text:
I've written about Penny Arcade and the Penny Arcade Expo quite a few times before, though not more recently than about a year and a half ago on this blog. In fact, these old posts are a pretty good way to trace the development of my views on PA, PAX, and "gamer culture" (a nebulous term to be sure, but I think not a wholly meaningless one).
- March 2010: Et In Penny-Arcadia Ego
- January 2011: Why I'm Conflicted About Attending PAX East 2011 and the followup Well, I Guess That Resolves Things
- March 2011: Really, Gearbox? Really?
- September 2012: Oh look, it's time to talk about gamer culture and rape culture again.
It would not be overstating the case to say that my opinions of all three things have gotten no more favorable since that last post. (Elizabeth Sampat's Quit Fucking Going To PAX Already, What Is Wrong With You from last September is another worthwhile read.)
I'm still friends with a number of people who regularly attend PAX, some of whom are indie devs who exhibit there. I know that the "should you boycott PAX" question is a prickly one for some, and I want to try to be careful here not to blame individual choices for systemic problems. In any case, I think my views on whether PAX can be "reformed" or "improved" or "changed from within" have been clear for some time now: it can't, because the people who run (and profit from, let's not forget) it and actually most of the people who go to it either actively oppose any such efforts, or simply don't care.
I've sometimes taken a harder line on things like this, and I certainly know and respect many people who still do — whose position is a flat "don't go to PAX". In the abstract, I think that's the right choice, but practice is always messy. Ultimately, PAX isn't going to stand or fall, or change or stay the same, on the choice of any individual to go or not to go. All the same, if you're a ticket-buying attendee, I hope you'll consider not going; the people in charge of the event do not deserve your money, and there's a great deal else to do in Boston, and many offsite or after-hours chances to meet up with other games people who've come to town for PAX.
It's important to remember that the problems with Penny Arcade, and with PAX, are symptomatic of problems in game culture writ large, which themselves are symptoms, or manifestations, or particular versions of societal problems. Most everything wrong with any of these microcosms is, ultimately, linked to the racist, patriarchal, capitalist structure of society.
But it's a funny kind of symptom — we can see this in other sexist media, for example, as well — in that culture is a feedback loop, so the symptoms actually exacerbate and prolong the disease. A fever is a symptom of an infection, but imagine a virus that could survive at 98.6°F but thrived at 103°: the fever would only make the infection worse.
How do you fight that kind of disease — how do you diminish or break the cultural feedback loop? That's a good question. If PAX does collapse, without any general improvement in gamer culture, something just as bad will likely take its place. To switch metaphors abruptly, audio feedback can be diminished by attenuating the signal at the input, the output, or both. Criticism of games, games culture, games media, and games events (and in particular of prominent events like PAX, E3, GDC, etc.), on grounds of diversity, inclusivity, and social justice has become much more vocal and widespread in recent years (meeting, of course, predictable resistance and backlash); and "counterprogramming" (though much of it is not positioned directly in opposition to the "mainstream" events) like Lost Levels, Different Games, No Show Conference, etc., also seems to me to be on the rise.
I don't mean that to sound like blithe it-gets-better-ism; "things" are not "getting" better — many people are putting in real, hard work, often with little or no compensation, to make things better. I think probably the best way to "fix" the culture, insofar as we can, regardless of anyone's individual decision on PAX attendance, is to try to support those critics and counterprogrammers, to join them in the work, or to give them what support we can, or to contend with those who try to tear them down in defense of the status quo.
Again, it's no secret I dislike Penny Arcade and all their works, with considerable intensity. If their offices were shuttered tomorrow I wouldn't feel the world had lost anything of value. I avoid visiting their website, and I definitely don't go to PAX. But (if these are the only two possibilities, which they probably are not) I'd rather see a future in which PAX and Penny Arcade rumble on, perhaps a slightly smaller fish than they are today, in a somewhat bigger pond — but one full of clear, sparkling water and every kind of fish and water plant — than one where they float belly-up, but everyone keeps struggling through the same shallow, polluted muck.


text:
THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
When you deal with old databases, with origins somewhere around second half of nineteen nineties, you can expect all kinds of oddities, like funny naming conventions, (lack of) referential integrity, absence of clustered indexes and things like rules and defaults created separately from tables DDL.
I just happen to work with such database. I see many tables which some time ago were migrated from a Sybase system that have their DEFAULT constraints defined with sp_bindefault stored procedure. You don't have to memorize exact syntax of the invocation of this procedure because it is marked as obsolete and should not be used anymore:
This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Do not use this feature in new development work, and modify applications that currently use this feature as soon as possible. We recommend that you create default definitions by using the DEFAULT keyword of the ALTER TABLE or CREATE TABLE statements instead. For more information, see Creating and Modifying DEFAULT Definitions.
Now, when I read the documentation, the sp_bindefault has some interesting capability. If you create default and user defined type (alias), and you bind this default to the type with sp_bindefault, you can inadvertently affect all columns of that type in all tables in the database if they don't have any default or are using existing default of the alias type:
1: create table dbo.t1
2: (
3: col1 int not null,
4: col2 int not null constraint DF_t1col2 default(0)
5: )
6: go
7: ---create default for the column
8: create default dbo.DFValue_1 as 1
9: go
10: ---bind default to the column
11: exec sp_bindefault 'dbo.DFValue_1', 'dbo.t1.col1'
12: go
13: ---create udt
14: create type ssn
15: from varchar(15) not null
16: go
17: --create default - empty string
18: create default dbo.DF_UDTEmpty as ''
19: go
20: --bind default to the udt
21: exec sp_bindefault 'dbo.DF_UDTEmpty', 'dbo.ssn'
22: go
23: --add new column to the table
24: alter table dbo.t1 add secnumber1 ssn
25: go
26: ---insert into the table and select results
27: insert dbo.t1(col1, col2, secnumber1) default values
29: ---secnumber1 is empty string
30: select * from dbo.t1
31: go
32: ---create second table
33: create table dbo.t2
34: (
35: col1 int constraint DF_t2_col1 default(10),
36: secnumber ssn
37: )
38: go
39: create default dbo.DF_SSNNotEmpty as '<unknown ssn>'
40: go
41: ---note here - no @futureonly param provided
42: exec sp_bindefault 'dbo.DF_SSNNotEmpty', 'dbo.ssn'
43: go
44: --insert into t1 and t2
45: insert dbo.t1(col1, col2, secnumber1) default values
46: insert dbo.t2(col1, secnumber) default values
47: go
48: ---check contents of the tables
49: select * from dbo.t1 --what?
50: select * from dbo.t2
51: go
If you run the above script you will see that the default value of the column secnumber1 in table dbo.t1 has changed to '<unknown ssn>'! You can really hurt yourself if you make a mistake and omit the parameter @futureonly in the call to sp_bindefault. If you use @futureonly parameter, the above behavior will not occur. It's pretty easy to make changes you don't know about until user calls you at 3 am on Sunday.
It is good idea to change tables to use standard column DEFAULT constraints. This should be of course made with care, probably only when you change the tables anyway. But, if you were curious how many tables you have in your database that use the DEFAULT objects, you can run this script:
1: ---all default objects with names of tables they are assigned to.
2: select b.default_object_id, a.name default_object_name,
3: b.object_id table_id, object_schema_name(b.object_id) table_schema,
4: object_name(b.object_id) table_name, b.name column_name, b.column_id
5: from sys.objects a inner join sys.all_columns b
6: on a.object_id = b.default_object_id
7: where 1=1
8: and a.object_id not in (select object_id from sys.default_constraints)
Full testing script is attached to the post as usual, enjoy :).
Do you know how can I script such constraints for an existing table? SSMS CREATE script doesn't script these constraints.
Thanks a lot in advance
Hi Naomi,
You can make SSMS to script what you want. Go to Tools/Options, then select SQL Server Object Explorer/Scripting. I have all constraints, indexes and triggers enabled so I get full picture of what table is when I script it. I most often script the table to investigate its structure rather than open columns, indexes, triggers nodes in object explorer.
Hi Piotr,
You're right, I did get them scripted - I set to true practically every option including the very last one - although it doesn't say what is it for.
Cleverly Brilliant & Succinct,
Daniel Adeniji

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- 6th gen Intel® Core™ i3 Processor
- 500 GB Capacity
- 4 GB Memory
- Intel® HD Graphics 520 Graphics
- 2.31 lbs (1.05 kg) Weight
- FreeDOS Operating System
Mini PCs are full-capability computers small enough to tuck away in a drawer. The performance of Intel® Core™ processors and large local storage let Mini PCs handle complex tasks while keeping a low profile at home or at work.
182 Results
Replace the chunky tower with a PC that runs the apps and software that you love. The stylish design has large, local storage, and supports apps like Microsoft Office*, Skype*, Adobe Creative Cloud*, and more.1
Mini PCs with Intel® processor bring full PC capability to small spaces, offering wireless connections, faster meeting starts, and power to drive multiple displays and digital signage. Get big results in a tiny form factor.
Mini PCs use less power than average full size desktop towers2, which lets you free up budget for other priorities without compromising sky-high performance. Save money. Perform better.
Whether you're looking for a complete, ready-to-use mini PC or something you can build and customize, there's an Intel® NUC that is right for you. Intel® NUC mini PCs with Windows* 10 are configured and tuned by Intel for powerful performance in the home or office. Intel® NUC kits and boards let you pick the Intel® processor and install your own memory, storage, and operating system for an experience that's all your own.
Mini PCs powered by Intel provide features to expand your media capabilities. Premium 4K video, Intel® Ready Mode Technology (Intel® RMT), software compatibility, and large expandable storage let you work, study, play, create, and entertain in any room.
Enjoy PC console gaming on the big screen and share the experience with all your friends. Mini PCs include multiple display support with HDMI* and DisplayPort, premium audio, and game streaming with Windows* 10 and Xbox One* for an immersive gaming experience.3
From large classrooms to small learning locations, give your students the performance and space they need to succeed. Bring the power of education to the smallest of places with Intel®-based mini PCs.
Add the latest Intel® Wi-Fi technology for sizzling networking speeds. Do more, faster.
Intel® Core™ vPro® processors use breakthrough identity authentication technology to defend your devices and data so you can do business with confidence.
Intel Unite® solution simplifies collaboration with smart, connected meeting spaces powered by an Intel® Core™ vPro® processor-based Mini PC.
Simplify your digital life. Share and enjoy photos, music, videos, social media, and real-time alerts. Sync files across devices automatically.
Eliminating bottlenecks requires better storage memory that is fast, inexpensive, and non-volatile. With Intel® Optane™ technology, you can unleash the power of your processor instead of it working at a fraction of it.
Sub 3 liter design: for the ultimate space saving alternative
60% more energy efficient systems: compared to your outdated tower (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/mini-pc/mini-pc-shrink-your-desktop-pt-infographic.html)
Intel® technologies' features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No computer system can be absolutely secure. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer or learn more at http://www.intel.com.


text:
The big news of today is that the Facebook application 'Where I've Been', has been bought by TripAdvisor for $3 million. Whilst I wouldn't say that TripAdvisor had bagged a bargain, it may be a rather shrewd investment.
At the time of buying 'Where I've Been' it was reported as being embedded on 2.3 million users pages, approximately $1.30 per user. Whilst this may sound a lot, if it translates into 2.3 million permanent adverts for TripAdvisor it suddenly doesn't seem so outrageous. This is in addition to the press coverage the acquisition is likely to attract. It should also be remembered that Facebook is not a static network, but rather is growing at a phenomenal rate and the application is likely to be embedded on many more pages in the weeks to come.
Those early applications that have created enough of a buzz are likely to see a host of established companies swooping in to buy them up, which in turn will increase the number of Facebook users and applications as everyone wants a bit of the action. If networks such as Bebo and MySpace don't want to fall out of the race they need to open up their platforms and hope for some big buy-outs to get the public interest in their sites.
The big question is, can TripAdvisor successfully use the application to drive people to their web site without compromising the original application?
UPDATED: And then it is all change on the rumour mill, with the takeover being denied. Nonetheless I still don't think it will be long before many of these applications are being picked up for silly money.


text:
Greatest Governor and Top Teacher Speak Out
A day of inspiration and hard work
By Alain Jehlen
The greatest governor exhorted them.
The teacher of the year inspired them.
And their president involved them in a cell-phone campaign to save educator jobs.
Meanwhile, RA delegates tackled a packed agenda of 99 new business items and completed the NEA's legislative program to set the course for America's largest organization of educators in the challenging year ahead.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, winner of the NEA's Greatest Education Governor award this year, reminded the delegates of how much is at stake in the 37 governor's races this fall—one of which is his. "Ask our friends here from New Jersey whether governor's races make a difference," he said.
The award is presented to a governor who has made major efforts to improve public education. O'Malley took office in 2007, just months before the nation plunged into a deep recession, but he has authorized the funding necessary to make great strides in closing the achievement gap.
"It's the responsibility of those of us in government to stand by you, and to give you the tools, resources and support that you need so that our students succeed in the classroom," O'Malley told the delegates.
Teacher of the year Sara Brown Wessling of Iowa said we need schools "where students thrive because of the system, not in spite of it," and then described what such a school looks and sounds like.
"Do you see rows firmly set, keeping teachers and students divided? Do you hear the silence of a well-ordered room? Do you feel the weight of standardized tests and the eyes of naïve critics?" she asked.
Or do you see the stacks of books and magazines; student work, like wrapping paper, on the walls? Do you hear the productive whir of students, slightly frustrated and compelled to achieve understanding?
Executive Committee Member Christy Levings, chair of the ESEA Advisory Committee, presented the committee's report and described the work of NEA in rallying members and friends of education for the high-priority, high-intensity campaign to change the law.
After she finished, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel asked delegates to text "SPEAKUP" (no space between the two words) to 77007. That connects the texter with NEA's grassroots effort on jobs and ESEA.
"We have a tremendous opportunity to influence the debate in Washington," he said. "We have banded together before to grab victory from the jaws of defeat… We need to be able to count you in and count on you when we need to take action. More importantly, we need for you each to become neighborhood advocates for public education."
In balloting, delegates adopted five constitutional amendments including the "Gateway" amendment that lets any active member of a state Association be a member of NEA as well.
The runoff election for Board of Directors ESP At-Large member ended in a squeaker with James Ojeda defeating Melinda Smith 3896 to 3804.
RA Media Headlines
View All RA Speeches


text:
Watch Psycho (1960) : Full Movie Online Free When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
|Release Date
|Jun 22, 1960
|Horror, Drama, Thriller,
|Production Company
|Shamley Productions
|Production Countries
|United States of America
|Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Simon Oakland, Frank Albertson, Patricia Hitchcock, Vaughn Taylor, Lurene Tuttle
|Plot Keywords
|hotel, clerk, arizona, shower, rain, motel, taxidermy, money, secretary, corpse, murderer, theft, private detective, proto-slasher,
Norman BatesAnthony Perkins
Marion CraneJanet Leigh
Lila CraneVera Miles
Sam LoomisJohn Gavin
Det. Milton ArbogastMartin Balsam
Sheriff Al ChambersJohn McIntire
Dr. Fred RichmanSimon Oakland
Tom CassidyFrank Albertson
CarolinePatricia Hitchcock
George LoweryVaughn Taylor
Mrs. ChambersLurene Tuttle
Highway Patrol OfficerMort Mills
California CharlieJohn Anderson
Man Outside OfficeAlfred Hitchcock
Church Member (uncredited)Walter Bacon
Deputy District Attorney Alan Deats (uncredited)Francis De Sales
Extra (uncredited)George Dockstader
Extra (uncredited)Harper Flaherty
Extra (uncredited)Lillian O'Malley
Extra (uncredited)Fred Scheiwiller
Police Chief James Mitchell (uncredited)George Eldredge
County Sheriff (uncredited)Sam Flint
Norma Bates (voice) (uncredited)Virginia Gregg
Norma Bates (voice) (uncredited)Jeanette Nolan
Norma Bates (voice) (uncredited)Paul Jasmin
Bob Summerfield (uncredited)Frank Killmond
Policeman in Hallway Opening Door (uncredited)Ted Knight
Police Guard (uncredited)Pat McCaffrie
Passerby on Sidewalk (uncredited)Hans Moebus
Hardware Store Customer (uncredited)Helen Wallace
Man (uncredited)Robert Osborne


text:
To ensure your security while viewing this site, please use a modern browser such as Chrome or update to a newer version of Internet Explorer.
Download Chrome (Made by Google)Update Internet Explorer (Made by Microsoft)
CORONAVIRUS & THE COURTS: Help Keep Courthouses Safe - Wearing a mask in New Mexico Courthouses is REQUIRED
UPDATES (Including Information for People Representing Themselves)
*NOTICE* Browser Compatibility Update
The browsers Google Chrome and Firefox (version 52 and above) will no longer support websites like File and Serve that use Silverlight. Users will receive a message that their web browser is not compatible and to use a different web browser (Internet Explorer) to eFile. eFilers are encouraged to begin transitioning to the new File and Serve website through the attorney access link above, but the Silverlight version can be reached HERE.
Effective January 1st, 2017, the fees for E-filing at the District Courts in New Mexico will increase. File and Serve fees will go from $10 to $12, File Only fees will go from $6 to $8. The $4 fee for Serve Only will be dropped to $0
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For Self Help, FAQs, Web Training Sessions, and Training Videos, click here and go to the Self Help section.
Out-of-state attorneys, contact the Supreme Court here.
Please visit the 2nd Judicial District's Proposed Document Email page by clicking here.


text: I am in Minnesota this morning doing a speech, but do have a very good candidate for this week's Outside the Box. Tony Boeckh just published a piece by George Magnus on demographics and the markets that I think is very thought-provoking. Demographics is something I think about a lot and you should too. I will let Tony do the introduction of George.Have a good week. My goal is to write this Friday's letter a little early so that I can get in some fishing time. And when you look at today's ISM number, look past the headline number, which is just fine, and look at the weakness in the leading indicators. New orders declined by 5 points to 53.5, its lowest level since June 2009. Also, imports slowed noticeably, which is a bad omen for domestic demand. Overall, the ISM index suggests that real GDP and factory output slowed early this quarter.


text:
Latest Healthy Kids News
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of prescription painkiller abuse among American youth is 40 percent higher than in previous generations, and it is now the second most common type of illegal drug use after marijuana, according to a new study.
The current generation's abuse of prescription pain medications such as vicodin, valium and oxycontin is "higher than any generation ever measured," study author Richard Miech, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Denver, said in a university news release.
The researchers analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 1985 to 2009, and found that prescription painkiller abuse led to:
- A 129 percent increase in emergency department visits between 2004 and 2009.
- A more than 500 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for addiction to prescription opioids between 1997 and 2007.
- A threefold increase in accidental overdose deaths between the 1990s and 2007.
There are now more deaths due to accidental overdoses of prescription painkillers than due to overdoses of cocaine and heroin combined, Miech said.
Many factors contribute to the increasing abuse of prescription painkillers by youth, including greater availability. For example, the number of hydrocodone and oxycodone products prescribed legally in the United States increased from about 40 million in 1991 to nearly 180 million in 2007, according to the study, which was published Oct. 16 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
There are more of these drugs in people's medicine cabinets, Miech said, and if the drugs are not kept under lock and key they are easy to steal.
"Most people recognize the dangers of leaving a loaded gun lying around the house," Miech said. "What few people realize is that far more people die as a result of unsecured prescription medications."
The findings suggest that current efforts to prevent prescription painkiller abuse are not effective, and "it is critical that we devise a strategy to deal with an epidemic that shows little sign of ebbing," Miech said.
-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


text:
Getting a Windows 7 Beta 1 Product Key
Just over 12hrs ago the download links for Windows 7 Beta 1 went live and I posted not long after about it… But in my rush to get Neo to a friends place for a doggy day (where were my priorities aye?) I forgot to mention how to obtain a proper license key to utilise the betas. So heres the spill.
Sign in via your .NET Passport
Its vital that you sign in via your .NET Passport, otherwise you'll keep getting redirected to the Microsoft homey page or the Windows Beta 7 site. You can do this by visiting any protected section of Microsoft, say like the Manage Your Profile section.
Once your signed in, your ready to try and obtain your key. Use one of the following URLs (they are purposely not hyperlinks so you are forced to copy/paste):
- Windows 7 Beta 1 – x86
- Windows 7 Beta 1 – x64
If at first you don't succeed, reload and try again.
Most of the time you try the links you'll be greeted with this:
But dont fret, its only to warn off n00bs, just keep refreshing your browser and eventually the server will bite.
Some people have gone so far as to using 20 tabs in firefox, cycle-through (just use CTRL+TAB) after they've all reloaded and checking, if none bite just right click on a tab and select "Reload All Tabs". Repeat till key found.
If your _really_ desperate, you can automate the entire process via Firefox + GreaseMonkey by following this forum posting. Nothing like calling on the greasy helper monkeys to work whilst you ponder the mysteries of life.
You can also readup on Installation Instructions for Windows 7 Beta 1 to get up to speed on the setup process and also some information on the Windows Blog about downloading and installing Beta 1.


text:
NYPD Unions, City Counsel Seek To Secure Bloomberg's Stop-And-Frisk Legacy Ahead Of New Mayor Taking Office
from the we-want-to-keep-our-wrong-the-way-it-is! dept
It's been less than two weeks since the Second Circuit Appeals Court issued a stay on Judge Scheindlin's decision finding elements of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program unconstitutional and, very oddly and with little evidence, kicked the judge off the case for appearances of "bias" and "impropriety."
What prompted the appeals court to remove Scheindlin remains a mystery. The information supplied in that decision's footnotes hardly indicate any impropriety or bias on Scheindlin's part. Scheindlin's press release points out two things:
1.) the Daniels case in which she allegedly showed an "appearance of impropriety" by suggesting a plaintiff file a case (Floyd v. New York -- the stop and frisk case under discussion) as "related" in order for it to be accepted by her court was done to avoid violating the protective order in Daniels -- something the plaintiff's attempt to bring contempt proceedings would have done. By marking it as "related," the plaintiff could pursue the city without violating the protective order.
2.) the articles in which she allegedly showed bias against the NYPD actually showed nothing of the sort. Certain quotes may have been framed by the writers to indicate this, but Scheindlin provided the interviews with the understanding that she would not discuss the pending stop-and-frisk case.
Another federal judge, Richard Kopf, called it a "cheap shot."
The Second Circuit's spontaneous decision, apparently without briefing and coming out of the blue, was factually predicated upon a "relatedness" question mentioned in the record before the Court of Appeals and in the footnoted NYT article referred to by the Circuit. But, if that was really the reason for the trial judge's removal, the decision was both wrong, and, worse, unnecessary.Scott Greenfield goes even further:
Let's get real here: Judge Scheindlin is the government's worst nightmare. She gives the defense, the accused, the black, the Hispanic, a fair shake. She has demonstrated throughout her career that she will not let agents or assistants roll over the Constitution. They despise her for not being a team player, and dread a case getting sent to her courtroom.The discussion as to whether the city (meaning its lawyers, the NYPD's legal counsel and Mayor Bloomberg) was able to bring enough heat to push Scheindlin out is ongoing. Keep in mind that the "improprieties" of Davis case -- the appeals court's justification for Scheindlin's removal -- occurred in 2007. [Full relevant conversation embedded below.] It's been nearly six years since and no questions have been raised about Scheindlin's judicial propriety until now.
As for Local Rule 13, the related case rule, she did nothing that isn't done daily. Worse yet, most of the time the related case rule works to the government's favor, as judges who sign search and wiretap warrants get the cases when the takedown comes, making it essentially impossible to obtain neutral review of their grant of the warrants. The government survives on this ploy, and we all know it. This isn't about the Circuit panel beating up on the local rule.
Does someone in New York have enough influence to nudge a federal appeals court in a certain direction? We'd all like to believe federal courts can't be swayed by local interests, but there's definitely a lots of pressure being exerted in hopes of overturning Scheindlin's decision.
First and foremost, newly elected mayor Bill de Blasio hasn't been shy about his opposition to stop-and-frisk. As the new mayor, he certainly has the power to end the stop-and-frisk program as well as rescind the city's appeal of the ruling. Or at least he could have until the Second Circuit froze everything in place pending rewritten appeals, some of which have already made their way to the court.
The city's police unions have filed a request to be allowed to continue fighting Scheindlin's decision even if de Blasio drops the appeal. The arguments are familiar and weak: change of any kind with disrupt the police force irreparably.
"What we want to do is to make sure that the reforms that were recommended by the last court do not go into place," PBA president Patrick Lynch said. "This court appeal must go forward. We want to make sure the police officers' opinions are heard in the court."If Lynch is truly concerned about the decision "tainting" the "integrity of the police force," he's several hundred million dollars worth of city settlements too late. "Re-writing" these rules would simply make them compliant with the Constitution, something the NYPD should have been safeguarding all along, rather than just when forced to by lawsuits.
The unions said the rulings would unfairly taint the integrity of the police force and re-write rules governing officer conduct.
"This affects how we do our job, it protects our contract and labor rights and it affects the responsibilities that we have on a regular basis on the street," Lynch said.
The city's counsel, Michael Cardozo, has done the unions one better: he's asking for the decision to be vacated entirely. Cardozo's motion leverages the appeals court's "appearances of impropriety and bias" into full-blown, factually baseless claims that Scheindlin is, and always has been, a hater of all things cop- and city-related.
In the filing on Saturday, Michael A. Cardozo, the corporation counsel, said that Judge Scheindlin's decisions "continue, unfairly and improperly, to cloud the public's perception of the N.Y.P.D."What Cardozo is arguing runs counter to the statistics collected by the NYPD itself on stop-and-frisk. It does target minorities unfairly and these stops frequently go beyond the legal concept of the Terry stop, doing away with reasonable suspicion in favor of a checklist that could be filled out post facto to attribute suspicion to such vagaries as "furtive movement" or "actions indicative of casing."
"The district court's orders lend credence to the notion that the N.Y.P.D. unfairly targets minorities for stops and frisks," Mr. Cardozo wrote, "undermining its ability to carry out its mission effectively."
He also made reference to Judge Scheindlin's findings that in stopping and frisking people, the department had violated the Constitution and resorted to a "policy of indirect racial profiling."
"Wrongly labeling the N.Y.P.D. — and the City — a racial profiling entity and flouter of the Fourth Amendment should be sufficient injustice to vacate the Orders," Mr. Cardozo wrote.
This is a last-minute push by Bloomberg's administration to control the future and leave de Blasio facing an uphill battle against a police force openly contemptuous of any attempts to control it. As ugly as that is, it's even worse that Bloomberg apparently needs to have this last win -- and last word -- before he turns over the reins to his successor.
Scheindlin has also weighed in, asking through her counsel for the appeals court to withdraw its order until such point that her alleged wrongdoing can be discussed "at an appropriate point in the proceedings," rather than giving Floyd v. New York the dubious honor of being the host of a judicial "naked mudwrestling match."
At this point, everything is up in the air, but its apparent the Bloomberg administration and "his" police department are unwilling to make even the smallest change to current practices, despite racking up millions of dollars in settlements every year and a growing number of people unwilling to cede more of their civil liberties, no matter how "effective" the unconstitutional program is.
Filed Under: michael bloomberg, nyc, nypd, shira scheindlin, stop and frisk


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Lhota is riding high off the good press he received for the way the MTA handled the preparations and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The trains and buses were given high priority and MTA riders were back to using mass transit relatively quickly. However, in a city full of people with brief memories, it won't be a surprise if Lhota's campaign fizzles out before it even gets started.
Also, if he is basing his campaign on the good memories of New Yorkers, he should hope that every time they buy a MetroCard they forget who was the chairman when the rates were increased.
Lhota has said he will enter the race as a Republican. While the voters in the city have elected two consecutive Rebuplican mayors in Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, make not mistake that New York is a overwhelmingly Democratic city, and the Democrtas would like nothing better than to get one of their own back in the mayor's office.
Expect the party to pull out all the stops in their effort to win back the post, which won't be good for Lhota.
While this is his first time running for office, Lohta is not new to New York politics. He was a deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration, but it will be interesting to see how he fairs now that he is in the spot light.
Recently, Lohta spoke about the difficult job of being mayor. "I know how challenging the job is and how important the job is to all New Yorkers," he said.
At this point, we're just not sure how realistic it is that it's a job he will ever have.


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Big Four(redirected from Big 8)
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Big Four
The four largest accounting firms in the United States: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. In addition to accounting, these firms all offer auditing and advisory services. The number of "big" accounting firms has decreased over time because of mergers and, most recently, the ruin of Arthur Andersen following the Enron scandal in 2002.
Big Four
A widely used reference to the four largest public accounting firms that perform most of the external audits in the United States for large publicly owned corporations. The Big Four include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. The group was long known as the Big Eight until it was reduced by mergers; it was called the Big Five until the Enron scandal led to the collapse of Arthur Andersen.


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Te Taou application for an urgent inquiry into settlements declined
Memorandum-directions of the Presiding Officer declining an application for an urgent inquiry by Lou Paul, on behalf of Te Taou and others
Waitangi Tribunal (Wai 756, #2.112)
5 October 2012
The Tribunal's Deputy Chairperson declined an application for an urgent hearing of a claim that sought to challenge the Crown's approach to settlement negotiations in Kaipara and Tāmaki Makaurau.
Download Wai 756, #2.112 Memorandum-directions here (444 KB PDF). read more


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( Written at the request of the "Times of India". Published by them on September 9,2012, at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Doctor-techie-scientist--terrors-new-recruits/articleshow/16318255.cms )
The 18 Muslim suspects arrested since August 29 in operations co-ordinated by the Bengaluru Police are presently under interrogation.
The indications till now are that the suspects, who have been picked up from Bengaluru and Hubli in Karnataka, Hyderabad and Maharashtra, had come together with the objective of assassinating certain individuals identified with the Hindutva ideology.
Though there seems to be some suspicion of their contacts with the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) of Pakistan and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) of Bangladesh, they constituted a new indigenous group with no suspected links with any of the indigenous terrorist/extremist organisations that have been active so far such as Al Umma of Tamil Nadu, the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujahideen (IM).
The Bengaluru Police seem to have succeeded in penetrating and dismantling them even before they could give themselves an organisational infrastructure and an ideological basis.
It was a group of individuals self-motivated by visiting jihadi sites in the Internet such as that of Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and brought together by shared anger against Hindutva elements without attempts to form a central command and control.
The conspiracy seems to have been squashed by the Police at a very early stage. This is evident from the absence of any major recoveries of arms and ammunition and explosive material from them
Whereas other jihadi organisations that had operated in India in the past had made a dual use of hand-held weapons and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), this group was still in the stage of hand-held weapons and had not started thinking in terms of IEDs.
Commonly binding anger due to social and religious discrimination and communal grievances generally tend to motivate the educated, thinking elements more than others.
It is, therefore, not surprising that all the suspects came from the educated segments of the Muslim community. It is also to be noted that the educated elements had studied or were studying subjects such as medicine, computer science, journalism etc and not humanities.
This trend towards the gravitation of such elements to leadership positions in the jihadi organisations had been noticed in the case of the IM too, which had some good IT experts, including one of Pune who had occupied an important position in the Indian branch of a well-known foreign IT company.
Examples of enraged students belonging to such professions or aspiring to join them gravitating to extremism had been seen in the past not only in India, but also in Indonesia and Western countries.
A disquieting fact is a junior scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) joining this group. It is not yet clear whether he joined it on his own or whether he was spotted, motivated and recruited and what was the purpose.
If he had joined on his own because of anger against some Hindutva elements, that is understandable. But, if he had been recruited to penetrate the DRDO, that would be ominous.
According to the police, they made a breakthrough after keeping some of the suspects under surveillance for four months. There has been no indication of any significant electronic intelligence through interception of their telephone conversations.
It has been reported that the suspects were communicating with each other through Skype. This could be the reason for the evidently meagre ELINT. This would indicate that our capability for the interception of communications through the Internet continues to be inadequate. This needs attention.
As regards external ramifications, there are suspicions of links with elements in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia----with the training possibly coming from elements in Pakistan and the co-ordination from individuals in Saudi Arabia. These suspicions need to be developed further.
The motivation of the group is still to be determined. Did they have a strategic motivation of sustained terrorism or had they merely come together due to common anger over the grievances of Muslims in order to carry out some assassinations, which one may not be able to characterise as terrorism.
The conspiracy has spread over three states. The forensic evidence available so far is not adequate to reconstruct the conspiracy in a manner that will carry conviction to the courts and the Muslim community.
Keeping all this in view, it might be better for the Government of India to direct the National Investigation Agency to take over the investigation after reaching a consensus with the three State Governments.
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Research & Analysis Wing, Cabinet Secretariat, Govt of India.


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Selectmen's Office
Jay Swan, First Selectman
Phone: (860) 928-0208
Brenda Cotnoir, Executive Secretary x310
Crystal Adams, Office Manager / HR x336
Email: click on names above to send an email
Mailing Address
Function and Services
What We Do:
This office supports the Board of Selectmen and the First Selectman in the administrative work of the town. This day-to-day administrative work includes preparing the agendas and taking the minutes for Board of Selectmen meetings, working as a liaison to other town officials and departments, and advertising for open positions and arranging interviews. The Office Manager is also located in this office and is responsible for the daily operations of the town hall, purchasing routine items for the town, and working with the custodian in the maintenance of the town hall.
Contact us if you need help on:
The Selectman's Office is the place for comments, complaints, and general questions regarding the town.
The staff in the Selectman's Office provide information to the public regarding town services, referrals for assistance, and making sure that correspondence and inquiries are addressed.
Some specific things you should contact us about include:
- Charitable Raffle Permits
- Application for a job with the Town of Woodstock (Click on Documents Tab above for application.)
- Application to volunteer on a Board, Commission or Committee (Click on Documents tab above for application.)
- Pistol Permits (State of CT DPS FAQs)
- How to Apply for your Temporary Pistol Permit
- Pistol Permit Application
- Housing Rehab Loan Application
- Enforcement of Town Ordinances
More Information
The Booklet "Know Your Town Government" contains useful information on elected and appointed officials and boards, policies and procedures, general meeting schedules, filing requirements, and Freedom of Information. Click on the link above, or see the Forms tab to download a copy.
Contact us for additional information.


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PLEASE NOTE that the Tennessee State Library and Archives does not hold copies of all of the items listed in this bibliography. Please check the Tennessee State Library and Archives Online Catalog or visit the Ask Us a Question! web page to contact the Library and Archives and verify we have an item in our collection. We will respond to e-mail requests promptly; response time may vary, depending on the amount of research required to answer your question and the unique nature of your request. If you need immediate assistance you may call the reference desk at (615) 741-2764 or visit us in person.
Subjects :
Bowen, Beecher. I've seen everything but money. Woodbury, Cannon County Hist. Soc., 1978. 161 pp.
Brown, Sterling S. History of Woodbury & Cannon County, TN. Manchester, Doak, 1936. 235 pp.
Butler, Brian M. Hoover-Beeson rockshelter, 40CN4, Cannon County, TN. TN Arch. Soc. Misc. Paper #9 (1971), pp. 1-71.
Cannon County folk artists & craftsmen, a directory: an arts project. Cannon County RAD Committee, 1987. 31 pp.
Cannon County, 1980-1987: an economic analysis. Nashville, TN Dept. Emp. Sec., 1988. 12 pp.
Cannon County Historical Society Publications. v.1, 1977-. (irregular)
5 County association: Cannon, Dekalb, Van Buren, Warren, White: promoting progress. McMinnville, the association, 1974. 86 pp.
Goodspeed's history of TN (Cannon County, pp. 854-860, 987-992). Goodspeed, 1887.
Glenn, Clayton F. Manufacturing milk producers in Cannon County, TN. UT thesis, 1968. 134 pp.
Helsley, Wilford V., Mrs. The country doctor & his people, 1910-1923.Knoxville, the author, 1983. 88 pp.
History of Cannon County schools: a project of the Cannon County Retired
Teachers' Association. Woodbury, Cannon County Hist. Soc., 1990. 356 pp.
Holland, Ruth A. Henry Hoover, Cannon County craftsman. Woodbury, Dr. & Mrs. J.F. Adams Memorial Assoc., 1984. 340 pp.
Houston, Gary B. A survey of the legal needs of the poor in Rutherford & Cannon counties, TN. N.p., s.n., 1967. 29 pp.
Lollar, Earl H. Geologic structure of the "Barrens" of the Hollow Springs Quadrangle in Cannon & Coffee counties, TN. Vanderbilt U. thesis, 1924. 69 pp.
Mason, Robert L. Cannon County. MSU Press, 1982. 134 pp.
Mason, Robert L. Folk tales of Cannon County. Woodbury, Cannon County Hist. Soc., 1977. 62 pp. (Cannon Co. Hist. Soc. Pub. #1).
Mason, Robert L. Folk songs & folk tales of Cannon County, TN. George Peabody College thesis, 1939. 241 pp.
Mason, Robert L. The life & people of Cannon County, TN. George Peabody College dissertation, 1946. 251 pp.
Mason, Robert L. History of Cannon County, TN. Woodbury, Cannon County Hist. Soc., 1984. 361 pp.
Morris, Michael W. A geoarchaeological investigation of the Rush Creek Site, Cannon County, TN. UT thesis, 1989. 179 pp.
Northcutt, Dixon L. A geographic survey of Cannon County, TN. UT thesis, 1954. 106 pp.
TN Dept. Transportation [county maps] issued periodically.
US Geol. Survey [topographic maps] issued periodically. Quadrangles: Milton, Auburntown, Gasaway, Readyville, Woodbury, Short Mountain, Beech Grove, Hollow Springs, Centertown.
Flood insurance study: town of Woodbury, TN, Cannon County. Washington, D.C., FEMA, 1977. 15 pp.
Holland, Ruth A. Jesse & Laura: a story of the lives of Dr. & Mrs. J.F. Adams of Woodbury, TN. Sacramento, Press Room, 1986. 585 pp.
Spears, W. Steven. The State Route 1 project: test excavations at Woodbury, TN. Nashville, TN Dept. Conservation, Div. Arch., 1986. 85 pp.


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BUENOS AIRES — The very idea was anathema to many of the bishops in the room.
Argentina was on the verge of approving gay marriage, and the Roman Catholic Church was desperate to stop that from happening. It would lead tens of thousands of its followers in protest on the streets of Buenos Aires and publicly condemn the proposed law, a direct threat to church teaching, as the work of the devil.
But behind the scenes, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who led the public charge against the measure, spoke out in a heated meeting of bishops in 2010 and advocated a highly unorthodox solution: that the church in Argentina support the idea of civil unions for gay couples.
The concession inflamed the gathering — and offers a telling insight into the leadership style he may now bring to the papacy.
Few would suggest that Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, is anything but a stalwart who fully embraces the church's positions on core social issues. But as he faced one of the most acute tests of his tenure as head of Argentina's church, he showed another side as well, supporters and critics say: that of a deal maker willing to compromise and court opposing sides in the debate, detractors included.
The approach stands in sharp contrast to his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who spent 25 years as the church's chief doctrinal enforcer before becoming pope, known for an unbending adherence to doctrinal purity. Francis, by comparison, spent decades in the field, responsible for translating such ideals into practice in the real world, sometimes leading to a different approach.
"The melody may be the same, but the sound is completely different," Alberto Melloni, the director of the liberal Catholic John XXIII Foundation for Religious Science in Bologna, Italy, said of the two.
Faced with the near certain passage of the gay marriage bill, Cardinal Bergoglio offered the civil union compromise as the "lesser of two evils," said Sergio Rubin, his authorized biographer. "He wagered on a position of greater dialogue with society."
In the end, though, a majority of the bishops voted to overrule him, his only such loss in his six-year tenure as head of Argentina's bishops' conference. But throughout the contentious political debate, he acted as both the public face of the opposition to the law and as a bridge-builder, sometimes reaching out to his critics.
"He listened to my views with a great deal of respect," said Marcelo Márquez, a gay rights leader and theologian who wrote a tough letter to Cardinal Bergoglio and, to his surprise, received a call from him less than an hour after it was delivered. "He told me that homosexuals need to have recognized rights and that he supported civil unions, but not same-sex marriage."
Mr. Márquez said he went on to meet twice with Cardinal Bergoglio, telling him of his plan to marry his partner and discussing theology. The man who would become pope gave him a copy of his biography, "The Jesuit."
Cardinal Bergoglio's readiness to reach out across the ideological spectrum and acknowledge civil unions for gay people could raise expectations that he would do the same as pope. But some of this strategic flexibility may have stemmed as much from Francis' position at the time as from his personal ideology.
Though Benedict publicly condemned legal recognition of unmarried heterosexual couples, much less gay couples, there was often an expectation of some discretion in putting his positions into practice.
While the pope in Rome issued the doctrine, bishops like Cardinal Bergoglio were "on the frontier, in the field," and had to contend with the complexities of local politics, said Sandro Magister, a Vatican expert for the newspaper L'Espresso in Italy.
Mr. Magister noted, for instance, that Benedict made it clear in 2005 that divorced Catholics who had remarried without an annulment should not receive communion. But Benedict did not instruct bishops how to enforce that, he said.
There was little ambiguity in Cardinal Bergoglio's vehement opposition to the gay marriage law, which was approved by the Senate in July 2010. In the months between the bishops' meeting and the Senate vote, the cardinal, in a letter, called the bill a "destructive pretension against the plan of God."
Clashing with Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who supported the law, he endorsed protests involving tens of thousands of people against the bill, incurring the ire of some gay rights leaders here.
"The reality, beyond what he may have said in private meetings, was that he said some terrible things in public," said Esteban Paulón, president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals. "He took a role, in public, that was determinedly combative."
But others who observed the bishops' private annual assembly in 2010 said that the cardinal was earnestly hoping for compromise on the issue.
"Bergoglio's thinking was very clearly demonstrated both with what he said and in the message of his pastoral work," said Roxana Alfieri, a social worker in the communications department of the bishops' central office here.
"He didn't want the church to take a position of condemning people but rather of respect for their rights like any vulnerable person," said Ms. Alfieri, who sat in on the bishops' 2010 meeting.
Cardinal Bergoglio was operating in one of Latin America's most socially liberal countries. Though Roman Catholicism remains the official religion of the state and 76.8 percent of Argentina's population is Catholic, only 33 percent cited religion as very important in their lives, according to a 2010 Pew study, and just 19 percent said they regularly attended mass.
While the archbishop's support for civil unions was shared by some of the more liberal bishops in attendance, it was defeated by the majority, reflecting the broad resistance of conservative bishops.
One priest in the province of Córdoba who spoke publicly in favor of the gay marriage measure, the Rev. Nicolás Alessio, was suspended from his work by another archbishop, Carlos Ñáñez. In an essay written after the election this month of Pope Francis, Father Alessio continued to speak out on the subject, calling Argentina a "model for the rest of the continent" on gay rights.
Nearly three years since the passage of the law, more than 1,000 gay and lesbian couples have married in Argentina, and specialized tourism for gay and lesbian travelers has grown here, with about 50 tourist couples also taking advantage of the right to marry.
"This is something Rome cannot forgive, tolerate or allow to advance," Father Alessio wrote.