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Some while ago I wrote a story called Il Libro d'Amore set in Naples. When I wrote the story I had never visited the city and took my locations from studying maps and the feedback provided by my daughter. The trouble is, the maps did not show exactly how steep and tortuous some of the routes were in the maze of alleys north of Via Toledo, and my daughter is uniquely oblivious of her surroundings. Having now made my second visit to this wonderful city I decided I would wander these alleys and climb to Castel S. Elmo. If you google this, on the map produced you see a grid of narrow alleys and the castle north of them. What this does not show, unless you switch to Terrain view, is how precipitous these alleys are, and even then you don't get the feel of the narrow and steep nature of these streets.
We passed the location of Nunellas restaurant – the most wonderful, mad, lunatic trattoria in Naples which we visited in December and plan to visit again before we leave, time permitting, but time is running out fast – and moved beyond, climbing, always climbing. As we moved deeper into the alleys I was reminded of my story. I could go back now and make it more realistic, but I have moved on and I think the story, despite its limitations, stands as it is without being changed. Shops and pizzerias give way to residential areas and the atmosphere becomes darker. The houses let directly onto the cobbled alleys and washing hangs outside, at least one scooter chained against each doorway. Today is Easter Sunday, and it seems the most popular way of spending the afternoon for the young is to zoom around on a scooter – always the man on front, the girlfriend behind. At one point we were almost run down by a scooter with a family of three perched on it. Papa sat on the pillion, Mamma behind, and steering and controlling the machine was a girl of no more than seven with a huge grin on her face. Proud Pappa sat behind her as she stood in the footwell, his arms crossed over his chest.
We became lost, as in my story turning into blind alleys until we were saved the first time by a middle aged man with hardly any voice recognizing us as tourists and directing us along to the next turning where we found steps leading up. And up. And up.
We made our sweating way to what we innocently believed was the summit. Deciding in which direction to turn we took the roadway heading slightly uphill and walked around piles of rotting rubbish until once more totally lost. An older man repairing an ancient scooter once more took pity on us innocents and directed us back two hundred meters where we once more found the route upward. Thus we proceeded, step by step up the hillside until sometime later, tired and slightly light headed arrived at the top of the rise.
From here the view of Napoli is outstanding and you can see across the entire bay to the towering presence of Vesuvius, the influence of which I have written of before and so will not dwell on again here.
We navigated around the Castle and made our way back down, down, down over another series of steps which led us almost directly back to the far end of Via Toledo. Alongside the steps we heard families celebrating their Easter lunch. Dogs and cats crossed our path. Young children leaned over balconies and waved and shouted "Ciao", perhaps as perplexed and delighted by us as we were by them. On these endless steps we found a different Napoli. Gone was the constant roar of traffic, the buzz of scooters, the confusion of people. Instead the bay came in glimpses, ferries crossing to Ischia and Capri. The sun warmed the cobbles and we made our way slowly downwards, emerging eventually into the world we had left behind, having discovered yet another side to this magical city.
To see all of the pictures from today visit my Facebook page.


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Judge Escobar sends sharp email to EPISD Interim Superintendent
POSTED: Saturday, March 30, 2013 - 9:37pm
UPDATED: Monday, April 1, 2013 - 5:34pm
El Paso, TX — Judge Veronica Escobar sent a sharp letter on Saturday to EPISD Interim Superintendent Vernon Butler. She's responding to the district's recent removal of several campus leaders.
In the letter, Judge Escobar says she is speaking as a community leader, as well as an EPISD parent. She questions the reliability of using information from the firm conducting EPISD's forensic audit, to make important personnel decisions.
Escobar has a son at El Paso High School and says he and others are confused. The principal suddenly lost her job last week.
"What is going on, what's happening at our school, who is this new guy that's the principal, what's his story," said Escobar as she describes her son's reactions.
Responding to an email from Escobar, EPISD Interim Superintendent Vernon Butler explained the district is assessing personnel issues that may be linked to illegal activities of former superintendent Lorenzo Garcia. Butler says all administrators dismissed will receive due process. In a statement he says:
"While we appreciate the County Judge's efforts to share her concern with the district. These are personnel issues that will not be debated in the media," said Butler.
This past week EPISD removed a string of employees from several schools without much explanation. As a parent and taxpayer, Escobar wants answers and she's asking for three things:
The first: to reinstate the removed school administrators accused of wrongdoing, while the district interviews them. She says those administrators were not given the chance to respond and some have tried.
"Kristine Ferret , if its true that she tried to deliver documents to the auditing team, that they refused to take that, that should be looked at by the interim superintendent," said Escobar.
She also wants a review of the Weaver and Tidwell firm's audit and make the sure the work they're doing matches the $800,00 bill.
"Are they doing it adequately, fairly, responsively," said Escobar.
And lastly she asks that the district make the audit public, especially if the firm has found any illegal behavior by administrators. It seems like EPISD did take Escobar's letter to heart after all, the spokesperson confirmed with NewsChannel Nine that audit will be ready Monday afternoon for public view.
Comments News Comments
What Butler & the EPISD Board have repeatedly failed to understand is that EPISD is not theirs, it is the peoples district & its purpose is to educate our children. The board & administration have a lousy track record of doing the right thing & for Butler to respond to a parents letter by saying that the matter will not be discussed publicly is another example of how the current board has corrupted Butler. I do not believe due process has been followed & it just makes me want to throw up!
At this point, Mr. Butler, I have more faith in the media than I do in you, the board, or TEA. I have no faith in the report by the Weaver group which is run by a former TEA president Adam Jones who was accused of giving out contracts to friends by the Dallas Morning Star in 2008. Think there's a connection?

subset: commoncrawl


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By Ted Brown
A Ted Bit
After recently changing a light bulb in the barn, I've decided there's a conspiracy out there.
It seems the light bulb police are running the world. As of this year, I understand we will no longer be able to buy old style incandescent light bulbs. (I'm taking that info with a small grain of salt— 'they' made a similar announcement a few years ago.)
Our choices will be limited to those useless compact fluorescent (CF) ones or the much more expensive quartz halogen bulbs. Apparently LEDs are also available, but I'm still waiting to see how costly they are before I commit.
I've given CFs a fair shake, replacing many original incandescent bulbs with CFs. But there's a problem— they're simply garbage.
I had a pair of them in the garage. You know, the cold, dark garage, where we park our cars? Just try a CF in that environment.
When it's cold, it takes forever to light up. They start to glow, then build up to their full-fledged pathetic light (which is equivalent to a couple birthday candles.)
By the time it's up to full brightness, I'm late for work.
Then there's our upstairs bathroom. Being old like me, when I get up in the night, I need instant light, not some pathetic glow in the dark. Geez, I need all the help I can get— and the CFs ain't got it.
And in the barn— well that is the worst case scenario. The stable's cold, that's a given, so the same problem arises as in the garage, only more so, as there was a whole row of bulbs, not one or two. They take much too long to light— in fact, some won't light at all, they just hang there and flickered.
Now when I'm facing a stable full of hungry sheep, or worse still, a ewe giving birth in the middle of the night, well, I really need light— pronto.
The CFs were a short-lived experiment in the barn. I switched back to the originals within days.
To top it off, in the barn, I have another use for incandescent bulbs— I use them as a heat source.
Now before an environmentalist declares "Heat uses energy, and we're all for saving energy," well, just hang on a minute. You see, I utilize that heat.
My water bowls for the livestock are kept warm by enclosing a 100 watt bulb under them, which creates 100 watts of heat, keeping the bowls from freezing. They are connected through a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) receptacle, similar to the one in your bathroom, beside the sink. With a GFI, the circuit kicks off before the power can hurt anyone (or a sheep.)
I'm really not sure how I'll address the problem once I can no longer buy incandescent bulbs.
There are heated water bowls with electric elements on the market, but they cost hundreds of dollars. And the hydro used to heat them versus a light bulb? There's a huge difference. So apparently we have a deadline, and it's gonna be here before the end of 2014.
Now I do have a plan. I'm buying up 12-packs of 100 watt bulbs like some obsessive hoarder.
I know they aren't even close to the quality of the old bulbs we used to buy years ago. The new ones are made in China and seem to have about half the life expectancy as the originals. But they are certainly better than nothing.
Geez, I'm considering selling 'em on the black market, to others who want to remain enlightened.
So for those who are afraid of the dark, (or at least hate the dim light of a CF), go out and buy as many of those bulk packs of incandescent bulbs you can get you hands on, and hide 'em under lock and key, to be used when the old ones burn out.
That way, we can remain enlightened— at least a little more than those poor individuals embracing CFs.
And just watch— somewhere down the line, someone will 'discover' CFs are hazardous to landfill, or create a health hazard in the home.
By then, the others will likely be history and we'll likely be paying a surcharge to dispose of our CFs.
Ted Brown can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


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The halls of Lakeshore Mall are already decked for the upcoming holiday season, spruced up with lights and garland. Santa Claus has been installed to his throne of honor, and preparation for the onslaught of shoppers this upcoming Friday — the infamous Black Friday — are well under way.
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Mathematics |
The study of mathematics at our school is both lively and comprehensive. The inherent beauty of mathematical world is highlighted, while skills are simultaneously being developed through practice and drill. Imaginative stories, games, and rhythmic movement form the basis for the arithmetic in the early grades. Teachers emphasize the development of a sense for numbers. "What feels different when I hold three apples in my hands or eight?" In addition, teachers will also bring forth the qualities of numbers. The number 2 may be presented as a pair of shoes, a set of twins, or as two individual things or people who came together to form a pair. The number 5 may be presented as the classic pattern of a flower, etc. Emphasis is on mastering the four processes and learning the times tables up to 12 by heart. Borrowing and carrying are also introduced. Mental arithmetic is practiced and the children solve simple equations arising from imaginative stories presented by the teacher. Third grade strengthens confidence in the four processes and introduces measurement in all of its form: time, volume, length, height, weight and distance. Progress is measured both in reviewing morning lesson books and in individual oral testing of children in their math memory and skill. In fourth and fifth grade the children are ready to take things apart and explore fractions and decimals. Developing good work habits, including organization and completion of work, becomes a central theme. Students continue to work with mental arithmetic, estimation, rounding, even and odd numbers, borrowing and carrying, times tables up to 12, expanded notation, combined computation and freehand geometric drawing. Longhand division and ways to check their work are also introduced. The middle school mathematics curriculum consists of an introduction to geometry, business math and introductory algebra. The sense of number and the interrelationship between division, fractions, decimals and percents is a continuing theme. Fractions play a primary role. Fraction to decimal conversions and decimal to fractions conversions, repeating decimals, converting repeating decimals to fractions are practiced. By the completion of eighth grade students have had a solid introduction to geometry and algebraic thinking and problem solving. |


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5 Great qualityPosted: 29/07/2011I was expecting the fabric to be that "Fashion Thin" quality ,but is acutally quite thick. The print is great, somthing a little different. Great price too. I bought a XL, I'm a size 14 and it has a loose casual fit, so I guess i could of gone a size smaller. I really love it!
5 Gorgeous!Posted: 29/07/2011Lovely tee. Good quality fabric and print. Nice touch with the press studs down the back. Fits well. I bought an XL, I'm a size 14 and it's a casual loose fit. Great price too.
5 Retro lovers!Posted: 28/07/2011Got these for my firend who loves novelty retro stuff like this. They really are cool and make a great gift. I also got her the floppy disc post-it notes.
5 Of course I'm far to young to remember floppy discs!!!......Posted: 28/07/2011Perfect gift for my Retro-tec-lovin' friend. She loves novelty things like this. They are expensive for what they are (just a post-it), but they really are cool!Of course I'm far to young to remember floppy discs!!!......(lier!)
4 I love it, he dosn't!Posted: 13/07/2011I bought this for my boyfriends brithday, he's a massive Star Wars fan. I can't get him to wear it! He says that it's far to geekie, but (i think) he looks great in it. The sizing is perfect and the quality of the fabric is excellent. The colour is much brighter than in the photo (reason for 4 stars), but the design is awesome. I love it, he hates it, I'm right, he's wrong!
3 Ok for the sale pricePosted: 13/07/2011I would not pay full price for this Tee. The fabric is thin and the sizing is on the small size. It could be my computer monitor, but the actual colour is more a bright pink rather than the soft pink shown in the photo. Saying all that, the design is nice and even if it only gets a couple of wears, it's worth the sale price of 4.99.
3 GoodPosted: 12/05/2011It's more like an interactive book rather than a game, with a few puzzels along the way. So expect this to be very text heavy. The story is intriguing and the graphics are very stylish. If you like a good book I think you'd like this. If you like to shoot at things or enjoy solving puzzels, I'd stay clear.
4 NicePosted: 07/04/2011NIce top, but sizing is small. I'm a size 14 and ordered XL and it fits snugly, but is still comfey. Great price as i've seen this for sale on the another web site for double the price.
4 Nice TPosted: 17/01/2011NIce girlie, fun T-shirt. Sizing is perfect and it's a good body length. I bought L and I'm a size 14. I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars because the pretty sequin bow on the front in not quite as neat as shown in the photo, but this is me being picky and well worth the price Play is selling this at. I would recommend.
5 PleasedPosted: 17/01/2011Great value for money (8.99). The fabric is good quality with cute gathered detail at the shoulders which gives it a feminine touch. The sizing is good. I bought a L and I'm a size 14. I find these kinds of branded clothes come up small, but this was perfect. I would recommend to others.


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Profile: Colette van den Thillart
by allthebest • 15 Feb '11 • Colette van den Thillart, London, Nicky Haslam, profile • 11 Comments
Toronto native Colette van den Thillart is the creative director of London-based NH Design and the key complement to founder Nicky Haslam.
Famous for her witty and utterly fearless decorating style, Colette has worked on spaces from Moscow to Milan. Colette moved to London from Canada in 2000 after obtaining an AAS Interior Design degree from The International Academy of Design in Toronto and completed a Masters of Art Degree in Decorative Arts at London's Wallace Collection.
In 2003 she met Nicky Haslam and the synergy was immediate. Under their joint guidance, NH Design has taken great strides into modern design, mixing the deeply serious, grand and impressive with charm and wit, reinforcing what has become known as the NH Design aesthetic.
The duo and their team have secured clients in the English countryside and London, Toronto, New York, Montreal, Morocco, New Orleans, Denmark, Curacao, Barbados, St Jean Cap Ferrat, Monaco and Moscow.
How would you describe your personal style?
I'm driven by an international viewpoint and an eclectic sensibility. As a closet historian I feel strongly that rooms, including contemporary ones, should have emotional layers. However, in the end, its about making glamorous spaces where people look beautiful and feel uplifted.
What is your most prized possession?
John Fowlers' address book.
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Feeling things very deeply…otherwise white plaster, and cashmere underwear—seriously have you tried them?
What is the one thing in life you cannot live without?
What inspires your creativity and designs?
It's endless! Nicky who keeps me fearless, my children, nature, TRAVEL, the smell of creosote (seriously, we have to include the sensory aspect of design!).
Fashion is a big one including what I call 'sense memory' experience you get from editorials. Movies old and new. Ephemera is a favourite, finding beauty in the unexpected is very important . The V&A, Soane and Tate museums for starters…. RIBA and Vogue libraries, the Internet obviously is now an abundant source of information! And lastly…Hogarths line of beauty.
Who are your style icons?
Lou Doillon, Elsie Mendl, Diana Vreeland, Auntie Mame, Serge Roche, Balenciaga, Galliano, Schiaparelli, Jean Nouvel, Diaghilev and Sarah Burton.
Who would you most like to collaborate with on a project?
Cedric Gibbons for glamour, William Kent for scale – ideally together no?! Emilio Terry, Elsie Mendl, Velasquez, Stephan Tennant, David LaChapelle and Steven Meisel—PLEASE!
What books are currently on your bedside table?
Savage Beauty – The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
Citizen of the World – The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau by John English
The Book of Symbols- Reflections on Archetypal Images, Taschen
Redeeming Features – Nicky Haslam
What is your favorite luxury in life?
Wood fires and my children
Past or present who has most influenced your direction in life?
Auntie Mame, Nicky Haslam, my family, Marlo Thomas, and without a doubt my grade 10 art teacher who told me to quit.
Profile by Ronda Carman


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"very please with the finished product! customer support was very helpful! would definatly use this site again for future needs!"
"Pleased with the overall product. The paper stock we selected was not what we may have chosen had we known how it turned out. Would consider using them again."
"It was so easy to add photos. I was nervous about scanning my parents wedding photo and adding it but it was so easy. The invitation turned out even better than I thought."
"The customer service is awesome. They work hard in making your invitiations special for your occasion. I am very happy. I would suggest that you tell folks that it is not really a photo feel - that was what I was expecting but the it did not take away from the beauty of the card it is so nice."
"Perfect for a 60th wedding anniversary. Used a wedding photo on top and a current photo below. The designer gave advice on photo quality. The result was very professional. Happy to set the tone for our event with this invitation."


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AWOL soldier returns
By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- AWOL soldier Jeff Hanks said he walked away from the Army in the middle of a deployment because his problems with anxiety and stress have been ignored. Now on Veterans Day, he's coming back to face the consequences.
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By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- AWOL soldier Jeff Hanks said he walked away from the Army in the middle of a deployment because his problems with anxiety and stress have been ignored. Now on Veterans Day, he's coming back to face the consequences.
The 30-year-old Army infantryman -- the youngest son of Hays residents Mel Hanks, assistant professor of media studies at Fort Hays State University, and his wife, Debby -- said he has post-traumatic stress disorder that he has experienced since his 2008 tour in Iraq.
Jeff Hanks tried to seek treatment at Fort Campbell last month during his mid-tour leave from Afghanistan. When his commanders failed to help and told him he would have to immediately go back, he instead went home to North Carolina, he said.
In visits to three different civilian doctors, Debby Hanks said, her son was diagnosed with severe post traumatic stress disorder and a severe concussion.
Spc. Jeff Hanks could face less-than-honorable discharge or jail when he turns himself in today.
"I have no problem going back to Afghanistan, but I need help," he said in a phone interview from his home in White Lake, N.C.
Hanks said he chose to return to his base on Veterans Day, usually reserved for honoring military service, because he didn't want to exceed 30 days of being AWOL and face the more serious charge of desertion. His actions and the timing are supported by Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Hanks is holding a news conference today near his base that will be covered by several media outlets, including CNN, CBS and MSNBC, as well as the New York Times and the Associated Press, his mom said.
Hanks' unit command has discretion over what will happen to him when he turns himself in, but he could face a court-martial and jail time if convicted, Fort Campbell spokesman Rick Rzepka said.
"AWOL and desertion is a self-centered act," Rzepka said. "It doesn't only affect the soldier, but in a time of war puts other soldiers at risk."
So, too, does sending soldiers with PTSD back into combat.
"This isn't just about Jeff," Debby Hanks said of her son, who is married and the father of two young daughters. "This happens to a lot of combat vets. If they need medical help, they should be able to get it."
Jeff Hanks said he understands his actions could be considered disrespectful to other veterans, but said the military will continue to see high rates of suicide and substance abuse if it ignores soldiers' mental health problems.
"It's funny that those people would say, 'Why do you have to bring this up on Veterans Day?' " Hanks said. "So when is a good time to bring it up?"
Rates of desertion among Army soldiers increased 80 percent between 2003 and 2007, a time of repeated and extended deployments because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hanks is part of the 101st Airborne Division, which has been deployed multiple times since 2002.
On his second day in Iraq, Hanks' vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. He was rocked, but survived with no apparent injuries.
He said he's more disturbed by seeing the aftermath of a car bomb outside his base in Balad that wounded many civilians, including a young Iraqi girl.
"Ever since then, I think about her all the time," he said. "I have had a lot of bad dreams, just reliving it."
When he returned from that tour, his wife, Christina, noticed he always was on edge, looking around for IEDs and troubled by crowds at the local Walmart.
During his Afghanistan leave, his family urged him to get help, but he told them he wanted to wait until he finished his deployment. As he was saying his goodbye to his wife in the airport, a loud noise set off a panic attack, and he had to be treated at an emergency room.
He returned to Fort Campbell to seek behavioral health treatment, but when he was referred for a meeting with a therapist, he said he was told by his commanders that they wanted him medically cleared to return to Afghanistan the next day. He spoke to a therapist for less than two minutes and was instructed to get marriage counseling when he came back.
Fort Campbell officials would not discuss the specifics of Hanks' case because of privacy rules.
Medical staff base their recommendations for deployment on the soldiers' conditions and their ability to perform duties safely, said Laura Boyd, a spokeswoman for Fort Campbell's Blanchfield Army Community Hospital. But unit commanders ultimately make the decision regarding whether a soldier deploys, she said.
The stress has unsettled his marriage and his relationship with his children, Hanks said.
"I found her and my daughters to be overwhelming," he said. "I just thought, 'I don't want to deal with this.' "
He said he thought about seeking treatment when he returned from Iraq but was concerned about how his fellow soldiers would react.
"Once you seek it, you're kind of an outcast," he said. "They will ridicule you."
Hanks deployed to Afghanistan in May. He said he showed signs of a concussion and still suffers headaches after a mortar landed near him in August, and he can't forget the sound of wounded soldiers screaming in agony as they waited for a medical evacuation.
Hanks said he never before has been in trouble during his military career.
Dr. Rebecca S. Valla, a civilian psychiatrist who volunteers with the Quaker House in North Carolina, said her assessment of Hanks is he has post-traumatic stress disorder, a concussion and hearing loss. She said he could deteriorate if he returns.
"I know not getting on a plane to Afghanistan would have its consequences, but I felt like I had to do it because they have pushed me into a corner," he said. "My health and my family is more important to me than anything."
* Diane Gasper-O'Brien, HDN,
contributed to this story.


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At Blue Ridge Dermatology Associates, P.A., we provide passionate, state-of-the-art care to patients in Raleigh, Cary, and the surrounding Triangle Area. We are dedicated to patient satisfaction. We provide quality health care services for your skin, hair, and nails, and address your concerns with careful examination, diagnosis, treatment, and education. With our practice, you'll find doctors who are genuinely caring, compassionate, and friendly, with a sincere interest in helping you take better care for the health of your skin.
Our Cary Office has relocated to the Parkway Professional Park on S.E. Cary Parkway. Please note the full address below. Phone and fax numbers remain the same.
155 Parkway Office Court
Suite 204
Cary, NC 27518


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Posted 5:04 PM 1/31/2013 : Law enforcement community mourns slain officer
MORGAN CITY - Law enforcement agencies from across the state gathered with people in Morgan City today to lay an officer killed in the line of duty to rest.
Funeral services for Sgt. Rick Riggenbach with the Chitimacha Police Department were scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Crossing... Read More


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Simple or unusual, traditional or over-the-top, get 100+ new wedding cake ideas.
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100+ Love and Sex Tips
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5 Simple Tricks for a Better Relationship
True tales of kids behaving badly at weddings.
Read up and don't make any of these common mistakes.
Well wishes and congratulations? Yes. These seven doozies? No!
Recently married couples on TheKnot.com told us which wedding gifts left them scratching their heads.
Photo: Getty Images
Think you've gotten some strange gifts in the past? No number of hand-knit sweaters from estranged aunts can match the weirdness of the wedding gifts these couples received from their guests.
"$10 in scratch tickets.""$100 worth of quarters.""A graduation card with $7.""A hundred $1 bills rolled up in a rubber band.""Boxers with money in them.""Two cents and a nasty note inside a card.""A check from my husband's friend, and in the 'for' line, it said 'vasectomy.'""A check that bounced."
"Broken fake-marble horse head bookends.""Rosie the Riveter bookends.""Moosehead bookends.""Zebra shower curtain.""A crystal block with a face in the middle."
"A hurricane evacuation backpack full of MREs (meals ready to eat), first-aid kit, ponchos, etc.""A pink can opener with the word 'love' on it.""A used walking cane.""Asparagus.""24 double rolls of toilet paper.""Dental floss.""Octopus-shaped baster.""A high-heeled shoe cake server.""A magnifying glass."
"Dog shock collar -- we don't have a dog.""Pirate flip-flops.""A 3-ft. SpongeBob SquarePants pirate doll.""Autographed picture of Bret Michaels.""Bronze kangaroo.""Fake vomit.""A cat suit.""A picture frame with the wrong initials on it."
"A bronze bust of myself.""A book that a friend of mine had written and dedicated to me alone, not my husband (he apparently has a large crush on me)...very stalkerish.""Toilet paper with writing on first few sheets.""A birthing video from a professional midwife! Ew!"
-- Miles Stiverson


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The transcription factor GATA-1 is required for terminal erythroid maturation and functions as an activator or repressor depending on gene context. Yet its in vivo site selectivity and ability to distinguish between activated versus repressed genes remain incompletely understood. In this study, we performed GATA-1 ChIP-seq in erythroid cells and compared it to GATA-1-induced gene expression changes. Bound and differentially expressed genes contain a greater number of GATA-binding motifs, a higher frequency of palindromic GATA sites, and closer occupancy to the transcriptional start site versus nondifferentially expressed genes. Moreover, we show that the transcription factor Zbtb7a occupies GATA-1-bound regions of some direct GATA-1 target genes, that the presence of SCL/TAL1 helps distinguish transcriptional activation versus repression, and that polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) is involved in epigenetic silencing of a subset of GATA-1-repressed genes. These data provide insights into GATA-1-mediated gene regulation in vivo.
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Winning a jury trial, regardless of substance, means individual jurors must recognize and choose between two versions of fact. Before and during trial, both client and counsel focus on issues of law and procedure, yet jury decisions are only partially determined by the letter of statutes or the forms of court. Verdicts are shaped by unanticipated attitudes, perceptions and experiences of jurors, the clash of styles, small prejudices and seemingly insignificant points which neither intuitive sense nor legal training can anticipate.
A science has evolved in courtroom practice that begins to address the unpredictability of these human factors -- a science not taught in the substantive study of law, but rather one that involves sociological and culturally based thought processes of jurors. Ongoing analytic evaluation of the human stories which frame a trial can significantly assist counsel in developing effective legal themes and strategies.
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Are you happy with your current health care plan? -Not can it be better. -Not can it be cheaper. -Just a plain simple yes or no, is it working for you right now?
I haven't used it in months, or years... I can't really see the value in it, I have not had any major health cost in years... I would most likely save money by only having "Dramatic Health Insurance" and just pay cash for my everyday visits compared to the amount of money they take out of my pay check. I easily pay in more than I get out. the system relies on people like me to keep the charade going.
Yes I am. The only issue I have is I wish I could get less coverage. I don't want to be insured for mental problems and all the other slop that comes with every option I have. But overall I am good. And that's despite having no dental or optical coverage and an upcoming $5K bill for my kids' braces. I don't expect others to pay for all my medical care.
It's kind of a bogus question, isn't it? What about if I'm, personally, happy with MY health care coverage but I'm unhappy with my son's health care coverage? Or what if I'm even more altrustic and I'm happy with mine and my son's health care coverage but I'm unhappy knowing that other people don't have the same options that we do? And even if I'm currently happy with our health care coverage I am aware it is subject to change at a moment's whim or can be gone completely with the loss of a job or the advent of an illness - what then? Can I be considered "happy with it" if I am worried about losing it? You're also asking the question on a board where most people have computers and expensive internet connections and spare time - which means they are either independantly wealthy or they have jobs - and most people with money and/or jobs have health insurance. Ask the same question at a food bank or at a job fair or at the unemployment line and you're going to get an entirely different set of answers. Most people with health insurance don't even know for sure what they've got or what they're entitled to. It's a sad fact but it's true. I see it every day - people come in to see the doctor and they don't even know what kind of a plan they have - they only know their employer says they're covered, that they have a certain amount of money taken from their check each pay period to pay their share of the cost and that's about the depth and breath of their knowledge. They don't know if they've got an HMO, a PPO, a POS, or a ChoicePlus plan. They don't know their own co-pay or their deductible. They don't know what's covered and what's not covered - and they're constantly amazed and appalled when their treatment gets denied or when I have to tell them that they are the ones responsible for either getting written permission to see the doctor or for paying the bill themselves. Many of them do not understand that they cannot get their MRI or their CT or even their necessary medication unless the get written pre-approval from their insurance company. None of the many understand it when the insurance company refuses to comply with their doctor's request for any of those things and denies them the treatment recommended by their doctor. So, Alvin, unless you're willing to post your simple little questionnaire on the walls of an unemployment office or pass it out in a doctor's billing office as well as posting it here, your results are, indeed, going to be skewed even though you are claiming you don't want them to be. But you knew that, didn't you?
When I accepted a job with my company in 1985 they offered Blue Cross Master Medical Plus.... No co-pays & No deductible. Last year we switched from Tufts to Cigna.... 2010 they raised the my cost 10% ($600 plus per month for a family) and the co pays are the same $20 & $30 for a specialist. The co-pay for a emergency room visit went from $100 to $150. Last year we had no deductable, but in 2010 it will be $450 for a family. With a 2 year old and a 3 year old, I will be paying the full $450 for sure. I also have to take my 2 year old daughter to Childrrens Hospital once a year for a reflex problem she has with between her bladder and her kidneys. I had problems with Cigna paying the bill last year and I am not looking forward to chasing them again thisyear to pay the bill. When you accept a job with full medical... they should not be able to change the rules (in my eyes) after you are hired. (suprise suprise). I accepted a package with ful medical coverage..... I now have what I refer to as Disney coverage (Total Mickey Mouse coverage).
Sometimes your company doesn't even have to switch carriers to change plans. We are with the same company this year as we have been for the past 7 years. Last year our premiums went up by several hundred dollars a year. Our copays went from $15 to $20. Our family deductible went from $300 to $600. Our ER copay rose from $100 to $250.00 Our drug co-pays went up and the drugs allowed decreased. Because I work in a doctor's office and do the billing I also know that this particular insurance company also lowered their rate of reimbursement to the physicians and the hospitals. Not only do we pay higher premiums for less personal benefits but our physicians of choice are also getting less money in return for the same services - as are the pharmacies and the hospitals and the ancillary medical suppliers. (labs, x-ray clinics, etc.) More local area doctors and hospitals are either outright refusing to participate in the plan or they are in "negotiations" with the insurance company - many local area doctors are refusing to participate in ANY plan. Big surprise there, huh? I should add here that we've got one of the widely recognized "better" insurance plans available nationwide.
This a PERFECT example of your over-seriousness and a PRIME example of taking a question FAR beyond what was asked. No one gives a rats arse if you feel bad about someones health coverage in Timbuktwo or even your neighbor. That's not you problem, it's theirs. Just answer the question as asked like everyone else. JEESH!! "Well....what if suddenly my coverage changes and the guy in Wyoming"s doesn't but we have the same provider? (sound of rapid gum-chewing kicks in...) and....and....Well, I just don't think that's fair!"
Super-Duper Great Question Alvin! We could use a LOT more simple & direct questions like these. I LOVE when posters here ask "YES OR NO" which is it going to be? So we don't have people hemming and hollering about tersiary points unrelated to your question. I have coverage from Blue-Cross/Blue-Shield of California. The company I work for is California based. I have no co-pay for doctor's visits of any kind for any reason. My plan costs me $28/month or $14 per pay period. I have a $10 co-pay for branded prescriptions and $0 co-pay for generics. My plan has an annual $300 deductable after which everything is covered 100%. See why I don't want anyone messing with my coverage? It's the best coverage I've ever had and I've earned it. I also don't want to be TAXED additonally for any re-vamping the gov't does. NO NEW TAXES!!! :americaflag:
No more bogus than the obamans saying "80% of Americans favor health care reform". But not saying that only 40% support the current plans. They're trying to push through something the clear majority don't want and you have the nerve to call this a bogus question ?
Thanks for stating the obvious. I'm happy with what I got, cept I think it's too expensive (my boss might pay me more if it were cheaper)....... Perhaps if I had the option to al' la cart stuff on my plan to save costs. I don't need mammogram and OB/GYN coverage, so why should I pay for it?
That's where we get screwed with it, not by the insurance companies but by the regulation that doesn't allow "discrimination". It's crap and less regulation would help.
I'll admit, I'm ok with those laws. Women shouldn't have to pay more because by chance they were born female and men shouldn't be rewarded because they were born male. That would be ridiculous.
Hey morons. A "risk pool" doesn't work if you only pay for the parts you use. Then it's a fee-for-service system. I didn't have open-heart surgery this year, so why should I pay for it? I didn't have cancer, so why should I pay for it? I don't need viagra, so why should I pay for it? I'm a woman and can't get testicular cancer, so why should I pay for it? I'm white and statistically live longer and am not likely to get sickle cell, so why should I pay for it? I don't have mesophilioma, a broken wrist, herpes, superventricular tachycardia, Crone's disease, or children to have childhood diseases; I didn't tear an ACL, I'm not underweight, and I don't have malaria. I don't smoke so why pay for smoking cessation, I do smoke but don't have lung cancer, blah blah blah. You pay for it because it's a risk pool. Of course it's not designed to be a fee-for-service system, because it's an insurance system. Everybody pays a little bit all the time. Then there's a gigantic bill that no one individual can cope with, and the pool pays for that gigantic bill. You can't just show up after not paying insurance your whole life, get a bill for cancer treatment in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then say "Oh I'll enroll in health insurance and pay my $1200 premium for this month, the month I got treatment." You also can't just insist that we divide up the pool and not have any of the money directed toward treatment applicable to children; the difference in premiums does not take that into account one iota. The cost of a family premium reflects the number of individuals in a particular family. It does not reflect that children need more medical care. What about the large family sizes so popular in the "traditionalist" bits of America? You really think charging 2.4 times the premium to reflect the average family size is fair, when there are 13 kids because an ancient book told a guy he needs to breed like a rabbit? Yet I pay for that coverage for those 13 kids... and don't forget it's disproportionate coverage already built into my costs. I'm in my 40s and use very little of my insurance perks... how about guys in their 60s and 70s? Why should I pay for them, I'm not them!!! Shouldn't gays get cheaper insurance because they have no biological children with their current partners, and have much smaller families on average than straights? Get your dense heads around this phrase: COMMON GOOD. I pay for your brats. Now you pay for somebody else. We all pay for each other. YOU CAN'T BE SELF-SERVING AND BELIEVE IN A RISK POOL. Christ, you guys are remedial. PFnV


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For most of my life, I've been aware of a particular conflict (there are many, of course) between liberal and conservative Christians. I'm going to try to shed some light on this particular difference of opinion.
Which means, of course, that I'll just make people mad. But I persist.
The disagreement, I think, springs from a misunderstanding of the Golden Rule.
Liberal Christians (as I understand them) tend to think the Golden Rule says something it doesn't actually say. They think it says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you—and then they will treat you the same way."
But the text doesn't actually say that. What it says (I'm quoting the NIV here) is, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matt. 7:12)
You'll note that there's nothing there about outcome. If you pay attention to Christ's teaching as a whole (all the business about taking up crosses, dying, etc.), you'll note that there is very little talk of temporal (that means "having to do with this present world") benefits. The assumption in Christ's teaching generally is that we're supposed to do what's right, and chances are good we'll see no benefit from it at all. In fact, we're likely to be killed for it. But we'll have our reward in Heaven.
This, I think, is where liberal Christians go wrong when they try to apply the Golden Rule to civil law and international relations. Due to their essential misunderstanding of the (nonexistent) promise of good consequences, they think application of the Golden Rule is the best way to ensure peace and good order in this world. It is not.
Scripture makes it very clear that the king (civil authority) is meant to bear the sword for the protection of the populace. "For he [the authority] is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Romans 13:4)
In other words, the civil authority is meant to be the hero, the strong one who protects the weak. By violence, when necessary.
It's possible to attempt to carry out that hero function through rigorous application of the Golden Rule, letting bad guys off and setting them free to do further injury. The liberal Christian (misunderstanding, as I said, the Golden Rule as promising positive temporal consequences) thinks that such a policy will cause the criminals to have a change of heart and become nice. I maintain, as I said above, that the Golden Rule implies no promise of temporal results. Any civil authority that tries this experiment declaes itself willing to accept injury to, and the murder of, the people it's sworn to protect.
I can find no biblical mandate for the civil authority taking that kind of gamble with the people's lives. Grace is not the king's job. I'm not saying it's always ruled out, but it must be dispensed with great care.
There's a lot of personal satisfaction in being able to see yourself as kind and merciful. But that satisfaction is not worth getting innocent people killed. More than that, it's dereliction of duty.
Lars Walker is a fantasy author. His most recent novel is West Oversea.


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Category: baby name Ethan
by Abby Sandel of Appellation Mountain
I love unusual names. I can defend the wackiest of celebrity appellations, from North to Pilot to Blue.
And yet some parents feel pressure to avoid a popular name – or even a name that might become popular.
If you grew up answering to Jennie S. or Mike T., you might worry that Logan and Mia will have to sign every piece of schoolwork with their last initial, too. But it might be a mistake to discard your long-time favorite name just because others have discovered how great it is, too.
Here are Ten Good Reasons to call your baby Ethan or Emma, Ava or Jake.
Eleanor Nickerson, of the wonderful blog British Baby Names, offers her predictions of the names that will succeed today's trendiest in England and Wales.
The Next Olivia
Olivia was the supreme queen of girls' names in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in England and Wales, and was only marginally beaten by Amelia to the number 1 spot in 2011. It entered the Top 100 for the first time in the late 1980s, and has been in the Top 10 since 1999. Further down the ranks, Eliza stands at #62. Like Olivia before, Eliza has not ranked in the Top 100 for a century, but is now steadily rising.
This year once more, and again with apologies to our dear Britberries, we honor some of the (more interestingly named) heroes in the struggle of the US to gain its independence from the mother country, as well as some of the more unusually named Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Here, some early patriotic baby names:
BETSY (Elizabeth) Ross—even though she may not have actually made the first American flag
DEBORAH Sampson — first known female to impersonate a man in order to join the army and take part in combat
LYDIA Darragh – Quaker woman who (probably) warned Washington of an impending attack
MERCY Otis Warren –a political writer and propagandist who authored plays and poems advocating independence


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Invasive flower threatens Texas bluebonnets from wide swaths of the state
POSTED: Sunday, April 1, 2012 - 5:30pm
UPDATED: Sunday, April 1, 2012 - 5:34pm
NBC NATIONAL NEWS — A quarter of a mile west of the gate of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in South Austin, invasive plant expert Damon Waitt steps on a small shovel.
He's showing a TV news crew how to dig up a plant loaded with small but pretty yellow blooms on the side of the road.
As he pushes with his foot, the shovel handle breaks off.
Everybody laughs, including Waitt.
That, as it turns out, is the only thing funny about bastard cabbage.
"What happens," Waitt said, "is that in the fall when these plants germinate, they form a rosette close to the ground, and that rosette actually takes up space and blocks out the bluebonnets that should be coming up in that area."
The result is a slow-but-steady vanishing of Texas bluebonnets from wide swaths of the state.
"I've noticed," Waitt went on, "over the last few years, large patches of bluebonnets succumbing to bastard cabbage. It is literally out competing the bluebonnet and our other Texas wildflowers for resources. This is not just an Austin problem; I've seen this everywhere. I just drove back from Port Aransas a couple of weekends ago. It was all along the highway from Port A to Austin."
So how did this happen?
"We call it bastard cabbage," Waitt explained. "It's also known as Mediterranean Mustard. It's actually native to the Mediterranean region: Northern Africa, Central Europe.
"How it actually came to the United States is a little bit unclear, but we do know how it spreads. It's spread when it goes to seed; mowers chop it up and spread the seed. But then also, the seed is very small like a rye grass seed, and so it actually gets distributed along with rye grass seed."
So what's to be done?
The answer to that question is complicated.
"The best way to get rid of it is to manually remove it," said Waitt. "You can hand-pull it if the ground is soft enough. Otherwise, use a small shovel.
"The plant has a nice robust tap root and you want to make sure you get that because if you don't get that, the plant will continue to grow and reflower."
Even if you do get the tap root, the bastard cabbage can still come back.
That's because seeds from previous growth lie in the soil below, ready to sprout and start new plants.
That explains what researchers discover when they experiment with herbicide treatments.
The poison does kill the plants, but the seeds in the ground resprout and the infestation comes back stronger than ever."
At the Wildflower Center, Waitt and other researchers have had some luck with a more organic approach.
"We tried over-sowing the bastard cabbage field with vast quantities of wildflower seeds," he said. "We were actually able to show that Indian blanket, if there's enough seed out there, can actually compete with bastard cabbage.
"So that's a very natural way that we can try maybe to deal with this situation," he said.
A successful program, though, will take far more than that.
"I encourage universities to start doing research on the best ways to manage and control this," Waitt said. "I would encourage our highway department to think about establishing a control and management program for it. And I would encourage citizens to get out there and start pulling it."
Waitt is clearly worried.
"On a scale of 1-to-10," he said, "I'm at about 9.5 right now. If we don't do something about this, we're going to have to say goodbye to our Texas wildflowers, including bluebonnets. We're not going to lose every bluebonnet. I don't think people would ever let that happen in the state of Texas, but I am saying that among all of the invasive plant species problems that we're facing in the state, things like giant salvinia and hydrilla , the bastard cabbage should be up there in the top 10 invasive species we really need to be thinking about how we're going to deal with."
Meanwhile, back at Waitt's office, the phone rings regularly.
"We get calls from people asking, 'Where can I buy seed for that beautiful yellow wildflower?'"
Clearly, there is lots of work to do.


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Posted: February 14, 2011
The fourth leadership fundamental
Without the right captain and crew, the ship can sink
Laurence B. ValantEditor's note: Here is another valuable excerpt from the new success book by national business consultant Laurence B. Valant and partner Gayle W. Hustad, "Lead and Manage! The definitive guide for getting the results you want."
Leadership Fundamental #4 - Selecting appropriate management
Once the decision had been made that the supreme commander for Overlord would be an American, Churchill urged FDR to fill the position quickly. Newspapers hostile to Roosevelt and political foes urged Roosevelt to choose George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff for the Army and Roosevelt's staunchly loyal chief military adviser, to lead the invasion of Europe. Most, including Churchill, assumed Marshall would become Roosevelt's choice. The following excerpt from Michael Korda's biography, Ike, An American Hero, explains Roosevelt's rationale (requirements) for selecting Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander.
The Allies had generals with, perhaps, a sharper strategic and political vision than Ike - Marshall and Brooke, for example - though he would quickly catch up with them, for he was a fast learner. There were also generals who were more experienced at "fighting a battle," like Patton, Montgomery and Alexander, although in that respect too, Ike was learning on the job. But there was nobody who had anything like Ike's record of leading an alliance - always the most difficult feat in warfare - or of commanding military operations on a huge, daring and unprecedented scale.
What is more, Ike somehow inspired people: civilians and ordinary soldiers of both nations, even cynical political figures and the always troublesome French. Something about his big grin; his long-limbed, loose American way of walking (the Kansas farm boy grown to a man); his easy familiar way of speaking to everybody from King George VI down to privates in both armies; his lack of pretension; his evident sincerity; and his willingness to accept unimaginably heavy responsibility made people like Ike.
They were willing to be led by him. They were willing to have him command their sons and husbands in battle. They trusted him. They were willing to die for him. It is hard to imagine Alan Brooke or George Marshall winning people's confidence, affection, and trust the way Ike did, apparently without effort or design, and it was typically astute of that supreme master of politics, Franklin Roosevelt, to see that quality in Ike at once, and to recognize however much he admired Marshall, what a formidable weapon it was. And why not? It was one he and Ike shared.
At no time in history was it more important to select the right leader - and the accomplishment of the Allied objective proves that Roosevelt got it right. In line with his personal vision, Roosevelt chose Dwight David Eisenhower, a leader who, without yielding to ego or politics, was utterly focused on executing to strategy: defeat Germany and accept nothing less than unconditional surrender.
A CEO must have an approach to selecting leaders and managers, a process that ensures right choices are made. The cost of erring in this crucial step is terribly high. Defined as the value of the next best alternative lost as the result of making a decision, the opportunity cost resulting from having the wrong people in key positions for extended periods is high and always underestimated.
While there are of course costs of recruitment which are out-of-pocket, the real cost is in the opportunities lost when an incorrect choice occupies a crucial position for six to 12 months before their weakness is discovered and replacement can begin. Additionally, the cost of losing competent staff and production glitches due to the erosion of confidence in leadership must also be figured. Incompetent management drives good people away.
Assuring that the right choice is made when leadership and management positions are filled is difficult; yet the following steps will lead to right selection the majority of the time.
Guidelines for staffing:
• Specify job requirements accurately by clarifying roles, responsibilities and job specs
• Identify key success deliverables for each of the next five years
• Require demonstrated successful experience in key areas of competence
• Choose those with whom you have worked or allow only one degree of separation in the selection process by relying on someone you know and trust to recommend a candidate
• Use 360-degree reference checks. Talk not just to your candidate's supervisors and superiors, but also to their peers and subordinates from the previous five to seven years
• When possible, staff from within your company. Select those who have held leadership and management positions and whose results you know quantitatively
Management selection is by far the most overlooked and most often failed component of long-term success. The inability to select competent business unit and functional managers haunts
leaders and is the major contributor in a failure to execute. Manager selection is perhaps the most important task the leader performs. Even if a leader implements all the other leadership fundamentals correctly - stating a clear vision, defining an overarching strategy, outlining a strong organization structure - and then fails in management selection, all will have been in vain. Successful execution requires competent leaders and managers. Effectiveness in the role of the CEO is absolutely measured by the ability to select leaders and managers well.
{pagebreak:Page 1}
Laurence B. Valant is President and CEO of Valant & Co., a Denver-based business performance improvement consultancy that has worked with almost 300 firms to increase their value by billions of dollars. He is co-author of the hot-selling new book, "Make Plan! With Effective Execution" and now, "Lead and Manage!" Valant can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or at 303-589-3840. If you want more information or would like to order a copy of "Stop Breaking These Rules! 100 Hard-Hitting Truths for Business Integrity and Performance," please visit www.valantco.com.


text:
Found on outer continental and insular shelves and uppermost slopes (Ref. 247). Probably feeds on bottom invertebrates and fishes. Ovoviviparous (Ref. 205). Taken incidentally with bottom trawls but probably not used (Ref. 247).
- Compagno, L.J.V. 1984 FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 247)


text: If you want to finish off that siren outfit youÕve been working on this Halloween, then look no further than the Girl's Blue Mermaid Wig. The Girls Blue Mermaid Wig is for any gal thatÕs a fan of mermaids, sirens, or the lost city of Atlantis. It's the perfect accessory to deck out any Halloween costume.


text:
Republicans Shed Crocodile Tears Over the Effect of Prop 13
Republican crocodile tears flowed this weekend in Orange County as a group of city officials called F.I.S.T. – "Fight Insane State Theft" – comprised of 14 Orange County mayors and 42 city council members, nearly all of them Republicans - protested Republican Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to take away billions in state property tax revenue from their cities.
According to the Orange County Register, the group held a rally this past weekend in Placentia, joined by an array of Republican front organizations posing as anti-tax crusaders, including Citizens for a Better Placentia, Fullerton Association of Concerned Taxpayers, and Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation.
The Register notes that the protesters are "particularly concerned about losing funds for roads and other transportation projects."
But it is the Republicans themselves – and their corporate funded anti-tax allies – who are themselves directly responsible for giving the state the power to take away property tax revenue from California cities.
Prior to 1978, local governments in California (as elsewhere in the nation) could set their own property tax rates and spend the money that they raised on local needs.
But the Republicans did not trust local governments or local voters with the power to tax local property or to spend that revenue as they thought appropriate.
So they decided to give the state the sole power to set property taxes and to give the state legislature the sole power to decide how that money would be spent.
Prop 13 took away the cities' power to set property tax rates or levy property taxes, and gave all such power to the state -- where it would be subject to Prop 13's strict limits and the 2/3 rule – in other words, subject to the statewide anti-tax minority's veto, regardless of the wishes or needs of local officials or voters.
Now our local Republican elected officials and Republican anti-tax front groups are outraged about "losing funds for roads and other transportation projects" -- which, by the way, tend to benefit large landowners and developers more than local citizens -- because the state wants to spend that money elsewhere.
This latest instance of Orange County Republican hypocrisy reminds me of an exchange from Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot:
Estragon: We've no rights any more?
Laugh of Vladimir, stifled as before, less the smile.
Vladimir: You'd make me laugh if it wasn't prohibited.
Estragon: We've lost our rights?
Vladimir: (distinctly). We got rid of them.
So I ask our Orange County Republicans: Having given up our rights, are you now ready to amend Prop 13 to return the property tax power to local governments and local voters?
Here, they did something similar with the city property taxes. There is an absolute cap. Result: It takes cops hours sometimes to respond to calls. Fireman are being let go. The water park that kept the kids busy closed for good years ago and the (republican) businesses are fuming because of the number of kids running through town vandalizing things.
The republican solution? You may not believe it but they are yelling that the city 'must learn to live within its means' and they are behind yet another budget cut and slashing taxes yet again! Yeah, they tax base is so low already that the city is practically dead and gosh, if they shuffled around those few extra bucks the city would spring to life and everything would be just Mayberry RFD.
What they are smoking, drinking, sniffing, huffing or popping should be illegal. Evidently you can't squeeze blood from a stone, or tax money from a libertarian runaway capitalist pig republican...
Would America be that much better being the newest third world country?
HDNet Reports had a show on a few weeks ago that detailed a small town on the rocks. The republican businesses wouldn't put up an extra dollar per employee per year to help those that couldn't find work as I remember the spot. One dollar per employee per year! They had owner after owner bitching about the 'added cost' and how 'it will kill us' and yet the area they operated in had souring unemployment. Talk about not seeing things for what they are... I was just flabbergasted... Arguing with those people would be like a Monty Python skit...
Why people continue to think Republicans can do anything for better governance when they continue to spout claptrap like "The 9 worst words are 'Im from the government and Im here to help'" is beyond me. Life in the USofA is becoming service to The Corporation and F##k everything else.
Repeal prop 8, reduce the budget voting threshold to 50% and let's start fixing this craphole of a state budget. We honestly need a constitutional convention to overhaul the whole thing (and let's get rid of voter initiatives in the process - they just lock up more state budget costs in bonds and percentage allocations to expenses whether they need them or not.)
Anyway, I'd love to see this happen. I'd love to see the revenue stay "at home" and be used at home where more accountability can be exercised. If that were to occur, it would also be of benefit to jurisdictions for council and supervisor seats to be by district rather than at large.
Thought provoking post Michael.
On a national level, Reagan and both Bush's engaged in massive deficit spending (as Obama is doing). This makes people happy because essentially it's like living off someone else's credit cards (the next generations). Thus it creates the "illusion" of prosperity, which makes people happy now, but just creates a longer problem in the long run.
Ironically, Clinton (who Republicans would say was a tax and spend liberal) actually was the most fiscally conservative president we've had in a few decades.
But hey, that's the California Republican for you. They'd rather die than pay. Prop 13 has been a disaster for this state.
Two questions: won't it take an impossible 2/3 "majority" to amend/overturn this zombie? How the hell is that gonna happen?
I think your case could be made even stronger by addding an explanation of the "Warren Buffett situation" [he always notes (with disapproval) that because of Prop. 13, his manse in LaJolla requires far less in property taxes than his much more modest home in Omaha NE.]
This happens because of the limits on property tax INCREASES for those who remain in their homes, vs. the humongous jump that occurs when one sells [i.e., the new buyer gets hit].
As I recall, all of this was a response to the wailings of greedy geezers who maintained that they were being "taxed out of their homes" because of sky-rocketing property values. No one ever bothered to point out that the house-rich geezers could take out a reverse mortgage to pay their taxes. Oh no, that would reduce the equity in the home they wanted to pass on to their heirs.
I remember all of the dire warnings that occurred when this monstrosity passed. I've left the state, but I've watched other states flirt with this gasoline. [MD in particular.]
I feel sad for CA, but I don't know how they're going to get themselves out of this, since power rests with the Crazy Minority, and Reagan's ideas that "taxes only benefit welfare queens" continue to rule.
When Los Angeles was fighting off the secession of Hollywood and the valley, they pulled a similar stunt: they revised the city charter so that neighborhood councils would be formed. Rather than having voting power rest with registered voters (and registered voters must be residents), these councils allow voting membership from a number of non-residents -- and while it was set up to appear harmless enough, this took away what little political clout residents could have enjoyed and handed it over to a council that would also include representatives from commercial interests and "faith-based" institutions. In fact, there were actual seats on the council reserved for "faith-based" candidates. I could theoretically attend a service in a storefront church anywhere in Los Angeles and claim the right to vote and belong to the neighborhood council in that district. I doubt this was
My point was, you have to be wary of any of these "reforms" which, like Prop 13, dilute control over the purse strings and in reality make it easier for business interests to have their way.
But this article is a total crock. In fact the blame for Prop 13 lies with the Democrats and a bit history. In the 70's housing prices in CA were booming (sound familiar?), rising an average of 15-20% a year. This doubling every 3 or 4 years was pleasant for speculators and sellers, but no so for folks that simply wanted to stay in their homes. Since property taxes were a fixed percentage of home value, their property taxes were rising at the same rate as their home value. Not so good for retirees or even the average salaried schlub who's income was nowhere near keeping pace. The Democrats controlled the Legislature, but refused pleas to cap increases in property taxes.
So the lunatic right which had always been trying to get rid of taxes all of a sudden found the public willing to sign on to their prop 13. The Democrat leadership bet the proposition would lose. They were wrong.
To try to say the Republican party did this is a sheer fabrication; they may have supported Prop 13 but had no power to impose it. The groundswell that passed it came from average voters worried about being taxed out of their houses, and a Democratic legislature that refused to listen.
This is true democracy designed to keep investment within the community and within California. The net purpose was to provide state level controls to limit local corruption. It is the reason why homes have high values and real estate has been one of the biggest industries in the state.
The California economy benefitted from Reagan's "defense" spending in the 80's, The technology bubble in the 90's, cheap capital for real estate up to 2006 and all the 1% tax resets from these transactions. This made for very fat and happy government and generous pension benefits.
Messing with Prop 13 is killing the Golden Goose of the Golden State. The problem is not productive communities keeping thier 1%. The problem is a wasteful and corrupt central government that confiscates 10% of income on top of the annual 1% of home values .
The move to repeal Prop 13 will decrease the investment value of California real estate and accellerate the decline to a deeper bottom.
I write this now because the owner of the company I work for is selling his $1,250,000 Orange County home at a loss and moving his multi million dollar surgical technology business to Florida along with several executive jobs and fanilies with school age children.
Florida has hurricanes humidity and bugs. However, 0% income tax, $20 automobile registration, cheaper fuel and energy makes for an attractive business environment. The Florida State employee pension fund is a personal 401(k) just like people who pay their salaries.
I suggest Mr Fox report on California's real budget conflict by reviewing the link below
P.S. His last quarterly California State income tax payment was more than I make in a year as a full time bookkeeper
Proposition 13 was a meat ax approach to a real problem at the time. Real estate taxes were skyrocketing as counties struggled to keep up with demands. For those on a fixed income it was creating a problem as taxes could increase well over five times in just a few years.
One solution which would have given an even greater reduction in taxes would have been for the State to take over the financing of local courts, welfare systems and schools for which many programs were then and even now pretty much mandated and not controlled by local governments.
My main argument opposing Proposition 13 at the time was that we were giving away local autonomy for local Government as the only way the Counties could survive was to go hat in hand to the State Government and that would surely mean the State would set conditions for the money. Indeed that has not only happened but in addition now that the state is in such bad shape they are not taking back from the Counties in as much as they say we are no longer bailing you out.
There was little doubt we needed tax relief at that time but the State Legislature couldn't agree on how to do so, hence we got Proposition 13.
One other thing that should be said, Prop 13 was pushed by Conservatives who believed that to make a smaller government you cut of the funding, "starve the beast" was the term. This has been a Conservative mantra for decades in California. The California Republican party used to be somewhat moderate centrist prior to the mid 70's when the Flat Earth Right Wing began their takeover of the Party. This was the beginning of the Conservative revolution and now we see just how affective this has become. Now we see the results and as always said, "So goes California, so goes the nation". This is a shot across the bow for those states who have flirted with the "California Revolt" of tax cuts and little plane for that rainy day. This is what you will reap, and it is not so much a "rainy day" here but a full blown monsoon.
Worse the Republicans proposals are to continue more tax cuts and cuts in services to balance the budget. The Democrats are far from blameless but at their best the Republicans make the Democrats look good.
You point out something that is true, it was the Democrats who could agree on how to restructure the distribution of taxes in the 70's, but it was also the special interests who were pulling so many different directions which made the problem worse. So a solution was made for them and it was a bad one that would sometime in the future come back to haunt each of those special interest from coming to a consensus.
Vera Capto,
"Section 1. (a) The maximum amount of any ad valorem tax on real property shall not exceed One percent (1%) of the full cash value of such property. The one percent (1%) tax to be collected by the counties and apportioned according to law to the districts within the counties."
Yes this is true on the way it is structured but the stickler here is "apportioned according to law to the districts within the counties". Here again I will give our small rural fire district as an example at that time. That law of course meant that you were allocated the proportion of your tax rate for what the county collected in taxes.
So, if you were a one of the communities which had a Rec district, Fire District and more special districts than your community received from the county the portion of taxes collected from the entire county. If you were a rural district with only a Fire District and let's say you were already struggling with a tax rate that was not able to keep pace with your increase in costs with a high tax rate you received a funding in equal proportion to what your tax rate was.
Example, our tax rate was set by a former board which was made up of old large land owners (none under 70 years of age) As they had an issue with any taxes they set a tax rate of 35 cents per thousand of valuation. This did not meet the needs of this all volunteer fire department. We had to continue to hold fund raisers just to replace turnout. The comment by one board member was if you wanted to be fireman you should raise those funds yourself.
Now 25 mile from the edge of our district was a community, not a wealthy community but on the highs side of Middle class. They had several special service districts. These districts amounted to a combined tax rate over $7 per thousand.
I can't recall the entire rate the county collected after Prop 13 but let us say it was $10 per thousand. Now you take each special service district and factor in the percentage they were receiving of the entire county assessments, then each district would receive that percentage of what he county collected. Not the former percentage of what the special districts former tax rate, but what the county as a whole received. So that community which had multiple special districts would receive the bulk of the tax money, districts such as our fire district receive next to nothing. We were bad off before and now we were far worse.
Now, the State comes to the rescue of the Counties recognizing the potential disaster about to happen. The say they will bail you out, but with conditions. Such is what has happened every year since Prop 13. But this year the State hasn't the funds to bail out the counties.
As a result, Howard Jarvis and the large apartment owners were able to convince the voters that Prop 13 -- capping all property taxes and centralizing their collection in Sacramento -- was in the interests of everyone.
At first, both the Democrats and the Republicans (including Governor Reagan) opposed Prop 13, believing that it would lead to financial disaster for the state. Then Reagan and the Republicans got onboard – and rode Prop 13 all the way to the White House.
As you note, the failure of the Democrats to offer an alternative plan for property tax relief for the middle class was – and remains – a stunning political miscalculation and an extremely costly failure of California's Democratic leadership.
But that does not change the fact that Reagan was right – initially – about Prop 13's disastrous effect on the state's budget, costing the state hundreds of billions of dollars since its passage.
Nor does it change the fact that by strictly capping taxes on all property – including commercial property – Prop 13 has benefited large commercial landowners far more than middle class homeowners.
Rather, middle class homeowners in California have seen their other taxes and state fees (income taxes, sales taxes, gasoline taxes, vehicle taxes, Mello-Roos, college tuition, road tolls) rise as a direct result of Prop 13's windfall for large landowners, wiping out any real tax savings for the middle class homeowners that Prop 13 was ostensibly meant to protect.
Public employee pensions in California are high because our Republican officials (and voters) want services, but do not want to pay the salaries of the people necessary to keep and maintain these services.
Instead, they agree to pay public employees in the form of increased pensions -- which, they hope, won't become due until they're out of office.
i'm not trying to be antagonistic, i also live in california, and prop 13 boggles my mind. it costs money to run the state. why isn't there more talk of repealing some of these legal fixtures?
Any reasonable interpretation of this means that the *Republicans* chose to take tax power away from local gov't, give it to the state, and cap the rate. And then imposed their decision on CA.
This is fantasy, as you more or less concede in your later reply. Right-wing fanatics who had been trying for years to do this had their stars align with leaping home prices causing fear in the public. It was a failure of elected leadership to present a reasonable alternative that fueled passage of Prop 13. Republicans decided NOTHING.
So are Republicans hypocrites? Sure. Responsible for many of our problems on a state level (by blocking tax increases, among other things)? Sure.
But did they decide to impose Prop 13? No way. Blame for passage of that crippling measure goes to the Democratic leadership.
on the yes side, the property tax money should go to the counties again, to spend as they see fit. if the state government can not live on just state income tax's and fees, then it should go bankrupt and start over again.
Reagan served as governor from 1967-1975. Prop 13 passed in June 1978.


text:
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text:
Thats all i saw today. hehe. i enjoyed it...well to a certain point. two reasons why i didnt enjoy it are that one) i wish i had a body like all cute sexy girls i saw & two) i felt lonely. i looked at all them girls and longed to have someone with me.
My loneliness kinda makes checking out girls feel like i have nothing better in my life to do. it has no meaning. like i have nothing to live for and thats sad. really sad. i just wish that i could meet someone, that special girl who will make my life complete.
You'll find her. :3
Until then, I think it's good not to feel too bad about being single and find other things you're interested in, like a sport or an art or hobby. If you can focus on other things and set goals for yourself, being single doesn't feel quite as bad... :3 Though it's kind of hard to distract yourself like that sometimes. ^^;
Good luck either way.


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Two Brampton men have been arrested in connection with a string of break-ins— including one in Georgetown— which targeted cellular telephone stores in Halton.
Members of Halton Police's One District Criminal Investigations Bureau made the arrests (yesterday) Thursday. The break-ins, which began in August, occurred in the early morning hours while the stores were closed. Suspects used a rock and sledgehammer to enter the stores.
Subsequent to the arrest of the accused, two search warrants were executed at their homes in Brampton.
During a search of the homes investigators seized several cellular telephones and a quantity of accessories believed to have been taken during the entries. Police also located additional evidence linking the suspects to these crimes.
Based on the investigation, the accused are believed to be responsible for the following break and enters:
• August 10— Rogers Plus Store located at Unit "C"– 2500 Appleby Line in Burlington. The value of the damage caused to the premises during this entry was estimated at $1,500. Nothing was taken.
• August 24— Worldlynx Wireless Store located at 330 Guelph Street in Georgetown. While inside the pair took several wireless routers valued at $1,200.
• November 21— Rogers Wireless Store located at 850 Main Street East in Milton. While inside the suspects took cell phones and accessories valued at $7,800.
• December 3— Future Shop Store located at 3060 Davidson Court in Burlington. Taken were cell phones and accessories valued at $29,280.
Charged with four counts each of break and enter, breach of recognizance and possession of stolen property are Brian Moore, 26, and Kevin Thomas, 20, both of Brampton. Both men were held for bail.
Investigators remind the public to utilize Crime Stoppers to report any illegal activity at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting "Tip201″ with your message to 274637(crimes).


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I sat down to write the other day and couldn't find anything to say. There was nothing more to say about debt, money, eating, losing weight, cooking, spending, saving, decluttering, simplifying, and so forth that I hadn't said before or that I wanted to say again.
The last three years have marked profound changes in our lives here at Casa Losing It. What started as a journey simply to get ourselves out of debt turned out to be a total transformation of all of our lives, in ways unknown to us as we began. We live far more simply now, with far, far less stuff. We know the difference between a need and a want. We live by our budget and within our means. We set goals and then work to achieve them, whether that be saving money, losing weight, reading, and so forth.
The Losing It family is coming up on some new challenges and changes though. Mr. Losing It has applied for Social Security, and will retire at the end of June. We will, for the most part, be living on a fixed income when he does . In 2014, we plan to move to Hawaii. We will be selling our house, and letting go of even more of our possessions before we make our move. One of our daughters will be heading off to college that year, and the other two will attend a private school, a new financial challenge for us. I will be working to consistently maintain my weight loss (again), versus trying to lose weight (again).
In other words, as one journey nears its end, it turns out we will be setting off on another. Up to now, it's been all about "losing it," but the new journey feels more like one where we'll be "finding it." And so, I'm feeling a bit adrift right now, not sure whether to keep up I'm Losing It or give it up, or segue into something new. I have found I love writing (when I have something to say), and I also treasure the connections and friendships I've made through this blog over the past three years and am not sure I'm ready to or want to give them up.
For the next month or so, I think I'm just going to think about things and what direction I want to go. I would love your input and advice as well. Should I keep going but just change course, or should I move on to a whole new venture?
In the meantime, I will continue to maintain some of the regular features, such as my book list, monthly goals, Friday weigh-in and Sunday Night Chit Chat, as I'm not ready to cut any cords completely right now.


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2009 Bagong Bayani for Most Outstanding Employee Awardee
Position: Senior Manager/Risk Management
Philippine Address: Brgy. Palale, Sta Margarita Western Samar
Employer: Oman Insurance Company
P.O. Box 5209 Dubai, U.A.E.
What is life after being named as one of Bagong Bayani in 2009?
I guessed there is no greater accolade than being an OFW itself, tagged as one of those new heroes who help our economy getting stable year after year.
The Bagong Bayani Award has somehow put me in a status symbol that even co-expat friends and colleagues are proud of, sharing my triumph to others. I can feel the distinct respect knowing that I have been acknowledged as an awardee.
I am working for already 9 years now in a premier local insurance firm owned by the richest man in UAE, Al Ghurair, as Senior Manager for Risk Management. The company has recruited a new Filipino risk engineer to join our team where the three of us now has outnumbered the other nationalities in our 6-manned department. It is not just about quantity, but I am sure my superiors must have appreciated my work ethics and attitude that somehow paved way for hiring more Filipino staff.
In 2011, I, Ms. Mary Jane Alvero (another 2009 Bagong Bayani Awardee batchmate) and Filipino world-known designer Furne One were featured in 'Young Asian Achievers' book published by UAE-based journalist Meraj Rizvi. You can read the featured article following the link below.
On the socially relevant issues, I and some tennis friends have put up a page called JOBs WANTED FOR MY KABAYAN "FB" FRIENDS IN THE GCC" in 2011, a page for all Filipino newbies in UAE and The Gulf to post advises and source of information/guide for Pinoys on Visit Visa, Changing Works, Visa Exit Runs, fake job agencies and scam offers, job links to available works in the market. You can check our page on the link below:
We have also carried out special tennis socials events to support and donate to the victims of destructive typhoons and floods in the recent years.
Engr. Manuel (Mike) Jr Perito
Senior Manager – Risk Management Unit
Oman Insurance Company
P.O. Box 5209 Dubai-UAE