text:
AF Academy's New Religion Rules Hit
The U.S. Air Force last week introduced revised guidelines on religious tolerance and practices at its training academy, and they are widely regarded as a step backward.
A number of Jewish leaders say their efforts to change the Air Force Academy's position on Christian proselytizing were overmatched by the evangelical community, which fought any move to restrict religious discussion on campus. Critics have accused the academy of imposing a Christian environment on campus and allowing proselytizing by senior officers and cadets.
Some see the new guidelines as more permissive of religious discussion than were the interim guidelines issued last August. Air Force officials acknowledge that the guidelines were revised following an angry response from Christian groups and from 72 members of Congress who sent a letter to President Bush last month.
"We didn't like what came out in August, but this is a public retreat from where they were before," said Mikey Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate who is suing the school for allegedly violating the constitutional separation of church and state.
Jewish leaders said more efforts are needed to counterbalance the evangelical Christian community.
"We have not galvanized Congress, but we will have to," said Abraham Foxman, Anti-Defamation League national director
Others, however, say the new guidelines contribute toward ridding the military of religious intolerance.
The academy has been under scrutiny since reports surfaced of an overtly Christian environment that permitted Christian prayer and proselytizing by senior officers and did not accommodate minority religious practices. The new rules allow for public prayer, stating only that it "should not imply government endorsement of religion and should not usually be part of routine official business."
The previous guidelines outlawed public prayer in official settings but allowed for a "brief nonsectarian prayer" at special ceremonies or events.
The new guidelines also focus on reaffirming senior officers' rights to free exercise of religion, while warning that superiors need to be "sensitive to the potential that personal expressions may appear to be official or have undue influence on their subordinates."
"There is enough leeway in these guidelines to permit proselytizing," Foxman said.
August's guidelines went further toward highlighting the need for sensitivity from senior officers.
"The more senior the individual, the more likely that personal expressions may be perceived to be official statements," the former guidelines read.
Maj. Gen. Charles Baldwin, the Air Force's chief of chaplains, told the Washington Post that the new guidelines came about as a result of criticism from evangelicals. Several organizations flooded administration officials with complaints, calling the August report a violation of freedoms of speech and religion.
A spokeswoman for the Air Force said the guidelines had been augmented after feedback, especially where the "original language had been misunderstood."
"After a reasonable amount of time, the secretary will likely deem this set of guidance as the final version, but the Air Force will need experience with how the guidelines work in practice before deciding on the finalization date," Jennifer Stephens wrote in a written response to questions.
The Jewish community's view on the new guidelines is not unanimous. The American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress and Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism issued a joint press release Feb. 9 commending the Air Force's effort to address problems of religious accommodation.


text:
Time to say the world is gonna end soon, watch as a ton of people quit their jobs and spend their life savings, notice the world did not end, get a lot of flack, duck out of the limelight for awhile, come back and claim the world is gonna end again, then check out these links!
The Late Moammar Gaddafi Will Be Remembered For His Crazy Outfits
…and, y'know, for being a brutal dictator.
Bill Clinton's Super Team of Incompetent Celebrity Allies
Ben Stiller, is there any situation you won't be frazzled in?
The Story Behind That Creepy "Take This Lollipop" Thing
In summary: Germans are weird.
Harold Camping Says The World Will End On October 21, 2011
I'm sure he's right. He's got an excellent track record.
A Review of All 127 Soda Types In The Coke Freestyle Machine
For the sophisticated Hi-C aficionado.
That's all for this edition of The Big List. Join us next week, because the list continues onward, ever vigilant, into the great beyond.
Geoffrey Golden is the Editor in Chief of The Devastator: The Quarterly Comedy Magazine For Humans!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tuesday Afternoon Thread: Its Up To Us
November 6, 2012 by 112 Comments
September 24, 2017
I loved this speech flotus was giddy lol. The boss was like a little kid when he greeted flotus.
Hundreds of Pinellas voters get robocall from supervisor of elections saying Election Day is Wednesday
ST. PETERSBURG — An hour after polls opened Tuesday morning, the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Office mistakenly placed hundreds — possibly thousands — of automatic calls to voters instructing them that they had until 7 p.m. Wednesday to vote.
But that is wrong. Polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Any ballots turned in after that time won't be accepted.
The calls went out between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. because of a glitch with the SOE's phone system. Calls were made Monday alerting voters who had requested mail ballots but had not returned them that they had until 7 p.m. "tomorrow" to get them turned in.
more here
It really is time to start putting these people in jail or filing lawsuits against them. Also some hefty fines would help too it's just madness.
A hefty fine and barring them from working in any official election related capacity for 25 years.
My bet is that every incident is being recorded and saved in a secure location to be dealt with legally after the election. Now it's just a plug up the hole in the dike thing precinct by precinct so that we can get THROUGH the election with all votes counted.
I hope so because this is ridiculous.
Mistake my ass. Glitch my ass.
THIS is election fraud. Fuckin' GOP needs to be destroyed. Completely, utterly destroyed.
Happy Election Day, everyone! I got to admit I got a little bit jealous of all the people who had short waits to vote in the Open Thread. It took me and my mother four hours to early vote this year and y'all were breezing in and out, lol. It's a good omen, though; us black folk in the DMV have been turning out live and in full effect this election season and I am so, so happy for that. Four more years!
Just voted. I know Romney will win Texas but it about running up the score and giving PBO a mandate to govern.
As I stated before, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio are liberal cites. But I'm predicting PBO will do better this time than he did in 2008.
Judd Legum@JuddLegum
For continuous coverage of a dude in a beret standing still somewhere in Pennsylvania, tune into Fox News
Well, He was BIG and BLACK! Never mind he was opening the door for a white woman. FOX pulled this Black Panther fear fest in 2008 too. Just another example of broadcasting from a fact free parallel universe. The one where we get accused of everything they're actually doing.
Not too late; make some calls: GOTV!
There are French in Pennsylvania?
I'm at work and I can't keep focused!
Right? I begged someone to speak with me sooner rather than later and she agreed, telling me what time I should call. I totally flaked, calling her much later than our appointment. She was very nice about it and said she understands that "today is a special day" but I think I did detect an eyebrow arching upward. Then that reminded me of the other person with whom I wanted to speak–she was in line to get gas but called me back and we had a good conversation. Sheesh, I do have to remember to do my actual job, right?
It's tough…I keep checking twitter..POU…twitter…then POU…checking to see when is lunch time…twitter..
Pardon the source, but the Gov. has had enough crap from Willard and his team…
Chris Christie Slams 'Know-Nothing, Disgruntled' Mitt Romney Staffers
"I told Governor Romney at that time that if the storm landed as predicted that it was going to be catastrophic to New Jersey and unprecedented," Christie said. "I said to him, 'Listen, Mitt, if this storm hits the way I think it's going to, I'm off the campaign trail from here to Election Day.' And he said to me, 'Chris, of course. Do your job, don't worry about me. I'll take care of things.' So all this other noise, I think, is coming from know-nothing, disgruntled Romney staffers who, you know, don't like the fact that I said nice things about the President of the United States. Well, that's too bad for them."
Christie's 'bout to start cussin' at these foolz if they don't leave him alone.
No, he'll just sit on them.
I just got a report of voter intimidation from my sister's ex he told her they are Romney supporters. They have brought their asses to a black neighborhood running around with Romney signs trying to intimidate people. I gave him Gwen Moore's number and the voter intimidation hotline number. I also told him to take pics of them.
Tell him to tell everybody in line to point and laugh at them, then start playing the dozens on their asses.
He said ain't nobody scared of them or paying them any attention. They are in the hood hood if you know what I mean. They gone get that ass beat if they step to the wrong one.
Alma I saw a tweet just now saying that people were leaving voting lines in N. Milwaukee and that the polls were understaffed. I'm trying not to bring the ZOMG tweets up in here as we don't do that.
Where is this located at? I haven't heard anything about it. I'll see what I can find out.
edit: Ok I found out what's going on here is a link to the story. http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/five-hours-into-election-long-lines-some-problems-surface-ur7hbv1-177502851.htmlI I live pretty far from this area but I know where it is. And this doesn't surprise me at all they have some of the shittiest reps. in the city. How the hell can they have only one machine, if this isn't voter suppression then I don't know what is.
It's ridiculous that they'd have only 1 machine at that location!
Unfreaking real!
Wow, the desperation must be short-circuiting their brain cells if they're out trying to play Mighty Whitey with Tyrone n' them. I went to vote at a middle class rec center and the dude out for Romney was so shook by us that he was nervously planting his signs and passing out his fliers while mumbling for people to keep an open mind and not making any eye contact. It probably didn't helped that everyone laughed as soon as he handed them the fliers and the group of church folk in front of me loudly joked about setting them on fire but it was a long line and we needed entertainment.
We've had no problems either there has been a steady stream of voters since 7am. I think they're trying this mess in the low income areas. Thinking the people will let them get away with it. They just don't know they will get a beatdown, hell I try not to drive through that area after dark.
They are really stupid for believing that they can get away with this foolishness. Too much of the ol' GOP echo chamber will sho' nuff get a Timberland in your ass.
I think because so many are older folks they're still living in the 30's, 40's and the 50's. They just don't know they'll get whooped for stepping on somebody's shoe.
Seriously. Black people have had it up to *here* with the Republicans and their bullshit. You step to one of us today trying to get in the way of us voting and your face might get cracked.
Here's the real deal. We can't be intimidated unless we allow ourselves to be. Remember, this is all out in the open: not a gang of KKK'ers shrouded in sheets in the dead of night.
Report ANY incidents and Stay The Fuck In Line! We've got your back, Mr. President…and we have the backs of all those before us who died for our right to vote.
Don't worry they know what to do, see my comment to Miranda below.
Joyn-Ann Reid goes IN.
Politico's definition of presidential mandate diminishes women, minorities
If Barack Obama wins re-election on Tuesday, he will have succeeded by winning the majority of votes cast by African-Americans, Latinos, single women, unionized white workers in the rust belt, the northeastern United States, the west coast, LGBT Americans, and voters under the age of 50.
In some cases, (African-Americans and Hispanics, who according to the latest Latino Decisions poll are breaking for the president by an unprecedented 73 percent to 24 percent, with the potential to decide the election in four states) he will have won a super-majority of those voters.
But if you ask the Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen, the senior editors at Politico, he will have won, without really winning:
more here
Vandehei and Allen really lifted the curtain with that one.
You go that right !
Majority of the people working at politico are racist republicans who always suck up to the GOP while dumping on the DEMS and Obama. I can't wait to Obama wins big tonight so I can see all the tears from the GOPmedia.
There will be lots of long voices and mumbled, "um, we totally saw this coming but had to be objective…" My question to Schieffer: does this mean the R party sort of sucks or just completely sucks?!
GO jOY!!!
Slightly OT: Friend sent this regarding safety for folks in the area impacted by Sandy
U.S. Fire Administration Learning-Academic Materials and Programs (LAMP-POST) Update
U.S. Fire Administration sent this bulletin at 11/06/2012 11:24 AM EST
US Fire Administration Urges Residents Affected by Hurricane Sandy to Stay Safe as Cold Weather Approaches
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) is urging residents to be safe as cold weather blankets the United States, including areas recently impacted by Hurricane Sandy. According to the NOAA National Weather Service, a coastal storm is expected to impact the mid-Atlantic and Northeast beginning after midnight Tuesday night and continue through Thursday night, with clearing expected by Friday. Impacts to the effected regions include: strong gusty northerly winds of 20-30 mph with gusts of 40-45 mph, rain of 1 to 2.5 inches along the coast, with lesser amounts inland possible, light wintry precipitation is possible inland, and coastal flooding/beach erosion along the New York/New Jersey coast. USFA urges everyone to monitor NOAA weather radio and local news reports for the latest storm conditions and take the necessary precautions to keep safe.
Obama: 'It's Always Good to Ignore Donald Trump'
In a radio interview this morning with "Pedro Biaggi en la Manana" on El Zol 107.9 FM, President Obama was asked what he thought of Donald Trump's stunt two weeks ago, offering to make a $5 million donation to charity if Obama released his academic records.
"So, did you choose to ignore him?" Biaggi asked.
"Well, it's always good to ignore Donald Trump," Obama replied. "I think it's always a good rule."
Obama, who has said he has never met Trump in person, joked last month that the media mogul seems to have it out for him because of a long-standing grudge from their childhoods in Africa.
"You know, this all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya," Obama kidded with "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno, alluding to Trump's repeated birther claims. "We had constant run-ins on the soccer field, and he wasn't very good at it. When we finally moved to America, I thought it would be over."
Read More here: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-always-good-ignore-donald-trump-195159468–abc-news-politics.html
I heard the President on Steve Harvey around 6:30 a.m. Front, face, forward.
Ohio faces controversy over voting machines [Update]
By Erik Sherman /MoneyWatch/ November 6, 2012, 11:00 AM
As people head to the polls today to cast their ballots, a critical "battleground" state in the presidential election faces a last-minute controversy over its voting machines.
In Ohio, a lawsuit alleges that Secretary of State Jon Husted and Election Systems & Software, an Omaha, Neb., company that makes electronic voting systems used in the state, improperly approved the use of untested, non-state certified software in voting machines to help tally results.
The suit — filed Monday in federal district court by Robert Fitrakis, a Columbus, Ohio, college professor, voting rights activist and congressional candidate representing the Green Party — claims that the software could erroneously alter election results or even lead to election fraud. According to the complaint, the suit alleges that the software could introduce mistakes into the vote count, or allow third parties to manipulate the results.
A federal judge heard more than an hour of oral arguments An oral hearing on a motion for a temporary restraining order on using the software is scheduled today at 9 a.m. in federal district court.
[UPDATE: After an hour of oral arguments, U.S. District Court Judge Greg Frost said he would issue a ruling while Ohio polls are open.]
MORE: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-57545531/ohio-faces-controversy-over-voting-machines-update/
Judge is a republican— he will rule while polls open to see how the tabulation willl screw voting and to whose benefit. All bullshit… the more people vote the harder it is to steal.
You all know if these shit was done in a developing country or by people of color in this country– THEY WOULD BE IN JAIL or accused of corruption.
Thanks for posting this. I've been looking for an update or even a mention about it.
Pennsylvania machine that turned Obama vote into Romney vote has been taken off line tv.msnbc.com/2012/11/06/mac… Its starting. This is where the Koch, Adelson money has gone. Vote machine rigging. Ohio, PA, Florida, Amazing………………….and frightening. Did GOTV canvassing this am and on my way to work. It is on us folks. FOWARD!!
I know we don't give a fuck about Cenk, but his tripe needs to be pushed back. He writes shit like this and people are busy face-booking and tweeting this shit. And we need to shame bastards like him, especially considering that PBO's real base and true progressives, Black and Brown folks are having every obstacle put in their way. His ass needs to be called out on twitter, seriously. I'm tired of this shit already.
Why Obama Will Disappoint Progressives and I Voted for Him Anyway
Oh is he still around? Last I saw him he looked he was using some of Sammy Sosa's skin cream. PBO being elected has shed a light on all these grifters and pushed them back into nether world where they belong.
Was he still reporting from his mother's basement a la Rupert Pupkin? But, yeah, I give two shakes of a rat's tail about Cenk and his stupid.
Perhaps if his fan club had co-signed his show instead of his HuffPo bs, he's still have a show on MSNBC?
He killed off Current TV.
He's still around? Whatever.
Why is he so butthurt?
I never thought Barack Obama was a progressive; I always saw him as a pragmatic centerist.
Cenk is irrelavent and as the hours go by he gets more irrelavent.
(They should have never let y'all use twitter. lol)
@JeffersonObama I'll bet you that PA voting machine was rigged by Peggy Noonan's vibrator.
I didn't do it.
He who disclaimed it, named it!
I live in a republican stronghold. Being that my precinct is like 99 percent white and republican, there's never a big line and I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to vote. I went to vote this afternoon and the place was freakin' empty. Just me, my sister, my brother, and about a 8 precinct workers. In '00 and '04, there was a nice steady stream of voters at my precinct, all for Bush, of course. No one was there today. I'm telling y'all, these CACs are not feeling Romney like that.
They know lol.
Funny. Same here. I saw no Romney signs at either of our precincts- across from one another. My town, right outside of Philly, is notoriously repub, but demographics have changed. Guess they know better. Even the borough hall had Obama signs on its lawn. Also, I am canvassing throughout the day- on a lunch break now. Ran across a caucasian female whose house I was not contacting. As she came out her door, she said…"I'm going to vote right now….I'm a registered republican and I'm NOT voting for Romney". I told her good for her and welcome….LOL!
I came across another white woman, not on my contact list, and she offered that she already voted, cheerily. I am sporting Obama buttons, so I suspect something's going on under radar.
I'm wondering if that's going to be one of the major stories. The huge number of Republicans who either voted for PBO or decided not to bother altogether.
The media has been lying since the start of the campaign. Obama was never the one with the enthusiasm gap it was always the republicans. Which explains why Romney couldn't pivot during the campaign because he had to enthuse his base.
All you need to do is look at the early vote totals and read the stories like the one above.
At least at my precinct, there's no doubt that there's no enthusiasm for Romney. I had no trouble parking and when my siblings and I walked into the polling place, we were the only ones there. I always vote right after lunch and unlike '08, '04, and '00, the place was a ghost town. It looks like my neighbors are staying home this election. And I'm oh so glad.
I live in a GOP stronghold and there's LOTS of enthusiasm for getting the black guy out of the WH and LOTS of Romney/Ryan signs too. They damn near passed out from joy over Doug Wilder endorsing Mitt Romney (cuz yeah, it WUZ an endorsement).
I forgot to mention that I saw four or five 18yr old kids voting for the first time. Their parents brought them they looked kinda put out but mom & dad was not having it lol.
Come on Cleveland! You can do it!!
More than half of registered voters in Cuyahoga County have voted
CLEVELAND – More than half of the registered voters in crucial Cuyahoga County had cast ballots by 2:30 p.m., and Democratic Party officials were hoping to push that number significantly higher to get President Obama the edge he needs in Ohio.
Despite widespread fears of polling problems in one of Obama's key strongholds, voting has gone on without snags throughout the day, according to elections officials. There were a handful of problems with paper ballots not entering electronic voting machines correctly, but those have been corrected without any lost votes.
more here
One of my friends on Facebook wrote:
Today is our Black Friday.
Guam Presidential Vote Now Counted; Democrats, Libertarians Gain, Relative to 2008
November 6th, 2012
The Guam Election Commission has finished counting the November 6, 2012 presidential vote. Because Guam is on the early side of the International Date Line, voting finished there several hours ago. The results: Obama 23,067 (72.39%); Romney 8,443 (26.49%); Johnson 357 (1.12%).
In November 2008, the Guam presidential vote was: Obama 20,120 (62.35%); McCain 11,940 (37.00%); Bob Barr, Libertarian, 212 (.66%). Here is a picture of the 2012 Guam ballot. The presidential part of the ballot is on page two. Thanks to Walter Ziobro for the news, which is from the web page of a Guam television station, KUAM.
Alright who the hell in Guam voted for Romney!
Erin McPike@ErinMcPike
According to GOP sources on the ground, Romney camp's "ORCA" turnout app has crashed, so they can't monitor their turnout operation.
Erin McPike@ErinMcPike
And of note: the Obama campaign's app crashed in 2008. Romney's camp modeled theirs after the old Obama system
It's going to be hard for Rmoney to top this one.
And that's why you should never copy someone else.
Virginia elections officials report "very heavy, robust turnout" that will likely exceed 2008 vote – per CBS
There's lots of motivated people to get Obama out of the White House, as well as lots of motivated people to keep Obama IN the White House.
Doing our part here in Bklyn to drive up the pop vote total–this line is so long!
Councilman Reports Confusion, Crowding At Polling Sites In Brooklyn
November 6, 2012 2:56 PM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A New York City lawmaker is calling on the Board of Elections to clear up the confusion and long lines at some polling sites in Brooklyn.
Councilman Jumaane Williams called the voting process a "disaster" on his Twitter page, where he has been documenting problems he's encountered at several polling sites.
Williams claims that at least three polls didn't open on time and machines weren't working elsewhere.
MORE: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/06/councilman-reports-confusion-crowding-at-polling-sites-in-brooklyn/
Tom Arnold Won't Be Voting For Ex-Wife Roseanne Barr
Today is Election Day, and though actress Roseanne Barr is running for president, she can't count on a vote from ex-husband Tom Arnold.
Just in case you're late to the table, Roseanne Barr of Roseanne fame is indeed running for president and will appear on the ballot in some states. According to OTRC, she's running for the California-based Peace and Freedom Party, promising and end to the war on drugs, bring our soldiers home, guarantee clean water and organic food, fix the broken economy, implement single-payer healthcare, and finally ensure equality for all.
It's not a Stephen Colbert-style joke, Roseanne is very serious about her presidential bid (so she says), but one person who isn't taking her seriously is her ex-husband, Tom Arnold, who scoffed at the idea of voting for her.
Arnold told TMZ "I'm voting for Obama, but for God's sake let Roseanne have her pot … she's 60."
Read more here: http://www.inquisitr.com/389304/tom-arnold-wont-be-voting-for-ex-wife-roseanne-barr/
A whole forest full of shade… wow
Arnold told TMZ "I'm voting for Obama, but for God's sake let Roseanne have her pot … she's 60."
SMDH, indeed
"Arnold told TMZ "I'm voting for Obama, but for God's sake let Roseanne have her pot … she's 60."
ROTFLMBO! WTG, Tom Arnold, WTG!!! IMO, Roseanne Barr is a real nut.
Why, Arnold? Just…why???
As Aleth pointed out, the judge is a Repub, appointed by Bush, so there ya go.
Ohio judge rejects lawsuit against voting machine software
By David Ferguson
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 15:50 EST
An U.S. District Court judge has rejected a suit filed by a Green Party activist alleging that Ohio voting machines were using dangerously vulnerable software that would allow votes to be blocked or altered. According to SFGate.com, Judge Gregory Frost ruled that election activist and Green Party Congressional candidate Bob Fitrakis provided "zero" evidence for his claims, offering instead only conjecture as to how and why the machines could fail.
MORE: http://s.tt/1sjWA
We're just gonna have to overwhelm them with votes. Forward!
The whole world's watching, as we used to say in '68…
Libyans worry about Benghazi attack's role in the U.S. election
TRIPOLI – The United States has enjoyed more popularity in Libya over the past year than it has in most other Arab countries because it played a critical role in supporting the country's 2011 revolution. Overwhelmingly, Libyans said they were rooting for Obama on Tuesday. "We are very interested in how this election goes," said Tarek Ali, a gold seller in Tripoli. "Personally, I love Obama."
"If Obama stays in office, things here will be stable. But a new person could change the laws and bring new resolutions to pass — whatever it is, we don't want it," said Mohamed Bin Othman, the owner of a clothes store in Tripoli's old city.
But many Libyans also said they have paid close attention to this U.S. election this week out of anxiety rather than preference, after the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi drew promises of strong action from both American candidates.
"Libyans are really worried right now about their image in the United States, especially after the consulate attack," said Nizar al-Mutajawal, an anchor at Libyan First TV. "The possible impact of the election is still ambiguous to people here. They don't understand yet how this government versus a new government is going to deal with the Benghazi attack. People don't want retaliation. They want understanding."
So here's the whole quote from Ben Affleck about voting for the President…
Ben Affleck is pumped for the vice presidential debate
Although the star maxed out his donations to Obama in 2008, Affleck has not yet donated to the campaign this election cycle, according to records from the Center for Responsive Politics. But, he says, he will eventually get around to it.
"I like the president. I'm going to vote for the president and I'm sure I'll give money to the president's campaign," Affleck told The Hill.
"The Town" star predicts Obama has a "very high" chance of being reelected but says GOP nominee Mitt Romney "definitely opened a window of opportunity up for himself" after the last debate. Affleck calls Obama, "a strong favorite to win reelection."
"Argo" co-star and AMC "Breaking Bad" actor Bryan Cranston also says he believes Obama will fare well in November.
"I think [his chances] are pretty good. I think he's an incumbent and collectively I think he's done well actually. I think he will be reelected, and I would say 65 percent [chance he'll be reelected].
AP/Yahoo! acting a fool until the bitter end:
If Obama wins, will he finally tell us his second-term agenda?
Walter Shapiro asks if anyone outside Obama's inner sanctum knows what he would do with a second term.
But just to show balance, earlier today the headline was about Miffed being a "baffling" President should he win. Whatever, tools, whatever.
Shapiro was in the tank for John Edwards – even had a book deal about that loser. Move along Shapiro.
Completely off-topic, for all of those who watch Pretty Little Liars, The actress who plays Spencer Hastings is half black. Her mother is Deborah Pratt, who was the co-producer for Quantum Leap. I just read about that today.
Wait…. one of the producers for Quantum Leap was a black woman?
Didn't know that. Loved that show.
back to ping ponging between here & twitter
I remember her mom, wow small world.
I read about her mom a few months ago. I was surprised.
I actually knew that.
Apparently, Russell Crowe got into a fight on twitter with folks over PBO. He's a supporter…
Crowe: Obama is 'the light' and 'the future'
Actor Russell Crowe put up a fight for President Barack Obama on Twitter over the weekend.
"Villagers,I don't endorse politicians.Not my thing.However, Obama is the light & the future.Keep going towards the light. Put America first," the "Gladiator" star tweeted. "Complex time for the world. America needs to continue the Global awareness that Obama has set. A healthy America means a healthy planet."
After making the political statement, Crowe was called an "idiot" and a "typical Hollywood clown" by some angry followers who disagreed.
Read more here: http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/10/crowe-obama-is-the-light-and-the-future-139167.html
They better chill before Russell lays hands upon them.
Good Afternoon miranda/POU FAM♥- – — ***BIG HUG*** :>)
– — WHAT a TENDER MOMENT – – -OUR FIRST COUPLE -ALWAYS SHARE. :>) ***tears** annd ***smiles***
– — —Can You Feel The Love Tonight – – :>)
– — – -We sooooo LOVE THEM♥.- — The BEST FIRST COUPLE♥ in HISTORY!! – – –:>) — –
Lookin'- — FORWARD- — -> 2 tonight. :>)- –
miranda- — — -HE SPOKE TRUTH!- – :>) – —
– —-Quote of the Day—
— –"It's out of my hands now. It's in yours. All of it depends on what you do."
— President Obama, quoted by NBC News.
I cried watching this speech
miranda – – – – -WHEW LAWD. – — – -THIS is- – – -BEYOND COMPREHENSIVE. :>)
– —The ThinkProgress Election Day Live Blog– — -ENJOY. :>)
– — –High turnout reported in Cleveland — -GET 'EM- – –SISTA–Nina Turner!!- — Woo Hoo!- –:>)- –
– — THIS!!- — — –ArrrGGG!- —Illegal robocalls in Montana
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's (R) SuperPAC and other conservative groups are running robocalls on behalf of Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), even though such calls are illegal in Montana:
— – — rogress on Nov 6, 2012 at 8:50 am
5:09 pm
Romney claims he's only written one speech for tonight
4:55 pm
High turnout reported in Cleveland
Scott Keyes @smkeyes
Every poll worker I've talked to in Columbus said turnout was as high as 08, if not higher.
6 Nov 12
4:46 pm
Philly voter shares how he was forced to use a provisional ballot
ThinkProgress received the following email from a 23-year-old Philadelphia resident who was forced to use a provisional ballot despite being a registered voter:
I had problems today voting. I wasn't on the voter list at my polling place and was required to fill out a provisional ballot. I saw this happen to a woman after me who had her registration confirmation card with her. She raised a bit of a stink which seemed justified to me.
I never received a registration confirmation card in the mail so I made sure to check that I was registered with the PA DoS before heading to the polls. (I did this online.) I was indeed registered. After submitting my provisional ballot at the polls I called the DoS and again confirmed that I was registered in Phila County and was at the correct polling location. I'm not sure how they put the voter lists together that they use at the polls, but unless they print them a month in advance I don't see how they could be missing registered voters who are in the DoS database.
Poll workers told him they had already issued provisional ballots to 8 or 9 people at the Cedar Park polling location by 10 am. Both the person in front and behind him were also told they were missing from the rolls. ThinkProgress also spoke to an Obama campaign poll watcher who reported similar instances of young people's registrations getting lost or omitted from the books in a different Philly precinct.
4:34 pm
Illegal robocalls in Montana
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's (R) SuperPAC and other conservative groups are running robocalls on behalf of Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), even though such calls are illegal in Montana:
4:19 pm
Heavy voter turnout reported in Virginia
Displaced New Jersey voters will have until Friday to email ballots
New Jersey has extended until Friday the deadline for voters displaced by Hurricane Sandy to email in their votes. Those voters must request ballots by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, but may return the ballots any time until Friday at 8 p.m.— — — – EFFECT on 2-NIGHT!?- —
Bad, bad gc. Just voted. Walked past Ryney signs. Flashed on his attitude toward wen. Spat on signs
Fam, are we gonna have to take up a collection for GC's bail? LOL!
I'm very expensive 🙂
miranda- —- -YES!- – –THEY!! — -DID!- – – — WINNERS!- – -:>)- – –
– — –Obama's Team Wins Election Day Basketball Game– —
– – – –President Obama's basketball team won in his traditional Election Day game Tuesday, according to a White House pool report with more details the game. There were two five-player teams with referees to call fouls. According to a fellow player and former Illinois Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, Obama's team won by "like 20" points.
The teams: Obama was player-coach of his team, which also included Giannoulias and Scottie Pippen. On the other team were Arne Duncan, Marty Nesbitt and Randy Brown.
Giannoulias said Potus "played very well" but did not say how many points he scored. Giannoulias scored 32, he said, and Pippen 21.
After the game, Obama returned to his Chicago home.
———THEY R THE – — -CHAMPIONS!!– – -Woo! Hoo!—
– – [Gotta "hit da Road. C U soon!!♥]– –
Tue Nov 06, 2012 at 09:32 AM PST.
Elijah Cummings rips David Gregory and Scarborough on laughing off voter suppression
Proud Maryland native and House member Elijah Cummings (D) really was annoyed this morning with Mo(u)rning Jo(k)e laughing off voter suppression efforts throughout the country from Republicans yesterday.
And he certainly expressed that quite candidly to them face to face.
This thing, I listen to you all Joe yesterday, y'all were kind of laughing about it. It's a very serious issue.
It's an emotional (issue) . I predicted a very long time ago that African-American people would come out in record numbers, and that is already happening in my district. They are coming out in records numbers because they do not like the idea that there seems to be a concerted effort to stop them for voting."
Scarborough blamed David Gregory, who is even worse of course, with his silence on the issue on Meet The Press all throughout the election season despite supposedly being a professional multi-million dollar journalist. And his silence there and then for everyone to see.
Kathy Kay looked shocked and perplexed, wondering why would Republicans try and deny people, including black Republicans, the right to vote. It was Beltway centrist media figures off their high, seclusion bubble in D.C. and smacked into reality for a rare refreshing time.
It was a telling incident of many on the Mo(u)rning Jo(k)e of a election show, three hours more than its regular version of sad, vapid centrist dribble.
Thankfully Elijah Cummings was not tolerating their nonsense, especially Gregory and Scarborough's, not one bit.
Thanks for reppin' the state, Elijah! I am so glad he gave those mofos a sharp slap of reality. People of color have had our rights stripped away like gangbusters these last two years and none of these Beltway reporters gave a damn about it. I tell you, once PBO gets re-elected it's gonna be a lot of hungry former news personalities……..
Evening thread is up!
Hey guys, all tweeters, please give a big shout out to Rev Al for sticking by PBO through all kinds of shit.
Copyright © · Pragmatic Obots Unite · Design by SherylKaye


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SHAUN HUTCHINSON was contacted this week to discuss the idea of him moving to Rangers. It was one of his Motherwell team-mates who had spotted in one of the papers an opportunity to tease the Englishman.
Hutchinson had been named as one of the players approached by Ally McCoist to talk over the prospect of joining the Ibrox side in the summer and that offered up the chance to have a laugh, not least as the defender would claim to be completely unaware of the story.
The 23-year-old rolled with the punchlines but it will not just be his future which is scrutinised within Fir Park in the coming months. The defender is just one player out of contract in May and who are inclined to consider their options.
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They first have an opportunity to move on into second place in the SPFL Premiership table with a win over Ross County this afternoon, though, and Stuart McCall will make it clear that any decision to leave Fir Park will not necessarily engender a similar sense of success elsewhere.
"Tom Hateley is a fine example," said the Motherwell manager. "He gave good service to this club and we would have offered him another deal last season if he hadn't made to clear he wanted to move on. He felt it was time to have a fresh challenge and he went on trial at a few clubs in England.
"However, he didn't get a club until a few months after the season started and is now playing in Poland. It is easy for agents to say there are clubs interested but you might be fourth or fifth choice on their list."
A move to the Premiership in January has allowed Filip Kiss to consider where he is in the pecking order for his national side. The Slovak made his full international debut as a substitute in a match with Israel earlier this month and hopes that playing regularly with County will help to convince those in charge of the Slovakia team to offer him further opportunities down the line.
"I just hope there is more to come for me," said the midfielder, who is on loan from Cardiff City. "Against Israel, I got my first opportunity for the senior side when I came on for five minutes. Hopefully it will push me forward to work harder and get more and more caps for my country."


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As Friday approached, I was thinking of what topic I should cover in the Jumuah Khutbah. In the end I ended up discussing a basic Islamic concept which should be well known to even a young Muslim but which needed re-enforcing as it was being actively undermined – even by some prominent Muslim voices in the UK.
The UK House of Commons recently voted by 400 votes to 175 to legalise same-sex marriage in Britain. Muslim MPs such as Sadiq Khan, Rushanara Ali, Sajid Javid, and others voted in support of this legislation. At election time, these same MPs (and other politicians) visit Masajids and other Muslim institutions seeking the Muslim vote, yet, here they were voting for same-sex marriage which Islam clearly forbids. Facing a backlash from his Muslim supporters, the Muslim MP, Sadik Khan wrote a blog titled, 'Why I voted in favour of same-sex marriage', defending his position. In it, he wrote "I voted in favour of the legislation because I believe that this is fundamentally an issue of equality." What was new was that some other prominent Muslim commentators also started to argue that Muslims must not oppose same-sex marriage because if we Muslims want to be accepted as equals in British society, we must stand for equality for all types of practices – including same-sex marriage.
So again and again, there were voices in the Muslim community saying we must see this issue through the prism of equality and anti-discrimination.
I remember a friend once saying that the way you change some of the core values of a community over time is to stop public discussion or promotion of their core ideas. So over a long period of time, as those ideas are no longer discussed, people (especially the younger generation) no longer hear them. Further down the line, raising that idea publicly becomes a strange thing and could even become unacceptable. At the moment, ideas like the supporting the jihad of Muslims in Afghanistan as they fight and defend themselves against occupation by Western forces – is an example of this. So UK masajids and some Muslim groups shy away from mentioning this issue because some in the media and government label those who raise this as 'extremists' or accuse them of being involved in 'radicalisation'.
A similar thing started to happen with public opposition to same sex-marriage. However, this time, it is some few and strange voices from within the Muslim community who are telling Muslims to view this issue through the prism of 'equality'.
Hence, I decided to cover the following points in my khutbah and subsequent video on the issue of same-sex marriage as a way to remind Muslims of the absolute need to hold onto the Islamic criteria of halal and haram and to equip Muslims to argue back rather than be bullied into silence and abandoning the Islamic criteria.
• We come to this issue as Muslims who believe in Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Qur'an He revealed to Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is All Knowing and hence the One who decides what is right and what is wrong.
• When humans (through parliament) try to legislate right and wrong, we witness contradictions and harmful consequences on society. In the West, adultery was once illegal, now it is legal and glorified in movies, plays and popular culture. Similarly, homosexuality was once illegal, now it is legal, glorified and now there are moves to legalise same-sex marriage. What will be next? Incest? Assisted suicide?
• Islam's position is clear on the prohibition of same-sex marriage, adultery and other such lifestyles.
• Islam's laws protect the family and prohibit things that harm family life.
• Muslims should not be apologetic for adhering to the rules of Islam which come from the All Knowing Creator – Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا مُبِينًا
"It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision."
(Al-Ahzab, 33:36)
Taji Mustafa
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain


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Posted 7 years ago
(2 items)
These i found at a primitives/antique store, it is in raleigh co. wv. they are from the 1960s or 1970s. even though what ive heard they arent worth much, there getting rare and id just like to share them, any questions or comments just email : firstname.lastname@example.com or tweet me @lilgibb97


text: This is my first "real" post so I apologize if it's in the wrong place...plus, I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times. I just got my first handgun last week (G17, Gen4). Right now, I'm trying to spend time just handling it...magazines in and out, slide back and forth, remove the slide, etc, etc. I also like to get the feel of holding it in a shooting position. Is it okay to dry fire? I've looked around in different places and keep seeing different opinions. I figure the people on this forum are pretty much the experts. Please let me know your thoughts... Thanks in advance !


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JERUSALEM (Aug. 7)
Brigadier David Shaltiel declined today to enter into debate with Dov Joseph, on the latter's charges that mistakes by Brig. Shaltiel–the commander of besieged Jerusalem during Israel's War of Independence–led to the loss to the Arabs of the Jewish quarter of the Old City. Dr. Joseph, who was the wartime Governor of Jerusalem, made the charges in a book of memoirs published last week.
Asked for comments, Brig. Shaltiel, who now heads the Foreign Ministry's department combatting the Arab boycott of Israel, said that he had respect for Dr. Joseph during the war and still had respect for him. He pointed out that Dr. Joseph never mentioned his charges to him personally neither during the War of Independence nor since.
Declaring that he had not yet read Dr. Joseph's book but had read only excerpts published in the press, Brig. Shaltiel implicitly ridiculed the contention that Dr. Joseph was unaware of how desperate was the situation of the defenders of Old City's Jewish quarter.


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St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1C, Canada
1893/01/01 to 1903/01/01
The Temperance Street Houses located at 31, 35 and 37 Temperance Street are a series of three-storey, stone row houses. They are built on a steep hill and slope down toward St. John's Harbour, and are situated in one of St. John's three Heritage Areas. The designation is confined to the footprints of three of the buildings.
The Temperance Street Houses have been designated as Registered Heritage Structures because of their historic and aesthetic values. Architecturally, these houses are historically significant because of their rarity within the city as stone, row housing from the 1900s era. They are also significant for their associations with builder Samuel Garrett. Garrett was a prominent Newfoundland stonemason and began construction of the houses in 1893 as wedding gifts for his four daughters. Following the construction of numbers 31 and 33 Garrett began the project for which he became best known, the building of Cabot Tower. Cabot Tower, built in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's (Giovanni Caboto) explorations in the New World, is the site of Guglielmo Marconi's first Transatlantic Wireless signal in 1901. The aesthetic value of these buildings can be seen in their construction and design and unique materials. Surplus stone from Cabot Tower and, additionally, stone from the demolished St. George's Hospital were used in the building of the Temperance Street Houses. As they are today, the Temperance Street Houses stand as a testament to the quality of craftsmanship associated with all of Garrett's work. In addition to their renowned associated builder, these houses are valuable because they are one of the only remaining set of original stone buildings in the area. Built in a bedrock cliff, these Second Empire style houses were each made to be three-storeys tall, yet only two storeys are visible from the street. Two-foot thick stone was used to make the walls of these buildings and an air gap between the stone and the interior wooden framework provided insulation and protection from rot. The pedimented, peaked dormers located along the eaves of the Mansard roof are quite decorative, typical of the Second Empire style. Upon building the houses, Garrett effectively personalized each one by choosing different types of decorative moulding to frame each of the entranceways. Aesthetically, these houses are significant because of their close locality to Cabot Tower and, additionally, their locality within the downtown district. Since these houses were built by the same man using the same stone as was used to build Cabot Tower, many view these houses as being historically linked with Cabot Tower. Their location at the bottom of Signal Hill serves as an indicator to residents and tourists of the quality of craftsmanship to be found in Cabot Tower itself. The location of the houses in the downtown district is also valuable because these houses are among the last post-fire residential buildings left in this area. Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador unnumbered property designation file: St. John's -Temperance Street Houses (31, 35 and 37 Temperance Street).
All original features which relate to the age and style, including:-original cut stone surplus from Cabot tower and St. Georges Hospital;-all features typical of the Second Empire style including: peaked pedimented dormers, mansard roof, dentil decoration, etc.;-all original windows and doors;-original decorative moulding around each of the main doorways;-decorative brickwork around windows;-original brick pilasters;-original stone sills;-location and size of peaked dormers;-location of window and door openings; and-location, orientation and dimensions.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
Historic Resources Act
Registered Heritage Structure
Samuel Garrett
Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador1 Springdale Street, St. John's Newfoundland, A1C 5V5
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
The King George V Institute is a four storey neoclassical rectangularbuilding It is located on…
The Old London, New York and Paris Building is three storey brick Commerical Venacular style…
The Commercial Cable Company Building is a two-storey Classical Revival style structure located at…
Administered by Parks Canada


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Steepster's Ultimate Holiday Tea Contest!
Great contest! What a conversation piece that Sorapot would make!
If I win, I'll have a tea party in to time flat. many will hear of steepster, and you'll rule the world.
of course, the tea I would start this world domination with is this crazy stuff my roommate brought back from China. don't remember the name, but I'll post it soon.
This is a really great package that you're giving away!
I would first make the Golden Monkey tea from Pearl Fine teas because it sounds like one I'd really enjoy.
This is an amazing contest – I've wanted the Sorapot for a while.
If I were to win, I would definitely try the Matcha Set first – I keep trying to develop a taste for Matcha, maybe this will help ;)
This is a lovely gift set – thanks Steepster!
I think a bowl of matcha would be a great wintertime treat to start with. Obviously the Sorapot needs something special to go inside so I'd follow it up with some wild Nannuo Shan pu-erh. And then a good Da Hong Pao, and Formosan green oolong or two, and a mainland Tie Guan Yin, and a Bai Hao Yin Zhen, and a Long Jing, and a good sweet/sharp keemun, and .. well it just goes on and on. Wintertime is a great time to be a tea drinker!
This contest is quite amazing as is the teapot. I would love to make it the centerpiece for my tea cabinet.
The first thing I would brew would be a Matevana from Teavana ( a mix of beautiful flowers, almonds and just a hint of chocolate for a rich and full mate flavor)
I just found this site, I'm so excited! I would definitely make the white peony, it would look so beautiful swirling in the pot!
I'm very passionate about the whole tea preparing and drinking rituals. So I adjust my drinking taste according to the season. This time of the year is very special. You want a warm drink, with strong flavor and aromatic as well. I can't thing of anything else but the Adagio's oriental spice tea.
Wow, what an amazing prize!
The first one I would try from the prize selection is Teafrog's "Caramel Cream Rooibos". I seem to be doing pretty well with rooibos, and caramel cream sounds so yummy! Next would probably be Teafrog's "Love" rooibos tea.
I'd brew a simple white tea, unsweetened as usual.


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At Gemvara, we believe that the jewelry you wear should be as unique as you. Every beautiful Gemvara white gold december birthstone antique-inspired jewelry design will be made just for you. It's jewelry for all life's occasions, from a birthday or holiday to your own personal milestones and celebrations. Celebrate your anniversary with a brilliant gift of jewelry that will mark this moment forever. Gemvara uses only the highest quality materials to craft your white gold december birthstone antique-inspired jewelry with meticulous attention to detail. Our precious metals are recycled or responsibly mined. December's birthstones are blue topaz and tanzanite, both with a heavenly blue color: December babies get a choice of bright sky blue or deep twilight blue. The appeal of 14 karat white gold is as versatile as it is beautiful: it shines no matter the occasion. Gemvara also offers every design in premium 18k white gold, which is 75 percent pure for even more lasting value. All Gemvara white gold jewelry is rhodium plated for extra brightness. Our wide selection of white gold december birthstone antique-inspired jewelry by Martha Gomez Gutierrez, Jessica Behzad, Gemvara Essentials, and other talented designers means you can find rings, earrings, and necklaces that are exactly your style. You can also shop by style, choosing our Contemporary, Celtic, or Curated by Gemvara Collections. Love the look of antiques but have a love for the sparkle of modern gems? Our antique inspired styles have the delicacy and craftsmanship of the past but are made to fit you perfectly with the gem of your choice. When our work is done and you open that box, you'll see your design is even more beautiful when brought to life in the finest precious materials.
We can help right away. Chat with a jewelry expert now!


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You Are Here: AHRQ Archive Home > Research Activities Archive > February 2005
This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: https://info.ahrq.gov. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information.
Please go to www.ahrq.gov for current information.
The new Medicare prescription drug benefit, to be phased in by January 1, 2006, as well as the latest "consumer-directed" health benefits offer coverage with a deductible inserted in the middle rather than at the traditional front end. These policies reflect the growing trend toward what Meredith B. Rosenthal, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, calls doughnut-shaped insurance policies.
A deductible is a dollar amount below which the insurance plan does not share in the cost of health care. Plans use deductibles as a way to reduce the premium cost of an insurance plan and to a lesser degree the demand for health care services. In doughnut-hole plans, the enrollee enjoys (with coinsurance in the case of Medicare) coverage up to a point, bears full risk up to another cut-off (when the deductible kicks in), and then shares with the insurer costs incurred thereafter, typically limited to an annual out-of-pocket maximum.
Critics note that doughnut-shaped "consumer-directed" plans will save money in part by attracting healthier people who don't expect to spend enough money to reach the point when the deductible begins. Dr. Rosenthal, whose work is supported in part by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HS10803), notes that these plans will be more risky than traditional plans.
Dr. Rosenthal uses a few simple examples from the economic literature on insurance to show that for a given premium, first-dollar deductibles always offer more protection from financial risk than doughnut-hole deductibles. For example, many doughnut-hole plans include sizable deductibles of $1,000 to $2,000 that begin around the mean annual health spending for enrollees. The plans may cover the first $500 or so of health care spending to pay for a set of services that the sponsor is concerned will be forgone by consumers facing a sizable deductible, such as recommended immunizations and other preventive care. However, plans could choose to pay for the highly valued services separately instead of providing an initial lump-sum account that could just as easily be used by the enrollee for therapies of low value, suggests Dr. Rosenthal.
For more information, see "Doughnut-hole economics: Insurance often serves purposes other than risk protection," by Dr. Rosenthal, in the November 2004 Health Affairs 23(6), pp. 129-134.
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The old saw about pictures and words is turned on its head in Sasha Sinclair's "Self Portrait," 75 minutes of words unspooling the personal family hopes and history behind an attempt to capture her own likeness on canvas.
"When you paint yourself, you remember things you thought you forgot." That maxim guides Sinclair's one-woman show, which takes her back to a childhood in southern Virginia, her creative ambitions stifled by proud and fearful grandparents and stoked by a glamorous great-aunt. She escapes to Washington, "where I became an artist" and found an audience. Then, pulled back South to care for her ailing grandmother, she doubles back to reveal the secrets she's uncovered. That her severe grandfather, who ordered her not to socialize with the white kids at her all-white private school, was nearly killed in a lynching. That her grandmother saved all of Sinclair's drawings even while hitting her and calling her fat. That her "nerdy ginger" boyfriend was really the first of many gay male friends.
It's a lot to unpack. Changes of time and place are sometimes abrupt, and characters are submerged as soon as they appear. Sinclair tries to cram in so much that several years are relegated to PowerPoint slides, teasing stories left untouched, summarizing her whole college career and a series of apartment evictions. Some of her sly asides — a description of a "country ghetto fabulous nurse" who can't stop shouting and a "hate fairy" roommate — are more finely tuned than the serious moments she labors over. But those sparkling bon mots are also why it's a joy just to listen to Sinclair talk, even if she sometimes rambles.
The rough edges are smoothed over by song, the strongest weapon in Sinclair's storytelling arsenal and compelling evidence that she is the diva she set out to become. At show's end, when she finally revealed her painted self-portrait, an audience member at Sunday's performance exclaimed, "Oh, it's beautiful." She wasn't wrong.
By Sasha Sinclair. Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. and Saturday at 10 p.m., at the Gearbox at 1021 Seventh St. NW. About 75 minutes. Tickets are $17 with a Fringe button and can be purchased online.


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The 2009 Audi A3 nudges out the competition, thanks to a host of standard safety features.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the 2009 Audi A3 crash tests edge out the Volkswagen Jetta, which receives a grade of Marginal in rear crash tests and Good in front and side tests. The more expensive BMW 3-Series also falls short, garnering an Average score in rear crash tests and Good in front and side tests.
The IIHS calls the 2009 Audi A3 a Top Safety Pick, basing this prestigious title on the A3 Audi's "good performance in front, side, and rear tests and standard electronic stability control."
Kelley Blue Book reports an "electronic stability program (ESP), front seats with active head restraints, remote keyless locking, front and side airbags for driver and front passenger and the Sideguard airbag system" are part of the long list of standard safety features. ConsumerGuide also lists anti-lock brakes, traction control, and an anti-skid system as standard safety gear on the Audi A3.


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Encyclopedia Ichnographica
Aedicula Intercourse
outline - long[est] axis
--the triumphant way as the start of the long axis.
--its extremes and the sexual connotations displayed by the buildings at the center of the long axis (Templum Martis) and the buildings at the two extremes of the axis (the two nympheums and the little intercourse building on the west bank of the Tiber).
new insights - key to the language of plans
This note concerns my new insight into Piranesi's Campo Marzio. Eessentially I think I hit upon a substantial key concerning the language of the plans within the Campo Marzio. In retrospect, I think it was an understanding of Piranesi's plan language that I was interested in finding out from the very beginning--at least since I learned CAD.
The key to the language of plan forms starts with the long 'spiritual' axis of Mars and the tiny temple/shrine to the union of Mars and Rhea Silvia. I will not here go into the whole story of the long axis except to say that the Mars/Rhea Silvia shrine at the very end of the axis is the very basis of all the Piranesi plan forms. The plan of the shrine itself depicts, in simple planimetric form, the union of the male sex organ with the female sex organ. The plan is plain and simple, and where it not for its small size, would also be perceived as vulgar and blunt. Yet there is an essential beauty in its fertile simplicity--the notion of elementary plan forms is enhanced a thousand fold by the symbolism of outside vs. inside--gives it the power to spawn every other plan formation delineated.
The power and significance of the small shrine plan comes to the fore after an analysis of the second significant axis of the Campo Marzio--the Equiria. This axis represents the war/military aspect of Mars, and when compared with the long axis running through the altar to Mars, the Equiria, the race course, can be clearly considered the mundane axis (as opposed to the spiritual or sacred axis). The military character of the axis is quickly reinforced by the military offices and the military parade grounds that lie to the northern end of the Equiria. The fact that the Equiria is a horse race course also reinforces the mundane/military character of the axis, and this mundane aspect is most clearly manifest with the dirt road reality of the axis itself. (There may be the opportunity to call out a sacred vs. profane contrast between the two axes.)
Seeing how the first axis ends in sex, I was curious to see if the Equiria axis also ends in sex. While there is no building plan that explicitly depicts the co-joining of sexual organs, the north end of the axis has a pair of simple buildings--Vivaria Fulvii and Cochlearum Hirpini--made up of very few contiguous elements. I think this type of plan is the next step in the hierarchy after the sex temple. It is almost as if the sex temple starts something that quickly multiplies and mutates in the process. These two plans next to each other demonstrate the high order of symbolism in the first.
From the second order of plan, the next step up in the hierarchy is best exemplified by the sw Gymnasium on the Tiber and the Villa Publicus where the contiguous elements are still few yet numerously repeated, however there is a substantial addition of articulation in the individual contiguous pieces, especially in the carving out of space in the form of niches and thus heightening the issues of outside/inside, solid/void, figure/ground. This third type of plan formation is much more strongly related to the sex temple, yet the lesson of the second type of plan, the gemmation of a few parts, is a vital step in the evolutionary development of the plans. I wonder if I could here call it an embryonic development of the plan configuration. I also wonder if the second order of plan formation is to be considered profane vs. the sacred union of sex?
Exhibit 1 text
Life and Death within Piranesi's Ichnographia of the Campo Marzio
With a consistent dashed line, Piranesi demarcates the Triumphal Way through the Campo Marzio. The processional route begins, with historical and archeological accuracy, at the Templum Jani, which is situated at the bottom of the Ichnographia. The victor's march weaves through Rome's "theater district"--past small baths, shops, and brothels--and then continues on a long straight course towards the Tiber. Across the river, the procession turns behind the Sepulchrum Hadriani and approaches its end at the Templum Martis, the god of War and for whom the Campo Marzio is named. As the ultimate destination of the Triumphal Way, the Templum Martis is clearly among the most sacred, if not the most sacred, of places within the Campo Marzio, and, therefore, perhaps offers a key that lifts the Campo Marzio's "mask."
The Templum Martis fittingly promulgates overt manliness. Male genitalia boldly inform the Temple's plan, and the linear projection of the Temple's "endowment" manifests the Campo Marzio's longest straight axis.
As the axis of Mars spans from the Vatican Hill to the bend in the Tiber, it intersects the Campo Marzio's second longest straight axis, which bisects Hadrian's Tomb and the Bustum Hadriani. The perpendicular crossing of the two axes naturally creates a diametrical opposition. Geometry alone, however, does not represent the depth of their oppositeness.
The axis of Mars terminates at either end with a nymphaeum, while the axis through the Bustum Hadriani terminates at either end with an Imperial Tomb. The antithesis of nymphaeums and tombs is self-evident, and, therefore, attests to the axis of Mars representing life and the Bustum axis representing death.
The Bustum Hadriani with its crematoriums and funereal banqueting halls, moreover, is nothing less that a gigantic "machine" to facilitate the passage from this life to the next. Yet, for all its architectural bombast, the Bustum Hadriani can in no way compete with the exalted simplicity of the tiny unnamed structure, which is behind the nymphaeum on the bank of the Tiber and at the very tip of the axis of life.
Redrawing History - fertilized architecture
...begin the analysis of the Campo Marzio as fertilized architecture with the Porticus Neronianae. The plan itself is like the proverbial missing link because it has both the traditional and the new geometric state all in one design. There is also the solid/void issue which leads directly to the intercourse building in terms of inside/outside, figure ground, penis/vagina, male/female.
...there are references to fecundity in Tafuri, Wilton-Ely, and Fasolo.
Did Piranesi's own imagination itself reach a new "fertilized" state--a state where creative manifestation began to occur exponentially rather that merely linearly?
genetic 1 a : relating to or determined by the origin, development, prior history, or causal antecedents of some phenomenon : CAUSAL, HISTORICAL, EVOLUTIONARY b : based on or determined by evolution from a common source -- used esp. of relations among languages or among words and grammatical forms of languages c : concerned with or seeking to explain, interpret, or understand (as a literary or psychological phenomenon) in terms of its origin and development or of its causal antecedents 2 : of or relating to genetics : characterized or produced by processes of genetics
genetic 1 a : a branch of biology that deals with the heredity and variation or organisms and with the mechanisms by which these are effected 3 : GENESIS
The Longest Axis / The Axis of Life
sex, Mars, reenactment
...the phrase, "back to daddy's balls, architecture halls"... ...a connection between this line and the Ichnographia. ...Mars being the father of Romulus--the founder of Rome, and the connection of sex and conception within Templum Martis as generators...
...the prominence of Mars... ...Piranesi actively redesigned Imperial Rome as he came to understand it. Piranesi assimilated all the knowledge about this part of the city, and through that assimilation he delineated an optimal synthesis. Piranesi's plan of the Campo Marzio is not an architectural reconstruction, but an archeological redesign. Piranesi's plan is not a rendition of what was, rather a rendition of what could have been. Piranesi's plan is not a reconstruction, but an historical reenactment.
The Ichnographia is a powerful reenactment of the architectural history of the Campo Marzio. The history, moreover, is not limited to Imperial Rome. Although the buildings are named for those primarily of the late Empire, Piranesi also very cleverly and extremely subtlely reenacts the architectural history of the Campo Marzio beyond the Imperial Age, specifically the inversion/conversion of Rome from pagan state to Christian state.
The opening stage for the reenactment is the Scenographia (whose very title has obvious theatrical connotations)...
...regarding the Ichnographia as a stone fragment: a reenactment of the Forma Urbis--a virtual reenactment of discovering the great missing piece of the "puzzle" that will bring all the other piece to a grand cohesion. (...here reminded of Tafuri's opening comments to The Sphere and the Labyrinth: "There comes a moment (though not always) in research when all the pieces begin to fall into place, as in a jig-saw puzzle, where all the pieces are near at hand and only one figure can be assembled (and thus the correctness of each move be determined immediately)..."
life, death, and the triumphal way [inversion]
I spoke with Sue Dixon yesterday and told her of my latest "discoveries" regarding the life and death axes of the Ichnographia, the arch of Theodosius et al and the further symbolism of the Porticus Neronianae as an inverted basilica-cross. She too became excited by my discoveries and then also brought further insight, especially in reference to the issue of the papacy and its research during the eighteenth century into the early Christian Church. She spoke of Bianchini and his nephew (a contemporary of Piranesi's) and their dual volumes of pagan (Roman) and Christian art, and she also mentioned how the papacy of the eighteenth century had lost (more or less by force and financial restraints) much of its political power and thus took on a very pious role--exhibiting not its worldly power but its almost mystical or spiritual power.
What I was saying about the apparent Pagan-Christian conversion-inversion narrative of the Ichnographia fit with what research Sue is continually doing regarding the contemporary and early eighteenth century influences on Piranesi and the whole issue of proto-archeology - history of the eighteenth century.
After speaking with Sue, I began thinking of the significance of the arch to the victory over Judea that is situated to the western end of the Bustum Hadriani. I now see it related to the pagan-Christian conversion-inversion of Rome, but in terms of Roman history it is a somewhat marginal issue-event. Yet, in terms of Christianity, the Roman victory over Judea, and hence the fall of Jerusalem, is a significant, albeit still sorrowful, event because of this event's relationship, and indeed verification of certain-particular passages of New Testament Scripture, i.e., Jesus' answering the Apostles question of when Jerusalem would end (which I think is in Mark or the Acts of the Apostles). Seeing how a seemingly minor event in Roman (Imperial) history can at the same time be a critical event for the foundation of Christianity made me think about how the Roman Judaic victory unwittingly gave manifest confirmation that Christianity had from that point forward absorbed Judaism.
Although it comes from the margin or edge, the significance of the victory of Judea arch sheds a major light upon the narrative Piranesi tells--Piranesi's "story" is about Christianity's similar absorption and concomitant destruction of paganism. This notion of Christianity absorbing both Judaism and paganism has major theological implications, especially with regard to a heretofore perhaps ignored importance-significance of Rome and the Roman Empire within the Canon and doctrine of the Christian (Catholic) faith.
...the real axis of St. Peter's Basilica and Square. This axis is fundamental to Piranesi' axis of life--and the most significant point alone the existing axis is the burial place of St. Peter, which, although not noted in the Ichnographia, is nonetheless an ancient Roman artifact.
...the story of the Triumphal Way. ...follow the triumphal path on the plan, and explain the entire route in Roman-pagan-triumphal ritual terms. ...bring up the essential concept of reenactment, the reenactment that Piranesi here designed, especially the well planned sequence of stadia and theaters along the way. Piranesi made use of what was actually once there.
When the route reaches the wall at the Temple of Janus, attention turns to Triumphal Arch-Gate, which is closed during the years of inactivity. Does the Triumphal Way then bounce off the wall and go back the way it came? Does the Temple of Janus allow us to go in either direction? (Other clues of inversion abound: obelisk in the Horti Salustiani, Porticus Phillippi, the Arches along the Via Lata, the Via Flaminia, the Circus Flaminia, the obelisks at Augustus's Tomb. The recurring inversion theme points to a greater meaning/symbolism.) The Temple (arch) of Janus represents the Arch of Janus built by Constantine (who might himself be called the Janus figure of Christianity) and this is the initiation of the way of Christianity's triumph: the profane to the sacred; the forest, hell, purgatory, heaven; the path of salvation through Christ and the Church.)
...the way from the profane to the sacred ends at the Area-Templum Martis as symbolic of the union of the most sacred site ancient Rome (or at least its point of origin) with the most sacred site of Christian Rome (St. Peter's place of burial) and also the point of origin of Christian Rome.
The garden of Nero is the ultimate field of inversion: Horti Neroniani to Vatican City, the garden of antichrist to the Church as the Body of Christ, the foremost seat of the Church of Christ, and finally St. Peter's inverted crucifixion begins the conversion of Rome.
I will conclude the inversion from pagan to Christian story-line by returning to the axis of death and the Arch of Theodosius et al at its tip, and thus when compared with the intercourse building we have depicted the beginning and the end of pagan Rome. To this I will add the Jewish Victory monument and end with the notion that Piranesi has here used architectural plans and urban design to tell the "history" of ancient Rome, however, one has in a sense read both the "positive" and the "negative" image-plan -- a story where the first half is the reciprocal of the second half (and vice versa). (I am oddly reminded here of the double theaters story from Circle and Oval in St. Peter's Square.)
axes of life and death
...the Roman cardo and decumanus... ... wonder whether the life and death axes of the Campo Marzio are also a reenactment of the ancient town planning axes. Upon inspection of the Ichnographia, the life and death axes are just a few degrees shy of corresponding with the cardinal points. Moreover, the cardo, the north-south axis corresponds to the axis of death in the Ichnographia, and traditionally "refers to the axis around which the universe rotates." The Campo Marzio axis of life, the east-west axis, the decumanus, refers to the rising and setting of the sun.
...the Arch of Theodosius et al is placed at the tip of the axis of death. In its smallness (and apparent insignificance) it reminds of the tiny unnamed intercourse building at the tip of the axis of life. What is of utmost significance, however, is that this particular Triumphal Arch is indeed one of the very latest building additions rendered within the Ichnographia, and dates from anywhere between AD 367-395.
The placement of this arch at the tip of the axis of death is symbolic in that it represents the very end--Theodosius was the last Emperor to rule over both the East and West Empire, and it was he who instituted Christianity as the state religion--the end of the pagan empire and the end of any semblance of a totally unified empire. Thus, the intercourse building at the tip of the axis of life represents the very beginning (of life and quite possibly of the Ichnographia's plan formations, as well) and the Arch of Theodosius et al at the tip of the axis of death represents not only Rome's end as the sole capital of the civilized world, but also its end as capital of the pagan world.
It is through his plan of the city of Rome that Piranesi writes (and/or rights) the history of Rome itself. Through the Ichnographia Piranesi reenacts the history of the city.
...the Ichnographia represents Rome at its pagan zenith...
Quondam © 2010.08.21


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Johannesburg - At 9pm last Tuesday, a metro police vehicle suddenly accelerates to 184km/h on the N1 highway near Hammanskraal.
But the speeding car isn't heading to the scene of a crime; its occupants are allegedly about to commit a robbery.
Last week, The Star reported Fahim Essack's accusations that two metro police had pulled him over for speeding and held him at gunpoint before stealing R550 000 from him.
It was Essack's word against the two cops, but now tracking data from the unmarked BMW, seen by The Star, appears to fit with Essack's story.
Shortly after the alleged robbery, the BMW left the scene, travelling at 236km/h.
On Friday, two Tshwane metro police officers were arrested over the robbery. The police are not saying what evidence prompted the arrest.
A source said it appeared someone had deleted the data on the vehicle for the night under consideration off their systems and that investigators had to retrieve the information from the central control.
What the tracking device appears to show is that just after 9pm on Tuesday, the metro police car was parked on the side of the N1 highway just south of the R327 off-ramp, presumably to monitor traffic.
It then appears to speed up to 184km/h, which correlates with it chasing down Essack, who was stopped for going 169km/h. Essack says the two officers searched his car and found over half a million rand in the boot.
He was carrying large amounts of cash from his food and rice business in Zimbabwe and Musina, and had been visiting clients in the area and collecting money they owed him.
The metro police cops told Essack they were arresting him for money laundering and taking him to Hammanskraal police station.
"When (the officer) saw there was money, he called his partner, and they said they needed to get the other units involved – the money laundering units," said Essack.
He said one officer got into the car with him, while the other followed in the police car.
The tracking system appears to show that at exactly 10pm, the metro police car again pulls over on the side of the N1 next to a board announcing the Hammanskraal Ramp Plaza in 3km.
They are there for eight minutes. This is the time that Essack says the metro police officers held him at gunpoint and demanded half the money he had.
"The other officer takes out a gun, and he tells me: 'Now shut the f*** up and do what we asked you, otherwise we will shoot you and throw you into the bush'," he said.
"Under those circumstances, I had no option.I had to get into my car and drive off."
The tracking system seems to show the metro police car then doing a U-turn across the highway, and quickly gaining speed, reaching a speed of 236km/h as they pass the spot where they were waiting for cars just an hour earlier.
Entering the CBD, the car is recorded still going 192km/h. Driving along Kgosi Mampuru Street, it's still going at 127km/h. It then turns and parks in a parking lot off Boom Street.
SAPS spokeswoman Captain Augustinah Selepe said on Sunday that two metro officers, aged 32 and 28, were arrested in Gezina on Friday night.
The Star


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Ohio Politicians Rush Anti-Choice Omnibus Bill Through First Committee Meeting
HB 200, an extreme set of abortion regulations being proposed in the Ohio house, was only filed last week, but committee meetings are already being held for the bill, suggesting that it's being fast-tracked into becoming law.
HB 200, an extreme set of abortion regulations being proposed in the Ohio house, was only filed last week, but committee meetings are already being held for the bill, suggesting that it's being fast-tracked into becoming law.
The omnibus anti-choice bill was proposed by state Rep. Ron Hood (R-Asheville) with input from the National Pro-Life Association, an extremist anti-choice group that supports a "Human Life Amendment" and would like to see spousal consent added as an abortion restriction. HB 200 would double the state's mandatory waiting period, force pregnant people to undergo an ultrasound even if the procedure is not medically indicated, and force doctors to disclose their income to their patients. But the portion of the bill that seems to be gathering the most controversy is the script doctors would have to read to patients stating, among other falsehoods, that abortion is linked to breast cancer.
"There is no link between breast cancer and abortion. We have clear scientific evidence about this," Dr. Robert Crane, clinical associate professor of family medicine at the Ohio State University, told 10TV.com in an interview. "To have physicians be forced to prevaricate lies to their patients to solve some sort of political dilemma seems a real problem."
Unlike in Wisconsin, where doctors have openly campaigned against government interference in medicine, Ohio medical associations have not taken a public stance on the legislature's ongoing determination to interfere with medical best practices for doctors and patients. However, Reginald Fields, the spokesman for the Ohio State Medical Association, did tell the Associated Press that "the bill's reporting criteria would have a 'huge impact' on physicians."
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Other states have passed similar scripts, and doctors have adhered to the rules, although a few have admitted that they provide patients with additional information about the "facts" the state makes them present. In Mississippi, Dr. Willie Parker has made it no secret that although he's required to provide state-mandated information about the supposed link between abortion and breast cancer, he also tells patients that the claim is "bogus."
The Wednesday committee meeting over HB 200, its first, lasted just 30 minutes—just a third of the time spent on a bill regarding tanning salons that occurred earlier in the day. After the meeting adjourned, stateRep. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) led a press conference in which she called HB 200 "the epitome of big, intrusive, meddling government."
"This bill not only injects politics and ideology into the doctor's office, this bill has legislators prescribing unnecessary medical procedures to women with no say as to their wishes," said Rep. Antonio.
Rep. Antonio also used the press conference to speak out against all of the anti-women, anti-health agenda items stuffed into the massive 2014 budget. She called the bill amendments a "continued assault on Ohio women and their access to healthcare" and said the proposals are "an effort to jeopardize the health and well-being of the women of Ohio."
The state's Budget Conference Committee has begun to work out the final compromises on the 2014 budget, which Republican Gov. John Kasich must sign by June 30. The governor can line-item veto any elements of the bill he chooses—for instance, a measure to defund Planned Parenthood, one to support crisis pregnancy centers with money taken from the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding, and rules that would make it much easier for the state health department to close clinics that provide abortions and much more difficult for those clinics to obtain transfer agreements or variances necessary to stay open.


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Some of New Zealand's best known actors appeared on stage today for a play written by a group of intermediate school students
"Mary's Christmas Yarn" was performed in Auckland this evening to help less fortunate children on the other side of the world.
Acclaimed actor George Henare and TV actress Annie Whittle acted alongside 12-year-old Caitlyn Woodley.
Caitlyn and a group of friends from Blenheim's Bohally Intermediate won a script writing competition to have their play, which was adapted from the book "Mary's Christmas Yarn", performed by New Zealand's leading actors.
The play, in aid of ChildFund follows Mary and her pet lamb as they learn about the difference one animal can make to a third world country.
While working with big names was child's play for Caitlyn.
"It's amazing," she says. "You almost know that if you muck up, they'll guide you and get you back on track, they're so amazing it's just awesome."
It was new territory for some of the more experienced actors.
"It's great," Henare says. "It's the sort of stuff you don't get to do when you do serious theatre - to play around as much as we have on this. It's great fun."
Great fun for a great cause.
3 News
source: newshub archive


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BASEBALL; Braves' Star Fails Drug Test, Clouding Hopes for Pennant
By MURRAY CHASS
Published: September 17, 1991
Otis Nixon, the major leagues' leading base stealer and a primary reason the Atlanta Braves are in first place in the National League West, was suspended for 60 days yesterday after he tested positive for the use of cocaine. The baseball commissioner's office said that Nixon would not be eligible for the playoffs if the Braves win the division championship.
Commissioner Fay Vincent levied the suspension, his office said, because Nixon, the Braves' left fielder, violated the commissioner's drug policy and provisions of an aftercare program stemming from a 1987 drug arrest. The announcement did not say what Nixon's violation was, but a major league official said he had tested positive for cocaine.
Nixon, who had been arrested in connection with cocaine possession while he was in the minor leagues, has undergone frequent drug testing since then under baseball's aftercare program, which can also require counseling. He was nearly suspended two months ago after a contested positive test, another major league official said. 3 Weeks Left in Season
But during a hearing before Deputy Commissioner Steve Greenberg, the official said, union lawyers argued that the test results were marginal and didn't fit with the hundreds of times he had previously been tested with no positive results.
Coming with only three weeks left in the season, the suspension could have a severe impact on the Braves, who are in a tight race with the Los Angeles Dodgers and are trying to join the Minnesota Twins of the American League West as the first teams to leap from last place to first since division play began in 1969.
Although many professional athletes have been suspended for substance abuse, Nixon's suspension is one of the few that could have an effect on a championship. On the eve of Super Bowl XXIII two years ago, running back Stanley Wilson of the Cincinnati Bengals was suspended for life by the National Football League on the morning of the game for drug use.
Major league baseball's owners and the players' union had a joint drug program in the early 1980's, but the owners terminated it in October 1985. Since then, the commissioners have carried out their own policy, which is subject to challenge by the union. First-time offenders are allowed to seek treatment without formal disciplinary action, and a second-time offender is suspended for 60 days. There are no set penalties for further suspensions.
As the Braves' leadoff batter, the 32-year-old Nixon leads the league in stolen bases with 72 and is hitting .297 after having been above .300 much of the season. He helps manufacture runs with his speed, often beating out bunts and infield grounders, then stealing second and sometimes third, and he is an outstanding fielder.
"You hate like anything to lose a guy like Otis," John Schuerholz, the Braves' general manager, said by telephone from San Francisco, where the Braves played the Giants last night. "But there's nothing we can do about that. What we have to try to do is respond like we did when we lost Sid Bream and David Justice for a five-week period. We played real well in their absence. Hopefully they'll respond in the same way." 'He Was Very Quiet'
In Nixon's place, the Braves primarily will use Lonnie Smith, a veteran of post-season games, who has a .280 batting average. Smith can neither steal bases nor play defense like Nixon. They also have a rookie, Keith Mitchell, who has hit .357 in 32 games.
Schuerholz said that when he informed Nixon of the suspension, "he was very quiet; he didn't say much at all." Did he seem surprised? "I can't accurately read his emotions," the general manager said. "He didn't respond much at all."
Schuerholz said that Nixon was on the way back to Atlanta. He added that the players he saw were "sad and disappointed" at the news of Nixon's suspension.
Besides possibly hampering the Braves' playoff effort, Nixon most likely has severely hurt himself with his suspension. First, he will lose $67,500 of his $585,000 salary for missing the final 21 days of this season. Then he will lose a significant amount of salary when he sits out the first 39 days of the 1992 season. If the Braves play post-season games, those days will not be deducted from Nixon's 60-day suspension. Successful Challenges by Union
In addition, and perhaps most damaging of all, Nixon, who began his professional career with the Yankees' organization in 1979, is having by far the best season of his major league career and he can be a free agent after the season. He would be in position to secure a lucrative multiyear contract, but now teams may not be as interested in him.
Some previous drug suspensions have been successfully challenged by the union through baseball's grievance procedure, but there was no immediate indication that such a challenge would be forthcoming.
"Any player who is disciplined can file a grievance, asserting there is no just cause for the suspension or for the magnitude of the discipline," Donald Fehr, the Players Association executive director, said. "Whether that's appropriate to do in this case or if it's something Otis would want, we don't know right now. We'll have to talk to him and his agent."
After being arrested in 1987 when he was playing for Cleveland's minor league team in Buffalo, Nixon pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and underwent a 30-day drug rehabilitation program. Since then, he has been tested frequently, two or three times a week, both with the Montreal Expos, for whom he played for three seasons, and with the Braves this season.
When he appeared to test positive in July, it was the first time since the 1987 arrest that he had come under suspicion. Considering the union's argument that the test results were marginal and Nixon's clean record through hundreds of tests, the major league official said, the commissioner's office gave Nixon the benefit of the doubt and took no action.
But when a Sept. 7 test was found to be positive, a second, confirming test was conducted. The commissioner's office learned yesterday that the second test was also positive, and Vincent took immediate action.
Nixon did not show up for the Braves' game last Tuesday. Schuerholz said the player told him that he had had family problems having to do with child custody. Schuerholz said he did not know if the family problems and the aftercare violation were related.
The last player to be suspended for testing positive for drug use was Rick Leach. An outfielder with the San Francisco Giants, Leach was suspended last August for 60 days. It was the second substance-abuse incident involving Leach. The previous year, when he played for the Texas Rangers, he couldn't be located while the Rangers were in New York. When he was located, he was found to have a substance-abuse problem.
The Yankees have two players, Steve Howe and Pascual Perez, who have served suspensions for substance abuse.
Photo: Otis Nixon (Stephen Dunn/AllSport)


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Exercise Religiously
As he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, President George H. W. Bush said that the law would "ensure that people with disabilities are given the basic guarantees . . . freedom of choice, control of their lives, the opportunity to blend fully and equally into the . . . mosaic of the American mainstream." On the 12th anniversary of the ADA, President George W. Bush announced that the government would be making changes to Medicare rules to save money and curtail fraud. New rules would require all persons who receive in-home assistance to be "homebound". The rule stipulates that a homebound person is one who has "a normal inability to leave home" where "leaving home requires a considerable and taxing effort by the individual." When a person does venture out, it must be "infrequent or of relatively short duration."
The "homebound" rule has provided governmental agencies and home health providers with the excuse to terminate service to those with the severest disabilities who generally need the most assistance. David Jayne, who has Lou Gehrig's disease, was initially dropped from coverage for attending a funeral. He wasn't aware that his home health service would be terminated for leaving the home, with the exception of doctors' visits or adult day care. Jayne's psychologist filed paperwork for the discharge process for homebound violations. Newspaper coverage of Jayne's case and help from Georgia Advocacy Office lawyers won him reinstatement.
Jayne said he grew bitter being "forced under house arrest and missing out on my children's activities." "I didn't know the federal government was into rationing freedom," he said. Jayne, once an avid hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman, enjoys his children's sporting events and vacations. "I know going public with my activities would cause me to be discharged again," he says of his lobbying and advocacy, "but I wanted this punitive restriction exposed." Jayne had services cut again for having the audacity to attend a football game and speaking out on disability awareness. Unlike others who have been cut from services, Jayne has been successful in having his services restored.
In July 2002, President Bush announced a very limited policy modification so that people considered "homebound" can "occasionally take part in their communities, without fear of losing their benefits." This new language is "a step backwards," according to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), co-sponsor of the Homebound Clarification Act (H.R. 1490) to eliminate restrictions. David Moulton, Markey's aide, says Markey "vigorously objected to this language" because it appears to narrow permissible absences from the home to "things that take less than an hour."
The homebound regulation was created at a time when people with many disabilities really couldn't leave the home. Technology, advancements and ADA make it possible for people with disabilities to be active, raise children, live life, and participate in fitness and recreation opportunities.
The homebound rule puts a real damper on people with disabilities even attempting to participate in exercise or recreation. The body cannot sustain inactivity. Does the phrase "use it or lose it" come to mind? Studies demonstrate that individuals who are on a few weeks of bed rest have decreased bone mineral content, lower heart function, higher risk of blood clots, pulmonary dysfunction, and many other health problems. Inactivity results in muscle wasting, loss of bone mineral content, decreased heart strength, decreased mental and physical vigor, and increased resistance to insulin leading to diabetes. Worldwide, obesity and sedentary lifestyles are fueling what one researcher called "a catastrophe to come" in The Wall Street Journal.
Encouraging Americans to participate in fitness and exercise (National Fitness Day, July 2002) while at the same time punishing persons with disabilities unless they stay at home sends a mixed message. Is it implied that the need for health and fitness only applies to able-bodied Americans? After all, the stereotype of persons with disabilities is that of the sick invalid, not of anyone fit and healthy. It also penalizes anyone with the desire to maintain health and abilities. Someone with MS could lose home health services for having the hubris to pursue yoga or tai chi classes to maintain joint flexibility.
Exercise for persons with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, ALS, and multiple sclerosis can increase energy, improve balance, manage spasticity, decrease muscle atrophy, prevent contractures, maintain respiratory capacity, and maintain or improve strength for activities of daily living. Yet, if you are restricted by the homebound rule, to go swimming, participate in a camp or adaptive recreation program, or go someplace to use equipment such as hand ergometers for health benefits is prohibited.
Quite possibly, if people were "allowed" to get out and swim or go to use adaptive equipment for fitness, the government could allocate a little less toward medical expenditures for secondary conditions, such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and pain management.
How did ADA's "the opportunity to blend fully and equally into the . . . mosaic of the American mainstream," get translated into "occasionally?" Here's some food for thought. Medicare rules allow for unlimited trips outside the home to attend religious services. Although you are seemingly encouraged to do so, don't be stuck at home to eat, drink, watch TV, play computer games, surf the Internet, or cruise the chat rooms. Maybe your form of spirituality and getting in touch with your Creator is fishing or camping outdoors. Maybe it's riding a StimMaster. Maybe it's lying in a canoe and soaking up sun while you float down the river. Plant some flowers and tend a garden. Participate in nothing short of a miracle and get out and exercise religiously.