text:
|Previous Page | Table of Contents | Index | Next Page
Chapter 26
What's New(p177)
At the time this publication went to print, Congress was considering legislation that would do the following.
Who doesn't need to use this chapter.(p178)
If you meet these conditions and your employer included reimbursements on your Form W-2 in error, ask your employer for a corrected Form W-2.
You may want to see:
Travel Expenses(p178)
Travel expenses defined.(p178)
Traveling Away From Home(p178)
Members of the Armed Forces.(p178)
Tax Home(p178)
Main place of business or work.(p178)
No main place of business or work.(p178)
|Factors used to determine tax home.(p179)
Tax home different from family home.(p179)
Temporary Assignment or Job(p179)
Temporary assignment vs. indefinite assignment.(p179)
Exception for federal crime investigations or prosecutions.(p179)
Determining temporary or indefinite.(p179)
Going home on days off.(p179)
Probationary work period.(p179)
What Travel Expenses Are Deductible?(p179)
When you travel away from home on business, you should keep records of all the expenses you have and any advances you receive from your employer. You can use a log, diary, notebook, or any other written record to keep track of your expenses. The types of expenses you need to record, along with supporting documentation, are described in Table 26-2.
Separating costs.(p179)
Travel expenses for another individual.(p180)
|Business associate.(p180)
|Bona fide business purpose.(p180)
Table 26-1. Travel Expenses You Can Deduct
This chart summarizes expenses you can deduct when you
travel away from home for business purposes.
|IF you have expenses for...
|THEN you can deduct the cost of...
|travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination. If you were provided with a ticket or you are riding free as a result of a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero. If you travel by ship, see Luxury Water Travel and Cruise Ships (under Conventions) in Pub. 463 for additional rules and limits.
|taxi, commuter bus, and airport limousine
|fares for these and other types of transportation that take you between:
|baggage and shipping
|sending baggage and sample or display material between your regular and temporary work locations.
|operating and maintaining your car when traveling away from home on business. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate as well as business-related tolls and parking. If you rent a car while away from home on business, you can deduct only the business-use portion of the expenses.
|lodging and meals
|your lodging and meals if your business trip is overnight or long enough that you need to stop for sleep or rest to properly perform your duties. Meals include amounts spent for food, beverages, taxes, and related tips. See Meals and Incidental Expenses, later, for additional rules and limits.
|dry cleaning and laundry.
|business calls while on your business trip. This includes business communication by fax machine or other communication devices.
|tips you pay for any expenses in this chart.
|other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to your business travel. These expenses might include transportation to or from a business meal, public stenographer's fees, computer rental fees, and operating and maintaining a house trailer.
Meals and Incidental Expenses(p180)
Lavish or extravagant.(p180)
50% limit on meals.(p180)
Actual cost.(p180)
Standard meal allowance.(p180)
|Incidental expenses.(p181)
|Incidental expenses only method.(p181)
Federal employees should refer to the Federal Travel Regulations at
GSA.gov. Find "What GSA Offers" and click on "Regulations: FMR, FTR, & FAR" for Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) for changes affecting claims for reimbursement.
|50% limit may apply.(p181)
There is no optional standard lodging amount similar to the standard meal allowance. Your allowable lodging expense deduction is your actual cost.
|Who can use the standard meal allowance.(p181)
Use of the standard meal allowance for other travel.(p181)
Amount of standard meal allowance.(p181)
|Standard meal allowance for areas outside the continental United States.(p181)
You can access per diem rates for non-foreign areas outside the continental United States at www.Defensetravel.dod.mil/site/perdiemCalc.cfm. You can access all other foreign per diem rates at State.gov/travel/. Click on "Travel Per Diem Allowances for Foreign Areas" under "Foreign Per Diem Rates" to obtain the latest foreign per diem rates.
|Special rate for transportation workers.(p181)
Travel for days you depart and return.(p181)
Travel in the United States(p181)
Trip Primarily for Business(p181)
Trip Primarily for Personal Reasons(p181)
Part of Trip Outside the United States(p182)
Public transportation.(p182)
Private car.(p182)
Travel Outside the United States(p182)
Travel Entirely for Business or Considered Entirely for Business(p182)
Travel entirely for business.(p182)
Travel considered entirely for business.(p182)
|Exception 1—No substantial control.(p182)
|Exception 2—Outside United States no more than a week.(p182)
|Exception 3—Less than 25% of time on personal activities.(p182)
|Exception 4—Vacation not a major consideration.(p182)
Travel Primarily for Business(p182)
You don't have to allocate your travel expense deduction if you meet one of the four exceptions listed earlier under Travel considered entirely for business. In those cases, you can deduct the total cost of getting to and from your destination.
Travel Primarily for Personal Reasons(p182)
Your appointment or election as a delegate doesn't, in itself, determine whether you can deduct travel expenses. You can deduct your travel expenses only if your attendance is connected to your own trade or business.
Convention agenda.(p182)
Conventions held outside the North American area.(p182)
|Previous Page | Table of Contents | Top of Page | Index | Next Page


text:
Elle Fanning's Shopping Trip
Posted by Alisa on Saturday, July 13, 2013 / Comments: (0)
Actress Elle Fanning, 15, and a friend were seen looking around the Party Store in Los Angeles, CA yesterday (July 12).
Miranda Kerr and Flynn make a beautiful pair
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Model Moms, Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr / Comments: (0)
Model mom Miranda Kerr showed off her long legs while stepping out with adorable son Flynn, 2, in New York City today (July 13).
Beyonce's Beautiful Blue Ivy
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Stylish kids / Comments: (0)
Singer and mom Beyonce took a few days off her sold-out tour, currently making its way through the tropics of Florida in Georgia, to spend time with her adorable 17-month old daughter Blue Ivy. The singer shared these intimate snaps on her instagram and twitter.
Giselle Bundchen's Yoga Buddie
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, Model Moms / Comments: (0)
Supermodel mom Gisele Bundchen instagramed this sweet picture of her and her 7-month old daughter, Vivian, doing yoga together.
The caption read, "[l]et the sun shine on you."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CREW TV brings you closer to the industry's
most influential leaders and thinkers. Click on the videos below to watch the interviews:
It's a strategy that may run counter to what most empty nesters are doing. Still, it may have a place in the investment strategy of those looking to develop a sort of forced savings plan courtesy of real estate. Jemima Codrington reports.
Video transcript below:
Jemima Codrington: Most baby boomers that downsize ahead of retirement. But should they be upsizing instead? Hi, I'm Jemima Codrington and welcome to this week's episode of Investor Insight of Crew TV.
A recent study shows that increasing number of Canadians are using their home as a retirement fund by buying a larger home thus increasing mortgage payments and forcing money into an asset and away from other spending temptations. So how exactly does the process work.
Paul Kandakos, President, Realty Hub
How does forced savings work?
Paul Kandakos: The idea for savings is a recent phenomenon here in Canada because our real estate market specifically the residential housing market has been doing so well and in some cases is returning single and double digit returns. So what's happening is, you have families that rather than downsizing are upsizing their homes, because they believe that they can get the bigger home and what they are trying to do with that is two fold. They are trying to get forced savings and they are trying to get appreciation on their home. So what's happening is their existing homes, they might have a bit of equity in the home, they take that equity, they try to parlay it, put it into a bigger home.
And by buying the bigger home, they are trying to use that leverage to get better appreciation on their home because they are seeing that the past 10 years, historically our markets have been doing well, so they are trying to get the bigger home to get better appreciation and at the same time because they are paying down the mortgage, they are getting forced savings on their mortgage. So a lot of people see it as a way to benefit in 2 ways, which is create appreciation because they are buying a bigger home and also they are forced to save more money because their mortgage is bigger.
Jemima Codrington: Financial experts [ invoked] some mixed commentary about the strategy. So what are some of the pitfalls?
What are some of the pitfalls of forced savings?
Paul Kandakos: Some flaws or issues with this investment strategy is that it can be a perilous strategy because if you look at the late 80s, we had that housing crash, it can wipe out a lot of equities. So if you are upsizing your home, taking on a bigger mortgage, your house can depreciate significantly.
At least you are at risk of your house potentially decreasing significantly. The equity in your home increasing significantly if we have a significant housing correction which is not the question. I personally believe, I think the housing market here in Canada will start plateauing, you might see a bit of a pull off about 5%. So that's the risk you run if you try to leverage your money and move into a bigger mortgage.
Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Devin P. McComb has joined the firm's Seattle office as a partner in the Real Estate & Land Use practice
Grimsby skyline to be reshaped by tallest buildings in city: two-tower residential complex
Connect Asset Management Challenges the Financial Community to Invest in Downtown Toronto Real Estate for a Good Cause


text:
Pictures of Kate Moss Celebrating Her Bachelorette Party at the Isle of Wight Festival
Kate Has Her Bachelorette Party at the Isle of Wight Festival!
Kate Moss gathered her best girlfriends together Friday and left London for a few days at the Isle of Wight Festival. The supermodel, along with pals like Jade Jagger, Sadie Frost, Alison Mosshart,and Samantha Morton arrived at the music event Friday and proceeded to spend quality time together in the private Ray-Ban Room. The girls arrived in a pair of pink Hummers, which was the beginning of the fun Kate planned with a Big Fat Gypsy <nobrand>Wedding</nobrand> theme — they were also apparently wearing matching velour sweatsuits that said "Kate's Hen Do." They hit the fairground area and were driven around backstage while acts like Kings of <nobrand>Leon</nobrand>, Foo Fighters and Iggy Pop took the stage. Somehow, they even drank a reported 120 bottles of Mahiki rum. Kate, though, stayed at her rented cottage near the grounds on Saturday for some reason. Jamie Hince, meanwhile, got his boys together for a few days in St. Tropez to let loose at the Les Caves Du Roy nightclub. He was spotted enjoying an al fresco lunch at Le Club 55 yesterday before leaving in a helicopter.


text:
advoli TB6 Standard
6 FHD channels over 70 m / 229 ft
HDBaseT™ certified for cross compatibility with other HDBaseT products
The go-to Full High Definition (FHD) graphics card for professional HDBaseT audiovisual installations.
Built in bi-directional emulated controls (IR / RS232 / CEC), allowing you to avoid the cable mess found in extenders.
AMD Compact & Energy Friendly Embedded GPU
A modular HDBaseT™ graphics card that comes with ultra compact and low energy usage AMD Radeon™ E8860 MXM Module:
- Graphics Core Next (CGN) Architecture
- 10 Compute Units
- 768 Single precision GFLOPS (peak)
- 2GB GDDR5 Memory, 128-bit
- <37W GPU Thermal Design Power
- H.264/AVCHD, VC-1/WMV, MPEG-2, MVC, and MPEG-4/DivX formats
- AMD APP technology, OpenCL™ 1.2, DirectCompute
- Support for up to 6 outputs in FHD
Designed to allow you to upgrade the AMD embedded module in the future without the need to purchase a whole new product from us.
Emulated Controls
Do you really need to increase the points of failure and increase the use of legacy electronic waste in your installations by using additional cables for RS232, CEC, IR in and IR out? With TB6 Standard, you do not need to, a single CAT cable does all of this including your Audio / Video needs.
Emulated controls giving you the IOT power over your displays and projectors.
TB6 Standard has Infrared (IR) and RS232: Encode and decode IR and RS232 signals through Serial Console. The power of a universal remote control and the power to sniff and read any incoming IR and RS232 signal, copy the signal, and send the signal back out. Emulation of any RC5 or CIRC IR commands.
Consumer Electronics Control (CEC): Encode and decode CEC signals through Serial Console. Can send raw command CEC strings, emulating any device. Auto responds to basic CEC commands with additional diagnostic mode that can capture and show full raw data and timing information.
Pass Through IR
World's first graphics card with pass through IR.
If you do not want to use the emulated controls, but would like to use a remote control on the media server side to controls displays up to 70 meters / 229 feet away…
… control media players from the display side up to 70 meters / 229 feet away from the media server…
…. the advoli™ TB6 Standard Graphics Card has one IR input and one output port for an IR Blaster and an IR receiver.
CAT Cable Benefits
- Sending UHD (4K) video, audio and controls up to a distance of 40 meters / 131 feet, and 70 meters / 229 feet for FHD (1080P), not possible with most other competing standards
- Cheaper than other copper based cabling in general
- Lighter and more flexible than most other alternative cabling
- Usually much cheaper and easier to find when you need fire-proof and shielded cabling
- Easy to terminate on site during installation – not possible with most other audiovisual cables.
- Greater features not possible with competing audiovisual standards.
Half Length Graphics Card
The advoli™ TB6 Distance Graphics Card is designed to fit both smaller sized media servers with ITX form factor motherboards and large scale server motherboards. The advoli™ TB6 Distance Graphics Cards abides by the dimensions of the PCIe half length form factor:
L: 167 mm (175.26 mm) / 6.57 in (6.9 in)
H: 106 mm (106.68 mm) / 4.17 in (4.2 in)
W: 39 mm (40 mm) / 1.53 in (1.57 in)
Dual-width PCIe half length form factor specification in parenthesis.
The advoli™ TB6 Standard Graphics Card comes with HDBaseT™ diagnostic features: cable distance, signal quality and signal integrity for each twisted pair on CAT cable.
The graphics card is packed with environmental sensors/controls/information: voltages, temperature, fan speed, operational hour, power cycles and display/projector connectivity.
This gives the end user control over audiovisual installations all the way down to the displays, to more effectively and remotely diagnose problems reducing the need to send technicians on-site to determine the problem – saving costs.
With a future web-based interface, diagnosis and notification service, installation oversight can be fully automated ensuring higher up-time and faster fixes.
Cooling Redundancy
The advoli™ TB6 Standard Graphics Card comes with dual ball (double) bearing fans extending the lifespan of the fans and ensuring consistency in performance.
Having two double bearing fans allow for redundancy – should one fan fail the other will increase speed to compensate.
Both fans are set to operate at lower RPM to increase the life span of the fans and to increase with elevated temperatures of our on board temperature sensors.
Flexibility, Functionality and Performance
When designing the advoli™ TB6 Standard Graphics Card we had three core items in mind while driving for simplicity.
Flexibility – we wanted to ensure you were able to use your preferred processor brand in as many different types of motherboards as possible.
Functionality – we wanted to give you more power over your graphics card functionality, pushing IOT solutions and driving more functionality over one cable.
Performance – we wanted to ensure what we delivered was robust and could scale performance based on need. We tested a multitude of cooling solutions and found out our own custom design gave the best performance for our form factor.
6 x Full High Definition Channels
With the advoli™ TB6 Standard Graphics Card you can choose to drive:
6 independent FHD display walls
6 combined FHD desktops as one large stretched desktop (e.g. 6K by 2K)
6 independent FHD desktops
All over a distance of 70 meters / 229 feet per hop.
Key Features
- 6 x FHD HDBaseT channels that can drive 6 unique or cloned video content over 70 meters / 229 feet.
- HDBaseT Certified product
- Built in HDBaseT & Environmental Diagnostics
- Modular for easy future upgrades
- Emulated bi-directional controls for Infrared, CEC and RS232
- Half length & Dual-width Graphics Card
Minimum System Requirements
- PCI Express-compliant motherboard with minimum one available dual-width x16 graphics slot
- One available 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector
- 450W or greater system power supply, assuming 160W spare power for Graphics Card.
- 1GB of available hard-disk space
- 4GB system memory (8GB or higher recommended)
- Windows 7-10 or Linux
- Internet connection to download drivers
In The Box
- advoli TB6 Standard Graphics Card
- AMD Embedded E8860 MXM
- USB 9-pin connector
- USB 2.0 to 3.0 adapter board
- Quick Installation Guide
|Max Distance CAT5e/CAT6
|1080p 60Hz @ 60m
UHD 30Hz @ 35m
|Max Distance CAT6a/CAT7
|1080p 60Hz @ 70m
UHD 30Hz @ 40m
Data may be updated in the future based on new cable testing.
|# of HDBaseT Tx Channels
|6 x RJ45 Connectors
|Compatible pass through
|Compatible pass through
300 MHz Pixel Clock Limitation
|4K DCI 4096×2160 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz
3840×2160 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz
FHD 1080p 23.98Hz/24Hz/25Hz/29.97Hz/30Hz/50Hz/59.94Hz/60Hz
1080i 50Hz/59.94Hz/60Hz
720p 50Hz/59.94Hz/60Hz
576p, 576i, 480p, 480i
|Max Resolution with all channels active
|6 x 1080p 60Hz
|Color Space
|Chroma Subsampling
|4:4:4, 4:2:2
|Color Depth
|8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit
|All formats supported by HDMI 1.4 and HDMI 2.0
All major digital audio formats, including: Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby TrueHD,
DTS HD-Master Audio, Dolby Pro Logic Iiz 7.1 & 9.1,
|AMD™ Embedded E8860
|MXM Type
|Desktop Software provided by AMD™
|AMD™ Eyefinity™
|Driver provided by AMD™
|Win 10 – 64 Bit
Win 8.1 – 64 Bit
Win 8.1 – 32 Bit
Win 8 – 64 Bit
Win 8 – 32 Bit
Win 7 – 64 Bit
Win 7 – 32 Bit
Linux x86_64
Linux x86
|Graphics Core Next (CGN)™
|Video Control
|Direct GMA™
|Compute Units
|2GB GDDR5. 128 bit wide
|GPU Power
|Video Encode/Decode
|UVD4 for H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 part 2 decode
|Projector Edge Blend
|Available through Third Party Software
|Display Bezel Correction
|AMD™ Eyefinity™
Cable Diagnostics
Environmental Diagnostics
Electrical Diagnostics
|External IR Receiver Type A – 3 Pin Audio Jack Connector
External IR Transmitter Type A – 3 Pin Audio Jack Connector
Emulated IR IN/OUT – RAW Data
|External In/Out – 3 Pin Audio Jack Connector
Emulated Serial Port IN/OUT (Virtual COM port) max baud rate: 115,200 bps
|CEC Compatible
|Pass through
|EDID Management
|Raw EDID pass through
|Frame Lock
|Aluminium with 2 dual ball bearing fans
|L: 167mm H: 106mm W: 39mm L: 6.57in H: 4.17in W: 1.54in
|356g +/- 10g
12.56oz +/- 0.35 oz
|Form Factor
|Half-length, dual width Graphics Card
|Ambient Operating Temperature
|0°C to 40°C / 32°F to 104°F
|Storage Temperature
|-20°C to 60°C / -4°F to 140°F
|20 to 90% non-condensing
|United States
|Australia & New Zealand
Third party testing lab completed, submitting documents to each regulatory body.
Product Specification
A dive into the technical performance, functionality and dimensions of the HDBaseT™ Certified advoli™ TB6 Standard Graphics Card.


text:
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
I love salim Stoudamire!
No problem dude. People try to get on here and sound so intelligent and smart like they're experts on the topic, and that's what's frustrating...
yeah, i really wanted them to draft him in '05 but the hawks took him a few picks before the Bucks. I want them to draft a big too. i think they are set at PG if they resign Sessions, so they dont really need another. Hopefully salim gets at least 15 minutes a game.
salim is awesome!
swee pea and the shark
PSD Rookie


text:
John Brown Anti-Klan Committee
From Conservapedia
John Brown Anti-Klan Committee (JBAKC)
Founding/Supervisory Organizations
Type of Organization
Ideological cover
Openly Marxist-Leninist
Riots; political & logistical support for terrorism
Target countries
Organized, possibly active
Assisted Organizations
- South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO)
See also
- Two Men Found In Contempt in Bombing Probe, The Washington Post, June 29, 1985.
- Testimony Order Upheld, The Washington Post, February 1, 1985.
- 4 Will Refuse to Testify on Bombings, By Philip Smith, The Washington Post, January 16, 1985.
- Armed Resistance Unit Bombs US Capitol, Death to the Klan, Winter, 1984, No.3. Retrieved from Press Reports, September 13, 2007.


text:
Intel has announced the availability of the latest mobile Intel Atom processor-based platform, formerly codenamed Cedar Trail. The latest platform adds several new features to netbook computers made popular by students, families, and those looking for light productivity and Internet browsing. These devices will be available in early 2012 from major OEMs including: Acer, Asustek Computer, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo, Samsung, and Toshiba.
The new design's dedicated media engine enables full 1080p high-definition playback of videos and Blu-ray content and includes additional digital display and output options including HDMI and DisplayPort. The integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3600/3650 combined with the integrated memory controller provides enhanced performance and system responsiveness, including an improvement in graphics performance up to 2X compared to the previous generation platform.
Systems based on the new Intel Atom processors may have up to 10 hours of battery life and weeks of standby.
Based on Intel's 32nm process technology, Intel incorporated several new features into the platform such as Intel Wireless Display and Intel Wireless Music. With these new features and wireless enabled devices, people can share videos or photos wirelessly from their netbooks to a television, or stream music through their home stereo speakers.


text:
Hey, Robot Rising Is Not Rise Of The Robots
Robot Rising is actually a Facebook-bound ARPG, featuring robots. But do they rise at all? Well, maybe a little bit, but mostly they kill other robots on a
2D 3D plane. Not much rising involved there. But anyway, even if you think social games are at an "evolutionary dead end" there's still a glimmer of hope in the likes of the Robot Rising devs, Stomp Games, saying that they believe Facebook needs "core" games for more traditional gamers. Perhaps it does. And ARPGs might be a step in the right direction for that. Gunshine wasn't too bad, either.
In summary: Robot Rising is in beta now, and there's a trailer for its announcening below. Now it's time for us all to make cup of tea simultaneously. Go!


text:
Abstract and Keywords
Behavioral journalism is a term used to describe a theory-based health communication messaging strategy that is based on conveying "role model stories" about real people and how they achieve healthy behavior changes. The aim is to stimulate imitation of these models by audiences of their peers. Theoretical foundations for the strategy itself are in Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory and Everett Rogers's model of diffusion of innovations, but it can be used flexibly to convey various kinds of theory-driven message content. Behavioral journalism emerged as an explicit health communication technique in the late 1970s and was developed as a distinct alternative to the social marketing approach and its focus on centrally generated messages devised by experts. It has been used subsequently to promote smoking cessation, improvements in nutrition and physical activity, avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy, reduced intergroup hostility, advocacy for healthy policy and environmental changes, and many other diverse health promotion objectives. Formats used for behavioral journalism include reality television programs, broadcast and print news media, printed newsletters for special audiences, documentary film and video, digital and mobile communication, and new social media. Behavioral journalism is intended for use in concert with community organization and actions to prompt and reinforce the imitation of role models and to facilitate and enable behavior change, and its use in that context has yielded many reports of significant impact on behavior. With citations of use growing steadily in the past two decades, behavioral journalism has proven to be readily adaptable to new and emerging communication technologies.
Keywords: role model stories, peer modeling, diffusion of innovation, health communication, reality television
Access to the complete content on Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.


text:
Commerce City, Colo. – On a hot summer day in August, after another long day of training, Rapids defender Kosuke Kimura walked into the team's front office looking for the address and directions to a community appearance that was scheduled for later that evening.
A staff member looked at the player appearance chart and pointed out to Kimura that he was not scheduled for an appearance that day. It was Edson, one of the team's mascots, that was requested at a nearby charity event to raise funds for disadvantaged kids.
Kosuke knew this, but said he wanted to also be there, if it was OK with the club.
And so he went, not looking for attention or a pat on the back, or to be paid for his time.
That mentality, in a nutshell, is the reason that Kimura was named the Colorado Rapids 2010 Humanitarian of the Year.
"It's great," said Kimura about the honor, "But I don't do these things to get rewarded or for recognition. Obviously we have a lot of spare time, compared to other people working normal jobs. If you think about what you can do with your spare time, there are kids or people out there that need help, and I'm always willing to help."
Known to be the last player to leave the practice field – every day – Kimura has made an impact not only on his team, but to kids, fans, and the community in general.
"Having worked with him for as long as I have now," said Rapids coach Gary Smith, "I can fully understand and appreciate what he's offering off the field because he is such a wonderful individual and such a terrific character. He's extremely humble, he's achieved what he has given the difficulties that he's had to endure, and I'm sure that he's trying to offer that to as many individuals as possible."
It is easy to look back at the contribution players made for the Rapids on the field on their way to their first-ever MLS Cup Championship.
In the case of Kimura, even with his tireless work ethic and strong defensive play, he'll likely be remember for the goal he scored against San Jose in the Conference Championship which gave Colorado a 1-0 win and a spot in the MLS Cup title match.
However, it is his action off the field that provide a look into his upbringing, his desire to excel, and commitment to assist those around him.
"Both of my parents are teachers, they care about kids all the time," said Kimura. "Obviously doing things for yourself is really important, but in this world, we live as a community and I feel comfortable and at peace contributing to mine."
Kimura moved to the United States in 2003 from Japan. Without knowing a word of English, he taught himself with dictionaries, got into Western Illinois University, and achieved his dream of playing professional soccer when the Rapids drafted him in 2007.
In his fourth year with the Rapids, the 26-year old made countless appearances on his own and on behalf of the club during the 2010 season.
When he wasn't spending time with military families, he was working with youth soccer players, or taking part in soccer clinics for underserved children in the community.
"It's a tribute to his background in general," said Smith of Kimura's involvement. "Having come from such a difficult induction to the country, and having to really find the resourcefulness to move forward, to get himself into college, to learn the language, and now, to get to the point where every single day you can see the determination and desire to be as good as he possibly can. It doesn't surprise me that his work off the field is just as resourceful. He's given as on much on the field as he has off it."
Throughout the year, Kimura visited area schools to talk to kids about the importance of health, nutrition and teamwork through the Rapids' Recess program and the Fitness for Life program.
He visited sick children at HealthOne Hospitals, using his kindness and sense of humor to bring smiles to the kids.
And despite English being his second language, he read books to children and stressed the importance of education.
"My parents always said, "Kosuke, you can do whatever you want, but still you have to take care of others, and do things with a good heart," he added.
He is a permanent fixture at the Rapids' off-the field events which benefit Kroenke Sports Charities, including the Rapids' World Cup of Wine & Beer and Charity Classic Golf Tournament. He also continues to be actively involved with the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation.
Closer to his heart, he is also involved with the Asian Education Advisory Council (AEAC) in Denver, which helps students of Asian/Pacific Island heritage by improving educational opportunities and providing quality education.
Following the guidance of his family, Kimura tries to lead as much by example as by his words.
"It is important to help kids, and to be a good role model," he says. "Showing them to work hard, to stay on the right path, and just guide them to it. And who knows, maybe some will take my advice, example, or guidance. But either way, it feels good to be able to try to help."


text:
On Monday night, a couple crashed a 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago that was purchased hours earlier. They then ran away, leaving the hugely expensive car abandoned on the road. The strangest part is that they haven't been found yet, and its been three days. What's up?
The details are scarce, but what we know is that the 2008 Murci was bought on Monday in Orange County, aka "The OC," California. Late that night, the car was crashed on La Jolla Village Drive, and a couple was spotted running away. It's now three days later, and the couple are STILL at large.
Something doesn't really add up here. I know if I had crashed my $250,000 Lambo that I'd owned for a matter of hours, I'd be most interested in getting it back lickety split. The longer these people stay in the dark, the more questions that will come up about why they're staying hidden.
Surely the dealer took down their names and phone numbers (I believe that's part of the purchase process), why aren't they picking up the phone? Were drugs or alcohol involved? Was there identity theft of some kind to buy the car at play? Or are they so rich that they just dump cars when something like this happens? We really have no idea. It could be none of those or a combination of all three.
As of right now, the couple are only facing misdemeanor charges.


text:
by BWW News Desk
Beloved character players from Broadway and Hollywood – Tony Award-winning actors Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath from Nice Work If You Can Get It, plus three Jets and one Shark from the 1961 film version of West Side Story, dancers David Bean, Harvey Evans, Bert Michaels and Eddie Verso– visit THEATER TALK.
... The episode premieres in New York City on Thirteen/PBS, Friday, November 16 at 1 a.m. (2012; early Saturday morning), followed by telecasts on CUNY TV* Saturday at 8:30 PM, Sunday at 12:30 PM, and Monday at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM. The series is co-hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and executive producer Susan Haskins. After broadcast, the interview can be viewed online HERE.
Broadway pros Kaye and McGrath earned 2012 Tonys for their hilarious supporting turns in the crowd-pleasing new George and Ira Gershwin musical. They talk about the show's lengthy workshop process, almost a prerequisite now for getting a full-scale musical mounted, and what it was like to ultimately be singled out to receive awards for all their effort in Nice Work as featured players. In addition, McGrath clears up once and for all how to pronounce his last name.
Also on the show, the four self-defined "dancers who sing" from West Side Story share their memories about working for legendary choreographer/director Jerome Robbins and reminisce about their antics while making the Oscar-winning film. "We had a lot of fun on the set … we were pretty rowdy," they confess. The four have collected their experiences, and those of other West Side vets, in the book Our Story: Jets and Sharks, Then and Now, published by Outskirts Press.
THEATER TALK is the weekly series dedicated to the world of the stage. The program is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. It is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 60+ participating public television markets nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The TDF/TAP Plus Program, The CUNY TV Foundation and The Friends of THEATER TALK. [*CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is carried in New York City's five boroughs – on Channel 75 on Time Warner and Cablevision, Channel 77 on RCN, and Channel 30 on Verizon FiOS.]


text:
Events Calendar
Four Freedoms Week
Students, faculty, and staff will have the opportunity to reflect on the value of freedom during St. John Fisher College's annual "Four Freedoms Week." This year's theme is the "Freedom from Fear."
Date: November 3, 2019 - November 9, 2019
Time: All Day Event
Location: St. John Fisher College Campus
Coordinated by the Office of Multicultural Affairs
The Four Freedoms were originally articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941, when he proposed that there were four universal freedoms inhered to every global citizen: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
The full schedule includes:
Clothesline Project
Sunday, Nov. 3 through Saturday, Nov. 9, LeChase Commons
A display of t-shirts give voice to victims of gender-based violence.
Speak Out Against Sexual Harassment
9:30 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 7, Wilson Formal Lounge
In this interactive workshop, a representative from RESTORE Sexual Assault Services will lead a discussion on the resources available for survivors of sexual assault.
Islamic Center Visit
Noon, Friday, Nov. 8
Tour the Islamic Center with Dr. Robert Dunbar.
ROC Your Global Future Re-Entry Conference
10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, Cleary Family Auditorium
Study abroad participants will have a chance to speak about their experiences, network with a variety of professionals in multiple fields, and learn how to integrate their study abroad experiences onto their résumés and into their professional lives. Register online at https://rocyourglobalfuture.com/student-registration/.


text:
Years ago, I had a water-resistant radio shaped like a monkey that hung in the shower. Its blasts of news and music got me going in the morning as much as the hot water did. My apartment neighbors probably loved it, too.
The waterlogged plastic monkey eventually stopped working. And shower radios have come a long way since then. Now, instead of speakers that play terrestrial radio, there are water-resistant Bluetooth speakers that play music and other audio from apps on your iPhone, Android or tablet.
Some of the speakers even patch your phone calls through, in case you're kind of a big deal and can't possibly miss a phone call while you're showering.
The three speakers I've been testing recently are the Hipe shower speaker, from a company of the same name; the iShower speaker from iDevice; and Ion's new Sound Splash speaker. All are compatible with both iPhone and Android mobile devices. They range in price from $50 to $100, and are available through each company's website and a variety of online retailers, including Amazon.com.
Speaking of Amazon, a search on the site for "shower speakers" brings up more than 350 results, some as cheap as $20 and others costing close to $500. Home goods stores like Bed Bath & Beyond carry these products, too. And Kohler recently introduced a $200 showerhead that is Bluetooth-equipped and plays music from mobile devices (although, if your apartment has the fine architectural design mine does — known as "just a rental" — you might not want to make such an investment). So, shower radios and speakers aren't hard to find; these are just a few relatively new ones.
After a week and a half of many showers and prune-y skin, the $100 iShower emerged as my favorite. It feels solid, has an intuitive user interface and offers good sound. However, it's also the priciest and heaviest of the three, and is the only one that doesn't patch phone calls through.
The $70 Hipe speaker also gives good sound, but has an awkward shape with a cheap, immovable arm and it doesn't have a designated Bluetooth button. And while the small, $50, egg-shaped Ion Sound Splash is great for travel, its sound just doesn't have enough oomph for me.
But keep in mind that these aren't offering superb sound or dynamic range or other features you might look for with fancier speakers. Their best attribute is that they're water-resistant and can withstand the moisture around them.
Let's start with the iShower, which is compatible with iPhone, Android phones and BlackBerry. This mostly-white rectangular speaker is about the size of a paperback book, measuring four inches by 1.1 inches by six inches and weighing 12.6 ounces.
The iShower has a skinny rectangular arm that extends from the back, for hanging the speaker. It kept sliding down my showerhead, so I opted to stand the iShower on a shower shelf instead.
The iShower has a tiny Bluetooth button on the upper-left-hand corner of its face, but pairing up requires that you press the Play/Pause button, as well. The speaker has helpful blue LED lights that say Hi, Pair, GoodBye, and show the time of day — good for those who like to linger in the shower.
I played and skipped through multiple MP3 song tracks from my iPhone on the iShower, as well as music from the Pandora radio app. (In all tests, my Bluetooth-paired iPhone was safe from water on my sink, just six inches away.) The music sounded okay. It didn't sound like it might be coming from a high-end speaker, but it wasn't distorted or echoey, either. The iShower's speaker is actually in the back of the device, but it sounded good even when pressed flat against the shower wall.
In addition to lacking the phone-call feature, the iShower is also the only speaker I used that requires three AA batteries — which are a pain to buy and replace. The batteries should last around 15 to 16 hours, iShower says.
Before using the $70 Hipe speaker, I had to charge its built-in battery for a few hours. A representative for Hipe declined to say exactly how long the speaker's rechargeable battery should last, except to say it should go for "several hours." In my experience, the Hipe didn't need to be recharged, but I was only using it intermittently for a week.
The Hipe is really lightweight but, due to its shape, it just didn't fit well in my shower. Its lime-green curved plastic handle isn't adjustable. And the speaker body, which looks like a mini-boombox, was too oblong to fit on my shower shelves. So I rested the speaker on the edge of the tub.
Also, the Bluetooth pairing for this speaker wasn't super intuitive. You're supposed to hold down the power button for an extended period of time after the speaker has powered on, and wait for LED lights to alert you to pairing mode. A dedicated Bluetooth button would be helpful on this one.
But the Hipe, with its wider body, has speakers on either end and can get pretty loud for its size. Of the three, it offered the most amplified sound, allowing me to really hear my music and and news over the hiss of the shower.
Unlike the Hipe, the $50 Ion Sound Splash, which looks like an egg-shaped hockey puck, can pretty much fit anywhere. It has a slim metal hook that I much preferred to the plastic arm of the Hipe. And since the Sound Splash is so light, you can also use the accompanying suction cups to hang it from the wall.
It has a rechargeable battery that should last for eight to 10 hours.
However, the Sound Splash's sound was weak in the shower. I kept trying to jack up the volume, and eventually had to hop out of the shower, dry off my hands and max out the volume on my iPhone to get the sound to a decent level. The Sound Splash also doesn't have buttons for skipping through song tracks, so I had to do that directly from the iPhone, as well.
When I accepted test phone calls through the Sound Splash, I had to put my face really close to this egg-like speaker to hear the person speaking and transmit my own voice. (Then again, I don't really want to take phone calls in the shower. I could use a few minutes of undisturbed loofah-usage each day.)
The Sound Splash is probably a much better option for the beach, where you don't necessarily want to disturb your neighbors with loud music, or even by the kitchen sink, to break up the monotony of cleaning dishes. But it wasn't powerful enough for the shower.
If you're willing to spend a little more for a shower speaker, I'd go with the iShower.


text:
And here we go again, let's start at the beginning:
Back to a new home again for us HOME aloners!!! 2006 was the first one...we must be having fun.
The original thread was started when I was the only person online on TORC and it felt like I was the kid in "Home Alone", everyone had left off on vacation and I was there to do my best or worst on my own. (just so folks know, back in 2006, it was unusual to be the only person on TORC at any given time)
From that time it has changed into a sort of welcome thread and a place for all the friends to check in and give an update on where we are and what we are doing daily or just from time to time.
Like the last incarnation of the HELLLLLLOOOOO....
I am again going to change things up on this new thread. I have been doing shout outs for years now and I love remembering all the people who have visited the thread. It has grown quite large and many have never replied from the first post here.
So I am going to remember you all in this first post and from that time forward, SHOUT OUTS will go to posters who are currently posting, adding in new posters as they return.
I hope that made sense. And in no particular order:
SHOUT OUTS: TELTA ,Scribbles, Vanadarlin', basilllllly, Tooks, Calma, Iris, CR, Imi, Frelga Lady, portia, DUBSIES, RUNZIES, TYGGIES, Rosie lass, eliana, Tarina, Rowan, heliona, kaya, Jae, Lin, Sil, Luthy, SuperNova, P darlin' J, Parm, Guru, oldtoby, Lewie, hamlet, Bilbo25, Efffff Teeeee, Erinhue, sabbwong, Ashke Verasca, Edmond, LadyKat, Melwa, misabella, MiddleGirth, Izzy, Sable, Siddie, BagginsGirl, Kaya, Crystal Seed and Lanastus.
vison Alex
I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but this gets crazy huge to do everyday (I don't mind, but I have to have a starting place when we begin a new thread.) I hope that all the folks who have visited over the past seven years will all come back and post again.
As ever....my usual sign off...
Bye for now


text:
The local government market is comprised government entities at the county, city, borough and township level. It also includes educational institutions, authorities and commissions, fire departments, rescue and ambulance units, police departments, and health institutions.
The local government contracting marketplace is perhaps the most overlooked market, as compared to state and federal markets. However, it can prove to be a lucrative market with numerous beneficial aspects:
Businesses wishing to pursue local government business may choose to consider the COSTARS Program.
COSTARS is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's cooperative purchasing program. This program provides local government entities and suppliers a tool to find and do business with each other effectively through the use of a COSTARS-exclusive contract. There are several thousand local government buying entities utilizing COSTARS contracts.
For Assistance entering the local government marketplace, please contact the PTAC at SAP&DC at email@example.com.


text:
A delivery-focused, people-cantered institution that accelerates and promotes parliamentary participation in regional decision making for the benefit of the citizens of SADC.
To facilitate strategic partnerships within the SADC region, promote information sharing, initiate and implement projects that enhance regional integration and promote effective and professional parliamentary practice.
The realization of both the vision and mission will be underpinned by the following values:
Respect for basic human rights Effective service delivery Responsiveness to the electorate/voters/people Promotion of democracy and good governance Promotion of gender equality and equity Respect for individual freedoms and group rights Tolerance and inclusiveness Transparency and accountability


text:
Renewed energy: Cuccinelli reissues his demand for Mann docs
A little over a month after losing a bid for a wider trove of documents, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has renewed his demand for emails sent and received by controversial climate scientist Michael Mann when he was at UVA, the Washington Post is reporting. This has been a hot topic
inside and outside the academy because Mann is the creator of the famous "hockey stick graph," which predicts a spike in global temperatures.
"Dr. Mann's Hockey Stick graph is based on suspect data," Cuccinelli says in a statement. "Others have shown that random numbers can be put into Mann's algorithm, and they always produce a hockey stick graph."
The University has tapped into private funds to cover the $352,874.76 in legal fees it has thus far incurred, according to UVA spokesperson Carol Wood.
"University leaders are disappointed that the institution must continue to litigate with the Attorney General," said a statement arranged by Wood, "but will continue to stand for the principles the University has articulated since the C[ivil] I[nvestigative] D[emand]s were first put forward in April– and to support academic communities here and elsewhere."
–last updated at 7:46pm
67 comments
So if we don't know whether Mann is innocent, we should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate? We don't know whether you are innocent of murder or any crimes, so we should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to investigate?
Cuccinelli has shown absolutely no evidence of fraud. Penn State found no fraud. United Kingdoms House of Commons and various independent panels found no fraud. Tell me, what new evidences of fraud Cuccinelli found that is different from all those prior investigations?
Cuccinelli, and guys like him, are the reason why some independent voters steer clear of the GOP in Virginia. Mr. Cuccinelli is an embarrassment to us all. He's a sideshow attraction, but thank God he'll never be governor.
Old timer"Š nobody is ââ?¬Å?wasting" your tax money on this. The people in the AGs office are salaried and the only real complaint you could make is that their time would be spent better elsewhere. (which is a legitamate beef.)
If the Attorney General's office has surplus lawyers and support staff to engage in frivolous investigations without merit, then they are obviously overfunded and should look to reduce their workforce.
Old timer... nobody is "wasting" your tax money on this. The people in the AGs office are salaried and the only real complaint you could make is that their time would be spent better elsewhere. (which is a legitamate beef.)
The AG asked for a broad scope because people hide things. Especailly words that can be hidden in emails.He also needs to see trends and context in his findings. If Mann had examined ALL the evidence he would not have had to revise his Hockey stick. (perhaps the AGs investigation will show that Manns behavior was flat and then accelerated like a hockey stick with the referenced grant)The judge rightfully forced the AG to be more specific and he is attempting to comply.
UVA on the other hand spent 352k on outsourced Lawyers to argue a "no brainer" in court for an hour. I suppose that since it is so open and shut they got ripped off by about 340k. Perhaps they should ask the AG for help with that obvious possibility of misuse of state funds.
I want to live in a state that protects the taxpayers from people who believe they are above the law which in this instance is UVA wanting to protect its grant system, not by being open honest and transparent, but by claiming that they have no obligation to prove they are acting with the utmost integrity.
You don't KNOW that Mann is innocent. You are just willing to give him the benefit of the doubt regardless of the allegations that have been made. You are not the AG. He was elected to his position to do whatever he feels is in the best interest of those who will reelect him and within the confines of the state Constitution and laws. The Judge has given him those limits and we will see if he complied.
Bill M,
"Evidence has come forth that shows probale cause that he may have committed a crime by misusing reasearch funds."
If that were true, then the AG would not have needed such a broad scope to try and find evidence.He would have been able to make the narrow request for exactly what he needed, and why.
The fact that he can't is because it's not there.
I resent that you want to waste my tax money on something like this, instead of using it to investigate things being done in the State currently.
The crux of the matter, and the reason that people are alarmed at Cuccinelli's actions is that he's using his office and Virginia's justice system to wage a political battle.
If you think Mann's science is wrong, then do the work and write a paper refuting it.
If you think he's committed fraud, then plainly state your reasons and evidence. (He was NOT able to this with the first CID, according to judge Peatross, so one wonders whether he will be able to this time. Apparently pointing at criticisms of Mann's prior work doesn't suffice.)
If this is allowed to go forward, then any Attorney General can dig up any 'evidence,' however flimsy and trumped up, to investigate and harass his political enemies. An abuse of office if ever there were one.
The internet is full of people who claim all manner of thing like say that George Bush and Queen Elizabeth II are members of a "secret" group called the Babylonian Brotherhood.
That brotherhood is supposed to be composed of reptilian humanoids who come from a planet located in the constellation Draco. The are claimed to have control of numerous earth governments. Oh, and they are from the fourth dimension too!
Here's a whole website full of "proof!" Must be true then, right?
Did you know that the problem of perpetual motion had been solved long ago? Just goggle "alternative physics" to read about how mainstream science and media conspire to keep those secrets hidden. Thank God we have alternatives to that awful MSM these days!
Don't forget to drop back by when you're done and lets talk about that bridge I still have for sale. Real cheap, but for a limited time only and just for you!
The internet is full of people who make claims that Mr Mann has committed fraudulent acts.
Well, if people make a claim on the internet, then it MUST be true. I think that we can also safely assume that the Holocaust never happened and that the moons landings were hoaxes. After all, plenty of websites make those claims.
Not everyone who disagrees with him is a charleton.
Yes, but very few of them can spell "charlatan."
The internet is full of people who make claims that Mr Mann has committed fraudulent acts. A lot of scholars did not find his errors "technical" they found them severly flawed. Simply google his name and read all of the entires. Not everyone who disagrees with him is a charleton.
deleted by moderator
Charlie, I would completely support an investigation if credible evidence of fraud, deception, manipulation, or even excessive secrecy existed. It doesn't. Mann's work has been examined by numerous expert committees. They have found minor technical errors in his work but have found his research and conclusions to be reasonable. Other scholars may have somewhat different opinions than Mann, but the overwhelming majority of climate scientists think that Cucc's investigation is inappropriate.
I'm still waiting for anyone to show evidence that a crime has been committed.
Pretty simple request and every single one of Cuccinelli's supporters have failed to comply.
It's odd that they would support an investigation when they cannot provide a scintilla of evidence that a crime has even taken place.
This is America and I, for one, do not believe the government should be allowed to investigate American citizens if no crime has been committed. It is sad that there are Americans that do not agree with this and will investigate a scientist because they find the results of his research to be inconvenient.
Thank God for the Constitution of the United States of America!!
I think the point is that perhaps Mr Mann has a bias and an agenda when he should not. The evidence should be the determining factor and it should not be "hidden" or "manipulated" to achieve self serving results as has been alleged by some of Mr Manns peers.
Manipulating the results would be a fraudulent act and thus a crime.
If Mr. Cuccinelli wants to see all of the emails (for context,I imagine) then I thihk it is not a bad thing.
I think the "case closed" reference should have been "settled science" and I think that while global warming is less in dispute the "man made" portion is still up for debate.
@Bill ââ?¬Å?knew or should have known" that driving while texting could lead to an accident"Š"Š".
What an incredibly obtuse thing to say. You really can't draw a distinction between errors in a scientific paper and common sense every day life situations?
I'm sure that studies and papers are improved upon, made more specific, corrected or even disproven all the time as new studies, methodolgies and evidence come to light. But by your rationale (and Cuccinelli's), someone who published a paper which was later proven to be incomplete or have an error has committed fraud, regardless of intent. He/she simply "should have known."
Did you list that paper in your resume for a job application years ago? Sorry, you're fired, and you're lucky we don't press charges.
Did you apply for a state grant in 2001? Well, you published a flawed paper years before, so you're obviously a criminal. Let's get the State Attorney General's office to investigate this Very Serious Crime. What? You didn't use that paper in the grant application process? Well, details, details. You don't understand. We are not following evidence to a conclusion. We already have our conclusion and are looking for supporting evidence.
If a new drug helps 70% of the patients it is not the ââ?¬Å?Cure" it is a treatment.
What bizarre thinking. If most new drugs help 70% of patients, then they are usually considered to be incredibly effective. I have never heard of your distinction between "cure" and "treatment" in scientific discussion. Drugs with 100% success rates are virtually nonexistent.
If Manns work implies global warming is man made but only ââ?¬Å?almost" it means that it is not ââ?¬Å?case closed"
As CookieJar suggests, you really don't understand the scientific process. Scientists generally deal with probabilities and discard theories that are improbable. Many of the claims that you have presented have been discredited in the scientific literature, but you don't seem to be acquainted with the scientific literature.
Bill, the argument presented in that link is that Mann's conclusions were incorrect. That is in no way an argument that he committed fraud. The author doesn't even hint at that.
You admit to not being a lawyer. It doesn't seem that you are a scientist either or even understand what they do. I think it's a rare scientist that would say "case closed." Mr. Mann has analyzed data and found certain tends were indicated by that data. He may (or may not) have chosen irrelevant data, collected it in error prone ways, made errors in calculation, drawn insufficiently well thought out conclusions, or more, all without having once committed fraud.
The test for those faults of methodology or thought in the scientific world is to publish and have one's work considered by one's peers. It is proper and expected that one might encounter criticism when one does that. The fact that such criticism exists is not evidence of fraud, rather it is evidence of a healthy system that allows each side to present the argument it wishes to make. The Attorney General's suit is an attempt to silence through intimidation one side of this particular debate. The University is right to resist allowing him to establish such a chilling precedent for the damage that it would do to the University's primary function, which is to foster thought and debate.
Your reference to "political agendas" is a curious one since this whole Cuccinelli show is based on a purely political agenda which doesn't seem to bother you. On the other hand, if political agendas determine how grant money is distributed, why would it have even been necessary for Mann to engage in fraud to get such a grant? Why then is the Attorney General not pursuing those who give the money rather than one who got it?
Here is a comprehensive argument that is worth reading but I am sure that the close minded among you will call it prejudiced because it does not agree with your opinion.
to yes:but "almost all of them supported the IPCC" notice the word "almost" How many times does an experiment have to fail to be be proven inconclusive? If a new drug helps 70% of the patients it is not the "Cure" it is a treatment. If Manns work implies global warming is man made but only "almost" it means that it is not "case closed"
I want the AG to look into Grants. This is an issue that has been going on for a long time. I and many friends have heard of anctecdodal evidence and the circumstantial evidence is all around showing grants based on politcal agendas. (which is what all the naysayers are so upset about)
Not all Preiests molest little boys but that does not mean that it should not have been investigated on the rumors we have all heard about out entire lives.
We will see what happens. I am not a lawyer. I just believe that if the IRS can ask any question they want about what I did with my money than the AG should be able to ask Mann what he did with his share of my money.
Bill, I think you are confused. Mann is not accused of distorting results with grant money. As far as I know no one disputes the paper produced by the grant. Cuccinelli is investigating whether or not Mann engaged in fraud in order to procure the grant money itself. He does so by a rather convoluted process, which makes me question his motives.
I also doubt your claim about the hockey stick as being debunked. I believe the NAS re-affirmed the graph a couple of years ago. I'm open to new information, but please, no americanthinker.com type blogs.
There is indeed a reason UVA is resisting the CID, and it's very simple: you don't give in to a bully's demands. Did you read the scope of the demand? Does that seem like a reasonable request? It's a grant from 2001 (2 years before FATA), and has nothing at all to do with the Hockey Stick. It is interesting how this whole affair compliments Cuccinelli's political ideology and aspirations however, which of course is what's really driving it.
Again, Bill, can't cite a credible source but just assumes that the "hockey stick graph" has been debunked. It hasn't.
"More than twelve subsequent scientific papers using various statistical techniques and combinations of proxy records produced reconstructions broadly the same as the original hockey stick graphs, with variations in the extent to which the Medieval Warm Period and subsequent "little ice age" were significant, but almost all of them supported the IPCC conclusion that the warmest decade in 1000 years was probably that at the end of the 20th century. There have also been disputes about the use of Bristlecone and Foxtail Pine tree rings as temperature proxies ââ?¬â? the National Research Council report recommends that ââ?¬Å?strip-bark" samples be avoided for temperature reconstructions[9] ââ?¬â?? but the same "hockey stick" graph is found in studies which do not use tree ring proxies."
"knew or should have known" that driving while texting could lead to an accident........
I believe that Mann is not above attempting to enhance his reputation. Regardless of some of the people on this blogs point of view his hockey stick has been debunked many times over. The simplest debunking is that his original hockey stick was based on tree rings in North America, which has two obvious flaws. North America is not the world and tree rings are reflective of the annual growth season and available moisture and light, NOT year round temperatures.
I believe that the AG is of the opinion that Mann distorted results for these very reasons and if he did so with grant funds that is a crime.
I still believe the bigger issue is accountability for people who suck the government teat for grant money and then want to be above reproach when asked for details about whether or not they used the funds as promised. There is a reason UVA is witholding and protecting a guy that left there years ago.
Bill, are you being deliberately obtuse? Mann's methods, data, and code are readily available.
The burden of proof of the one remaining grant is astoundingly weak.
The grant named in the CID is "Resolving the scale-wise sensitivities in the dynamical coupling between the climate and biosphere." The two Mann papers that Cuccinelli uses as evidence of fraud, MBH98 and MBH99, are not referred to within nor used in application for the grant in question. Mann was not even the Principal Investigator.
So it seems in order to allege fraud, we have to believe the following is worthy of suspicion: Mann authored two controversial papers, which increased his reputation as a climate scientist. His reputation then assisted in the grant application process, which led to the grant. So if there was fraud perpetrated in the MBH98 & MBH99 papers, it led to the fraudulent award of $214k.
Also, the purported fraud is defined by the fact that Mann "knew or should have known" that his original papers were misleading. "Should have known"? We can now equate intentional fraud with unintentional mistakes? (I'm not claiming there were errors, by the way, but fraud would seem to imply intent to deceive, not sloppy work or inadvertent errors).
Simply amazing.
" The government has to prove you guilty. The constitution protects citizens against unwarranted searches and seizures. "
The key word here is "unwarranted"
The AG believes his search is warranted and UVA thinks not. THe Judge agreed with UVA but left the door open for refiling which the the AG has done.
If the Judge allows it to go forward based on the law will I still be wrong or will your "understanding" of the law make you right?
An innocent person accused of rape is under no legal obligation to give an alibi. If he simply chooses not to and then is investigated because of some hearsay evidence then that is the way the system works. If he would simnply give an alibi it could all go away. If he wants to stand on principal then taking the heat is part of living in a democratic society.
I guess one question is what research Mann cited to get that one grant. Regardless, the judge made clear that Cucc had no right to ask for all of the emails between Mann and other climate scientists that had no relation to the grant.
BM: "UVA can possibly prove him innocent but chooses not to."
Obviously you don't know how the law works in the United States of America. In America you do not have to prove your innocence. The government has to prove you guilty. The constitution protects citizens against unwarranted searches and seizures.
Don't like it? Take it up with the founding fathers.
It's not a difference of "opinion". It's a difference in knowledge of both the facts and the law. Your opinions appear to be based on a limited and erroneous understanding of the law and no knowledge of the actual facts of the case.
This explains why you are on Cuccinelli's side on this issue.
No, Bill, everyone including the judge believes that the attorney general has the authority by statute to investigate potential fraud involving state funds.
Most people including the judge realize, however, that no evidence of fraud has been presented. Why don't you present some from a reputable source (any one of the numerous expert committees that has looked at Mann's work, for example)?
If the one Virginia grant dealt only with the report on the grasslands in Africa's effect on ? (global warming?)(just skimming over the D.P. newspaper article so I could be wrong on what this one report is) C would have to show Peatross obvious fraud from this one Va. funded report. If the the hockey stick graph etc is not in this one Va. funded report I doubt if Peatross will spend much of his time going over the hockey stick talking points again.
Bill Marshall,
"He did not show the public his methods"
That is not true. His methods were available to the public, through the standard methods that all scientific jounrals make them available.
But I know you are a business person who thinks the development of Albemarle County is great, because all those fictitious half acre businesses paying 50k a year salaries are collecting lots of withholding, so everyone else should subsidize the water.
Why am I not surprised you want to excuse a witch hunt for another bunch of fictitious claims?
It's as if Cuccinelli and his team didn't even read the first ruling. In it, Peatross clearly states that:
"If the CIDs were allowed to go forward, this request would be limited to correspondence, emails, messages, etc. to or from Dr. Mann that relate to any information, materials or documents contained in the application for the 2001 U.Va internal grant and any information, materials, or documents provided by or to Dr. Mann that relates to approval or payment of any funds to him at any time under the grant until it ended."
But what does Cuccinelli do? He requests the exact same set of documents spanning an eight-year period including emails sent to/received by Mann to/from/about 40 or so people, without regard to the relation to "information, materials or documents contained in the application." In fact, the only difference I can see between the two "Documents to be produced" sections is that the plural "grants" has become the singular "grant."
This is the Commonwealth's foremost legal official? This is an embarrassment.
We can only hope that one day the AG will have to explain (FOIA perhaps?) how much of Virginia's money and time he spent on his political fishing expedition.
I don't care if Mann was studying Global Warming or the mating habits of ex presidents from arkansas. Evidence has come forth that shows probale cause that he may have committed a crime by misusing reasearch funds. The Judge threw it out as too broad and the AG has refiled hopefully within the letter of the law.
I think the difference of opinion here is whether the AG has the right (responsibility?) to root out fraud. I think he does. If he does so in a partisan way then don't vote for him. What he is doing is certainly within the scope of his job.
UVA is apparently of the opinion that they should not be accountable or have to answer for the people who use taxpayer money under their watch. I believe that they are mistaken and I hope the AG proves them wrong.
If a busnesss owner has to show his books to the irs both state and federal and account for every penny then so should a researcher. If the resercher was given the money to do honest research and manipulated the data in any way while using taxpayer money he misused the funds. That is a crime.
UVA can possibly prove him innocent but chooses not to. I think they are trying to protect a much larger misuse of funds and are afraid of a gigantic nationwide scandal that would cut out millions of dollars in grant money.
Anybody with a lick of common sense knows that misuse is out there. Why should these researchers get a pass?
Sam, they sneakly have people employed as "clerks" in the court that help the activist, biased judges understand the cases in front of them. The packet you viewed may well have been prepared by one of these gummint burrowcrats!! Heavans to Betsy I smell a rat!!!
I had to file something at the Courthouse and the C. vs. Uva file was sitting next to the file date stamper. Before the first ruling someone sent the Judge (and no copy to the attorneys of either side) a big packet of Mann's published works with Cliff notes written off to the side "and you need to understand" "and here's the hockey graph" etc. Peatross is going to rule if its legal to issue this CID he doesn't need 3rd outside parties sending in Cliff notes on Mann's work.
Oh, and Bill, you can keep saying that random numbers produce the hockey stick pattern, but your claim has been repeatedly disproved:
Bill, you have no idea what you're talking about. Mann's data and code are readily available. His work has been repeatedly examined by expert committees and they have never found evidence of fraud. Why don't you cite material from a reputable source such as the National Research Council report?
It is a real shaun. I mean "shame" that UVA buries their head and does not support the South Rising Again like Herr Doktor Cuccy desires.
I am sure that you all are real americans like me and hate intellectuals and such. "I went down to the crossroads GPS"...
It is easy to claim the AG is a bully. It is a little harder to explain why Academics feel they are above the law. There is nothing wrong with asking for accountability. Mann was not exonerated by submitting proof; he was exonerated by a university that wanted the problem to disappear and received a direct benefit from that disappearance. He did not show the public his methods and has never explined how when random numbers from a phone book were entered into his program the results always came up the same.
Probable cause contains evidence that a crime "may" have been committed. The emails and the lame explantions meet that standard.
We will see what happens.
The AG is not a bully. Mann is the one who took taxpayer money, came up with a conclusion and then doesn't want to show his work except to people who have a vested interest in continuing the money flow. Mann is the one who claimed he has 4 aces. Show the cards. A real Scientist would see the benefit of proving things in the court of public opinion since it would be public opinion that would force the politicians to pass laws to save the planet.
Accountability should have been put out there as soon as the email scandal broke. The AG shouldn't have even had to get involved. Unfortunately UVA prefers to bury their head in the sand while lacrosse players commit murders, women are raped, the endowment loses billions etc.
They always circle the wagons and do nothing else until it is too little too late. Now they are wasting money instead of cooperating. I think when the truth gets out they are hiding something. It may not even be Manns work. It might be the tip of the iceberg with all the other grants.
Time will tell.
Bill Marshall is back with the same arguements which mainly boil down to the University should just give in. That's like the bully telling the kid he is beating up to just lie down and take it. If the bully doesn't damage the victim seriously, that proves the victims point that there should not have been a fight to begin with.
This is not the society we live in nor should it be the society we live in. We've brought these comments to Mr. Marshall several times, but he just ignores them and repeats the same argument. It seems he doesn't want to think through what he advocates on how others should act. Fortunately he is not the one to decide and the University will again defend itself against the Attorney Generals baseless attacks.
The link he provides many snarky comments and unsubstaniated opinions. It might go hand in glove with the Attorney Generals argument, but it falls way short of an argument for probable cause. Probable cause contains evidence a crime may have been committed, not speculation that one may have been committed. Nothing in this article supports the former and most in this article supports the later.
I read the account of the judges ruling. He quite pointedly said the Attorney General failed to provide evidence a crime was committed that the University could provide documents to support or deny. Fairly bluntly he said there was no probable cause.
Eli - Seems there is a scandal brewing at George Mason. Another example of an uneven hand in the administration of the law under the Attorney General. The Attorney General seems to be playing a game of cowboys and indians were he gives a pass to those on his side (who are likely cowboys) and goes after the other team (who are likely indians). This game might be interesting sport if he were not elected to administer the office of Attorney General with the responsibility to oversee enforcement of the law for all citizens of the state.
Frankly, why AG Cuccinelli is doing this is beyond Eli, especially when there is a real scandal at his alma mater, George Mason University, where multiple PhD theses contain plagiarized sections and it has been shown that a senior academic plagiarized in a report to Congress which DID have policy implications. The administration at GMU has stuck its head firmly into the sand.
Eli refers, of course, to Edward Wegman, who simply copied sections out of a book by Ray Bradley (one of the people he was trying to trash) and then twisted Bradley's conclusions. You can get details at
Bill, why don't you cite credible sources such as the National Research Council report on subject?
Hey that's "American Thinker", so you know it's a reliable source of knowledge. Man there's even stuff about scientific method in that hamfisted pedantic presentation style that tells one that this author has read a thing or two. And he references articles by Science Daily, where "Hostess Cakes" are advertised. This is heavyweight intellectual stuff. Back off.
The article cleary points out that there was deception and misreprsentation. His cohorts came to aid and said his lies were irrelevant to what they purport to be the "fact" of global warming.
THe AG is unwilling to take their word for it and wants to see for himself. UVA is stonewalling instead of showing the proof.
The AG is going back to court to try and secure the info within the confines of the law. We will see if he accomplishes that when it gets back to court.
This is about global warming for some and partisan politcs for others when it really should be about accountability from those who receive taxpayer money regardless of the issue.
If UVA just gave in and proved him wrong he would be disgraced and learn his lesson. (unless of course they are collaborators and helping hide malfeaseance)
I would like to see the legislature force UVA and all Universities to be more transparent with grant money. The Freedom Of Information Act was enacted for a reason.
KS, you are mistaken
here is a good link that shows some reasonable probale cause..
that article presents absolutely no evidence of a crime having been committed, nor does it purport to. what is its relevance?
Indeed. Why didn't the AG simply send an email to the judge with the link embedded? That appears to be good enough for billmarshall.
Oh wait, I know! The difference is that the judge actually has to rule on the law while billmarshall is free to have whatever crackpot opinion he wants based on some webpage somewhere.
Looks like my advice to not be fooled was too late. billmarshall was fooled long ago and, as a result, is solidly in AG Kookinelli's corner.
Oh wait, I know! The difference is that the judge actually has to rule on the law while billmarshall is free to have whatever crackpot opinion he wants based on some webpage somewhere.
Ha, ha, ha! The other funny thing is that the judge repeatedly asked the attorney from Cucc's office for some evidence of fraud during oral arguments and the attorney kept pointing to the type of information cited by billmarshall and presented by the AG's office in their brief. And the judge kept saying that he had read and considered all of this information but none of it suggested any indication of fraud.
Bill, FOIA only applies to a federal agency. A state university or its researchers are not a federal agency no matter how many grants they get.
It's amusing that Cucc's followers continually believe that obviously crackpot and/or ideologically driven websites are more reliable sources of information than NOAA, the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Science, or the National Research Council.
did the AG issue a FOIA request? What this article is about is a CID.
So you're of the opinion that a government official should be able to investigate whomever he/she wants without having to present any evidence that an actual crime has been committed?
And where do you get the idea that Cuccinelli would be "disgraced" if he were proven wrong? You really believe this isn't just posturing on his part?
The Attorney General's case was dismissed a month ago. Was he "disgraced" by that?
Don't be fooled.
DW: "This CID law is a bad law in the hands of someone unable to see its faults."
He's able; he *chooses* not to.
HS: "The University has tapped into private funds to cover the $352,874.76 in legal fees it has thus far incurred..."
UVA doesn't have its own legal staff? It spends over a third of a million on outsourced lawyers? At least it's a more useful expenditure than 47,000 T-shirts...
At what point do the guys with white coats come take to a more comfortable room where he can avoid injuring himself?
But it advances Cucc's political career by impressing his reactionary base.
How much money does this man need to waste on things that don't help Virginia advance at all?
I suppose with the same lack of evidence he presented at the last court hearing...
This CID law is a bad law in the hands of someone unable to see its faults. Such a combination inevitably leads to an abuse of power. The law should be repealed as quickly as possible.
It is not just this bad law that is to fault. The Attorney General again goes too far and enforces the law with an uneven hand. Speaking as a taxpayer, we deserve better.
Several investigations of the e-mails show no illegalities related remotely to the Commonwealths tax laws, yet the Attorney General goes after them. These e-mails were made public by individuals who stole them from a private e-mail system. The Attorney General makes no effort to prosecute these individuals for this theft commonly referred to as "hacking".
Enough is enough. It's time the Attorney General represent the people of Virginia rather than his own personal opinions. Time for him to drop this case, end the politically motivated witch-hunts, and serve all the people in Virginia, not just the ones who agree with him.
Cucc is an embarrassment.
....perhaps Penn State, and the UK don't have access to the records from UVA.... perhaps they didn't ask for them because they were uninterested in a negative outcome (for them)......
So charlie, you are saying that to satisfy your doubts (despite proven investigations and panels), the state of Virginia should waste hundreds of thousands of dollars? Should the state of Florida demand NASA records and emails in order to satisfy their doubts about the moon landing?
"Oh, the UVA emails MIGHT show something... oh you never know... things could happen... Penn State?... right they don't have the scientific knowledge and expertise clearly... I mean the UK government had access to all the East Anglia Records... but not the UVA RECORDS!!!! FRAUD!!!!"
And then: Where is Cuccinelli finding his basis for fraud if there is no corroborations from the other panels that had already investigated these incidents thoroughly? Sure, if Penn State disciplined Mann, Cuccinelli can go for it. If UK found evidences of fraud, Cuccinelli can celebrate and pounce on the case. Except... there has been no findings of fraud anywhere.
Public servants using the the time of salaried employees to make a second run on something that has already been thrown out of court IS wasting taxpayer money.
We have banks committing fraud in home foreclosures. It's out there, and it's big. If those homes are in Virginia, Cucc has something he really can go after to protect Virginians for something FAR more immediate to their wellbeing.
Let's see if he does. Or if he just ignores it, because the right wing loves to protect big banks that commit fraud.
Edward Wegman lawyers up As they say about glass universities
I wasn't calling the Attorney General a bully, although I see how You came to that conclusion. I am glad you at least acknowledged the comment which is more than you usually do.
I was drawing a paralel between your advice to the University to "just give in" and a bully's advice to just give in. Some might say I was calling you a bully, but it is not you who brings pain to the University. I recognise the paralel does not fit for this reason. In the sense that you encourage the Attorney General to misuse a bad law. I think you can be, in some way, taken to task.
To my critic,
Earlier I said this was a bad law in the hands of someone who is unable to see its' faults. Someone responded that he chooses not to see its faults. I leave few comments about this exchange.
I ask the Attorney General to act within the context of evidence. I will do the same in my critique of his conduct in office. So far I haven't seen any evidence he examined the law in any kind of thoughtful manner. Therefore I will remain with the statement he is unable, likely because of his personal biases, to see the faults of this law. I will grant if all the facts were in, there remains a significant possibility my critic had the correct interpretation.
Jay-J points out part of the ruling that states the very limited scope a CID could carry forward if allowed. The judge also said the Attorney General did not present any evidence a crime was committed that the University may or may not have documents that confirm or deny. There you have it: very limited scope, but no probable cause. It's the no probable cause part the Attorney General did not read.
Maybe it's his personal biases, maybe it's his vanity, but the Attorney General is unable to see his efforts are at a dead end. He might try investigating the hackers and get the e-mails that way, but the trail of evidence might not be direct and he likely does not have jurisdiction. Seems time to drop the case and go on to something else, but the Attorney General seems unable to do that either.
I do not dispute that the AG may be pushing the envelope to fit his agenda. However, I believe his agenda is two fold. First, is to make sure Mann did not defraud the WORLD with deceptive and self serving conclusions as have been alleged by some people with strong credentials, and secondly to make it so the academic community is held properly accountable to the taxpayers when living off of taxpayer money. Acceptable Peer review of the conclusions does not mean there was not abuse of the grant money. I don't think that a researcher has to stuff money in the freezer to be a crook. If they activly and knowingly made claims based on their tests while ignoring other facts in order to satisfy their personal bias then they have committed fraud. If they did so in cohorts with others then that is conspiracy.
If person A commits a crime and askes person B to be his alibi in an email then that email is relevant. That is why police ask judges for subpena power. It is up to a judge to determine whether or not probable cause exists.
I am content to let the judge rule. The last hearing defined the scope that he would allow. We will see if the Ag managed to stay within thise restrictions. If he has then good for him.
I want UVA to start being acountable for something. They stonewall about rapes too. If the AG wanted emails to find out who at UVA knew what with regard the lacrosse murder would everyone hate him so much?
Bill Marshall,
Let's address the two agendas that you believe Cuccinelli has (besides the pandering to the neoconservatives base... but I digress)
1. Cuccinelli has the authority to use Virginian taxpayer money to ensure that Mann's results satisfy his beliefs? Let us be clear here. Mann's techniques and results have been cleared of any fraud by both scientists and laymen in the United States and the United Kingdom. Cuccinelli does not have any basis of fraud besides claims by "experts on the internet" that have been debunked. You can certainly argue about Mann's ways of using the data, but you cannot claim fraud on his techniques.
2. So via your second claim, you believe that scientists have to address taxpayers' beliefs when they conduct their research? Somehow, because 30% of taxpayers believe in global cooling, 40% believe in global warming, the scientist has to fit his paper into this category? There are plenty of reasons to keep politics out of science.
Who are you to say what are facts and what aren't? Copernicus did not consider the facts from the church when he made the claim that the Earth rotated around the Sun. You are making very bland conclusions about scientific facts when so much are still unknown, especially in the field of climate science. The truth of the matter is that the facts in science are always in flux. You accuse Mann of using personal bias in writing the paper, but do you not also have personal bias in accusing Mann of fraud? Would that not satisfy your convictions and beliefs about global warming? Should science be forced to follow the conscious of the ruler, or in this case the attorney general? Should the University of Virginia be banned from doing climate science, simply because they know that Cuccinelli would be dogging them if they try?
UVA certainly has certain grounds to improve upon. Relinquishing academic freedom to the force of politics is not one of them.
Cuccinelli is wasting a lot of tax dollars on the persuit of a anti-science balloon inflated by some media egos and "skeptics" with dubious links to the fossil fuel industry.
This is not about the science of global warming at all. It's a farce. It's just about Cuccinelli playing politics, showing a growing group of anti-science populous that he is "doing something about these scientists".
Very concerning development..


text:
Casa Cercal.Casa Cercal is located in the sunny Alentejo region of Portugal, near Vila Nova de Milfontes and Cercal. It is just 15 km from the sea and beaches. This detached house makes a great base for walking, cycling and riding holidays. The Atlantic Ocean with its rugged coastline and beautiful (private) beaches is easily and quickly accessible. The estate is located in the countryside and has over 12 acres of land, on which you will find fruit trees, a swimming pool, horse stables and horses. The electricity supply is totally green, utilizing solar and wind energy. You have a beautiful panoramic view of the surroundings from the pool. The immediate area offers: Nature, beaches, culture and sports, all from the convenience of your own holiday home in Portugal The house is suitable for 2 to 5 persons and features a romantic fireplace, making it also suitable for a holiday in early spring, late autumn and even winter. There is also a swimming pool with outdoor shower and sun loungers. In this fair Mediterranean climate, you are in an ideal holiday environment. The Alentejo is a great place for both young and old. The house provides access to an additional garden room: the surrounding nature. You walk into the house from under the eucalyptus trees on the huge estate. Lots of places to sit, eat breakfast and enjoy conversation. There is a lovely refreshing pool with luxurious (lounge) chairs and a playground for children. The layout of this property is as follows: 2 bedrooms: In one bedroom there is a double bed, in the other bedroom you'll find 2 single beds. Bed linen is included. The bathroom has a toilet, sink, bidet and shower. Extra bed / playpen upon request. The modern kitchen is fully-equipped including a refrigerator, microwave, stove, dining area with table, coffee maker etc. The living room contains a sofa and armchairs, radio, CD player and TV. The house has a sunny south-facing terrace with a barbeque and a large hammock. Above the Algarve lies the sparsely populated Alentejo region with its undulating plains of corn, vinyards, olive trees and cork oaks. The white villages, medieval castles and lots of tranquility make this area very attractive. In the east, along the Spanish border, it is rocky and you will find beautiful castles and sleepy villages situated high up on the hills. Evora is the most famous city and has a medieval center, cathedrals, monasteries and macabre chapels with bones. The Alentejo region of Portugal offers a pleasant climate, although it can be quite hot in summer. However, the numerous lakes and azure sea with its natural bays provide plenty of possibilities for cooling off. In the upper part of the region the great plains merge into a rocky terrain adorned with fortified villages. You'll find many sheep grazing here and the land is ideal for viticulture. The best wines come from this part of Portugal. Besides Évora there are many villages and towns worth visiting. For example, Marvão and Monsaraz are considered two of the most beautiful villages in Portugal. These spectacular white medieval hamlets allow you to step back in time. In the lower part of the Alentejo you will find cork oaks and olive trees. In the spring, the region is a sea of wild flowers while in summer the area comes alive with beautiful yellow sunflowers against a dry red soil. Beja is one of the most famous villages, with Roman ruins nearby. Mértola is a spectacular castle built on the cliffs of a village with cobbled streets. On the west coast of the Alentejo you are surrounded by nature, small fishing villages and beach resorts with beautiful beaches. Here you will find Casa Cercal! Option booking not available Please note: the rates do not include the mandatory hirers' liability insurance. This small amount is a percentage of the rental sum starting from 10 Euros per reservation.
2 bd 829 sqft Cercal


text:
York County residents can register for tire drop-off
Each person limited to 10 tires
York County residents can pre-register for a free, one-time disposal of up to 10 tires.
The program celebrates Earth Day and is part of the Keep York County Beautiful Project, which aims to prevent and eliminate illegal dumping.
"The great thing about that is we have waste-to-energy here in York County. So when you bring a tire here for our tire collection event or when you put it out with your garbage, we are going to take that tire and recycle it into alternative energy," said Ellen O'Connor.
Tires must be off the rim and cannot exceed 32 inches in diameter.
They also cannot be excessively dirty or full of water.
To register, call the York County Solid Waste Authority at 717-845-1066. Residents have until April 23 to register for the drop-off.
The tires may be dropped off at the York County Resource Recovery Center on Blackbridge Road. Click here for more information on the center.
For a list of the state's priority waste tire piles, click here.


text:
Historical and Landmarks Commission
The Historical & Landmarks Commission acts in an advisory capacity to the City Council in all matters pertaining to historical places and landmarks. This Commission provides advice on the naming and renaming of streets, museums and the establishment thereof in the City, and the marking and preservation of historical landmarks and places.
The Historical and Landmarks Commission consists of seven Commissioners that are volunteers and are appointed by the City Council. To be eligible, you must be a registered voter and resident of Santa Clara, and may not hold any paid office in, or be employed by, the City of Santa Clara. For details call the City Clerk's office at (408) 615-2220. The Historical & Landmarks Commission may also be contacted by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
To view current and past meeting agendas and materials, please go to Historical and Landmarks Commission Meetings Online
2020 Historical and Landmarks Commission Meeting Dates
- Meets: Generally meets on the 1st Thursday of each month at 6:00 pm
- Place: City Hall - Council Chambers, 1500 Warburton Avenue
- Staff Liaison: Yen Chen, Associate Planner: (408) 615-2450
Historical and Landmarks Commissioners
Kathleen Romano
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
(Partial Term)
Megan Swartzwelder
Term Expires: June 30, 2023
(First Term)
Patricia Leung
Stephen Estes
Term Expires: June 30, 2020
(First Term)
J.L. "Spike" Standifer
Term Expires: June 30, 2021
(First Term)
Michael Celso
Term Expires: June 30, 2022
(First Term)
Ana Vargas-Smith
Term Expires: June 30, 2022
(First Term)
|Historical and Landmarks Commission
|Not Included
|Historical and Landmarks Commission
|Not Included


text:
Almost all traffic signals in Matthews are under the control of the
NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT). All issues relating to
maintenance, repair and timing are handled by the NCDOT. Exceptions are
the signals at NC 51 and Elizabeth, NC 51 and Alexander, Monroe Road and
Gander Cove Lane, and Margaret Wallace and Sam Newell, which are
controlled and maintained by the City of Charlotte.
Signal problems can be reported to the Public Works Department,
704-708-1240, where they are forwarded to the NCDOT or CDOT. Or,
they can be reported directly to the NCDOT at 704-244-8273 or Charlotte
signals can be reported to 311.


text:
In terms of media, Michael Jackson's death revealed some interesting insights in social networks. No, it's not that people on social networks — like Facebook, Twitter , digg, etc — broke the news to their friends. Instant sharing is at the core of social networking.
The big surprise? MySpace became a serious destination for fan outpouring. Yes, MySpace, the site that some industry experts have declared dead. Yes, MySpace, the social networking pioneer that just laid off 30% of their workforce.
The King of Pop died suddenly on June 25, setting off a firestorm of news and reaction. Post-event analysis reveals that sites like Twitter and Google were hobbled by the surge in traffic. Google thought the surge in traffic was an organized attack on their site.
SIDE QUESTIONS: If Michael Jackson's sudden death had this effect on the Intertubes, isn't it time for the government to review the Net's infrastructure? What would happen in a larger global event? Could the Net handle it? And is it ironic that television (that "old media") works just fine during major surges? Debate, discuss.
Back to MySpace
As news raged, something weird happened at MySpace. People started to "friend" Michael Jackson's MySpace Page at an astonishing rate. MediaWeek reported that "the official Michael Jackson MySpace profile was adding 100 new friends per minute." Um, wow!
As of this writing, Jackson's MySpace page has 567 thousand friends. That's a lot of friends for a "dead" network.
And while Facebook is the current kind of social networks, MySpace is still considered the social network place for discovering music. MediaWeek also reported that "MySpace Music was streaming an average of 100,000 songs every ten minutes in the hours after Jackson's death."
It's frustrating thing that they don't offer a comparison. That is, how many friends was Michael Jackson getting per day before his death? Don't know. And how many songs were they streaming every ten minutes before his death? Again, don't know, so it's hard to give a good comparison.
Post Mortem Suprises
Michael Jackson's surprise death revealed a lot about the way people use the web and social networks. Based on the follow-up coverage, it's clear that this Internet-thingy still holds a few surprises for us.
Yes, Facebook continues to be THE social networking juggernaut. But we knew that already.
The biggest surprise for many of the "experts" out there? MySpace isn't dead.