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When you run into a problem while creating your website and you need our help, we usually ask for your project file so we can see what you have done.
So, how do you share your project file?
- first remove all non-relevant content from the project. This means removing all pages that are not relevant to the problem, so we do not have to spend a long time to figure out where to look.
- also remove all extensions and custom/third party HTML and scripts.
- or simply create a new project to duplicate the issue.
Then upload your project (.wbs) to your website or another public server and include the link in your post.
And of course include a clear description of the exact steps to reproduce the problem.
How do I share my project to get help?
Frequently Asked Questions about WYSIWYG Web Builder
1 post • Page 1 of 1
1 post • Page 1 of 1


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Daily-Kos Polls on Obama Birth Issue; Will Obama Become History's "Unnatural President"?
by Bill Smith: While I wouldn't trust the leftist biased DailyKos polling numbers, I found it interesting that they polled Arkansas on the following Question:
Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?
Yes No Not Sure
All 63 17 20
Dem 84 8 8
Rep 33 29 38
Ind 68 16 16
DailyKos added their opinion that "Two-thirds of Arkansas Republicans are deluded conspiracy theorists." Their polling numbers identify that 37% of those polled said no or not sure regarding Obama being born in the United States of America.
As with many polls, the DailyKos sought to highlight what we all already know. While it was interesting to poll what "what one believes." that is not the important issue. The important issue is "Was Barack Obama born in the United States of America?" A president should not leave 37% of those polled in doubt. Omitting even those classified as "birthers," a properly designed detailed polling question would yield a significantly higher percent for those in doubt of his citizenship. For example, the following question would yield a different results: "President Barack Obama has never allowed public access to his birth certificate by even the press and election officials to validate that he was a natural born American Citizen (born in Hawaii verses a foreign country or territory). This situation has caused some people to be concerned about Mr. Obama meeting the requirement of being a natural born citizen to be qualified to be the President of the United States as set forth in the U.S. Constitution. This issue has not been an unresolved issue previously in U.S. history. Note: that all citizens of the United States are required from time to time to provide their birth certificate to meet legal requirements or to obtain benefits and services. Do you believe that Barack Obama should make his birth certificate public to alleviate the unanswered question concerning his meeting the requirement of the U.S. Constitution and thereby allow the citizens of the United States of America to resolve this issue for all time?"
Like other citizens, I have been required to present my birth certificate on numerous occasions. For example, to be sworn in as a commissioned "regular" military officer, I had to provide my birth certificate to prove that I was born in the United States of America. To receive a Top Secret clearance, the U.S. Government investigated to see if I was born in the United States of America. For one of my sons to be validated as a natural-born American, both my wife and I had to provide proof to the State Department overseas and before a Federal Judge in the United States that we were both born in the United States of America. To get my previous diplomatic passport, I had to provide my birth certificate. And there are other situations for which I had to prove that I was born in the United States of America! They same is true for all other U.S. citizens.
While I am not part of or pursuing the interests of the "birther movement," both as a citizen and commissioned military officer, I expect President Obama to do no less than I have done. Mr. Obama is not a potentate but a citizen servant. I would expect him to resolve this issue by demonstrating leadership and by presenting any and all documentation to remove all doubt by citizens of the United States as to his being a natural-born citizen of the united States.
Like many others, I am disappointed that the traditional media failed to do their job and to address this issue prior to the primary so that this issue would not be an issue. They clearly showed a bias unequaled in history and their failure to do so will be judged by history.
It has been almost nine months since Barack Obama took the following oath of office to be President of the United States:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
He previously, took the following oath as Senator:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
By the taking both of these oaths, President Barack Obama has a responsibility to resolve this issue by laying before American citizens his birth certificate and by allowing the press public access to his original birth certificate. This issue will never be hidden in history by the things which Mr. Obama hopes to achieve as President or even by the things he does later in life. If not resolved, Mr. Obama will go down in history as the "Unnatural President" and his actions and his programs will be tainted in history. This can be easily resolved by Mr. Obama presenting his birth certificate as other Americans have done on numerous occasions.
Should "In God We Trust" be removed from US currency?
MSNBC has an online poll asking that very question. Oh how they probably want to see Americans vote "Yes!"
If so, they're most likely extremely disappointed. Currently, the vote stands 89% to 11% in favor of keeping the motto on our dollars and cents. Over 17 million have already voted.
So please do your part and help to keep the vote an overwhelming endorsement of the motto and continue letting the rest of the world know "In God We Trust!"

subset: commoncrawl


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Everyday Witchcraft: Simple Steps for Magical Living
Fun, simple, and easy ways to integrate your spiritual beliefs as a Pagan with your everyday life.
A Reader's Broom
A reader's broom...
No, this is not a special broom covered with books. (Although, HEY!)
One of my readers sent me a note last week, telling me that she was enjoying her copy of The Witch's Broom but...
I've been reading your wonderful book about broom lore, but I suddenly came across something that is disturbing to me. "Never carry a broom across running water." Why??? The reason I ask is because I live on a sailboat for 6 months each year and traverse the coast of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. The water runs fast in the ocean. I was going to make myself a small besom for the boat, but then I read this broom lore in your book and now I don't know if I should?
I wrote Sharon back and told her not to worry--all those bits of old lore are just that, old lore--many of which contradict themselves. I certainly didn't see any reason why she couldn't have a special besom for her boat. I also added that I'd love to see pictures of the broom when it was finished, and she kindly sent me pictures of the entire process, along with permission to share. Thanks, Sharon!
Here's what Sharon said about making the broom:
I will be making my new boat besom from aged Sable Palm leaves (I live in Florida when I'm not sailing) on a piece of bittersweet vine (collected on my sister in law's 200 year old Mass farm). I love the twist of the vine and it's a very dense, hard wood.
I just LOVE the fact that my book inspired Sharon to make her own broom (since that was one of my goals, to inspire people) and that she made it out of materials and based on a theme that suited her own particular needs. Thanks for sharing, Sharon!
Has anyone else been inspired to make a broom? If you haven't made one yet, are you planning to? If so, I'd love to see it what it is done!
In fact...maybe I should have a contest. People could send me pictures of brooms they make, and the one I like best could win something cool...what do you think?
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"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom"
-Henry Ward Beecher
Besides trying his best to figure out how to "work" a hula hoop (which was hilarious, by the way), M had a great week…
Independent Activities:
I bought a Kumon book of crafts a few months ago to keep M busy on a long car trip (it was perfect for that), and he recently re-discovered it when I was sorting through some craft supplies:
There are 80 pages of crafts in this book. It has kept him busy and interested all week long. It's great for scissor practice and folding practice. It calls for glue, but M has (thankfully) chosen to use double stick tape instead. All kinds of neat little things can be made – a dancing dog and a rooster that flaps his wings are two of our favorites so far, As well as this little fishing game:
Making the fish…
The only downside, as you can imagine, is having somewhere near 80 little paper crafts lying around the house. :) Still, I highly recommend it.
Pin punching autumn shapes:
M still really enjoys these. There are two ways to do this – place push pins around the outline of the shapes, like this: Or use one pin to make holes all along the outside of a shape and then punch it out (like a perforated shape). He loves doing both, and they are both great fine motor skill work.
Design and Drill set – well, this was supposed to be a photo of M drilling a design, but then he decided to make hand shadows where the sun was shining on the floor. :) (I wrote more about this great toy a while back in this post, if you are interested.)
We have a drawer full of "dead" batteries. I am not sure why M insists on keeping batteries that are all used up, but we have learned to just not ask questions about these things or we will get an earful on batteries, which may just be his favorite conversation topic ever. Anyway, they came in handy this week when M decided to build a battery tester with his Snap Circuits set: (the railroad track is just there for decoration, because we LOVE stepping over things like that in this house. All. the. time.) Turns out, many of the batteries still had plenty of energy in them to light a 2 watt lightbulb or make a small motor go, so now they've been relocated to the "non-dead" drawer and it's only slightly annoying when we have to go through them again trying to find one that will actually work in something important. ;)
We played a "penny drop" game this week. This was kind of taken from Peggy Kaye's book, Games for Math:
I made a quick chart of numbers 1 through 9 and we took turns tossing or dropping a penny on the page. Whichever number the penny landed on was the number of linking people we would pick and link together.Once they were all gone we looked at our rows and guessed who had more (simple graphing), then counted them to see if we were correct. This was fun, but not much of a challenge for M. However, I love these little linking people and just had to use them for something. ;)
M has been practicing his writing. He seems to have a preference for the letters M T H E and W. ;) An occasional N and A get in there too. He has been seeing how tiny he can write, and then of course I have to read it back to him, which really is about as much fun as you'd imagine. ;)
We played a little game matching up objects with their beginning sounds for a few random letters (based on whatever small wooden pieces I could find lying around, which were originally from Michael's). I had written the word on the back of the objects so we could self-check to see if we had chosen the correct letter. M matched upper case to lower case also: I was glad to find that he didn't have any difficulty with this, seeing as how we didn't do much of this sort of thing over the summer.
We also played a feeling game with the large foam letters. M would close his eyes (he decided against a blindfold, very emphatically) and picked a letter. He would feel it for several seconds and make a guess. I usually gave him a choice between two letters and he did really great!
But I don't quite understand the bare shoulder thing going on here, or why he insists on wearing snowman pajamas already. :)
M also made up a little story this week and had me write it down on his whiteboard so he could copy it: I do not take dictation as quickly as he'd like, so I may have missed a few parts. :) I think this is a great idea for helping him focus on spelling and phonics. In the near future I plan to see if he would like to make up a story for me to type out for him, and then have him try to sound out some of the easier words… we'll see how it goes. He is definitely more interested in this kind of thing if it builds on something he's already created.
Art/ Sensory/ Spelling/ Science:
This was the hit of the week. You can read about it in this post from earlier in the week.
Creative Play:
M was awfully proud of the suspension "bridge", which was actually more of an entire suspension track, that he made:The photo is not terribly clear, but he had an entire train track built up in the air around our living room, held up here and there by whatever was handy. His trains actually went around the whole thing a few times, until of course the inevitable and spectacular crash happened. :)
M went to a Build and Grow class at Lowe's (for children 5 and up) and got to build this little wooden monster truck with a real flashing light and glow-in-the-dark stickers. :) He was very proud of himself and enjoyed hammering real nails into wood! The apron and safety goggles, as well as the supplies for building the truck were all free. This is a great program, and Home Depot has a similar one. I highly recommend it for any wood craft lovers out there!!
And we made some delicious pumpkin muffins:I wish I could pass them around to all of you, they were the perfect treat for this time of year!
I am linking this post up to Preschool Corner and Weekly Wrap-Up. Check them out for some great homeschooling posts!
Have a toasty warm and beautiful day! :)


text:
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- This event has passed.
Happy Hour
June 15, 2018 @ 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 3:00 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, repeating until January 31, 2019
Celebrate Happy Hour in our Tap Room Monday through Saturday from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Enjoy daily drink specials and Happy Hour discounted prices on our menu. Seating in the Tap Room is first come, first serve.


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disapprove of (someone or something)(redirected from disapprove of her)
disapprove of (someone or something)
To regard someone or something as unacceptable or inappropriate. The boss frequently disapproves of our very long lunches on Friday afternoons. My mother disapproves of the length of my skirt, but I think it's just fine.
See also: disapprove, of
disapprove of someone or something
to object to someone or something. I disapprove of her choice for maid of honor. Do you disapprove of me?
See also: disapprove, of


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I am trying to create a windows mobile visual studio project and i get the following error:
"Error 1 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp_glActiveTexture referenced in function WinMain"
I am using GLES2 and EGL libraries from the example code of the book "OpenGL ES 2.0 Programming Guide".
Does anyone has a sample WM6 project for reference?
Does anyone has bumped into the same problem and have any solution?
Any help will be usefull…


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Edited by: Rafael Benoliel, BDS
Official Journal of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain, and the European, Australian, Asian, and Ibero-Latin Academies of Craniomandibular Disorders.
Formerly known as the Journal of Craniomandibular Disorders: Facial & Oral Pain, this journal continues to combine the work of dental and medical professionals involved in treating temporomandibular disorders. It discusses prevailing research, diagnostic techniques, and treatment therapies for orofacial pain, headache, mandibular dysfunction, and occlusion. Pharmacology, physical therapy, surgery, and other pain management methods are covered.
4 issues per year.
Annual subscription rates (in US dollars).


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The decision to create & accept the offer was made in 2008 - set in motion in 2009 - and, now, they're spending their time w/ attorneys making sure to cover their asses.
Case in point - that *one* commercial that Mel Conmazin had produced a couple of years ago. You know, the web-only 30 second commercial that looked to be produced by an intern.
In a court of law, being stupid and making mistakes is not a crime. So, they're doing what they *have* to do so as they can have a defense, should it ever go to that level.
Conmazin sold this company to Malone a loooooonnnnnggggg time ago…and the bastard got $300mm+ in stock sells to make the deal.
That is the number one reason why I took my money off the table and only have shares that were purchased by gains.


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Does anyone know enough about Perfect Resize to tell me what is going on and if the program does up-ressing by cutting the image into sections, enlarging, then "relaying" them (and perhaps the relaying is not done perfectly)?
Bart, regarding your comment about "care should be taken when reassembling..." not sure what that means as the program did its thing, I had no input in reassembling.
Does anyone have anything on a comparison between Perfect Resize and the new resize algorithms in PSCC?
Jin Kasson did a series on Resampling for printing http://blog.kasson.com/?p=500He found Perfect Resize or Qimage better than Photoshop or LR for resampling.
No matter what you do [you] have to view a print for the final analysis..... this can easily be a crop printed to a much smaller size. Victor
Thanks for the ink, John. There have been some changes in Lr since that post, and for the better. Lr 3 did interpolation in linear RGB, and LR 4 does it in gamma-corrected RGB. That means that LR 4 results are virtually the same as Ps Bicubic Automatic, which I find good enough for prints not destined for exhibition or sale.There are some details and example images here.Jim
In the tests I did using CS6 (and Lightroom), for a Webinar and going out to print (you gotta print!), Photoshop did a better job and a lot faster! LR with proper capture sharpening was even a tad better. If you're working with really tiny files, like stuff off the web, and need to go really big, these products can be useful. Otherwise, use Photoshop or better, LR. But whatever you do, do NOT try to evaluate the qualities of the upsizing by viewing on a display. Make a print, even an 8x10 of an area that requires close examination.


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Supper bowls for the Super Bowl
While most folks will probably be watching the face-off between the Saints and the Colts (not to mention a performance by The Who at half-time!)at house parties this Sunday, there are plenty of restaurants showing the game. That's good news if you don't have a big screen TV, or know someone who does. Of course, while Wild Wings Caf© and Buffalo Wild Wings are some obvious Super Bowl 44 watching choices, with their multiple big screen offerings and festive atmospheres, there are other choices as well.
Down in Belmont, The Local is inviting folks to watch the game and enjoy a Super Bowl menu for foodies, featuring crab dip on toast points, an Ayrshire Farms burger, chicken wings, and nachos with Guinness chili and house pickled jalapenos. Guadalajara on Pantops is also making a Super Bowl run, having recently install three 32-inch TVs for the event.
There's also the Lazy Parrot Grill in the Pantops Shopping Center, which boasts 19 TVs and a reputation for having one of the most fun crowds in town for football games throughout the season.
Of course, any place that has a TV is likely to have it tuned into the game, and if it isn't, well, how could any restaurant owner deny a request to change the channel?


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Controversy sparks over Trayvon Martin memorial
City of Sanford holds community meeting over 17-year-old's memorial
SANFORD, Fla. – Controversy is sparking over the new location for a memorial for Trayvon Martin, the Sanford teen who was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.
Around 100 people attended a meeting Monday night over the relocation of a memorial from the Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood where Martin was shot and killed Feb. 26.
Some residents felt moving it was disrespectful to move it and saw it as a way to remember the 17-year-old.
"We want the memorial back up," said resident Turner Clayton of the NAACP. "It is not on display in the museum, it's packed away in a box."
Others who lived in the neighborhood wanted the memorial moved, saying it was an eyesore and cast their neighborhood in a bad light.
"They were taken to be preserved at the Sanford Museum," said Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte. "That angered some people."
The question over how to memorialize Martin grew into a discussion about what to do about the other 25 recent deaths in Sanford and if other memorials around town should be relocated. Clayton pointed out other memorials around town should be treated the same way.
"The city has not as of today answered any questions to my satisfaction as to why this particular memorial was removed in the first place," he said.
Clayton says Martin's memorial doesn't mean that only he should be singled out.
"I think it's important that Trayvon be singled out for a memorial that doesn't mean there can't be another memorial for other victims of violence," he said.
It's not clear what will be done with the items from the original memorial and where the new memorial will be put up. Bonaparte said the city will look at roadside memorial laws in other cities to compare.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Maulik Pancholy
See You in SeptemberHD
IMDb: 4.7
91 min
See You in September is an original romantic comedy set in current day Manhattan. The film centers around Lindsay, a beautiful woman who seemingly has ...
Actors: Estella Warren, Liza Lapira, Justin Kirk, David Eigenberg, Sandra Bernhard, Lindsey Kraft, Michael Rispoli, Michael Hyatt, Raushanah Simmons, James McDaniel, Maulik Pancholy, Christopher Sieber, Joel Marsh Garland, Jason Kravits, Brian Anthony Wilson
Super Buddies
IMDb: 4.5
81 min
Watch the fur fly as a new breed of superhero is born in Disneys fun-filled epic adventure. An ordinary day at Fernfield Farms turns extraordinary ...
Genres: Family
Actors: Trey Loney, John Ratzenberger, Michael Teigen, Sam Adler, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Darien Provost, Harley Graham, Jeremy Shinder, Cooper Roth, G. Hannelius, Ty Panitz, Maulik Pancholy, Chris Coppola, Amy Sedaris, Tenzing Norgay Trainor
Scooby-Doo! Legend of the PhantosaurHD
IMDb: 6.8
75 min
When the Scooby Doo gang encounters the horrible Phantosaur, they investigate to find out what's really behind this prehistoric haunting.
Actors: Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard, Cathy Cavadini, John DiMaggio, Michael Gough, Matthew Gray Gubler, Finola Hughes, Maulik Pancholy, Kevin Michael Richardson, Fred Willard, Dave Wittenberg, Gwendoline Yeo, Nick Palatas
Star Trek: Discovery - S01Eps15
IMDb: 6.8
Ten years before Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things ...
Genres: Sci-Fi
Actors: Jason Isaacs, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Michelle Yeoh, Maulik Pancholy, Kenneth Mitchell, Mary Wiseman, Clare McConnell, Damon Runyan, Terry Serpico, Rekha Sharma, Sam Vartholomeos, Emily Coutts, Rainn Wilson


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Important Shipping Info Click Here
Returns Guarantee
Traverse fitting kit required for perfect fit of the roof rack to a specific car. Compatible with Thule Traverse 480 and 480R Feet only.
This product will be shipped directly from Thule and will leave their warehouse in 2-3 business days. Eligible for ground shipping only.


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07565 891795
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Exchanging LinksLinks to this site from other sites are always welcome.
Please contact us if you know of a site that might appropriately be added to this section, preferably on a reciprocal basis.
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Here are some website resources that you may find of interest or that might assist you in planning your self-catering cottage holiday in Northumberland.
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Wednesday 3 June 2020
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Your best source for local part-time and full-time job opportunities. Find job listings or create a job posting, with Love Small Town America, great small town jobs are just around the corner.
Want your job opening listed? Email us today!
If you'd like to learn about other businesses in Erie, view the Businesses page.


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See what questions
a doctor would ask.
Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome: A rare chromosomal disorder where part of the short arm (p15-16) of chromosome 4 is deleted resulting in various abnormalities which are determined by the size of the deleted portion. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome is available below.
See full list of 18 symptoms of Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome
Read more about causes of Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome.
Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome:
Types of Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome
Read about other experiences, ask a question about Chromosome 4p15-16 deletion syndrome, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:
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By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use. Information provided on this site is for informational purposes only; it is not intended as a substitute for advice from your own medical team. The information on this site is not to be used for diagnosing or treating any health concerns you may have - please contact your physician or health care professional for all your medical needs. Please see our Terms of Use.
Copyright © 2014 Health Grades Inc. All rights reserved. Last Update: 13 August, 2015 (4:43)


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Man who escaped from mental hospital captured
State police say they've captured an assault suspect a day after he climbed a fence to escape from a western Pennsylvania mental hospital.
Troopers from the Greensburg barracks say 21-year-old Steven Michael Barron ran into the woods next to Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township after escaping shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Barron was captured about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, though police did not say in a news release Thursday how or where that happened and a barracks spokesman didn't immediately return a call for comment.
Barron had been court-committed to the facility and was known to be volatile and proficient with knives.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Barron, of Crabtree, a small village about 15 miles west of the mental hospital.
He remained jailed Thursday on an escape charge, awaiting a preliminary hearing July 17.


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Sometimes you see a get-away vacation spot on a television commercial that is so breathtakingly beautiful, you wonder if it's for real. My husband and I both wanted to know if the commercial measured up to the real deal, so he booked a three-day, 2-night stay for us at the Blue Harbor Resort & Spa in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
Now I know why a picture is worth a thousand words.
First, the massive Victorian style architecture of the Blue Harbor Resort & Spa sits majestically, like a castle on a bluff, the only hotel in town overlooking Lake Michigan's spectacular views. David Sanderson, the General Manager, says it's truly "a classic lakeside resort & spa, which he's proud to share with year-round hotel guests as well as conference attendees."
The resort, first opened in 2004, recently had a multi-million dollar renovation and upgrade by its new owners, Claremont New Frontier LLC, in 2011. Their goal is to widen the appeal to families, couples, golfers, boaters, destination weddings and corporate groups. And it seems to be working as the hotel, though filled with guests, still has an airy, spacious look as we wandered around. We enjoyed the common areas, including a beautifully upgraded lobby with panoramic vistas of the Lake in the background. It was a pleasure to relax in the lobby's comfortable chairs and sitting areas with a good book or the complimentary USA Today.
According to Sanderson, all 182-guest suites have been updated recently to create a more sophisticated feel and capitalize on lake views and the in-suite fireplaces. Each suite has new plush pillow top bedding, flat screen TVs and updated bath amenities. As we were due for some rest and relaxation, my husband and I took advantage of the time to catchi up on some catnaps and television shows we never have time to watch. Stephen, my husband, had a Cheshire grin on his face as he bathed in the whirlpool bath.
People watching became our vacation hobby as we watched couples, parents with children of all ages, groups of teenagers and, especially, a family reunion with several generations and an extended family enjoying their time. Personally, I love the refreshing idea of a resort that is able to cater to all generations at the same time – without one group monopolizing all the activities or special areas at one time.
When it was beauty time, I booked our first-ever Couple's Massage. I hardly knew Stephen was in the room as I drifted off into massage heaven. Thanks to Sue Ellen Conn and Josie Ortiz for that. A really nice touch was when the two masseuses were waiting for us to get dressed; then handed each of us fresh water with lemon to rejuvenate our relaxed bodies and minds.
Thanks to Lee Ann Maniaci, the delightful spa manager, who coordinated our spa treatments. I had an Aveda facial with Audrey Schmeling, who had me smell some of the luscious facial creams that brightened me up until my next one.
Other new enhancements include a new outdoor swimming pool and poolside facilities in the waterpark area. The Resort has also renovated almost 17,000 square feet of meeting space, with a Grand Ballroom, which can be partitioned into seven meeting spaces.
Would I recommend Blue Harbor Resort & Spa? Yes, I give it the five-star Cutler award for ambiance, amenities, staff, spa, food…and I hope I didn't leave anything out.
Located on the shore of Lake Michigan in Sheboygan, the resort is completing a multi-million dollar upgrade and renovation
This Classic Lakeside Resort is less than a two-hour drive from Chicago and one hour drive from Milwaukee. The 182 all-suite Blue Harbor Resort & Spa is a beautiful Victorian landmark on the shores of Lake Michigan. The resort is located in Harbor Centre District at 725 Blue Harbor Drive in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 53081. For more information and reservations visit: www.BlueHarborResort.com or call 866-701-2583 (BLUE).
Photos: Courtesy of Blue Harbor Resort & Spa


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WASHINGTON COUNTY A Burleson County Grand Jury declined to indict the man who shot and killed a Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy who was serving a search warrant in December.
Investigators were executing a search warrant at Henry McGee's mobile home near Snook when the shooting happened.
News 3 takes a look at why deputies had targeted McGee's home.
28-year-old Henry Magee is no longer charged in the shooting death of Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Sowders.
A grand jury decided there wasn't enough evidence for him to stand trial on the capital murder charge.
McGee admitted to shooting Sowders before sunrise on December 19th while the deputy and other investigators were serving a no knock search warrant for drugs at McGee's mobile home near Snook.
Magee's Defense Attorney Dick DeGuerin says his client thought someone was breaking into his home and fired to protect his pregnant girlfriend and himself.
"Well we feel that the grand jury acted fairly and reasonably and had all of the information that it needed to make the decision that it did. That is that this was a justified shooting and, but we need to say that this is a tragedy," Dick DeGuerin said.
The SWAT Team found less than five pounds of marijuana plants growing inside and the grand jury indicted him for possession of marijuana while in possession of a deadly weapon.
"It need not have happened. They could have walked up to his house in the daylight and he would have let him in or they could have stopped him as he left his house to go to the store," said DeGuerin.
Our attempts to reach Sheriff Dale Stroud were unsuccessful.
The District Attorney's office released a statement saying,
"The Burleson County Sheriff's Office would not have been there that day if Mr. Magee had not decided to live a lifestyle of doing and producing illegal drugs in his home. Therefore, we will fully prosecute the drug charges against him."
Sowders had recently been promoted and had requested the search warrant after a tip from an informant.
Burleson County District Attorney Julie Renken wouldn't say if she'll present the case again to a different grand jury.
Magee remains in jail on felony drug charges.
His bond has been lowered to $50,000.
*Previous Story*
A Somerville man, charged with Capital Murder in the shooting death of a Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy, has been no-billed by a Grand Jury.
28-year-old Henry Magee was charged with Capital Murder, but Magee's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, confirmed to News 3 Thursday morning that the charge is being dropped.
Magee was indicted for Possession of Marijuana by the same grand jury. He is now waiting on bond to be set at the Washington County Jail.
Magee was accused of shooting and killing Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Sowders in a "no-knock" raid on Decemeber 19, 2013. Information released January 14th on the raid near Somerville, revealed what deputies were searching for inside Magee's mobile home.
In the process of executing that search warrant, Sowders was shot and killed. The Burleson County Sheriff's Office says the search warrant was issued after an informant claimed Magee had stolen guns and illegal drugs inside his mobile home. The informant had been arrested days earlier, but said he had been in Magee's home as recently as the day of his arrest and saw the drugs.
On December 13th, court documents show an informant told a Burleson County Sheriff's investigator he saw 12 to 15 marijuana plants growing inside Henry Magee's home on County Road 278 near Somerville.
According to the informant, Magee was a known dealer who had grown drugs in his home and, quote, "supplies numerous people around the Snook area with marijuana." The informant also claimed he saw rifles, along with a handgun that had "Washington County Sheriff's Office" etched on top, possibly a weapon stolen in a home burglary months earlier.
Deputy Adam Sowders filed for a search warrant, and requested to enter Magee's home without knocking or announcing law enforcement's presence. He gave multiple reasons based on what the informant had told investigators, including the fact that Magee had been overheard saying he wasn't afraid to use his weapons, he may have an aggressive dog, and that Magee could potentially destroy the drugs.
Sowders said he thought giving Magee notice would be, quote, "dangerous, futile, or would inhibit the effective investigation." A Burleson County Judge approved the warrant on December 18, 2013, and in the early morning hours of December 19, a SWAT team made the entry into Magee's home.
The court documents say quote, "By Magee's own admission he heard and observed the entry made by the SWAT team."
Deputy Adam Sowders was shot and killed.
Magee's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, has said Magee fired shots in an effort to defend himself, his pregnant girlfriend and his property from unknown intruders.
Texas Rangers were called in to collect evidence. Inside Magee's home, they say they found a sophisticated marijuana grow operation and several firearms.
DeGuerin has said all weapons found were legally owned.
Press Release from the 21st Judicial District Attorney's Office
Burleson County
On February 5, 2014, the 21st Judicial District Grand Jury returned a No Bill on Capital Murder charges against Henry Goedrick Magee, II, who was the individual who shot and killed Investigator Sergeant Adam Sowders on December 19, 2013 in Burleson County, Texas. Sergeant Sowders was a member of the Burleson County SWAT team that executed a "no-knock" search warrant on Magee's residence. The Grand Jury did, however, return an indictment for "Possession of Marijuana more than 4 oz. but less than 5 lbs." while in possession of a deadly weapon, a third degree felony. A third degree felony has a range of punishment for 2-10 years.
Statement from Julie Renken, 21st Judicial District Attorney:
"December 19, 2013 was a tragic day for the Sowders' family and Burleson County, Texas. Investigator Sergeant Adam Sowders was a law enforcement officer who was passionate about serving his community. He was generous, respectful and admired in Burleson County and by our office."
"The events on December 19, 2013 are tragic. In my opinion, the Burleson County Sheriff's Office did nothing illegal by securing and executing a "no knock" search warrant that day. I believe the evidence also shows that an announcement was made. However, there is not enough evidence that Mr. Magee knew that day that Peace Officers were entering his home. The events occurred in a matter of seconds amongst chaos. The self-defense laws in Texas are viewed in the mindset of the actor, not the victim, which allows for tragedies to occur when one party is acting lawfully, but it can be reasonably seen as a threat of deadly force by another. However, the Burleson County Sheriff's Office would not have been there that day if Mr. Magee had not decided to live a lifestyle of doing and producing illegal drugs in his home. Therefore, we will fully prosecute the drug charges against him. This event should wake the community up that drug crimes are not victimless."


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So Much More
If you've come to this page as a group tour provider or student trip planner, you're about to learn just how much there is to see and do in our little piece of the world. Nature, History, Culture; we have it all and what follows is but a taste of the diversity venues, services and attractions to more than fill the days and nights of a hub-and-spoke sojourn in the Lowcountry.
- Ace Basin Tours
- ARTworks
- Beaufort Art Association Gallery
- Beaufort Kayak Tours
- Beaufort River Tours
- Coastal Discovery Museum
- Cypress Wetland and Nature Preserve – Port Royal
- Historic Beaufort Foundation
- Hunting Island State Park Nature Center
- Parris Island Museum
- Penn Center
- Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge
- Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
- Union Church Museum
- USCB Center for the Arts


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Geology is the study of the earth's materials, its surface and internal processes, and its history.
Geology majors learn to identify and interpret minerals, rocks and fossils. They study the modern processes that act on the earth. They learn to use a variety of maps and aerial photographs to interpret both modern processes and geologic history. Geology majors also spend a great deal of time in the outdoors learning to interpret geology in the field. Field trips are an important aspect of the major experience at Snow College.
Find us on Facebook! Snow College Geology


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The role of the United States in the Vietnam War began after World War II and escalated into full commitment during the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975. The U.S. involvement in South Vietnam stemmed from 20 long years of political and economic action. These had the common incentive of ending the growing communist domination in Vietnam. At the time, French forces, allies of the U.S., were backed by America — President Harry S. Truman provided progressively increasing amounts of financial and military assistance to French forces fighting in Vietnam. From the spring of 1950, their involvement increased from just assisting French troops to providing direct military assistance to the associated states (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia). Eventually, U.S. missions were carried out at a more constant rate by sending out increasing number of military assistance from the United States. Their main intent was to restrict the Communist domination that was present in the government of Vietnam as it would soon lead to a chain of neighbouring countries adopting the same. This would have resulted in a change in balance of power throughout Southeast Asia. Essentially, the U.S. saw their major security interests being disturbed due to the rise of the communist expansion and strived to take any measure to end it[1]. Estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000[2] to 3,812,000.[3] The conflict also resulted in 58,318 US soldiers dead.[4]
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Feb 1965 - Operation Rolling Thunder begins
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In 1961 the new administration of President John F. Kennedy remained essentially committed to the bi-partisan, anti-communist foreign policies inherited from the administrations of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. During 1961, his first year in office, Kennedy found himself faced with a three-part crisis: The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba; the construction of the Berlin Wall by the Soviets; and a negotiated settlement between the pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement. Fearing that another failure on the part of the U.S. to stop communist expansion would fatally damage U.S. credibility with its allies, Kennedy realized, "Now we have a problem in making our power credible... and Vietnam looks like the place."[15] The commitment to defend South Vietnam was reaffirmed by Kennedy on May 11 in National Security Action Memorandum 52, which became known as "The Presidential Program for Vietnam". Its opening statement reads:
U.S. objectives and concept of operations [are] to prevent communist domination of South Vietnam; to create in that country a viable and increasingly democratic society, and to initiate, on an accelerated basis, a series of mutually supporting actions of a military, political, economic, psychological, and covert character designed to achieve this objective.[16]
Kennedy was intrigued by the idea of utilizing United States Army Special Forces for counterinsurgency conflicts in Third World countries threatened by the new "wars of national liberation". Originally intended for use behind front lines after a conventional invasion of Europe, Kennedy believed that the guerrilla tactics employed by Special Forces would be effective in the "brush fire" war in South Vietnam. He saw British success in using such forces during the Malayan Emergency as a strategic template. Thus in May 1961 Kennedy sent detachments of Green Berets to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers in guerrilla warfare.
The Diệm regime had been initially able to cope with the insurgency of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, or derogatively, Viet Cong) in South Vietnam with the aid of U.S. matériel and advisers, and, by 1962, seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Senior U.S. military leaders received positive reports from the U.S. commander, General Paul D. Harkins of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, or MACV. By the following year, however, cracks began to appear in the façade of success. In January a possible victory that was turned into a stunning defeat for government forces at the Battle of Ap Bac caused consternation among both the military advisers in the field and among politicians in Washington, D.C. JFK also indicated to Walter Cronkite that the war may be unwinnable, and that it was ultimately a Vietnamese war, not an American war.[17]
Diệm was already growing unpopular with many of his countrymen because of his administration's nepotism, corruption, and its apparent bias in favor of the Catholic minority—of which Diệm was a part—at the expense of the Buddhist majority. This contributed to the impression of Diệm's rule as an extension of the French Colonial regime. Promised land reforms were not instituted, and Diệm's strategic hamlet program for village self-defense (and government control) was a disaster. The Kennedy administration grew increasingly frustrated with Diệm. In 1963, a crackdown by Diệm's forces was launched against Buddhist monks protesting discriminatory practices and demanding a political voice. Diệm's repression of the protests sparked the so-called Buddhist Revolt, during which several monks committed self-immolation, which was covered in the world press. The communists took full advantage of the situation and fueled anti-Diệm sentiment to create further instability.
On July 27, 1964, 5,000 additional U.S. military advisers were ordered to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN or South Vietnam), bringing the total American troop level to 21,000. Shortly thereafter an incident occurred off the coast of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) that was destined to escalate the conflict to new levels and lead to the full scale Americanization of the war.
On the evening of August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox was conducting an electronic intelligence collection mission in international waters (even as claimed by North Vietnam) in the Gulf of Tonkin when it was attacked by three P-4 torpedo boats of the North Vietnamese Navy.[18] Reports later reached the Johnson administration saying that the Maddox was under attack. Two nights later, after being joined by the destroyer C. Turner Joy, the Maddox again reported that both vessels were under attack (this event, which took place under adverse weather conditions, in fact never occurred).[citation needed] Regardless, President Johnson addressed Congress asking for more political power to utilize American military forces in South Vietnam, using the attack on the Maddox as cause to get what he wanted.
There was rampant confusion in Washington, but the incident was seen by the administration as the perfect opportunity to present Congress with "a pre-dated declaration of war" in order to strengthen weakening morale in South Vietnam through reprisal attacks by the U.S. on the North.[19] Even before confirmation of the phantom attack had been received in Washington, President Johnson had decided that an attack could not go unanswered.
Just before midnight he appeared on television and announced that retaliatory air strikes were underway against North Vietnamese naval and port facilities. Neither Congress nor the American people learned the whole story about the events in the Gulf of Tonkin until the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1969. It was on the basis of the administration's assertions that the attacks were "unprovoked aggression" on the part of North Vietnam, that the United States Congress approved the Southeast Asia Resolution (also known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) on August 7. The law gave the President broad powers to conduct military operations without an actual declaration of war. The resolution passed unanimously in the House of Representatives and was opposed in the Senate by only two members.
National Security Council members, including United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and General Maxwell Taylor, agreed on November 28 to recommend that Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of the bombing of North Vietnam.
In February 1965, a U.S. air base at Pleiku, in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, was attacked twice by the NLF, resulting in the deaths of over a dozen U.S. personnel. These guerrilla attacks prompted the administration to order retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam.
Operation Rolling Thunder was the code name given to a sustained strategic bombing campaign targeted against the North by aircraft of the U.S. Air Force and Navy that was inaugurated on March 2, 1965. Its original purpose was to bolster the morale of the South Vietnamese and to serve as a signaling device to Hanoi. U.S. airpower would act as a method of "strategic persuasion", deterring the North Vietnamese politically by the fear of continued or increased bombardment. Rolling Thunder gradually escalated in intensity, with aircraft striking only carefully selected targets. When that did not work, its goals were altered to destroying North Vietnam's will to fight by destroying the nation's industrial base, transportation network, and its (continually increasing) air defenses. After more than a million sorties were flown and three-quarters of a million tons of bombs were dropped, Rolling Thunder was ended on November 11, 1968.[20]
Other aerial campaigns (Operation Barrel Roll, Operation Steel Tiger, Operation Tiger Hound, and Operation Commando Hunt) were directed to counter the flow of men and material down the PAVN logistical system that flowed from North Vietnam through southeastern Laos, and into South Vietnam known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
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President Johnson had already appointed General William C. Westmoreland to succeed General Harkins as Commander of MACV in June 1964. Under Westmoreland, the expansion of American troop strength in South Vietnam took place. American forces rose from 16,000 during 1964 to more than 553,000 by 1969. With the U.S. decision to escalate its involvement, ANZUS Pact allies Australia and New Zealand agreed to contribute troops and matériel to the conflict. They were quickly joined by the Republic of Korea (second only to the Americans in troop strength), Thailand, and the Philippines. The U.S. paid for (through aid dollars) and logistically supplied all of the allied forces.
Meanwhile, political affairs in Saigon were finally settling down — at least as far as the Americans were concerned. On February 14 the most recent military junta, the National Leadership Committee, installed Air Vice-Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ as prime minister. In 1966, the junta selected General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu to run for president with Ky on the ballot as the vice-presidential candidate in the 1967 election. Thieu and Ky were elected and remained in office for the duration of the war. In the presidential election of 1971, Thieu ran for the presidency unopposed. With the installation of the Thieu and Ky government (the Second Republic), the U.S. had a pliable, stable, and semi-legitimate government in Saigon with which to deal.
With the advent of Rolling Thunder, American airbases and facilities needed to be constructed and manned for the aerial effort. The defense of those bases would not be entrusted to the South Vietnamese. So, on March 8, 1965, 3,500 United States Marines came ashore at Da Nang as the first wave of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam, adding to the 25,000 U.S. military advisers already in place. On May 5 the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade became the first U.S. Army ground unit committed to the conflict in South Vietnam. On August 18, Operation Starlite began as the first major U.S. ground operation, destroying an NLF stronghold in Quảng Ngãi Province. The NLF learned from their defeat and subsequently tried to avoid fighting an American-style ground war by reverting to small-unit guerrilla operations.
The North Vietnamese had already sent units of their regular army into southern Vietnam beginning in late 1964. Some officials in Hanoi had favored an immediate invasion of the South, and a plan was developed to use PAVN units to split southern Vietnam in half through the Central Highlands. The two imported adversaries first faced one another during Operation Silver Bayonet, better known as the Battle of the Ia Drang. During the savage fighting that took place, both sides learned important lessons. The North Vietnamese, who had taken horrendous casualties, began to adapt to the overwhelming American superiority in air mobility, supporting arms, and close air support by moving in as close as possible during confrontations, thereby negating the effects of the above. The Americans learned that PAVN (which was basically a light infantry force) was not a rag-tag band of guerrillas, but was instead a highly disciplined, proficient, and well motivated force.
On November 27, 1965, the Pentagon declared that if the major operations needed to neutralize North Vietnamese and NLF forces were to succeed, U.S. troop levels in South Vietnam would have to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000. In a series of meetings between Westmoreland and the President held in Honolulu in February 1966, Westmoreland argued that the U.S. presence had succeeded in preventing the immediate defeat of the South Vietnamese government but that more troops would be necessary if systematic offensive operations were to be conducted. The issue then became in what manner American forces would be used.
The nature of the American military's strategic and tactical decisions made during this period would color the conduct and nature of the conflict for the duration of the American commitment. Classical military logic demanded that the U.S. attack the locus of PAVN/NLF in the North. If that country could not be invaded, then the enemy's logistical system in Laos and Cambodia should be cut by ground forces, isolating the southern battlefield. However, political considerations limited U.S. military actions, mainly because of the memory of communist reactions during the Korean War. Ever present in the minds of diplomats, military officers, and politicians was the possibility of a spiraling escalation of the conflict into a superpower confrontation and the possibility of a nuclear exchange. Therefore, there would be no invasion of North Vietnam, the "neutrality" of Laos and Cambodia would be respected, and Rolling Thunder would not resemble the bombing of Germany and Japan during the Second World War.
These limitations were not foisted upon the military as an afterthought. Before the first U.S. soldiers came ashore at Da Nang, the Pentagon was cognizant of all of the parameters that would be imposed by their civilian leaders, yet they still agreed that the mission could be accomplished within them. Westmoreland believed that he had found a strategy that would either defeat North Vietnam or force it into serious negotiations. Attrition was to be the key. The general held that larger offensive operations would grind down the communists and eventually lead to a "crossover point" in PAVN/NLF casualties after which a decisive (or at least political) victory would be possible.
It is widely held that the average U.S. serviceman was nineteen years old, as evidenced by the casual reference in a pop song ("19" by Paul Hardcastle); the figure is cited by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman ret. of the Killology Research Group in his 1995 book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (p. 265). However, it is disputed by the[21] Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network Website, which claims the average age of MOS 11B personnel was 22. This compares with 26 years of age for those who participated in World War II. Soldiers served a one-year tour of duty. The average age of the U.S. military men who died in Vietnam was 22.8 years old.[22]
The one-year tour of duty deprived units of experienced leadership. As one observer put it, "we were not in Vietnam for 10 years, but for one year 10 times."[23] As a result, training programs were shortened. Some NCOs were referred to as "Shake 'N' Bake" to highlight their accelerated training. Unlike soldiers in World War II and Korea, there were no secure rear areas in which to get rest and relaxation.[citation needed] One unidentified soldier said to United Press International that there was nothing to do in Vietnam and therefore many of the men smoked marijuana. He said, "One of the biggest reasons that a lot of GIs do get high over here is there is nothing to do. This place is really a drag; it's a bore over here. Like right now sitting around here, we are getting loaded. Whereas, it doesn't really get you messed up; that's I guess the main reason why we smoke it."[24]
American forces would conduct operations against PAVN forces, pushing them further back into the countryside away from the heavily populated coastal lowlands. In the backcountry the U.S. could fully utilize its superiority in firepower and mobility to bleed the enemy in set-piece battles. The cleaning-out of the NLF and the pacification of the villages would be the responsibility of the South Vietnamese military. The adoption of this strategy, however, brought Westmoreland into direct conflict with his Marine Corps commander, General Lewis W. Walt, who had already recognized the security of the villages as the key to success. Walt had immediately commenced pacification efforts in his area of responsibility, but Westmoreland was unhappy, believing that the Marines were being underutilized and fighting the wrong enemy. In the end, MACV won out and Westmoreland's search and destroy concept, predicated on the attrition of enemy forces, won the day.
Both sides chose similar strategies. PAVN, which had been operating a more conventional, large-unit war, switched back to small-unit operations in the face of U.S. military capabilities. The struggle moved to the villages, where the "hearts and minds" of the South Vietnamese peasants, whose cooperation was absolutely necessary to military success, would be won or lost. The U.S. had given responsibility for this struggle to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), whose troops and commanders were notoriously unfit for the task.
For the American soldier, whose doctrine was one of absolute commitment to total victory, this strategy led to a frustrating small-unit war. Most of the combat was conducted by units smaller than battalion-size (the majority at the platoon level). Since the goal of the operations was to kill the enemy, terrain was not taken and held as in previous wars. Savage fighting and the retreat of the communists was immediately followed by the abandonment of the terrain just seized. Combined with this was the anger and frustration engendered among American troops by the effective tactics of the NLF, who conducted a war of sniping, booby traps, mines, and terror against the Americans.
As a result of the conference held in Honolulu, President Johnson authorized an increase in troop strength to 429,000 by August 1966. The large increase in troops enabled MACV to carry out numerous operations that grew in size and complexity during the next two years. For U.S. troops participating in these operations (Operation Masher/White Wing, Operation Attleboro, Operation Cedar Falls, Operation Junction City and dozens of others) the war boiled down to hard marching through some of the most difficult terrain on the planet and weather conditions that were alternately hot and dry, or cold and wet. It was the PAVN/NLF that actually controlled the pace of the war, fighting only when their commanders believed that they had the upper hand and then disappearing when the Americans and/or ARVN brought their superiority in numbers and firepower to bear. North Vietnam, utilizing the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk Trails, matched the U.S. at every point of the escalation, funneling manpower and supplies to the southern battlefields.
During the Vietnam War, the use of the helicopter, known as "Air Mobile", was an essential tool for conducting the war. In fact, the whole conduct and strategy of the war depended on it. Vietnam was the first time the helicopter was used on a major scale, and in such important roles. Search and destroy missions, for example, would have been nearly impossible without it. Helicopters allowed American commanders to move large numbers of troops to virtually anywhere, regardless of the terrain or roads. Troops could also be easily resupplied in remote areas. The helicopter also provided another new and vital capability: medical evacuation. It could fly wounded soldiers to aid stations very quickly, usually within the critical first hour. This gave wounded soldiers a higher chance of survival in Vietnam than in any previous war. The helicopter was also adapted for many other roles in Vietnam, including ground attack, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. Without the helicopter, the war would have been fought very differently.[25]
By mid-1967, Westmoreland said that it was conceivable that U.S. forces could be phased out of the war within two years, turning over progressively more of the fighting to the ARVN.[26] That fall, however, savage fighting broke out in the northern provinces. Beginning below the DMZ at Con Tien and then spreading west to the Laotian border near Dak To, large PAVN forces began to stand their ground and fight. This willingness of the communists to remain fixed in place inspired MACV to send reinforcements from other sectors of South Vietnam. The Border Battles had begun.
Most of the PAVN/NLF operational capability was possible only because of the unhindered movement of men along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. To threaten this flow of supplies, the Marine Corps established a combat base on the South Vietnamese side of the Laotian frontier, near the village of Khe Sanh. The U.S. used the base as a border surveillance position overlooking Route 9, the only east-west road that crossed the border in the province. Westmoreland also hoped to use the base as a jump-off point for any future incursion against the Trail system in Laos. During the spring of 1967, a series of small-unit actions near Khe Sanh prompted MACV to increase its forces. These small unit actions and increasing intelligence information indicated that the PAVN was building up significant forces just across the border.
Indeed, PAVN was doing just that. Two regular divisions (and later elements of a third) were moving toward Khe Sanh, eventually surrounding the base and cutting off its only road access. Westmoreland, contrary to the advice of his Marine commanders, reinforced the outpost. As far as he was concerned, if the communists were willing to mass their forces for destruction by American air power, so much the better. He described the ideal outcome as a "Dien Bien Phu in reverse". MACV then launched the largest concentrated aerial bombardment effort of the conflict (Operation Niagara) to defend Khe Sanh. Another massive aerial effort was undertaken to keep the beleaguered Marines supplied. There were many comparisons (by the media, Americans military and political officials, and the North Vietnamese) to the possibility of PAVN staging a repeat of its victory at Dien Bien Phu, but the differences outweighed the similarities in any comparison.
MACV used this opportunity to field its latest technology against the North Vietnamese. A sensor-driven, anti-infiltration system known as Operation Igloo White was in the process of being field tested in Laos as the siege of Khe Sanh began. Westmoreland ordered that it be employed to detect PAVN troop movements near the Marine base and the system worked well. By March, the long-awaited ground assault against the base had failed to materialize and communist forces began to melt back toward Laos. MACV (and future historians) were left with only questions. What was the goal of the PAVN? Was the siege a real attempt to stage another Dien Bien Phu? Or had the battles near the border (which eventually drew in half of MACV's maneuver battalions) been a diversion, meant to pull forces away from the cities, where another PAVN offensive would soon commence?
General Westmoreland's public reassurances that "the light at the end of the tunnel" was near were countered when, on January 30, 1968, PAVN and NLF forces broke the truce that accompanied the Tết holiday and mounted their largest offensive thus far, in hopes of sparking a general uprising among the South Vietnamese. These forces, ranging in size from small groups to entire regiments, attacked nearly every city and major military installation in South Vietnam. The Americans and South Vietnamese, initially surprised by the scope and scale of the offensive, quickly responded and inflicted severe casualties on their enemies. The NLF was essentially eliminated as a fighting force and the places of the dead within its ranks were increasingly filled by North Vietnamese.
The PAVN/NLF attacks were speedily and bloodily repulsed in virtually all areas except Saigon, where the fighting lasted for three days, and in the old imperial capital of Huế, where it continued for a month. During the occupation of the historic city, 2,800 South Vietnamese were murdered by the NLF in the single worst massacre of the conflict. The hoped-for uprising never took place; indeed, the offensive drove some previously apathetic South Vietnamese to fight for the government. Another surprise for the communists was that the ARVN did not collapse under the onslaught, instead turning in a performance that pleased even its American patrons.
After the Tet Offensive, influential news magazines and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Time and The New York Times, increasingly began to characterize the war as a stalemate. What shocked and dismayed the American public was the realization that either it had been lied to or that the American military command had been dangerously overoptimistic in its appraisal of the situation in Vietnam. The public could not understand how such an attack was possible after being told for several years that victory was just around the corner. The Tet Offensive came to embody the growing credibility gap at the heart of U.S. government statements. These realizations and changing attitudes forced the American public (and politicians) to face hard realities and to reexamine their position in Southeast Asia. Moreover, the U.S. media coverage made it even more clear that an overall victory in Vietnam was not imminent. It also massively weakened the domestic support for the Johnson administration at the time[27]. The days of an open-ended commitment to the conflict were over.
The psychological impact of the Tet Offensive effectively ended the political career of Lyndon Johnson. On March 11, Senator Eugene McCarthy won 42 percent of the vote in the Democratic New Hampshire primary. Although Johnson was not on the ballot, commentators viewed this as a defeat for the President. Shortly thereafter, Senator Robert Kennedy announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the 1968 presidential election. On March 31, in a speech that took America and the world by surprise, Johnson announced that "I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President" and pledged himself to devoting the rest of his term in office to the search for peace in Vietnam.[28] Johnson announced that he was limiting bombing of North Vietnam to just north of the Demilitarized Zone and that U.S. representatives were prepared to meet with North Vietnamese counterparts in any suitable place "to discuss the means to bring this ugly war to an end". A few days later, much to Johnson's surprise, North Vietnam agreed to contacts between the two sides. On May 13, what became known as the Paris peace talks began.[29]
On March 16, 1968, three companies of Task Force Barker, part of the Americal Division, took part in a search and destroy operation near the village of My Lai, in Quảng Nam Province. Although not all of the members of the company participated, a significant number of them, led by Calley, did. He personally ordered the executions of hundreds of villagers in large groups. The killings ended only when an American helicopter crew, headed by Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., discovered Calley's unit in the act and threatened to attack them with his aircraft's weapons unless they stopped. One of the soldiers on the scene was Ron Haeberle, a photographer for the newspaper Stars and Stripes, who took unobtrusive official black-and-white photos of the operation through the lens of his military-issued camera and color shots of the massacre with his personal camera. Although the operation appeared suspicious to Calley's superiors, it was forgotten.
In 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh exposed the My Lai massacre in print, and the Haeberle photos were released to the world media. The Pentagon launched an investigation headed by General William R. Peers to look into the allegations. After a flurry of activity, the Peers Commission issued its report. It declared that "an atmosphere of atrocity" surrounded the event, concluding that a massacre had taken place and the crime had been covered up by the commander of the Americal Division and his executive officer. Perhaps 400 Vietnamese civilians, mostly old men, women, and children had been killed by Charlie company. Several men were charged in the killings, but only Calley was convicted. He was given a life sentence by a court-martial in 1970, but after numerous appeals he was finally set free; he had served just over three years of house arrest.
Although My Lai generated a lot of civilian recriminations and bad publicity for the military, it was not the only massacre. The Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files made public in 1994 by the "Freedom of Information Act" reveal seven, albeit much smaller, massacres previously unacknowledged by the Pentagon, in which at least 137 civilians had died.[1] Cover-ups may have occurred in other cases, as detailed in the Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles concerning the Tiger Force of the 101st Airborne Division by the Toledo Blade in 2003.
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Richard Nixon had campaigned in the 1968 presidential election under the slogan that he would end the war in Vietnam and bring "peace with honor". However, there was no plan to do this, and the American commitment continued for another five years. The goal of the American military effort was to buy time, gradually building up the strength of the South Vietnamese armed forces, and re-equipping it with modern weapons so that they could defend their nation on their own. This policy became the cornerstone of the so-called Nixon Doctrine. As applied to Vietnam, it was labeled Vietnamization.
Nixon's papers show that in 1968, as a presidential candidate, he ordered Anna Chennault, his liaison to the South Vietnam government, to persuade them to refuse a cease-fire being brokered by President Lyndon Johnson. This action violated the Logan Act, banning private citizens from intruding into official government negotiations with a foreign nation, and has been said to constitute treason.[30]
Soon after Tet, General Westmoreland was promoted to Army Chief of Staff and he was replaced by his deputy, General Creighton W. Abrams. Because of the change in American strategy posed by Vietnamization, Abrams pursued a very different approach. The U.S. was gradually withdrawing from the conflict, and Abrams favored smaller-scale operations aimed at PAVN/NLF logistics, more openness with the media, less indiscriminate use of American firepower, elimination of the body count as the key indicator of battlefield success, and more meaningful cooperation with South Vietnamese forces.
Vietnamization of the war, however, created a dilemma for U.S. forces: the strategy required that U.S. troops fight long enough for the ARVN to improve enough to hold its own against Communist forces. Morale in the U.S. ranks rapidly declined during 1969–1972, as evidenced by declining discipline, worsening drug use among soldiers, and increased "fraggings" of U.S. officers by disgruntled troops.
One of Nixon's main foreign policy goals had been the achievement of a breakthrough in U.S. relations with the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. An avowed anti-communist since early in his political career, Nixon could make diplomatic overtures to the communists without being accused of being "soft on communism". The result of his overtures was an era of détente that led to nuclear arms reductions by the U.S. and Soviet Union and the beginning of a dialogue with China. In this context, Nixon viewed Vietnam as simply another limited conflict forming part of the larger tapestry of superpower relations; however, he was still determined to preserve South Vietnam until such time as he could not be blamed for what he saw as its inevitable collapse (or a "decent interval", as it was known). To this end he and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger employed Chinese and Soviet foreign policy gambits to successfully defuse some of the anti-war opposition at home and secured movement at the negotiations that had begun in Paris.
China and the Soviet Union had been the principal backers of North Vietnam's effort through large-scale military and financial aid. The two communist superpowers had competed with one another to prove their "fraternal socialist links" with the regime in Hanoi. The North Vietnamese had become adept at playing the two nations off against one another. Even with Nixon's rapprochement, their support of North Vietnam increased significantly in the years leading up to the U.S. departure in 1973, enabling the North Vietnamese to mount full-scale conventional offensives against the South, complete with tanks, heavy artillery, and the most modern surface-to-air missiles.
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The credibility of the U.S. government again suffered in 1971 when The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers serially published The Pentagon Papers (actually U.S.-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967). This top-secret historical study of the American commitment in Vietnam, from the Franklin Roosevelt administration until 1967, had been contracted to the RAND Corporation by Secretary of Defense McNamara. The documents were leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg, a former State Department official who had worked on the study.
The Pentagon Papers laid out the missteps taken by four administrations in their Vietnam policies. For example, they revealed the Johnson administration's obfuscations to Congress concerning the Gulf of Tonkin incidents that had led to direct U.S. intervention; they exposed the clandestine bombing of Laos that had begun in 1964; and they detailed the American government's complicity in the death of Ngô Đình Diệm. The study presented a continuously pessimistic view of the likelihood of victory and generated fierce criticism of U.S. policies.
The importance of the actual content of the papers to U.S. policy-making was disputed, but the window that they provided into the flawed decision-making process at the highest levels of the U.S. government opened the issue for other questions. Their publication was a news event and the government's legal (Nixon lost to the Supreme Court) and extra-legal efforts (the "Plumbers" break-in at the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist committed to gain material to discredit him, was one of the first steps on the road to Watergate) carried out to prevent their publication—mainly on national security grounds—then went on to generate yet more criticism and suspicion of the government by the American public.
By 1969 the policy of non-alignment and neutrality had worn thin for Prince Sihanouk, ruler of Cambodia. Pressures from the right in Cambodia caused the prince to begin a shift away from the pro-left position he had assumed in 1965–1966. He began to make overtures for normalized relations with the U.S. and created a Government of National Salvation with the assistance of the pro-American General Lon Nol. Seeing a shift in the prince's position, President Nixon ordered the launching of a top-secret bombing campaign, targeted at the PAVN/NLF Base Areas and sanctuaries along Cambodia's eastern border.
On March 18, 1970, Sihanouk, who was out of the country on a state visit, was deposed by a vote of the National Assembly and replaced by General Lon Nol. Cambodia's ports were immediately closed to North Vietnamese military supplies, and the government demanded that PAVN/NLF forces be removed from the border areas within 72 hours. On March 29, 1970, the Vietnamese had taken matters into their own hands and launched an offensive against the Cambodian army. A force of North Vietnamese quickly overran large parts of eastern Cambodia reaching to within 15 miles (24 km) of Phnom Penh allowing their allies, the Chinese-supported Khmer Rouge to extend their power. Nixon ordered a military incursion into Cambodia by U.S. and ARVN troops in order to both destroy PAVN/NLF sanctuaries bordering South Vietnam and to buy time for the U.S. withdrawal. During the Cambodian Campaign, U.S. and ARVN forces discovered and removed or destroyed a huge logistical and intelligence haul in Cambodia.
The incursion also sparked large-scale demonstrations on and closures of American college campuses. The expansion of the conflict into Cambodia was seen as an expansion of the conflict into yet another country, nullifying Nixon's promises of de-escalating the war. During the ensuing protests, four students were killed and a score were wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen during a demonstration at Kent State University. Two other students were killed at Jackson State University in Mississippi. In an effort to lessen opposition to the U.S. commitment, Nixon announced on October 12 that the U.S. would withdraw 40,000 more troops from Vietnam before Christmas.
Following the coup, Sihanouk arrived in Beijing, where he established and headed a government in exile, throwing his substantial personal support behind the Khmer Rouge, the North Vietnamese, and the Laotian Pathet Lao.
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In 1971 the U.S. authorized the ARVN to carry out an offensive operation aimed at cutting the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southeastern Laos. Besides attacking the PAVN logistical system (which would buy time for the U.S. withdrawal) the incursion would be a significant test of Vietnamization. Backed by U.S. air and artillery support (American troops were forbidden to enter Laos), the ARVN moved across the border along Route 9, utilizing the abandoned Marine outpost of Khe Sanh as a jumping-off point. At first, the incursion went well, but unlike the Cambodian operation of 1970, the PAVN decided to stand and fight, finally mustering around 60,000 men on the battlefield.
The North Vietnamese first struck the flanks of the ARVN column, smashed its outposts, and then moved in on the main ARVN force. Unlike previous encounters during the conflict, the PAVN fielded armored formations, heavy artillery, and large amounts of the latest anti-aircraft artillery. After two months of savage fighting, the ARVN retreated back across the border, closely pursued by the North Vietnamese. One half of the invasion force was killed or captured during the operation, and Vietnamization was seen as a failure.
On August 18, Australia and New Zealand decided to withdraw their troops from the conflict. The total number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam dropped to 196,700 on October 29, 1971, the lowest level since January 1966. On November 12, 1971, Nixon set a February 1, 1972 deadline for the removal of another 45,000 troops.
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Vietnamization received another severe test in the spring of 1972 when the North Vietnamese launched a massive conventional offensive across the Demilitarized Zone. Beginning on March 30, the Easter Offensive (known as the Nguyễn Huệ Offensive to the North Vietnamese) quickly overran the three northernmost provinces of South Vietnam, including the provincial capital of Quảng Trị City. PAVN forces then drove south toward Huế.
Early in April, PAVN opened two additional operations. The first, a three-division thrust supported by tanks and heavy artillery, advanced out of Cambodia on April 5. The North Vietnamese seized the town of Loc Ninh and advanced toward the provincial capital of An Lộc in Bình Long Province. The second new offensive, launched from the tri-border region into the Central Highlands, seized a complex of ARVN outposts near Dak To and then advanced toward Kon Tum, threatening to split South Vietnam in two.
The U.S. countered with a buildup of American airpower to support ARVN defensive operations and to conduct Operation Linebacker, the first offensive bombing of North Vietnam since Rolling Thunder had been terminated in 1968. The PAVN attacks against Huế, An Lộc, and Kon Tum were contained and the ARVN launched a counteroffensive in May to retake the lost northern provinces. On September 10, the South Vietnamese flag once again flew over the ruins of the Citadel of Quảng Trị City, but the ARVN offensive then ran out of steam, conceding the rest of the occupied territory to the North Vietnamese. South Vietnam had countered the heaviest attack since Tet, but it was very evident that it was totally dependent on U.S. airpower for its survival. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of American troops, who numbered less than 100,000 at the beginning of the year, was continued as scheduled. By June only six infantry battalions remained. On August 12, the last American ground combat division left the country. However, the U.S. continued to operate the base At Long Binh. Combat patrols continued there until November 11 when the U.S. handed over the base to the South Vietnamese. After this, only 24,000 American troops remained in Vietnam and President Nixon announced that they would stay there until all U.S. POW's were freed.
At the beginning of the North Vietnamese invasion, the media, including conservative commentator William F. Buckley, predicted the downfall of the Republic of Vietnam; Buckley even called for the firing of General Creighton Abrams as an incompetent military leader. But the ARVN succeeded in defeating General Giap and his huge invading army. His forces were shattered at the Battle of An Lộc, where he threw several divisions at the entrenched South Vietnamese forces, ultimately losing over half of his army as casualties. General Giap's loss and subsequent retreat was viewed as so great a failure by the North Vietnamese Communist Party that Giap was relieved of his command. Although ARVN troops withstood and repelled the massive PAVN attack at An Lộc, American air power seems to have been a key to the ARVN success, just as it had been a key factor in supporting U.S. ground forces when they operated in South Vietnam prior to 1972. Thus, the 1973 withdrawal of U.S. military support and passage of Congressional resolutions cutting off U.S. funding for combat activities in Indochina (H.R. 9055 and H.J.Res. 636) opened the way for the 1975 defeat of the Republic of Vietnam.
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During the run-up to the 1972 presidential election, the war was once again a major issue. An antiwar Democrat, George McGovern, ran against President Nixon. The president ended Operation Linebacker on October 22 after the negotiating deadlock was broken and a tentative agreement had been hammered out by U.S. and North Vietnamese representatives at the peace negotiations in Paris. The head of the U.S. negotiating team, Henry Kissinger, declared that "peace is at hand" shortly before election day, dealing a death blow to McGovern's already doomed campaign. Kissinger had not, however, counted on the intransigence of South Vietnamese President Thieu, who refused to accept the agreement and demanded some 90 changes in its text. These the North Vietnamese refused to accept, and Nixon was not inclined to put too much pressure on Thieu just before the election, even though his victory was all but assured. The mood between the U.S. and North further turned sour when Hanoi went public with the details of the agreement. The Nixon Administration claimed that North Vietnamese negotiators had used the pronouncement as an opportunity to embarrass the President and to weaken the United States. White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler told the press on November 30 that there would be no more public announcements concerning U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam since force levels were down to 27,000.
Because of Thieu's unhappiness with the agreement, primarily the stipulation that North Vietnamese troops could remain "in place" on South Vietnamese soil, the negotiations in Paris stalled as Hanoi refused to accept Thieu's changes and retaliated with amendments of its own. To reassure Thieu of American resolve, Nixon ordered a massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam utilizing B-52s and tactical aircraft in Operation Linebacker II, which began on December 18 with large raids against both Hanoi and the port of Haiphong. Nixon justified his actions by blaming the impasse in negotiations on the North Vietnamese, causing one commentator to describe his actions as "War by tantrum". Although this heavy bombing campaign caused protests, both domestically and internationally, and despite significant aircraft losses over North Vietnam, Nixon continued the operation until December 29. He also exerted pressure on Thieu to accept the terms of the agreement reached in October.
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On January 15, 1973, citing progress in peace negotiations, Nixon announced the suspension of all offensive actions against North Vietnam, to be followed by a unilateral withdrawal of all U.S. troops. The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam" were signed on January 27, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
The agreement called for the withdrawal of all U.S. personnel and an exchange of prisoners of war. Within South Vietnam, a cease-fire was declared (to be overseen by a multi-national, 1,160-man International Control Commission force) and both ARVN and PAVN/NLF forces would remain in control of the areas they then occupied, effectively partitioning South Vietnam. Both sides pledged to work toward a compromise political solution, possibly resulting in a coalition government. To maximize the area under their control, both sides in South Vietnam almost immediately engaged in land-grabbing military operations, which turned into flashpoints. The signing of the Accords was the main motivation for the awarding of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger and to leading North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho. A separate cease-fire had been installed in Laos in February. Five days before the signing of the agreement in Paris, President Lyndon Johnson, whose presidency had been tainted with the Vietnam issue, died.
The first U.S. prisoners of war were released by North Vietnam on February 11, and all U.S. military personnel were ordered to leave South Vietnam by March 29. As an inducement for Thieu's government to sign the agreement, Nixon had promised that the U.S. would provide financial and limited military support (in the form of air strikes) so that the South would not be overrun. But Nixon was fighting for his political life in the growing Watergate scandal and facing an increasingly hostile Congress that withheld funding. The President was able to exert little influence on a hostile public long sick of the Vietnam War.
Thus, Nixon (or his successor Gerald Ford) was unable to fulfill his promises to Thieu. At the same time, aid to North Vietnam from the Soviet Union increased. With the U.S. no longer heavily involved, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union no longer saw the war as significant to their relations. The balance of power shifted decisively in North Vietnam's favor, and the North subsequently launched a major military offensive, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, against the South that culminated in the surrender of the Republic of Vietnam to PAVN forces on April 30, 1975.
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Sarah E. Gonzalez (Director/Producer/Camera) – Sarah E. Gonzalez is a photographer, educator, filmmaker and cinematographer. A graduate of the Cinema and Animation program at the North East School of the Arts, her High School thesis Film , "Store Hours", played in a special youth showcase at AFI and Sundance and was bought by HBO Family. She has since received her BS in Film Production from the University of Texas at Austin and acted as cinematographer on the entire first season of the webseries, "The Andrew and Matt Show". Today, Sarah runs the Production Resource Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Department of Radio-TV-FIlm as well her production company, "Gonzography". She is currently employed as a film teacher for the Austin Film Society teaching at Travis High School, East Side Memorial High School and Mendez Middle School.
Spencer Stoner (Producer) Spencer Stoner is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer based in Austin, Texas. He got his professional start in DC shooting for the Discovery Channel and has since worked on shoots for TLC, A&E, Blender, and a variety of non-profit clients. He specializes in providing distinct and personal approaches to visual storytelling and awareness-raising for non-profit and private-sector clients alike.
Taylor Hagan (Producer) Bio coming soon
John Spottswood Moore (Associate Producer/Sound/Camera) – A Graduate of the Film Program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Moore found initial festival success with his Undergraduate Thesis Film, "Lemonade Stand". John has since been working on his Masters in Film Production from the University of Texas in Austin. His student films "Refurbished" and "Untitled Moon Project" have gone on to win such awards as "Best Documentary Short" at the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival, and honorable mention for "Best Student Narrative Short" at the Carolina Film and Video Festival. In Spring 2010, he was awarded the Jesse H. Jones Endowed Fellowship for Excellence in Filmmaking.


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Cable networks with their edgy dramas and profane comedies are set to shine yet again at the Emmys, but the big four could be poised for a comeback thanks to an F-bomb dropped seven years ago by Bono.
Once you get past all the technical three-camera, costume-for-a-dwarf-in-a-mini-series awards, there are only 10 categories anybody really cares about: the acting and best series awards for comedies and drama. Looking at the 60 nominees in those categories, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox garnered only 34. Cable networks cleaned up yet again.
This trend has been developing long enough that it's no longer a trend, it's a fact. Cable networks make better TV shows than the guys that invented the medium. There are three major reasons: 1) the major networks are trying to program 10 to 15 hours a week, 2) the viewership needed to be considered a hit on cable is much lower and 3) and this the big one, the edge factor -- you can swear and get naked on the the cable networks.
Before this summer's debut of "Rubicon," AMC only had two original series on the air, "Mad Men," which has won nine Emmys out of 32 nominations with 17 more this year, and "Breaking Bad" with four, nine and seven.
"Friday Night Lights" is a perfect example of the lower threshold of success necessary, as it barely stayed afloat at NBC before finding a home on DirecTV. This year leads Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler received two of the show's four nominations.
And looking at the Best Drama nominees, we find evidence of the edge factor in "True Blood," a vampire soap opera dripping with blood; "Breaking Bad" features a meth-cooking cancer patient and his foul-mouthed junkie partner; "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall as a serial killer who moonlights as a medical examiner; and the exception (that proves the rule), "Mad Men," whose creator Matthew Weiner worked for years on "The Sopranos," and never even offered his baby to one of the networks, going from HBO to Showtime to AMC.
The days of the cable channels' dominance have been imperiled, however, by a Supreme Court decision handed down last month. You may recall that in 2003 U2 singer Bono was so pleased by his band's Golden Globe win that he said the F-word on live TV. Well the Parents Television Council freaked, the FCC cried foul and NBC barely managed to escape a fine. But on July 13, the Supreme Court ruled that the FCC's rules on dirty words were unconstitutionally vague.
With those rules tossed out the window, "we are in a state of regulatory free-fall in which most of the already few rules that applied to content on broadcast TV have been suspended," says LA Times TV critic Robert Lloyd.
At last year's Emmys, Julia Louis-Dreyfus joked that she was "honored to be presenting on the last official year of network broadcast television." Well the Supreme Court has cracked open a window of opportunity for the big four. The question now is will they take their chance?
Maybe we'll find out at next year's Emmys.


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Effective March 31, 2020 this die cast location will be closing. We WILL BE KEEPING THE WEB SITE GOING. In this regard we have a "pick up" location in northeast Edmonton for this purpose.
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December 10th, 2012
Miley Cyrus' style evolution takes another turn
Miley Cyrus is as fearless with fashion as she is with her haircuts, and she proved that this weekend while performing at a Hollywood concert.
The pop star/actress joined Israeli dubstep DJ Borgore on stage during his "Christmas Creampies" show on Saturday, sporting both a shorter 'do and a sex kitten look.
Wearing a black cropped top, pants that fit like a second skin, a chain running from her neck to her waist and over-the-knee snakeskin boots, Cyrus helped Borgore perform a head-banging rendition of "Decisions," which the pair collaborated on earlier this year.
Borgore told Rolling Stone that he knew he had to have Cyrus on board for the second of his two shows in Los Angeles, because he wanted to make it special. He had the right idea, as the sold-out crowd erupted in cheers as Borgore introduced his guest, who took to a stage flanked by topless dancers on poles.
"I really wanted her here, really," Borgore told RS of inviting Cyrus. "I didn't think twice before I did this, I was so certain this is gonna work."
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