text:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top officials of the Bush and Obama administrations have repeatedly denied in recent years that the National Security Agency collected massive caches of phone and Internet data taken from millions of Americans.
Pressed during sworn testimony in congressional hearings and in other public settings, senior national security officials have said the government's cutting-edge electronic monitoring is narrowly focused and preserves the civil liberties of ordinary Americans.
On Friday, Obama himself acknowledged the existence of the programs even as he gave the government's standard rationale to ease fears that Americans' privacy rights are being violated.
"By sifting through this so-called metadata, they might identify potential leads of people who might engage in terrorism," Obama said during an exchange with reporters at a health care event in San Jose, Calif.
Obama's comments marked the first time a U.S. president publicly acknowledged the government's electronic sleuthing on U.S. citizens. They came in response to media revelations and published classified documents that detailed the government's secret mass collection of phone and Internet communications.
When top officials in the Obama and Bush administrations have been asked in recent years whether U.S. citizens' communications were swept up as part of government surveillance, they've often responded with swift, flat denials. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, sidestepped what he described as a kerfuffle about his administration's secret electronic intelligence-gathering efforts.
During a March 2006 appearance at the City Club of Cleveland, Bush described the NSA effort only as "a program that will enable us to listen from a known al-Qaida person and/or affiliate from making a phone call outside the United States in or inside the United States out, with the idea of being able to pick up quickly information for which to be able to respond in the environment we're in." He added: "I believe what I'm doing is constitutional, and I know it's necessary. And so we're going to keep doing it."
His vice president, Dick Cheney, was blunter during a radio appearance that January, denying the government was engaging in domestic surveillance.
"This is not a domestic surveillance program," Cheney told radio host Hugh Hewitt, adding that "what we're interested in are intercepting communications, one end of which are outside the United States, and one end of which we have reason to believe is al al-Qaida-related."
Technically, Cheney's description of the program's aim was accurate. His insistence that the Bush administration was not engaged in domestic surveillance is more debatable.
Reports that first appeared in the Guardian and the Washington Post indicate that the NSA pulls in phone records, though not the actual content of the calls, from its secret warrants allowing it to collect data from major telecom companies. The program's aimed at detecting the calling patterns of terrorist suspects. A separate government program also collects massive amounts of data from at least nine Internet and electronic firms, pulling in everything from emails to photographs. Obama said Friday that the electronic data mining is not aimed at American citizens or inside the U.S.
Several top Bush administration officials who paraded before congressional hearings in 2006 adamantly insisted that the government was not engaged in mass data-trawling as part of its secret NSA programs.
After a New York Times expose raised concerns about NSA targeting Americans' phone records, the principal deputy director of national intelligence at the time, Michael Hayden, told a National Press Club audience in January 2006 that there was no effort to cast a wide net over communications data.
"This is targeted and focused," Hayden said. "This is not about intercepting conversations between people in the United States. This is hot pursuit of communications entering or leaving America involving someone we believe is associated with al-Qaida."
In an appearance that July before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hayden, by then CIA director, again denied a mass data-collection effort. "So we do not vacuum up the contents of communications under the president's program and then use some sort of magic after the intercept to determine which of those we want to listen to, deal with or report on."
Bush's attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, also minimized the reach of the NSA data-gathering, telling a Senate Judiciary hearing in February 2006 that "this surveillance is narrowly focused and fully consistent with the traditional forms of enemy surveillance found to be necessary in all previous armed conflicts."
Bush administration officials were repeatedly pressed by Congress about the NSA efforts in 2005 and 2006, as the Senate and House debated whether to extend the Patriot Act and many of its provisions that gave the government broad power to conduct surveillance and data-collection. But once the Patriot Act's main provisions were reauthorized and signed into law by Bush in March 2006, public congressional concerns over the NSA's authority seemed to dissipate.
A review of congressional transcripts shows that from 2006 well into Obama's first term, top administration officials were rarely questioned publicly about the NSA's data-gathering activities. Instead, the agency's new director, Keith B. Alexander, was most often pressed about the NSA's growing efforts in cyberwarfare and security.
It was not until May 2011, as the Patriot Act again faced another reauthorization, that the NSA's secret programs began to receive cryptic attention from two Democratic senators, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado. Hobbled by the classified nature of the secret programs, the two senators offered up only guarded warnings.
"When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry," Wyden said during a floor speech in May 2011. He added: "Many members of Congress have no idea how the law is being secretly interpreted by the executive branch, because that interpretation is classified."
Still hamstrung by the programs' security classification, Wyden pressed Director of National Intelligence James Clapper at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March 2013 about the NSA. "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" he asked.
"No, sir," Clapper replied. He added: "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect but not wittingly."
This week, after the new revelations about the NSA's massive data haul, Clapper acknowledged the existence of both of the agency's secret operations and blasted the media disclosures as "reprehensible."
When contacted by the National Journal about his earlier exchange with Wyden, Clapper stood by his earlier comments denying that the NSA is collecting massive troves of data.
"What I said was, the NSA does not voyeuristically pore through U.S. citizens' emails," Clapper said. "I stand by that."
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
Program Office: Office of School Support and Technology Programs
CFDA Number: 84.283A
Program Type: Cooperative Agreements
This program funds 15 grantees that provide comprehensive training and technical assistance services to States, local education agencies, schools, Indian tribes, community-based organizations, and other recipients of Federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB). The purpose of the centers is to help implement NCLB in ways that support Federal, State, and local efforts to improve teaching and learning and to increase the academic achievement of all children. Activities include professional development/capacity building at the State, district and school levels, customized consultation, convening meetings, and other technical assistance services to improve the quality of instruction, curricula, assessments, policy-making, and other aspects of school reform supported with funds under NCLB. In particular, high poverty, low-performing schools and districts with high-risk populations are targeted for Comprehensive Center services.
For Education Levels: The Centers provide assistance to K-12 schools, rural and urban Districts, intermediate units within a State, tribal schools and populations, and State Departments of Education (SEAs)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
As president of a St. Charles-based company that designs spaces for tomorrow's workplace, Mara Hauser knows the market for big corporate offices is changing.
Companies are downsizing, seeking workplaces with less square footage and smaller furniture budgets, she said.
These trends, along with Hauser's participation in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, have led The Hauser Group to create a new division focused on a different kind of model: coworking.
Coworking is a style of work characterized by a shared working environment and independent activity.
For example, Hauser said, instead of designing workspace for a company with 200 employees, her new venture – Catalyst Coworking – would design "great, inspirational spaces" where 200 people could come to work.
"I've never been so excited about something," Hauser said.
The coworking movement
Coworking is a concept that has gained momentum in recent years, as documented by Deskmag, an online magazine that studies the topic.
In addition to Chicago, Deskmag lists coworking sites in such U.S. cities as Seattle; Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; and Nashville, Tenn.; as well as locations in other countries, including Australia, Germany, Brazil and Mexico.
Hauser – who once worked out of her basement – said coworking gives those who operate from home, coffee shops and libraries a dedicated workspace free of such distractions as chores, barking dogs and kids.
It also gives independent workers a place where they can collaborate and network with others, she said.
According to Deskmag's 2012 Global Coworking Survey, it's that social or enjoyable atmosphere that is most appealing to co-workers – the term used to describe people who use coworking spaces. Two-thirds of respondents indicated that's why they decided to work at their coworking space.
Hauser understands the value of collaboration. As a young business owner – she bought her first company at age 29 – she said she had a lot to learn. For her, she said, the National Association of Women Business Owners was a resource that provided networking and mentoring opportunities.
With coworking, Hauser said, users might not work in the same field, but they could have skills, such as copyediting, that would benefit one another.
Deskmag found that to be true in its inaugural Global Coworking Survey.
"By attending a coworking space, many individuals report making new acquaintance who have had a positive effect on their own work," the publication reported.
"Within the last two months, 43 percent of survey respondents reported meeting one to three helpful acquaintances, while another 43 percent have found four or more such connections."
Coworking in St. Charles
and Batavia
In all its surveys on coworking, Deskmag has found that the majority of co-workers – slightly more than 50 percent – are freelancers. The rest are entrepreneurs with employees or are employees of a company, according to the surveys.
Locally, Hauser said, census data on the number of people who work from home in the Tri-Cities and the Fox Valley support the need for the office space Catalyst Coworking aims to provide in St. Charles and Batavia.
"We know the population is out there," she said.
Clients of Catalyst Coworking could rent desk space to fit their needs and would have access to meeting rooms, phone booths for private calls, Wi-Fi and, among other amenities, a community coordinator who could greet guests and coordinate services, such as food orders, Hauser said.
Sharon O'Leary of Murray Commercial Real Estate is helping the company find the right space, preferably between upscale and trendy with an urban feel, she said, noting the target size is between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet.
"We've identified a few spaces in downtown St. Charles and Batavia," O'Leary said. "It's still in the process."
Meanwhile, Catalyst Coworking is hosting events to help build a community among independent and contract workers.
"We all want to do better at our business," Hauser said. "We all want to help each other."
By the numbers
Deskmag, an online magazine about coworking, has conducted the Global Coworking Survey since 2010.
According to the 2012 survey, here are the top 10 reasons why participants decided to work at their coworking space:
• 66 percent – Social or enjoyable atmosphere
• 62 percent – A community
• 57 percent – Interaction with others
• 54 percent – Good office infrastructure
• 42 percent – Knowledge sharing
• 42 percent – Good value
• 41 percent – Close to home
• 36 percent – Random discoveries and opportunities
• 25 percent – Flexible work times
• 23 percent – Interdisciplinary work


text:
Is Bankruptcy the Right Choice?
Once filed there's no going back. Get expert assistance.
Bankruptcy Courts in and around Gainsborough
Boston County Court
Boston County Court
Boston Court House
55 Norfolk Street
Great Grimsby Combined Court Centre
Great Grimsby Combined Court Centre
Great Grimsby Combined Court
Town Hall Square
Lincoln County Court
Lincoln County Court
360 High Street
Gainsborough Bankruptcy Help
Filing for bankruptcy can be very beneficial choice for some, and a terribly devasting one for others. Obtaining the protection of a bankruptcy order is a civil right that you can enforce when your level of debt has become so unmanageable, and the prospect of you repaying it so impossible, that it is the only reasonable course of action.
There is an alternative called an IVA, which is arguably a much more suitable choice if you have a property (that's in equity) that you want to keep, or vehicles worth more than £2,500. Unlike bankruptcy an IVA protects your assets, and is a contract between you and your creditors agreeing upon monthly instalments for a period of 5 years.
When facing insolvency it is worth considering both options, but whichever you choose, they both adversely affect your credit rating in the same way and they both provide a way to lift the burden of debt.
You can speak to a qualified insolvency expert for unbiased advice, with no-obligation, by completing the form on the right.


text:
"Our son's allergies have gotten better...We would recommend
this to anyone who suffers from allergies or has small
- Diane Madison
Product 6/22
Thermax has done it again with its revolutionary water filtering air freshener and purifier called the Mini-Max2®. Like the Thermax AF1 and AF2 Home Environmental Cleaning Systems it uses water as the filter--nature's best cleaning agent since the beginning of time. No more expensive filters that just clog or leak dust, germs, and bacteria back into your home. While removing things like cigarette smoke, foul cooking odors, pet odors and all other harmful particles floating in your air, you can use Thermaxs specially formulated oil based fragrances and/or deodorizers to leave a fresh sanitizing smell behind. It scents the actual air molecule so it will smell fresh and clean even hours after you turn the unit off.
Run the Mini-Max2® beside your bed and the smooth sound of it washing your air will allow you to finally sleep throughout the night. Just add 15 drops of our new Micreobeshield Deodorizer or 15 drops of Eucalyptus oil and it will not only purify and therapeutically deodorize your air but leave a nice vaporized aroma to open up your air passages.
NEW CONCENTRATED MICROBESHIELD DEODORIZER & SANITIZER:2 oz. Microbeshield Deodorizer & Sanitizer Aromatic Air Freshener - Therapeutically cleanses your indoor environment, neutralizing any harmful germs and bacteria. It deodorizes, helps neutralize and kill offensive odors, leaving a fresh airborne scent behind.
NEW 2oz ESSENTIAL OILS: Each bottle is sold separately, and contains 2 oz of Thermax's specially formulated oil-based solution used for leaving an aromatizing scent behind while purifying the air. Cinnamon, Citronella, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemon, Mango, Oasis, Orange, Peppermint and Thai Orchid. Lavendar helps reduce the pain of headaches and soothes the mind.
AROMATIZERS: Each bottle is sold separately, and contains 1.6 oz of Thermax's specially formulated oil-based solution used for leaving an aromatizing scent behind while purifying the air. Mulberry, Italian Cream Cake, China Rose, Lemon, Cinnamon/Spice & Citronella.
Auto Accessory Kit: Use your Mini-Max2® in the car to maintain a healthy, fresh, and clean environment as you travel. This auto accessory kit includes the adapter you will need to power your Mini-Max2®. It also includes an adjustable stationary holder to make placement of the Mini-Max2® in your car a snap.
USB Adapter: Dust and allergens can sometimes be a problem at work. Keep your work environment clean with a Mini-Max2® on your desk. With this handy adaptor, you can power your Mini-Max2® using your computer's USB port. When you're on the go, you can also use this adapter to power your Mini-Max2® from a laptop.


text:
Kilpatrick on Trial: Day 40
Latest testimony has revolved around water deals, more text messages
DETROIT – 8:58AM Just getting started this morning.
Bernard Kilpatrick is the only defendant seated at the table right now as he reclines in his seat in a light beige suit. Jim Thomas, Kwame Kilpatrick's defense lawyer, is going over notes likely preparing to continue his cross-examination of EPA special agent Carol Paszkiewicz.
Paszkiewicz's testimony yesterday included a series of text exchanges, mostly between Kwame and his friend and co-defendant Bobby Ferguson, about contract 1368 with the DWSD. The government looked to demonstrate that there were behind the scenes orchestrations to secure contract work despite the defense's contention that the former mayor did not hold that sort of sway over water contracts.
Bernard and his lawyer John Shea are huddled together, in deep conversation as court proceedings get set to start.
9:10AM Still no sign of Kwame and Bobby. It was a long day for Kwame yesterday who left the federal courthouse at 1pm to make his way to a hearing at Wayne County Circuit Court in Judge Groner's courtroom at 2pm. A date of March 12th 2013 was set for him to go back to Groner's court to testify about his book proceeds and where they were going. That should presumably be after this trial concludes but the way things are going you never know. After yesterday's hearing the former mayor tweeted "All that fuss for absolutely nothing! Wow!"
9:15AM There's Kwame in a bright yellow tie but still no sign of Bobby.
9:19AM And finally there's Bobby. Bet he got caught in the long immigration lines that occur on Mondays and Thursdays at the courthouse.
Nancy Judge Edmunds enters the courtroom and asks to talk to counsel before the jury arrives. She is probably not happy about the considerably late start this morning.
Admonishments are over and the jury is called in.
The judge apologizes to the jury for the late start and is explaining the logistics about long lines on days with naturalization hearings. The judge says the defendants had to wait outside for over an hour before getting into the courthouse.
9:25AM Thomas continues his cross of Paszkiewicz. They are discussing the sinkhole in sterling Heights that occurred just before August 23rd 2004. The witness agrees that the situation was an urgent matter that required immediate attention.
The witness talking about the process to write up special administrator orders to send to the mayor for signature.
Thomas saying that the special administrator order on December 23rd 2005 for amendment #4 on 1368 is one of only 2 times that Kwame ever used the order to approve contracts. The other time was for contract 2012.
Thomas bringing up Kathleen McCann's testimony about conversations with Bernard Parker who was brought on to help with water contracts.
Thomas and the witness are butting heads. "We are going to agree to not agree on a lot of things," he tells the EPA agent. She politely concurs.
Thomas addressing the comprehensive financial report for the city of Detroit for 2002 and the organizational chart for the city for 2005.
The special administrator procedure allows the mayor with just a signature to enter into a water contract. This is one thing Thomas and the witness both seem to agree on.
Looking at a new email that Thomas is introducing into evidence from an Insituform employee, Paul Mechino, to other Insituform employees- the company was also involved on contract 1368. The email is dated December 19th 2005, around the time of the approval of amendment #4 to 1368. Thomas says there is speculation that the mayor is holding up the amendment. US Attorney Mark Chutkow objects to term "speculation" and Thomas agrees not to use it.
The witness reads the email. Talking about expectation of amendment to move through in a timely manner. Says that the mayor refuses to sign it because there is not a resolution between Inland Waters and FEI (Ferguson enterprises). Not confident that amendment will be funded.
9:50AM Thomas says he wants to talk about the email conclusion that mayor is holding up amendment because lack of resolution between Inland Waters and FEI. Thomas says December 2005 is just before Judge Feikens ended the special administrator-ship of the mayor for water contracts.
Thomas brings back transmittal letter for the amendment order #4 on contract 1368. Mercado has signed the document. It was prepared on August 12th 2005.
Thomas asks witness what was going on in Detroit in August 2005. Witness says she doesn't know. Thomas says Kwame was running for mayor again and engaged in a primary- he lost.
9:55AM Thomas says city budget and law offices don't sign off until Kilpatrick does.
Thomas saying it was unclear between August and the primary election if Kwame would be mayor in 2006. Thomas says city council was also in turmoil.
Thomas asks the witness if she has ever heard the term lame duck. "Of course," she laughs, "I work for the federal government." "I have other terms for that," says Thomas.
Judge asks Thomas to move it along please.
The amendment document wasn't fully approved by all departments until April 19th 2006, 4 months after Kilpatrick signed it. Thomas says there was a lot of chatter about the document being on the mayor's desk.
Chutkow objects. Judge tells Thomas to rephrase the question.
Judge asks Thomas to move along and that a lot of these questions have been asked and answered. Please don't ask the same questions again. Says Thomas's characterization of something as "chatter" not appropriate for foundation.
About to look at another document but Kwame calls Thomas over to the table and after discussion, Thomas decides to let the exhibit drop.
Instead we are looking at a DLZ third party construction contract from October 16th 2003. Thomas says witness believed it was signed by mayor but having reviewed it she changed her mind. Witness agrees.
10:06AM John Shea for Bernard cross-examines.
Looking at text from July 2nd, 2002 between Bernard, Kwame and Derrick Miller
Bernard: The real problem with the DWSD is the evaluation committee. Warren has some ideas how you can proceed. Cn we meet with him tomorrow evening?
Kwame: I will meet with him and Victir Mercado. I'm nOt just mtg with him.
Miller: Don't want to meet with this guy. He needs to talk to the new guy.
Shea is saying it looks like Kwame is saying he is not just going to meet with Warren Evans, Water Commissioner. Mercado had just been hired at this point. Mercado reported to the Board of Water Commissioners and mayor.
Shea saying mayor wanted to bring Mercado into meeting. Witness agrees.
Miller also doesn't seem to want to meet Warren Evans says Shea. Passing off the meeting to Mercado.
Shea says it looks like though Bernard requests to have a meeting with all of them, it looks like the mayor's office is not wishing to include him in the meeting. Witness agrees that Kwame uses term "I" referencing meeting.
10:12AM Mike Rataj cross-examines the witness. this should be interesting. These two have seriously butted heads in the past.
Rataj asking about Inland exec Dennis Oszust. Saying that Oszust appears on many Inland documents for water contracts. And he was an operations guy. Witness agrees that he was an operations guy not mainly in the field. Both agree that Oszust was intimately involved with details of DWSD contracts and the negotiations process between Inland and sub-contractors.
Rataj and Paszkiewicz are being unnaturally pleasant and polite with each other. Prefer it when they get feisty.
Talking about a Mr. Raziky (unclear on spelling) who was the field guy who would report to Oszust who would report in turn to Kathleen McCann. Rataj says McCann was more of a liaison between soave Enterprises and Inland Waters. Rataj says she was not an employee of Inland Waters. Correct says witness though later she became a board member after Soave sold 80% of ownership in Inland.
Bottom line says Rataj is that Soave had different portfolios of companies with different individuals responsible for them. McCann responsible for the Industrial Services portfolio which Inland was part of. Witness agrees with all this.
Rataj says but McCann did not have day to day contact with contractors and sub-contractors. Witness agrees.
Judge interrupts and asks for sidebar with lawyers.
In terms of chain of command says Rataj, Soave is at the very top and he would be the least person with day to day knowledge of contracts. Witness says she could agree with that.
Looking at the stop order from August 19th 2004. "Avoid Verbal Order" is the technical name. Addressed to Oszust from a Ronald Holloway at DWSD. Says: "Be advised that spot sewer repair work performed by Ferguson Construction co contracted by Inland Waters Pollution Control be stopped until the issues of restoration for the attached job work sites be resolved."
Judge asks witness to avoid giving hearsay testimony. This unleashes some discussion as to what is appropriate and what is not in terms of hearsay testimony.
Rataj says the stop order relates to restoration work that is done by sub-contractor after underlying work they have been contracted for has already been performed.
The are 7 work job sites listed on the order. Rataj says this has to do with putting sites back together. Asks the witness if this is not a pain for contractors. Paszkiwiecz says she wouldn't know.
Rataj asks if FEI would sub-contract restoration work. Witness says that she believes that sometimes they would.
10:30AM Rataj says that Ferguson was sued because anderjon did not do restoration work.
Chutkow objects and says this is not in scope. Judge agrees.
Rataj says restoration work is expensive. Witness says she doesn't know if it is or not but "it costs money."
Rataj introducing document on sinkhole project sent to "Bob Ferguson". Witness doesn't recognize the document from April 14th 2005. There are 9 different items of restoration work connected to the sinkhole that Ferguson was working on. Total for work is $482,585. Witness says this does look like it specific to the 15 mile sinkhole.
Rataj says this is an agreement with another company to do the work. Rataj says this comes out of Ferguson's money. Witness says she doesn't know.
Rataj asks if $482,000 is a lot of money. Witness says she doesn't know, compared to her salary it is.
Ferguson made $3.1 million on this sinkhole project
Now looking at invoice from R&R for work on 15 mile and Hayes. It is an invoice for $6,165.
Purchase order for JT & Sons for 15 mile from Keith Merrit who worked for Ferguson. Again related to restoration work. Invoice amount is for $27,890.
Another purchase order from Merrit for company O'Laughlin for sinkhole repair. Total amount is $33,680.
Last one, another purchase order from Merrit of FEI to Dubay Landscaping Services relating to 15 mile sinkhole. Total amount is $43,010.
Rataj's point seems to be that Ferguson did not pocket the full $3.1 million but paid some of that out to sub-contractors on restoration. Not including the contract agreement for more than $482,000, which presumably FEI ended up paying out, that's about $110,000 on purchase orders that FEI paid out.
10:45AM Judge calls for 20 minute break.
11:00AM It's pizza day at the courthouse. The first floor snack shop sells Papa Romano's pizza on Thursday. Apparently Kwame bought 3 hard boiled eggs and he's snacking away on them before going back into the courtroom. He also got 2 bottles of water to wash down that egg aftertaste.
Apparently, earlier this morning when court was late getting started, Jim Thomas was explaining that Ferguson was having problems getting into the courthouse to US Attorney Michael Bullotta.
To which Bullotta replied "I can't control karma."
Long morning of cross. Jurors were yawning away.
11:07AM Rataj ends his cross of EPA agent Paszkiewicz.
Rataj introduces a series of documents into evidence. Looking at DWSD contract between Inland Waters and Ferguson Enterprises. Executed on November 12th 2002. Ferguson enterprises began working on 1368 prior to the contract says Rataj. Witness says she doesn't know that.
Rataj shows an invoice for 1368 from Inland for showing a request for payment of $291,000. That's the amount that Inland looked to be paid by the DWSD in 2002 before 1368 was formally approved. Inland billing DWSD for FEI for more than $59,000.
Rataj showing field record prepared by FEI on the sinkhole at 15 mile and Hayes Rd. Date of document is August 23rd, 2004. Lists people who worked in the field and the number of hours they worked.
Paszkiewicz points out that there is a question from the jurors.
Looking at email chain on September 15th 2005 between McCann and Oszust on amendment #4. Subject line: "What are outstanding issues with Bobby?" Rataj says that no one is asking Victor Mercado what is going. Making the point that none of the recipients in the email chain are with DWSD.
Rataj says isn't it true that there are no documents from DWSD saying that amendment #4 is being held up. Witness says that is true and then changes her mind and says there is an email from Daryl Latimer in October 2005 stating the amendment has not been approved yet.
11:30AM July 27 2005 agenda for meeting of Water board. Lists original price of 1368 as $50 million. then list successive amendments: 1. for $10 million 2. $35 million 3. $23 million (for work on the sinkhole) 4. for $12 million.
Video screen is frozen but we still get audio.
Rataj introduces a document the witness is completely unfamiliar with the document. From the DWSD- lists all the revenues made by Inland on water contracts. From August 2004 until October 2006 highlighted by the defense.
Rataj zeroes in on date of July 15th 2005. Says it doesn't look like Inland was ever put on hold or stopped work. Witness says she can't answer based on a document she is not familiar with.
Rataj says will the jury can take a look at it.
Rataj moves onto another document from Corey Thomas, governmental analyst with DWSD in March 2012. Lists Inland Waters invoice for $291,250. It is for invoice period January 30th 2002.
Rataj says he is now moving onto another chapter. Mentioning the text messages and some questions he has.
Exchange over 2 days September 1st-2nd 2004.
Ferguson: We need to mee(T0 on how i move in, i got a great idea sir. holla in the am owe geno is n y answer service (lol) wants me to do some hauling.
Geno D'Agostini referenced. Rataj says he is good friends with the mayor of Sterling Heights.
Mayor: Aint that a bitch. Will call in a few minutes...
September 7th 2004 exchange
Mayor: What happened with Gino?
Ferguson: i am going to talk to him today, its the same. he wonts me to work for him, just let victor know i geno makes 2.00 fei needs to make 2.00 also you will look at invoices to make sure.
Rataj says that 2.00 could mean anything, not clear what it measures. Witness agrees.
Defense lawyer John Shea looks like he is falling asleep.
Exchange from June 21st 2002 between Bernard and Kwame
Bernard: Just met with Bobby Ferguson. The 3 of us need to meet at least twice a month for an hour for awhile....
Rataj says there is no proof the three of them met like that after this message. Witness says she doesn't know if they met with that regularity.
11:50AM Going back to text message from July 2, 2002 where Bernard says that the real problem with the DWSD is the evaluation committee. Rataj says that witnesses Daniel Edwards and Daryl Latimer that some within the DWSD were too close to contractors. Witness agrees. Rataj says that Latimer testified that DLZ had internal connections at DWSD that was steering work their way.
Chutkow objects and asks for sidebar. Judge sustains but Chutkow asks for sidebar anyways.
Rataj says in the course of your investigation it was not unusual to find that certain contractors had contact with Mercado. Witness agrees. Rataj says D'Agostini and DLZ approached Mercado directly as well as Inland Waters and Lakeshore.
Going back to sidebar.
What Rataj seems to be getting to in a long, convoluted way is that many contractors went outside of the normal, formal contract procedure and worked behind the scenes to secure water contracts with the DWSD.
Rataj says that Inland Waters employees would meet regularly with engineers of the DWSD. Witness says yes within the scope of their work together. Rataj asks if she knows what they talked about at lunch on mulitple occasions over 6 years. Witness agrees that unless she specifically asked that in an interview, she has no idea.
Chutkow objecting to Rataj's whole line of questioning.
Rataj says on December 22nd 2005, Oszust met with 2 DWSD employees.
Judge needs Rataj he needs to close up. He says he has only one more little chapter.
12:05PM This is the document from Kilpatrick to Judge Feikens requesting approval for contract amendments. Lists the 5 contracts. 4 of the 5 were for Ferguson. Amongst these was contract 623 Ferguson had won under Archer administration for $7.5 million. Witness agrees.
Now document from January 25th 2006 from Mercado to Board of Water Commissioners. References contract 623 that was awarded with start date of August 14th 2000. It was meant to be completed September 2005 but there is still work remaining to be done. Only $200,000 remaining in the contract. Needs an extension of time and additional funds of $7.5 million. Approved by the Board of Water Commissioners. The EPA agent agrees with this.
Rataj saying there are 7 Water board members, 4 are from the city of Detroit.
Looking at the contracts Kilpatrick sought approval for- WS 650 ($170,767), 657 (McCormick for $158,266) , 651 ($276,135). Rataj says those 3 all under the umbrella of CM 2012.Rataj asking witness if she knows what last of the contracts 812c for D'Agostini had to do with. The change order was for $3.95 million. Asking her if she knew it was a security contract
Rataj is trying to impeach the witness saying that she didn't mention in testimony yesterday that contract 812c was a security contract. Paszkiewicz is saying that she did.
Rataj approaching the judge with transcript of yesterday's testimony. Prosecutor Michael Bullotta approaches the bench as well.
12:24PM Audio suddenly cuts out. Not sure what is going on exactly but it seems that the judge has called for a 5 minute break.
12:30PM Gerald Evelyn telling judge about Susan Van Dusen. Apparently Van Dusen is getting headaches which are getting less frequent. She'll be meeting with a neurologist this afternoon.
Chutkow addressing impeachment issue of EPA agent Paszkiewicz and asks judge to make it clear to the jury. Judge Edmunds tells him it is something he can address in redirect.
Judge tells jury that Van Dusen continuing to recover but will likely not be here tomorrow. Judge determined at the break that it is not a proper impeachment of the witness after looking over transcript.
Looking at a change order for D'Agostini and sons for $3.9 million. Rataj asks if DFT features anywhere on the document Kilpatrick sent to Judge Feikens. Witness had been saying that D'Agostini was a pass through to Ferguson's company DFT. Witness reads the document and agrees DFT and Ferguson don't feature anywhere.
Rataj directing to the last page of Feikens order on May 18th 2006 "I do so because of the long delay in payment is due to this Court's discontinuance of the Special Administrator-ship." Feikens saying that he is choosing to act and approves the changes because he had cancelled the special administratorship. Goes on to say that contractors will be hesitant to work when payment is delayed.
And Rataj is finally done.
12:42PM Chutkow says the judge's order was because of a special request by Kilpatrick. Witness agrees.
Chutkow says that 3 of the 5 are Ferguson Enterprises. Yes says witness. Paszkiewicz says 812c was also being worked on by Ferguson whose DFT had been tasked more than $3.1 million of work on the contract.
DFT was a joint venture that included Ferguson. Witness referred to this as a pass through to fund Ferguson's company.
Chutkow asking about the text where Bernard proposed twice monthly meetings with Kwame and Bobby. Witness testifying that in their investigation they found evidence of after hours meetings.
Chutkow asking if Derrick Miller joined them in those meetings per her investigation. Witness replies that yes.
Now text from Bernard: "No problem I was just thinking short term on some stuff that was already out there. He has met with Mercado and feels he is on the right track. But it will take a lot of time
which I do not possess a whole lot of..." Chutkow asks if Bernard was part of the city administration. No says witness.
Chutkow asking about records Rataj showed about Ferguson sub-contracting out restoration work on sinkhole. Witness agrees that restoration work is less complicated than usual contracting work.
Looking at invoice for sub-contract to R & R. Witness agrees this is not a minority company and it is not Detroit-based (based in Northville). So Chutkow says Ferguson not helping out minority, Detroit-based business. No says witness.
O'Laughlin contractor based in Brighton so again Ferguson sub-contracted to a non-Detroit based business.
JT & sons sub-contractor based in Sterling Heights, again not in Detroit.
Dubay Landscapers sub-contractor based in Harrison, Michigan.
Six-S inc that had agreement for $482,000 based in Waterford, MI. None listed so far Detroit-based business.
Looking at text from March 2003
Ferguson: Hello Black you haven't released that contract right
Mayor: Right they know I'm holding it.
Chutkow asks if in her investigation the witness found other texts like this with other contractors. Witness says he didn't have texts like this with other contractors.
Chutkow shows another text between the 2 that lists prices and asks witness if former mayor texted other contractors about contract prices. Witness says no.
Chutkow showing text where Ferguson texts Kwame about meeting on how he should move in on the sinkhole project from September 01 2004. Witness says she doesn't recall other texts with other city contractors discussing how to move in on a business.
Rataj objects and judge sustains.
12:58PM Thomas re-crosses and asks if witness believes that text messaging was the only way the former mayor communicated during his administration. No says Paszkiewicz.
That's all Thomas had for her. Rataj says he has more but it's basically 1pm so he'll have to do it tomorrow.
Court resumes at 9am tomorrow morning.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Kwame Kilpatrick's federal trial
About the author
Alexandra Harland is a Princeton undergrad and has a masters degree in International affairs with Columbia. A Montreal native, she worked with the Daily Telegraph newspaper for a few years before transitioning to TV, when she worked at ABC News with Peter Jennings. Alexandra has also worked in newsrooms in both Detroit and Boston.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
More choices on how to watch movies at home
(NewsUSA) - Ask any movie studio executive if the DVD gravy train is dead, and they will unequivocally tell you, "No." But, they will also grudgingly admit that DVD popularity is slowing down.
One only has to look at the demise of retail giant Blockbuster to see that it's true.
Taking its place, of course, is digital entertainment -- the downloading and streaming of movies and television shows to consumers' computers, Internet-enabled televisions and mobile devices.
While some in Hollywood may be uncomfortable with this new direction, others are looking at it as an opportunity and potential boon for growth, marketing and, yes, the almighty and important bottom line.
"Whether studios like it or not, business currents and consumer interests have clearly shifted," said Peter Hoffman, CEO of Seven Arts Pictures. "We can either capitalize on this trend or stick our head in the sand and hope everything will remain business as usual," he added.
And Seven Arts, Hoffman stated, has never been one to shy away from the future.
Which is why the Los Angeles-based studio released its latest movie, "The Pool Boys," on DVD, Blu-Ray, iTunes, and streaming digital distribution. This way, Hoffman said, we can better promote "The Pool Boys," and all of our upcoming releases.
So, what of those small plastic discs that most consumers have come to know and, if not exactly love, have certainly grown accustomed to?
According to the movie studio industry, DVDs will continue to play a role, albeit a supporting one to digital.
"DVDs are going to continue to be a viable part of a studio's revenue," predicted Hoffman. "But there is clearly a strong consumer interest in digital viewing as well."
To this end, it would seem that studios would do well to embrace the age-old adage of "give the customer what they want." As is the case with Seven Arts' "The Pool Boys" release, it's DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming and digital download. This gives consumers an array of choices, making it a win-win for movie viewers.


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Oracle has submitted a new JSR called "A Standard Data Binding & Data Access Facility for J2EE". This proposed spec will define a framework of classes, called Declarative Bindings, that formalize the interactions between typical UI components and values and methods available in your business logic (such as a Session Facade layer).
Check out JSR227: A Standard Data Binding & Data Access Facility for J2EE.
If I understand the description correctly, this JSR could eleminate the need for much of the manual logic required to map presentation layer data to the business logic layer, and put this into metadata instead. So its possible that we might not need to write the equivelent of Struts' action classes anymore. Pretty cool!
JSR227: A Standard Data Binding & Data Access Facility for J2EE (7 messages)
- Posted by: Floyd Marinescu
- Posted on: June 25 2003 11:41 EDT
Threaded Messages (7)
- Interesting... by bibin kumar on June 25 2003 12:52 EDT
- Re: JSR227 by Mind Bridge on June 25 2003 15:46 EDT
- JSR227: A Standard Data Binding & Data Access Facility for J2EE by Rafal Zaczynski on June 26 2003 06:46 EDT
- JSR227 / Bindings / JDeveloper by Mike W-M on June 26 2003 07:46 EDT
This is good news. by Tyler Jewell on June 26 2003 01:49 EDT
- Send these comments to the JSR comments alias! by Onno Kluyt on June 26 2003 02:00 EDT
- This is good news. by Tyler Jewell on June 26 2003 01:49 EDT
- JSR227 / Bindings / JDeveloper by Mike W-M on June 26 2003 07:46 EDT
- Formalize the complicated, not the trivial... by Karl Banke on June 30 2003 03:07 EDT
Interesting...[ Go to top ]
Interesting because, this paradigm is already used by several Enterprise Application software vendors (Siebel, Peoplesoft etc.), but the implementations are proprietary. I think Oracle is going in the right direction but is a looong road. It will help its Oracle Application configuration. Eagerly waiting for its new Jdeveloper to see the implementation of this JSR.
- Posted by: bibin kumar
- Posted on: June 25 2003 12:52 EDT
- in response to Floyd Marinescu
Re: JSR227[ Go to top ]
I really hope that this time the JSR will at least utilize the experience of people who have been doing similar work for years. In the past the JSR EGs have had the practice of walling off people in the open source community who have had a lot of experience in that domain -- JSF comes to mind as a recent example -- it makes a number of mistakes that would have been avoided had people with similar experience been contacted. There are a number of other examples like that in the past as well.
- Posted by: Mind Bridge
- Posted on: June 25 2003 15:46 EDT
- in response to Floyd Marinescu
I think _at the very least_ this EG should consult with people like Drew Davidson who is the author of OGNL (http://www.ognl.org) -- an object navigation system that currently does pretty much what the stated goals of this JSR are (except the last part) and is in wide practical use in frameworks like Tapestry. These people represent a lot of real-world experience in the very same problem domain and have had to resolve a lot of issues that can be encountered only after the designs have been tested in practice. The JSR would be much more powerful with that experience taken into account.
JSR227: A Standard Data Binding & Data Access Facility for J2EE[ Go to top ]
In present times almost everybody who is writing some app unsing J2EE is bouncing the wall with the same problems. Almost every project uses list to browse data - pagable, sortable etc. and e.g. idea of a list notified somehow about the changes to underlying data would just give these people a peaceful sleep :). And this is only one example..
- Posted by: Rafal Zaczynski
- Posted on: June 26 2003 06:46 EDT
- in response to Floyd Marinescu
So probably if more peole (like those ones) would get informed about this kind of JSR and what is more about its solution (I wonder how long will it take) the more spectactors and contributors this JSR would have. But how to get all interested people involved when they are so busy doing the same things on their own ;]
JSR227 / Bindings / JDeveloper[ Go to top ]
It looks to me like Oracle are proposing to standardise what they already supply as part of JDeveloper and its BC4J framework and bindings, so it seems they already have a track-record here.
- Posted by: Mike W-M
- Posted on: June 26 2003 07:46 EDT
- in response to Rafal Zaczynski
I don't work for Oracle but I have used their BC4J framework on projects (though I have limited practical experience with the "conceptually separate" bindings) and I think the lack of coverage it receives on theServerSide is fair criminal. I recommend, particularly if what the standard is proposing seems useful to you, that you download and check out JDeveloper (since it's pretty much a pre-existing implementation).
[Unlike most Oracle products, there's no run-time licence cost to the framework either...]
This is good news.[ Go to top ]
BEA has similar types of extensions available in BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1. They are called "NetUI". They take a slightly different approach and I know that we are talking with a number of different companies about consolidating different elements into a more consistent Data Binding model.
- Posted by: Tyler Jewell
- Posted on: June 26 2003 13:49 EDT
- in response to Mike W-M
NetUI leverages an extended version of ECMAScript with a combination of custom tag libraries to "bind" to data that is stored in an HttpSession, Application, URL, request, JSP page. The NetUI tags are very exhaustive, but give you unique abilities to "query" the data stored in an object and then display that data on a JSP based upon other criteria. The data being displayed on the page can be read-only or read-write based upon the type of UI control being used (obviously a label is read-only, but a text field could be read-write).
Data binding tags give enormous possibility. For example, one of the NetUI tags in Workshop is a repeater. If the repeater tag is pointing to an XML document stored in an HttpSession, the repeater is smart enough to provide a set of properties that allow you define how the repeater should display the XML repeating data (list, tabular, raw, etc.). It gets interesting when you apply NetUI within NetUI capabilities.
The NetUI capability we have doesn't bind directly to an EJB or other J2EE component, so what Oracle is doing is unique. NetUI in our contact references a Web-specific object mentioned above. This is necessary because Web applications are done in the context of a user that is managed by the Web application.
This is just cool stuff.
Tyler Jewell
Director, BEA
Send these comments to the JSR comments alias![ Go to top ]
- Posted by: Onno Kluyt
- Posted on: June 26 2003 14:00 EDT
- in response to Tyler Jewell
have you folks considered submitting these excellent comments (expert group formation, scope, etc) to the feedback alias for this JSR (jsr-226-comments at jcp dot org)? During the JSR Review ballot these comments go both to the submitter and to the Executive Committee votingg on the JSR.
Kind regards,
Onno Kluyt
JCP Program Office.
Formalize the complicated, not the trivial...[ Go to top ]
...is what comes to mind if I read such stuff. "Declarative Data Binding" can of course be very complicated, but most approaches (BEA Oracle) I have seen so far are just scratching the surface of the problem. So my experience is basically that they tend to fail in a lot of "real world" situations. Besides "formalizing" bindings to transactional resources will allow for arbitrarly wasteful, resource-locking applications.
- Posted by: Karl Banke
- Posted on: June 30 2003 03:07 EDT
- in response to Floyd Marinescu
If competetion has - in the past 5 or so years given the J2EE space alone - not been able to produce a decent, flexible and usable approach, it is a bit blue-eyed to believe that "standardization" will do.
What I have seen so far, such approaches only work well, if they act upon a quite "constraint" data/object model, as with SAP etc.


text:
Supa troop
Sr Member
"Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him"
Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte... just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you're in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail fin. What we didn't know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin', so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named "The Battle of Waterloo" and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark will go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin' and the hollerin', they all come in and they... rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain's mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us... he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened... waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.'This was no boating accident!'
Been wanting to quote from Quint's epic speech about the USS Indianapolis(?), but I'm damned if I can remember any of it verbatim. So I'll just say:
'A shark has dead eyes, like a doll's eyes...'
(Shaw wrote the speech himself, and apparently when Spielberg heard it he figured he had an actual film on his hands, not just an exploitation thriller, and considered the speech the heart of the movie)


text:
We are a twice monthly challenge site, offering great sketches, inspiration from incredible designers and fabulous prizes courtesy of our generous sponsors. We hope that our sketches jump start your mojo and we look forward to having you play along!
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Traditionally at this time of year, in the doldrums when spring has not yet taken over for winter, lentils are traditional at the table. Often in soups, lentils make a sprightly main course salad or side dish for lunch or dinner.
Traditionally at this time of year, in the doldrums when spring has not yet taken over for winter, lentils are traditional at the table. Often in soups, lentils make a sprightly main course salad or side dish for lunch or dinner. The tiny beans themselves — brown, green or red — provide the protein component for a meatless main or side dish or a hearty soup.
As lentils have origins around the Mediterranean, they partner perfectly with rice, strong cheese like feta, olives, garlic and tomatoes. They have an affinity for strongly flavored herbs as well, such as basil, Italian parsley, dill, thyme and rosemary. Equally, they take to sturdy, flavorful meats like pork, especially sausage and bacon, or lamb, in soups and stews.
Some cooks like to keep the meal entirely meatless and so seek hearty flavors to substitute for the meat products. In this case, vegetables such as tomatoes and mushrooms, especially dried mushrooms, provide the flavor boost.
A real bonus is that lentils cook up quickly, unlike other dried beans. In about 20 minutes of simmering, you can make dinner in a hurry. I always check the pot after they have cooked for 15 minutes, as some lentils cook faster than others and you don't want a pot of mush.
The dried beans keep well on the pantry shelf so they can always be available to match up with a few vegetables and seasonings, providing a nutritious dinner that makes it to the table nearly as quickly as the drive-up window.MEDITERRANEAN LENTIL SALAD Makes 4 servings
Served on lettuce leaves or tossed torn fresh spinach leaves, this is the perfect salad for lunch. Cook up some extra lentils ahead for another day.
1 cup lentils
5 cups water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup black olives (from the deli section), pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 medium-size (tender, inner) stalks celery
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt, fresh ground pepper to taste
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add lentils. Simmer until lentils are tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes, tasting after 15 minutes. Drain; set aside in a large bowl.
2. Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, thyme and olive oil in a separate bowl. Gently toss with lentils while still warm, but not hot.
3. When lentils cool, toss with tomato, olives, feta, celery and parsley. Taste; add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate before serving.WARM LENTIL SALAD Makes 4 servings 2 cups lentils 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed in the hand 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Salt, fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add lentils. Simmer until lentils tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes, tasting for doneness after 15 minutes. Drain.
2. Transfer lentils to a heatproof casserole. Stir in oil, vinegar, onion, garlic, rosemary and parsley. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Keep warm in 225 oven until serving.LENTIL AND RICE SOUP WITH PANCETTA AND ROSEMARY Makes 6 to 8 servings
This recipe, which includes Italian bacon, pancetta, can be made meatless. To do this, I increase the level of seasonings and soak 1/2 to 1 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms for 20 minutes. Then I chop the mushrooms and add them plus the soaking juices, drained through a fine-mesh sieve, to the lentil soup.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely chopped (or dried mushrooms, as above)
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 medium rib celery, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1/2 teaspoon dried crumbled rosemary
1 cup lentils
1 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes, drained, and coarsely chopped
4 cups boiling water
4 cups chicken stock (or mushroom stock, as above)
3/4 cup rice
Salt, fresh ground black pepper, to taste
3/4 cup grated good quality parmesan cheese, for serving
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add pancetta, onion, carrot and celery. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften and turn golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, rosemary, lentils, and tomatoes. Cook, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Add boiling water. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, about 20 to 40 minutes, testing for doneness over the course of cooking starting at about 15 minutes.
3. Add stock, increase heat to high; bring to a boil. Stir in the rice. Reduce heat to a slow, steady simmer. Cover; cook until rice is tender but still firm to the bite, about 15 minutes. Add salt and ground black pepper, to taste. Ladle into warmed bowls; sprinkle generously with grated cheese.
Linda Bassett, author of "From Apple Pie to Pad Thai," teaches American regional cooking and international cuisine at North Shore Community College in Massachusetts. Reach her by e-mail at email@example.com.


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text:
President Obama is expected to address right to work laws today, while speaking in Michigan. Mich. State House Democratic Leader -Elect Tim Greimel discusses lack of transparency by Gov. Rick Snyder and state legislature in run-up to right-to-work vote, how the bill will hurt unions and wages and the likelihood the bill will pass. Greimel calls the vote "slap in the face to democracy."
Updated 7:39 p.m. — Republicans stand on the cusp of delivering a major blow to organized labor, as they prepare to vote Tuesday on legislation to make Michigan – a state linked to unions in the public conscious – a "right to work" state.
Carlos Osorio / AP
About a dozen members of the Michigan Nurses Association stand on the state Capitol steps in Lansing, Mich., Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, protesting right-to-work legislation.
State lawmakers are expected to approve legislation barring rules in workplaces that make union membership a condition of employment. The offensive would mark the culmination of efforts by Midwestern Republican governors to curb labor rights in the heart of industrial America, where unions once loomed large.
President Barack Obama led Democrats on Monday in a counteroffensive, hoping to stymie Republicans in control of Michigan's House and Senate, who could act as soon as Tuesday to approve right to work legislation after approving initial versions of the proposed law last week.
Related: Obama decries right-to-work proposal during trip to Michigan
"These so-called right to work laws, they don't have anything to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics," Obama said in Redford, Mich., where he had planned to travel well before the labor fight erupted last week. "What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money."
But Republicans maintain commanding majorities in Lansing. And Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has said he would sign the legislation if it reached his desk. With that, he would become the latest Republican governor to be elected in 2010 in a Midwestern state to advance legislation meant to curb labor rights. A familiar battle, which played out with such intensity in other states over the last two years, has now found a new epicenter in Michigan.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker memorably pushed legislation through his statehouse that stripped public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights; his initiative prompted a recall election, which the Republican survived in June. Ohio Gov. John Kasich's similar effort to curb bargaining rights was only halted when voters reversed such a law through a ballot initiative.
But Michigan Republicans might now succeed in passing a right to work law, a favorite proposal of conservatives that isn't even on the books in Wisconsin or Ohio. Snyder, who had previously said that seeking such a law wasn't on his agenda, may now preside over one of the most striking symbolic blows to organized labor in some time.
President Obama tells an enthusiastic crowd his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy at the Daimler diesel plant in Detroit. Watch the entire speech.
"I think he's defaulting on his responsibilities," Michigan Democratic Rep. Sander Levin told NBC News on Monday. "It's a cave to the radical right."
Levin was among the group of lawmakers who met on Monday with Snyder to plead with him to veto the legislation, or at least delay a vote in the state legislature. Absent that, Levin said Democrats want Republicans to change their proposal to allow for voters to repeal the law through a ballot initiative, as voters did in Ohio. The Michigan law is coupled with an appropriations bill that would exempt it from a popular vote challenge.
Related: Dems launch blitz to halt 'right to work' law in Michigan
"I would have a very difficult time seeing that get changed," said state Rep. Marty Knollenberg, the chief sponsor of the law in the state House. He contended that the appropriation provision is necessary to help implement the law.
In short, opponents of the Michigan proposal would have little recourse available to challenge the law in the immediate future, making its impact on a union-heavy state like Michigan even more pronounced.
"I think the Republican strategy in doing this so quickly is that they don't want what Wisconsin had, dragging on for so many days," said Bill Ballenger, the editor of the influential "Inside Michigan Politics" newsletter. "This is a blitzkrieg, and Republicans hope it's going to be over and done with tomorrow.
While Republicans in the Michigan Capitol had long pined to advance this law, it languished until after the election. In November, the state's voters rejected an amendment that would have added a right to collective bargaining to the Michigan state constitution. Amid rumblings that the GOP leadership would resurrect the proposal, it was brought to a vote in the state House and state Senate before organized labor and Democrats were effectively able to mobilize.
Democrats have now turned their attention toward Snyder, who had styled himself as a kind of pragmatic Republican who avoided the ideological trench warfare of his fellow partisans, in halting the law. According to congressional Democrats, during a meeting with Snyder the governor said he took their concerns "seriously," though they're less optimistic privately that he'll reverse course.
Organized labor groups are organizing a "day of action" on Tuesday in Lansing, including a march to the state capitol that will likely invoke memories of the tens of thousands of activists who flooded the state house in Madison, Wis., during the height of Walker's legislative battle in 2011.
But Knollenberg said he "can't think of anything" that would prompt him to back off the legislation. Moreover, Knollenberg suggested it's state Republican lawmakers – rather than Snyder – who are driving the effort.
Former Michigan Republican Governor John Engler, who is the president of the business roundtable, joins The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd to talk about President Barack Obama's trip the Michigan, the fiscal cliff, and Michigan's 'right to work' law.
"It certainly started from the legislature, and then it was presented to the governor," he said.
"It wasn't on his priority list, as he indicated," Knollenberg said of Snyder. But once Republicans had gathered adequate support for the proposal, Snyder "adapted his beliefs and saw that this was a real opportunity to put Michigan on the map in terms of creating jobs."
And as the law's passage seems more like a fait accompli, Snyder, if nothing else, will join the ranks of Walker and Kasich. All three will be seriously targeted by Democrats and organized labor in 2014, offering a chance for voters to render their verdict on this trio of Republican antagonists.
For their part, Democrats warn that the toxic partisanship that took hold in Wisconsin and Ohio would now spread to Michigan.
"Instead of Michigan united, it becomes Michigan divided," Levin said. "We've gone from a bipartisan effort to deepening partisanship."
Alternatively, it could enshrine Snyder – a former business executive who postured himself as "one tough nerd" during his 2010 campaign – as a darling of conservatives who wish to further put unions on the defensive.
"For the state, I think it's absolutely monumental," said Stu Sandler, a Republican consultant in Michigan. "It's the most significant piece of legislation in decades, and sends a very strong signal about the direction the state is heading."
Warned one senior labor official, "If this bill is signed, it's going to be Thunderdome between now and 2014."
Knollenberg argued his legislation is only about providing opportunity to the state's workers.
"I just hope that at the end of the day … the unions will then have to sell their story as to why they're benefiting the workers," he said. "I believe that if they can demonstrate their value to their workers, they'll do fine. But they're going to have to work for it."
Update: Not all hope was lost for supporters of organized labor, who believe they would be able to use a citizens initiative under Michigan law to eventually challenge the right-to-work law. Under such a scenario, if labor supporters could gather a higher number of signatories to a petition, they could force a vote to undo the law in 2014. However, the new right-to-work law would be allowed to take effect in the meanwhile.


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Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
After much effort and guesswork I got the sk98lin module compiled with what may be the correct kernel source. The source for 2.6.10-1 was nearly impossible to find.
I have no idea if there are pluto specific kernel patches that need to be applied but the module compiled. It loads and runs although it throws out a kernel tainted error. This may be because I had kernel headers from 2.6.10-6, I don't know.
I had to disable the firewire port in bios because debian was calling that eth0.I reran the kickstart, repartitioned etc, and when the cd ejected and system rebooted I escaped grub to move in my new module.That worked fine but I need to restart the install script for the first boot.Can I just run /usr/pluto/install/Install_Config.sh?