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Other News Articles About FRIENDS
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting has been supporting Canadian content and making news for many years now. An archive of articles about our organization can be found below.
CBC reacts to media coverage of internal study that recommends image changes for CBC News.
New Zealand is a revealing example of the impact on diversity in the broadcasting system when public service television is replaced by a market-driven funding model.
CBC employees across the country (with the exception of the province of Quebec and the city of Moncton, NB) have chosen the Canadian Media Guild as their sole bargaining agent.
Due to his actions while Finance Minister, the domestic film and television industry believes Paul Martin can reverse the damage caused by the previous government's withdrawal of support and the rising Canadian dollar.
Protests from bodies such as the Canadian Jewish Congress are unlikely to stop the CRTC from licensing the Arab station Al-Jazeera.
The government's lukewarm official response to the Lincoln report has left many in the industry fearful the two-year, 872-page study will end up a victim of bad political timing.
Changes to CTF are something FRIENDS has been recommending for years.
FRIENDS applauds the creation of incentives for broadcasters to build audience as a condition of continued CTF funding.
FRIENDS praises CTF changes that focus on the ultimate ratings success of funded productions.
CTF overhaul will begin in the 2004-2005 fiscal year and focus on drama programming.
The Canadian Television Fund has decided to make popularity its priority in funding decisions, forcing broadcasters to focus on audience-building.
FRIENDS says Canadian Television Fund changes provide an incentive for broadcasters to build audiences.
FRIENDS observes that Sheila Copps' eight years as Heritage Minister have been disappointing for Canada's cultural industries, in part because she lacked support in the federal Cabinet.
FRIENDS observes that firm hired to improve CBC's public image appears to be doing its job.
FRIENDS says the fate of the Heritage Committee's recommendations on Canadian broadcasting lies not with the current Minister, but with her successor.
FRIENDS expects that Sheila Copps' response to the House of Commons Heritage Committee report will have limited impact given the pending change of government.
Response of the Government of Canada to the report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, "Our Cultural Sovereignty".
VisionTV and its sister station One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel are lending their support to the "Tell Canadian Stories" campaign launched in September by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
Despite being one of Canada's most successful and honoured men, Izzy Asper never got rid of the chip on his shoulder.
Daryl Duke received a lifetime achievement award last weekend from the Directors Guild of Canada. He is a longstanding member of the Steering Committee of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
CPAC's Ken Rockburn interviews Ian Morrison on the origins and objectives of the Tell Canadian Stories campaign.
CRTC calls for comments on ways to improve quantity of Canadian TV drama on Canadian television.
FRIENDS cites 1999 CRTC television policy decision as key reason for decline in Canadian drama.
Fact that CBC kept mum on $10m funding cut suggests management is focused on the bigger picture of how the public broadcaster will be treated under a Paul Martin government.
CRTC calls for comments on ways to improve quantity of Canadian TV drama on Canadian television. FRIENDS plans to make submissions.
FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting's television campaign urges more Canadian drama on prime-time TV.
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting begins national television campaign urging more Canadian drama on prime-time TV.
Friends television campaign intends to raise the public's "share of mind" on the issue of Canadian programming on television.
Paul Martin's imminent appointment as Liberal Leader will result in a Prime Minister who is not a party leader, and a party leader who is not Prime Minister.
FRIENDS urges Heritage Minister Sheila Copps to make sure a consultation process on the Canadian Television Fund open to the public, not just industry players.
Coverage of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage's recommendations on Canadian broadcasting has been sparse.
The Senate Transport and Communications Committee's study of Canadian media is one of the most ambitious of its kind. FRIENDS sees a "potential virtuous link" between the Senate study and the Heritage Committee's recent report on the Canadian broadcasting system.
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps states that she would not increase base funding to the CBC if elected Prime Minister.
Canadian cable companies apply to import top U.S. channels to boost digital revenues and combat satellite TV piracy. FRIENDS notes access to U.S. channels is already strong, but does not oppose the application.
A report commissioned by the Heritage Department that proposes even tighter rules for TV and film production in Canada. FRIENDS praises the principles underlying the report.
Canada's major cable companies are applying for direct access to import and carry 17 U.S. channels. FRIENDS says access to U.S. TV is already strong.
In a report commissioned by the heritage department, François Macerola says Canadian-content rules in film and television need a dramatic overhaul and should be centralized under one federal organization. FRIENDS notes Canadian content is a complex subject that defies simple solutions.
The Macerola report recommends that the federal government's formula for defining Canadian content in film and television be overhauled. FRIENDS applauds the report's principles and tone.
Media moguls are disappointed with Heritage Committee's recommendations for Canadian Broadcasting
A study by the House of Commons heritage committee has made significant recommendations on foreign ownership limits, media convergence, CBC accountability, and funding for CBC, the Canadian Television Fund, and local and regional programming. The government says it's in no hurry to respond.
The House of Commons heritage committee says a moratorium is needed on broadcast licences for media companies seeking to own both television networks and newspapers.
The House of Commons heritage committee has come to very different conclusions than the industry committee did a few weeks ago. FRIENDS calls the heritage committee's report "groundbreaking".
Canada's major television networks are increasing the fees they charge advertisers to place spots on their prime shows.
National Post condemns Anna Maria Tremonti.
Leslie Vryenhoek's essay is one of three winning entries in the 2003 Dalton Camp Award announced today by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
Three new Canadian series and four U.S. imports will be added to the fall prime-time lineup of CTV which boasts that 2003-2004 will be its "most ambitious homegrown bundle ever."
FRIENDS says the relaxation of rules governing ownership of U.S. broadcasters and newspapers simply makes the U.S. market more like Canada.
Private broadcasters' claims of flat revenues and declining profits rings false. According to data released by FRIENDS, private networks are increasing their purchases of foreign at the expense of Canadian programming.
English drama in Canada is in decline. The Canadian appetite for American shows has reached an all-time high.
News programming gives us facts, but drama conveys experience.
A report by former CBC and CTV executive Trina McQueen recommends the federal government spend $30 million a year for five years to build audiences for Canadian drama.
Incentives recommended by a new report on Canadian drama would reward the efforts of writers and writer-producers to build audiences for their programs.
Despite a new report recommending the investment of millions in Canadian Drama, Finance Minister John Manley is holding firm on the decision to cut $25 million from the Canadian Television Fund.
A new report calls on the prime minister and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to publicly endorse the importance of Canadian drama.
Trina McQueen's report calls for more investment in Canadian drama, but critics note it doesn't call for new demands on broadcasters.
A much-anticipated report says the federal government should significantly increase its investment in Canadian drama.
Vertically-integrated Alliance Atlantis is progressively winding down Canadian production business it has received substantial public funds to build.
Sports channels Sportsnet and the Score want CRTC to approve monthly cable fee increases borne by subscribers. Friends opposes the increases.
Dalton Camp's insight and principles will be missed in Canadian journalism. In his memory, Friends has launched $5000 prize for essay on link between journalism and healthy democracy.
Friends fears uncertain federal budget will force $30 million in budget cuts at CBC, leading to layoffs and a decrease in regional programming.
Friends worries federal budget uncertainty will force cost-cutting at CBC. CBC claims extra federal funding has been confirmed.
Media moguls Robert Lantos and Izzy Asper trade allegations of lying, fraud and disloyalty to Canada in lawsuit stemming from Lantos' allegedly libelous 1998 speech.
Cable companies asked Commons industry committee to give them same foreign ownership restrictions as telecommunications companies to increase innovation, growth, fair competition. Friends opposes the request.
Despite uncertainty over federal budget, CBC plans several major productions, while Canadian TV, film producers lament CTF funding cuts. Friends urges CBC to reinvest in regional programming.
Friends speculates leadership politics are involved in 25% cut to the CTF that worries Canadian actors and producers.
The creation of Our Public Airwaves reflects increasing tension between CBC's two largest English-language unions
At McGill Institute for the Study of Canada conference, CBC president Robert Rabinovitch criticized private broadcasters for dumping American shows onto Canadian stations
About Us | News Room | Resource Centre | Media Monitor | Dalton Camp Award | Get Involved | Blog | Donate Now | Home Privacy & Policies | © copyright 1996-2012 Friends of Canadian Broadcasting | Box 200/238 131 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1R8, 866-833-1282 Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent watchdog for Canadian programming & is not affiliated with any broadcaster or political party.
FRIENDS offsets greenhouse gas emissions for all operations and is carbon-neutral.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Summer is gone and winter is here, and slowly, it's becoming colder than it should be. With the weekend upon us, why not treat yourself to a little getaway in 'raver wonderland'? To kick off winter, Brooklyn dance mainstay, Tommie Sunshine has released his latest mixtape - appropriately titled "Walking In A Raver Wonderland." This one and a half hour mix features an abundance of unreleased material, a slew of remixes and mash-ups, including some new edits from Fries & Shine; who, you guessed it, is none other than Tommie Sunshine and his pals from Disco Fries. "Walking In A Raver Wonderland" is perfect for those of you who love mixtapes that are out of the ordinary.


text:
Aug 30, 2010 - Performers: Tori Lux
- Over 900 Shoots
- Over 500 HOURS of video
- Over 140k Pictures
- Four scenes every Wednesday in HD
- Live show every Friday in HD
- Amateur Girls
- Member Forums
- Kinks: 3.62
- Buy Kinks. One Kink = One Dollar - Less if you buy in bulk!
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Tori Luxe is spending another night in the science lab with the machines. She's primed and spread for the Mamba - a futuristic machine that can remotely change stroke length, speed, penetration pattern and depth instantaneously and without leaving the inside of her pussy.
She is bound to the bench and works against her restraints and the clamped vibrator as she cums.
The pussy fucking makes her cum so hard, it only is fitting to test out how much she can cum from anal sex. The machine fucks her ass with incredible, moaning, response.
Her final test is the powerful Sybian which she can barely handle. She has to use her own drool that leaks from the metal gag to wet her clit so the machine can slip over her pussy and get her off.
Post Comment
You must Join this site to post comments.
Date | Comments | Name | |
Aug 30, 2010 |
She's friggin hot, great body, great orgasms! |
Aug 30, 2010 |
she's amazing! |
Aug 31, 2010 |
I want to be up her so much! |
Aug 31, 2010 |
OOOOHHH!!! This is the kind of shot we are waiting for. This is the perfect,ideal exciting,location/story/situation that cover 100% the "sense" of fuckingmachines. Super!!!! |
Sep 1, 2010 |
incredable |
Sep 1, 2010 |
Love these 'sci-fi' F.M. shoots.The clear restraints are much more in keeping with the theme than rope. The 'arm' holding the vibrator is perfect,cool.Perhaps Tori could have looked a little more restrained on the Sybian. Overall await the next one like this. TOMKAT, one complaint the sound for the interveiws is hard to hear especialy the interviewer, have noticed this on several shoots. Now it might be me, my system or something felt I had to mention it. |
Sep 4, 2010 |
Tori is great. Loved the anal. Great response to the machines. Keep up the good work. |
Sep 4, 2010 |
Tori was GREAT! |
Sep 17, 2010 |
Tori is too cute! Please bring her back soon! |
Oct 10, 2010 |
Sexy and really into it. Hope she comes back for more. |
Jan 6, 2011 |
my kind of pervert, this one! |
Sep 4, 2011 |
What a great shoot. Shame about the lighting on the Sybian. |
Mar 24, 2013 |
So sexy and I do enjoy your alien themes :) |


text:
US 5373184 A Abstract This is a method of forming a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer from two individual wafers. The method comprises: forming a layer of metal (e.g. titanium 24) on a first wafer; forming an insulator (e.g. oxide 32) on a second wafer; forming a bonding layer (e.g. poly 38) over the insulator; anisotropically etching the bonding layer forming chambers in the bonding layer; stacking the first and second wafers with the metal against the second wafer's bonding layer; forming a chemical bond between the metal layer and the bonding layer (e.g. between the titanium 20 and the poly 38) in a vacuum chamber, thereby creating micro-vacuum chambers (42) between the wafers; selectively etching the second wafer to form a thin semiconductor layer ( e.g. epi layer 30). This is also a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. The wafer comprises: a substrate (e.g. semiconductor substrate 20); a layer of metal (e.g. titanium 24) and semiconductor ( e.g. silicide 40) over the substrate; a bonding layer (e.g. poly 38) over the metal and semiconductor, with micro-vacuum chambers (42) in the bonding layer; an insulator (e.g. oxide 32) over the bonding layer; and a single-crystal semiconductor layer (e.g. epi layer 30) over the insulator.
Claims(10) 1. A semiconductor-on-insulator wafer; said wafer comprising:
a. a substrate; b. a metal layer over said substrate; c. a silicon bonding layer over said metal layer, comprising pillars, wherein portions of said metal layer and portions of said pillars are chemically bonded such that said portions of said metal layer and said portions of said pillars are not separately distinguishable; d. evacuated chambers between said pillars; e. an insulator over said bonding layer; and f. a semiconductor layer over said insulator. 2. The wafer of claim 1, wherein said insulator is oxide.
3. The wafer of claim 2, wherein a diffusion resistant layer is adjacent to said oxide.
4. The wafer of claim 3, wherein said diffusion resistant layer is nitride.
5. The wafer of claim 1, wherein said metal is a refractory metal.
6. The wafer of claim 5, wherein said refractory metal is titanium.
7. The wafer of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor layer is silicon.
8. The wafer of claim 1, wherein said semiconductor layer contains at least two sublayers having different dopant levels.
9. The wafer of claim 1, wherein said substrate is silicon.
10. The wafer of claim 1, wherein an insulating layer is between said substrate and said metal layer.
Description This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/815,993 filed Jan. 2, 1992 and now abandoned, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 07/633,647 filed Dec. 20, 1990 and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,821. (C) Copyright, *M* Texas Instruments Incorporated 1990. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright and mask work protection. The copyright and mask work owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and mask work rights whatsoever. This invention generally relates to semiconductor fabrication methods and devices, and more specifically to semiconductor on insulator (SOI) and heterostructure semiconductor fabrication methods and devices. SOI technologies have been investigated extensively for a number of applications including rad-hard devices, high-performance high-speed IC's, and 3-D integrated devices. SOI formation may be done by several different wafer bonding techniques. These techniques employ various bonding methods such as annealing, mechanical pressing and annealing, or electric-field pressing and annealing. Various interlayer insulators such as thermal SiO.sub.2 and doped oxide have been used. Typical wafer bonding processes, based on the Van der Waals forces require extremely flat, particle free and defect free surfaces. After the two wafers are bonded together, various thinning methods may be used on the active SOI layer. One bonding method employs a thin layer of metal, such as Ti or Al, between two nitride layers, on two wafers, which are then pressed together. A bonding by glass layer fusing technique bonds two glass layers with low softening/flow temperature. This technique, however, has been based on alkali lead borosilicate spin-on glass which can contaminate the wafer. A technique has been developed for direct bonding of Si wafers. The bonding process employs contacting of hydrogenated Si on SiO.sub.2 surfaces, which are flat with a high surface finish, and an anneal step above 900 C. in an oxidizing ambient. In a process using Van der Waals forces and chemical bonding, two oxidized wafers are contacted after cleaning in an aqueous environment. As a result, the oxidized surfaces will contain SiOH groups on which additional water molecules are bonded by hydrogen bonding. The resultant Van der Waals forces are about 10.sup.6 N/M.sup.2 between two 100 mm wafers. The wafer pair is then annealed at 1050 interface. The Van der Waals forces are converted to much stronger chemical bonds. The soot bonding process employs the following steps: spraying Si-B-O soot generated by a flame hydrolysis reaction, positioning a support substrate, and sintering. The soot particles are sprayed against heated grooved substrates. The surface of the deposited layer becomes almost flat because of selective filling of grooves. The active substrate is placed against a holding substrate and heat treated. Generally, conventional wafer bonding techniques require particle-free surfaces, surface flatness and polish, and most require high temperature anneal steps (e.g. 1000 This is a method of forming a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer from two individual wafers. Preferably the method comprises: making a first wafer by forming a first oxide layer on a substrate; forming a layer of titanium on the first oxide layer; making a second wafer by epitaxially forming a first epi layer on an active single-crystal semiconductor substrate with the first epi layer having a different doping than the semiconductor substrate; epitaxially forming a second epi layer, on the first epi layer, of different doping than the first epi layer; forming a second oxide layer on the second epi layer; forming a nitride layer on the second oxide layer; forming a third oxide layer on the nitride layer; forming a polycrystalline silicon (poly) layer on the nitride layer; anisotropically etching the poly layer forming chambers in the poly layer; stacking the first wafer's titanium metal adjacent to the second wafer's poly layer; merging the first and second wafers to form a chemical bond between the titanium layer and the poly layer, thereby creating micro-vacuum chambers between the wafers; selectively etching the semiconductor substrate layer to reveal the first epi layer; and selectively etching the first epi layer to reveal the second epi layer. More generally the method comprises: forming a layer of metal on a first wafer; forming an insulator on a second wafer; forming a bonding layer over the insulator; anisotropically etching the bonding layer forming chambers in the bonding layer; stacking the first and second wafers with the metal against the second wafer's bonding layer; forming a chemical bond between the metal layer and the bonding layer in a vacuum chamber, thereby creating micro-vacuum chambers between the wafers; selectively etching the second wafer to form a thin semiconductor layer. Preferably the insulator is of oxide; a diffusion resistant layer is utilized adjacent to the oxide and the diffusion resistant layer is nitride; the metal is a refractory metal, preferably titanium; the bonding layer is polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, germanium, or silicon germanium; and the semiconductor is silicon. Also, the second wafer is preferably made by epitaxially forming an epi layer on a semiconductor substrate, with the epi layer having a different doping than the semiconductor substrate, prior to forming the insulator. This is also a semiconductor-on-insulator wafer. The wafer comprises: a semiconductor substrate; a layer of metal and semiconductor over the substrate; a bonding layer over the metal and semiconductor, with evacuated chambers in the bonding layer; an insulator over the bonding layer; and a single-crystal semiconductor layer over the insulator. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a view of a prior art SOI wafer formed by a pulse field assisted wafer bonding process; FIGS. 2a-f are views of a preferred embodiment of this invention, during sequential processing steps, in which an SOI wafer is formed using a wafer bonding process; FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) wafer formed by a pulse field assisted wafer bonding process. The pulse-field-assisted bonding method bonds two oxidized wafers 10,12 using a carbon heater 14 at 10.sup.-1 pa while applying a pulsed voltage 16 to provide an electrostatic force. The typical bonding temperature is 800 electrical breakdown of the inter-layer insulator 18. After bonding, the combined wafer is annealed at 1100 the bonding strength. A preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2f. A method of making this preferred embodiment SOI wafer, using a wafer bonding process, will be described with reference to FIGS. 2a-2f. Initially, two wafers are formed. The first, shown in FIG. 2a, has a silicon substrate 20 upon which a layer, approximately 1 um thick, of oxide 22, preferably TEOS oxide, is formed. A layer of titanium 24, approximately 2500Å thick, is formed, by a process such as sputtering or chemical vapor depletion, over the layer of oxide 22. The second wafer, shown in FIG. 2b, begins with a p- silicon substrate 26, with an epitaxially formed buried p+ layer 28 under an epitaxially formed p- layer 30 (this portion will later contain the active circuit). Both the substrate 26 and epi layers 28,30 are shown as p type, however, they could alternately be n type. A layer of oxide 32 followed by a layer of nitride 34, each approximately 1000Å thick, are formed on the epi wafer. An optional oxide layer 36, such as TEOS oxide, approximately 1-2 um may be formed to increase the strength and prevent bowing of the final structure. The second wafer is completed by forming a layer of polycrystalline silicon (poly) 38, approximately 2 um thick. A masking step is performed on the poly 38 of wafer 2 (FIG. 2b) to generate a grid pattern of poly lines 38, approximately 2 um wide and 4 um apart, using an anisotropic poly etch. FIG. 2c shows a cross-sectional view of the wafer after the poly 38 is etched. FIG. 2d is a top level view showing the etching pattern in the poly 38 described above. The grid pattern is not the only etching pattern which may be used. It is, however, an optimal method to obtain the benefits of the final structure. The two wafers are then stacked together, with the second wafer inverted and on top of the first wafer, in an annealing chamber capable of low-pressure RF plasma processing. Pulsed voltage is applied between the heated wafer chuck and plasma while heating the stack to 700 than i Torr in Argon. The process results in the formation of TiSi.sub.2 40 where the poly beams 38 of the second wafer and the titanium layer 24 of the first wafer meet, creating a very strong chemical bond between the two wafers. As a result, micro-vacuum chambers 42 are formed between the two wafers, which enhances the bond. The resultant structure is shown in FIG. 2e. The thick p- substrate region 26 on the active side of the SOI wafer is then selectively etched to stop on the buried p+ etch stop layer 28, followed by another selective etch of the p+ region 28 which stops on the p- 30 active SOI film, shown in FIG. 2f. There are several advantages of the wafer bonding SOI technique of this invention. Wafer bonding is achieved at fairly low temperatures via silicide formation between a sputtered metal and an undoped poly layer. The bonding can be done in an Argon, or another inert, plasma environment to allow electrostatic pulsing attraction of the two wafers by applying a pulsed voltage between the wafer chuck and the opposite plasma electrode. If desired, mechanical pressing may be used instead of pulsed voltage or pulsed plasma pressing. The use of a grid pattern makes the bonding process much more tolerant of particulates and allows formation of micro-vacuum chambers. Moreover, the chemical bonding process, based on silicide formation, provides very strong bonding forces due to intermixing of two layers (poly, Ti) on two stacked wafers. The micro-vacuum chambers formed by the bonded grid pattern provide additional bonding forces and reduced capacitance coupling to the substrate. A preferred embodiment has been described in detail hereinabove. It is to be understood that the scope of the invention also comprehends embodiments different from those described, yet within the scope of the claims. For example, while the substrates used are referred to as silicon, one or both could be any other appropriate semiconductor material. Similarly, the oxide could be replaced with any other insulator, the nitride could be replaced with any material that will act as a diffusion layer, the titanium could be replaced with any suitable metal, and the poly could be replaced with any material, such as germanium, that will chemically bond with the metal used on the surface of the other wafer. The wafers are preferably bonded by the method described, however, it is not the only possible method. For example, the plasma environment is not necessary for bonding (e.g., if desired, the wafers may simply be mechanically pressed). The wafer bonding technique proposed here is also applicable to hybrid semiconductor wafers. For instance, it is possible to employ the silicide bonding method to fabricate GaAs-ON-Si, Ge-ON-Si, and other stacked semiconductor materials. This technique is a viable alternative to the MOCVD and MBE techniques for these applications. As a result, it is possible to combine any two (or more) semiconductor materials irrespective of their lattice mismatch (the conventional epitaxial growth techniques are only capable of growing closely matched layers on a given semiconductor substrate such as Si). While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of the illustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description. It is therefore intended that the appended claims encompass any such modifications or embodiments. Non-Patent Citations
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Al Pacino Calls Limo Guy Someone calls a limo service and pranks them using an Al Pacino Soundboard. 2/10/2005 12:00:00 AM 45,356
Lindsay Lohan Voice Mail The quality on this clip isnt that good but you gotta hear the rumor that is spreading around the net. Lindsay Lohan reveals some gossip! 3/13/2005 12:00:00 AM 93,539


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Kindergarteners are the center of their own world. Separating real life and fantasy is still a year or two away. Because of this, children this age often have irrational fears about things they've imagined, such as a monster under the bed.
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text: TV Scoop/ Top Headlines The Bachelor: What Are the Odds Juan Pablo and Nikki Will Last? Why Carole Returned to Real Housewives of New York Exclusive: After the Final Rose: What TV Didn't Show Exclusive: Did Juan Pablo Galavis Scrap His Proposal Plans? Flash First Look: Grant Gustin's Scarlet Suit!


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Comics Soar Again in JulyDC Tops Marvel in MarketsharePublished: 08/03/2012, Last Updated: 08/06/2012 02:51am The comics market continued its bullish run in July with dollar sales of periodical comics up 22.09% over July 2011 and graphic novels sales growing by 16.89%. These numbers represent an improvement over the year-to-date dollar sales gains for comics (20.72%) and for graphic novels (13.98%).
Of course there was a special circumstance in July, the release of issue #100 of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, which, thanks in part to the AMC basic cable adaptation, has become one of the top comic book properties. With nine different covers, this anniversary edition of the zombie comic saga garnered an amazing total of initial orders (see "'The Walking Dead' Hits 383,612 in Initial Orders"), the most for any comic since Top Cow's The Darkness #11 in 1997. The anniversary issue of The Walking Dead bumped Marvel's Avengers vs. X-Men titles from their accustomed perches atop the list. Still the AVX series appears to remain strong with the two lead AVX titles at #2 and #3, while the smackdown series AVX Vs gave Marvel its only other Top Ten title at #7. DC took six of the Top Ten spots with Batman again edging out Justice League as the top DC book. In contrast to last month when four Before Watchmen titles made the top ten, in July only Ozymandias #1, which came in at #6, made the Top 10.
DC has been steadily closing the marketshare gap with Marvel (see "First Half Comic Sales Up 18%") and in July it overtook Marvel for the top spot in Dollar Share with 32.71% to Marvel's 31.96%. Both Marvel and DC's shares were down a bit in July as Image's share, buoyed by TWD #100, rose to 9.42%. IDW Publishing remained at #4 with a 6.61% share, followed by Dark Horse Comics with 4.51%, and Dynamite Entertainment with 2.77%.
DC's marketshare was aided by a strong showing on the graphic novel side where the publisher placed five books in the Top Ten. DC's Batman: Earth One hardcover, which also topped the bookstore channel graphic novel sales in July (see "'Batman' Tops Bookstore Charts"), was the number one graphic novel in the direct market as well, followed by another DC/Vertigo title Fables: Vol. 17. IDW's Eisner-winning Parker series featuring Darwyn Cooke's excellent adaptations of the novels of Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) snagged the third spot with Richard Stark's Parker: The Score, and Dark Horse followed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9: Freefall.
Once again WizKids' HeroClix releases dominated game sales through Diamond taking the top spot with the Marvel HeroClix Chaos War Booster Block and five out of the top ten rankings overall (down from an amazing 6 of 10 in June). Risk Legacy was second, followed by the two Magic: The Gathering 2013 Core Set releases from Wizards of the Coast. For an overview and analysis of comic sales in July, see "'Batman: Earth One' Nearly 33K."
For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during July, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--July 2012." For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during July, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--July 2012." For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on comic books shipped during June, see "Top 300 Comics Actual--June 2012." For our estimates of actual sales by Diamond U.S. from comic specialty stores on graphic novels shipped during June, see "Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--June 2012." For an overview and analysis of the best-selling comics and graphic novels in June, see "Eight Comics Over 100,000 in June." For an analysis of the dollar trends in June, see "First Half Comic Sale Up 18%." For our index to our reports on the top comic and graphic novel preorders for January 2000 through July 2012, see "ICv2's Top 300 Comics and Top 300 GNs Index."
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The BBB advises consumers to weigh the cost of buyback plans for technology products against the benefits promised. The plans may not be worth the money.
If you have unused mobile phones, laptops and other electronics lying around, they may be worth some money.
A laptop computer defines convenience and mobility. It enables you to work from home, a hotel room, a conference hall, or a coffee shop.


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Capital and mortgage financing rules being drafted in Washington and elsewhere raise the possibility that the United States will become increasingly split between affluent home owners and less affluent renters, because lenders will be constrained to stay within tight mortgage underwriting rules that many households won't be able to penetrate.
That's the grim assessment of a meeting of several dozen housing, consumer, and other organizations in Washington last week to look at the regulations coming down the pike as a result of the housing bust several years ago.
The meeting of the Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy, hosted by NAR at its Washington offices, heard from a panel of some of the country's most highly regarded banking and mortgage financing experts, including Lew Ranieri, one of the creators of the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, Gene Ludwig, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency under President Bill Clinton, and Jim Millstein, a Treasury official who oversaw the restructuring of insurer AIG in the aftermath of the mortgage crisis.
"We're going to look back at these regulations five years from now and wonder, 'What the heck did we do?'" said Millstein.
The regulations that have so many in the industry worried are two from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act enacted two years ago: QM and QRM. QM stands for "qualified mortgage" and the rule would set standards for lenders to ensure they only make loans to borrowers who have the ability to repay them. The rules would apply to all mortgage loans. QRM refers to "qualified residential mortgage" and the rule would set minimum underwriting standards for loans that are packaged into securities and sold to investors. QRM applies only to securitized loans, with the exception of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, although once those two companies are out of U.S. conservatorship, their loans would be subject to QRM as well.
A third rule that is now on the horizon is known as Basel III, a set of proposed international banking standards being written in Basel, Switzerland, that would include requirements on how much capital banks must hold on their books based on the type of loans they make. In previous Basel iterations (Basel I and Basel II), the rules apply only to the largest banks, but there is concern that aspects of Basel III could apply to regional and community banks as well. The rules don't have the force of law unless countries choose to adopt and enforce them. Banks in countries that have not adopted the rules might still have to abide by them, though, if they do business in countries that have adopted them.
Against these proposed rules are other factors that threaten to dramatically change the home ownership landscape: what to do with the two secondary mortgage market companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are now into their fourth year of conservatorship, and what to do with FHA, which has seen its market share soar since the housing bust but has analysts worried about its exposure.
A similar risk exists with QRM. If that rule requires a minimum down payment, such as 20 percent, much of the first-time buyer market outside of FHA would disappear.
Among the Basel III proposed standards that are troubling are finely detailed risk-weighting requirements that would force banks to hold more capital for all but the most conservative loans.
All three of these new rules becoming final in their current form would effectively create a have and have-not market in the U.S., "creating disparities outside of FHA that are very uneven," said David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association and 2009-2010 FHA Commissioner.
There's some irony there, Stevens suggested. Because HUD and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are writing "disparate impact" rules that would penalize lenders for loan practices that widen the disparities between borrowers. Thus, lenders face the possibility of adhering to QM, QRM, and Basel III and getting slapped with disparate impact penalties as a result. "This is leading to a real challenge around fair lending," said Stevens.
There's another irony as well, and that's a delay in the day when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can be taken out of conservatorship and possibly replaced, paving the way for the development of a fully private mortgage market, which both the federal government and industry participants say they want. Right now, Fannie, Freddie, and FHA comprise the lion's share of the mortgage market—by some estimates, more than 90 percent. If QRM rules are too tight, the federal government will face pressure to keep Fannie and Freddie under conservatorship rather than let their loans become subject to the new rules.
Thus, the industry finds itself on the horns of a dilemma: On the one hand, overly tight regulations will force all but a few borrowers into government-backed loans, delaying the development of a private market, while on the other, even when a private market is developed, it will be a sharply divided one, catering only to wealthy households that can meet the tight standards while everyone else must use FHA (or Fannie and Freddie, if they remain in some form), or be forced to stay in the rental market.
"What I see now is a turn away from home ownership in America," said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who provided closing remarks at the meeting, "an inability to finance home ownership. And a rental America is weaker than a home owner America, I can tell you that. We're a nation of owners and not tenants, and that's one of the great differences between the United States and many other countries. So, we've got to be really outspoken. Otherwise, if these rules start coming down after the election on Nov. 6, the administration is going to face not only a protracted unemployment of 8 percent, but a draconian drop in consumer confidence as housing becomes out of reach for almost everybody."
Other presenters at the meeting were Jim Parrott of the National Economic Council, Michael Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending, Ray Natter, former counsel with the OCC and Federal Reserve, Susan Wachter of the University of Pennsylvania, and Brian Gardner, a Washington policy analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
When you think of jumbo mortgages you might think of expensive homes, but in many markets throughout the country prices are high enough that jumbos are needed just to buy a home that's not much more than the median home price or, in some cases, even at the median price. With prices now heading up again on a national basis, jumbos will become more important for home buyers.
Jumbos today start at $625,500 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, and $729,750 for FHA loans.
With these trends in mind, REALTOR® Magazine hosted a webinar on August 7 with PNC Mortgage to look at what lenders are looking for from loan applicants and how their agents can help their clients be in the best position when they apply for financing.
It's a big topic, but some of the things we sought answers to were these:
- What's the pricing in the market today?
- What's driving rates on the product?
- What factors do lenders look at when processing loan applications?
- Who is a typical type of client in the market?
- What makes the jumbo process different from conventional loans?
- What type of documentation can a client expect to provide to a lender?
- what do agents need to be mindful of given the added complexity of jumbo loan processing?
- What are pre-approval issues to be aware of?
To look into these and other questions, we talked with Amy Green, owner of Coastal Premier Properties, and Bill Reiter, a loan officer at PNC Mortgage. They're both in San Diego but what they have to say is applicable to the jumbo sector throughout the country, because they talk about best practices that go beyond locality. And they frequently work on transactions together, so they talk a lot about how to make the agent-lender relationship work.
We also heard from Arnold Simon, a PNC Mortgage executive, who provides his take on the market from his vantage point. NAR Director of Regional Economics Ken Fears is on hand, too, for an update on home sales in the jumbo price range.
Without a doubt, the challenges your clients face getting financing is the issue for today. Buyer demand is not the issue. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says the demand is there; what's holding sales back today is the friction in the mortgage market—both the conventional and the jumbo markets. Our goal with this webinar was to find out what you can do to help your clients get the financing they need to buy the house they want.
REALTORS® have their own university now, and it's both a very real university and a very different one. It's real in the sense that the first degree-granting program on offer—the Master of Real Estate (MRE)—is a fully recognized degree by the Illinois Board of Higher Education. What makes it different is that it was designed from the beginning to be practical. That means it's all online, so you can go back to school for your Master's no matter where in the country you're located and without having to take time away from selling real estate, because to a certain extent you can do your work when it suits your schedule. It also means its curriculum, while adhering to academic standards for rigor, is also concrete by design, so that what you get is more than theory; you get practical knowledge that translates into practical business know-how for you today.
Al Naticchioni, CCIM, CRS, a 30-year veteran real estate broker in Redding, Calif., who owns his own RE/MAX office, is one of about two dozen graduate students in the program's 2012 academic year and already he's taken what he's learned to save one of his transactions from falling apart. He was working with a buyer who had made an offer on a property that was being sold by a trust. When the trustee passed away, the replacement trustee said the property was being taken off the market. But Naticchioni had just learned about trusts in his Real Estate Law class and, using the research skills he learned, was able to show that the trust had to follow through on the original trustee's wishes as long as it could be demonstrated that the sale was in the best interests of the trust, which he was able to do. The result: the transaction stayed on track.
Another first-year MRE student, Erica Ramus, who owns Ramus Realty Group in Pottsvile, Pa., applied what she learned in a matter involving mineral rights in a shale-gas contract. Her market is a big shale-gas area and her class gave her the tools to understand the details of these complex leases. "I learned to analyze a shale gas lease, so right way I used something from the class," she said.
Like any Master's program, applicants have to have a Bachelor's degree and meet academic requirements. The school looks for a minimum 3.0 undergraduate grade point average (GPA), although the school will look at test scores as well for students who fall below that. The program requires completion of 36 credit hours (12 classes), although some classes can be waived for students who've already taken academically equivalent classes.
The school also has a research arm, the Center for Real Estate Studies, which has already published two academic papers, including one we reported on earlier that looks at the "hurdle rate," which is the point at which it makes more financial sense for a person to buy rather than to rent. Upcoming papers will look at forecasting housing demand in the decades ahead and the type of housing that different generatons will be interested in in the near future.
It's an exciting time for the school, and there's more to come, says the chair of the school's Board of Regents, Richard Rosenthal, DSA, president of The Rosenthal Group in Marina Del Ray, Calif. As soon as it can, it will apply for academic accreditation with the accrediting body (it takes two years of operating background before it can even consider applying for candidacy) and it will start to reach out to students globally soon.
The 7-minute video above is a REALTOR® Magazine report on how the school's doing in its first year. If you're thinking about getting your Master's degree or know someone who is, the video should be informative. In it, students in the program share their observations about taking classes online and how the curriculum relates to their day job, which is selling real estate.
About two years ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development revamped the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and the Good Faith Estimate (GFE). Among other things, the forms were shortened and some "tolerances" were added to decrease the incidences in which figures on the HUD-1 differed too much from what was originally estimated on the GFE. The changes required HUD to provide a lot of training to everyone involved in the settlement process, including real estate practitioners.
Now, here we are two years later, and these same two forms, the HUD-1 and the GFE, are the subject once again of a revamping, this time by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In part, the agency needs to make changes because by law it's required to harmonize the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) disclosures with the settlement forms.
NAR is still looking at CFPB's proposed changes, which are detailed in an 1,100-page rule. You read that right: 1,100 pages. So, it'll take some time to get a good picture of exactly what the agency is proposing. But, at this point, it looks like CFPB is trying to do too much, and already NAR sees some potential trouble spots.
First, the agency left it unclear who is supposed to fill out the proposed combined settlement form. Is it the lender or the closing agent?
Second, the agency has left it ambiguous what kinds of things can derail the closing with a three-day delay. Building in a three-day delay sounds good for consumers in theory, because if there is a big discrepancy in what they were told in the loan estimate and what shows up in the settlement form, they should have time to review that. But if the delay is triggered by something minor, then the closing will get snagged at the 11th hour for little purpose, and no one wants that.
Third, the sheer breadth of changes has to have a disruptive effect on closings as lenders and title agents and even practitioners figure out what has changed and what hasn't. And is that a good thing to be dealing with now, when the housing market is still trying to recover and other big rules—like the qualified mortgage (QM) rule—are still waiting to drop? (QM is intended to set minimum underwriting standards for lenders to prevent them from originating loans to borrowers who lack the ability to repay.)
It might just be too much right now.
In any case, CFPB is taking public comments until Nov. 6 on most of the rule. It's worth your time to familiarize yourself with the main changes and share your thoughts with the agency. CFPB has a reputation for being good about asking for and considering public input, so consider taking advantage of this opportunity to share your thoughts.
In the 6-minute video above, Ken Trepeta, director of Real Estate Services for NAR,walks us through the main points of the rule.
When President Obama signed into law the long-term reauthorization of federal flood insurance about two weeks ago he also reauthorized the government's transportation funding programs. The two were part of the same bill.
We think of transportation a lot at the local level. Few things are as important to community quality of life than how well traffic flows in and around one's metro area. Long commutes definitely don't rate well when people are thinking about the quality of life where they live.
Transit programs are important, too, even in the car-oriented west, where many metro areas are putting in light rail or have a project in the planning stages. Studies have shown that homes along transit corridors enjoy strong values, even during downturns, as we saw in the last one.
What the big transportation law does is continue existing funding programs at $109 billion until mid-2014. The funding comes primarily from the gas tax, which is roughy 18 cents per gallon (more for diesel), with additional amounts from other, temporary sources. The additional sources are needed to close the anticipated gap between what the gas tax collects and what projects need for funding.
The gas tax money goes into the Highway Trust Fund, which dates back to the 1950s. The original idea was that the tax collections that go into the fund would flow out to states and localities to construct new and maintain existing roads and highways. The federal government keeps a portion for additional projects, including transit systems and other types of transportation infrastructure.
The trust fund continues to work the way it always has, but in part because cars are more fuel-efficient now, revenues going into the fund aren't keeping pace with the need, so the new law brings in additional funds from other sources to supplement the trust fund to close any gap that opens up.
Bottom line: transportation is vitally important to communities, so it's a real estate issue, and that's why NAR follows what happens with the federal government's efforts in funding transportation projects. The new law doesn't do much to change the programs. Funding allocation processes are revamped a little, with states getting a bit more discretion and a bit less accountability in how they use their money. And the way local entities get funding is revised a bit, too.
In the 6-minute video above, NAR Policy Analyst Darren Smith talks about the details of the bill. If you're interested in information on getting involved in transportation issues, or getting your state or local association involved, if it's not already, you might spend some time with NAR's transportation tool kit, which you can access here.
REALTORS® claimed a big victory last week when President Obama signed into law the 5-year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program. NAR spent years advocating on behalf of this legislation and its 1 million members, by participating in several calls for action and making passage a talking point on Hill visits for years, were instrumental in getting it finally passed.
More than just helping to get the law passed, REALTORS® were instrumental in making it a better piece of legislation.
First and foremost, the law reauthorizes federal flood insurance authority for the long-term, eliminating the constant uncertainty that flood insurance wouldn't be available in the 21,000 communities where it's required for obtaining a mortgage. Second, it maintains comprehensive coverage for all properties, including second homes and vacation homes. Third, it's a revenue raiser, which will help pay down a loan from the U.S. Treasury to cover the massive Hurricane Katrina costs from 2005. Fourth, it improves the accuracy of flood plain mapping, which will continue a trend toward improved mapping so that the industry has clarity over where flood insurance is required and where it's not. And fifth, it builds in the opportunity for further improvements to the entire flood insurance program over time, so if things aren't working well, NAR and others will know it and have a framework for getting improvements built in.
There are many other positives to the new law, including a much improved appeals process for home owners to challenge the accuracy of the flood plain map that the federal government is using for their area.
As NAR President Moe Veissi says in a previous post on this blog, getting this reauthorization and reform program enacted into law shows that bipartisanship in the federal government still exists when the need is clear and the legislation is reasonable. It's no surprise that it's a program important to real estate that serves as a bipartisan vehicle for cooperation, because real estate in general and home ownership in particular are among the most bipartisan matters the federal government deals with on a regular basis.
There will be plenty of legislative and regulatory challenges for real estate in the months and years ahead, but for now, real estate shows once again it has the power to bind lawmakers together for the common good.
Get all the details about flood insurance reauthorization on REALTOR.org.
Read the new law in its entirety. Flood insurance reauthorization is Title II.
A message from NAR President Moe Veissi:
YOU DID IT! Late last week Congress finally acted on one of your key legislative priorities, a five-year reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Even better news, we just received word that the president is expected to sign it into law tomorrow, Friday, July 6, 2012.
All the D.C. pundits said nothing would be accomplished in an election year! You just proved them wrong because you didn't give up, and now you have the victory to confirm it!
The reason I'm writing this today is to reinforce the commitment of your National Association to you and every other member who expects us to persevere on issues of importance to our members and your clients – the consumers, homeowners, and potential home owners of the future.
NAR, with your help and influence, stayed the course to give lenders and home owners more certainty in the mortgage and real estate market place with available flood insurance for existing home owners and those buying and selling.
This has been a long, arduous battle. The National Flood Insurance Program suffered through over 18 short-term extensions and hobbled along for the last four years without a long-term reauthorization forthcoming from D.C.
It was your charge to us not to give up, not to accept anything less than a long-term reauthorization of the Flood Insurance Program. So, we battled to get every inch along those short-term extensions until now when a full five-year reauthorization has been approved.
This fight traveled over several administrations and more than a few presidents of NAR. I'm proud to represent them and the management team in this victory for you.
But, while I'm proud of my predecessors in leadership, and equally as proud of the most effective management team both in Chicago and D.C., I am especially proud of you!
When called upon to respond to our Calls to Action, you did. When asked to invest in your business, you have. And, when asked to step up and participate you resoundingly did that, too.
New battles lay ahead. There will be no easy victories. Now more than ever, it is our responsibility to be steadfast protectors of the American Dream of home ownership. If not us who? If not now when? So, when we call on you like we did to rally, when we call on you like we do to respond to the calls for action, please; continue to show your commitment.
God bless you all. You are what this country is all about! Rally on REALTOR® Party!
You truly are the heart of the deal… many thanks.
More at REALTOR.org: Congress Reauthorizes Flood Insurance for 5 Years
The magazine's April 19 legal webinar with National Association of Realtors® attorneys Ralph Holmen and Finley Maxson made a good jumping off point for a series of blog posts. In previous posts, I discussed the RESPA case, Freeman v. Quicken Loans (recently decided by the Supreme Court in favor of NAR's position; see "Supreme Court Provides Clarity on Brokerages' Administrative Fees") and the Fair Housing case Gallagher v. Magner. This week, I explore the property rights victory in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.
NAR First Vice President Steve Brown wrote about the case in the NAR Leadership Team's Voices of Real Estate blog ("The Supremes Rule"), and even though this case has been covered quite a bit, it's worth examining more closely because it speaks so profoundly to an issue that's at the core of NAR's purpose—private property rights. The plaintiffs, Michael and Chantell Sackett, bought land in 2005 with the intention of building a house on it. Today, despite the Supreme Court decision in their favor, the Sacketts are still living in a leased property and waiting to build that house—and it's quite possible their case could be in the courts for several years, according to their attorney, Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation.
I wanted to offer a closer look at what the Supreme Court did and didn't resolve—and to look at what else real estate practitioners should consider when they're selling land in wetlands areas.
The Issue: What rights do property owners have to challenge Environmental Protection Agency determinations?
The Law: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is charged with writing rules for and enforcing environmental laws, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Among provisions of the Clean Water Act are rules regarding the preservation of wetlands, defined by the EPA as "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas."
The Clean Water Act gives the EPA authority to regulate development on a wetland that's in the area of a "traditional navigable water"—but property owners have often been at odds with the agency over (a) what constitutes a navigable water and (b) what relationship that water and the wetland need to have. This conflict has resulted in owners seeking to challenge so-called EPA wetlands determinations in court. In the past, judges have held that EPA determinations couldn't be challenged in court by property owners. It sounds ludicrous, but to get their day in court, owners had to fail to comply with the determination and wait to be sued by the agency. In the case National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for example, the plantiffs sought judicial review of an EPA determination, but a district court granted an EPA and Army Corps of Engineers' motion to dismiss on the grounds that the agencies must be able to administer the Clean Water Act "without becoming entangled in premature litigation." The Sacketts faced the same barrier.
The Case: Michael and Chantell Sacketts owned a 2/3-acre lot within a developed subdivision that already had a sewer infrastructure in place. The subdivision overlooks Priest Lake in the Idaho panhandle. As my colleague Rob Freedman explained in a post written before the Supreme Court decision came down, "The couple secured local building permits and even received a verbal okay from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the property, which has water on it periodically but isn't adjacent to any standing body of water, is not a wetlands."
But when the Sacketts began taking the first steps toward building a house—filling in a portion of their lot with dirt and rocks—EPA officials ordered them to stop and to restore the property to its original state. The Sacketts asked for an EPA hearing but were denied, so they brought the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho. They said the EPA's order was "arbitrary [and] capricious" under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and that their inability to gain judicial review violated the Fifth Amendment, which states that "No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Their court dismissed their claims, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court's ruling.
In 2011, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Along with a number of other organizations, NAR filed an amicus curiae brief that pointed out, among other things, that environmental groups have had no trouble gaining judicial review of agency determinations. "Thus," the brief said, "as it now stands, judicial review of jurisdictional determinations is a one-way ratchet . . .."
The Decision: On March 21, 2012, the Supreme Court affirmed NAR's position, granting the Sacketts the right to challenge the EPA determination. The justices unanimously rejected the government's assertion that the EPA determination wasn't a "final order," and thus wasn't subject to judicial review.
The Sacketts' case is now back in District Court—and the couple will get their day in court. The chance of success depends on the evidence. "We don't know what is in the EPA's record," Schiff says. "They never had to file evidence. I'm hopeful that sometime this year, the EPA will file its record and we'll be able to see what evidence the agency has to support its determination. I suspect there's not much because EPA was never on the property."
Even if the judge decides in the Sacketts' favor, the case could be held up for years in appeals.
Why It's Significant for Real Estate Professionals:
Unfortunately, when it comes to wetlands, there's no blanket rule you can follow to counsel clients. "You can have wetlands experts disagree among themselves about what constitutes a wetland, so determinations will continue to be made on a case-by-case basis," Schiff says.
After Sackett, however, property owners who receive an EPA compliance order now have means to challenge the order. "Obviously, it doesn't mean that every single compliance act will become the subject of litigation," Schiff says, "but [owners] now have a bargaining chip."
Will Sackett change the way EPA makes determinations? "I certainly think so," Schiff says. "Senior official have said they don't think the decision will have much effect in practice. In my view, I don't see how it cannot. It makes sense that an agency knows that if it can't be held to accountable, it will act differently. Because it now knows that it can be held to accountable, it'll spend more time researching before it makes a determination. If has to submit records to court, the agency has an incentive to do a better job."
One issue the Sackett decision doesn't address is federal reach. That is, which wetlands does the federal government have the right to regulate and which are off limits? "That's been the subject of litigation for last two decades," Schiff says. In a concurring opinion to Sackett, Justice Alito takes a direct stab at the issue of federal reach, calling on Congress to provide guidance: " . . . the combination of the uncertain reach of the Clean Water Act and the draconian penalties imposed for the sort of violations alleged in this case still leaves most property owners with little practical alternative but to dance to the EPA's tune. Real relief requires Congress to do what it should have done in the first place: provide a reasonably clear rule regarding the reach of the Clean Water Act."
In this election year, I don't expect the issue to be high on Congress's list.
What Else Do You Need to Know About Selling in Wetlands Areas?
The Sackett decision doesn't free buyers from the need to conduct due diligence. Before they sign a purchase contract, buyers who plan to make improvements or continue an existing commercial use are strongly encouraged to engage a qualified environmental consultant. Among other things, the consultant can help determine whether any environmental reporting or permitting is required for their intended use of the property. The "Real Estate Acquisition Due Diligence Checklist," provided courtesy of Minneapolis attorney Andy Jacobson, provides a good starting point; however, buyers in your area should be sure to consult an attorney who knows the state and local rules and regulations that apply.
To learn more about wetlands, visit these sites:
U.S. EPA: http://water.epa.gov/type/wetlands/index.cfm
National Wetlands Inventory from the National Fish & Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/
New York Times Op-Ed: Where Are the Clean Water Rules?
Additional Resources:
NAR's Field Guide to Land Investment (updated June 2012)
Law & Ethics Section of REALTOR.org
Law & Ethics Section of REALTOR® Magazine online
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We have 11 new Hey Henrys this week!
Submit your "Hey Henry"
By Melissa Robinson Contributing Editor
11Alive News brought its morning news program to Downtown McDonough this past Friday morning where anchorman Ted Hall and traffic reporter Elle Duncan reported from the historic McDonough Square. Crews began setting up at 2:00 a.m. and the show was broadcast live from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.
11Alive's Ted Hall stands with a crowd of McDonough residents, including members of the Henry Players. (Right) Hall interviews Mayor Billy Copeland on the Square. Photo by Melissa Robinson
Many residents and groups turned out for the early morning show to welcome the crew, including The Henry Players, various cheerleaders and dance troops, the Southside runners, the McDonough Lions Club and city officials, including Mayor Billy Copeland, who was interviewed near the 7 o'clock hour.
Hall interviews Mayor Billy Copeland on the Square. Photo by Melissa Robinson
Elle Duncan greets Clark Gable, a spider monkey from Noah's Ark Sanctuary. Photo by Melissa Robinson
Hall gave airtime to several individuals and local businesses, including the owners of Gritz Restaurant and Neil Daniel, owner of Kirby G's Diner, who served up hamburgers to the crew. Representatives from the Henry County Humane Society and Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary were also on hand, and Gabe the Spider Monkey, from Noah's Ark, stole the show off-camera after a little tantrum over a sign he apparently didn't like.
©Henry County Times, Inc.


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Supporting food that is Good, Clean & Fair.
Time: May 20, 2011 to May 22, 2011 Location: Pavilion Theatre (and various venues) Street: Lisdoonvarna village, City/Town: County Clare, Ireland Website or Map: http://www.slowfoodclare.com… Event Type: weekend, of, events Organized By: Slow Food Clare festival organisers (Fergal & I will be attending- yeah!, we are members of SF Clare too) Latest Activity: Apr 23, 2011
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For anyone heading to Ireland next month, the Burren Slow Food Festival 2011 should be on the list! A weekend of events- tastings, farmers' markets, music, cookery demonstrations, heritage walks and even a gala dinner to showcase, celebrate and to share the produce, culinary talents, cultural heritage and eats from County Clare (and all of Ireland). Check out Slow Food Clare on the web or their facebook page (or twitter too, I think) for more details.
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David Owen Dudley ( United Kingdom )
Drawing; Mixed Media; Painting; Photography; Print
Born and lived in Mottram Hall Prestbury Cheshire, my upbringing being divided between England and Southern Africa, I now live and work at my family home in the beautiful Ribble Valley. My paintings illustrate my fascination with architectural design and social observations/living. Never without a sketchbook I'm constantly drawing, sometimes the drawings are left as drawn and other times they are develop into paintings. My main source of influence is architecture and everything around me; I'm fascinated by the architectural landscape offered by many town, villages and cities around the world, both modern and 'old world'. I favour mixing oils directly on the canvas painting in the impasto style, usually so that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. I also consider the works of Van Gogh, Rolf Harris, John Myatt and the many talented artists who display work as having a strong affect on my work. Usually a Realism artist in oils I have recently, with encouragement from friends, started to experiment with watercolours. Washes are my favoured style in Watercolours; I'm combining non-waterproof black Winsor & Newton ink with the wash giving added realism in this style of painting.
Comments received
The "Ballantynes Close"I like a lot. lovely Vibrant colours. I also like the fact that you give all the details about your buildings,I appreciate that. lenamagazi - 9/16/2010 8:45:46 PM
I like very much "Distance" on s'y croirait! Félicitations! Françoise soazann - 9/5/2010 8:45:43 PM
Hello David, thanks for your comment. I really appreciate these paintings, the colours and the atmosphere. Especially "Viaduct". artemis - 8/1/2010 11:15:29 PM
j'aime beaucoup bakerhouse shop je pense que vous devriez cntinuer dans cette optique surtout au niveau des couleurs vous avez beaucoup d'imagination dany - 7/28/2010 4:25:33 PM
you have a great style......Fleshmarket close is fantastic..... TONYBISHOP - 7/15/2010 5:21:34 PM
Bonsoir.Je suis nouveau sur Culture Inside et je viens de voir vos commentaires sur mes aquarelles.Merci .J'aime aussi votre façon de peindre les personnages. Cordialement.José. desilve - 6/8/2010 8:37:28 PM
Comments sent
cool artwork with great colours lordowendudley - 10/18/2011 12:11:46 PM
hard times - very nice panting, love the colours lordowendudley - 8/1/2010 7:00:01 PM
Love this painting lordowendudley - 7/29/2010 9:50:57 AM
Good composition and colour. lordowendudley - 7/22/2010 2:25:58 PM
Nice work lordowendudley - 7/15/2010 5:05:41 PM
Great work Tony, colours are spot on! lordowendudley - 7/15/2010 5:01:03 PM
Hi Jose, Love the way you have interpreted the stonework of the buildings, good tonal and descriptions of each piece. I would consider it a privilege to have you as an artist friend.. Kind regards, David lordowendudley - 5/27/2010 9:33:47 AM
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- Sizzling news: Oscar Mayer creates the bacon alarm, complete with scent
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After learning in November of 2012 that funds had gone missing over a period of at least seven years, league officers restructured operations.
State Debate: Editorial writers, bloggers mull the governor's office
A daily roundup of interesting newspaper editorials and blog posts from around Madison and Wisconsin.
Democrats running for attorney general to field questions in Madison Tuesday
A forum Tuesday will allow Madison voters to meet the three Democratic candidates. The Republican candidate will not be able to attend.
Morning briefing: Madison couple shown in governors' group's anti-Burke ad aren't really poor
Stories that are making the news today in Madison and around the state and country.
Quick Question: Do you think electronic cigarettes should be exempt from the state ban on tobacco smoking indoors?
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Analysts ask whether Badgers can be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament
The Badgers would need to win out and maybe get some help for that to happen.
Dane County clerk of courts, sheriff to get raises
The County Board proposes to boost the pay for the elected positions to offset Act 10 requirements.
Morning briefing: Scott Walker ties for fifth in CPAC straw poll
Stories that are making the news today in Madison and around the state and country.
Plain Talk: It's about fairness: Tax Internet sales
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Newest Review: ... wonder? Well, quite a lot when you're a vulnerable human and all the other guests are vampires. Following the disasterous party Edward de... more
Romeo and Juliet, but with vampires
Twilight Saga: New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
Member Name: Natasha_25
Twilight Saga: New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
Date: 27/07/10
Advantages: good plot, well written
Disadvantages: not particularly likable main character
I may not have been overly keen to start on the Twilight Saga, but I couldn't help finding out what happened next, so I moved onto the second book in the Twilight series.
Bella is depressed; it's her eighteenth birthday so she is now officially older than Edward, even though he was born in 1901, however she can't refuse to go to Edward's house when his family have got so excited. It's when she is unwrapping her presents that Bella, as only she would, gets a paper cut. The blood drips onto the carpet and Jasper, the most recent veggie vampire, can't restrain himself, so Edward has to, but in his protectiveness he accidentally causes Bella to cut her arm, causing all but Dr. Carlisle Cullen to become ravenous.
They managed to control themselves by going outside and leaving the Dr to stitch up her arm, but Edward refuses to let this happen again.
He becomes cold towards Bella and finally tells her he doesn't love her anymore, but not to worry because she will forget about him as humans have memories like sieves!
She enters into severe depressions and the only one able to draw her out is an old family friend, Jacob Black.
Bella begins to hear Edward's voice whenever she does anything dangerous, so she secretly takes up motor biking and cliff diving with Jacob.
Despair sets in again when Jacob, who she has solely relied on for the past few months, won't see her and doesn't return her calls. Finally it turns out he has joined Sam's gang, something he was very afraid of and determined never to join. Bella tries to get him alone and take him away from the scary gang but it turns out to be far more scary that she thought; it's a pack. The boys have become werewolves to protect La Push and Forks from Victoria; the vampire mate of James who is after Bella for revenge.
So will Edward ever see Bella again? Or will she not survive long enough? And will she ever regain the friendship of Jacob?
My opinion:
I enjoyed this book much more than Twilight, although once again it isn't a book I would read twice. I liked the way this novel moved a little away from the relationship between Bella and Edward which had grown so much in the first book, and had been it's main focus. In New Moon we get to know Jacob much better and see his and Bella's friendship blossom. The book also drew away from the fantasy side a little and felt more like a romance, as we heard about Bella's pain at the separation and spent more time talking about motorbikes and the like rather than vampires.
The actual writing of the book seemed to have improved too, I wasn't getting bored of the descriptions, just Bella's whining.
Unfortunately I might actually dislike Bella even more than I did when I read Twilight. She came across as even more selfish; she never made the lines of friendship between her and Jacob clear to him because she was so dependent on him; she would allow him to hold her hand and hug him, every time she tried to tell him that they were just friends she would give into his feelings for her and her need for him. She was also still unfair with Mike, putting him through going to the cinema with her and Jacob, but seeming surprised when he hinted at her holding his hand.
It was nice to get to know Jacob more, he grew up a lot in this book, going from a happy, young boy, to almost a man when he discovered that he wasn't truly human anymore. In the beginning he is quite cheeky and childish with lightened the book, but when he became a werewolf he became more intense, particularly in his feelings for Bella which he was more than happy to voice once he knew she didn't think of him as a monster.
I did find New Moon a bit predictable, especially once I noticed the correlation between it and Romeo and Juliet, which, as it is Bella's favourite story, I assume it is Meyer's too, but this didn't take away from the enjoyment of the book.
The Twilight saga is definitely improving on me, so I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Summary: -


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Book Description:ACLS Review Made Incredibly Easy! is an excellent quick-review study guide for the American Heart Association's Advanced Cardiac Life Support training course and examination. The book provides detailed and thoroughly illustrated information on all the fundamentals of ACLS, including airway management, arrhythmia recognition and treatment, cardiovascular pharmacology, defibrillation procedures, I.V. techniques, special resuscitation situations, and more. In addition, real-life case scenarios are included in a Megacode review. The book is written in an easy-to-use bulleted format with illustrations, algorithms, and graphics to clarify ACLS guidelines. Quick quizzes and a comprehensive test will help students assess their knowledge.
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The Big List of Yarn Shops
My gift to all those aiming to reach SABLE aka Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy!
Being a seeker after woolly variety and living in an out of the way place I shop for most of my yarn online. Almost all of the stores I list here I have ordered from and the few that I haven't have either been highly recommended by knitters I know or supply one of my favourite, often hard-to-come by, yarns. The list is added to regularly, and the info given is updated periodically. Occasionally stores are removed from the list, usually because they no longer supply the yarns I was buying from them, or they may have stopped shipping abroad. You'll find suppliers you'll know alongside suppliers you probably won't. But because I'm generally happiest knitting with premium, natural fibre yarns you may notice a lean towards the 'high end' stuff. Don't worry though, there's something here for everyone!
Please note: the opinions expressed here are my own and I have benefited in no way from sharing them with you.
All the 'buttons' link to the relevant website, hover your cursor over them to read a short store review. All these online stores are great but my absolute top recommendations get a tick. A flower symbol indicates that eco-friendly, organic, and/or plant dyed yarns are available.
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United Kingdom
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European Union
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* Please remember that if ordering from abroad there may be VAT, import duty or similar to pay. In the UK, at time of writing, this is not the case if ordering from within the EU, but will apply to goods ordered from Norway, Iceland and other non EU countries, the USA, Japan, Australia, etc. unless the total value of the order, including shipping costs, is no more than £15. For currency conversion I use xe.com.
* Stores in Australia and Canada coming soon.
* Looking for a yarn store near you, or to visit while on holiday? Try knitmap, a searchable catalogue of yarn stores from all over the world.
✤ ✤ ✤
Disclaimer. A store's position in the list will be alphabetical or random and should not be assumed to indicate any kind of ranking. Any quoted stocks, prices, and special offers are of course subject to change. And please note, these are my personal recommendations and none of the entries in this list have been sponsored. Enjoy!


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recipe reviews for:
"Fresh corn, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper come together with crawfish tails in a simple Cajun-style side dish."
Cooking Level: Intermediate
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See the simple secrets to making quick, creamy crawfish chowder.
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About License Plate Recognition (LPR)
License Plate Recognition (LPR) is a surveillance method that uses optical character recognition (OCR) on images to identify vehicles' license plates characters and numbers. Since every vehicle carries a unique license plate, no external cards, barcodes, tags or transmitters are needed in order for a vehicle to be recognized. LPR is also referred to as:
LPR can be configured in many languages |
License Plate Recognition Applications
Access Control and Security. Used to replace or assist security guards, an automated License Plate Recognition (LPR) system, in addition to a physical access control solution, can provide exclusive access to a facility. Integrated LPR software allows facility managers the ability to pre-define entry and exit regulations and level of access — such as limiting admission to certain hours or days of the week.
Law Enforcement. Available in fixed or mobile installations, License Plate Recognition systems can perform real-time processing of license plate numbers/characters and match the data against any predetermined list* including stolen vehicles, amber/silver alerts, unpaid fines, outstanding warrants, etc.
Parking Facilities. A vehicle's license plate information is transferred to an existing parking management access control system to automatically permit entry/exit to authorized members. Captured information may be used to calculate overall parking time, provide proof of parking in case of a lost ticket, or enable officials to issue fines or parking tickets.
License Plate Recognition Efficiency
Recent software innovations and improvements have made LPR systems much more reliable. In a majority of cases, a LPR system strongly enhances existing security systems. LPR uses optical character recognition (OCR) and must be adapted to the country in which the cameras are installed due to different license plate designs and languages. Many factors influence the efficiency of an LPR system, such as:


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Routing Traffic at Hub Facilities
No abstract is available for this item.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal Networks and Spatial Economics.
Volume (Year): 10 (2010)
Issue (Month): 2 (June)
Pages: 173-191
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=106607
Related research
Keywords: Optimal routing; Efficiency; Surveillance; Dock-door assignment; Hub network; Transfers;References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Kuby, Michael J. & Gray, Robert Gordon, 1993. "The hub network design problem with stopovers and feeders: The case of Federal Express," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-12, January.
- Skorin-Kapov, Darko & Skorin-Kapov, Jadranka & O'Kelly, Morton, 1996. "Tight linear programming relaxations of uncapacitated p-hub median problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 582-593, November.
- Hall, Randolph W., 2001. "Truck Scheduling for Ground to Air Connectivity," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt2vh5j4hz, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
- Trietsch, Dan, 1993. "Scheduling flights at hub airports," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 133-150, April.
- Gu, Jinxiang & Goetschalckx, Marc & McGinnis, Leon F., 2007. "Research on warehouse operation: A comprehensive review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(1), pages 1-21, February.
- Yaman, Hande & Kara, Bahar Y. & Tansel, Barbaros Ç., 2007. "The latest arrival hub location problem for cargo delivery systems with stopovers," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 906-919, October.
- Hall, Randolph W., 2001. "Truck scheduling for ground to air connectivity," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 331-338.
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Well i think a few standard have been made and I would love to see them in your rom.
1. Pull down status power bar
2. 4 way reboot
3. ROM Tools/Tweaker (like Liberty Tools) for themes, Addons, & Rom tools
4. Android 2.3.2!!!!
love your work and hope to see many more things from SS