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It is time once again to lay that old chestnut to rest. The specious claim that the IITs are better than some of the best universities in the world is beyond slack-jawed silliness. I am reminded of that by this tweet by my friend @KiranKS
That is, if you are unable to "do computers" at IIT, your backup plan B is to get into an Ivy league school. So if Ivy league schools are safety schools, imagine how much ahead of them must be the IITs.
I have been debunking that for a long time. See this an old post, "Imagine no Reservations" May 2006 (seven years ago — how the years fly by!):
The fundamental problem with the Indian economy is that the education system is one of the most flawed systems in the country. If there is one sector which is in dire need of reform, it is that education system. The most urgently required reform is to get the government out of it—lock, stock, and barrel. The recent move by the government to further increase quotas in the so-called elite institutions with a view to social justice is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. No, I take that back: it is akin to scuttling the lifeboats even as the ship is sinking.
I have heard the claim that the Indian education system must be wonderful because the IITs produce so many wonderfully successful NRIs (non-resident Indians), especially in the US. They bolster their argument with the specious reasoning that it is harder to gain admission into IITs than into Ivy league schools, and that Narayana Murthy's son had to use an Ivy league school as a safety school.
Sure it is harder to get into the IITs than into the top American schools. That does not mean that the IITs are in any way better than those American schools. It is a Herculean task to get into a Mumbai local during commute hours, compared to which using the Paris Metro is a piece of cake. Congestion is not an indicator of quality. When supply is severely limited relative to demand, there will be a mad scramble to get some.
On average, fewer than two out of every one hundred who appear for the entrance exam for IITs get admission. If you were to choose the top two percent of any population, the average quality of that group will be a few sigmas higher than the population average. The IITs turn out good students because those who get in are good to begin with. Then for four years, these way-above average kids compete fiercely among themselves for grades. Finally, from this bunch of super-achievers, those with the highest grades and potential are snapped up by the best American universities. By the time these graduate out of the American universities, they are the crème de la crème who have self-selected themselves for intelligence, drive, ambition, and vision. We read about them as the Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires, and pat ourselves on the back for having a wonderful educational system.
That is most definitely not so. The dysfunctional Indian education system is the saddest and costliest example of governmental ineptitude and malfeasance. The solution to the problem of the Indian educational system has to have at its core getting the government to let go of its choke-hold on the system.
While on the topic, here's a bit more from a later post of Jan 2010, "Rethinking Entrance Exams", which may be of interest.
I have discussed on this blog at some length the problems of higher education in India. To summarize briefly, the problem is one of scarcity of supply. This is what I call an "engineered scarcity" because it arises from the government control of the system. In free societies with free markets, scarcities are not a chronic feature. Why? Because any scarcity due to say sudden and persistent increase in the demand is met with increased prices which in turn increase supply and the scarcity disappears. For scarcity to persist for decades, the system has to be rigged such that the supply cannot be changed to respond to the demand.
The government of India depends on manufactured scarcity because socialism thrives thus: first create the scarcity through governmental control; then the government doles out the scarce thing to favored groups; the people are brainwashed into thinking that since the government is the source of the supply, it (the government) must be the benevolent entity in the economy; therefore all efforts must be made to keep on the good side of the government so that one is favored with some of the scarce good.
The Indian government controls the supply of education for two reasons. First, it can extract rents from it. Licensing is the mechanism. To get licensed, one has to pay a bribe — often in the hundreds of millions of rupees to officials who have the discretion to refuse the license. Rent seeking is one motivation for the government control. The other reason is related to India's "democracy" — buying the allegiance of favored vote banks by discriminating for and against specific groups. If you belong to a specific religious group, you get special treatment, and therefore that religious group's vote is guaranteed.
Manufactured Shortage
This is all old hat and I merely repeat it here for setting the context. The main thing is that education in India suffers from engineered (or manufactured, if you please) shortage. This leads to immense social welfare losses. I propose one mechanism to fix one small part of this welfare loss. I say "small" only because it is small relative to the aggregate set of problems, not because it is trivial. This small part actually amounts to billions of dollars worth of welfare losses.
Now on to the specifics. The problem I will address is one of selecting who gets to have the privilege of going to an elite publicly funded elite institution of higher learning such as the IITs.
FACT A: The demand far outstrips the supply. Why? First, because the education is subsidized. So you get more than you pay for. When something is under-priced, naturally the demand will be higher. Second, even if the education were priced at full cost, the life-time benefit of an IIT education far exceeds the full price.
FACT B: Because of fact A, people are willing to pay a high price to get into an IIT. How much would people be rationally willing to pay? Something approaching the difference between the private cost of an IIT education (tuition fees, food, rent) and the private benefit (the discounted net present value of an IIT education.) So if the discounted net present value of an IIT education is Rs 100 lakhs, and the private cost is Rs 16 lakhs (4 lakhs per year for 4 years), then people would be willing to pay upto Rs 84 lakhs.
But of course no one really pays that much to get into an IIT. For one thing, for Rs 84 lakhs, one can go abroad and get a decent undergraduate degree. The point here is that people are willing to spend a large amount of money to just get into an IIT. And they do indeed spend a lot in their attempt to do so. An entire industry exists just for that purpose. The coaching classes industry. The more successful firms in this industry charge more fees than the IITs charge. And people routinely spend more on trying to get into an IIT than they would spend if they ever got into one.
As I have mentioned previously in a post before, the more successful coaching classes, let's call "1st order", themselves have to select whom they will admit — which leads to the absurd situation that there are "2nd order" coaching classes — those that coach students to pass the entrance exams of the "1st order" classes. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan mentions this in his interview. But I'll come to that in a bit.
Cost of Coaching
For now, let's do the numbers. The figures say that around 300,000 students appear for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for IITs. These days it is not unusual for students to go to coaching classes for a couple of years before attempting the JEE. Assume conservatively Rs 1 lakhs per year as the cost of getting coached. Assume that around 2 out of 3 of those who appear for the JEE have attended coaching classes. That gives us an estimate of Rs 6,000 crores (2 lakhs x 300,000) for the size of the IIT coaching industry. (That's approximately US$ 1.3 billion.)
That $1.3 billion is incurred every year and what is worse, it is amounts to a huge welfare loss since it is essentially a rent-seeking activity and therefore a dead-weight loss to society. The coaching does improve an individual's chance of getting into an IIT but its aggregate social effect is nothing at all. It just intensifies the competition. It is an educational arms-race.
An analogy I find illuminating is this: if I stand up on my seat at a stadium to get a better view of the game, some others will also do so. Then in a short while, the entire stadium will be standing up and everyone will be exactly where one was in terms of visibility of the game while sitting down but now everyone ends up paying the price of watching the game standing up.
From the pool of 300,000 aspiring students who appear for the JEE, around 10,000 are selected. That's one student out of 30. But is it true that the students ranked 10,001 to 50,000 are incapable or unprepared for studying in an IIT? Most likely, they are almost as good as those ranked above them. I am confident that if the capacity exited, 50,000 students could enter the IITs and do as well. We all know of people who failed to get into an IIT and ended up being very successful. Recently I learned that Venkatraman Ramakrishnan did not make the IIT grade but was good enough to win a Nobel prize in Chemistry. (That name once again!)
Changing the Rules
The rules of the game have to be changed. The best option would be to get the Indian government out of the life-blood-sucking control of education it has. But that is going to happen the day hell freezes over. The second best option therefore is to fix this welfare loss of competitive exams and make the whole business of coaching classes irrelevant.
Well, that's it. Forced to recycle stuff every now and again because the canard that IITs are the cat's whiskers just refuses to die.


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John Bachar Remembered by Henry Barber
John Bachar's friend and rival Henry Barber recounts their competition to make the first ascent of a difficult route in Yosemite in the late 1970s.
The Bachar-Yerian, D-7, The Wisdom*, Astroman. On my life's list of 10 routes still to do, four are authored by John Bachar—no one else has put up more than one. Why these routes? They are necky. One is a challenge at altitude. All require varied techniques. My cup of tea, but I have never been in the right shape at the right time, which are the requirements of great routes. John's climbs epitomized his style of flawless technique and a balance of mental and physical harmony. For most climbers, the stars have to be aligned to take them on.
I met John in Yosemite in the early 1970s. The valley lads didn't roll out the welcome mat for me, a visitor from the East, and John was no different. I had some great days on the rocks with some of the Stonemasters back then but it was mostly on Southern California stone. In 1975 after I returned from Australia a funny incident happened when I went to do the first ascent of Fish Crack**. Climbing in a light rain I fell from the chicken head at the end of the crux. The next day, John and Ron Kauk, with a large cheering section looking on, yo-yoed the hell out of that thin crack trying to get past my top nut. It was not to be. The next day I returned to knock it off. Such was the rivalry back then. Me, the older and more experienced climber traveling the globe in search of the hardest climbs, and John, just out of high school and hot to make his own mark. To this day Bachar and Kauk's route Hotline and my route Fish Crack both contend historically for the title of Yosemite's first 5.12.
John and I skirted each other for several years at places like the Buttermilks and Stoney Point. He was respectful as I walked the crux on several highball problems. Soon, though, as the 1970s came to a close, it was my turn to be amazed as he established difficult routes on boulders and walls. He quickly accelerated past my abilities and stood his ground fighting the onslaught of Euro tactics taking hold in the U.S. That we shared the same old-school ethics was obvious when we both represented the traditional ways at the AAC's Great Debate in December 1986 in Denver, Colorado.
In the past few years we have been in touch more often and found common ground inside and outside the climbing world. We were equally floored by the talent of today's youth, and he really got excited talking about snowboarding with his son, Tyrus, at Mammoth. His love for Tyrus brimmed in his eyes and it was our discussions about our sons that broke the ice for us, now aging one-time rivals with our climbing primes behind us, but equally new and exciting frontiers ahead. Whatever walls had been up sheltering our egos came tumbling down, and we both were able to appreciate one another's contributions.
Free soloing, in particular, was an important part of our lives and we often talked about it. Our strategies were similar: To be able to down climb out of trouble and be in mental control at all times was our foundation. We also both thought the perfect style was a first ascent solo. He often remarked that he had soloed 5.13 but had never done the first ascent of a 5.13. This is perhaps the most important point. 5.13 (and perhaps harder) was well within his range, but he never found a climb that he could do from the ground up in clean style placing gear on the lead, and he wasn't willing to break with tradition just for the sake of chasing numbers.
That didn't bother him. What did bother him were climbers who compromised style by bolting on rappel on first ascents when the routes could have been saved for an even bolder and more capable generation who would push the mental and physical aspects beyond what even he could do.
John stood outside the sport-climbing trend of the 1980s and never wavered. In a world today where we measure status by titles or wealth, he believed that in the end it is not what you did that counts but how you did it. This is a solid measure of the man. I only wish he was still around to author more routes that could stand as benchmarks for other climbers, myself included, to measure ourselves.
*Bachar did the first continuous ascent of all three pitches of The Wisdom. Eldorado Canyon, Colorado.
**Editor's Note: In an interview for the feature "Being Bachar," No. 166, Bachar commented on Henry Barber's ascent of Fish Crack. According to Bachar, Barber took a long fall onto a Stopper that barely held. When Bachar climbed to that nut the next day, he noticed that it was deeply gouged where a crystal had cut it, and that it was just barely hanging in the crack. Alarmed by the scant pro and potential ground fall, Bachar downclimbed and gave up on the route, admitting that he didn't have the mental strength to risk such a fall onto that nut. Bachar said it was a real learning moment for him, and he never forgot it.
Also Read
John Bachar: What I've Learned


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CINCINNATI >> Not just any comeback would get San Francisco back to playing for a pennant. It would take one of Giant proportions.
And Buster Posey believed it could happen. Even after the Giants left the West Coast down two games, the National League batting champion insisted his team could pull it off, despite the long odds.
With one swing, he got everyone else believing it, too.
Posey hit the third grand slam in Giants' postseason history today, and San Francisco pulled off an unprecedented revival, moving into the championship series with a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
"You don't want to be in a lose-and-you're-out scenario," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said, wearing a brace on his left wrist so he didn't hurt it in the champagne-flavored clubhouse celebration. "We've been in that situation for three days. We're probably going to sleep well tonight."
They'll play either Washington or St. Louis for the NL pennant, Sunday, not caring at all who they face.
"We could go up against anybody at any time," shortstop Brandon Crawford said. "Being down 2-0 and coming back and winning three at their place, it's an unbelievable feeling."
Game 1 of the NL championship series will be Sunday, either in Washington against the Nationals or in San Francisco vs. the Cardinals. In the meantime, the Giants will stay in Cincinnati until their next opponent is determined Friday night when the Cards and Nats play Game 5.
The Giants became the first NL team to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the division series, which began in 1995. Major League Baseball's changed playoff format this season allowed them to become the first to take a best-of-five by winning the last three on the road.
Posey's second career grand slam off Mat Latos put the Giants up 6-0 in the fifth and sparked a joyous scrum in the San Francisco dugout. The ball smacked off the front of the upper deck in left field, just above Latos' name on the video board.
For the first time in the series, the Giants could exhale.
"I don't think anybody gave up," Posey said.
Will Clark, in the 1989 NLCS, and Chuck Hiller, in the 1962 World Series, hit the other Giants slams in the postseason.
Matt Cain and the bullpen held on, with more help from Posey. The All-Star catcher threw out Jay Bruce at third base to snuff out a sixth-inning rally that cut it to 6-3. The Giants had a pair of diving catches that preserved the lead in the eighth.
There was more drama in the ninth. Ryan Ludwick singled home a run off Sergio Romo. With two runners aboard, Romo fanned Scott Rolen to end it.
The Giants raised their arms, hugged and huddled by the side of the mound, bouncing in unison.
"It was a spectacular moment," outfielder Hunter Pence said.
In Cincinnati, the home-field meltdown had a sickeningly familiar feeling. The Reds haven't won a home playoff game in 17 years. After taking the first two on the West Coast, all they needed was one more at home, where they hadn't dropped three straight all season.
"You get tired of the disappointments, but then you get over it," manager Dusty Baker said. "It hurts big-time."
Once Posey connected, the Reds were the ones facing a steep comeback. They've never overcome a six-run deficit in the playoffs, according to STATS LLC.
Couldn't do it this time, either.
"Buster Posey's swing was a series-changer," said Reds star Joey Votto, standing on second base when the game ended. "That made it very difficult to come back. You know they're going to throw the kitchen sink at us."
The Giants never trailed in any of their three postseason series when they won it all in 2010. They beat the Braves 3-1 in the division series, knocked out the Phillies 4-2 for the NL title, then took four of five from Texas for their sixth World Series title and their first since they moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958.
They really had to scramble this season to get another shot at it.
The bullpen took a huge hit when closer Brian Wilson blew out his elbow, and that was just the start. All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera got a 50-game suspension in August after a positive testosterone test, taking a .346 hitter out of their lineup. The Giants have decided not to bring him back, even though he's eligible to return for the NL championship series.
Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum pitched so poorly — 15 losses — that he got relegated to the bullpen for the division series.
And don't forget that Posey was coming off a broken leg that wiped out most of his 2011 season, making a great comeback of his own.
"Unreal," Romo said, with champagne dripping off his scraggly beard. "That guy's definitely the MVP of our team. We believe he's the MVP of the league. We wouldn't be here without him, that's for dang sure. He's the one that's been the face of the team all season long. What a great story with all he's been through last year."
The Reds won't forget the first inning of the series, when everything changed. Ace Johnny Cueto pulled muscles in his right side and had to leave the game. He wound up getting dropped from the playoff roster because of the injury.
Latos pulled them through that opening game, pitching in relief on short rest for a 5-2 win. Latos came to Cincinnati from the Padres at a high price — pitcher Edinson Volquez and three former high draft picks — and with a clear purpose in the offseason. He was expected to take them to the next level.
The right-hander allowed three hits through the first four innings, then fell apart in the fifth. Crawford had an RBI triple and scored on rookie shortstop Zack Cozart's error. A four-pitch walk and a single loaded the bases for Posey.
As soon as he connected, Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan stood and turned away, unable to watch the ball head for the seats.
Cincinnati's 17-year history of playoff futility was about to go on.
NOTES: Posey's other career grand slam came on July 7, 2010 at Milwaukee. … The Reds are 3-3 in winner-take-all playoff games, including 1-2 in best-of-five series and 2-1 in best-of-seven series. .. Teams that lose the first two games in a best-of-five series are 7-59 all-time. … Cain gave up six hits and three runs in 6 2-3 innings, the longest appearance by a Giants starter during the series.


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I must have gypsy ancestors, I have always had the urge to travel. The sound of a plane passing overhead, sitting in a train watching the world whizz by, wondering what is around the next corner or over the next hill, all these things stir my blood and make me restless.
Brief biography of my life so far……
I was born in the 1940's in Yorkshire, England.
A horse crazy child I loved all sport and the outdoors.
A teenager in the 1950's Revelling in this new era of rock 'n roll. I still loved horses and farming was my work choice.
At Agricultural College I met the man who was to become my husband. At the young and naive age of 19 I flew to New Zealand on my own to join and to marry him. The 1960's was a decade of nesting, the birth of our 2 beautiful children and milking cows.
1970's we separated and I was on my own, in New Zealand, with 2 young children aged 8 and 10. Now in my 30's with no family support but a deep love of New Zealand and strong circle of friends.
I moved to a pig farm and became a maternity mother for 600+ sows and their offspring.
After 4 years it was time to find something that was not so physically hard and not so smelly. I took on door to door commission selling of brushware.
After 3 years my little mini van needed repairing or replacing, so I found a job with a car supplied.
Working for Milestone Photography was my next career change. Setting up the camera and backdrops in shopping centres I took portraits of hundreds of babies and young children, interspersed with Monday and Tuesday sessions at schools taking class group photos as well as individuals. I now had a group of friends who were solo Mums and we would go to Saturday night dances and it was at one of these that I met the man who was to change my life; 3 months later I had moved in with him and 28 years later we are still together.
Through the 1980's and 90's it was when I was once again able to follow my dreams and start travelling. Jack was also an enthusiastic traveller and we visited many countries together. Due to Jack's work commitments I also went to some places on my own.
With Jack I went to many of the Southeast Asia countries, and Australia was a favourite country to visit. On my own I went to India, and travelled through China, Mongolia, Siberia, Russia, East and West Europe on the Trans Mongolian Express to get to England. Later Jack joined me there and then we travelled round America using the money I had saved working as a house keeper for Douglas Bunn at Hickstead
Between travelling I worked at many and various jobs to earn money to travel again. Real Estate agent, Advertising rep for the North Shore Times local paper in Auckland, Property manager with 80 properties to look after, housekeeper of a 9 story medical student hostel, manager of a mobile "Spring Clean Company" , sandwich maker. I was now in my 50's but never had any trouble finding a job when I arrived back in Auckland after yet another travel adventure.
Jack had now retired and wanted to return to Australia, the land of his birth. I was a bit apprehensive as to if I could live in the hot and humid climate of Queensland. But I quickly became used to it and grew to really love this country with its laid back life style and beach culture. We bought a house on the Goldcoast and soon made a circle of friends.
We still did some travelling but being retired means having to keep to a strict budget. Then health problems cropped up but now we are bounced back again and that brings you to the start of this blog with a dream to see more of this huge country…


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It's nature vs. nurture when a nerd swaps bodies with the toughest guy in school! Kang Too-Jee and Woo Soo-Choi have swapped...their bodies! After becoming the subjects of a mad scientist's experiment with her latest invention - the quantum teleporter - their bodies are switched, leaving only their minds and spirits intact. Woo Soo-Choi, who was once a model student, must face the life of Kang Too-Jee, a teenage menace. Never having an enemy in his life, he now has to deal with the handful of Kang Too-Jee's list, but will his kinder, gentler demeanor ward off his rivals? Or will survival determine his future? Will he become the hardened fighter that matches his new exterior?
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The Exaggerated Situation of Polarization
Posted by The Situationist Staff on June 14, 2012
Situationist friend Dave Nussbaum has more terrific posts over at, Random Assignments. Below, we have re-blogged portions of his timely piece about how "extremists exaggerate polarization."
Why have American politics become so polarized? Maybe they haven't – maybe it's just you? New research reveals that partisans, especially those on the extremes, overestimate the amount of polarization that actually exists. The phenomenon, called polarization projection,helps us to understand how it is that people on both ends of the political spectrum mistakenly assume that there is a much wider gap between the two sides than there actually is.
Making the problem worse, people at the political extremes – those who have exaggerated views of how polarized the country is – are also the ones who are most politically active. This can end up translating extreme partisans' mistaken views into the election of politicians who are more extreme than the people they represent, particularly in the context of intra-party primaries (Nate Silver recently documented this effect among Senate Republicans).
When the gap between the two parties appears to be enormous, compromise becomes difficult. We become less likely to see our political adversaries as having the same basic goals as us (like improving the country and the lives of its citizens) while having different opinions of how to achieve those goals. Instead, they become the enemy. And compromising with the enemy is not pragmatic, it's disloyal.
Just ask Richard Mourdock who recently ousted six-term Republican senator Dick Lugar in the Indiana GOP primary. He told Brian Howey of the Evansville Courier and Press:
"I recognize there are times when our country is incredibly polarized in that political sense. Right now is one of those times. The leadership of the Republican Party and the leadership of the Democratic Party are not going to be able to reach compromise on big issues because they are so far apart in principle. My idea of bipartisanship going forward is to make sure that we have such a Republican majority in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate and in the White House, that if there's going to be bipartisanship, it's going to be Democrats coming our way, instead of them trying to pull Republicans their way."
Dick Lugar's biggest sin, it seems, is that he was occasionally willing to side with Obama and the Democrats. He worked with then-Senator Obama on a bill that to secure nuclear material abroad, and voted to confirm President Obama's Supreme Court nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. As Obama himself said in a statement released after Lugar's defeat, "While Dick and I didn't always agree on everything, I found during my time in the Senate that he was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done." A willingness to compromise meant the end of Senator Lugar, or, as Tea Partiers in Indiana liked to refer to him, "Obama's favorite Republican." Another moderate Republican Senator, Maine's Olympia Snowe, also decided not to seek re-election, saying that she does "not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term."
But let's get back to the research – what's the evidence that suggests that it's the extremists that overestimate the amount of political polarization? . . . [continued]
Read the entire post on Random Assignments.
Related Situationist posts:
- The Situation of Political Ideology
- Random Assignments
- Jon Hanson on Law and Mind Sciences
- The Imagined Ideological Divide
- Ideology is Back
- Ideology Shaping Situation of Vice Versa
- Motivated Skepticism
- Naive Cynicism
- The Situation of Polarization
- Biased? I know you are but what am I?
- I'm Objective, You're Biased
- Ideology, Psychology, and Law – Introduction
- The Origins of Sports Team Fandom
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This entry was posted on June 14, 2012 at 12:01 am and is filed under Conflict, Ideology, Naive Cynicism, Politics, Social Psychology. Tagged: Ideology, polarization, Social Psychology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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An Assessor Office is responsible for appraising all the taxable property in Wayne County, Illinois. These Wayne County tax appraisals are used to calculate property taxes. Assessors maintain a number of documents related to tax appraisals, including property inspections, appraisal reports, and building, improvement, and renovation reports. Their office also keeps records on Wayne County property tax assessments, current and former property owners, the property's size and location, and any unpaid property taxes or tax liens. The Wayne County Assessor Office may also provide information on how to appeal an appraisal, how to hire an independent appraiser, and a history of a property's appraisals. The Assessor Office may provide online access to tax appraisal records on their website.
Wayne County Assessor's Office Fairfield IL PO Box 384 62837 618-842-2582
A Town or City Hall provides a range of municipal services for their town or city, including maintaining reports and records such as tax appraisal reports in Wayne County, Illinois. These records include information on property tax appraisals, a property's past appraisal values, property tax assessments, and any property improvements or renovations in Wayne County. The Town or City Hall maintains records on the current and former owners of all properties in their jurisdiction, descriptions of the property's location and size, and the property tax payment history, such as tax liens, unpaid property taxes, or foreclosures. These Wayne County tax records can be important documents when evaluating a property. Town and City Halls may provide tax appraisal records on their website.
Cisne City Hall Cisne IL 403 Park Street 62823 618-673-2411
Geff City Hall Jeffersonville IL 220 West Mechanic Street 62842 618-897-2223
Village Of Sims Town Hall Sims IL 501 South Railroad Street, # B 62886 618-895-2761
A Clerk Office maintains public records, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, and property records in Wayne County, Illinois. They keep a number of property-related records, including Wayne County tax appraisal reports, property inspections, and property tax assessments. These records list the current and former owners, provide details about the property such as its size and location, and show any unpaid property taxes, tax liens, or foreclosures. The Clerk Office may also provide information on how to appeal a Wayne County tax appraisal, how to hire an independent appraiser, and a historical report of the property's appraisal values. These documents are valuable sources of information for property owners and potential buyers. Wayne County Tax appraisal records and other property documents may be available on the Clerk Office website.
Wayne County Clerk Fairfield IL 301 East Main Street 62837 618-842-5182
A Recorder of Deeds ensures the accuracy of property, land, and property tax records in Wayne County, Illinois. As part of this job, they keep a range of real estate and property records, including tax appraisals. These records include information on property tax appraisals, past appraisal values, property improvements and renovations, and Wayne County property tax assessments. The Recorder of Deeds can also provide information on the current and former owners of any property, the property's location and size, and its payment history, such as tax liens, unpaid property taxes, or foreclosures. These Wayne County public tax records can be useful for prospective buyers when evaluating a property. Recorders of Deeds may provide online access to their Wayne County tax appraisal records.
Wayne County Recorder of Deeds Fairfield IL PO Box 187 62837 618-842-5182


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LINK: What if Blade is brought back?
For The Retro Reader
The Web log of Dr. Joseph Suglia
Dedicated to Black superhero News, Reviews, Previews, Sales figures, Interviews, Galleries and the people who bring them to us.
Author, Blogger, Events Professional
Sometimes the best ideas are associated with a red couch. . .
The Future is Unsustainable


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French kings were anointed with champagne. During the 17th, 18th and 19th century European royalty spread the message of the unique sparkling wine from Champagne and its association with luxury and power. The leading manufacturers devoted considerable energy to creating a history and identity for their wine, associating it and themselves with nobility and royalty. With the emergence of the middle class, champagne became a symbol of upward mobility and luxury. Since their earliest days the noble wines from France's Champagne region were synonymous with wealth, luxury, power.
Champagne is made from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, or Pinot Blanc grapes.
While there are many kosher sparkling wines from wineries around the globe, until recently there was no kosher champagne that could compete on an equal footing with those brands famous throughout. The Drappier cellars date from the 12th century, however the Drappier family only took over the estate in 1808 and hasn't stopped making champagne since.
Recently we partook of a feast worthy of such a noble wine…
On a recent evening, my good friend – photographer and teacher Irving Schild (whose work has graced our pages many a time before) – and I came to my co-blogger SYR's home where we enjoyed some superb dishes she graciously prepared from Geila Hocherman's Kosher Revolution, a cookbook we reviewed on these very pages.
We started the meal with an incredible Peshwari Challah (page 190), Geila based this recipe on a pashwari naan – an Indian bread filled with nuts and raisins – to which she added pistachios, coconuts, spices and a touch of honey. Very aromatic and full of flavor! We then proceeded with a Coconut-Ginger Squash Soup (page 61), Duck Breast with Port and Figs (page 89) and Braised Lamb Shanks (page 106); we finished it with the Maple Pecan Pie (page 170) As a potable, to wash it all down, we had a bottle of Champagne Drappier Carte Blanche Brut (purchased earlier in the day at Gotham Wines and Liquors). In the glass, it exhibited a beautiful clear light gold color, with a persistent stream of pinpoint bubbles, this fine Champagne presented us an inviting aroma of milk chocolate and fresh apples. Mouth-filling and creamy, it offered fresh apple-jelly and toast flavors with crisp, pleasantly cleansing acidity. By the way, to allay any fears… this Drappier is mevushal.
A meal we will long remember!


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Daily Archives: June 17, 2017
run two (sat)
{miles} in a zombie-esque trance, dance with that rising sun, take a chance on these poor crazy knees. sprint. here's a hint: 5am's fine – but ya really gotta go to bed by 9.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged run, run one, run two, running one mile every day if it kills me, running poems, sunrise, up too late, zombies 1 Comment


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Research In Motion executives announced the financial results of the company's quarter ending December 1. The good news for fans of the Waterloo, Ontario-based maker of the BlackBerry and PlayBook is that the company continued to reduce its hemorrhaging. RIM actually saw a slight increase in the sale of its PlayBook tablet.
The bad news is the company did so on less revenue, while shipping even fewer products than the last quarter and less than half the number of BlackBerry phones it sold this time last year. But if the BlackBerry 10 is even a moderate hit, RIM's improved financial performance could mean a return to profitability next year.
And there's reason to hope. "More than 150 carriers are currently completing technical acceptance programs for the first BlackBerry 10 products," RIM CEO Thorsten Heins said in a prepared statement. "And beta trials of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 are underway at more than 120 enterprises, including 64 Fortune 500 companies." BlackBerry 10 launches on January 30.
In the meantime, the currently available inventory is not doing so well. RIM's revenue from September to December was $2.7 billion, five percent less than in the previous three months and slightly more than half the company's 2011 revenue for the same period of $5.2 billion. It shipped 6.9 million BlackBerry handsets, down from 7.4 million in the previous three months; in September to December in 2011, RIM shipped 14.1 million BlackBerries.
While the PlayBook's sales were up, they were still relatively anemic in comparison to the tablet's competitors. RIM shipped 255,000 PlayBooks in the last three months, nearly double the company's June-to-September shipment numbers.
Buried in the numbers is the continued financial turnaround being driven by CEO Thorsten Heins. The company's net income as a percent of revenue continues to climb, showing RIM continues to become more financially efficient in its operations.


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WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.8 trillion spending blueprint today that strives to achieve a "grand bargain" to tame runaway deficits, raising taxes on the wealthy and trimming popular benefit programs including Social Security and Medicare.
The president's budget projects deficit reductions of $1.8 trillion over the next decade, achieved with nearly $1 trillion in higher taxes, reductions in payments to Medicare providers and cutbacks in the cost-of-living adjustments paid to millions of recipients in Social Security and other government programs. Obama's budget would negate nearly $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts, replacing some of those with smaller reductions of his own.
The president's proposed spending for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, would rise 2.5 percent from this year.
The budget projects a deficit for the current year of $973 billion, falling to $744 billion in 2014. Those would be the first deficits below $1 trillion since 2008. Even with the president's deficit reductions, the budget projects the red ink would total $5.3 trillion over the next 10 years.
The plan includes a compromise proposal that Obama offered to House Speaker John Boehner during "fiscal cliff" negotiations last December. Boehner walked away from those talks because of his objections to raising taxes on the wealthy.
By including proposals to trim Social Security and Medicare, the government's two biggest benefit programs, Obama is hoping to entice Republicans to consider tax increases.
"I have already met Republicans more than halfway, so in the coming days and weeks I hope that Republicans will come forward and demonstrate that they're really as serious about the deficit and debt as they claim to be," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden.
But instead of moving Congress nearer a grand bargain, Obama's proposals so far have managed to anger both the Republicans, who are upset by higher taxes, and Democrats unhappy about cuts to Social Security benefits.
The White House highlighted $580 billion in tax increases on the rich over 10 years, which would be obtained primarily by limiting deductions the wealthy can take. But the figure climbs closer to $1 trillion after adding in a 94-cents-per-pack increase in taxes on cigarettes, slower inflation adjustments to income tax brackets, elimination of oil and gas production subsidies, an increase in the estate tax and a new "financial crisis responsibility" fee on banks.
Responding to the budget, Boehner said Republicans were unwilling to go beyond the $660 billion in higher taxes approved as part of the "fiscal cliff" deal. "The president got his tax hikes in January. We don't need to be raising taxes on the American people," Boehner said.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Obama's budget "doesn't break new ground. It goes over old ground. It takes more from families to spend more in Washington." Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed Obama's budget as "not a serious plan. For the most part, just another left-wing wish list."
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a bipartisan group that promotes deficit reduction, praised Obama for retaining the deficit reduction elements of his December offer to Boehner in his new budget. She said this showed Obama was "still serous about fiscal reform."
Briefing reporters on the budget, Alan Krueger, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, said the economic growth assumptions for this year are a bit more optimistic than those of some private forecasters. He said the administration's forecast was done in November and assumed that the March 1 across-the-board spending cuts would not occur.
The president's spending and tax plan is two months late. The administration blamed the delay on the lengthy negotiations at the end of December and then fights over the resulting March 1 automatic spending cuts.
The Obama budget proposal will join competing outlines already approved by the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-run Senate.
Obama's plan is not all about budget cuts. It also includes an additional $50 billion in spending to fund infrastructure investments, including $40 billion in a "Fix It First" effort to provide immediate money to repair highways, bridges, transit systems and airports nationwide.
Obama's budget would also provide $1 billion to launch a network of 15 manufacturing innovation institutes across the country, and it earmarks funding to support high-speed rail projects.
The president's plan to establish a program to offer preschool to all 4-year-olds from low- and moderate-income families would be financed by the higher tax on tobacco, which the administration said would raise $78 billion over a decade.
The administration said its proposals to increase spending would not increase the deficit but rather would be paid for either by increasing taxes or making deeper cuts to other programs.
Among the proposed cuts, the administration wants to trim defense spending by an additional $100 billion and domestic programs by an extra $100 billion over the next decade. However, those cuts would actually be less than the automatic spending cuts they would replace in the "sequester" that would have trimmed government spending by $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Obama's budget, if adopted, would eliminate future sequester reductions. Those cuts began taking effect on March 1 with an initial $85 billion in cuts.
The Obama budget proposes cutting $400 billion from Medicare and other health care programs over a decade. The cuts would come in a variety of ways, including negotiating better prescription drug prices and asking wealthy seniors to pay more.
It would obtain an additional $200 billion in savings by scaling back farm subsidies and trimming federal retiree programs.
The most sweeping proposal in Obama's budget is a switch in the way the government calculates the annual cost-of-living adjustments for the millions of recipients of Social Security and other benefits. The new method would take into account changes that occur when people substitute goods rising in price with less expensive products. It results in a slightly lower annual reading for inflation.
The switch in the inflation formula would cut spending on government benefit programs by $130 billion over 10 years, although the administration said it planned to protect the most vulnerable, including the very elderly. The change would also raise about $100 billion in higher taxes because the current CPI formula is used to adjust tax brackets each year. A lower inflation measure would mean more money taxed at higher rates.
In the tax area, Obama's budget would also implement the "Buffett Rule" requiring that households with incomes of more than $1 million pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.
Congress and the administration have already secured $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years through budget reductions and with the end-of-year tax increase on the rich. Obama's plan would bring that total to $4.3 trillion over 10 years.
It is unlikely that Congress will get down to serious budget negotiations until this summer, when the government once again will be confronted with the need to raise the government's borrowing limit or face the prospect of a first-ever default on U.S. debt.
As part of the administration's effort to win over Republicans, Obama will have a private dinner at the White House with about a dozen GOP senators tonight. The budget is expected to be a primary topic, along with proposed legislation dealing with gun control and immigration.
Early indications are that the budget negotiations will be intense. Republicans have been adamant in their rejection of higher taxes, arguing that the $660 billion increase on top earners that was part of the late December agreement to prevent the government from going over the "fiscal cliff" is all the new revenue they will tolerate.
The administration maintains that Obama's proposal is balanced with the proper mix of spending cuts and tax increases.
Obama has presided over four straight years of annual deficits totaling more than $1 trillion, reflecting in part the lost revenue during a deep recession and the government's efforts to get the economy going again and stabilize the financial system.
The budget plan already passed by the GOP-controlled House projects reaching balance in 2023, a year in which Obama's proposal projects a $439 billion deficit. The budget outline approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate tracks more closely to the Obama proposal, although it does not include changes to the cost-of-living formula for Social Security.
Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Jim Kuhnhenn, Donna Cassata and Julie Pace contributed to this report.


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More recipes and video…
French Macaroons
Don't confuse these glorious, slightly chewy mouthfuls, made from a few simple ingredients,
with the more common coconut macaroons most of us know.
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 ¼ cup confectioners' sugar
- 3 large egg whites from large eggs, at room temperature (ideally, kept out overnight)
- ¼ cup sugar
Flavoring Variations
- ½ cup cocoa powder OR 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or the seeds from 1 bean OR 2 teaspoons coffee extract or raspberry extract.
Filling Variations
- Chocolate ganache (recipe below)
- Lemon curd (recipe below)
- Lime curd, substitute fresh lime for the lemon juice
- Jam, such as raspberry, strawberry, or black currant
- First make the macarons. In a food processor combine the almond flour and confectioners' sugar and process until well combined, 90 seconds. Flavoring: If making chocolate macarons, add the cocoa powder to the blended mixture and stir. If making vanilla macarons with the vanilla bean, add the seeds. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the granulated sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff glossy peaks are formed, 90 seconds to 2 ½ minutes. If using coffee or raspberry extract, and/or food coloring, add now. Add the almond flour mixture all at once and beat until the mixture is just well combined, about 10 seconds. Do not allow the mixture to get soupy. Check by dropping 1 teaspoon on a flat surface. The mixture should spread slightly, not thin out. Surface marks should dissolve into the batter. If the mixture doesn't spread at all, give it a few more stirs, and test again.
- Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a ¼ -inch tip. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Anchor it at the corners with drops of the mixture. Pipe 1 1/2 – to 2- inch circles onto the paper. To do this easily, hold the bag at a 90- degree angle and squeeze it while keeping the tip stationary as the mixture spreads in a circle. Quickly lift the tip and form the next macaron. Let the macarons rest until their surfaces become dull and a crust forms,
about 60 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 F. Bake the macarons until the tops are completely dry and the macarons come off the paper easily without any residue, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the macarons while still on the paper to a countertop. Cool and remove from the paper. To fill the macarons, turn them flat side down and pair them by matching size. Place 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of filling on the bottom half of each pair, cover with the top half, and press to form a sandwich. The filling should be visible. Repeat with the remaining macaron pairs. Refrigerate overnight
and bring to room temperature before serving.
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Grind the chocolate in a food processor. Place the cream in a small glass bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds on high. Stir and heat for 30 seconds more. The cream should be very hot. Alternatively, heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and the mixture is well blended. Refrigerate, stirring every 15 minutes, until cool and the consistency of frosting is reached, about 60 minutes. If the ganache becomes too solid to spread, microwave it for 5 seconds and stir, or
beat it in a bowl over hot water for about 30 seconds.
Lemon Curd
- ½ cup sugar
- Grated zest of 3 lemons
- 6 egg yolks
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 8 oz almond paste
- 2 teaspoons potato starch
- 8 oz almond paste
- 8T margarine, cut into ½-inch dice
- In a mini food processor combine the sugar and lemon zest and pulse until combined. Fill a small saucepan 2/3 full of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a nonreactive bowl, combine the yolks, sugar and zest mixture, lemon juice and starch, place over but not touching the water, and whisk until it thickens to the consistency of a loose pudding, about 4 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the margarine, stirring to blend. Strain the mixture into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap so it touches the top of the curd, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
— Bonus Recipes —
Onion-stuffed knaidlach
- 3 large eggs
- 5 tablespoons chicken stock or seltzer
- 5 tablespoons chicken fat or canola oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus additional
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)
- 3/4 cup matzo meal
- 1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- In a small bowl, combine eggs, stock, 3 tablespoons of the fat, salt, pepper, parsley and cilantro, if using. Add matzo meal and blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
- In a medium skillet, warm remaining fat over medium-high heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring, until translucent and beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Drain onions on a paper towel and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Reduce heat so the water boils slowly. (Rapid boiling can make the knaidlach break when cooking.) Using wet hands, form 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons each of the matzo meal mixture into a disk held in one palm. Place 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons onion in the middle of the disc, pinch to enclose, and roll between both hands until a ball is formed. Drop into the water. Repeat with remaining mixture and onions.
- When the knaidlach float to the surface of the water, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tender, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove the knaidlach with a slotted spoon, transfer to soup, and serve.
Miso-glazed black cod
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup sake or dry white wine
- 1 1/4 cups white miso
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 6 black cod fillets (6 to 8 ounces each), skin removed
- In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine mirin and sake and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute (to cook off the alcohol), reduce heat to medium, add miso, and stir until dissolved. Add sugar, increase heat, and stir until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Dry fillets with paper towels and put them in a gallon-size sealable plastic bag. Add miso glaze, seal and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
- Bring the fillets to room temperature. Preheat broiler or place a grill pan or heavy skillet over high heat. Wipe excess glaze from the fillets and broil or grill, turning once, until brown and glazed, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve.
Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!


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Organizers of the annual Rocklahoma concert festival announced this week that they will make available a new ticket package for audiences.
The new Zippo Encore Fan Package For Two will be available beginning next Tuesday, March 18th at 1pm ET/12pm CT. The package includes:
- Two (2) Weekend General Admission Tickets (inclusive of all service charges and fees)
- Meal vouchers (two per day)
- Two (2) Official Festival Zippo Lighters
- One (1) one-year subscription to Revolver Magazine.
Tickets can be ordered online at the official Rocklahoma website, http://www.rocklahoma.com.
Also on March 18th, ticket prices both for general admission tickets and general admission 4-packs will increase. General admission tickets currently are available for a price of $109 plus fees. Beginning March 18th, that price will increase to $129 plus fees. Weekend 4-pack General Admission packs will increase from $349 plus fees to $399 plus fees. This takes effect beginning at 1pm ET/12pm CT.
Members of the military can get discounted tickets for the Rocklahoma festival online at http://www.govx.com. Prices for those tickets will also increase March 18th at 1pm ET/12pm CT.
The new ticket package and price increases are not all that organizers announced this week for the annual festival. Organizers also announced the return of the "Miss Rocklahoma" contest. The contest runs through April 18th. Ten finalists will be announced in late April online at http://www.rocklahoma.com. Contestants and fans can register and vote online at http://www.rocklahoma.com.
The complete lineup for this year's edition of the Rocklahoma Festival is: Kid Rock, Five Finger Death Punch, Staind, Twisted Sister, Deftones, Seether, Motörhead, Jackyl, Filter, Black Label Society, Theory of a Deadman, Killswitch Engage, Skid Row, Tom Keifer of Cinderella, Hellyeah, Kix, Down, Pop Evil, Adelitas Way, Black Stone Cherry, Trivium, Texas Hippie Coalition, The Pretty Reckless, Thousand Foot Krutch, Redlight King, Skindred, KYNG, We As Human, Nothing More, Devour the Day, Heaven's Basement, Gemini Syndrome, Butcher Babies, Eve to Adam, Truckfighters, Scorpion Child, Twelve Foot Ninja, Kill Devil Hill, Killer Dwarfs, Mandy Lion, Bai Bang, Lynam, ASKA, Black Tora, Firstryke, Mystery, Nasty Habit, Sleepy Hollow, Wicked, Down & Dirty, Loveblast, Ruff Justice, Ratchet Dolls, Ragdoll, Dellacoma, Chaotic Resemblance, Scattered Hamlet, Siren, Mach22, Tempt, London's Dungeon, Mine Enemies Fall, Station, The Chimpz, Sleepwalking Home, Well Hung Heart, Framing The Red, Blackwater Rebellion, Dryvr, Jet West and Dirty Crush.
The annual Rocklahoma Festival is sponsored by Bud Light, U.S. Cellular, Jagermeister, Monster Energy, Hard Rock Casino, Route 66 RVs, and Jack Daniels.
More information on the annual Rocklahoma Festival is available online at http://www.rocklahoma.com, http://www.facebook.com/rocklahoma and http://twitter.com/rocklahoma. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and "Like" it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil's Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.


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"How presumptuous! I never disclose who my songs are about."
—Taylor Swift when informed by a Glamour reporter that John Mayer had been publicly humiliated by her lacerating song "Dear John," which chronicled their one-sided nuclear disaster of a relationship.
The reporter went on, "He said he felt…"
"No!" Swift interjected. "I don't want to know, I don't want to know. I know it wasn't good, so I don't want to know. I put a high priority on staying happy, and I know what I can't handle."
Never write for the Internet, Taylor. She continued, "I think that song really hit home with a lot of girls who had been through toxic relationships and had found their way to the other side of it. I've never looked out while singing a song during a concert to see so many girls crying." I DID THAT. Not at a concert, but in my house. Did you guys do that? [USA Today, MTV]
Bobbi Kristina, currently the sole benificiary of late mother Whitney Houston's estate, might be cut off from the Houston fortune for the time being due to her relationships with some sketchy characters. Trustees want to ensure that she isn't financially manipulated by people like her current boyfriend, Nick Gordon, with whom she was in a car accident last week. [Radar Online]
A former American Idol contestant named Brittany Kerr made out with married country singer Jason Aldean one drunken night on the Sunset Strip last week, and the backlash came 2 Fast 2 Furious for her to handle. Kerr had to delete her Twitter account after being called a "slut" and a "whore."
She had no idea he was married, although he was wearing a ring at the time, and apologized: "The actions I portrayed recently were not a representation of my true character, but a lapse in judgment on my part. I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone that has been affected by this, including my friends & family." Aldean, a father of two with wife Jessica, who he married in 2001, has also released a statement of apology. [LA Times, E! Online, TMZ]
There's a Twitter rumor that RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Sahara Davenport has passed away, but it hasn't yet been confirmed, so we're hoping this is not the case. [Queerty]
Despite rumors of London clubbing and sucking face with Cameron Diaz while filming All You Need Is Kill, it sounds more like Tom Cruise is acting like your lonely, creepy brother-in-law. He's under the name "Cage Hunt" at the Grove Hotel in Hertsfordshire, and apparently jokes with guests that the moniker is his porn name. "Tom has been a great laugh and is really friendly to everyone," says one anonymous guest. "He has a great sense of humour." I'll bet. When he's not yukking it up, he's flying a remote controlled helicopter on the grounds.
Fun fact: Johnny Depp has used "Mr. Stench" as a faux hotel check-in name, and Brangelina have used "Bryce and Jasmine Pilaf." So, um, good job being discreet, all! [The Sun]
Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, Ellen DeGeneres, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jonah Hill, Edward Norton and some other people made a bunch of jokes to try to get you to vote. You should!
Diane Keaton talked to the Ladies' Home Journal about the famous (and in some cases, famously dickish) men she's loved. "Managerial skills are necessary to handle men like that. I also don't think I have a lot of nurturing skills. I needed as much as they needed, and that's not a good mix."
On Warren Beatty: "He was very sexy, but a different kind of sexy. I mean, we're talking pretty. Like Justin Bieber pretty."
On Al Pacino: "I had a crush on him for 20 years."
On Woody Allen: "I still love Woody."
On Jack Nicholson: "He's very adept at being the person you want to watch, and I think it's exhausting."
Managerial skills! She is the best. [Page Six]
Smirk Silverfox is about to be siiiiiingle again. [NYDN]
- O, NVM: Turns out those Christina Aguilera Billboard weight quotes from yesterday were fabricated. Sorry, she's not as cool as we thought. [Entertainment Weekly]
- Breckin Meyer—remember him?—split from his wife of 11 years. [Express]
- Liz Hurley flipped the switch to turn the Empire State Building pink for a breast cancer awareness campaign. [Express]
- Sell dat house, Sheryl Crow. [TMZ]
- Halle Berry and bitter ex Gabriel Aubry hung out in the same pumpkin patch without murdering each other on behalf of their kid Nahla. [TMZ]
- Melanie Lynskey is getting a divorce from her husband, one of the creepy It's Always Sunny's McPoyles (real name Jimmi Simpson). [TMZ]
- Paris Hilton made out with a girl at a club, and then her boyfriend got arrested for punching another dude in the face. We get it, Paris. You're still here. [TMZ]
- Here's the first shot of Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey's kid, Camden John. [People]
- Jessica Biel napped with her massive dog Tina on top of her. [People]
- There was Xanax flying around at the Real Housewives of NJ reunion. [Us Weekly]
- Bleerghrle blargle Lisa D'Amato's wedding dress blarhgh? [Us Weekly]
- Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones plan to renew their vows in Bermuda. [Monsters and Critics]
- Rapper Lil Scrappy got arrested in Atlanta for violating his parole. [TMZ]
- Simon Cowell indulges in "sheep placenta facials" to stay young, except for the sheep in Brooklyn who keep their own placenta, julienne and sautee it to serve at a party. [The Mirror UK]
- Kim Kerdershriarn wore a long blue dress, is still a person who roams the Earth. [Daily Mail]
- And avoids Ray-J in Miami. [Page Six]
- THIS PICTURE OF "ICE LOVES" COCO AND LIAM NEESON. [Janet Charlton's Hollywood]
- Lena Dunham's shopping a book of essays for $1 million. [Page Six]
- Mena Suvari is officially divorced. Thus begins American Beauty 2. [The Sun]


text:
Tied Cuffed Sleeve Surplice Dress
- Type: Casual dresses
- Sizing category: Regular
- Pattern type: Solid
- Style: Casual, minimalist
- Features: Ruched, tie
- Neckline: Surplice
- Length: Mini
- Sleeve length: Short sleeves
- Sleeve type: Regular sleeves
- Material: 95% polyester, 5% elastane
- Stretch: No stretch
- Sheer: No
- Body: Not lined
- Care instructions: Machine wash cold. Tumble dry low.
- Imported
- Product measurements:
S: bust 35 in, length 34 in, shoulder (with sleeve) 12 in, waist 25-39 in
M: bust 37 in, length 35 in, shoulder (with sleeve) 12 in, waist 27-40 in
L: bust 39 in, length 36 in, shoulder (with sleeve) 12 in, waist 29-42 in
XL: bust 41 in, length 37 in, shoulder (with sleeve) 13 in, waist 31-45 in
FABGAL is a crossborder company with warehouses in both the U.S. and overseas.
- For our US orders we havea proccesing time of 1-2 business days and for overseas orders, we have 3-4 business days and this does not include the weekends.
USA products: 2 - 5 business days
Overseas products: 5 - 10 business days
Receiving Time = Processing time + Shipping Time
Estimated Delivery Time (The estimated time from finishing payment to receiving your package)
For more details view Shipping and Delivery section
If you find your item isn't fitting quite right, we are more than happy to do an exchange by issuing you a store credit to the value of your item (minus original shipping charges) if the following is met:
FABGAL will accept returns of unworn clothing items with original tags and clear garment packaging with SKU label. We do not accept exchanges of any kind.
Return requests must be initiated within 7 days (return window based on the exact time of delivery) of receiving all items in the order and shipped back to us within 7 days of submission to qualify for a full refund.
If it is a split package order, it will start from the time of the final package delivery date and time.
*** All swimwear, bodysuits, intimates, jewelry, face masks, and beauty products are final sale and non-refundable.
- Orders returned without meeting the above criteria are subject to a 20% restocking fee or we may decline the entire return.
- Shipping and handling charges are non-refundable.
- Return shipping is the customer's responsibility unless it was a shipping error or a damaged item.
- Please allow FABGAL 5-7 business days from the day we receive the returned package to process.
- FABGAL will email you after return has been processed to confirm what has been done.
For more details view Return and Refund section
1. There might be 2-3% difference according to manual measurement.
2. There are 3 kinds of elasticity: High Elasticity (two-sided stretched), Medium Elasticity (one-sided stretched) and Nonelastic (can not stretched).
3. Wash it by hand in 30-degree water, hang to dry in shade, prohibit bleaching.
4. There maybe a slightly difference on detail and pattern.
+ Please note that slight color difference should be acceptable due to the light and screen.