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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Posted: 06/27/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0
Last Modified: 06/27/2013 9:43 AM | Updates
RESTON -- At least two homes could be total losses, a health-care centre has been evacuated, and dozens are displaced in Reston, the community devastated by yet another ferocious rainstorm.
The area in the southwest corner of Manitoba received 104 millimetres of rain on Tuesday evening, just four days after the community in the RM of Pipestone saw a flash flood ravage buildings and roads on the weekend.
Now it's back to Square 1.
Flood-soaked carpeting, appliances and couches that fell victim to the first flood floated down the streets.
Tuesday night's storm in the RM -- which was already in a declared state of emergency -- brought even more destruction than the first. Trees were struck by lightning, heavy winds knocked out power, and even more homes and roads were in the path of overland flooding.
Reeve Ross Tycoles said the weather was so severe, crews were seeking shelter in basements during the storm.
Portions of Highway 2 west of Reston succumbed to a two-metre wall of water, as did other secondary roads, increasing the RM's resolve to divert traffic away from the area. At least one vehicle on Highway 83 was swept off the road by vicious tides crossing the road.
Reston Health Centre has evacuated its 28 residents to various health facilities throughout Prairie Mountain health region for precautionary and staffing reasons, since employees cannot get to work.
Within the RM of Pipestone, around 75 homes have been affected, many of which were farm homes with water lapping right up to the siding.
As the RM tries to keep its head above water, Tycoles said he expects to have contact with Premier Greg Selinger about relief funding after the two first spoke at the beginning of the week.
"The community is strong, I still see a lot of humour, people taking it as it is," Tycoles said, but added the community's sunny mood could quickly turn when talks with the Emergency Measures Organization starts.
"It could have been a lot worse. That storm had some bad feeling in it."
Despite the unrelenting downpours, Reston School's Grade 12 class still celebrated graduation last night at the school, with a party in the neighbouring community of Pipestone.
Wednesday morning, on his way back from Pipestone, graduate Garrett Adock had to leave behind his car on the highway and walk 20 minutes back into town.
"We couldn't open our doors," he said. "(The water) was waist deep. We had to climb out our windows."
Reston School has cancelled the year's remaining school days.
As the last of the water was gurgling down his mother-in-law's basement drain on Wednesday morning after the latest bout of rain, Brian Barker said the pressure from the saturated land around the house created leaks in the foundation.
"There was water shooting out of the cinder blocks," he said. "It was literally coming out of the walls."
While the EMO won't pay for sewage backup, it will cover overland flooding, but Barker argues Reston's situation is in a grey area.
"My big issue is the sewer wouldn't back up if there wasn't overland flooding," he said.
Tuesday night's catastrophic storm hit other Westman communities, including Virden, where the town is still adding up the damage after it was caught off guard by more than 55 millimetres of rain, leaving as much as a metre of water, creating a lake over dozens of metres, according to Mayor Jeff McConnell.
Overland floods were coupled with a one-metre rise in the Scallion Creek during the height of the storm.
"The creek was already flowing at near capacity," he said, and the town's lift stations "were nowhere near going to match the event we had."
As of Wednesday morning, much of the overland flooding had receded, which left homeowners in at least three areas of the town to clean up destroyed basements.
"The council declared a resolution requesting disaster financial assistance," he said. "It is a disaster, it really is. We have homes affected in pretty much every corner of town."
Towards the Saskatchewan border, the RM of Albert was also in the storm's destructive path, with at least 10 homes "in jeopardy," according to Darwin Gray, the RM's foreman.
Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation's hydrologic forecast centre continued overland flood warnings Wednesday evening and high-water advisories for the northwest, Interlake and southwest regions of Manitoba, including Reston.
-- Brandon Sun
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 27, 2013 A2
Updated on Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 9:43 AM CDT: adds slideshow
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But the NPD figure is decreasingly relevant, as it specifically excludes digital sales, the one channel looked to for growth in a business still losing sales—of traditional, full-version video games—month to month. Further, a game releasing on multiple platforms has an advantage as every title sold, regardless of platform, counts toward its overall total. NBA 2K13 released on the 360, PlayStation 3 and PC—and PSP and Wii. Resident Evil 6, by all accounts a bad game, made No. 2 releasing on just two consoles, albeit with an assist from marketing and brand incumbency.
Still, the game's delayed Steam release—it came out Oct. 30—meant that for a full month, PC users who wanted NBA 2K13 had to buy a physical copy—the kind that counts toward the NPD charts. NBA 2K12 released on Steam on Oct. 4, 2011 and NBA 2K11 on Oct. 6, 2010, the same dates as their console launch.
Sports video games frequently show up in the NPD's top 10, and the global popularity of the leagues they emulate is only one reason. The other is that they have been, ever since EA Sports canned Madden on the PC, predominantly console-based products, with a strong majority of sales coming at retail locations. 2K Sports is, to its credit, one of the few sports publishers willing to deliver a PC version of everything it makes (although that will not include MLB 2K next year. FIFA and Tiger Woods PGA Tour likewise offer PC releases.)
Still, it appears to me that this launch month was all about selling through retail channels to make sure NBA 2K13 outperformed its predecessors—and it did, by 19 percent more in October 2012 than the phenomenal NBA 2K11 sold in Oct. 2010.
Across the office at 2K Games, however, XCOM: Enemy Unknown didn't even make the top 10. NPD said 114,000 units of it were sold though, again, that's physical media sales only. It's preposterous to think XCOM's cash register appeal stops there, when Steam showed 70,000 PC users playing it, concurrently, on the weekend after its launch.
You can't convince me that XCOM isn't one of October's 10 best sellers across all channels. You also can't convince me NBA 2K13 is really No. 1 for the month, either.

subset: commoncrawl


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Good to get today's entry hot off the press. Prague at least in its historical area looks beautiful. Some of the pictures remind us of Austria and Switzerland. We had a laugh at the bread roll and enjoyed seeing your brick added to the 'building.' How reassuring to know that your bikes were under security through the night and day. You both look well. Continue to enjoy everything. All's well here Dad has Diocesan Council meeting tomorrow in Murray Bridge. I have nearly finished Jaala's third picture. She seems very happy with what I am doing. This picture is of purple tulips.Lots of love, Mum.
Trip Start
Apr 28, 2010
Trip End
Jul 08, 2010
Where I stayed
Golden Tulip - Hotel Terminus
Everyone in Europe is in training for the World Smoking Championships. There's an EU ruling which mandates that all pregnant women must smoke, and mums in the car with the kiddies must smoke with the windows up. Every country, there's been smoking in restaurants, hotel lobbies, lifts, shopping centres, you name it. Some businesses specify no smoking but that's individual choice. The generosity of the European public in sharing their used smoke with us at breakfast has been touching.
Most hotels allow pets (dogs of course unless you're weird and take your cat on holiday). Dogs generally are allowed in pubs, shopping centres, banks etc. There was a dog at breakfast this morning in our hotel in Prague. The same in the UK in many places. It doesn't seem to cause a problem. We haven't experienced witnessing a pooch laying a barker's egg in a public eatery but we assume it must be planned for.
It seems to be VERY uncommon for hotels, motels or penzions to provide double beds in double rooms. The default is 2 single beds. Sometimes pushed together, sometimes several metres apart with a loudhailer for communication. This has been the case ever since we hit Spain, and in every country since, except CZ which might have been a fluke. Some receptions will ask you if you vant vun big bed or you vant two small beds, but usually you'll get the singles. Maybe European couples are just bluntly honest and don't pretend to still like each other, even on holiday - that way they can carry on the silent seething resentments which are such a joy of married life and ignore each other just like at home...we've been able to get changes, but several times we've had blank looks and a short silence, as the young person at the desk can't imagine why anyone over 30 has legitimate reason for physical contact with other living beings. Senile death germs might get transmitted...was that a barely suppressed shudder or is she just feeling a bit chilly? Weird.
Hotels can be really good for the money. We've paid less than penzion prices for great places. The tent sites and caravan park cabins just don't cut it for VFM, of course with a family in tow it would be different. Generally the gold/stainless steel/glossy lobby flashy hotels have been the least fab to stay in and the older elegant ones are often much more welcoming and you don't have to wear your shades inside and suck your cheeks in. We've had a couple of all show no go experiences but we've enjoyed most of our accomadation choices.
We thought Polish roads were very special until we hit the Czech Republic. We've worked out how road repairs are handled. First, a pothole or sunken area of decrepit old cobbles is allowed to mature for a decade or so into a truly lethal hazard. Once the requisite minimum of casualties have been recorded, the road crew go out with jackhammers and smash the tripe out of the surrounding bitumen for a 20 metre radius. The road's then half blocked off for a few weeks in the hope of some cataclysmic flooding. Eventually two or three trucks back up and tips loads of old housebricks and masonry into the chasm until it's either 200 mm below or above the road surface. Then the bitumen artists splatter a thin layer over the top, and any remaining hot mix is sprayed over all cars parked nearby. The final creative touch is to put the junior member of the crew into the truck and let him rip into some circle work around the repair, ensuring some deep grooves at 30 degrees to the curb are well placed to snap the front wheel of your motorcycle into a highly amusing tankslapper. It's good to see the Polish and CZ road authorities have a graduate exchange program in place to ensure product consistency across borders.
Czech traffic is noticeably calmer than we've experienced in every other country to date. We've genuinely not been able to fathom the speed limits in other countries because they are so absolutely ignored. As soon as we crossed the border from Poland, the traffic cooled down. You could tell when a Polish or German car was approaching in CZ because it was right up the clacker of the car in front. The cops were more focused on traffic in Prague than elsewhere we've seen. We've always felt that Euro drivers are skilled and aware, but we felt more at ease in CZ on the A and B roads and the towns. The motorways are still very fast mind.
Prague is a very very lovely place. It's the birthplace of art nouveau and Alphonse Mucha is credited with starting the movement in 1895. His stuff is everywhere. Of course it made a big comeback from the mid 60s for a few years when it heavily influenced rock culture poster art, album covers etc. There's a big art nouveau jewellery market in Prague as well. As well as Bohemian art glass. We did find, just like with Krakow, it's good to get out of the Old Town and check out the rest of the city or the relentless tourist focus gets wearing.
Franz Kafka is another local hero. Lots of ironic T shirts on sale.
Being in Bohemia, there's lots of blokes of all ages with floppy Oscar Wilde haircuts reading in the cafes. And smoking. Actually it's a very arty city. It would be great to be here for a while just to experience some of the many live music choices on offer. The big rock acts come through as well as more obscure and classical stuff. There's a lot of local music and theatre. Dave would have loved to attend a performance of Verdi's Requiem at the Opera House (yes, really) but the timing is out by a few days.
Anyway we loved Prague. As usual, we didn't really get more than a taste of it in the time we were there.


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MSU staff picked for LEAP
by MBJ Staff Published: April 3,2011
Tags: 2011 Learning Experience for Aspiring Professionals, Amanda Seymour, Angie Waller, Barbie Hampel, Brandy Akers, Courtney Blaylock, Dan Whatley, Darrell Easley, Diane Alexander, Edie Irvin, Karin Lee, Katie Echols, Meggan Franks, Mississippi State University, Summer Mord, Terri Johnson
Fourteen Mississippi State University staff members are new participants in the university's 2011 Learning Experience for Aspiring Professionals program. Formerly known as the Staff Leadership Program, LEAP's goals and purpose include the advancement of knowledge, enhancement of leadership skills, and direct practical work application for selected employees. Chosen through a competitive nomination and selection process, […] [...]


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Reader comments are listed below. Comments are currently closed and new comments are no longer being accepted.
Time to change the state motto : "Eureka... I have found it!", to something more appropriate.
"Damn! We lost it!"
How to live in the New Debt/Plunder Economy 101:
1. Borrow and leverage as much as you can(don't worry you're never going to pay it back)
2. Get all the free entitlements and benefits you can (because we deserve them), never been to the Food bank? go there anyways and load up, because its free.
3. Send all your real earnings/savings overseas.
4. When all your debt and the US debt implodes leave country and safely retire overseas.
Don't worry California, and the US
Obama will bail you out, just keep spending, don't fight it, just give in and enjoy. I have personally decided to join in with the plunder Economy, take all the entitlements and benefits you can get while the party last!
America as the economist states "have unlimited capacity" to print money.
I just hope the Chinese don't find out about our ponzi scheme.
the success of the future will depend upon how well one can garner access to government largesse, whether it be a corporation receiving an obama approved grant, or a union riding high on guaranteed pensions. down to the smallfolk who have to pour over government regulations to see how much money they "deserve" from the government. a truly wonderful age it will be.
the adjectives will flow hot and heavy.
Soon to be true of the entire West Coast, and for good reason.
The Republican party used to be about fiscal conservatism and live and let live attitude.
Now, the Rupublican party has been hijacked by religious fanatics that wants an overreaching government and neocon/AIPAC crowd wasting trillions on wars based on lies. The Republicans have become the big spenders and promoters of the bailouts for Wall Street.
I am a registered Republican and voted for them all my life until Bush II and will never vote for them again in this current form.
I complete agree. The Republican brand of being fiscally conservative is only a brand. In reality, the cost of a hundred social programs is thwarted by military spending and tax cuts to the rich, is not even close!
So true, its sad, why do you think we have culture wars?
Its because government has become so big that it decides and intrudes on all our lives. If government wasn't so big,no one would care what some person does in their lives, but since it is so big it affects everyone lives now.
Remember the old Reagan joke?
"I did not leave the Democratic Party.The Democratic party left me."
Funny many, myself included, feel the same way about the Republican Party now.
As a moderate Republican in California I realize that I am a member of an endangered species.
The only thing that keeps me in California is the absolutely wonderful northern California weather (about 5 -10 miles inland from the Coast).
It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, Cry if I want to...
Take heart from the fact that today, Reagan would be considered far, far too liberal to be a California Republican. Not to mention much to pragmatic -- i.e. attached to reality.
What an idiot! Don;t like the Christian view on extermination of the unborn, so hand the keys over to Obama and retread Jerry Brown?
Republicans are going away because California leads the world in progressive thinking. The budget is a mess its true, but this has much more to do with the particular nature of California's economic specialties, which are in the process of correcting for the long term. As the economy stabilizes, it will return to its former glory and will be a shining example for the world. The Golden State. Time will tell. Republicans ideology is a dead animal and so are Republicans.
Progressive thinking is not associated with a party, in fact ex-governor Schwarzenegger adopted alot of progressive measures, especially in the environment and energy side. The truth is that Californians are in love with spending, especially not with their money. A vast number of the electorate don't pay any taxes and they vote for measures that won't cost them a single penny, for example a parcel tax if you are a renter.
You're in denial. California is a joke just like Detroit, Greece, Italy, and Spain. The good times aren't going to return. The voters will just get poorer and more unemployed and vote themselves more welfare. Businesses will leave as taxes get even higher and illegals will become citizens and have 10 children each and all of them will vote democrat and vote for even more welfare and California will eventually break off from America, and become a third world country.
Those late night zombie movies are doing you no good.
So I assume you would vote to end immigration, the greatest disaster in Western Civilization?
I assume you are an opportunistic racist.
Let the businesses and "job creators" leave. Whatever good has any business ever done anyway? Progress comes from the people and public servants.
I dream of the day when every child in this country will aim to be a politician or public servant. They will be purged of all this brainwashing about entrepreneurship and "success through hard work" myth. The true way to success is not by hard work but by making others work hard for you.
As everyone talked of a "death spiral" in healthcare, California is in a self-reinforcing welfare spiral.
California has 12% of America's population and a third of its welfare recipients. Republicans are dying out as cutting entitlements becomes more and more of a third rail. No fix in sight.
So it seems that California is the perfect example of Democratic policies left totally unchecked. Texas, on the other hand, is an example of a state where Republican policies prevail. The result is that California is a basket case, and Texas is the most economically vibrant state in the nation. These two states offer two very different models for America's future. Which do you prefer?
And that's why all the illegal immigrants have started to avoid California and recession-ridden states in order to head into Texas instead.
Texas, the land of opportunity indeed.
Perhaps you can find a case of one party (either one) in power, but with the other having enough clout to act as a check. And (maybe?) willing to compromise in order to get laws written which are good, even if not ideal.
As for Texas, it has gas and oil. But beyond that, its economy is not doing exceptionally brilliantly either. Better than some other states, but that's a pretty low bar lately.
Or are you just referring to the Texas state government finances? Because, while California's governmental finances are a mess, businesses (outside the construction industry) are not doing half badly. I know we are less concerned about whether to hire more people than we are about the difficulty of finding the right people to hire.
Texas economic increase is due to their oil and gas (Fracking) industry - not because of their political policies.
In fact, that issue was debated during the GOP primaries, when their governor (Rick Perry) was claiming just that. Subsequently his claim of "creating job" was shot down by his own GOP opponents, and proved to be wrong.
TX being bigger and less populated then CA, is not much concerned about clean air and water as CA does.
The size of CA's economy is $1930 Billion. we can easily handle a deficit of $15-20B. CA is undergoing the same economic difficulties as the rest of the world. No need to single out my state to demonize it.
Between Las Angeles Basin, San Diego, and world famous Silicon valley, we have enough capacity and smart people (public and private) to head on our challenges, and meet our obligations to our people.
had our environmental policies were as bad as pundits claim it to be, other states would not adapt many of CA's air quality standards - as they have done.
That's a good point actually. Nobody wants to be in California, not even Californians. http://www.economist.com/node/14327185
Fracking is not only found in Texas (try Pennsylvania, South Dakota, etc for just as significant use of that technique), and Texas actually does have more than oil and gas. It's not the 1950's anymore, even in "flyover country."
Texas has its own environmental quality agency, which is more effective than the local branch of the EPA, and better at helping business to grow while finding cleaner solutions. From personal experience, the air is generally worse in Los Angeles than it is in Houston, even with all those windmills in the valley. Don't act like California policies actually make California air better than Texas air.
Texas has a giant economy, too, and isn't suffering nearly as bad as the rest of the world. This article notes California's famous accounting acrobatics, the same type that Texas bashers like you employ, yet Texas doesn't seem to suffer nearly as much.
The negative statistics about health care, poverty, and education can largely be attributed to immigration trends, unfortunately, but Texas and California have the exact same issue there, one is not better than the other.
Conversely, the major cities in Texas are just as much centers of technology and innovation as the ones you list in California.
Basically, the point is that in order to defend your state, there's no need to single out my state to demonize it.
Quite the false dichotomy there. Past Economist articles and blog posts noted that the oil and gas industry contributes 0.5% growth to the Texas economy for every 10% increase in the price per barrel of oil (though that's now likely somewhat decoupled given the overwhelming success of non-associated shale gas).
A separate blog post noted that few jobs came from oil and gas directly, but manufacturing was a big part of the growth. I dug a little deeper and verified that refining and petrochemicals in the Houston-Galveston area counted as manufacturing and not oil and gas.
California as a whole is an example not of the failure of Democratic governance but a poorly written state constitution and still poorer ballot initiatives; there was a very significant Republican presence in state governance as recently as 15 years ago. However, the lack of an effective opposition is certainly not helping the state get through its problems.
If you want liberals truly gone wild, I'd recommend Berkeley or San Francisco. I'm pretty sure Berkeley is still run by actual dyed-in-the-wool Socialists.
No I was not demonize your wonderful state. rather I was responding to this comment from Nightscroft Squire Maldunne:
"So it seems that California is the perfect example of Democratic policies left totally unchecked. Texas, on the other hand, is an example of a state where Republican policies prevail. The result is that California is a basket case, and Texas is the most economically vibrant state in the nation."
I do agree with you. TX & CA operate of two different ideologies. And that is fine
Before I say anything else, I agree that there's no reason to bash Texas per se.
Some things that you've said I don't think are quite true.
For example, the CARB is nationally recognized to have the strongest standards for air pollution in the country, beyond those of the TCEQ. CARB regulations historically lead those of the EPA by 10-15 years. The TCEQ is however recognized as the agency with the most experience in oil and gas regulation, as it should be.
While your own experience may vary, Houston had more smog days than LA in 1999 and 2004. Conversely, Austin is one of the cleanest in the US.
Texas' industry is definitely by no means limited to "fracking," but it is heavily linked to oil and gas. Your typical cost model for refining will include the USGC (US Gulf Coast) as a location benchmark because of its importance. Oil and gas extraction, refining, and general energy technology are all important enough that they're major drivers of the Texas economy. So Texas is enjoying a boom at least in part because of high energy prices and native expertise in energy extraction. Is that exportable to California? No. Is much of that an innovative, knowledge-based economy? Yes. People who claim that Texas is a state of tar-stained oilmen are being stupid. You may as well have argued in the '90s that silicon valley should have been exported to Texas.
"oil amd gas contributes .5% economic "
Its sort of beside the point what industry sectors dominate either states economy isn't it? Tech isn't exactly a dog sector, and California certainly has plenty of that, and yet it still sucks.
It's true that tech isn't doing poorly, but it's also true that energy has been nearly completely decoupled from the rest of the nation's economic performance while tech is still quite cyclical. And beneath the "it still sucks" are a whole host of other factors, only one of which is government.
As I said Nightscroft, I don't dispute that California is poorly governed, but I do think that whole attribution of economic performance to government policy is silly. On the same grounds, I might have criticized Texas' poor recovery in the mid-to-late '90s as a result of Republican policies despite broad similarities to California in that era as well.
The dichotomy isn't clear to you only because you wish to ignore it. Aside having lots of oil and gas resources, California should be more competitive than Texas in nearly every way. It has so many advantages that Texas does not, and yet, the way Texas is governed makes it more competitive than California, while the way California is governed has ruined the state's economic outlook for the foreseeable future. Ignore this if you want, but don't bother trying to excuse California's failures away or discredit Texas' success to me.
Our debate has gone along the following lines:
NSM: It's government.
AB: Economic success is not solely attributable to government.
NSM: Texas economy and California economy both have strengths.
AB: Economic failure is not solely attributable to government.
NSM: It's government.
It's as I said before - by your own admission, if it is all the fault of good policy, then why was growth in Texas stagnant to declining from 1994-1999, the second greatest sustained postwar boom while California's was good? What policy changes in Texas differentiated it in 2000-2010 from 1990-2000? If you're willing to ignore every counterexample and tell me to "not bother" then
I don't know what to say.
" I'm pretty sure Berkeley is still run by actual dyed-in-the-wool Socialists."
You meant tie-dyed-in-the-wool, didn't you?...
LOL. Yes, that is more accurate...
Ah beng, you are jumping through hoola hoops in your efforts to uncouple trends in the supply of gasoline from ipads. If you wish to continue to be taken seriously by the reasonable readers of the TE comments section, I suggest you abandon this line. Your only defense so far has been to accuse the Texas of 20 years prior of enacting counterprogressive policy. We Texas citizens can honestly say we have found something better than any utopia you may have imagined.
Surfs up, B.
And by then way Ah Beng, if by no other metric, I got more recommends than you. Thus I win. If you're a novice when it comes to internet jargon, now would probably not be a bad time to look up the term " pwned".
"I got more recommends than you."
Nightscroft, I like debate and I like it when people treat each other seriously even if they disagree. I apologize if you feel I'm maligning your state. If you don't feel like addressing what I've said, then fine. If you want to get into a contest of whose e-peen is larger this isn't the place for it.
As Californian myself, I can attest the reasons for GOP downfall is very simple to explain.
CA is a pragmatic, and forward thinking state - regardless of political ideology. Democrats seem to understand this mantra and attuned to it, thus they respond to our core values.
Unfortunately, GOP seems to have lost its core "California values", which is unique from the national brand. It had become just another surrogate puppet to GOP's new Tea party movement with its extreme right-wing ideology of "survival of the fittest". An Ideology which absolute majority of Californian seem to not agree with.
considering california's fiscal situation I think the idea that the people in california are even remotely pragmatic to be hilariously laughable. is that what you tell yourselves? that's so cute.
This was sarcasm/trolling right? I know you're actually a republican emulating a caricature of the stereotypical california liberal democrat with his head so far up his ass that he thinks he is being of all things "pragmatic" when running into the ground the richest, most technologically advanced, economically vibrant place the world has ever known by guaranteeing unlimited welfare for everyone. Nicely done.
I don't think he knows what pragmatic means.
then why don't you tell me what "pragmatic" means.
It is clear that, you do not live in CA, otherwise your views would have more depth then question others choice of words.
NOP, I an neither a Democrat, nor GOP. I am my own man and registered Independent.
Sure, people from CA *never* argue that way. Right.
And in fact his views did have more depth than just questioning others' choice of words. You just ignored (or missed) his larger message.
Do you need to live in a place to analyze its situation based on reliable information?
Its never a good sign when one party completely dominates a state. Because there are good things in both parties. Republicans are typically for more economic freedom (good) and less social freedom (bad). Democrats are the other way around. It would be a sign of astounding hubris to think that one party has all the answers and the other has none.
Besides, not even in deeply Democrat Massachusetts (where I spent 5 years in the last decade), is there such a shocking imbalance of party rule (Republican governor Romney, now Republican senator Brown).
I think it says a lot about Californian "pragmatism" that as this article mentions, the slide of the GOP began when a governor said illegals should not receive full public benefits. That is pure and simple common sense. That is pragmatic. A people who let public unions and welfare state bankrupt their economy are anything but pragmatic. Idealistic maybe, but foolish none the less.
It is interesting to me that the reason Republicans have lost favor is due to denying ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS free services.
"This has left the party with a cadre of representatives several notches to the right of the median voter, and a serious reputational problem."
This applies to the entire country. The Republicans just don't quite realize it yet.
Unfortunately, some of this is actually a matter of Democrats moving to the center-right to take up the position that Republicans used to occupy -- Jerry Brown pushing for austerity and reducing social services for example. Think of that: Jerry Brown!.
Barack Obama is in many ways a moderate Republican, or at least what that traditionally meant, with his nearly outdoing Bush on his warlike foreign policy and assaults on civil liberties. If you don't believe me, float out of the conservative bubble and read someone like Glenn Greenwald to see how actual progressives view Obama. Yet to the increasingly extreme Republican party, Obama is seen as a left-wing radical, from their perspective on the extreme right.
In some ways, we really have the same spectrum that we always had, we just use different names for it now, with Democrats like Jerry Brown and Obama as I say what used to be called moderate Republicans. Unfortunately for the Republicans, the position that the entire party now occupies used to be called the extreme right-wing lunatic fringe. Save a brief period of insanity in our history when George W Bush squeaked through because of accidents of history and outright election theft, extreme fringes never end up in power in the US. It's a self-correcting mechanism that usually, if not always, works.
"Unfortunately, some of this is actually a matter of Democrats moving to the center-right to take up the position that Republicans used to occupy -- Jerry Brown pushing for austerity and reducing social services for example. Think of that: Jerry Brown!."
this is a perfect example of how stupid democrats are. the budget deficit in california is 16 billion dollars. jerry brown then proceeds to suggest a few hundred million in cuts in services (note not in pensions or union power), which is then vigorously opposed by the democratic dominated legislature. and this is a CENTER-RIGHT??!?! decision? this is window dressing on a massively socialist government tanking the state's fiscal future.
I know this kind of vapid hard charging lying about what is the "center" is basically what far leftists do because they think its brilliant political strategy. but you have to realize two consequences of this, 1)it makes you look really stupid pretty often. 2)its pretty infuriating.
Are you capable of having a discussion without personal attacks?
depends on how dumb the things people say are. I prefer straightforward communication, I feel honesty is a virtue.
I suppose I could write like a democrat and constantly spew slanted propaganda about the inevitability of my own views success, I could tell you that a budget deficit of 16 billion and cuts of a few hundred million is a "center-right" decision. but I would consider that very immoral, while I consider telling you what I think to be honest and forthright.
You're doing a disservice to your own argument by resorting to ad hominem. I'm more amenable to a well thought out, and rational argument than to one that insults anyone that disagrees with them. Also, that type of post drags down the level of discourse, and the Economist seems to be one of the few places you can go and still read commentary that's written at an adult level.
I'm not here as some version of political operative, I'm just here to give opinions on a comment section on the internet. and I think honesty elevates the level of discourse. it's obvious we live in two different moral universe's and the things I think are bad you think are fine, and the things you think are bad I think are good.
I guess we can continue this meta argument, though I'm not sure what purpose it serves, if you think my overall characterizations are content-free (they're not), then you can chose to simply reply to the other parts of the posts, or not reply.
Your posts make some good points, but it's a shame since they're lost in bile and hostility. And making personal attacks on a message board does lower the level of discourse. You lack enough information on the people you're replying to make statements such as "you're dumb", etc. What you have access to is there comment, criticize their argument, not their character.
Barack Obama is in many ways a moderate Republican, or at least what that traditionally meant,
He is, indeed. (Although you won't find many Republicans willing to say so in public.) But then, no 20th century Republican President, no matter how conservative, could run on his record and succeed in our party today. And yes, that explicitly includes Ronald Reagan. Republicans would vote for the name, but definitely not for the actual record in office (tax increases, treaties with the Russians, etc., etc.).
Hey, forsize seems to think I'm some kind of raving liberal. Yet I've been a Republican for decades, and a conservative that whole time. Go figure.
and I have several black friends.
look jouris, I'm not obama so I can't secretly surveil you, as such I'm not very interested in claims of this nature.
Whatever the reasons for it, Brown is now in the position of the one calling for budget cuts. That was the whole point.
Calling for moderate, not extreme, budget cuts is traditionally a moderate Republican position.
Separate reply to vEQZsvnLPT: Something tells me the answer is no. Watch this space.
I second vEQZsvnLPT reply to your comments.
You don't need to call others stupid - if you wish yourself not be called with the same name.
We in CA did not become the 8th largest economy in the world, because we are stupid, or elect "stupid" leaders.
It is indeed very easy to dismiss others with buzz words like "liberal", "lefties" with clear intent to denigrate their opinions, or worse, themselves as intellectuals.
So far from your own comments and replies, you don't seem to demonstrating intellectual level higher then those whom you call "stupid".
Again, as I posted before. our economy is $1930 Billion dollar. Don't you think we can handle a $16B or $25B deficit? - you bet we can.
Finally. If GOP message would resonate with our 38M people, we would respond and elect more GOP.
The fact is, running on single and narrow platform (no tax increase), and refusal to compromise with the other party, is not enough for people of CA to trust their future with such narrow and shallow ideology.
That is the very reason why GOP does not get much traction in our state.
"this is window dressing on a massively socialist government tanking the state's fiscal future."
The fact that you think of any US state as "massively socialist" is a wonderful demonstration of just how off the rails this kind of Republican view is. I'm from California, and I now live in a country with a (newly) socialist government, and believe me, you have no idea what you're talking about. The notion that California is socialist is simply absurd.
hrrm you make a good point. are radical leftists so far out there that they would not want even minor mostly symbolic budget cuts such as jerry brown has proposed in the face of a crushingly enormous deficit.
I don't know if I can answer that question. I would probably side with the idea that symbolic budget cuts would still be preferred though, after all the advantage of looking responsible even while doing massively irresponsible things probably outweighs the pain of having to cut the budget, especially if one can make it a tiny amount compared to the deficit and debt.
california is doing the center-right thing! only 15.5 billion more of them to go!
says the person that thinks reducing the massive deficit by 3% is "center right."
honestly though, I don't really value this squabling over what is and isn't. you must think it is an incredibly important political positioning war where you have to lie aggressively to move perceptions or some thing.
california, 12% of the population, 1/3rd of all welfare recipients. maybe the country you live in is more impressively socialist, its certainly possible. but california is plenty socialist for me.
My guess is France.
Despite the difference in population Texas has as many food stamps recipients as California does, and in fact all the "sunbelt" states have comparable (high) levels. It doesn't prove anything any more than a 2008-era statistic about California welfare recipients do.
it is not conclusive it is representative. then again I imagine you knew that.
california has 3 welfare cases per 100, arizona has 1.8, oregon has 1.1, texas has 1.4. one could drone on ceaselessly about things of this nature. I sincerely doubt anyone who is angered by my characterization of california as socialist is going to be impressed by its net emigration, horrid business climate, overburdensome taxes, wretched regulations, massively generous welfare state as aspects of its socialist nature.
I was merely trying to point out that using Federal TANF statistics to demonstrate overgenerous welfare at the state level is misleading.
I prefer to use the term "Socialism" to describe a very few policies since FDR, but if you insist on broadening the definition then I suppose there's no way to talk you down.
I think what Uncertainty VicePrincipal means is that Jerry Brown was a real left wing person decades ago-I think I still have somewhere a very old unused blue bumper sticker "Brown for President" while now he has moved to the center,while the Republican Party in general has gone in the opposite direction.An accurate, non-partisan description.
If Obama had been a left-wing president he would have nationalized the big banks, prosecuted for fraud quite a few members of the board, and instituted NHS-style Public Health Care as it exists in all OECD nations.
Maybe because California was seen as the land of milk and honey and for the most all the back wash from other parts the country manufactured by those parts of the country wind there way here and saddle us up with your damn trash.
So please, PLEASE, take your trash back.
The sad fact is that Brown might actually be honest enough about being so old that the governorship is his swan song, the legacy he wants to leave is fiscal stability and to return the state to some semblance of its former state. Even Arny seemed sincere enough.
California really needs to toss out and rewrite the tax code and a lot of other laws.
Nonsense! GOP gets little traction because the CA electorate, of which I am one, is overwhelmingly liberal, and getting more so all the time due to nonwhite immigration.
Actually, to be perfectly accurate, the CA electorate is dominated by Far Left white liberals, and nonwhites who vote liberal because they get to steal more of white people's property that way. This view is called "racial nationalism', and every time some minority asks whether this or that program is good for "the Latino community" or "the black community" etc, that's what you are seeing. Not liberalism, but nonwhite nationalism.
Of course, if whites behaved like that, it would be called "rayyyycist'", and there would be a lot of booohooing...
One small correction. Republicans here are not "fading into irrelevance". You want the past tense -- we have faded into irrelevance. (Although, to be fair, it hasn't been so much a fade as a gallop.)
The result is a seriously disasterous legislature (from the viewpoint of any fiscal conservative). Because Republicans have gotten so extreme on cultural issues that they can't elect anybody to act as a constraint on the Democrats. Yes, the Democrats deserve a lot of the blame for what has been done. But Republicans are not blameless, since we have given the Democrats what amounts to a blank check. And they have been writing them.
I agree that Republicans have gone from fiscal conservatism to now being associated as the party of Christians. This is a problem because while the religious right is still strong, many Americans are becoming "post religious." Please seperate your theology from your politics. If you don't, than the Democrats will begin referring to Republicans as "The Christian Brotherhood"
Believe it or not, when GOP had respected leaders as Peter Wilson, & Dukmajian as governors, GOP was more respected party in CA then today.
It all went downhill for them when they pushed a movie actor who's goal was to be governor of a big state as another trophy in his mansion in Brentwood (while fornicating his house cleaner, and have illegitimate child with her.) Arnold had no clue about politics and how to run a 38M people state. He never had any experience to run any organization.
Also, GOP also seemed to have run out of new ideas how to solve CA's problems - except the usual drumbeat, cut cost from those who need it most - while defend tax cut to the rich who need it the least.
I think it went down-hill long before Arnold came on the scene. (And I'm old enough to remember Governors even before Reagan -- who was far more respected than anybody the Party is putting forward today.) But you certainly can't blame Arnold on (or credit him to, depending on your views) the California Republican Party.
The only way he won initially was tht it was an open election with no primary required (to replace a Governor who was being recalled). There is absolutely no way that someone so far from the California Republican mold could have won a primary. And if the Republicans in the legislature were enthused about working with him as a fellow Republican, they concealed it very well.
Blame that on Gerrymandering and ballot initiatives where the legislature didn't take the hint and present the public with viable alternatives.
Gerrymandering certainly didn't help. But the Republican party moved far further from center than the Democrats did. So gerrymandering can't be the only reason.
Ballot initiatives have certainly contributed to the mess California is in. But I'm not sure that their use was due to the legislature not taking the hint. At least in part, they have been used to do things that the legislature had more sense than to do. Like a raft of special mandates for spending on this or that special cause. To the point that it is almost impossible to manage the state budget, because the legislature has control over so little of it any more. (And that's just the parts that are laws which cannot be changed except be another initiative. I'm not even considering the stuff that has been pushed into the state constitution.)
I suspect that, at this point, the only solution is probably to replace the entire constitution. Rewrite, starting with a blank piece of paper. Because it's too late to just try making piecemeal revisions.
Who would be writing it? :(
Almost anyone writing it would make an improvement. It's that bad.
But yes, deciding who to have write it would be an issue. My initial take is that we could do worse than the approach that we took with selecting people for the Citizens Redistricting Commission: let people apply, require at least 1/3 do be (and have been for at least 3 years) registered with neither major party, etc. It's far from perfect, but it seems like it would be better than any of the obvious alternatives.
Old Ronnie, sigh. Schwarzenegger's installment was based on the scam recall. Enron had a large hand in screwing over Davis.
But a comission, or a grand jury style setup might work. The party people would scream disenfrisechasment if not included, but I'll ake pitchfork duty, if you'll man the torches.
This article fits into the now very common narrative of The Economist to blame absolutely everything on Republicans, even the weather. It does not matter that the Democratic Legislature and the unions in Sacramento are running the state into the ground. No matter what, Republicans are to blame.
Same thing at the national stage. No matter all the nonsense that came out of the Democratic controlled Congress, and the Democratic Administration, they are never, ever, at fault.
When California is bankrupt, when more cities in California file for bankruptcy, when the Federal Government is in so much in debt that nobody has an idea how to pay for it, when all of this and more happens, even then, The Economist and much of the populace will blame Republicans and their "extremism".
Maybe instead of creating a conspiracy to feed your paranoia, realize that a rationale person would come to the conclusions the republicans are to blame for most things. You talk about debt and deficits as if democrats cornered the market? But with our first MBA president we fought two war, passed large tax cuts, and bailed out wall street. This are facts not conjecture.....
"when the Federal Government is in so much in debt that nobody has an idea how to pay for it, even then, The Economist and much of the populace will blame Republicans and their "extremism""
And RIGHTLY SO!
"Maybe instead of creating a conspiracy to feed your paranoia, realize that a rationale person would come to the conclusions the republicans are to blame for most things."
Funny, that sounds almost exactly like paranoia...
Illinois is the Land of Lincoln, Founder of the Republican Party.
California is the Land of Reagan, Savior of the Republican Party.
Today, neither Illinois or California are Republican strongholds.
...They hate Republicans. (Prophets are never welcome in their own land.)
Chicago is the home of the 'Democratic Machine'. Obama lives in Chicago.
The former Speaker of the House, is a Democrat from the Bay Area.
The New Republican Party is spelled with a capital T.
--for Tea Party.
I like this comparison, illinois and california. both destroying themselves fiscally under the wisened tutelage of democrats.
There is a new bio-pic that explains a lot about Lincoln, particularly his early years.
It is an historic epic film with antiques, costumes, beards and cast of thousands:
"Abe Lincoln: Vampire Slayer"
It is great fun and insightful. It also explains the current Tea Party thinking.
The Republicans are no longer the party of Nixon or of Reagan, and their irrelevance in California is merely a foretaste of what is coming elsewhere. A few prominent voices have spoken out - Bush, Graham, Rubio, Barbour - but I think that the Yahoos will drive the GOP off the cliff.
Then maybe we can have a functional system of two parties that fight over the middle third of the electorate, while ignoring the lunatic 10% at each extreme. I knew that Rove's 50%+1 meant death for the Republicans, and it's coming even sooner than I expected.
you and your group of far leftist friends were saying the same thing after 2008. that the GOP would be "out of power" for a generation. then of course the largest landslide in the history of the house of representatives happened. which you then gave a different, but equally unkind set of justifications for.
I'm beginning to believe that you're nothing more than a bigot bampbs.
" I knew that Rove's 50%+1 meant death for the Republicans, and it's coming even sooner than I expected."
As an apostate California Republican, I say, not soon enough...
The Republicans in California have a head start on the party nationwide. But the rest are catching up with us fast. No doubt there will be great fury when the Democrats elect a serious liberal as President (rather than the center-right folks that they have elected the last couple of times). But if the Republicans nationally emulate the Republicans here in California, we will see it.
For anybody who doesn't believe that, consider this. Senator Boxer is well to the left of center, even for California. Yet she repeatedly gets reelected, and rather easily. Why? Because to win the Republican nomination, a candidate has had to be way further right of center than she is left. So they routinely come up people that the majority see as raving loonies. Hence the total lack of any Republicans holding statewide office.
Most Republicans don't believe it; quite the contrary. But the best thing that has happened to the Republican Party here is the new open primary system. (Anyone, including independents, can vote for any of the candidates in the primary, Presidential candidates excepted. The top two vote-getters in the primary go on the general election ballot, regardless of party.) Now it will at least be possible for a moderate Republican to end up on the ballot in the general election. Who knows, we may even move back towards the center before the national party successfully fights its way to total irrelevance.
Amen, brother! One can hope for an eventual rebirth -- it would be nice to become, once again the party of Lincoln, TR, and Eisenhower. Or even just the party of Reagan. But I'm not holding my breath.
Don't call me a "far leftist", Yahoo. I hope you find yourself beset by a horde of them one day, all as foolish and ignorant on their side as you are on yours. You deserve each other.
The Yahoo Republican Party that was born in 1995, and grew foul in 2000, is going down, and taking you and the likes of you with it. I'm looking forward to the return of a Republican Party no longer under the control of unreasoning idiots, the one I voted for until I was 50 years old.
You're my hero.
Say rather that it was born in 1958 with the John Birch Society. You can date its maturity (for lack of a better word) to 1995, although I would incline 1994 (Prop 187).
But overall, speaking as one who had a similar voting pattern, not too bad a synopsis.
Or maybe we ought to blame Perot for knocking off GHW and leaving us to Slick Willie and Gingrich.
Presumably preference voting would let people vote their conscience and pocket book, with out harm to political reality.
The Yahoos who have more and more dominated the Right since Gingrich took over the House remind me exactly of the New Left loonies I called the "Little Lenins" when I was in college.
California has not had a balanced budget in 10 years. The budget that they passed has gimmicks, double the tax revenue estimates and even a wish that Facebook tax receipts will be based at $41 per share. The budget, lie past years budgets is already in trouble. The state isn't solvent. The state keep lowering its standards to convince itself it is doing better than 30 years ago. The Dems have ruined the state and will continue to do so. Now the Gov want US taxpayers to pay $68 Billion for a train to nowhere and $19 Billion to move water around the Delta without the need. California is a mess. The voter initiative process will continue to thrive in CA, despite the best efforts by he Dems to stop it.
Now I know that Conservatives don't like them, and perhaps are actively expecting God to destroy them with fire and brimstone, but San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Diego are, in fact, places. They happen to be places with tens of millions of people living in them. By definition, a train running between them is going somewhere
The train is only for the northern part of the state.
The southern termini for California High Speed Rail are Irvine and San Dieg
The only _funded_ parts of the railway are in the northern parts of the state. The link to San Diego is later, and is not funded.
It has gotten much worse because of the de jure non-partisan, but de facto very partisan redistricting amendment. The democrats, with the aid of unions and various special interest groups were able to get a lock on the "citizens committees" that were given responsibility for drawing the boundaries.
I remember talking to a republican state congressman in Sacramento, and him trying to explain why it was an awful idea. Damn, I shoulda listened.
Well, they made a commission that could be lobbied. No one should be surprised that it was overwhelmed by lobbyists.
I read the ProPublica report on this and though I had my typical visceral reaction to talk of lobbying, upon reflection the article sounded very sensationalized and one-sided. The electoral commission made some pretty stupid decisions - separating San Ramon from Alamo and Danville was one that hit close to home - but I'm going to attribute most of the manipulation and bad decision making to incompetence and inexperience, not partisan lobbying. Oh well, at least my old hometown's electoral district is now made up of regions that are simply connected. Before it looked like a pair of eggs.
Well, if they are going to draw lines with roughly equal numbers of voters, they have to draw lines somewhere. Separating San Ramon from Danville is really no more odd than it would be to separate San Ramon from Dublin or Alamo from Walnut Creek. And, as you say, the new lines are far better than the old ones, which had us on a tiny stalk and linked with a huge chunk of the Central Valley.
Where are these places, Danville and Alamo? I have not heard of them. Being that I lived in California for decades, that explains why no redistricting system can take into account every small town's sense of community
Danville and Alamo are mostly residential communities to the North of San Ramon in the Contra Costa Valley, in the east bay. San Ramon/Dublin and Walnut Creek are something of the regional economic engines, the latter for high tech and the former for energy/telecom. Danville likes to pretend it has "rural character" and farming but that's a bunch of baloney.
I suppose so... I know the reason for not basing electoral districts on school districts (size variance), but having an electoral area cut across SRVUSD's borders seems weird.
No more weird than having Assembly district lines cut across state Senate district lines. Which, unless the size of one house is an exact multiple of the size of the other, is going to happen.
Either of you (including jouris) fellow Californians see the idea of proportional representation as a way out?
The redistricting effects will only be known over time, but it seems to me that proportionality is inherently more fair, because if 10% of the population believes X, they will never have political franchise unless they are all consolidated into one district.
If a region is 40% 'right' leaning and 20% left leaning then the state should have individuals with these views in those proportions in the legislature.
Proportionality is no panacea but it does seem to me to be a break on the excesses we are experiencing.
Danville residents have like to think they were rural since at least the 1950s to my personal knowledge (back when it was a farm town thinking about becoming a suburb). Even as they were replacing all the agricultural land with ever more houses. No real change -- lots of people who never actually went out of town, but liked the "idea" of rural.
Somehow, San Ramon avoided that mindset. Even though in the 50s it was a not very wide spot in the road, with about 3 buildings as I recall. (That was long before becoming Chevron's world headquarters.)
I don't incline much to proportional representation. And given the tendency of people to sort themselves geographically, I'm not sure it is necessary in order to give a wide range of views a seat in the legislature. The fact that the legislator who agrees with me about an issue is actually from somewhere else in the state is not that big a deal, at least to me.
The excesses we see in California stem from a combination of a couple of things:
- an extensive inititative system (designed to outflank the influence of the Southern Pacific railroad a century ago). It was a good idea at the time, but....
- a large and expensive set of media markets, which put a premium on campaigns which can mobilize big money. Which in practice means those with either a high emotional (as opposed to rational) basis, or the exact kind of big money influence that the initiatives were originally designed to combat.
- a group of really dedicated people, with very strong opinions, who were willing to invest the years of effort needed to take control of the party machinery of one party. And then make those views an orthodoxy, which anyone wanting to get into the game had to conform to. (You can start with the John Birch Society in the 50s, and draw a straight line to today's mess in my party.)
And, importantly, who value orthodoxy above actually winning elections and offices. If you want to actually win general elections, you have to moderate; if you have other priorities, you don't. And you then exert no force on the other party to moderate either -- all they have to do is be less extreme than you are.
Redistricting probaly won't do as much to fix that as the combination of open-to-all-voters primaries and the new system that allows the top two candidates into the general election regardless of party. We may see a lot of very liberal vs more moderate Democrats in furture legislative elections. And maybe also in statewide elections. Which will at least moderate the Democrats, even as it makes the Republicans increasingly irrelevant as a state party.
Proportional representation is a good system if and only if there are viable independent or third party candidates. In a two party system all that achieves is continued polarization. It also doesn't change the part of the California constitution that enshrines direct democracy higher than regular legislation.
I don't live in California anymore, but I lived in the east bay for a while (I was also an expat kid in Singapore, hence the name. If it were an option I might return, but New York is where my job led me.
Hah, I remember when the last feeble embers of opposition to Windemere died in town meeting, though outside of the immediate vicinity of the 680 and Alcosta I don't remember any multifamily homes in the area. Come to think of it, since you know the area that probably dates me to +/-10 years...
Don't sell yourself short.
Yeh, but the porportionality would break the two party's death hold.
Or preference voting...
Or open primaries will soften them. One hopes.
"I don't incline much to proportional representation. And given the tendency of people to sort themselves geographically, I'm not sure it is necessary in order to give a wide range of views a seat in the legislature."
Hrm, in order for a representative to find themselves in office, they need to have a district with enough bodies to elect them. If a certain take on political views is disperse, basically those people face a form of disenfranchisement. The value I find in proportional representation (or parliamentary systems) is that if 30% of the public is socially liberal and fiscally conservative (or any other slice), then the idea is it is easy for a party to form around those values.
'Sensible people' can split off from blow hards and don't have to hew to a party gone insane, and the insane folk can have their raving looney party.
Consider the source. Leaving it in the hands of the duo-opoly got us into this mess.
Fair enough. The concern I see is that, if you go with proportional representation you end up with kind of a mess trying to get anything done. (Of course, so is it in our current syetem, as currently operated.)
But I must admit that my perception stems from looking at places with parliamentary systems. If the executive is not dependent on building a coalition and holding it together to stay in office, it might work a lot better. At least, as long as party discipline is relatively relaxed.
This sounds like what's happening to the party nationwide, just much more gradually.
The Economist explains: Who would pay a "mansion tax"
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The exterior of this handbag is in good condition. There are a few spots on the back patent that have color transfer. The handles have some patina and wear. The interior is clean and in good condition with a few ink marks.
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Daily Dish
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"I wanted to thank Catholic Answers for doing such a great job in defending the Catholic Faith. I find your tracts have helped me to more easily explain Catholicism at work and in online discussions."
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"You may make the hearing of a blessed Mass treason, or the saying of an Ave Maria treason...but I have committed no treason, although, indeed, I suffer the punishment due to treason."
~ John Bodey, Venerable, English martyr; on the scaffold, upon hearing he was being executed for "treason".


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Three IT Imperatives CIOs Use To Drive Change Throughout the Enterprise
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Belax Dak: Oxford Online Placement Test (OOPT) Result
italki Username: Belax Dak
- Profile Link: http://www.italki.com/user/653729
- Female, From Mexico, Living in Mexico
Date: 2013-02-20 00:00:00
Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.
Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
Score | Time | Rating | |
Main Score | 56.00 / 120 | 0:56 | B1 |
Use of English | 60.00 / 120 | 0:27 | B2 |
Listening | 52.00 / 120 | 0:29 | B1 |
The Oxford Online Placement Test can be used as an approximation of other standardized English tests.
Please look at this chart:
For more details about the Oxford Online Placement Test, please visit http://www.oxfordenglishtesting.com


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Past Events
Meeting public safety challenges
with socially just solutions.
Online Open House: MA in Marriage and Family Counseling (+)
Dr. Mark Killmer, Program Director, will join us to discuss the work of a family therapist.
Online open houses are a great way to obtain a program overview, discuss campus services, and review the application process with our Admissions staff. At the end of each presentation, there will be a Q&A with faculty and Admissions staff. Attendees should have access to a cable or DSL internet connection, as well as speakers to hear the audio presentation.
Click here to register for this event.
Community Engagement Symposium (+)
Chicago Campus
The Department of Community Engagement would like to invite you to attend the final presentations for the Community Service Practicum (CSP) on at the Community Engagement Symposium. This exciting annual event will allow first-year students the opportunity to creatively present their CSP experience to a wider audience. You will receive more details in the coming weeks, as well as a simple online registration form for all attendees. This message is simply intended to make you aware of this upcoming event.
Preview the tentative schedule:COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM
8:00 - 8:55 am Check-In and Continental Breakfast
9:00 - 9:30 am Opening Remarks
9:45 - 11:00 am Presentation Session I
11:15 - 12:30 pm Presentation Session II
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 2:45 pm Presentation Session III
3:00 - 3:45 pm Closing Remarks & Awards
3:45 - 5:00 pm Reception/Mixer
We strongly encourage you to attend as this is an annual event to celebrate our student's growth. If there are any general questions, please feel free to contact me. More details will be shared with you after all student presentation proposals have been submitted, reviewed, and accepted.


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It's important they support a new title since D3 was a dozy and Wow in on the decline.
It's important they support a new title since D3 was a dozy and Wow in on the decline.
Please God !!! Make it Happen !!!
Linux native client for...
Company of Heroes 2 !!!
Last edited by iniudan; 01-06-2013 at 04:44 PM. Reason: correction
because amd/ati gfx drivers still only support a part of the gfx-card features. this gets especially significant regarding video acceleration.
i wished so many times that i could switch to ati under linux but failed every time and had to go back to nvidia. either it was video accel or subpar 3d or issues with vsync or what ever, i always had to go nvidia.
on my htpc i have good onboard ati gfx but i had to buy a nvidia gt220 because the ati drivers do not support mpg hw decoding and have smaller issues on h264.
sure, on certin cases you can be satisfied with ati under linux. but that's more of rare case. nvidia is SADLY still the only more or less reliable way to go under linux. it is so idiotic and self destructiv how amd behaves here. i really cannot understand this.
EDIT: sorry, i have overlooked that you were specifically refering to oss drivers. anyhow, i let my post as it is.
I really don't have a problem with companies targeting Ubuntu. Ubuntu is not my favorite Linux version, but having to Dual Boot Ubuntu and another version of Linux or having to extract the .deb myself (or just put up with Ubuntu) is far better than the alternative of having to buy and dual boot that metro trash or something fruity. You have to look at things in stages, sure we all want everything to be open source, but you cannot just get people to jump from one end of the scale to the other instantly. It's a step in the right direction.
Personally I also hope it is not Diablo 3. I am not a fan of hack and slash style dungeon games, they get boring quickly. After the first play-though of Diablo 3 I just could not do it again.
One of my main reasons for stopping playing WoW seriously was I felt that I could not RAID reliably using WINE so I would quite welcome WoW. Although they would have to get rid of either the expansion upgrade costs or the monthly subscription, having both is a bit too much these days. When I first bought WoW I had at least a free month or something. A sixth month sub should get you the expansion free or vice versa. Definitely the annual pass really should have included the full version of MoP.
I would love to see the original Warcrafts on Linux. I am getting into DOTA 2 alot now, and as Valve are hopefully porting this sometime in 2013, I was actually going to move away from Blizzard and never look back. I think the only things that would get me to come back are Starcraft 2 or Warcraft 3. Or a stand alone Battle for Mount Hyjal raid .
WoW needs a lot more stand alone games that you can just get together with a bunch of friends and pick a bunch of pre-made characters and just play a dungeon or RAID together, without a subscription. It was so difficult to get anyone I knew IRL to actually level up a character.


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bio | website | |
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stats | profile views | 99 |
I want patience and I want it now.
Also, I find that nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Laziness is what gets me out of bed in the morning.
Some of the smartest things people have ever said:
No language makes perfect sense. — John McWhorter
Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. — Carl Jung
A child educated only at school is an uneducated child. — George Santayana
Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do. — Savielly Tartakower
One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision — Bertrand Russell
Every good thing that happens in your life is a gift. — Yours Truly


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I need help and nobody can give be a answer . I bought a 2000 190 pro v and took it out the first time with a writer with Ms Sportsman doing two articles. We just about sunk!! I have never been more embarrassed. Love blazer boats and was my dream when i got this one. When i bought the boat I put three 31 series battery's in it and we had a full live well. Talked to a dealer here in Mississippi and he said having two men in the back of the boat was to much weight. Is that true? I guide and tournament fish and do multiple articles with two people out of the back of boats and this put me out of business. I think I got ripped off by the guy and have to do something to fix this. But just cant get any answers. Please help me!!!!
Bo Hudson


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". . . Unfortunately, I don't have a frame of reference for the cracker style since I have never had a commercial cracker crust pizza . . ."Peter
I am not adverse to pre-baking the crust, but wonder why some of the pizza places that specialize in such can do without the pre-baking. Maybe it's their special ovens.


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Magnificent countryside, a visit to Lapland, Father Christmas and the modern city of Helsinki... Finland has more to offer than you might think. Finland is the country of a thousand lakes and about 60 per cent of the land is wooded, which makes it a real paradise for nature-lovers.
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very cute indeed...
Wishes for you to send on Rosh Hashanah.
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Topic: Summer Projects/other (Read 1608 times)
Big Virgil
Old School Member
Karma: 3768
Posts: 3,258
Summer Projects/other
Jun 05, 2008 at 11:55 »
I have a picket fence that is 6 years old that I have never stained. Fortunately it is relatively dry here, but is it still all grey and nasty looking. I powerwashed a small deck (I hate wood decks) and 150 - 200 feet of fencing. It is just a 4.5 foot fence but it is capped, which means there is a 1X4 running across the top of the pickets so I get to powerwash that too. Did that last weekend, along with the deck, and have some more fencing near the front of the house that still needs to be done. Should finish that this weekend, then I can start staining. I also get to restain my kids' play set. Last time I used this really good stain that holds up well in the intense sun, but it has to be brushed on. I'm using something I can spray on the fence but I'm using a brush on the deck and the play set. That should only take about the rest of the summer!!!! This stain also holds up better when applied not in direct sunlight. At least that gets me out of doing it in the heat of the day, if we ever actually get summer here, but it draws out the process. I'm glad my main patio is cement!!!!!
Riding my bike on weekends, and we are only going to have about 3 camping trips this summer, which really blows, due to gas and kids getting bigger and having more things to dfo than just hang out with us. I have been a regular golfer for years, but haven't touched a club in 10 months now and don't miss it a bit.
I have spent a couple of afternoons, and about 6 trips to the store jacking around with my sprinkler system. Haven't re-aimed the heads since they were installed and decided to reduce the over spray. Also found a couple of roots strangling my drip line, had to move another head, and still have an area where some water collects. Still need to get that figured out.
Going to Ohio for a week in June, and we were supposed to take a family trip to Vegas late summer or fall, but it looks like Mrs. BV will be too busy at work, so that prolly won't happen. That Ohio thing is visiting family, so it is time away from work, but not a true vacation. We did go to Mexico for spring break, which is good since Vegas won't work out. I can take the kids to Vegas, but need one of you guys to go so I have a baby sitter. Any takers?
That's all I know.
Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately.
I wouldn't say I've been *missing* it, Bob.
Global Moderator
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Karma: 7055
Posts: 10,930
Summer Projects/other
Reply #1 on:
Jun 05, 2008 at 12:31 »
Ah, projects.
I stained about 60 feet of shadow box fence a few weeks back. I don't do too much to the outside, because it can't be seen from the backyard. This side faces the main street, so I thought I'd tidy it up.
Also had to replace the deck anchors for my pool hand rail. Aluminum ones were originally installed, but the salt system pool slowly ate them away. Digging those out of the cement and replacing with bronze ones, took more time and effort than I expected. Also has to be grounded, so I had to drive a grounding rod for each one.
Got the pool open last weekend. Opened it Sunday and was swimming Tuesday night.
The Mrs. wants me to put some sort of hardwood floor in the office. I'm not a carpenter by any stretch and my tool selection is limited. My neighbor had the tools I'd need, so I may tackle that within the next month or two.
Need to fire up my sprinkler system too. The front yard has a slope, so I basically only use it for the front, to keep it from burning too early. Kind of a losing battle in this area, unless you want a huge water bill.
Need to get some golf in one of these days. Haven't played over the winter like I usually do - always wet or raining.
Big Virgil
Old School Member
Karma: 3768
Posts: 3,258
Summer Projects/other
Reply #2 on:
Jun 05, 2008 at 12:45 »
The weather here this year is unusual. We have had about 3 days with high temps in the 70's and maybe 6 days in the 80's. Unfortunately 3 or 4 of them were upper 80's and all other days have been 50's and 60's. It is freakin June. I usually complain because we only have two or three weeks of temps in the 70's before it gets hot, and it looks like this year we will be lucky to have a weeks worth of 70's, and they weren't/aren't consecutive. 65-70 degrees here is perfect, so we have had some nice days, but not nearly enough.
Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately.
I wouldn't say I've been *missing* it, Bob.
Halfsharkalligator halfman.
Global Moderator
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Karma: 8134
Posts: 9,835
Summer Projects/other
Reply #3 on:
Jun 05, 2008 at 23:03 »
Otis told me last week, he was a big fan of scraping gutters.
Seriously, here are my goals this summer:
1. Get the blue bra back.
A shabby Charlie Brown.
Global Moderator
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Posts: 9,783
Master of the Obvious
Summer Projects/other
Reply #4 on:
Jun 06, 2008 at 06:06 »
Well, have completed the list my wife gave me for the late Spring/Early Summer...Surely there will be another (she sure does love lists).
Powerwash and seal our 16x30 back deck, and do same for front (smaller) deck/porch.
Paint garage doors
Reseed our rusted out broken gate post
Mulch landscaping
Assemle V.J.'s swingset
As well as others.
Been fun so far </sarcasm>
It's a hot night. The mind races. You think about your knife; the only friend who hasn't betrayed you, the only friend who won't be dead by sun up. Sleep tight, mates, in your quilted Chambray nightshirts.
Finnegans Wake
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Reply #5 on:
Jun 06, 2008 at 06:29 »
Been off this week doing various stuff, including shopping for a new vehicle for next week's new job. In between, yardwork, and the western side of the house has been in bad shape in terms of window frames needing old paint scraped, old caulking yanked and re-caulked, and almost all the windows' glazing knifed out and reglazed. In case you don't have an older house, the individual window panes are held in by this largely unworkable putty that hardens and can be painted. It has the consistency of the old peanut butter in the bottom of the jar that you say "fuck it" about and toss. I hate that stuff. After I got 3/4 of the windows re-glazed, I found a glazing compound that you can put on using a caulking gun. Not much easier to use, but some improvement. So I'm up on the ladder, and not real good with heights, crisping up like bacon in the heat.
Other stuff this year:
*Weed, paper and mulch around the eastern fence area where I planted an asparagus bed, strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb.
*Put nylon netting over berry plants.
*Build a new composter.
*Clean all gutters; replace gutter guards.
*Weed, paper and mulch other flower beds, as needed.
*Organize garage.
*Build new front stoop. Old brick one is too small.
*Clean and stain wood picket fence.
*Caulk and paint around kitchen storm door I just installed.
*Throw some extra insulation in attic crawl space.
*Replace old garage door.
*Fix kitchen flooring put down last year. Some pieces need adhesive. Also, put down strip to dining room, put new door detail on kitchen-dining room swinging door.
Lots of little shit, nothing too major. The windows were critical. Want to get the landscape stuff done soon, because I'm pure shit in July/August heat. On the plus side, last year's various projects (creating raised beds, carting about a billion tons of good garden soil from one side of the yard to the other, putting down paper and beds around raised ones, laying patio/sitting area where old garden used to be, etc.) is now looking pretty good. The perennials are rocking, tomatoes are getting big, etc. Fire the mythical grill, grab some herbs out of the garden to marinate whatever, sit back and feast and drink wine. Good stuff.
Last Sunday, had the MiL over and threw shrimp, scallops and clams on the grill, had caesar salads, just hanging out. Later got to sit back with a fat Montecristo and survey the empire, such as it is. A small plot of land, but it's mine.
Out of my mind on Saturday night...
Big Virgil
Old School Member
Karma: 3768
Posts: 3,258
Summer Projects/other
Reply #6 on:
Jun 09, 2008 at 08:14 »
survey the empire, such as it is. A small plot of land, but it's mine.
That's what I'm talkin about!!!!!
Put up some hooks and chains for these hammock swings for the kids that hang from the small wood deck. Was hanging out in one of those Sat morning, surveying the empire. Very nice. Broke out the daddy hammock on Saturday afternoon, after plenty more powerwashing. Set that bad boy up on the patio, in the shade, and had a nice little nap.
My list is easy compared to others.
Did the wooden playset assembly at our last house, and after moving into the current place, I bought from a place that perform assembly as part of the purchase. It was worth every penny. If it was up to me, we'd have a nice plain inexpensive metal set. People now-a-days, like my wife, can't expose their children to something horrible like a metal "swing-set". "Oh my goodness, what will people say about our underpriveleged children? They'll never get into Harvard being exposed to that painted metal!!!!!!!" Why I'm gonna . . .
Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately.
I wouldn't say I've been *missing* it, Bob.
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Arizona Diamondbacks
Trevor Bauer headlines multiplayer deal with Cleveland
Where there's smoke, well, typically there's fire.
Especially when it comes to a trade rumor regarding a team run by Kevin Towers.
During last week's Winter Meetings in Nashville, Towers was rumored to be interested in a young shortstop, primarily Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians.
Tuesday night, Towers completed a multiplayer deal with the Indians for a shortstop, but it wasn't Cabrera. The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius, left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp and first baseman Lars Anderson in a three-team deal with the Indians and Cincinnati Reds.
In return, the club traded pitching phenom and former No. 3 overall pick Trevor Bauer along with relievers Bryan Shaw and Matt Albers to Cleveland.
"We are very excited that we were able to acquire what we think is one of the premiere young shortstops in the game in Didi Gregorius," Towers said in a conference call Tuesday night.
While he was thrilled to add at positions of need, Towers admitted there was a definite cost to making the deal.
"We had to move some good bullpen arms and one of our premiere arms in Trevor Bauer," said Towers. "But, hopefully this is a deal that works for both Chris [Antonetti], Walt [Jocketty] and myself."
Bauer, who was drafted in 2011 out of UCLA, pitched just 16 1/3 career innings with Arizona in 2012. He recorded a 1-2 record with a 6.06 ERA. While he did excel in the minors -- winning the organization's Pitcher of the Year award last season -- the front office's frustration over the 21-year-old's perceived lack of maturity was apparent this off-season.
Speaking with Arizona Sports 620's Burns & Gambo on October 3, Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick was not bashful in his assessment of Bauer.
"I will say this: he is the employee, and in an employer/employee situation it's incumbent on the employee to make adjustments to satisfy the needs of his employer," Kendrick said. "And I hope and trust that that will occur."
In return for Bauer, the D-backs have added a young, controllable shortstop to add even more depth at a position that already includes Cliff Pennington, John McDonald and Willie Bloomquist.
Gregorius, a 22-year-old Dutch shortstop, played in 129 games in the Cincinnati Reds organization last season. Between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Louisville, Gregorius hit .265 with seven home runs, 54 RBI and 70 runs.
The native of Amsterdam was called up in September and batted .300 in 20 career plate appearances.
Going into the 2012 season, Baseball America ranked the defensive-minded Gregorius as the No. 8 prospect in the Reds' farm system.
He is also already familiar with the Valley having played 15 games with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League this year. He batted .284 with eight RBI.
Gregorius was acquired earlier in the evening from Cincinnati, as the Indians shipped off outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and infielder Jason Donald to the Reds.
Sipp also provides Towers and Co. with the big left-handed arm they were looking for to round out their deep bullpen. In 63 appearances, Sipp had 1-2 record with a 4.42 ERA in 2012.
Anderson was a 16th-round draft selection by the Boston Red Sox back in 2006 but has struggled in his limited big league opportunities. In 56 career plate appearances, Anderson has a .167 batting average with four RBI. He was called up in early April by the Red Sox last season but was traded to Cleveland in May to make room for prospect Will Middlebrooks.
In 18 games with Triple-A Columbus, Anderson had just 11 hits and seven RBI. Heading into spring training, he will likely compete for time backing up Paul Goldschmidt with fellow left-handed bats Eric Hinske and Kila Ka'aihue.
"We think we are a better ball club today and in the future for making this deal," said Towers.
The other two pieces the D-backs gave up in the deal -- Shaw and Albers -- came out of an already right-handed heavy bullpen.
In parts of two seasons with Arizona, Shaw, a former second-round pick by the organization back in 2008, compiled a 2-6 record with a 3.18 ERA.
Albers was acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with the Red Sox that sent Craig Breslow to Boston. Albers made 23 appearances with the D-backs and had a 1-1 record with a 2.57 ERA.
The deal marks the second time in as many years Towers has parted with one of the organization's top pitching prospects. Last December, Towers sent former first-round draft pick Jarrod Parker, Colin Cowgill and Ryan Cook to the Oakland Athletics for Trevor Cahill.
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Top Definition
As described in Rachael Yamagata's song "Sidedish Friend". A friend who you don't want to always hang out with you, but you want them when you call them. Someone to have as a friend only when it's good for you.
I don't want to hang out with you all the time, okay? You're not my friend, you're just a sidedish friend.
dari AdamBMusic
Kamis, 16 Oktober 2008