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The White Racist's Guide to Riling up Negroes!!!
Posted by Herneith in Humour, Informative!, Racism on September 21, 2012
Well good day all you white racists out there! Want to know how to rile up the Negroes in five easy steps? Well listen up!
1. Mimic the way the negro speaks so as to mock the negro. This is a shoo in folks! It always gets the negro riled. This is for the dumber racist who is basically a functional illiterate. So if you are as dense as a brick, this is a nice starter!
2. If you are a little bit smarter than the dumb racists, bring up the fact that they were better off during slavery than they were in 'Africa'. No need to be knowledgeable about the country of 'Africa'. This will cause their eyes to bulge and their blood pressure to rise, the sight of which is hilarious!
3. Inform them of all the inventions that the whites have made and the fact that negroes have never invented anything. This one is very popular because it always gets the negroes in a lather! They will sputter and be at a loss for words or will try to give you a list of black inventors. Being a dumb fuck you will not care, as it is the charge you get out of riling up the negro that counts. Who cares that it is individuals who invent and not 'groups' per se. It's riling up the negroes or bust for the semi-intelligent white racist.
4. Married or dating a negro? For those of you who don't hate negroes but fetishize them; go to your black partner's group and inform them they are basically useless and your white skin will afford them 'privileges' for being in a relationship with a white person! Never mind you are full of shit! It is the hilarious reaction you are looking for! If they are women, tell them how black men find them a handful and hard to get along with and please. If a man, tell the black man that most black men are deadbeats, criminals or in prison. They do not appreciate nor know how to treat black women. Beware though! This may backfire and you may end up with a rearranged face if the stereotypes of the negro being inherently violent proves true.
5. Mock black culture under the guise of 'admiring' it! Mimic modes of 'dress', music, and supposed ways of life such as thuggery and other modes of criminality;become a full fledged 'wigga'! Keep in mind you may end up being the brunt of jokes though!
6. For the 'smarter' raciss, be insidious. Don't let the negro see it coming! This will prove to be even funnier when they realize you are mocking them! Start off by talking of innocuous things, such as the change in the weather. When the Negro engages with you in this mundanity, such as "how nice the weather is today", tell him/her how much you loathe Obama. Do this suddenly without warning, this is always a shit stirrer par excellence! So what if the negro you are talking about didn't even vote nor even supports Obama. Inject it into the 'conversation' to throw the negro off kilter. Then carry on as to how you hate Obama care, how you detest him etc. etc.. Assure the negro that you are not raciss,you just can't stand him(Obama). Whatever you do, don't let the negro get a word in edge wise during this 'debate'. If you do, he/she may blow your conceptions of the negroes possessing low intelligence ,that they all voted for Obama because of his skin colour, in fact, they may even surprise you with their 'intelligence' and erudition. Can't have that now can we? Why do this? Well it's fun tormenting people(history has shown you this), and it works excellently as a form of confirmation bias. The negro will sputter, be taken aback and most likely will be at a loss for words. The best case scenario? He/she will beat the shit out of you! Now isn't that the ultimate stereotype, the violent, stupid negro? It will serve as party conversation for years to come! At best, it will make you feel good about yourself as your unreasonable hatred conscious or unconscious is confirmed. You will have a 'legitimate' reason for hating the negro.
6. Bring up scientific studies that show most black to be intellectually inferior to whites. Do this in the context of why blacks lag behind. It's the genetics dummy! Start out subtly now, so you can build up the suspense. Always maintain a calm and kindly demeanor whilst doing this, as you, unlike the negro can control yourself. Throw in scientific jargon(the negroes probably don't even know what you are talking about anyway, but neither do you!). Hopefully the Negroes will get too angry to counteract your pseudo scientific arguments effectively! The fun is in the outcome of really pissing the negroes off! Don't' forget to give them the back handed compliments of being great at sports, singing, dancing, because everything is a trade off. The negro was given brawn for brains is all.
7. When a negro brings up past historical wrongs such as cultural genocide, mass lynchings and Jim Crow, fob them off by bringing up blacks' inherent criminality fueled by testosterone and the ravenous sex drives. Accuse the black woman of having an overdose of testosterone too! If this doesn't floor them, what will?
8. Bring up the police killings of negroes and do your damnedest to flip the script and blame the negroes for their ill-fortune. Better yet, bring up some murder committed by blacks against whites. Divert, divert, divert!!!!!!! You may have to call 911 when the negro's head explodes!
Advice to the negroes? Ignore these loons and keep stepping unless you are in the mood for entertainment or a bout of fisticuffs! Good day to you!!!! When will the white racist change their ways? When pigs fly!!!!
Hi my name is Petula. Me and Mikey are getting married, wish us luck! Sooeee, oink oink.
Last but not least from 'darling' Mikey, his opinion and advice:
Hi again folks, Mikey here. I may be funny looking but I am smarter than you because I am white! So what if I am an inbred cretin, I mean creature! I was dropped on my head at birth hence my funny looking face! With my white fur with piss coloured accents, I am all that and then some. I am superior to you, bow down minions before my brilliance! Like my fiance Petula? Mikey the deluded asshole of a tiger! Oh, do you think I'm sexy?


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Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
(Psalms 46:1 (NIV))
Today's world seems to be spiraling ever downward away from God's Will. The events of the last several years seem to be leading us into the wars and rumors of wars that are written of in Matthew 24:6.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
(Matthew 24:6-8 (NIV))
I may be naive, but I don't remember a period in my lifetime that seemed so much on edge. I know that all throughout history, there have been periods where all seemed to be turmoil. I originally wrote and sent this out almost ten years ago based on what was happening in the world at that point. With what is happening in the world now, it seems very appropriate to be reminded about where our refuge and strength come from. It is not time to sit on the fence. It is not time to be indecisive. It is time to proclaim a faith in the Lord. Then we can truly claim that no matter what the world may have in store for us, God is truly our refuge. He is Creator. He is Lord of all. He is our Father. He is our hope.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8:31 (NIV))
God is our refuge. He longs to have us draw close to Him. If we will only turn away from our sin and turn toward Him, He is our strength. He is an ever-present help in trouble. No matter what the world may send our way, we have the faith and assurance that God is there.
Is God your refuge and strength?
Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
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subset: commoncrawl


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The University Library consists of the Queen Elizabeth II Library, the Health Sciences Library, and the Dr. C.R. Barrett Library, Fisheries and Marine Institute, all in St. John's, and the Ferriss Hodgett Library in Corner Brook. These four units together have a collection equivalent to 2.5 million volumes and more than 26,000 current journal subscriptions. This collection serves as the major information resource for the University as well as the province. All units of the library system may be used by all students, faculty and staff, as well as the community at large.
The Queen Elizabeth II Library was opened for service in January 1982. It is an impressive structure of 200,000 square feet on five levels. It has a seating capacity of 2,000 and can hold 1.6 million physical volumes. The Information Services Division, located on the main floor (second level), provides assistance to people wishing to make use of the library's resources and services. This division provides reference and computer-assisted bibliographic search services. Library tours and individual or group instruction in the use of the library and its resources may be arranged for students through this division. Information Services is part of the Commons, located on the Library's main floor. The Commons is a partnership between Computing and Communications, the Queen Elizabeth II Library, and the Writing Centre. The Commons provides access to print, electronic, and technology resources with the support and expertise needed to help users in the use of these resources. The wall space in the Commons is called First Space and is used to highlight the work of the fine arts students of Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Government Documents Section contains a depository collection of Canadian government documents together with an extensive collection of material from the United States and other countries and international organizations. The Lending Services Division provides interlibrary loan and services to off-campus students as well as maintaining the stacks in the library. The Library's Centre for Newfoundland Studies collects all published material pertaining to Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as manuscript materials. The Music Resource Centre, located in the School of Music, contains scores, sound recordings, and listening equipment.
The Health Sciences Library is located on the ground floor of the Health Sciences Centre on the north campus of the University. It is a designated Canadian MEDLINE Centre which provides access to computer-assisted searches of the world's biomedical literature on demand in support of clinical, teaching, and research interests.
The Health Sciences Library has a collection of over 40,000 books on medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and allied health subjects and subscribes to more than 1700 paper and electronic journals. It maintains an audio-visual collection of over 1500 titles, which includes videotapes, slides, microfiche/film and audio cassettes.
The Dr. C.R. Barrett Library is located on the main floor of the Fisheries and Marine Institute. It offers a comprehensive range of library and audio-visual services to students, faculty, and staff at the Fisheries and Marine Institute, the College of North Atlantic Engineering Technology Centre and to the Newfoundland and Labrador marine industries.
The library collection supports study and research in fisheries and aquaculture, marine engineering, nautical science, and the aquatic environment. The collection also includes significant holdings in engineering.
Library holdings include 50,000 books and technical reports, 400 current magazine and newspaper subscriptions, print and electronic reference sources, 1,400 films and videos, maps and pamphlets. The collection includes 4,500 ship drawings.
The Ferriss Hodgett Library is located on levels 2 and 3 of the Library & Computing Building, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Corner Brook campus, with seating for 203 users and includes group study rooms, audio-visual and computer carrels.
The Library holds over 100,000 books and 450 current subscriptions, along with collections of audio-visual materials, government documents, microforms, periodicals, and access to many e-journals.
A full range of public services is available including reference assistance, orientation tours and interlibrary loans, as well as access to electronic information resources, Internet, spreadsheet, word processing, and presentation software.


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Exhausted and terrified, a herd of wild mustangs gallop around the side of the mountain, miraculously managing to skirt the treacherous prairie-dog holes and deep crevices as they try to escape the screaming, whirling predator on their tail. Their instincts tell them they can out-run most any animal, but this one is relentless.
You wish a director would yell "Cut," and the horses would be led to a plush Hollywood stable for rest, food, and water. But it's not a movie, and the pilot flying the helicopter is not an actor. He works for a government program to round up wild horses from public lands. The target horses this week are from the Sandwash Basin herd, in northwestern Colorado.
As the horses hit a straightaway at full stride, a camouflaged fence gradually funnels them into a trap. Close to the neck of the trap, the roundup crew releases a "Judas horse," which runs to the front of the pack and leads the mustangs directly into a tiny corral. Once inside, the horses screech to a stop, piling up on top of one another as dust flies, the gate slams, and the helicopter pulls away to go back for more horses. When the crew is finished, a few of the horses will be released back onto the range, some will be put up for adoption, but most will be relocated to government holding facilities, and a large number will be eligible to be sold to slaughterhouses, thanks to Senator Conrad Burns (Republican, Montana).
In 1971, Congress passed a law that banned the inhumane treatment of wild horses and put safeguards into place so they couldn't be sold for slaughter. That law was the result of a two-decades-long crusade by Velma Johnston, better known as "Wild Horse Annie." But in December 2004 that law was gutted. Just days before the Thanksgiving holiday recess, when most of Washington was getting ready to leave for the long weekend, Senator Burns put the final touches on his rider No. 142, which removed all protections for wild horses (and burros) that were over the age of 10 or had been offered unsuccessfully for adoption three times. Such animals could now be sold "without limitation, including through auction to the highest bidder, at local sale yards or other convenient livestock selling facilities." Burns inserted his one-page rider into a 3,300-page budget-appropriations bill on the eve of the bill's congressional deadline, and there would be no opportunity for either public or legislative debate.
The following week rider No. 142 was uncovered, thanks in part to a tip from the Government Printing Office. Animal advocates and politicians from both major parties were outraged. Representative Ed Whitfield, a Republican from western Kentucky, observed, "The thing that is so damaging about this Conrad Burns amendment is that he passed it on an appropriations bill that no one knew about.… It is precisely the way the legislative process should not work. I don't know his motivations, but more than likely he was protecting the ranchers who have leased those lands [for cattle and sheep grazing]."
Despite protests, President Bush, who likes to borrow the imagery and ethos of the American cowboy (and whom Burns once praised as having "earned his spurs"), signed the rider into law, capping a series of policy moves at the Bureau of Land Management (B.L.M.), the government agency in charge of managing the horses, that have sought to diminish the protected status of these "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," as the 1971 law called them.
The rider caused such anger that in May 2005 the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill to restore the original intent of the 1971 law. A similar amendment in the Senate had to make one stop before its confirmation vote: the appropriations subcommittee for the Department of the Interior, which has jurisdiction over all federal lands and the National Park Service. Burns is chairman of that committee. Proving again that one man can make a difference, he blocked the amendment from going to vote.
The B.L.M., part of the Department of the Interior, is responsible for administering America's 261 million acres of public land. Historically, it has worked closely with ranchers and other commercial interests, such as gas and oil, coal, and timber, in the management and use of these lands. Overseeing the wild horses is one, small part of what the bureau does, but to the general public, which has an emotional attachment to them, it is one of its most important responsibilities. Celebrated in film, literature, and our nation's history, the mustangs helped Lewis and Clark complete their historic expedition, and during the opening of the frontier, they pulled plows, delivered mail, and carried soldiers in battle.
Senator Robert Byrd (Democrat, West Virginia) summed up the feelings of many when, in his speech to overturn the Burns rider, he criticized the B.L.M.'s management of the wild horses. "Surely there are actions that can be taken by the BLM to ensure the proper operation of the wild horse and burro program without resorting to the slaughter of these animals."
Horse Whisperers
When you drive up the dirt road to Karen Sussman's double-wide trailer, in South Dakota, you are greeted by two dogs, 12 cats, and the 300 mustangs that roam her 680 acres. Suss man meets you at the door, and the first thing she asks is "Have you eaten?"
An intern who worked for Sussman once called her "the mother of all living things." But she is no pushover. As president of the 750-member International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, Sussman, 59, is a fiery activist who also works part-time as a nurse, in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, for the Indian Health Service. Small and energetic, with short hair that stays in place when she moves, she looks like a former gymnast and seems always ready to jump to the next task. Her home is packed with the late Wild Horse Annie's personal items, making it a kind of unofficial museum—she even has Annie's saddle resting on a sawhorse.
Sussman, who never knew Annie personally, grew up in rural Pennsylvania. In 1981, she adopted her first horse and began volunteering for Annie's organization. She became president of it in 1989, and both president and executive director in 1993. During these years, she worked closely with Helen Reilly, who was Annie's good friend and personal secretary. (Reilly passed away in 1993.) Sussman knows Annie's story inside out, and so, at one time, did many other people. By the time her 1971 law passed, Annie had been featured in countless newspaper articles, on national television, and in popular magazines as diverse as Reader's Digest and Esquire.
At age 11, while living outside Reno, Annie contracted a severe case of polio and underwent an experimental operation, after which she was hospitalized in a body cast for nearly nine months. A bright spot in her day was looking at a large painting of mustangs entitled Roaming Free, which hung in the hospital hallway. "I studied it with all my senses. I could just feel what it was like out there, winging along with the herd," Annie wrote.
When Annie's cast was removed, it turned out the constricting plaster, which covered much of her neck and head, had not allowed space for her face to develop evenly, and while she would grow to a height of five feet seven inches, she was twisted out of alignment by the polio. Annie's disfigurements proved to be traumatic. Kids taunted her, so she retreated into her studies, wrote poetry, drew, and helped her father take care of the animals on their ranch. Her best friend was a rodeo horse named Hobo, which her father had given her when she got out of the hospital.
"Then there's her most famous story," Sussman says, "the one that changed her life." On a beautiful morning in 1950, Annie was driving to her secretarial job in Reno when she approached a truck pulling a livestock trailer—a common sight. As she pulled closer, she saw blood dripping out of the trailer. Through the wooden slats she saw it was jam-packed—not with cattle, but with horses. Trampled under their feet was a young foal, no more than a few months old.
When the truck turned off the highway onto a dirt road, Annie followed it. Its destination was a slaughterhouse that processed horsemeat for pet food. The truck parked next to a holding pen, and a man unlocked the trailer gate. As the gate swung open, a tight pack of mustangs untangled and scrambled to get out, falling over the trailer's edge, landing on top of one another, fighting to get to their feet, running into the holding pen.
The horses were battered and bloody. Most had wide swaths of flesh torn from their sides, which were oozing blood. Annie would later learn that such wounds were inflicted when the horses were roped, pulled off their feet, then dragged up a ramp into the cattle trailer. Many were spotted red from shotgun blasts fired by wranglers in planes. Still in the trailer was the foal, trampled to death. Annie gasped and leaned forward, sick to her stomach.
She received the nickname "Wild Horse Annie" a few years later, as her reputation as a mustang advocate grew. In Carson City, Nevada, she entered a packed room in the state-senate building to speak before a committee about banning the airplane roundup of wild horses. As she walked down an aisle, a local rancher, in an attempt to ridicule her, said in a loud voice, "Well, if it isn't Wild Horse Annie." The press in the room picked up the nickname, and in a genius public-relations move, Annie adopted it. As a result of her activism, "Annie faced regular death threats," Sussman says, "and answered the door at her ranch outside Reno—the Double Lazy Heart—with a pistol behind her back."
Before she faced the U.S. Senate, in 1971, Annie orchestrated one of the largest letter-writing campaigns in U.S. history, and Congress was flooded with letters, many written by children and teenagers, on behalf of the horses. Widespread, unregulated commercial exploitation had brought the mustang numbers from two million in the early 1900s to fewer than 18,000 in 1971. Arthur Miller and John Huston's 1961 film, The Misfits, depicted the increasing desperation of the down-and-out cowboys who trafficked in the few remaining wild horses.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act passed both houses of Congress unanimously. It protected the mustangs "from capture, branding, harassment, or death." The B.L.M. was the main agency assigned to enforce this law.
Annie died of cancer at age 65 on June 27, 1977, but Sussman and others continue her work, which they believe is far from over. "The B.L.M. has consistently exploited the intent of the law," says Sussman. "They have constantly chipped away at key provisions. The horses on my ranch come from two herds—one of which comes from the B.L.M.—that were zeroed out. The total land that was set aside for mustangs in the 1971 law has been reduced by over 10 million acres."
Sussman, like many wild-horse advocates, thinks that the mustangs, under the stewardship of the B.L.M., could one day reach numbers so low that their ability to survive in the wild would be at risk.
Slaughterhouse Blues
By the late 70s the population of wild horses had increased to 44,000, and changes were made to the 1971 law, adding provisions for "excess animals" to be removed from the range—the excess to be determined by the secretary of the interior when he saw a threat to "a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship in that area [i.e., ranching]." A 1976 amendment to the law allowed for mechanized roundups (helicopters and trucks), and roundup numbers began to increase dramatically. More revisions in 1978 allowed for old, sick, and lame animals "to be destroyed in the most humane manner possible," a measure Annie supported, according to Sussman. "Annie wanted to create an airtight bill, and she foresaw population problems in the future," she says. "She wanted to deal with such problems on the range and to avoid the roundups and slaughterhouse horrors." The 1978 revisions also specified how the horse-adoption program should dispose of healthy excess animals: "qualified individuals" were allowed to adopt no more than four horses each (for which the B.L.M. charged a fee of $25 a horse). After proving they had treated the animals humanely for one year, the new owners were given title. The four-horse limit and one-year probationary period were intended to eliminate the economic incentive for ranchers to take large numbers of horses to sell to slaughterhouses.
Thanks to former Nevada Republican senator Paul Laxalt, however, a loophole big enough to drive a truck through—one straight to the slaughterhouse—was also included in the revisions. It stated that wild horses and burros would lose their protected status once the new owner received title. The implications of this became all too clear after Ronald Reagan installed the pro-ranching-and- mining James Watt and later the lesser-known but like-minded William P. Clark and Donald Hodel as secretaries of the interior. In 1984 the B.L.M. instituted a fee-waiver program, whereby most anyone willing to take at least 100 wild horses would get them for free, and from 1985 to 1987, after Congress appropriated $51 million for roundups (thanks mostly to Republican senator James McClure, of Idaho), the B.L.M. began enthusiastically removing wild horses from the range—around 40,000 between 1984 and 1987.
Journalist Tad Bartimus, in an article for the Associated Press, revealed how ranchers and the B.L.M. had gotten around the four-horse adoption limit: dozens of individuals would adopt four horses each, then give the ranchers power of attorney. Bartimus quoted a Montana rancher who had gotten 1,100 horses this way, which he planned to sell to the slaughter house. The rancher said, "We have powers of attorney from people in Arizona, California, Texas and Montana Of course, they went to slaughter. Everybody knows what's happening, but nobody will admit it."
According to a 1990 report by the G.A.O. (the General Accounting Office, now the Government Accountability Office, which does independent, nonpartisan reports at the request of Congress), 20,000 wild horses were placed with "79 individuals and 4 Native American tribes.… We found that hundreds of these horses died of starvation and dehydration during the 1-year probation period and that many adopters, primarily ranchers and farmers … sold thousands more to slaughter after obtaining title from BLM." The G.A.O. report concluded, "By its very design the fee-waiver program was a prescription for commercial exploitation of wild horses."
The Animal Protection Institute of America and the Fund for Animals took the B.L.M. to court in response to such abuses, and in 1988 a federal judge ruled that the B.L.M. could not issue a title if it knew the adopter intended to sell an animal to slaughter. This terminated the fee-waiver program.
But in the 1990s abuses under the adoption program were still being reported, becoming more of an internal B.L.M. issue. In a series of articles for the A.P., published in the mid-1990s, Martha Mendoza documented how the B.L.M. had falsified rec ords used to identify and track horses, and how bureau officials were selling horses to slaughter after enlisting their friends and relatives to adopt them to circumvent the four-horse-per-person limit.
In 1997, to address these abuses, President Clinton's B.L.M. announced additional regulations to protect the horses, including checking with adopters and spot-checking slaughterhouses. Buyers now had to sign an affidavit ensuring they had no intent to sell the horses for slaughter or processing. Under the Bush administration things would again take a turn for the worse.
An American Classic
The mustang is a relatively small and sturdy horse, measuring close to five feet (15 hands) high and weighing on average 900 pounds. Its chest looks narrow from the front but deep in profile, more sub stantial than an Arabian's but not as bulky as a quarter horse's. Its legs spread out from its body in a distinctive slight "A" shape. Mustangs come in all colors, from black to brown to dun to cream, some red dish, some bluish, and in many these are mixed with whites and grays to produce roans, speckles, paints, and other patterns.
One of the best places to observe mustangs in their natural habitat is the Pryor Mountains, in Senator Burns's home state of Montana. And one of the best guides to take you through this territory and teach you about mustangs is documentary-film maker Ginger Kathrens. Kath rens is a rock star in the wild-horse world. Driven and tough, she lets out frequent sparks of good humor. You'd never want to get on her bad side, though, or she would stare you down with her intense blue eyes. For her PBS series, which began in 2001 with Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies, Kathrens is filming Cloud, a majestic white mustang stallion. She has followed him for more than 10 years, from his birth. Now he is lead stallion of his own family.
The Pryor Mountains are rugged and beautiful, filled with steep canyons and expansive valleys. The Big Horn Canyon cuts across the plains as far as the eye can see. To film the latest installment in Cloud's life, Kathrens treks on foot to find him. She is loaded down with gear: an Arriflex Super 16–mm. film camera, a large Canon digital video camera, a heavy tripod, a Nikon 35-mm. still camera, and binoculars. Pointing to a tree-filled valley that leads to the main watering hole, she looks through her binoculars, and a smile breaks across her face. "There's Cloud," she says. "He's making his way to the watering hole."
"The lead mare chooses when and where to feed and water," Kathrens explains. Cloud waits on top of a low hill just above the water hole. "Cloud typically takes the rearguard position to make sure it is safe for everyone else before he goes down to water." She checks the view through her telephoto lens as she explains the makeup of a family band: a stallion, a lead mare, plus several other mares, and all of their offspring under three. Usually, when the stallions are two years old, the lead stallion kicks them out and they join a bachelor band.
"Made up of horses ranging in age from two and up, the bachelor bands serve an important role in wild-horse society," says Kathrens. "The bachelors join up with one another for protection and social activities. They don't have family responsibilities, so they can hang out and cause mischief. The younger bachelors spar with the older ones to hone their fighting skills. A bachelor's ultimate goal is to steal a mare and start his own family."
"He's still letting Flint stay around," observes Kathrens. Flint is Cloud's four-year-old stepson. "When they stick around this long, we call them 'lieutenants.' They help protect the band and scare away the bachelors. Cloud has always liked Flint."
Other family bands arrive at the top of the hill above the water hole. They wait until Cloud's family is done. Kathrens's camera rolls as Cloud and his family drink and play, then head off. The next family band comes down.
"The hierarchy among the families is determined by the status of the stallion," Kathrens explains. Each new group drinks for about five minutes and moves on. Then the next family comes down. The process works in a peaceful and orderly way.
As the sun sets, Kathrens packs up and begins to hike back to camp. "This area is primarily the herd's summer area. To protect the health of the range the B.L.M. wants to lower the numbers of the Pryor herd from 153 horses to 95. When the B.L.M. originally determined the size of this range area, they didn't take into account the historic use area of the herd, which is far larger than the designated range. We're trying to get the herd area increased to include the horses' historic range, which they're legally entitled to in the 1971 Wild Horses and Burros Act. Increasing the size to include this land would keep the herds at a healthy number. The numbers are already so low that the health and future of the herd is in danger." (The B.L.M. says it did incorporate the historic use area of the herds.)
Kathrens points to the research of Dr. Gus Cothran, a leader in the field of equine-population genetics at the University of Kentucky. He uses DNA analysis to study wild horses. His research concludes that for long-term health and survival of the herds a minimum size needs to be between 150 and 200 horses. Otherwise, interbreeding will create genetic weaknesses, leading to serious health problems. More than 70 percent of the herds the B.L.M. manages fall below Cothran's minimum number. (The B.L.M. maintains that these numbers are high. They are monitoring genetic diversity in the herds, and they say that "at present, there is no immediate cause for concern about inbreeding.")
Turf Wars
In 2001, President Bush appointed Kathleen Clarke as director of the B.L.M. Before that she had served as executive director of Utah's Department of Natural Resources, where she built a reputation for favoring mining and drilling interests. At the B.L.M. she has been at the center of controversy. According to sworn testimony by the public-lands chairman of the Utah Cattlemen's Association, she encouraged ranchers to sue her own agency, after having failed in an effort to prevent Interior from issuing grazing permits to a conservation group. (At the time, Clarke denied she did anything inappropriate.) The Bush administration has rounded up wild horses at a record-setting pace, including more than 50,000 under Clarke's aegis.
The Department of Interior building, on Washington's C Street, is a stone monument to permanency and power, one of the first buildings constructed by the Public Works Administration during the Depression. As you walk down the wide main corridor, with its high ceiling, you feel safe, but small. In a back office of this landmark building, sitting around a table, Tom Dyer, until recently the B.L.M.'s deputy assistant director of renewable resources and planning, Dean Bolstad, its wild-horse-and-burro-operations lead, and Tom Gorey, a B.L.M. spokesperson, look at the numbers on their chart. They are confused. They have just applied their own formula to calculate the wild-horse population. The calculations don't match their official census sheet. "These numbers have always been a little confusing," Bolstad says. The current census numbers for 2006 seem disproportionately high, estimating 9,000 more horses on the range than their formula could account for.
Gorey says, "We think our count is accurate. It is an estimate; we can't say it is the literally correct number."
When asked its position on the Burns rider, Gorey says, "The B.L.M. has not taken a stand on the Burns rider. We see it as another management tool." Horse advocates say this is merely added proof, as if any were needed, that the B.L.M. is more or less in cahoots with Burns. "They [at the B.L.M.] are not upset that one man, Burns, covertly set the horses up for slaughter," says Chris Heyde, a deputy legislative director for the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, located in Alexandria, Virginia.
A big question is why Senator Burns has inserted himself so prominently into the wild-horse controversy when the issue is not even an important one in his state. The only wild horses in Montana are the 153 mustangs at the Pryor mountain range, and they're a tourist attraction. (Of the approximately 31,000 wild horses counted in the B.L.M.'s 2006 herd-area data were 13,384 in Nevada, 3,166 in California, 4,615 in Wyoming, 2,545 in Utah, and 2,113 in Oregon.) The senator has given several reasons. They include to prevent the horses from starving on the range, to protect the health of the range, to push the B.L.M. to get serious about its adoption program, and to cut the costs of boarding horses in holding facilities. Critics claim that these issues are already addressed by the law.
Burns grew up on a farm in Missouri, and as a young man he moved to Montana, where he sold ads for a livestock magazine and worked as a livestock auctioneer. In this world, horses are bought and sold like cattle. What do you do with old and lame horses? You sell them to a slaughterhouse to recoup a little money. It is just business as usual. Burns once explained to a journalist, "I'm in the livestock business, and I've bought and sold horses my whole life. Basically, the marketplace works."
The ranchers believe they should be the ones to control the use of their leased public lands. In many cases, they have worked these public plots for generations and regard them as their own. They see the wild horses merely as pests, consuming food and water that are meant for their livestock and tearing up fences. Steve Raftopoulos, a rancher in northwestern Colorado, faces the daily challenges of running livestock on public land. He grazes sheep in the Sandwash Basin with the wild horses. His family has been ranching in the area since 1934. "What it comes down to is proper management of the range," he says. "In managing anything you have to have flexibility. We can control how much livestock we are going to put on a range area. We have no control over the wild horses, no matter what the range condition is. Horses can really tear it up. I'm dependent on the B.L.M."
Raftopoulos speaks with clear determination. He is suspicious of reporters and environmentalists, but once he gets talking about public-land issues he doesn't slow down. "Everyone is caught up in the emotion of this, and they can't look at it logically. When the range is in great shape and the rain falls when it's supposed to, the horses and the livestock can coexist. But when there's drought, the range can be permanently damaged. Right now we have drought. And now the government wants to make it illegal to slaughter horses. This leaves no management flexibility, except to just let the horses die in an ex pensive government hold ing facility."
In the basement of the Forest Service of fice in Red Lodge, Mon tana, range specialist Wayne Burleson pulls down a projection screen and then turns off the lights. Burleson, 64, has studied the eating behavior of cattle and horses for more than 20 years, photographing and documenting their habits. He clicks through his slide show, illustrating how the eating tendencies of each animal impact the range. "The truth is they're both right," he says. "A cow can destroy the range and so can a horse. A horse can pinch out the whole grass plant with its teeth, and the cow can wrap his long tongue around a plant and pull it out. Any animal will overgraze if he doesn't have enough territory to graze or isn't properly managed."
To evaluate the impact of grazing on public land, consideration needs also to be given to big game (elk, deer, antelope). Most calculations estimate that more than four million head of livestock and three million big-game animals graze on public land. This means that wild horses account for less than one-half of 1 percent of the large animals grazing on public land. The most comprehensive independent study of this issue, done in 1990 by the G.A.O., states, "Wild horses are so vastly outnumbered on federal rangelands by domestic livestock Even substantial reduction in wild horse populations will, therefore, not substantially reduce total forage consumption." The G.A.O. report also states, "BLM could not provide [the General Accounting Office] with any information demonstrating that federal rangeland conditions have significantly improved because of wild horse removals." The study concluded, "The primary cause of the degradation in rangeland resources is poorly managed domestic livestock (primarily cattle and sheep) grazing."
Senator Burns refused to meet with V.F. to discuss his rider, but Chris Heggem, Burns's point person on this issue, says, "He did it because other people asked him to." Senator Burns has a history of being sensitive to the needs of those who donate large amounts of money to his campaign. Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who arranged for, by some estimates, close to $150,000 to go to Burns, told *V.F.'*s David Margolick, "Every appropriation we wanted [from Senator Conrad Burns's committee] we got." From 2001 to 2006, the senator received $380,512 from agribusiness, which includes the livestock industry. He receives more money—$69,800 so far for his 2006 re-election bid—from livestock interests than all but one senator, Texas Republican Henry Bonilla.
In Slate magazine, Deanne Stillman theorized that Montana rancher Merle Edsall may have been instrumental in getting Burns to act, because "the language in the Burns rider was the exact same wording floated by Edsall at a meeting of the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board." Edsall denies this connection to Burns. He says he wanted to take 10,000 wild horses in order to create a tourist-attraction sanctuary in Mexico. He claims that the White House and the B.L.M. wanted to privatize the wild-horse program, to which the B.L.M.'s Gorey responds, "We did receive a proposal, and we turned it down." Edsall explains, "I had a three-part plan. Part one was to give the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board authority over the wild-horse program. Part two was the sale authority. You have to have a threat before you solve a problem. The sale authority would allow the horses to go to slaughter. [I thought], People will go through the roof, and they did. But don't make a threat without a solution. Part three was the solution: Mexico and giving the horses to 501(c) nonprofits."
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Last February the B.L.M. initiated a program similar to the Reagan-era fee waiver. For the mustangs that have lost protections because of the Burns rider, it makes the adoption fee "negotiable," and drops both the one-year probationary period and the limit of four horses going to one person in any one-year period. In a letter of February 21, 2006, Clarke appealed to 15,000 ranchers with B.L.M. grazing permits to take the horses. Thanks to the Burns rider no one will be able to stop the program with a lawsuit this time. Now the B.L.M. will deliver loads of 20 or more horses free of charge to any destination. Although recipients of these horses have to sign an agreement that they do not intend to send the horses to slaughter, wild-horse activists doubt the B.L.M. will do much checking up to see that the ranchers are keeping their word. (Gorey says the B.L.M. has compliance guidelines that range from inspections to phone check-ins.)
The rationale for the fee-reduction program, as it was the last time, is to save money by removing horses from government holding facilities. But Chris Heyde says, "If the B.L.M. and the administration want to talk about money, they should look at their grazing program. According to the government's latest G.A.O. study, in 2004 the grazing program lost almost $115 million a year. The ranchers pay a nominal fee of $1.56 a month for each cow-and-calf pair to graze. The free-market rate for ranchers to lease the same amount of private land to graze their cattle is a little over $13 a month. It's a giveaway.
"This does not include the million spent each year on behalf of ranchers for predator control, to kill coyotes, foxes, and mountain lions to protect cattle and sheep," he adds. "These are the animals that would naturally help control wild-horse population. All of this when less than 3 percent of America's beef is raised on federal rangelands. And economically, livestock grazing on federal land produces only a tiny percentage of income in western states, between 1 and 3 percent. The irony is that most of the land is leased to millionaires."
He is referring to a nine-month investigation in 1999 by the San Jose Mercury News, which revealed that the top 10 percent of those holding grazing permits control 65 percent of all livestock on B.L.M. land. One of the largest livestock lessees of B.L.M. land is a company founded by one of the richest men in America, John Simplot, who is worth an estimated $2.3 billion. He lives in Boise, Idaho, and supplies half of McDonald's French fries. Other major holders of government grazing leases include the Hilton Family Trust.
Heyde and other advocates outline their solutions. Give the wild horses back all their original acreage and herd areas. Keep herd sizes large enough to maintain the future health of the herds. If the range is in crisis, support the horses with water and hay. Manage the herd areas principally for mustangs, not sheep and cattle. Keep roundup and adoptions in sync. "Just enforce and follow through on the legal guidelines of the 1971 law. After all, it is a law," Heyde says.
On September 7, 2006, the House of Representatives voted 263 to 146 in favor of a bill sponsored by John Sweeney, a New York Republican, and Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican, to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. There are currently three horse slaughterhouses in the U.S., one in Illinois, and two in Texas. They sell horsemeat primarily to Europe and Japan, where it is regarded as a delicacy. Chris Heyde has been inside a slaughterhouse, and he has been to horse auctions. "The majority of horses are not sold to slaughter by their owners," Heyde says, "but instead arrive via livestock auction, where 'killer buyers' purchase them. Owners are often unaware of their ultimate fate. And most of the horses are not old and lame. They are healthy racehorses, riding-school and show horses, stolen horses, and federally protected wild horses." Horse advocates are hopeful the anti-slaughter bill will pass the Senate and become law.
In Washington, D.C., the politicians fight. In South Dakota, Karen Sussman faces the daily challenges of managing her mustang herd. This morning an old mustang with a surgically repaired leg has fallen in her stall. This is a life-threatening situation for a horse. Sussman made a deal with this old mustang. "As long as she has the will to live, I'll stick by her." She is not sure if Janie Grayce, named after the two donors who paid for her surgery, wants to go on or give up.
With the help of Denny, a part-time worker from the Lakota tribe, Sussman has rigged a series of ropes to help lift the horse to her feet. She talks to the old mustang. "You tell me what you want to do." Sussman has been dreading this moment. But she is prepared to put the mare down if she won't fight to get up. "It is going to happen one day," she says. Janie Grayce lies motionless on her side with each attempt to raise her.
"Let's give her one last try," Sussman says as they pull the rope taut around the horse's body. The mare's eyes brighten. She begins to struggle, kicking her legs, trying to fight to her feet—suddenly she's up. A little unsteady, but she's up.
"Good girl. Good girl," Sussman says, petting her. Janie Grayce lets out a whinny, as if she's saying thanks. "She's a tough old mustang. She wasn't ready to go," says Sussman.
Kurt Brungardt is a writer and personal trainer in New York.


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AP Fact Check: State of the Union address had a lot of wishes
WASHINGTON (AP) - It was a wish list, not a to-do list.
President Barack Obama laid out an array of plans in his State of the Union speech as if his hands weren't so tied by political realities. There can be little more than wishful thinking behind his call to end oil industry subsidies - something he could not get through a Democratic Congress, much less today's divided Congress, much less in this election year.
First Coast members of Congressreact
And there was more recycling, in an even more forbidding climate than when the ideas were new: He pushed for an immigration overhaul that he couldn't get past Democrats, permanent college tuition tax credits that he asked for a year ago, and familiar discouragements for companies that move overseas.
A look at Obama's rhetoric Tuesday night and how it fits with the facts and political circumstances:
Obama: "We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that's never been more promising."
The facts: This is at least Obama's third run at stripping subsidies from the oil industry. Back when fellow Democrats formed the House and Senate majorities, he sought $36.5 billion in tax increases on oil and gas companies over the next decade, but Congress largely ignored the request. He called again to end such tax breaks in last year's State of the Union speech. And he's now doing it again, despite facing a wall of opposition from Republicans who want to spur domestic oil and gas production and oppose tax increases generally.
Obama: "Our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a government program."
The facts: That's only half true. About half of the more than 30 million uninsured Americans expected to gain coverage through the health care law will be enrolled in a government program. Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people, will be expanded starting in 2014 to cover childless adults living near the poverty line.
The other half will be enrolled in private health plans through new state-based insurance markets. But many of them will be receiving federal subsidies to make their premiums more affordable. And that's a government program, too.
Starting in 2014 most Americans will be required to carry health coverage, either through an employer, by buying their own plan, or through a government program.
Obama, asking Congress to pay for construction projects: "Take the money we're no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home."
The facts: The idea of taking war "savings" to pay for other programs is budgetary sleight of hand. For one thing, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been largely financed through borrowing, so stopping the wars doesn't create a pool of ready cash, just less debt. And the savings appear to be based at least in part on inflated war spending estimates for future years.
Obama: "Through the power of our diplomacy a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran's nuclear program now stands as one."
The facts: The world is still divided over how to deal with Iran's disputed nuclear program, and even over whether the nuclear program is a problem at all.
It is true that the U.S., Europe and other nations have agreed to apply the strictest economic sanctions yet on Iran later this year. But the global sanctions net has holes, because some of Iran's large oil trading partners won't go along. China, a major purchaser of Iran's crude, isn't part of the new sanctions and, together with Russia, stopped the United Nations from applying similarly tough penalties.
Obama: "Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last - an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values."
The facts: Economists do see manufacturing growth as a necessary component of any U.S. recovery. U.S. manufacturing output climbed 0.9 percent in December, the biggest gain since December 2010. Yet Obama's apparent vision of a nation once again propelled by manufacturing - a vision shared by many Republicans - may already have slipped into the past.
Over generations, the economy has become ever more driven by services; not since 1975 has the U.S. had a surplus in merchandise trade, which covers trade in goods, including manufactured and farm goods. About 90 percent of American workers are employed in the service sector, a profound shift in the nature of the workforce over many decades.
The overall trade deficit through the first 11 months of 2011 ran at an annual rate of nearly $600 billion, up almost 12 percent from the year before.
Obama: "The Taliban's momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home."
The facts: Obama is more sanguine about progress in Afghanistan than his own intelligence apparatus. The latest National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan warns that the Taliban will grow stronger, using fledgling talks with the U.S. to gain credibility and stall until U.S. troops leave, while continuing to fight for more territory. The classified assessment, described to The Associated Press by officials who have seen it, says the Afghan government hasn't been able to establish credibility with its people, and predicts the Taliban and warlords will largely control the countryside.
Obama: "On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world's number one automaker. Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories."
The facts: He left out some key details. The bailout of General Motors and Chrysler began under Republican President George W. Bush. Obama picked up the ball, earmarked more money, and finished the job. But Ford never asked for a federal bailout and never got one.
Obama: "We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives. The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there's no reason why Congress shouldn't at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation."
The facts: With this statement, Obama was renewing a call he made last year to require 80 percent of the nation's electricity to come from clean energy sources by 2035, including nuclear, natural gas and so-called clean coal. He did not put that percentage in his speech but White House background papers show that it remains his goal.
But this Congress has yet to introduce a bill to make that goal a reality, and while legislation may be introduced this year, it is unlikely to become law with a Republican-controlled House that loathes mandates.
Obama: "Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households."
The facts: It's true that a minority of millionaires pay a lower tax rate than some lower-income people. On average, though, wealthy people pay taxes at a much higher rate than middle-income taxpayers.
Obama's claim comes from a Congressional Research Service report that compared federal taxes paid by people making less than $100,000 with those paid by people making more than $1 million. About 10 percent of families with incomes under $100,000 paid more than 26.5 percent in federal income, payroll and corporate taxes. And about a quarter of millionaire taxpayers paid a rate lower than that.
Obama: "We can't bring back every job that's left our shores.... Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed."
Fact check: Many of the jobs U.S. companies have created overseas won't return because they were never in the United States in the first place.
As Obama said in his speech, U.S. workers have become more productive and labor costs have fallen.
But there are powerful forces pushing the other way: Many of the overseas jobs in U.S. companies weren't transferred from the U.S. They were created in fast-growing markets in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere to serve customers in those markets. Companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index now earn more than half of their revenue from overseas.
That has fueled more job creation abroad. U.S. multinationals cut more than 800,000 jobs in the United Statesfrom 2000 to 2009, according the Commerce Department. They added 2.9 million overseas in the same period.
Obama: "Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned doesn't know what they're talking about ... That's not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin; from Cape Town to Rio; where opinions of America are higher than they've been in years."
The facts: Obama left out Arab and Muslim nations, where popular opinion of the U.S. appears to have gone downhill or remained unchanged after the spring 2011 reformist uprisings in the Middle East. A Pew Research Center survey in May found that in predominantly Muslim countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan, views of the U.S. were worse than a year earlier. In Pakistan, a major recipient of U.S. foreign aid that went unmentioned in Obama's speech, just 11 percent of respondents said they held a positive view of the UnitedStates.


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More Americans eating guinea pigs?
New Mexico is thinking about processing horse meat. Montanans have roadkill. And now the latest in offbeat meat appears to be ... guinea pigs.
NPR reports on an American trend fueled by South American expats and the U.S. restaurants that serve such cuisine, and bolstered by foodies' penchant for trying — and blogging about — something new.
Called cuyes in Spanish, the two-pound creatures are typically purchased hairless and frozen and prepared whole via grill or deep fryer. They can be consumed "literally from head to toe," reports NPR (one restaurateur describes the nose as particularly tasty); fans of the roasted rodent say they're tasty, tender, and oily.
But it's not all about taste for proponents, who say eating guinea pigs is an environmentally conscious move. The petite animals have a much smaller carbon footprint than cattle, and while it takes, say, eight pounds of hay to make a pound of beef, it only take four to make a pound of guinea pig meat. And, bonus, you don't need a farm to raise this supper:
"Guinea pigs don't require the land that cattle do," said one science writer. "They can be kept in backyards, or in your home." A "herd" of two males and 20 females can sustainably provide meat to a family of six.
Read less, know more on Newser.


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EIFL has been working in Uganda since 2011. We engaged with the development of the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL), and through this partnership, libraries in Uganda are providing access to a wide range of scholarly e-resources.
In Uganda, EIFL has supported national and institutional open access awareness raising and advocacy workshops that have resulted in the launch of open access publishing platforms and the creation of a number of open access repositories in the country (which continue to (opendoar.org/countrylist.php) grow). Collaborative efforts of universities and national policy makers are under way to make all peer-reviewed research output of the country openly available.
We have advocated for revisions to the national copyright law to enable libraries to better meet the needs of their end users. We are also currently supporting national implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities.
EIFL has also engaged with public libraries in Uganda resulting in innovative pilot projects that are helping libraries meet the information needs of their communities. We are continuing to build the capacity of librarians to enable them to introduce technology-based services to their users.


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About Today's moon phase
The moon's phase today on Tuesday May, 30 2023 is .
Is the moon phase the same everywhere?
Is the moon's phase the same everywhere on Earth? Yes! But that doesn't mean moon phases happen on the same "date" for everyone on Earth.
Depending on our time-zone, we each experience the start of a new calendar date at different times. All new dates start at midnight. But in one city, "midnight" can happen 12 hours before midnight in another city.
NOTE: To calculate the exact date of any moon phase, one must account for differences between geographic locations and time zones.
The question "what is the moon phase today?" is a more complicted question than it sounds. "Today" can mean different times in different locations. Furthermore, no matter where you are on Earth, the moon phase continues to progress throughout each day.
e.g: The moon may be not quite full at the beginning of the day, but be a true full moon by the end of that same day. Or a moon might be perfectly full before midnight in one city, and perfectly full after midnight in a different one. So if you search for "today's moon phase", you might see a slightly different result on this page above than you see in the sky overhead -- depending on your geographic location and the time of day.
A universal moon phase result
As such, the moon phase calculation above should be taken as an average. For most purposes, this moon phase calendar is 'accurate enough'. But please be aware that "calendar dates" are dependent on geographic location and time-zone. Moon phases for 2023 may be off by as much as 1 calendar day depending on your location. Also keep in mind that during the course of the day and night the moon's phase will progress. If the moon phase shown above is a "hair off" from a major moon phase, there is a good chance that the moon will pass, or has already passed through that major phase at some point during the current 24 hour period.
If you need a more accurate reading on the position of the moon, as well as the position of the planets, please use the astrological charting application.
If this date is a birth-date, use the search-tool on the main moon phase page and select the 'birth moon' option for meanings and interpretations of this moon phase on your birthday according to 'moon-phase astrology'.
Why is the moon tilted in the sky?
Depending on your location and the time of day, the moon may appear tilted. This is particularly noticeable during crescent moons when the moon can appear "on it's back" or rotated forwards. The moon phase depicted above is shown at a consistent angle for the sake of clarity, but the moon overhead in the sky may appear rotated very differently depending on where you are.
About the moon's other phases
In Western astrology there are 8 major phases of the moon. What we call "phases" however, are really just arbitrary divisions of an ever changing interplay of light and dark. There could just as easily be 16 or more phases, but the general division into 8 moon phase names based on a system of "quarters" and "transitional phases" between each quarter is used by virtually all astrologers and astronomers alike.
Astrologers first divided the cycle into the four primary phases (New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter) and then the 2 crescent phases and 2 gibbous phases were added between them as "transitional phases". Mathematically speaking, each phase's "perfect" state exists at 1/8th of the way (or .125) through the cycle.
To understand the moon phase order, we start with the "new moon". The new moon is not visible because the sun is shining on the side of the moon opposite to our position on Earth.
The second phase of the moon is the "evening crescent", followed by the "first quarter moon" which many people mistakenly call a "half moon". After the first quarter moon come the "waxing gibbous" and then the "full moon".
While we often perceive full moons to last for 3 days or more, the reality is that they are only truly full for an instant. The full moon marks the final phase of the waxing moon, after which begin the waning moon stages.
Following the full moon come the "waning gibbous", "last quarter" and "morning crescent" phases. The final waning phase of the moon is the "new moon", at which point the cycle begins again.
The New Moon
The first lunar phase is called the "new moon". The new moon phase is the only phase that is not visible in its perfect state. From Earth, the moon will appear dark. Nights and evenings can be especially dark during new moons.
Why isn't the new moon visible?
The new moon is typically not visible with the naked eye, although careful observers may notice that it blocks the visibility of stars behind it. During a new moon, the sun is shining entirely on the other side of the moon (which we cannot see.)
The moon itself is still receiving sunlight, but due to the relative angle of the earth and sun, we cannot see the side of the moon which is receiving sunlight.
NOTE: In some astrology texts, the start of the new moon is considered to be the very first moment the crescent of the moon is fractionally visible -- as this is the true start to the lunar cycle. In other texts, the new moon is considered to be the moment when the moon is completely invisible to the unaided eye.
The meaning of the new moon
This is time of new beginnings. This moon heralds an excellent time to start new projects, new relationships and to "turn a new page" in life. A new moon is a time of increased spiritual potential, building energy, apprehension and excitement for what lies ahead. This is a time for creativity, passion and a flourishing of new ideas. Intentions and goals swirl around us as the path ahead slowly comes into focus.
The Evening Crescent Moon
The second lunar phase is called the "evening crescent" or "waxing crescent moon". It is the first of the waxing phases of the moon following the new moon. The definition of a perfect "evening crescent moon" is an illumination of exactly 25% of the moon's face during the waxing cycle. It is typically visible in the late morning to early evening.
The meaning of the evening crescent moon
As this lunar cycle is now underway, an understanding of this cycle's energies has begun to take shape. We begin to put plans into action. We begin to take our first steps along the path that came into focus during the new moon.
Mistakes will be made, but they are 'good mistakes'. This moon phase indicates a time of trying new strategies and testing new waters. The energy of the new moon is at your back you and the wind is filling your sails. Follow your heart but don't ignore your intellect at this time.
The First Quarter Moon
The third phase in the moon's monthly cycle is the "first quarter moon". This waxing moon phase is often mistakenly referred to as a "half moon" because it is half visible. During the first quarter moon, the moon is one-quarter of the way through the overall lunar cycle.
The definition of a first quarter moon is a phase with an illumination of roughly 50%. The phase begins about one week into the lunar cycle. The iconic first quarter moon is often bright enough to spot during the daylight hours.
This moon phase is preceded by the evening crescent moon, and followed by the waxing gibbous moon phase.
The meaning of the first quarter moon
With this moon above we are now deeply rooted in plans and trends which began the week before. Momentum grows by the day. What were once small personal goals and ambitions are now beginning to manifest themselves visibly.
The first quarter moon can also be conflicted: Its divided nature represents both a wealth of progress and a daunting amount of work still undone. Beware of doubts at this time. Know that momentum is with you and let your spirit guide you forwards. Challenges will arise, but they should be met head-on and not avoided.
The Waxing Gibbous Moon
The fourth phase in the monthly lunar cycle is the "waxing gibbous moon", which is the final waxing phase before the full moon. The easily identifiable "bulging" shape of the waxing gibbous is one of the brightest moon phases. A true waxing gibbous moon has 75% of the waxing lunar disc visible and occurs ten to eleven days after the new moon. This moon phase can be easy to mistake for a full moon phase -- which follows in a couple of days.
The meaning of the waxing gibbous moon
Waxing gibbous moons represent times of intense anticipation. Parts of your plans will feel complete, but others feel like they are hanging on the brink of a conclusion. There is a palpable feeling of "almost" in everything you do at this time -- as if the world is bracing itself in anticipation of something big happening.
At the same time, there can be an insidious temptation to quit during the waxing gibbous phase. It's common to feel like things are "good enough" right now. Should you walk away and move on to something else? Resist these temptations at this time. The true fruition of your plans and energies still lies ahead.
The Full Moon
There is no more revered and impressive sight in the night sky than the full moon. The full moon marks the half-way point of the monthly lunar cycle, and is considered its peak.
This fifth phase of the lunar cycle begins when the sun and moon are at a 180 degree angle to one another, and the maximum amount of the sun's light is reflected back towards the Earth. The full moon typically rises in the evening and sets in at sunrise, affording the brightest nights of the lunar cycle.
The meaning of the full moon
The power of the full moon is awesome and everywhere. We are jubilant and filled with its energy. Sometimes to the point of being irrational, giddy and out of control. There is a natural, mystical wildness to the full moon, and it fills every corner of our lives. This is a time for achievement and fulfillment. Goals are accomplished, but the unexpected can happen too. With this much energy flowing through each of us we are filled with the ability to rise above our everyday expectations -- but we are also prone to getting caught-up in that energy and acting rashly.
The full moon brings peaks of intense emotional energy. We find ourselves charged with its power whether we want it or not. Our emotions rise like the tide. Our passions overflow. At times this may result in bursts of creativity and genius. But at other times it may result in irrational outbursts and even a loss of control. The spiritual power of the full moon can be overwhelming. It is a time when anything can happen. It is both a gift of energy and a time of unpredictable overflowing passion.
The full moon is typically regarded as a poor time to start projects. While you may feel a surge of energy, vitality and creativity -- the reality is that the lunar cycle has finished its waxing phase. Now begins the waning cycle. Projects started at the full moon are typically regarded as missteps -- born at a time of passion and brilliance, but possibly without a strong foundation in common sense.
The Waning Gibbous Moon
The waning gibbous traditionally begins on the 3rd or 4th day after the full moon. A 'perfect' waning gibbous is considered to be a 75% illumination during the waning cycle. Some astrologers prefer to use the older term "disseminating moon" to describe this phase, although most modern astrologers now use the more generally accepted term, "waning gibbous". The waning gibbous rises in the late evening hours and remains visible until mid-morning. It is the sixth phase of the monthly lunar cycle.
The meaning of the waning gibbous moon
Transformation is upon us as we depart from the full moon. We have crossed a great river from a place of growth and gathering momentum, to a different land of ebbing energies and waning phases.
This may indicate a time of questioning previously held ideas -- ideas that seemed wise only last week. The passionate genesis of the waxing phase has now transitioned into a period of introspection, questions and possibly letting go of ideas that need to be abandoned.
The waning gibbous heralds a time of intense communication. Ideas need to be shared. Issues need to be addressed. And an assessment of our position needs to be made. This is an excellent time for reading and study. Through knowledge and information comes the ability to transform. As the world around us shifts into the waning cycle of the lunar month, we too must shift ourselves into a period of decreasing momentum, flexibility and resilience.
The Last Quarter Moon
The iconic last quarter moon is the seventh phase in the monthly lunar cycle. Like the first quarter moon, the last quarter phase is often incorrectly referred to as a "half moon" because only half of the moon's face is visible. During the last quarter phase, the moon is three-quarters of the way through its monthly transformation.
The last quarter moon is preceded by the waning gibbous moon, and followed by it's final phase: the morning crescent. The last quarter moon typically rises around midnight and stays in the sky until mid-day.
The meaning of the last quarter moon
The last quarter moon is a time of reckoning. The achievements of the past weeks may keep you on solid footing, or your mistakes may also catch up with you at this time. There is an unsteady feeling to all things during this phase. The end of the cycle is drawing near, but there is still work to be done. It is common to feel like life is in chaos at this time -- as if mistakes are piling up along with unexpected pitfalls.
It is a time to take stock of wise decisions and to abandon bad ones. The last quarter moon is an excellent time to change a bad habit. You have learned things over the past weeks and now they must be consciously applied. Although there are pitfalls everywhere at this time, there is also a clear path forwards. Let the moon's remaining light show you the path.
The Morning Crescent Moon
The eighth and final phase of the lunar cycle is the morning crescent or "waning crescent moon". Some astrologers also refer to this phase as a "balsamic moon" or less-frequently a "dark moon". The morning crescent moon typically rises in the early morning (hence its name) just before dawn, and sets in the late afternoon.
Because only 25% of the moon's face is visible during a perfect morning crescent, this phase is usually only visible early in the morning when it is still quite dark -- or on a particularly clear day.
The morning crescent phase is preceded by the last quarter moon, and is followed by the new moon at the start of the next lunar monthly cycle.
The meaning of the morning crescent moon
The morning crescent phase is a time of deep introspection. The "extroverted" phases are behind us, and a time for meditation, self-awareness and deep thought is upon us. We look ahead to the rebirth of spiritual energy in the new moon -- but we are not yet there. Now is a time to look inside ourselves, rest and gather our energies for the coming rush of creativity that comes with the next lunar cycle.
As the moon slips away into darkness we let go of tensions which arose during the cycle. We center ourselves, say goodbye to the waning crescent and connect with our inner selves.
As the moon fades to black, the cycle is complete.


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This was written in response to a comment posted by Michael Hawkins on Linkedin advising companies to read. My
response follows. http://www.businessinsider.com/job-recruiters-need-to-be-more-efficient-2012-11
Dear Michael Hawkins,
Hi Michael. This…Continue
Posted on April 18, 2013 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment
Ok. I'll admit it. I too got pulled into believing that as a newly independent IT Recruiter I could jump-start my desk with Bounty Jobs by getting right into the recruiting as the job orders are already there, (due to non-compete agreements, I had no JO's initially.) Also there are big companies involved and the playing field is somewhat leveled with big firms. Their model clearly has potential.
Posted on March 11, 2011 at 2:17pm — 51 Comments
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First off, don't air offhanded and offensive commercials as it affects the entire community of companies within…Continue
Posted on February 23, 2011 at 4:33pm — 19 Comments


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As Newton's First Law of Gravity infers: an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. That outside force seems to be my posting directly to the blog.
My trusty iPhone, Uhura, provides me with multiple ways to inform, interact and provide feedback in addition to regular blog posts. So check out the following links for how to see where I am, what I'm checking out, what's caught my eye and any 'hot news' I may have heard.
Google Plus (Beauty Chatter)
Google Plus (mirror for Blog posts)
Tumblr –> Tumblr.com/blog/TheBeautyIsAGeek
Twitter –> Twitter.com/BeautyIsAGeek


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Madison boys basketball pulls away from Morenci
For a team that hangs its hat on the defensive side of the ball, things looked a little shaky for the Madison Trojans boys basketball team in the first half of Friday's Tri-County Conference game at Morenci. However, the second half belonged to Madison as it held host Morenci to seven points in the last two quarters of a 41-30 win.
Both teams were able to break early pressure from their opponents to put up some easy baskets — something that became increasingly difficult to find as the game wore on. During the first quarter, the Bulldogs (7-5, 4-3 TCC) used the energy from their crowd and the excitement of potentially giving Madison (11-3, 9-0) its first league loss to make a normally strong man-to-man Madison defense look average.
Penetration off the dribble continued to plague the Trojans the entire first half.
"When we went in at halftime, we had problems with their dribble drives, and we knew we needed to get better at that, but this team never panics," said Madison coach Jeff Webster. "We knew they would come out right at us right away, and we talked about withstanding the first four minutes of the game, and we were able to do that, which allowed us to stay in the game."
Morenci doubled up the Trojans in the first quarter 10-5. They also took momentum with them into the second quarter thanks to a long triple off the hands of Austin Sandusky from the right corner in the waning seconds.
They used that momentum to again jump out with the first basket in the next frame. The Trojans experience showed as they refused to get into a hurry-up game, using patience on offense to work the ball around before putting it into Prince Benson's hands in the post. Benson used his height to knock down a short bank shot, sending Madison on a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to pull within one.
The Bulldogs seized momentum back with a 6-3 run of their own to entire halftime leading 23-19.
For the third straight quarter, the Bulldogs led off the scoring, this time on a Torin Merillat inside bucket just 23 seconds into the quarter. It was after that basket when things went dark for Morenci.
Webster, tired of watching Morenci score baskets from inside, but still leery of their outside shooting, changed from man-to-man to a 3-2 zone defense.
Madison's length and hustle took over the game.
"After that first bucket, we went to the 3-2 zone, and they went on a long dry spell," said Webster.
Try 12 1/2 minutes long. Merillat made his basket for the Bulldogs at 7:37 left in the third quarter. The air from outside the gym must have reached the Morenci side of the scoreboard, because it was frozen on 25 until Merillat made another score with just over three minutes left in the game.
In the meantime, the Trojans were showing off athleticism in the form of Collin Slates, and the length of Benson.
At one point, with Madison now up by two points, Slates deftly crossed over into the lane before rocking the next opponent to sleep while he zipped to the basket, and then dished it off to Benson for an easy banker. On the next possession, Slates set his feet on the pass and knocked down a triple from the right wing.
While Madison was pulling ahead, Benson was busy keeping shots from even reaching the rim, swatting away Morenci's next two attempts.
Those were rare appearances for Morenci to be in the lane during their dry spell. It was a trend that didn't go unnoticed by their coach, Jim Bauer.
"We just didn't attack in the second half," said Bauer. "We didn't do a good job of finding the bubbles in their zone, and when we did, we didn't make ourselves a threat to score. We didn't distort the zone at all to give us those opportunities, but give them credit too, because they don't break down on possessions."
A four-point halftime deficit for Madison became a 33-25 lead after three. And the fourth quarter was more of the same, increasing the Bulldogs frustration level with each passing minute. With the game in hand, both teams emptied their benches in the closing moments, and Madison once again winning in a tough venue.
Benson led Madison with 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Slates added 14 points and six assists.
Morenci was led by Merillat with nine points.


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Being out on the water on Commencement Bay gives one time to think about things. If you are like me, you might think, "What if there were a sea monster under the boat?" or "What if I saw a Sasquatch on the land?" or "What if I saw a UFO?" These fantasies have been with us forever. We are excited by stories of the unknown and the mysterious. And I'm going to tell you just that sort of story.
It was June 21, 1947. Howard Dahl was operating a salvage boat attempting to haul in some logs near Maury Island. He had his 15-year-old son, Charles and his dog with him. He suddenly noticed six gigantic craft in the sky moving at a high rate of speed. They were at least one hundred feet in diameter. They were donut shaped and flying in formation. He watched as one of them ran into another one, damaging it. It started spewing hot slag. The slag hit the boat as the craft crashed onto the beach on Maury Island. Howard's dog was killed by the slag. His boat was damaged. And his son received burns that had to be treated in the hospital.
Howard detailed what happened to a 27-year-old coworker named Fred Crisman. Fred was an avid fiction reader and a frequent writer of letters to Amazing Tales Magazine run by Ray Palmer. A few weeks after the incident, Fred wrote to Ray Palmer to tell him what happened.
By the time Fred's letter had reached Palmer, there was quite a bit of excitement about UFOs. On June 22, 1947 Kenneth Arnold, a local pilot encountered nine high speed craft flying near Mr. Rainier. This was what most people knowledgeable about the subject call the very first reported UFO sighting. On July 8, 1947 the Roswell crash was reported in the media. Palmer had an idea. What if he got Kenneth Arnold to write an article about Howard Dahl's story? He contacted Arnold. Arnold somewhat reluctantly agreed to do it.
Arnold flew out to Tacoma. He contacted Howard Dahl only to find that Dahl didn't want to talk about it. When pressed, Dahl explained that a man in a black suit with a black hat driving a black 1947 Buick had visited him and told him that he should say nothing of the incident if he wanted him and his family to remain healthy. Arnold also talked to Crisman who was similarly reluctant to share information but eventually told him what happened.
It was at this time that Arnold decided he needed some help. He contacted the Army who sent two investigators to look into these UFO claims. Their names were Captain William Davidson and Lt Frank Brown. Arnold and the Army investigators interviewed Crisman. (Howard Dahl refused to talk to government agents.) At one point during the interview both investigators stood up and announced they were leaving. The others tried to convince them to stay but they refused claiming they had to be at an Air Show the following day.
The intrigue increased when the plane the two investigators boarded crashed and both men were killed. An investigative reporter looking into the crash also died, apparently from natural causes.
Both Crisman and Dahl told Arnold they had photos, but neither was able to produce them. One of them gave him a piece of slag. A close look at the slag showed a square rivet.
Years later after some documents were declassified, it was revealed that Howard Dahl had in fact talked to a government agent about the incident. That person was an FBI agent. During his initial interview with Dahl, Howard's wife screamed at him to 'stop making things up' and threatened him with a knife. The FBI would also fail to find any evidence that Dahl's son was harmed, that the boat was damaged, or that their dog was killed. In other words, the FBI found that there was absolutely nothing to back up Dahl's story. What to make of Dahl saying he was threatened? I would be willing to bet that what happened was the agent heard Dahl's silly story and said something to the effect of, "If I were you I wouldn't tell people about this." like one does when someone says something crazy like, "I talk to a monkey on the moon every night."
Subsequent interviews with Dahl's son and his sister revealed that neither of them had any recollection of anything remotely like what I have described happening. It was found that the slag likely came from the Asarco copper smelter in Ruston. It is exceptionally clear that this incident which supposedly took place before any other UFO event never happened at all.
It is said that Fred Crisman took off to Alaska after the incident fearing for his life. There were rumors he was working with the CIA and other intelligence agencies. In 1968 Jim Garrison had him come to New Orleans because he thought that Crisman might have been one of the three men on the grassy knoll when John F. Kennedy was shot. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Crisman would reinvent himself in Tacoma as 'Jon Gold', a controversial and opinionated local radio host.
This story known as the Maury Island Incident in UFO circles would just be a weird little local historical footnote except for one thing. Howard Dahl's mention of being visited by the FBI agents was the very first mention I can find of Men In Black investigating UFOs. This is Tacoma's own little contribution to American pop culture. It's worth noting that though the story of the UFO was bogus, the FBI guy sent to investigate it was real though likely not nearly as nefarious as Dahl described.
The next time you're out on the water in Commencement Bay, keep your eyes on the sky and think of the possibilities.
– Jack Cameron


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'Bama has most on All-America team
NEW YORK — Alabama is No. 1 when it comes to All-Americans.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide placed four players on The Associated Press All-America team released Tuesday. Among them was center Barrett Jones, who became a two-time first-team selection.
No other team had more than two players selected to the first team. The Tide also led with six players chosen to all three teams.
Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Stanford and Florida were second with four players on the three teams, though linebacker Manti Te'o was the only Fighting Irish player to make the first team.
Alabama faces top-ranked Notre Dame in the BCS championship game Jan. 7.
Texas A&M Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel was the first-team quarterback.
Wisconsin running back Montee Ball and Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones also became two-time All-Americans.
Nine Southeastern Conference players made the first team, more than any other conference. The Pac-12 was second with six players on the first team. No other conference had more than two.
The team was voted on by a panel of 16 AP college football poll voters.
Barrett Jones, a senior who made the All-America team as a tackle last season, was joined on the first team by Alabama teammates guard Chance Warmack, linebacker C.J. Mosley and cornerback Dee Milliner. Offensive tackle D.J. Fluker was picked to the second team and quarterback AJ McCarron was selected to the third team.
Te'o, the Heisman finalists and winner of seven other awards — including the Maxwell, Nagurski and Butkus — is the first Notre Dame defensive player to be an AP All-American since defensive back Shane Walton in 2002.
Manziel is the first freshman to make the first team at quarterback. On Saturday, the redshirt freshman know as Johnny Football became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
Manziel set an SEC record with 4,600 total yards to rank second in the nation.
Heisman finalist Collin Klein of Kansas State was the second-team quarterback.
Ball repeated as an All-American, despite a slow start to the season and some early injuries. The senior is seventh in the nation in rushing at 133 yards per game, scored 21 touchdowns, and set the major college football record for career touchdowns. He has 82 going into the Rose Bowl.
Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey, the nation's leading rusher at 146 yards per game, was the other first-team running back.
The receivers were Southern California's Marqise Lee, who leads the nation in catches (112) and was second in yards receiving (1,680), and Baylor's Terrance Williams, who leads in yards with 1,764.
Stanford's Zach Ertz was the tight end.
Joining Jones and Warmack on the offensive line were two junior tackles projected to be high first-round NFL draft picks: Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel and Michigan's Taylor Lewan.
"Team goals are bigger than individual goals, but one of my personal goals was to be an All-American and it's an unbelievable feeling to reach that goal," Lewan said Tuesday.
North Carolina's Jonathan Cooper was the other first-team guard.
West Virginia's Tavon Austin was selected as the all-purpose player, a perfect description of the do-it-all speedster.
Austin was primarily a receiver and racked up 1,259 yards through the air. Late in the season, coach Dana Holgorsen used Austin as a running back and against Oklahoma he the senior set a school-record with 344 yards rushing. He finished second in the nation in all-purpose yards with 230 per game, and returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns.
Tulane's Cairo Santos was the All-American kicker after making all 21 of his field goal attempts.
On the defensive side, Te'o and Mosley were joined at linebacker by the other two-time All-American. Jones followed-up his sensational sophomore season with 12.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss.
Another SEC pass rusher highlighted the defensive line.
South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney had 13.5 sacks, tied for the most in the nation, playing in only 11 games. He'll matchup against Lewan in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1.
"He's very explosive player who plays every play to the whistle and never takes a snap off," Lewan said. "It's a great opportunity to see where I'm at and where he's at and I'm excited about it. But it's not about me or him, it's about the University of Michigan playing South Carolina at the Outback Bowl."
Florida State Bjoern Werner was the other end. He also had 13 sacks.
At defensive tackle was a pair of Pac-12 players: Utah's Star Lotulelei and Arizona State's Will Sutton, who was the conference defensive player of the year.
In the secondary, Jordan Poyer of Oregon State, who had seven interceptions, was the cornerback opposite Milliner.
Fresno State safety Phillip Thomas was voted to the first team after leading the nation with eight interceptions, including three returned for touchdown. Florida's Matt Elam was the other safety.
The punter was Ryan Allen, who won his second straight Ray Guy Award last week.
AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Mich, contributed to this report.
Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphdrussoap