. It set her apart. She didn't want to be liked; she demanded to be worshiped. Whether in a black market stag film early in her career (as was rumored) or any number of MGM prestige pictures or in her obsessive assembling of her bizarre family set up, Joan's way of life was to attack. Her ambition was her identity. This can be either repulsive or, if she was in the right film, it can be put to very compelling use.
Mildred Pierce was the role Joan was born to play. She was no shop girl ingenue by the time she landed the role. She was pushing 40 and had just been handed a pink slip by Louis B. Mayer at MGM. Forced to start over after having become a huge star in the years prior, Joan wound up at Warner Brothers with her tail between her legs, forced to compete with Warner's other reigning movie queen, the legendary Bette Davis. Joan knew playing Mildred would be her chance to get back on top—to show all the Hollywood creeps who had written her off as last year's box office poison that no one messes with a true star. Mildred Pierce is Joan in all her ferocious brilliance. She's the unloved hash slinger with a chip on her giant shoulder that manipulates all the conniving men in her life to get ahead and make something of herself. The sordid tragedy of it and what makes it a true Joan story is that she sweats and slaves all for the love of the single biggest bitch of a daughter who ever slithered onto the silver screen.
Veda Pierce, that nasty piece of work, is so utterly irredeemable that you almost end up liking her for being so constantly awful. It's some kind of achievement. She's the answer to the mystery of Mildred's life. Mildred puts up with a philandering dud of a husband and ignores the easy affections of her younger, more likable daughter, Kay, all in the hope that cruel Veda will accept her and think of her as something more than a pie baking loser in a bad house dress. Mildred is unhealthily obsessed with Veda. She wants Veda to be cultivated and refined and important so that Veda can justify Mildred's own abject misery. When her drip of a husband Bert finally leaves for good to shack up with his neighborhood mistress, Mildred must finally take on the world the way she has always yearned to. She will give her snob daughter everything she demands and, in Mildred's eyes, this will be the answer to all of her problems.
As soon as Bert is out of the picture his former real estate business partner Wally comes around to Mildred's Glendale bungalow like a wolf on the prowl. Wally, played by Jack Carson, has a wonderfully sleazy charm that he lays on thick. He wants a drink and he wants Mildred and he's a man given to acting on his impulses. Mildred gives him the brush off but their lives remain intertwined because both desire something from each other. Mildred wants Wally's business smarts in helping her open her own restaurant and Wally wants Mildred in the sack even if he has to wait for it. He'll bide his time with another martini.
Before Mildred's future business success we get to watch her full transformation from desperate housewife forced to wait tables to make ends meet after her husband has left her high-and-dry to full-on force to be reckoned with, the fried chicken queen of Southern California. The montage scene of waitresses in the diner where she works carting dishes from table to table, yelling orders at the line cook, and all the kitchen steam and chaos that a bustling restaurant runs on is one of my favorite scenes in the film. It's rare to see the nitty gritty of "women's work" in a film from any era. It's the kind of work that isn't respected so it's ignored but Joan's audience was primarily women at this point and it's obvious that part of her appeal to her fans was the sense that she knew what it was to have an ordinary, hard life and she gave them her all.
Mildred makes fast friends with a gal named Ida played by the incomparable Eve Arden. Ida is the lone comic relief in an otherwise dark and stormy film that always has a witty put down for any occasion. Meanwhile Veda is enjoying the fruits of Mildred's labor. The family now has a maid which is satisfactory to such a wannabe aristobrat as Veda until she discovers the shameful truth of what her mother does for a living. Why she's a waitress! Veda is just not happy about this and lets Mildred know that she is deeply ashamed. Veda gets a sick thrill from making her mother fall apart. As Ida later says, "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."
Mildred gets Wally to help her land a rundown old building owned by the scion of a wealthy Pasadena family, the entirely weasel-like Monte Beragon played by Zachary Scott. Mildred and Monte hit it off and just as things heat up between them Mildred's younger daughter Kay dies of pneumonia. At least she still has Veda, Mildred tells herself, as if she really ever wanted more than Veda, the worst daughter in the whole world.
Pretty soon Mildred's restaurant (called Mildred's) is thriving. Ida helps her run the kitchen and life with Monte and Veda is happy for all three. Even Wally turns up to celebrate how swell everything is going for them. But something's rotten beneath the surface. Monte and Veda spend all their time together with Veda voraciously soaking up the old money grandeur that Monte exudes for her. She doesn't want piano and French lessons now, she wants polo matches with Monte at her side. Both Monte and Veda depend on Mildred to keep raking in the dough to support their exclusive activities. It seems that Monte has an old money name but not a lot of actual money. It's all gone and he's now leeching off of Mildred to keep the champagne and good times flowing. Mildred, so ecstatic to finally have her daughter's approval, eagerly complies, stuffing Monte's tuxedo pocket with cash whenever he needs it.
Things get out of control though. Mildred's has franchised and it's here in the film that we witness Joan's second transformation. Where she started the film as a plain Jane housewife she now goes from leggy entrepreneur to fiercely hair styled force of nature in a butch suit. It's as if her newfound power has come spiked with testosterone. She is still a beautiful woman with a face that the camera adores but she's now severe in a way that Joan would come to be increasingly identified with in her later films. It's a fascinating and brave choice to go with as it's so unusual. It's not playful and sexy exactly in the way that Marlene Dietrich is when she took on a masculine identity in films like Morocco when she had her famous same-sex kiss in a tuxedo. There's a middle-aged kind of hardness, a steely exterior to her now and yet it's still glamorous. She has been the shop girl. She has had the failed marriages and her dancing days are long since gone. She's got power and experience now and it shows, adding to the iconic quality of the performance.
As I said things are now a little out-of-control in our story. After having briefly been on the outs Monte and Mildred get married to satisfy Veda's greedy demands. They move into the Pasadena mansion of the Beragon family that Monte needs Mildred to buy. Everyone loves going to Mildred's for the excellent chicken and business is booming, but Mildred is going broke trying to pay for the lavish lifestyle that Veda and Monte require. Wally, a business partner in the endeavor, tells her that the business will be taken away from her; she has blown through too much cash. Worse, Mildred discovers the dirty secret that Veda and Monte have been hiding from her—they are having an affair behind her back. Joan suffers tremendously in her fur coat having been given the bad news at her beach house when she walked in on them, her life now destroyed. Veda is unrepentant and lashes out at her mother yet again. Mildred leaves in tears but there are other violent and revenge-filled surprises in store. Veda gets into her worst trouble yet and Mildred still is there ready to bail her out, ready to take her back, ready to believe the lie that this time things will be different. But this time it might not work.
Mildred Pierce is, as far as I'm concerned, a noir. It was written by the great James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, one of the titans of the crime thriller. His specialty was the murky flood of desire that drove people to commit crimes of passion. His protagonists are entirely ordinary people caught up in obsessive lustful relationships that knock them off whatever moral equilibrium they normally possess. Mildred Pierce is different in that the poisonous relationship is between a mother and a daughter. Mildred's need for Veda isn't sexual but it is pathological and abnormal and leads to violent ends. Mildred's not a saintly mother; she's a mess, an enabler. She isn't helping her daughter by begging for her love, she's rewarding Veda for her most rotten of qualities. It was a great role and it was Joan's swan song. Mildred Pierce cemented Joan's legend much like her surprisingly tiny footprints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater. It was never so good for her in Hollywood ever again. She had come roaring back from exile and on her own terms. She got her one and only Oscar for the role of Mildred and had finally proved wrong all the men in her life that she had been forced to rely on to help her kick to the top of the Hollywood food chain (for a price). Mildred is closer to the truth of Joan than anything we've gotten of her story since. There was never another like her. I'd like to think that she is now at peace with all that was wonderful and horrible about her life and all that she accomplished and is right now having a shrimp cocktail and Tom Collins at that great big supper club in the sky.
Mildred Pierce won an Academy Award for Best Actress (Bette Davis) and was nominated for 5 other Oscars.
What Veda wants, her mother-Mildred Pierce-provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage, climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything," Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder?
From a novel by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity), Mildred Pierce is a classy murder mystery, a stylish film noir told from a woman's point of view. Joan Crawford's Mildred ended a two-year career slump, earned her a Best Actress Academy Award® and revitalized her career. Just when you think you got this nominee for five other Oscars® including Best Picture figured out, along comes a shocking twist ending!
Product Details
- Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett
- Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85.1
- Number of Discs: 1
- Rating: Not Rated
- Label: Warner Studios
- Release Date: 02/04/2003
- Run Time: 111 minutes
- Catalogue #: 67538
Special Features
- Documentary Profile Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
- Crawford Trailer Gallery