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Those who manage and underwrite risks for manufacturers are facing familiar risks—but with some challenging new twists.
With Workers' Compensation, the big shift is the medical component of costs exceeding indemnity costs—this after an extended period when companies could materially cut their Workers Comp' expenses by focusing primarily on returning injured employees to work.
With Supply Chain risk, it's the realization that supply and upstream customer chains can be far more fragile than anticipated in a catastrophe.
Insurers have realized this, too. After an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan last year, Contingent Business Interruption coverage of supply-chain interruptions is now tougher to procure.
Compounding the supply-chain problems is the additional political risk that some companies are facing as they move some increasingly expensive manufacturing operations out of China to cheaper producers located in less politically stable countries.
And for food processors, the emerging challenge is a food-safety law that has given federal authorities sweeping new power to issue recalls.
In many of these cases, insurers have responded with either new or expanded coverages—coverages that many buyers either are unaware of or are examining and have not decided whether to procure.
Manufacturers & Food Safety
Any company involved in food production saw its Product Recall risk greatly magnified last year with the enactment of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), says Louis Lubrano, the New York-based senior vice president of global crisis management for Liberty International Underwriters.
Under FSMA, the federal government for the first time is empowered to order recalls of food products even when authorities only suspect a problem with a product but have no hard evidence, Lubrano says.
"That's a game changer," he observes. "The issue is still evolving on what could trigger a recall," but Lubrano says that for now, "it's what the government believes" rather than what it knows is a risk.
The law stems from a series of recalls of various products since the mid-2000s. Some of the recalls involved eggs, peanuts, milk and dog food. The 2009 peanut recall alone affected 2,000 companies that used salmonella-contaminated peanuts from a single processing plant in Georgia.
Before FSMA was enacted, the vast majority of food processors did not purchase Product Recall coverage, Lubrano notes. For many companies with tight insurance budgets, the coverage was too pricey.
In addition, the coverage responded only when the contaminated-food product either already had made a consumer ill or evidence showed that its consumption likely would cause illness, Lubrano says. Under FSMA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not have to wait for those developments to order a recall.
Insurers have responded by offering an endorsement, for additional premium, that will cover the cost of FSMA recalls, he says.
As a result, Lubrano says, the number of submissions for Product Recall coverage at LIU "has been spiking ever since [this law] was passed."
LIU can offer up to $15 million of limits on a primary or excess basis, and Lubrano says he has seen buyers build programs with up to $70 million of limits.
Exclusions vary by industry and client, but every policy contains an absolute lead exclusion, he says.
Despite buyers' growing interest in the coverage, "there are still a lot of companies that don't buy this but need to and should," Lubrano says. He notes that while the largest brokers produce most of LIU's Product Recall business, between 70 and 80 smaller producers each have brought LIU one or two policyholders.
Manufacturing & Workers' Comp: Four Tips for Controlling Medical Costs
The National Council on Compensation Insurance Inc. (NCCI) reports that medical services now represent 60 percent of Workers' Comp claim costs. In the past, indemnity costs made up the biggest part of the Workers' Comp claim.
From provider networks to prescription plans to medical audits, there are a number of measures available to help companies contain medical costs.
But the economy will drive many employers to turn to additional measures, brokers and insurers said. Here are four strategies that work.
1) Workplace Safety:
An elementary but critical step in any plan to keep medical costs down is workplace safety.
With large employers retaining big chunks of their Workers' Comp obligations under large deductible plans, they have to redouble their efforts on preventing losses in the first place, observes Mike Stankard, a Detroit-based managing director and the industrial materials practice leader at Aon Risk Solutions.
2) Bogus Claims:
And while establishing a culture of safety is essential to prevent workplace injuries, employers also should be guarding against bogus claims, Stankard says.
In recent years as the economy soured, employers have faced spikes in Workers' Comp claims—not all legitimate—when some workers who feared layoffs or knew they were pending filed claims to secure income after their jobs were lost.
Establishing ongoing testing of various job-related physical functions, such as hearing, gives employers a baseline measure they can track and respond to quickly at the first sign of a problem—rather than after a worker has filed a claim, according to Stankard.
3) The Right Hires:
Some manufacturers are seeing improvements in orders and are rehiring, which brings up a third important element in controlling Workers' Comp costs: avoiding hiring workers who pose high claim risks.
"Data analysis tells a story of hot spots around an organization," Stankard says. In many cases, the analysis takes employers back to the point of hire and their ability, or lack thereof, to match hires to a job. One step that can help: making sure the job description adequately characterizes the demands of the job.
Filling jobs with the workers who are best suited psychologically for those positions also will help prevent injuries; it will also help prevent myriad indirect costs associated with a Workers' Comp claim, according to Scott Higgins, president of commercial accounts at Travelers Cos. Inc. of Hartford Conn.
Travelers offers its Workers' Comp policyholders psychological profile testing of job candidates as a tool in selecting those who will be safe and reliable workers.
Data compiled by Travelers show that new hires who are poorly matched psychologically to their jobs are five times more likely to be injured, even when they have received appropriate job training, says David Nelson, industry manager for the metals and high hazards product program at Travelers.
4) The Age & Weight Impact
In their efforts to prevent claims, employers also should consider the impact of an aging and increasingly overweight workforce, says Calvin Beyer, the Edina, Minn.-based head of the manufacturing group at Zurich North America's commercial division.
In helping workers control their weight, an employer can expect to see fewer Workers' Comp claims attributable to sprains and strains, Beyer says.
Winning Plan for Workers' Comp: The Kennametal Case Study
At Kennametal Inc., the need to focus on the medical component of Workers' Comp claims is an obvious one for the Latrobe, Pa.-based Fortune 1,000 company, which manufactures metal-product solutions for various industries.
The company, recognized by National Underwriter last year for improving workplace safety and curbing its Workers' Comp costs, slashed its overall Workers' Comp costs by 70 percent over a three-year period ending in 2012.
And the company has cut the indemnity component of its Workers' Comp cost to 10 percent of its total—meaning medical costs account for 90 percent, according to Michael Murphy, manager of global property & casualty insurance.
Looking at its 90/10 Workers' Comp cost split between medical and indemnity expenses, "it really becomes apparent where our efforts should be," Murphy says.
To bring down medical costs, the company's risk-management team is focusing on the company's provider network and its communication process with providers.
For example, the company brings providers to worksites to understand the work demands their patients face upon returning to their jobs. That understanding among providers is an important guide in their treatment regimens and decisions to release patients for work, Murphy explains.
"You can eliminate extremely expensive case management if you communicate your expectations to providers," Murphy says.
Another important element of the communication process involves engraining in workers the importance of reporting even minor incidents immediately, which helps keep costs in check, Murphy notes.
Helping workers realize that they are not babying themselves by reporting what they initially consider a minor back or knee tweak on a Friday afternoon can save the company significant costs if it can steer the worker to a network provider and keep them out of a hospital emergency room over the weekend if the worker determines the tweak actually is a more serious problem, Murphy explains.
Supply Chain Risks: Responding to the Wake-Up Call
2011 was a wake-up call for manufacturers on the fragility of their supply chains. Catastrophes last year—including massive floods in Thailand that disrupted electronic- and auto-parts manufacturers—caused record totals of $105 billion of insured losses and $380 billion of total economic damages worldwide, according to Munich Reinsurance America.
Jim Rubel, a New York-based executive vice president for Lockton Inc., characterized supply-chain management as a major priority for manufacturers since the earthquake and tsunami wrecked Japan nearly a year ago.
In addition to contractual indemnity provisions with suppliers, manufacturers can turn to their property insurers for Contingent Business Interruption insurance—which covers losses arising from a supply-chain interruption even when the policyholder did not suffer a property loss.
It was coverage that, until a year ago, property insurers "didn't think too much about" before adding the coverage to a buyer's policy, Rubel notes. In the wake of what happened in 2011, it is now top of mind for many.
Supply-Chain Limits
The amount of coverage an insurer will offer typically depends on the size of the buyer's operations.
For mid-sized companies, Rubel estimates that sub-limits range from $5 million to $10 million.
Larger manufacturers—and those mid-sized ones—can command higher limits but not without providing much more information about their supply chain than they have had to in the past.
"The higher the limit, the more information you have to supply the underwriter about what your supply chain looks like," Aon's Stankard says.
(Smaller companies that may find a $10 million limit woefully inadequate for their needs can get higher limits with the right information—with one caveat: "Smaller accounts are generally written by a single carrier, so larger limits can be constrained by the Facultative Reinsurance marketplace that may have to be accessed by the single carrier underwriter as opposed to multiple carrier programs where the limits are shared, Rubel notes.)
Buyers typically have been able to provide insurers solid projections on how their profits would be affected by a business interruption resulting from a physical loss on their own premises—but not how profits would suffer if a major supplier went down, Rubel notes. Insurers now want that kind of information, he says.
Specifically, insurers want the names and locations of suppliers and engineering data that indicates how well protected they are against typical perils in the regions where they are located, according to Rubel.
Essentially, insurers, which are trying to get a firm grasp on their true exposure to this risk, want to know as much about suppliers than as if they were a policyholder's wholly owned operations, he says. "Information is king" in obtaining the coverage, he says.
Rubel says that with enough information, insurers will write higher limits than they previously have, but insurers also are charging more because of the increased demand for the coverage.
Policy Fine Points of Supply Chain Coverage
Experts note that supply-chain coverage has some limitations that policyholders often do not consider.
For example, Contingent Business Interruption insurance responds only when a supplier is crippled by a peril for which the U.S. manufacturer is covered. If an Ohio-based manufacturer has an important supplier in China that an earthquake knocks offline, the Ohio company has to have earthquake coverage for the supply-chain insurer to respond.
"A lot of people don't think of those things," Rubel says.
Aon's Stankard also notes that "some underwriters will cover only first-tier suppliers." As a result, a policyholder would not be protected if its supplier is shuttered because its flow of parts or materials from its own supplier was interrupted.
Manufacturing E&O Coverage and Political Risk
Meanwhile, manufacturers face increased demands from upstream customers for contractual protection, which has driven up interest in Manufacturing Errors & Omissions coverage, says Beyer of Zurich.
The coverage, which a few insurers offer, is geared toward mid-sized manufacturers of large finished products or major component parts, Beyer says. Insurers typically offer $1 million of limits, although manufacturers involved in producing wind turbines can obtain $5 million of limits and sometimes more, Beyer says.
Insurers have written the coverage for a few years, but the market for it is far from saturated, according to Beyer.
Another supply chain issue—the cost of outsourcing—has meant expanded political risk for many manufacturers, says Evan Freely, the New York-based global political risk and trade credit practice leader at Marsh Inc.
Because of the growing cost of doing business in China, triggered by labor reforms and inflation, many U.S. manufacturers that had outsourced work to suppliers there have switched to suppliers in other countries to trim production costs.
But the stability of the political climate in those countries—Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and some African nations—is more uncertain, Freely says. In those countries, there is an increased risk of civil uprisings, terrorism and nationalization, Feely says.
U.S. companies are addressing the issue by performing more due diligence of the country to which they are shifting operations, Feely says. Typically, U.S. companies consider Political Risk coverage only when they have a capital investment in an operation overseas, he says.
Speaking of China—the 800-pound gorilla in overseas manufacturing—a catastrophe here could produce the "mother lode" of claims, given the number of U.S. companies that have outsourced operations to suppliers there, Rubel notes.
Kennametal & Catastrophes
Kennametal was not materially affected by the catastrophe in Japan, nor would a catastrophe elsewhere around the globe likely impair its operations extensively, Murphy says.
"We've grown diverse enough to be able to handle a specific incident in a region" of the world says Murphy, noting the company has warehouses in Singapore and Germany as well as the United States.
He says Kennametal addressed its interdependencies with suppliers several years ago when it began engaging in enterprise risk management.


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In May 2012, the Chevrolet supercar world went Code Red when a man in Pennsylvania uncovered a Yenko Deuce Nova. Incredibly, the red '70 model was still in the hands of its original owner.
Tim Lopata, the organizer of The Forge invitational muscle car show, sent our editor, Drew Hardin, an email. Drew passed the lead along to me. The lucky finder was Skip Lecates of York, Pennsylvania. His location made sense for a Yenko. York is 225 miles from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, home of the original Yenko Chevrolet.
My first question to Skip was about how he found the old Nova. What was his lead? Skip, I learned, was no Johnny-come-lately. He's been in the hobby for decades. He has owned a bevy of muscle cars, including a '69 Trans Am; a '69 L78 Camaro and a '69 Z/28 Camaro, both with factory four-wheel disc brakes; an original '68 Z/28, and a ZL1 Camaro.
He was also a "big fan" of his local York Chevrolet dealership, Ammon R. Smith, now defunct. Dave Strickler ran his now famous Old Reliable drag cars, including a '63 Impala 409 and a '68 Z/28, under the Ammon R. Smith banner.
Skip believed a red Yenko Nova was still in the area. As a historian, he knew Yenko Chevrolet had shipped three '70 model Yenko Deuces to Ammon R. Smith back in the day. He says, "The muscle heads, we all talk. The car was pretty much still in the boondocks, and it wasn't easy to run down."
Wasn't Coming Home
Skip's Yenko Nova Quest began about 15 years ago. He found himself "on a mission" to track down this rare muscle car. One Saturday morning he "wasn't coming home" until he found the LT-1–powered Chevy.
One of Skip's friends worked on the Yenko back in the day and knew the owner's name. The mechanic was "positive they still lived where they had all along." Skip followed directions, and in three to four hours located the car. Rural Pennsylvania, south of York, is covered with creeks, trees, and dense undergrowth. "Did you see the movie Deliverance?" Skip says with a laugh.
"I had a basic idea of where the car was. I picked the right driveway. I found the house. I found the people."
The Yenko Deuce was not visible. In 1987 or 1988, the husband stored the little coupe in one of two semi-truck trailers, its wheels removed, on the property. Skip got to look at the car but could not check engine numbers or specific details. He knew the rare find was a Yenko Deuce due to its local history.
The car actually belonged to the wife, Brenda Baldwin. She purchased the vehicle brand-new for daily transportation. Skip says, "Her husband picked the car out for her at Ammon R. Smith and then they went and purchased it. But everything was in her name."
I talked to Brenda and she explained that her husband, Alan, had seen the car on the new car lot at Ammon R. Smith. She says, "We always had muscle cars, like a '67 Nova, souped up, and a Chevelle. When I met Alan he was driving an Impala."
Their '67 Nova came from Ammon R. Smith. Brenda was partial to manual shift four-speeds. "I really didn't want the automatic," she says, "but my husband said he was tired of driving clutches all day long at work and then coming home and shifting a clutch. He said he wanted to go with an automatic."
No Ordinary Nova
Of course, the Nova was no ordinary automatic and no ordinary Nova. Brenda recalls that the sticker price was more than $5,000, but her husband wouldn't pay that much because the car was already a year old and had 500 miles on it. "They couldn't sell it," Brenda says. Apparently, selling a Chevy Nova at a Cadillac price was not easy in 1970. Brenda recalls that they got the Nova for about $4,600 in June 1971. She used the vehicle as a daily driver, for work and play, up until the time they parked it, about 1987-1988.
Brenda says she got attached to the Nova and found it difficult to sell. But, when the time came to sell, it was easier than she thought it would be.
Lucky for collectors, the lady did not modify the red Nova, which was in running condition when parked. Skip suffered a case of Yenko fever when he looked at the unique Yenko components: the hood tachometer (stock for a Yenko Deuce), the wheels with their "Y" center caps, "DEUCE" in black paint on the hood, black stripes incorporating "YENKO DEUCE" on the tops of the rear quarters, and Yenko front fender emblems. He peered inside the car to see the Yenko Deuce–lettered door panels. He gazed with wonder upon the unique Yenko floor shifter. This curved shaft resembles a manual shifter more than an automatic.
"Yenko knocked the pin out of the steering column to remove the stock shift lever," says Skip. "Then they mounted this racing type ratchet 'slap' shifter on the floor."
Skip wanted to slap this car on a trailer and take it home. But, as is so typical, this vintage muscle Chevy was not for sale. The best he could do was to keep in touch. He stopped in from time to time, but the answer was always, "I don't want to sell."
Yes Indeedy
Then in May 2012, Brenda called Skip. She would sell the car. It was time. Her husband had passed away five years earlier. After the sale Brenda realized she and Alan were married 41 years, the same length of time she had owned the Nova.
She made Skip happy. Skip says, "I just hung up the phone. I just shook my fist at my wife and said, 'Yes indeedy.'"
Chick Renn, a friend who lives about 20 minutes from Skip, says, "I was talking to Skip and he said, 'Hey, I got that Yenko. We're going to pick it up Saturday.'" Chick offered to go along to help and take pictures. He says he has read about barn finds but had never been involved with one.
Another friend, Dick Smith, accompanied them to help. He says, "I didn't know where it was at. We just kept traveling. It was like we turned off this one road and went down this other road and then we turned down this driveway and it's like holy mackerel, where is this thing at? We came down this gravel road and the first thing I saw was the two trailers on the left hand side, one having Maple Donuts on it. [Skip] said it was in a trailer, so I assumed one of those trailers."
Chick remembers the car at the front of the trailer, blocked by "a whole bunch of machinery and stuff" at the back, where the trailer door opens. "All four tires were flat," says Chick. "I mean, there was a little bit of air, but you wouldn't have moved it with that."
Once they rolled the body into the light of day, Skip could see the car had some rust on the bottom of the fenders and doors and a small spot in the trunk and on the driver-side floor. Overall, however, the Yenko Deuce looked to Skip like "a very typical car that was on the road and being driven for 15-16 years."
Antifreeze in the radiator was a good sign. The stamping on the front of the deck on the block read "CTC" (which is correct for a Yenko Deuce) followed by six digits that matched the last six digits of the VIN. The carburetor was correct. The water pump and alternator had been changed out years ago. Otherwise, the car appeared complete. The odometer read "23,461," meaning 123,461 once over.
Although many enthusiasts knew about this car, Skip says a "handful" of "persistent" people had "made a point to find the car." He feels lucky to have had the chance to buy this piece of Yenko history, and from the original owner.
At a Glance
1970 Yenko Deuce
Owned by: Skip Lecates, York, PA
Restored by: Unrestored original
Engine: 350ci/360hp LT-1 V-8
Transmission: TH400 3-speed automatic
Rearend: GM 12-bolt with Positraction
Interior: Black vinyl bench seat
Wheels: 14×7 SS wheel
Tires: E70-14
Special parts: COPO 9737 Sports Car Conversion (F-41 suspension with front and rear sway bars and heavy-duty shocks), hood-mounted Yenko 8,000-rpm tachometer, Yenko badges and stripes, column-shift automatic replaced with floor-mounted Hurst shifter

subset: commoncrawl


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These steak tacos are just 300 calories each.
Tacos de Carne Asada
Serves 6
Try these solo or topped with the salsa on the next page.
1 cup pico de gallo (recipe below)
¼ cup chili powder
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. flank or skirt steak
6 four-inch corn or whole wheat tortillas
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado, cut into 6 slices
6 lime wedges for garnish
To make the pico de gallo
5-6 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp. chopped Spanish onion
2 tbsp. chopped red onion
1 serrano or jalapeño pepper, chopped
4 tbsp. chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch of sugar
Salt, to taste
First, mix pico de gallo ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside. Make a paste with chili powder and oil, and rub onto meat. Grill steak (or cook in a lightly oiled grill pan) until medium rare, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side; slice diagonally. Heat tortillas in the microwave (about 20 seconds). Spread beans on top of each. Add steak, pico de gallo, onion, cilantro, and avocado, and serve. Got leftovers? "Eat the steak with scrambled eggs the next morning!" says Ballesteros.
Next: the Spicy Starters »
Salsa de Chipotle delivers hearty, homemade flavor.
Salsa de Chipotle
Serves 6
Whether you make them hot or not, these two dips are guaranteed to go fast!
6 medium-sized plum tomatoes
¼ cup vegetable oil, plus 1 tsp. for pan
¼ Spanish onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
1-2 chipotle chilies in adobo (we like La Morena, available at most grocery stores)
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cut tomatoes in half, and place them on a baking sheet (for easier cleanup, wrap pan in aluminum foil first). Season with salt, and place in oven. Roast for 1½ hours. In a medium pan, heat 1 tsp. oil, and sauté onion and garlic until golden brown; set aside. When tomatoes are ready, put them into a blender. Add onions, garlic, cilantro, and chilies. Blend on slow speed, and add salt. Gradually increase speed while adding oil, and process until smooth. Serve with chips or as a sauce on tacos.
The Perfect Guacamole
Serves 6
5 Hass avocados, pitted
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup chopped Spanish onion
¼ cup chopped red onion
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 pickled jalapeño pepper, minced, plus ¼ cup vinegar from the can (try La Morena, available at most grocery stores)
2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
Juice of one lime
Toss everything in a bowl. Mash, and salt to taste. Serve with chips.
Next: the Dream Drink »
The Dream Drink: White Sangria
Serves 6
In a large pitcher, combine 1 cup white grape juice; 1 cup pineapple juice; 1 cup vodka; ½ cup St. Germain (available at most liquor stores, or sub in ginger ale); 1½ bottles white wine; ½ bunch mint leaves, unchopped; 1 cup total chopped grapes, apples, and pears; and 1 tbsp. whole pink peppercorns (optional). Chill for 1 hour.
Next: Easy Everyday Mexican »
Ballesteros, who is also known for her guac at New York City's Los Feliz, says cover it in parchment and plastic if you can't serve it right away.
Easy Everyday Mexican
Ballesteros' easy ideas for what to do with…
1. Pour on a grilled-cheese sandwich.
2. Toss with stir-fried mushrooms, peas, peppers, and onions; add a side of rice.
3. Add 1 tbsp. chopped olives and 2 tbsp. lime juice to each cup of salsa, and serve over poached shrimp.
1. Cut into strips, toss with 1 tsp. oil and salt, and bake at 350ºF for a few minutes. Use instead of croutons.


text:
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- There's about 6,000 U.S.-listed stocks trading on the major exchanges on any given day. Of those, TheStreet Ratings has rated 5,774 and only 121 issues -- about 2% -- have received an "A+," our highest rating.Nine of these exceptional companies are well-known Dow dividend stocks: American Express
Home Depot
International Business Machines
Kraft Foods
TheStreet Ratings' stock model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period including both price appreciation and dividends. Our Buy, Hold or Sell ratings designate how we expect these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates. We consider each of these stocks to be strong buys. It's also worth noting that these nine stocks, when held collectively, have a higher dividend yield than the 10-year U.S. Treasury note. As always, stock ratings should not be treated as gospel -- rather, use them as a starting point for your own research. A detailed analysis of each stock's rating appears on the following pages:


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text: Hello. I have been playig around with ISPConfig3, but just on a single server. I have read a couple of posts with regards to multi-server setup and had a couple of questions. 1.) Does anyone who is running a multi-server setup use any sort of shared backend storage so the various mail/web/DB servers are really just front-end servers? 2) It seems that while it is possible to have, say, multiple web servers (or mail servers, for that matter), they do not work in a load-balancing function. I.e., if I have three web servers (web01, web02, and web03) and setup a website I can only assign it to a specific server (e.g., web02) and incoming requests go only to that server. It does not seem possible to assign it to say, a "web group" consisting of those three servers, then incoming requests are load-balanced between those servers in the group? is my understanding correct? I have a few more, but will start with those. Thanks! -SilkBC


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We're pleased to announce that users of SourceOffSite Collaborative Edition ("Collab") are entitled to a free upgrade to our flagship product: SourceGear Fortress.
SourceGear Fortress is much more than just a replacement for Collab - it's a complete Application Lifecycle Management tool. Its features include:
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- Painless to install and manage
The retail value of Fortress is $499.
To claim your free upgrade, just log in to the SourceGear Customer Service Portal [CSP] at
Select the PURCHASE link to be taken to our company store, where you will see the option to upgrade your Collab licenses to SourceGear Fortress 1.1 at no charge.
What else can you do at the CSP? While you're there you can review your order history, set your notification preferences, get price quotes on upgrades and new licenses, purchase annual maintenance, and much more.
Complete details on the advantages and features of SourceGear Fortress 1.1 are here:
And a more general introduction to Fortress is here:
Finally, we offer regular online demos of SourceGear Fortress and SourceGear Vault 4.1. You can attend right from your desktop. Each demo takes 45-60 minutes, and you can sign up here:
Try one out to see what you're missing.
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John O'Neill
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Tire Size: 225/60R18
Serv. Desc: 100T
Sidewall: BW
Max Load: 800.14 kg
Warranty (km) N/A
Availability: Call for availability
4.85 out of 5Submitted by Stephen in Ontario on 11/29/2016(2005 Honda Civic DX)
I purchased the Cooper Winter ST2 for snow tires and I wasn't disappointed. The 2005 Civic is light and requires a biter with good traction. I live in a rural area so snow, slush, freezing rain conditions are well handled by the Cooper ST2. The tread lasts a long time and these tires have been swapped with all seasons for the summer giving us 11 winter seasons of driving. Our stock Honda, all season tires which we used for the summer, wore down so we left the ST2's on the car driving them all summer and will make it through one final winter. Not as soft and likely not as great on ice as some models but they LAST!
4.55 out of 5Submitted by Larry in Pennsylvania on 1/11/2015(2002 Dodge Neon Base)
Haven't had the opportunity to drive in deep snow yet, but 4" inch and less snow/ice mix, they've been fantastic. Driving normal dry weather speed limits and more with ease and confidence. Would definitely recommend as of now.
Note: I have an off year Neon...2002 SXT
5 out of 5Submitted by Laura in Michigan on 1/1/2015(2011 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium)
Just had the tires put on the afternoon of December 31, 2014. I felt an immediate difference in stopping and starting. We ended up getting close to a foot of snow over night. I have been all over town today and have a real sense of control because of the tires. I'm very pleased with my purchase of the Cooper Weathermaster ST2.
4.7 out of 5Submitted by mike in Michigan on 5/2/2014(2009 Chevrolet HHR LT (1LT))
The shop is the best!
4.3 out of 5Submitted by Tom in Michigan on 3/18/2014(2008 Pontiac G5 Base)
Very good snow tire.
5 out of 5Submitted by Phil in Colorado on 2/3/2014(2005 Toyota Corolla LE)
I've been driving 50-100 miles each day of steep, winding, icy, and snow packed mountain roads for the lst 40 years. And these tires beat everything I've ever owned (Perelli, Blizzak, Hankook, Michelin, Falken, Bridgestone, Goodyear, you name it) hands down. I ordinarily lose about 10-20% of the studs by 15k miles and these didn't lose any. And they have more studs to begin with. They corner and stop better, ride smoother and quieter, and wear better than just about any snow tires I've owned. That's why I put them on my daughter's and wife's cars too.
4.3 out of 5Submitted by Irv in Ontario on 12/13/2013(2010 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring)
Great tire. Great value. Would definitely buy again.
4.7 out of 5Submitted by Paul in Massachusetts on 12/11/2013(1997 Ford Trucks Ranger XL 4x2)
Would definitely recommend this tire. The traction in snow is great. First storm of the year and the tires performed as well as our tire dealer said. I operate a small Fleet of vehicles for a school. I rely on the good advice of our tire dealer for a number of things. I am not surprised that the tire that was recommended did work so well. However, I was compelled to write this review due to continued professional support that our school receives. Great tires.
5 out of 5Submitted by Brandon in Alberta on 11/3/2013(2002 Chevrolet Impala LS)
I am very impressed with my new tires!!
4 out of 5Submitted by Shawna in Maine on 10/31/2013(2004 Scion xB Base)
Recommend this tire all the time.
5 out of 5Submitted by Jeremiah in Arkansas on 10/29/2013(2009 Dodge Trucks Journey SXT (FWD))
Great tread wear. Have had them on for about 8 months with minimal wear.
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These are great in the snow dont even need 4x4 in 8" or less of snow. Great in wet rain/slush roads as well. You have to try to spin them.
I've used these tires strictly for winter use for three seasons now. They handle snow extremely well. Braking is far better than Michelins they replaced.
My only complaint - open tread design makes them noticeably louder than the Michelins.
I've had ST2's on my '06 Mazdaspeed 6 (AWD) for years now and they are the only snow tire I will purchase...ever. I've even had the Mastercraft (division of Cooper Tire) version of the ST2 (called the "Glacier Grip") on my 2002 Mustang GT (yes, a Mustang GT with 5-speed manual transmission and RWD) and it would go anywhere!
Recently, I purchased snow tires for my wife's '06 Kia Sedona minivan, and since ST2's are not made in that size, I went with Cooper Discoverer M+S tires (truck-sized versions of the ST2), and they are performing excellent here in Utah. They replaced some sub-par Hankook Ice Bear ice tires, which were not all that great after a few seasons. ST2's on the other hand have the aggressive siped "knobby" design that really digs in to packed snow (and ice), and allows us to drive through any winter condition.
In fact, the old Sport Car Club of America's (SCCA) Pro Rally series was sponsored by Cooper Tire in the late 70's/early 80's...as the Cooper Weathermaster was THE rally tire of choice back in those days (before Michelin brought their rally-spec tire to the USA for racer's use.) If they're tough enough to withstand rally racing, then they can handle any winter abuse I can throw their way!
I'm a very picky person.This tire will be the only winter tire I'll buy. Just put four on my wife's 2013 Subaru Legacy. I drove it after we just received 8" of snow. The car handled great in all aspects corning, breaking and acceleration. I certainly hope Cooper doesn't stop making these. Unless they can improve upon the design which I doubt.
I bought this tire for the first time last January 2015, I've been in ice,snow and moderate mud. The most impressive thing is there on a 4x4 chevy tracker, took it in my field with 6-8 of snow on it I went everywhere in 2wd except back up hill and once I got it going again back to 2wd. The ice traction is impressive to say the least. And rain doesn't phase them I run these all year round and I drive over 125 miles a day since I bought them and still have 1/2 tread left on them. The noise isn't bad the ride is good and the braking power and the sidewall stability they have in a curve will astound you.
I rarely write reviews for anything, but these impressed me. Mounted on a 2011 Honda Fit, loads of grip (no studs). Complete confidence driving on icy, unplowed roads where I've seen other vehicles struggle. Bit noisy on dry pavement. Otherwise, definitely recommend.
The load rate was an important factor, it has an agressive grip for my needs, I was surprised how quiet these studded winter tire are, good handling under different road and weather conditions.
Great product. (my Outback is a 2017)
I live in Minnesota and I have been in the tire business for 26 years. My son went off to college last year to Duluth which is about 4 hours north and has a lot more snow and hills. He was amazed by the difference in traction and so was I! In my experience over the years, I realized that the Weathermaster ST2 holds up as well or better than the super high priced major brand snow tires such as Blizzak, X-ice or Winterforce. I took them off last spring after he drove them for 16,000 miles without rotation and just put them on again today (rotated them)and they still look new! I'd buy another set but I think he's gonna wear that car out first. I recommend this tire for people dealing with any winter climate. (especially new drivers!)
I used them year round. Last three years. Better then all season tires.
I Have Run Cooper Weather Masters For The Past 20 Years and Have Had Excellent Winter Performance. I Run All Four Tires With Weather Masters and Have Great Control !


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BERNE (Reuters) - Serbia's Viktor Troicki has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his 18-month suspension for violating doping regulations, the Lausanne-based tribunal said on Tuesday.
"The CAS procedure is in progress and a decision will be issued in around four months," CAS said in a statement.
The 27-year-old was suspended by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in July for not providing a blood sample at the Monte Carlo Masters in April.
Troicki, a member of the Serbia team which won the Davis Cup in 2010, was ranked 53rd when the ITF announced his ban.
He is one of the most high-profile players to break doping rules in tennis
Troicki has denied any wrongdoing and said because he was not feeling well the doping officer had told him he could skip the blood test. Troicki had already given a urine sample.
He has been publicly supported by compatriot and world number one Novak Djokovic.
Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by John O'Brien


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Texas 10 Most Wanted Program Sets New Records
AUSTIN January 15, 2014 – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Texas 10 Most Wanted Program set new records in 2013 in total captures, including sex offender apprehensions. DPS and other agencies arrested 32 fugitives sought through the Texas 10 Most Wanted Program in 2013 – 19 of which were sex offenders – and $77,500 in rewards was paid for anonymous tips that resulted in arrests. Two arrested fugitives and one sex offender were extradited from Mexico.
"The Texas 10 Most Wanted Program has proven highly effective in getting offenders off the streets and back behind bars – thanks to the aggressive and proactive efforts between state, local and federal law enforcement agencies," said DPS Director Steven McCraw. "Tips from the public are just as essential to the success of this program, and we are grateful for the public's efforts to protect our communities from these dangerous criminals and sexual predators."
The program's 32 total apprehensions during the past year broke the record of 30 arrests in 2012. The 19 captured sex offenders exceeded the previous record of eight also set in 2012. In addition, the $77,500 paid in rewards is the second-highest total payout in a year.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has declared January as Crime Stoppers Month in Texas. Crime Stoppers programs enable citizens to anonymously report on crimes for cash rewards, helping put criminals behind bars and assisting in crime reduction efforts. See the entire proclamation at: http://governor.state.tx.us/news/proclamation/19235/.
"Texas Crime Stoppers has played an integral role in solving thousands of crimes and empowering citizens to take a stand against crime in their communities," said Gov. Perry. "The vigilance of civilian volunteers combined with the commitment by law enforcement involved in Crime Stoppers programs have made – and will continue to make – Texas a safer place to live."
Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor's Criminal Justice Division, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of the Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives or sex offenders. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.
The program was revamped in 2010, and a Top 10 Sex Offender list was added. View the captured fugitive archive at: http://www.dps.texas.gov/Texas10MostWanted/captured.aspx.
There are four different ways to provide anonymous tips:
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and Sex Offender lists. You can find the current lists – with photos – on the DPS website at http://www.dps.texas.gov/texas10mostwanted/.
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Official Website MySpace Facebook Fan Page! Facebook Group Twitter YouTube
Meet the Hotplates!
The Liquid Hotplates is a show-stopping, head-turning, pimptastic co-ed a cappella group at the University of California, Davis. They perform all genres of music (arranged by members), including pop, rock, country, R&B, hip hop and rap, and more. Members of the Liquid Hotplates consist of a diverse and fun-loving group of musicians possessing a wide range of musical experiences and strengths. The hotplates perform all over Davis, including on campus, downtown, at various charity and philanthropy events throughout the year, on Picnic Day, Relay for Life, and more. They also travel great lengths to spread their musical awesomeness throughout California, from the hills of Los Angeles to the ICCAs at UC Berkeley to Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. In June 2010, LHP recorded their fourth CD, titled "Dishin' it out." Stay tuned for it's summer 2010 release, as it's coming soon!
The Liquid Hotplates were officially "born" in the Fall of 2000, although many of the circumstances leading to the formation of the group occurred during the University of California-Davis school year of 1999-2000. The UCD Music Department sought to create a jazz octet, the two goals of which were to give a measure of jazz vocal experience to those who were selected to participate, and to perform at the department's several yearly functions. The group was called The Davis Aces, a deliberately-conservative name chosen by Scott Whitacre, the voice teacher who proposed the idea (and who was given the nod to run the group). Unfortunately (and unknown to all at the time), this was to be Whitacre's last year of teaching voice lessons at Davis, and while a series of auditions (strung out over the course of several months due to tepid student interest) had produced nine eager and worthy candidates for membership in the Aces, Whitacre had to turn over the project to one of the auditionees, Steve Geller, in March 2000—before a formal rehearsal had ever been held. Geller was a graduate student in the Music Department, and he had co-directed and arranged music for collegiate and professional level a capella groups in the past, so Whitacre figured Geller to be the best option for the perpetuation of the group.
The number of singers willing to continue with what was now a student-led project held firmly at five, and these five took it upon themselves to invite (in the case of the group's first two basses) and audition all remaining components for a successful ensemble. Some soul-searching was in order; observing the difficulty (throughout the previous year) in putting together a capable jazz group made the members feel that perhaps a pop/rock group might be a more successful (a bit more "Friends" and a bit less "Frasier," as one put it), and in turn it was decided that a 12-16 person group might better fit the needs of a pop/rock collegiate a capella style (such a number range was the norm for many groups around the country). No longer being bound in any substantial way by the Music Department, the group set its sights on touring, recording, and other ambitious projects.
Among the last changes was the name. It was decided that a group that wanted to perform all around the greater Sacramento and Bay Areas should not have a name as provincial as the Davis Aces, and in one memorable evening, founding members Geller, Elenka Proulx and Katy Williams (as well as, by happenstance, future group recording engineer Eric Ruud, who had been one of the original nine from Whitacre's audition process) sat down to brainstorm a new name. Many names, ranging from the politically incorrect to the surreal to the pop-culture-referential were proposed. At one point, the short-lived MTV show "Liquid Television" was mentioned, and those present remarked approvingly at how the title was at the same time provocative and essentially meaningless. "Liquid Television" was carried through free association to "Liquid Karma," based upon the same principle, but somehow those present saw too much of a link to John Lennon's anthem "Instant Karma," and the idea was tweaked once again. One of the members finally said (I paraphrase): "We don't want to be like MTV, with their new-fangled liquid television high-tech consumerism. We should be like the poor man's liquid television...like some student in an Eastern European tenement somewhere who cannot afford a brand new liquid television—he can only afford a liquid hotplate on which to cook his 'Top Ramen' soup."
The Liquid Hotplates had their debut performance (with 14 members) in April 2001. The venue was Cafe Roma, a coffee and sandwich shop near the UCD campus. Cafe Roma has since hosted the Hotplates many additional times, the most for a single venue, although the group over the past six years has performed at over thirty different venues, including Delta of Venus, the Farmers Market, the Memorial Union on behalf of the Davis Music Scene, the Davis Art Center, the International House, the Palms Playhouse, theRecreation Pool Lodge, and various venues as part of Picnic Day, the Davis Whole Earth Festival, and grand openings of buildings or other school-wide celebrations. The group has also performed in more then a dozen cities, including Napa, San Fransisco, Sacramento, Pinole, Mammoth Lakes, and Berkeley. This past February (2008) LHP made it to the quarterfinals of the ICCAs hosted in Berkeley, a renowned collegiate a capella competition. The group arranges and performs all their own songs.
The culmination of all aspects of the groups' efforts have been its three CDs: Told It Equals Hip (2002), Just a Hyphenated Bop?! (2004), and Barring Inclement Weather (2006). Without a specific musical style upon which to build imagery (one of our alumni describes our music as an aggregate of "pop-metal-rap-ballad-classic"), a group with an unusual name has been content to use similarly curious titles to summarize its eclectic output. The first of the two album names was chosen because it is an anagram of "Liquid Hotplates," and the second was chosen because it was among the basses' favorite lines to sing in the arrangement of the Dixie Chicks' "Let 'Er Rip" (Track 9 on the CD). Although Just a Hyphenated Bop?! is considerably more ambitious, polished (thanks in large part to principal engineer David Pullin) and representative of our sound than was Told It Equals Hip, each album required an enormous commitment from our members, and each mandated a sizable leap forward in the group's evolution and camaraderie. Barring Inclement Weather is available on the group's website, at Armadillo Music, and at Tower Records.
In 2004, a group of female members founded the all-women's group The Spokes.
- Jill Perillo '17
- Rachael Cushing '15
- Jen Park '15
- Sydney Kovacs '16
- Jaimie Wu '14
- Maddy Dufek '17
- Alyssa Tran '15
- Christi Burns
- Neil Enriquez '14
- Brian Chiang '14
- Norman Borgonia '14
- Gordon Allen '15
- Wilson Ng '15
- Johnny Wylie '15
- Chris Walton '17
- Rickey Milay '14
- Chris Chu '13
- Josh Paz '15
- Nick Dias '15
- Jess Walsh '14
- Tiffany Wang '13
- Tiana Grant '13
- Chris Ablaza '12
- Alyssa Black '12
- Cameron Brown '12
- Melissa Cancio '12
- Rachel De Jesus '12
- Karin Fujii '12
- Jasmine Nasser '12
- Ali Wallace '12
- Roy Adams '11
- Mercy Albaran '11
- Lecreatia Nelson '11
- Josh Scott '11
- Zuway Yeh '11
- Ruben Lizarraga '10
- Richie Ngo '10
- Brad Thornton '10
- Lizzie Tietjen '10
- Lauren Salmo '10
- Emily Young '10
- Pang Chen
- Tom Dotan
- Chris Gee
- Daniele Gusland '07
- Alex Kloehn
- Anna Sun
- Catherine Gloria '09
- Hal Wolter '08
- Joe Ferreira '08
- Marvin Cadiente '08
- Kevin Man '08
- Annette Kim '08
- Steffi Christiana '08
- Maja Makagon
- Steve Geller
- Anne Marie Renna '06
- Miyako Matsudaira
- Gaby Jany
- Nathan Ferguson
- Davis Hake
- Amanda Donev
- Mike Guzman
- Chris Nucho
- Alison Eeds
- Sabrina Fong
- Courtney Carpenter
- Teresa Tam
- Jon Rohde
- Jonathan LaBarge
- Anna Brink
- Sonia Hansra
- Alex Baker, OD
- Esther Chon
- Keith Rode, DVM
- Katy Williams
- Melissa Frago


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Double glazing Windows & Doors Walkden
Are you searching for replacement double glazing windows ,doors or Roofline for your Walkden property? Bolton Upvc Windows is a professional double glazing company with over 25 years experience of installing new Double Glazing windows doors and roofline . Registered Rockdoor installers .If you are looking to replace your old windows with new energy efficient double or triple glazing give Bolton Upvc Windows a call.
Our windows, doors and Roofline can be tailor made to suit your Walkden property our Windows ,Rockdoors and Roofline are available in a wide range of colours with 4 timber look alike finishes - Rosewood, Light oak ,ebony and Irish oak. We have styles of double glazing, for a traditional or contemporary property.
Upgrading your windows is a great investment. It adds value on to your Walkden property while you save money on your energy bills. There has never been a better time to invest in replacement double glazed windows.
Our attention to details is why we have earned our reputation as a leading Bolton Double Glazing Company our customers can trust.
Our Fensa registration will give you the peace of mind knowing that our workmanship and double glazing used on your property meets the required standards this also allows us to register all our installations ensuring your double glazed windows and doors comply with current building regulations .
Replacement Upvc Roofline Walkden
By replacing your roofline with a UPVC roofline and cladding system together with our unique UPVC Guttering, you will be able to keep one step ahead of rot and forget all about painting. The UPVC used is precision-designed to be a timber replacement product without any of the problems associated with timber our extrusions carry the BBA approval which gives total confidence .Fascia - The guttering is fastened to this and it supports tile edges and protects rafters
Soffit - Protects underneath the rafters
Bargeboard - Provides a finish to the gable end of your property sealing the verge
Box end - The corner of the Fascia, Soffit and Bargeboard
Guttering and Downpipes - Carry rainwater from the roof to the drains
Dry verge - Replaces cement under tile on verge (gables)
We are a Swish and Homeline Approved Installers and all roofline works comes with a 10 year guarantee. These products include fascia, barge boards, soffit boards, cladding and guttering We install these throughout the North West which therefore includes Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire.


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National Volunteer Week
April 18-24: Foster Grandparent Program – 37 years and over 886,000 hours of service to the youth at LHS, utilizing 1,226 years of experience and wisdom.
The Foster Grandparent Program is a volunteer program sponsored by Lincoln Hills School Department of Corrections and federally funded by the Corporation for National Service.
At Lincoln Hills School the Foster Grandparent Program places older adults where their support and lifetime of experience will make a difference. Currently 17 seniors from four surrounding communities are actively busy making a difference in the life of a young man at Lincoln Hills Correctional Facility in Irma. Our Foster Grandparents range in ages from 62-95, with their main focus on mentoring and tutoring the students at Lincoln Hills School. There are two shifts of Foster Grandparents interacting with the students from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily. Foster Grandparents are placed in all the regular cottages at LHS as well as in many of the classrooms. The Foster Grandparent Program has been an active part of Lincoln Hills for
37 years, touching the lives of many youth. The youth experience firsthand the vitality of older adults and learn how to interact with them and treat them with respect. Some of the activities are: talking and listening, playing cards, baking treats together to share, planting flowers outside living units, crafts, assisting students in the classroom who have trouble keeping up, and tutoring in reading.
The Grandparents also spend one hour a day with the same student assisting him with reading skills. This is the Title One Reading Program. Students and their Reading Grandparent develop a bond and progress is made both academically and socially. Many students with the help of a grandparent have been able to increase in these areas dramatically in a few short months; at times it's truly amazing. This assists in breaking the cycle of failure these youth so often experience and become comfortable with. The youth become so proud of themselves when they progress (not a feeling they are used to). The Foster Grandparents enjoy watching the students develop better reading skills, experiencing their progress firsthand and knowing that reading is a basic tool they will all need to become a productive part of our community. It is rewarding to the Foster Grandparents as well as to know that they have made a difference. With the special skills these grandparents have acquired though their own life experiences, they are able to motivate the students in very unique ways. Many students graduate from the reading program and go on to earn diplomas and technical college credits.
The Foster Grandparents at Lincoln Hills School are a very dedicated, caring group who see past what may have brought our students to Lincoln Hills School and see the potential in all our students and help them to see a future for themselves. They work towards teaching them to be self-correcting and independent in their learning tasks even with the challenges so many of our youth have to overcome.
Foster grandparents continue whether in the living units or in the classrooms to work with our students to help close the gap between their potential and their performance.
For more information on the Foster Grandparent Program please contact:
Donna Nash at 536-8386, ext. 1181
Foster Grandparent Supervisor
Volunteer Coordinator LHS
Making a Difference
Letters to the Editor from the Tomahawk Leader.
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Re: Making a Difference
The residents and staff of Golden LivingCener-Golden Age Nursing and Rehab would like to let our volunteers know how appreciated they are. The residents look forward to your visits. It gives them something to look forward to and brings the community to us. We applaud your help and constant dedication. You truly deserve our deepest appreciation.
Volunteers like you add sunshine to our days. Offering help in countless ways. Lifting spirits and celebrating living. Unselfish and kind in all you do. Naturally helpful and full of concern. Touching hearts at every turn. Effectively doing each task with care. Energetic in everything that you share. Reaching out to plant many seeds. Spreading bright smiles by answering needs.
Barb Zastrow
Volunteers like you add sunshine to our days. Offering help in countless ways. Lifting spirits and celebrating living. Unselfish and kind in all you do. Naturally helpful and full of concern. Touching hearts at every turn. Effectively doing each task with care. Energetic in everything that you share. Reaching out to plant many seeds. Spreading bright smiles by answering needs.
Barb Zastrow
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Kings of Leon's Caleb Followill and Wife Lily Aldridge Share Baby Picture
Less than a month after Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill's wife, model Lily Aldridge, gave birth to the couple's first child, Aldridge has tweeted the first public photo of their precious Dixie Pearl. The Twitter picture of their daughter, who was born on June 21 in Nashville, displays her tiny feet wearing bunny-themed booties accompanied by a note that read "Sweet feet" with a smiley face at the end.
Aldridge has posted several Dixie-related tweets since giving birth. On July 5, she wrote "Dixie is 2 weeks old today" and followed that up the following day with the note "On our first lunch outing with Dixie! So exciting" (both tweets, again, with smiley faces at the end). She also marked the anniversary of her first time out with Caleb on July 10 with a post that read "5 years from today was our first date" — with yet another smiley face at the end.
Followill, 30, and Aldridge, 26, married last year at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, Calif. They announced the pregnancy in December, saying in a statement, "We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child together. We can't wait to meet the new addition to our family."
A representative for Kings of Leon has since confirmed that Dixie Pearl was born at 1AM on June 21 at the Vanderbilt University and Medical Center in Nashville and weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz.
Check Out the Twitter Picture Posted of Dixie Pearl


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Celebrated eco-design shop Environment Furniture, which recently joined the roster of top-notch showrooms at Costa Mesa's SoCo, hosted a special event to fete its exclusive launch of new prints by Ecuador-born artist Wolfgang Bloch, a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Environment CEO Davide Berruto, the evening's host, welcomed the artist and many guests, including Surfrider Foundation COO Michelle Kremer and Director of Chapters Edward Mazzarella. The evening, catered by 24 Carrots, included a silent auction that raised more than $3,000 for the nearly 30-year-old nonprofit, the activist network of which helps protect oceans, lakes and beaches in the United States and beyond. Great design and a worthy cause always make a winning combination. –Photos by Nick Shetterly/NAS Films


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Located in Fremont's popular Irvington District, Pebble Creek Communities is in the heart of it all. Imagine living 1/4 mile to Lake Elizabeth and Aqua Adventure Water Park, 1 mile to I-680, 1 mile to I-880, 1 mile to BART, and less than 2 miles from both the Fremont HUB and Newpark Mall. Our superior location isn't the only thing that makes living at Pebble Creek great. With a wide variety of floor plans to choose from, we truly have what you are looking for in an apartment. Each apartment unit features contemporary appliances such as dishwashers and microwaves, plenty of closet and pantry space, and private patios and balconies. Some units even include fireplaces, in-unit washers and dryers, and private two-car garages! As a resident, you'll also enjoy swimming in either of our two refreshing pools, relaxing in our men's and women's saunas, and keeping fit and trim in our fitness center. Come by and tour an apartment today, we're sure you'll love it as much as we do!
Lease terms are variable. Please inquire with property staff.


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1DAY6CITIES is a global photography project that took place on the 11th November 2011 - 11.11.11, in London, Dubai, Shanghai, Auckland, San Francisco and São Paulo. Using word of mouth, email and social networks we put together an international team of photographers to create a unique twenty-four hour snapshot of this day across six very different cities around the globe. At exactly 00.00 Coordinated Universal Time (world time/GMT) photographers in each of these cities captured their first image in an event that saw photographs being taken every 30 seconds for the following 24 hours. The brief was for the photographers to shoot the most interesting thing happening in their city, at the time they had chosen to shoot. The cities were chosen because they are roughly an equal time difference apart meaning the films show the sun travelling around the earth through the course of the day. The edited films can be seen here and the edited stills can be seen on the website. There is a full list of the contributors on the website. 1day6cities.org
Contact firstname.lastname@example.com for further information.
We hope you enjoy the project, Daniel and Patrick.


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Just Dance® 2014
Ubisoft Entertainment
Full Game Released Oct 8, 2013
The party is back! Just Dance 2014, the next edition of the world's 1 selling dance game, is bringing all new moves with breakthrough features and over 40 of the hottest tracks and dances.
With Just Dance 2014's fresh list of hot tracks, you control the party! Get friends and family moving with Pitbull ft. Christina Aguilera's "Feel This Moment," Psy's "Gentleman," or One Direction's "Kiss You." Celebrate the throwbacks with legendary songs like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive."
Just Dance 2014 takes the fun to another level this year with all new ways to create the best party ever! Own the spotlight and lead back-up dancers with the new On Stage Mode, dance with anyone anywhere in the world with World Dance Floor or work out to customized Just Sweat experiences on any song! Bring home the ultimate party starter and join in the fun!
PlayStation®Move motion controller and PlayStation®Eye camera required.
PlayStation®Move navigation controller or Wireless Controller optional.
Purchase or use of this item is subject to the PlayStation®Network Terms of Service and User Agreement and this item's use restrictions. This item has been sublicensed to you by Sony Computer Entertainment America. One-time license fee for downloads to up to 2 console systems that are associated with the purchasing account.
© 2013 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Just Dance, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries.
PlayStation®Move motion controller and PlayStation®Eye (sold separately) required to use this product.


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|source: twinkietown
2011 stats: .287/.366/.436 with 13 HRs for New Britain.
Last Year's Rank: #18
Acquired: Drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (20th overall) out of Chino Hills, CA High School in 2006.
Parmelee was fast-tracked to the majors last season due to injuries to Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. He had a really nice performance in his late season call-up in 2011. His .355/.443/.592 made educated fans and bloggers hopeful that Parmelee was ready to contribute in 2012, but it created some unrealistic expectations of his ability as well.
Friend of the blog "Twins Fan From Afar" tried to temper fans expectations yesterday while also indicating that Parmeless should be fine as a pro. What he did point out is some of the hyperbole surrounding Parmelee since his breakout last season and his hot start this spring. He pointed out the most glaring example of Parmelee hyperbole, this ridiculous post from Tom Powers from the Pioneer Press. Powers was very enamored with his September and the fact that Parmelee hits the ball a long way that he stopped short of calling him the next coming. I wonder if Tom bothered to look at Parmelee's entire resume.
Parmelee had a .287/.366/.436 line as a 23 year old in AA in 2011. Nice numbers, but not star numbers. In fact, he's only broken a .900 in OPS once. With a .273/.369/.532 in 179 plate appearances in rookie ball. Parmelee has always been a decent prospect, but never a guy who made prospect rankings. I don't mean to bad mouth Parmelee. He is my #10 prospect but an .802 OPS in AA as a slow-footed corner is not the makings of a future star.
What Parmelee is, is a solid pro prospect. He's the kind of guy that could eventually top out at an .850-.900 OPS with around 20 HRs. He also plays decent defense at first base. He's a left-handed hitter with some power, some on-base skills who doesn't strike out a ton. If he can maximize his skill-set he will be pretty valuable in the seasons ahead.
Ideal scenario: Parmelee is going to make the team and start the season at 1B with Justin Morneau as DH. The ideal scenario is that Morneau can actually start playing 1B sooner than later and make Parmelee a bench bat and part time 1B/DH/OF. If he plays every day, hopefully he can hit .250/.350/.450 or so and provide decent defense.
Path to the majors: He's made it. He has never played a single game in AAA and unless he struggles mightily, he won't this season. Hopefully for him, and the Twins, he can hit enough at a corner to help them, since he will most likely be there for awhile.
check out the rest of the top 50 starting here.


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NCUA Making Major Changes in Examination-Related Documents
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is "making some major changes in its examination-related documents." That is what NCUA Deputy Director of Examination and Insurance Tim Segerson told Credit Union National Association's (CUNA) Examination and Supervision Subcommittee. These actions are designed to "help credit unions understand why examiners do what they do, set a baseline for everyone to follow, and to help credit unions get organized for examiners," according to Segerson.
Segerson informed the subcommittee that the agency plans to implement a uniform pre-examination letter that examiners would be required to provide to credit unions regarding upcoming examinations. The letter would describe key areas for review and documents, etc. that the examiner would like to review during the examination. CUNA questioned how much in advance of the examination the letter would be provided to credit unions, and Tim said to follow up with suggestions on the time frame. The agency is also going to include a cover document with the examination report that addresses what a credit union should do if it doesn't agree with its examiner, the agency's appeals process, and six levels of appeal at NCUA. A letter to credit unions will be sent from the agency in the coming weeks about the examination documents, which are designed to "help credit unions understand why examiners do what they do, set a baseline for everyone to follow, and to help credit unions get organized for" their examination.
Segerson also reinforced that financial trends at credit unions continue in positive directions, even though some pockets of the country are still struggling. The "industry itself has adjusted to the financial crisis, and adjusted well for recovery," he said. Issues he said NCUA is following from a safety and soundness standpoint are that no one is sure how the problems in the European economy might impact the U.S. economy. He added that the student loan market is a small portion of the balance sheet of credit unions, but is growing and NCUA is trying to make sure it understands this market. He also said the agency is conducting extensive research on credit union self-funded benefit plans, which are essentially off-balance sheet. He said some include "exotic" funding methods, and NCUA needs to evaluate what the risks are with these plans.
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Selena Catoe wanted a change.
Despite the poor economy and the fact that she already had a stable nursing job at Springs Memorial Hospital, the lifelong Lancaster resident was looking for a new profession. Catoe, 38, said she loves nursing but wanted to express herself in a "happier setting."
"Event planning has always been something I wanted to do, but going into nursing was a career I could depend on," she said.
VAN WYCK – It's taken him more than 20 years, but Steven Muratore is ready to make his and several aspiring truck drivers' dreams come true.
Muratore opened the KDS Commercial Driver Training Institute in Van Wyck on June 25 with the hope that he could help reduce the county's high unemployment numbers.
Through extensive classroom and on-the-road training, Muratore said students will be able to earn their Commercial Drivers License, Class A, allowing them to drive tractor-trailer trucks.
KERSHAW – Haile Gold Mine employees, county officials and media representatives entered an air-conditioned tent at the mine on June 29, not knowing why they had been called there.
Diane Garrett, chief executive officer of Romarco Minerals, which owns about 4,000 acres of land at the mine, soon made an announcement to the curious crowd.
The company was celebrating five years with no reportable injuries, Garrett said. She thanked the employees for helping achieve the safety record.
INDIAN LAND – A prototype Walmart store is almost ready to open in Indian Land.
Shoppers are getting ready for the new store, located off U.S. 521 just before the state line, to open its doors on Aug. 18. Store manager John Clevenger said Walmart will begin moving into the 180,000-square-foot building on July 12, stocking shelves and readying for the grand opening.
This will be one of Walmart's new prototype stores, which will feature a new logo, a more natural outdoor color and a revamped in-store design.
INDIAN LAND – Frank and Judy Taillon retired just a few years ago to their dream home at Clearwater Beach, Fla., to start a new life of leisure. But what seemed to be a dream come true soon developed into a change of plans.
It started with a move to Indian Land to be closer to their best friends – Judy's sister, Felicia, and her husband, Dana – and their new dream of starting a business together.
Breaking open the small plastic package, Kirsten Blackmon grabs the rubber bracelets inside and clips them to her belt.
Blackmon, 11, has been on the hunt for the bracelets for months, checking out jewelry and specialty stores along with her 7-year-old sisters Alexa and Alysa. The fifth-grader found her latest additions at Maple Street Monograms in Lancaster, adding to her collection of more than 40 bracelets.
Because of the economy, now might not be the best time to start a new business venture, but that isn't stopping Tony Shehane.
Shehane has started an one-hour radio show, "Sunday Bluegrass" from 4 to 5 p.m. on WAGL (1560-AM). And Shehane, 69, isn't intimidated by a risk of failure.
"I figured Columbus took a chance on something, so why can't I?" Shehane said. "It's really no different. You don't know if you can succeed if you don't try."
Fewer categories and a new logo are changes in The Lancaster News' popular Best of the Best contest this year.
The contest, in its 11th year, gives readers a chance to vote for their favorite local businesses and service providers.
A new logo has been created for the contest, and the advertising department has slashed the number of categories by about half, said Katie Harrell, coordinator for the contest.
"Some of them were repetitive, like medical specialist and medical facility, which we condensed into medical specialist," Harrell said.
Construction continues on Lancaster County's first ALDI grocery store, which is set to open shortly after the new year.
In late 2008, news began to spread that the grocery chain was looking to locate in Lancaster. Since that time, site work at Old Charlotte Road and North Park Drive has begun and a structure has been erected – all in preparation for the Jan. 15 open date.
Crews are on the scene daily landscaping the property and building at the store.
Area appliance retailers and contractors hope to see a surge in their businesses beginning March 31.
That's when consumers will be able to take part in a new state appliance rebate program.
Through the program, residents who buy new Energy Star-certified refrigerators, dishwashers, water heaters, air conditioners and other appliances will be eligible for a $50 to $500 rebate.
Energy Star is a federal certification program requiring energy-efficient appliances, which often save between 10 and 50 percent more water and electricity than standard appliances.
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The Lancaster News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lancaster County and Lancaster, South Carolina, and the surrounding area..


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So, eleven years to the week after A Storm of Swords was delivered and almost six years to the month after A Feast for Crows was submitted, A Dance with Dragons is done and dusted. It's off to the editor for a final polish and then the production process will step into high gear to get the book onto shelves on 12 July.
Of course, this wouldn't be ADWD if there wasn't some controversy. After promising that the completion announcement would be unambiguous, erm, it was fairly ambiguous if you've never seen King Kong, or if you didn't know that GRRM has been calling the book 'Kong' for a good two years now.
Let's hope The Winds of Winter has a smoother ride, though I can't really imagine it being possible for a book to have a rougher one.
UPDATE: From George's editor:
There were a few moments of George in a spare office yesterday, cleaning up the last bits and inserting a few new bits in longhand, while I typed the changes into the electronic files, but we are honestly and officially done.
And there is MUCH rejoicing!


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Home > News & Events > Wayland Press Release Archives > 2006 News Releases > September 2006 > Century Club offers support opportunity for all
Century Club offers support opportunity for all
PLAINVIEW – The newest giving club at Wayland Baptist University has welcomed its first members.
The Century Club, a project of the Office of Corporate Development, added Brent Patton, a transfer student at Wayland who recently returned from his fourth tour in Iraq with the U.S. Air Force, and Tom Baker, a longtime Plainview insurance agent, to its ranks recently, shortly after the club was formed.
The club requires a minimum donation of $100 annually for membership, and members receive a matted print of Wayland's stately administration building, Gates Hall, as a gift of thanks for their support. The print will bear the name of the Century Club and be a great show of support when hung in the home or place of business.
According to Mike Melcher, director of corporate giving at WBU since July, the club is meant to include everyone, regardless of their income level.
"The whole point of the Century Club is to involve everyone, to have everybody making at least a small contribution," Melcher said. "Every business person, every student and every resident can be involved in this since only $100 is required."
Melcher said many times people feel that they may only have $100 to give and think their gift won't be able to impact anyone. The Century Club, he said, is a way to prove that every gift is welcome and, when combined with others, can make an impact.
"If everyone on our mailing list gave $100, that would be $3 million toward our undesignated funds account, which definitely makes a difference," he said.
Melcher said the Club is open to anyone, alums or otherwise, who desire to support the university, even if they have already given in other ways. Even new graduates just beginning in their careers are encouraged to join, even if their donation must be made in installments.
For information on the Century Club or to join, contact Melcher by phone at (806) 291-3431 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text: The NBA Finals is the championship series played between the Western Conference final and Eastern Conference final winners. The first NBA Finals was held in 1947, and the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Chicago Stags 4-1 in the seven-game series. The Boston Celtics have won the most championships, with 17. The winner of the NBA Finals is awarded the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy.


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The government expects to finalise the new regulation in the next two weeks. Regardless of its content, that will lift the regulatory uncertainty affecting new capacity for after 2012.
The Spanish wind market's current slump has been blamed on the present rules.
Speaking at Madrid's annual wind power convention June 8, Antonio Hernandez, director general of the state energy department, said the document would "guarantee reasonable profitability" and "ensure achievement" of Spain's 35GW wind target to 2020 (up from 21GW today).
Hernandez said it would maintain the existing production incentive model whereby wind power generation receives an additional payment to the wholesale electricity price. He added capping of annual production was likely to be introduced; a measure the sector attacks as an incentive to wind plant inefficiency.
Hernandez could offer no details regarding incentive levels or quota periods.


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Getty Images
The man best known for running watch-it-wiggle-see-it-jiggle 40-yard dash at Alabama has officially commenced the process of getting in football shape for the 2013 season.
The Bengals have activated tackle Andre Smith from the active/non-football injury list. He had missed practice for the first several days of camp with a calf injury.
That's very good news for the Bengals, especially since Smith skipped the offseason program and a mandatory minicamp held in June.
Also joining training camp practice on Monday will be tight end/long snapper Bryce Davis, who was on the non-football illness list, and receiver Brandon Tate, who had been on the active/physically unable to perform list with a hamstring problem.


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http://www.fair.org | a fraternal organization to which we are indebted. Extra! November/December 2006
Presidents Kirchner (Argentina), Lula (Brazil), and Hugo Chavez (Venezuela).
The specter of chavismo haunts the Us media establishment.
Hugo Chávez never had a chance with the U.S. press. Shortly after his first electoral victory in 1998, New York Times Latin America reporter Larry Rohter (12/20/98) summed up his victory thusly:
All across Latin America, presidents and party leaders are looking over their shoulders. With his landslide victory in Venezuela's presidential election on December 6, Hugo Chávez has revived an all-too-familiar specter that the region's ruling elite thought they had safely interred: that of the populist demagogue, the authoritarian man on horseback known as the caudillo.
Notwithstanding that interring caudillos has not been a consuming passion of Latin America's ruling elite (or U.S. policy makers), it is fitting that the Times reporter sided with that elite. A few years later, in April 2002, following Chávez's re-election by an even greater margin, Times editors cheered a coup against Chávez by Venezuelan elites (Extra! Update, 6/02), declaring in Orwellian fashion that thanks to the overthrow of the elected president, "Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator."
For Pedro Carmona—the man who took power in Chávez's brief absence, declaring an actual dictatorship by dismissing the Venezuelan legislature, Supreme Court and other democratic institutions—Times editors had much nicer language, calling the former head of Venezuela's chamber of commerce "a respected business leader."
Following Chávez's return to office a few days later, Times editors issued a grudging reappraisal of their coup endorsement (Extra! Update!, 6/02). Still insisting that Chávez was "a divisive and demagogic leader," the editors averred that the forcible removal of a democratically elected leader "is never something to cheer."
As if this pro-opposition bias were not enough, in January 2003 the Times was forced to dismiss one of its Venezuela reporters, a Venezuelan national named Francisco Toro, when it was revealed that Toro was an anti-Chávez activist (FAIR Action Alert, 6/6/03).
The Times anti-Chávez campaign was manifest in a recent book review (9/17/06) of Nikolas Kozloff's Hugo Chávez: Oil, Politics and the Challenge to the United States, in which Times business columnist Roger Lowenstein rebuked the author for praising the Chávez government, explaining that Chávez "has militarized the government, emasculated the country's courts, intimidated the media, eroded confidence in the economy and hollowed out Venezuela's once-democratic institutions." But Lowenstein failed to provide much evidence for his charges—a frequent characteristic of Chávez bashing—or to note that similar charges can be made against other governments, including one much closer to home.
Calling names
The New York Times is not alone. A Newsweek column (11/7/05) asserted that Venezuela has turned to "destructive populism" under Chávez, while a news report in the magazine (10/31/05) cited the "increasingly authoritarian tilt of the Chávez regime, which has packed the Venezuelan judiciary with pliable magistrates and enacted legislation curtailing press freedoms." In his May 2006 Atlantic profile, New Republic editor Franklin Foer complained that under Chávez's presidency Venezuela had taken an "anti-democratic turn."
The Washington Post's news pages have relentlessly criticized Chávez in news stories, calling him "autocratic" (8/12/04) and "authoritarian" (8/7/06). However, a much more ferocious campaign is waged against Chávez on the Post's editorial and op-ed pages. In one column after another, the Post's opinion pages have charged him with assaulting democracy and stifling dissent. In one column (10/16/06), deputy editorial editor Jackson Diehl called Chávez an "autocratic demagogue" and accused him of "dismantl[ing] Venezuela's democracy." Editorial page editor Fred Hiatt (12/26/05) explained that Chávez had "consolidated one-party rule and moved to export his brand of populist autocracy to neighboring nations."
Even putative liberal commentators have joined the media chorus. On the O'Reilly Factor (12/5/05), Fox News contributor and NPR reporter Juan Williams said of Venezuela, "What you're seeing there is really communism." In September, when Democratic operatives Paul Begala and James Carville appeared on New York City public radio station WNYC (9/25/06), Begala told host Brian Lehrer that Chávez was "an autocrat, not a democrat," and said he had "a terrible human rights record." Carville told Lehrer, "I've worked in Venezuela and I would be very reluctant to call Chávez a democrat." What Carville didn't say was that he worked in Venezuela as an advisor to Venezuelan opposition groups leading an economically devastating strike by managers of the national oil company in an effort to destabilize the government (Washington Post, 1/20/03).
Is Venezuela undemocratic? And is Hugo Chávez an autocrat who has consolidated one-party rule? An examination of Venezuelan elections, governing institutions and public opinion indicates otherwise.
Certified elections
Venezuela has held half-a-dozen major elections for national offices and issues since 1998, the year of Chávez's first presidential victory. That election saw Chávez beating his nearest rival by 16 percentage points, 56 percent to 40 percent, in a vote that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called "a remarkable demonstration of democracy in its purest form." (Chicago Tribune, 12/8/98.) In 2000, in a re-election required by the new Venezuelan constitution, Chávez increased his winning margin, 60 percent to 38 percent. In each case the elections were monitored and certified by a variety of observers including the Organization of American States, the European Union and the Carter Center.
A 1999 referendum backed by Chávez, which called for the convening of a constituent assembly to draft a new Venezuelan constitution, passed with 72 percent of the vote, in an election likewise certified by international observers. The resulting constitution, which strengthened the office of the president, also set up clear checks and balances between five branches of government, including a provision for a recall vote to remove the president after the mid-point in a presidential term was reached. (See box: "Unseparate and Unequal?")
This provision was invoked in 2004 when the opposition amassed the required signatures over challenges by the Chávez government and a recall was held in August. Despite the U.S. bankrolling some of the opposition groups organizing the recall through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the secretive Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), Chávez retained his office with 58 percent of the vote (Christian Science Monitor, 2/6/06).*
Though the OAS and Carter Center certified the recall referendum as fair, some opposition groups, like the anti-Chávez, NED-funded Sumate, charged (and continue to charge) a fraudulent vote tally. Such charges have been largely dismissed by an otherwise anti-Chávez U.S. press, but Sumate has managed to convince Washington Post editor Jackson Diehl of the righteousness of its cause. More than a year after the failed referendum (4/10/06), Diehl wrote favorably of "the election-monitoring group Sumate, which has meticulously documented Chávez's manipulation of the electoral system."
Sumate is not an "election-monitoring group," but a prominent political opposition group that spearheaded the recall. The group's co-founder, María Corina Machado, was a coup supporter who signed the 2002 Carmona Decree that suspended Venezuela's democracy. No actual election monitoring group challenged the referendum's official results (Miami Herald, 7/8/05).
A legislative election in December 2005 ended with a twist when four opposition parties decided to withdraw their candidates, allowing Chávez allies to win virtually all the seats. Not that they would have done well had they stayed in the race. As Venezuela political observer and Chávez critic Alberto Garrido told the New York Times (12/5/05), "Chávez would have annihilated them anyway.'' The predictable dominance of a Chávez-aligned coalition in the legislature was followed by a column by Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt (12/26/05) that charged Chávez had "consolidated one-party rule."
Participatory democracy
Free elections are a necessary condition for democracy, but aren't sufficient evidence to ensure that a functioning democracy is in place. Actual democracy depends on how elected institutions function and on day-to-day citizen involvement in between elections.
During his tenure, Chávez has tried to implement an agenda he has alternately called "21st century socialism" and "capitalism with a human face," which he says takes into account socialism's past failures. But rumors of communism in Venezuela are greatly exaggerated. The private sector has actually grown during his presidency. According to the Associated Press (7/7/06), Venezuelan central bank statistics show "the private sector accounted for more of the economy last year, 62.5 percent of gross domestic product, than when [Chávez] was elected in 1998, when it stood at 59.3 percent."
This doesn't mean Chávez isn't a strong believer in the public sector and a government supported cooperative sector, particularly when it comes to programs for the poor. He has created a series of programs dubbed "missions" to fight poverty, malnutrition, disease, illiteracy and other pressing social problems. In many cases, the administration, budgeting and other decision-making for these programs have been delegated to neighborhood councils located in Venezuela's poor neighborhoods. Even New Republic editor Franklin Foer (Atlantic, 5/06) conceded the impact of the missions:
Chavista investments in the slums are obvious. For the first time, blighted neighborhoods have government-subsidized grocery stores, access to the Internet, and doctors tending to their children. These improvements have translated into palpable optimism. Some polls show that Venezuelans are more sanguine about their economic future than Canadians or Americans.
Charges that Chávez has "militarized" the Venezuelan government (New York Times, 9/17/06) have their origins in an early Chávez government program. In 1999, when a recession left Venezuela short of money to fund poverty programs, Chávez implemented "Plan Bolívar 2000," under which the underutilized military was ordered to construct housing, build roads and carry out mass vaccination drives—hardly what one imagines upon hearing warnings of government militarization.
Venezuela's aggressive anti-poverty programs and "participatory democracy" have energized the poor and given them a stake in the country's fortunes. By the democratic measure of citizen involvement, Venezuela is doing rather better than many democracies. And Venezuelans seem to agree; a 2005 Latinobarometro poll surveying opinion in 18 Latin American countries found Venezuelans near the top in their preference for democracy over other forms of government, and in satisfaction with how their democracy is functioning. The poll found Venezuelans considered their country "totally democratic" at a higher percentage than in any other nation in Latin America.
* The NED has given $2.9 million in "pro-democracy" grants to Venezuelan groups since 2002; the more secretive OTI, a branch of USAID whose website says it works to "support U.S. foreign policy objectives," has spent over $26 million in Venezuela to "strengthen democratic institutions" since 2002 (AP, 8/27/06).
"PLEASE REMEMBER: No matter how involved we get in our human causes, we must never forget that one of the cruelest oppressions around...is that which our own species perpetrates every day on billions of defenceless animals."


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