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I posted the complete results of the Pew Research polling which you had cherry picked from.<quoted text>
same graphs, nearly identical article, same results, fast rise in support of same sex marrage.
again you dont comprehend anything you are reading
Which non english speaking country did you come from? There may be some courses you can take to help you
Let people make up their own minds. Do you want to see the complete results or do you want to see Big D's cherry pick of the results? Easy!

subset: commoncrawl


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Based in Singapore, Sri is the co-anchor of CNBC's Capital Connection and an experienced business and financial markets correspondent. Capital Connection, broadcast simultaneously from Asia and Europe, gives viewers a reading on Asia's markets mid-day and prepares them for the European trading day.
Specializing in commodities since 1997, Sri follows global energy developments closely.
Covering financial markets for more than 15 years, Sri has reported on major global events including the 2008 financial crisis, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami disaster from Tokyo. He twice received the Bronze Medal in 2009 and 2013 for Best News Correspondent by the New York Festivals International TV & Films Awards.
Prior to joining CNBC in 2005, Sri was an energy reporter for Dow Jones Newswires and Bloomberg News in Singapore.
62 percent of respondents said they were bearish on oil this week, according to CNBC's oil survey.
Sri Jegarajah takes you through the results of CNBC's forex sentiment survey.
With a rush of economic releases and a couple of central bank meetings for investors to digest this week, Sri Jegarajah tells you what to look out for.
A drop in gold prices below $1,200 an ounce may precipitate a fresh round of production cuts in the mining sector aimed at re-balancing the market.
Benchmark Brent crude prices may target $105 a barrel this week after Iran and major western powers struck an initial agreement on Sunday.
Benchmark oil prices will continue easing this week reflecting ample supplies but competing Brent crude may gain, boosted by supply risks from Libya.
Gold prices may strengthen this week supported by Fed chair nominee Janet Yellen's defense of the bank's current stimulus policy.
The dollar index will likely extend its slide this week on expectations that top Federal Reserve policymakers believe it's still too early to taper.
Many survivors are being reunited with loved ones via Google's Person Finder, now in its third year and battle-tested during past disasters.
CNBC's Sri Jegarajah reports on how Google's 'Person Finder' is helping families in the Philippines reconnect after Typhoon Haiyan.
Get the best of CNBC in your inbox


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Diagnosis Murder: Season 8, Episode 19
No Good Deed (27 Apr. 2001)
Ratings: 7.9/10 from 15 users
Reviews: write review
Successful black defense attorney Roger Calender is brought in ER stabbed badly, and confesses having killed a man. After confirming a dog bit him badly days ago, he says it was just the ... See full summary »
Director:Sandy Smolan
Writers:Joyce Burditt (creator), Terry Curtis Fox


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Tallahassee Museum Jazz and Blues Festival
Posted: 04/26/2015 - Tallahassee Museum Jazz and Blues Festival
Posted: 04/26/2015 - Tallahassee Museum Jazz and Blues Festival
Updated: 04/14/2015 - Paper hand cut outs were dedicated to the legislature for the annual children's week.
Updated: 02/16/2015 - Local Girl Scouts Build Neighborhood Library
Updated: 02/15/2015 - Newest app on the market that tells people what health violations a restaurant may have.
Updated: 12/12/2014
Updated: 11/10/2014 - Remington in Thomasville is receiving new light poles.
Updated: 10/27/2014 - Leon County Booking Report: October 27, 2014.
Updated: 10/24/2014 - The Capital area chapter of The American Red Cross is holding its 7th annual Robin Lotane Hurricane Run.
Updated: 10/24/2014 - Refuge House held annual candlelight vigil in Tom Brown Park.
Updated: 10/17/2014 - Thomas County Head Start celebrates 50 years.
Updated: 10/03/2014 - TPD unveils a new car for breast cancer awareness month.
Updated: 11/23/2014 - Scott Bonnell's of Tallahasse first trip to Haiti was in 2007. "I was just so moved by the plight of the Haitian children," Bonnell said. So moved that he took his 401k and started the non-profit organization Hope to Haiti.
Posted: 08/30/2014 - Community members in the city of Midway came together Saturday to celebrate the holiday weekend.
Updated: 08/24/2014 - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State University will welcome back world-class performers and introduce new artists to the community during the 2014-2015 Opening Nights Performing Arts series. Opening Nights Performing Arts, formerly known as Seven Days of Opening Nights, promises an eclectic mix of artists in the areas of music, dance, theater, creative writing, film and visual arts.
Posted: 08/23/2014 - The Lawrence Gregory Community Center is hosting a back to school bash!
Updated: 07/09/2013 - Former, current and aspiring community leaders met to discuss the future. Tonight was the launch of the Oasis Center for women's third Women Can Run program, and this year they hope to encourage many many more women to run.
Updated: 05/27/2013 - For Governor Scott's full proclamation please see the attached document.
Updated: 05/26/2013 - Commissioner Gil Ziffer echoed Chairman Maddox and other leaders emphasize the importance of preparation.
Posted: 05/19/2013 - Tickets are $4.00 per person. Children under 12 get in free.
Posted: 05/19/2013 - Jack Hadley Black History Museum is located at 214 Alexander Street in Thomasville.
Updated: 05/20/2013 - Organizers say close to 300 people registered for the walk
Posted: 05/18/2013 - Florida law requires that drivers and front seat occupants are to buckle up.
Posted: 05/18/2013 - The event is free and open to the public.
Updated: 06/11/2013 - Program kicks off summer learning at Florida parks and museums.
Posted: 05/12/2013 - Secretary David Wilkins recognized individuals who demonstrate exceptional efforts in service to our clients.


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Koji Wakamatsu Reflects on His Career in Final Interview Before His Death
This story originally appeared in Day 1 of THR's Busan Dailies, which ran Oct. 5.
Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu has always walked the road less traveled. While his name may not be known outside of Japan and the international art house, the prolific Wakamatsu has made more than 100 films, from the highly erotic to the overtly political. Now, as the Busan International Film Festival prepares to honor him with its Filmmaker of the Year award, the 76-year-old helmer says the recognition is appreciated -- even though it has arrived late in his career.
"I've always made films according to my own agenda and it's good to have them recognized recently," says Wakamatsu. "I've gotten a few awards in Europe before, and not being a major company, we [Wakamatsu Productions] can't spend much on advertising. So the publicity is always a big help, as it gets coverage in the newspapers, magazines and on television."
Wakamatsu's entry into the film world was nothing if not unconventional. Having left his native northeast Tohoku region after being expelled from high school, he came to Tokyo with no job and no money. He ended up working with a yakuza (mafia) gang, with his job being to "supervise" film shoots in the Shinjuku area of central Tokyo. In the post-war period, filmmakers had to pay the powerful yakuza gangs for permission to shoot on their turf. Wakamatsu's role was to bring the lunchboxes, which were provided by the gangs as a way of receiving payment for their "services," to the sets. His new line of work resulted in a stretch in prison, where his brutal treatment at the hands of the guards helped shape the anti-authority attitudes that still burn inside him half a century later.
"When I got out, I really wanted to get back against the authorities, but I thought if I used violence, I'd end up in prison again. So I decided to use another weapon: films. If you use violence in your films, it's only in the world of imagination, so at least you can't get charged with anything criminal."
Utilizing the connections he had made on the sets he had previously been in the business of extorting, he got his start in the industry, eschewing film school, which he dismisses as, "all about making money."
"Filmmaking isn't something you need to learn in school, it's about imagination," he says. "The best place to learn about it is on a set, not by studying. If a person has got no talent, it doesn't matter how much you teach them. It's the same for stuff like crafting things with your hands, cooking or architecture; you either have a sense for it or not. Though these days with the spread of digital video cameras everyone thinks they can be a director."
Like many of today's leading Japanese directors, including Oscar-winning Yojiro Takita (Departures), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata) and Masayuki Suo (Shall We Dance?), Wakamatsu began his career making the soft-core porn films known as Pink Eiga in Japan.
Wakamatsu maintains that his films weren't really Pink Eiga, though they bear many of the hallmarks.
"I just made films; I never set out to make Pink Eiga or sex films," he says, "but it was a business, so we had to put erotic elements into them."
These films gave directors a lot of creative freedom once the required quota of sex scenes were met, allowing filmmakers to hone their craft through the genre. Wakamatsu used his work to deliver his anti-establishment messages and test the boundaries of censorship. Eventually, a dispute with producer-distributor Nikkatsu over the release of one of his films led to him forming his own company, Wakamatsu Productions.
Now in full creative control, his films became more political during the 1960s, incurring the wrath of the police, who accused him of being in cahoots with left- wing militants in Japan. Following harassment from the authorities, Wakamatsu closed down his production company at the beginning of the 1970s and returned to making adult films for other companies.
During the decade he also travelled to Palestine to make a documentary about the Japanese Red Army terrorist group, which was based there at the time, which would decades later become the subject of 2008's United Red Army, one of his most critically- acclaimed films. But thanks to his previous association with left-wing groups in Japan, the trip saw him branded a terrorist collaborator and blacklisted from travelling to the U.S. or Russia to this day.
"I've never been involved with terrorists, or done anything like that, but I still can't get into America, though I've tried a few times. Though these days, you can go to Palestine without any problems."
Wakamatsu later revived his own production outfit and, while still making some
erotically-themed films, began to shift towards overtly political stories once more. His Ready to Shoot, released in 1990, is a semi-autobiographical tale that charts his disillusionment with the left-wing move- ment in Japan.
In 2004, Wakamatsu released Cycling Chronicles: Landscapes the Boy Saw, a film that examined Japan's wartime past, including the thorny, and often ignored, subjects of women from Asian countries forced to work as sex-slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army, and the atrocities committed by it in China. It was through films such as Cycling Chronicles, along with Caterpillar and United Red Army, that Wakamatsu began to garner attention from cinephiles around the world. This has in turn led to retrospectives of his films and a reexamination of his earlier works — quite a turnaround for a director once dismissed for trafficking in cheap erotica.
"Once I got to 50, I decided I wanted to make films that people can look back at in 50 or 100 hundred years and think, "That's what it was like in those times." That's the kind of films I'm trying to make."
To celebrate Wakamatsu winning the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award, BIFF will hold special screenings of three of his works produced this year: 11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate, Kaien Hotel in Blue and The Millennial Rapture.
Next page: Wakamatsu weighs in on five of his most important works.
Never miss a story. Stay up-to-date with THR's Daily Headlines.
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A specimen holder for use in a particle beam optical apparatus, for example an electron microscope. The motions of the specimen in orthogonal Z and Y directions are realized in known manner by motions of a tubular housing in a ball joint. In order to achieve a defined and reproducible motion of the specimen in the x-direction, a rod-shaped specimen support is supported in V-grooves in the housing. The specimen support is connected to a cylindrical flange member which is coupled to the housing via a bellows, providing a vacuum passage which is static for the x-motion. Static vacuum sealing is provided by an O-ring.
1. A specimen holder for supporting and positioning a specimen in a beam path of a particle beam apparatus, comprising:
a housing which is movable relative to the beam path in both a first and a second mutually perpendicular direction, a first end of said housing facing the beam path and a second end thereof facing away from the beam path;
a rod-shaped support for said specimen extending within said housing in a third direction perpendicular to said first and second directions and which is movable in said third direction;
said specimen support having (i) a first end portion which extends into the beam path, (ii) a first intermediate portion adjoining the first end portion and which extends through the first end of said housing and is supported in a V-groove therein, (iii) a second intermediate portion which extends through the second end of said housing, and (iv) a conical transition portion between said first and second intermediate portions;
a cylindrical member which is internally flanged to engage said conical transition portion of said specimen support, and which is supported within said housing so as to be movable therein in said third direction; and
an airtight bellows within said housing, one end thereof being affixed to said cylindrical member and an opposite end thereof being affixed to the second end of said housing, said bellows enveloping the second intermediate portion of said specimen support between said cylindrical member and the second end of said housing;
whereby movement of said cylindrical member in said third direction causes movement of said specimen support in such direction, without affecting airtight sealing provided by said bellows between said housing and the second intermediate portion of said specimen support.
2. A specimen holder as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a V-grooved member outside the second end of said housing for engaging and supporting the second end portion of said specimen support.
3. A specimen holder as claimed in claim 2, wherein said V-grooved member is a V-roller.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a particle beam optical apparatus with a specimen holder which comprises a housing which is movable relative to the apparatus in first and second, mutually perpendicular directions, and a rod-shaped specimen support for supporting the specimen, which support is accommodated in the tubular housing and is movable in a third direction perpendicularly to the first and the second directions, said specimen support being supported, at the end thereof facing the optical axis of the apparatus, in a V-groove whose groove direction is the third direction.
The invention also relates to a specimen holder for such a particle beam optical apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A specimen support of this kind is known from German Offenlegungsschrift (published Patent Application) DE 35 46 095.
Generally speaking, specimen supports must be capable of moving the specimen in three directions: the direction of the particle beam (the z-axis), the direction of the axis of the specimen support of the specimen holder (the x-axis), and the direction perpendicular to said two axes (the y-axis).
In the cited Patent Appliction the motions in the y-direction and the z-direction are realised by tilting the housing about a ball joint forming part of the housing. Because the axis of this tilt is situated outside the optical axis of the particle beam optical instrument (and hence outside the specimen), this tilt causes a displacement of the specimen in the y-direction and/or the z-direction. In this specimen holder it is also possible to rotate the specimen about the x-axis. To this end, the drive for this rotation is connected to the exterior of the housing via a bellows. The object is to achieve a torsion-resistant transmission which does not impede said tilting motions.
The displacement of the specimen support in the x-direction is guided by a V-groove in the ball forming pan of the ball joint. For displacement in the x-direction there is provided a specimen support displacement device which operates against the ambient air pressure acting on the specimen support. The cited Patent Application does not disclose how the vacuum seal between the specimen support and the housing is realised. Generally speaking, this type of seal is customarily realised by means of an O-ring between the specimen support and the housing. For accurately defined and accurately reproducible displacements, O-rings have some drawbacks: some force is required to overcome the initial friction at the start of motion of the O-ring and the material of the O-ring always exhibits some relaxation, so that the initial x-position of the specimen support is lost.
It is an object of the invention to provide a particle beam optical apparatus with a specimen holder in which the x-positioning of the specimen is defined in a more accurate and more reproducible manner. To achieve this, the apparatus in accordance with the invention is characterized in that the specimen support is connected to the housing via a bellows.
The effect of this is that the vacuum sealing is thus independent of the x-displacement. Vacuum sealing can therefore be realised in any known manner, for example by means of an O-ring.
A further improvement of the positioning of the specimen is achieved in that the other end of the specimen support is supported in a further V-groove. It is thus achieved that any parasitic forces (being forces acting in a direction other than the desired direction) will cause substantially smaller parasitic displacements.
In contemporary particle beam optical apparatus, such as high-resolution electronmicroscopes, one end of the specimen support is often loaded by a variety of additional equipment which substantially contributes to the force exerted on the V-groove by the other end of the specimen support. The friction experienced by the specimen support upon displacement in the x-direction can be further reduced in accordance with the invention in that the further V-groove is constructed as a V-roller.
A further refinement of the x-motion can be achieved by providing a differential gear between the drive mechanism for the x-displacement, if any, and the specimen support. The occurrence of parasitic forces is thus strongly reduced, so that parasitic displacements are reduced even further.
The invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the Figures. Therein:
FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically a particle beam optical apparatus in accordance with the invention, and
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the specimen holder to be used in the particle beam optical apparatus shown in FIG. 1.
The particle beam optical apparatus 30 diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1 comprises an electron source 31 which is driven by a high-voltage generator 32 so as to generate an electron beam 33, and also comprises an electron-optical system 34 for directing the beam 33 onto an object arranged in a specimen holder 1. The electron-optical system is composed of a condenser system 35 and an objective lens 36 whose poles 4 are diagrammatically indicated. After their passage through the object, the electrons are imaged on an image plane 38 by the objective lens and a further lens system 37. The lenses are energized by a lens power supply 39.
FIG. 2 shows a specimen holder 1 which consists essentially of a housing 2 and a specimen support 3 accommodated within the housing. An end 5 of the specimen support supports the specimen 6 which is thus positioned between the poles 4 of the particle lens of the particle-optical apparatus. The x, the y and the z-direction in which the specimen is to be movable are shown to the fight of the specimen holder in the Figure. Displacement of the specimen in the z-direction and the y-direction is possible in that the housing 2 is provided with a ball joint 8 which is formed by a ball 9 arranged in a cavity formed by the conical surface 10. This conical surface is rigidly connected to the particle-optical system. When the housing is moved, in the plane of drawing, about the center of the ball joint, a displacement in the z-direction takes place. The same holds for the y-direction when the housing is moved perpendicularly to the plane of drawing.
Within the ball 9 of the ball joint 8 the specimen support is supported in a V-groove 11; this V-groove is formed, for example by two polished surfaces forming part of the interior of the ball 9. The specimen support 3 is positioned in the V-groove in a play-free manner by means of a pressure spring 12.
The mechanism for the x-motion and the vacuum passage are provided in a widened portion 13 of the housing 2. Around a conical thickened portion 14 of the specimen support 3 there is provided a cylindrical flange 15. Via a guide 16, for example ball bearings, the flange can reciprocate in the x-direction. Between the flange 15 and the thickened portion 17 of the specimen support 3 there is provided an O-ring 18 for vacuum sealing. Between the flange 15 and an outwards directed edge 19 of the housing 2 there is provided an airtight bellows 20. The bellows enables displacement of the specimen support 3 in the x-direction, without the specimen support necessarily rubbing against a vacuum seal.
The rear side 21 of the specimen support 3 is supported on a V-roller 22 which is rigidly connected to the housing 2. The rear side 21 is pressed into the V-roller 22 by a pressure spring 23 which is connected to the housing 2 in a manner not shown in the Figure.
In the cylindrical flange 15 there are provided bores which are situated to both sides of the conical thickened portion 14. Round pins 24 are provided in these bores so that the surface of the pins bears on the conical surface of the thickened portion 14. The tensile force in the x-direction is thus transmitted to the specimen support 3 of the specimen holder.
Patent Citations
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University of DubuqueCampus LifeOffice of Student LifeCounseling & Life ServicesLife Services Calendar
Life Services - Calendar
2014-2015 On-campus and off-campus activities listed below
Participate in the Healthy Relationship Week Ad Hoc Committee (Planning during the Fall of 2014)
Student organizations, feel free to partner with UD's Counseling & Life Services to assist in educating and promoting the following national screening days on the UD campus through the College Response System: National Depression Screening Day on 10/9/14; National Eating Disorders Screening during the week of 2/22/15 - 2/28/15; and National Alcohol Screening Day on 4/9/15.
Enroll in the non-travel J-term course entitled CCS 281-01 "The Culture of Bullying: Waiting on the World to Change," which provides a service project with local schools in the Dubuque community. Please contact Dr. Amy Baus for further details at email@example.com or 563/589-3132.
Enroll in the travel J-term course entitled HWS 368-01 "HIV/AIDS Education & Outreach," which provides a travel opportunity and service within the Los Angeles, California area. Please contact Dr. Tabitha Bartelme for further details at email@example.com or 563/589-3253.
Attend and engage in Healthy Relationship Week activities and events scheduled for Monday, 4/6/15 - Friday, 4/10/15 on the UD campus. Please contact Dr. Tabitha Bartelme for further details at firstname.lastname@example.com or 563/589-3253.
Connect with local Dubuque Community Support Groups (Fall, Winter Break, Spring, and Summer)
(utilize the following link in your web browser)
Connect with UD's Student Activities Office (Review the updated schedule of events section and Student Organizations) (On-campus) Student Activities


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41 Years As The Investor's Best Friend
For over four decades, there's been only one sure thing in investing: The New Orleans Investment Conference.
Thousands of investors will testify that the New Orleans Conference is the single best place to learn how to protect and build your wealth during uncertain markets.
Today's investing environment — as governments attempt to float their economies into recovery on oceans of new currency — is undoubtedly one of the riskiest and potentially profitable periods in history.
Inflationary consequences are inevitable, and investors who sit idly by will watch their hard-earned wealth relentlessly eaten away.
But those who prepare — who use the powerful strategies and investments that the New Orleans Conference has unfailingly provided during times such as this — will enjoy the greatest financial opportunities of their lifetimes.
And that's why we presented another value-packed agenda for New Orleans 2014 — our blockbuster 40th Anniversary event — with dozens of the world's top experts to address every one of the crucial problems, risks and opportunities facing investors today.
In addition to all of our most popular newsletter editors and sector analysts, New Orleans 2014 featured legendary Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in an intimate question-and-answer session.
...Plus a lively panel discussion on gold, money, the economy and the role of the Fed with Dr. Marc Faber and Porter Stansberry...and dozens of other valuable presentations.
The good news is that you can still benefit from much of the value of New Orleans 2014 through our affordable audio and vido recordings. Click here for details!


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HOUSTON An 18-wheeler crashed into a grounds crew consisting of seven prisoners from the Clemens Unit Wednesday in Brazoria County.
It happened at about 12:40 p.m. in the 11,000 block of Highway 36 near FM 2004.
Investigators said the crew was walking back to the prison after doing routine landscaping at a nearby employee housing area.
All seven of the prisoners were transported to Brazosport Memorial Hospital in Lake Jackson; at least one was listed in serious condition.


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Hallelujah Chorus
Hallelujah Chorus composed by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). Arranged by Clair W. Johnson. For Choral (SATB). Piano. Grade 3-4. 16 pages. Published by Rubank Publications (HL.4472503).
From Handel's masterwork Messiah, the inspirational strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus" are some of the most often heard melodies during the holiday season. This powerful arrangement in C Major is transposed note-for-note from the original and may be performed as a stand alone piece or with band accompaniment (HL04477018).


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Joe Biden
Poll: Christie, Hillary Clinton Lead Pack In Early Look At 2016 Presidential Run
According to a new poll, Chris Christie and Hillary Clinton lead the pack for their respective parties in the early look at the run for President in 2016.
Stigall Show Log 2.12.13
Chris previews President Obama's State of the Union Address, Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Philadelphia to discuss gun violence, and analyzes the state of healthcare costs. He talks to Maureen Ferguson from the Catholic Association about Pope Benedict's decision to step down.
Vice President Biden Brings His Push For Stricter Gun Laws To Philadelphia
Vice President Joe Biden brought his push for tougher gun laws to Philadelphia's Girard College on Monday.
Biden To Visit Philadelphia To Discuss Gun Control
The White House says Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Philadelphia next week to host a roundtable discussion on gun control.
Stigall Show Log 1.28.13
Chris reviews President Obama and Hillary Clinton's interview on 60 minutes, LeSean McCoy's Twitter battle with the mother of his child, and a professor from Arizona who claimed he had explosives on Independence Mall. He talks to Michael Bronstein and Colin Hanna on the Monday Morning Matchup, Renee Amoore about the Republican winter meeting, and gun rights activist Larry Ward.
VP Biden Takes Gun Control Issue To Social Media
As Congress considers strict gun control legislation, Vice President Joe Biden took to Google+ Thursday to hear what some of what the social network's users have to say about the Obama administration's push for new laws.
President Obama Steps Into Second Term
President Barack Obama was sworn in for four more years Sunday in a simple ceremony at the White House, embarking on a second-term quest to restore a still-shaky economy and combat terrorists overseas while swearing an age-old oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution.
Stigall Show Log 1.17.13
Chris reviews President Obama and Joe Biden's plan to reduce gun violence and the Eagles hiring of Oregon Head Coach, Chip Kelly. He talks to CSN Philly's Ray Didinger, Joe Vallee, a contributor to A Snowball's Chance: Philly Fires Back Against the National Media, and gun rights expert, John Lott.
Stigall Show Log 1.16.13
Chris previews todays unveiling of President Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden's plan to reduce gun violence, discusses the House of Representative's passage of a $51 billion package of aid relief and the confession of a Pt. Richmond man who called in a bomb hoax for a flight from Philadelphia to Dallas in September. He also talks to Judge Andrew Napolitano, Tom McGrath from the Philly Post and Larry Ward, the founder of Gun Appreciation Day.
Stigall Show Log 1.11.13
Chris analyzes Vice-President Joe Biden's meeting with the NRA and Walmart and Ed Rendell's top ten reasons he won't be the mayor or New York City. He talks to Ben Shapiro about his new book, Bullies, Steve Cordasco on Finance Friday, CBS 3's Beasley Reece, and Comedian Big Jay Oakerson.
Stigall Show 1.10.13
Chris analyzes the Obama Administration's next move to implement gun control, the President's next set of cabinet nominations, and he details New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's media rounds following his State of the State address. He talks to Senator Pat Toomey about the debt ceiling debate and Governor Corbett about his decision to sue the NCAA over sanctions imposed against Penn State.
Local Gun Control Advocate Talks About Meeting At White House
The National Rifle Association and Wal-Mart, the largest gun retailer in the country, are set to meet with Vice President Biden today at the White House; all part of his gun violence task force. This comes a day after the Vice President met with gun control advocates.
Stigall Show Log 11.30.12
Chris recounts the available details of Mitt Romney's lunch with President Obama yesterday and previews the President's event today at a toy factory in Hatfield. He talks to Steve Cordasco about the impending fiscal cliff on Finance Friday, New Jersey State Senator Michael Doherty, CBS 3's Beasley Reece, and Comedian Hal Sparks.
Opinion: If Obama Is Impeached Over Benghazi Scandal
Mounting questions are being asked about Benghazi, which could lead to the Oval Office. If it is found that President Barack Obama lied about not knowing that the attack was a terrorist attack the nation could very likely repeat the events of Nixon's resignation.
Biden Visits Storm-Damaged New Jersey
Vice President Joe Biden is the latest White House official to visit New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy.


text:
Villa LisiDor
from £146 /night help Price for guests, Nights approx:
from £146 /night help Price for guests, Nights approx:
Estimated nightly price based on a weekly stay. Excludes fees (if applicable). Enter your dates to see the total cost.
Cottage placed in the heart of Chianti Classico triangle: Castellina-Radda-Gaiole in Chianti
Villa / 4 bedrooms / sleeps 8
Availability Your dates are available
Villa / 4 bedrooms / sleeps 8
|Key Info
40% OFF on MAY and JUNE weeks!!
AUTHENTIC TUSCAN COTTAGE, just 10 minutes drive from Radda in Chianti.
In a quiet and peaceful position, the spacious and comfortable rooms of the villa allow each party member to enjoy a little solitude whenever required.
In the large sitting and dining room with fireplace you can enjoy with friends or family a good Tuscany meal.
(and we have a great Chef at your disposal for special dinner or for cooking lessons!
In the warmer summer the loggia terrace with BBQ and PIZZA OVEN provides a perfect spot for eating al fresco.
For active guests the TENNIS COURT and the SWIMMING POOL are at your exclusive use, within the large fenced garden granting much privacy and space for children to play!
On entering the house there is a living room with fireplace, sofa and armchairs and a dining area for 8 people.
The kitchen is separated and fully equipped. A study has a sofa bed (suitable for one) which can serve as a bedroom upon prior request.
There are three bedrooms (a double, a twin convertible in double upon request, a 3-bedded room, ) and three bathrooms.
Stairs behind the fireplace lead to the tower, a cosy sitting room with a couch, TV Sat, and great views of the surrounding vineyards. Wi-fi, english library, italian music and DVD's for children available!
|Sleeps up to 8, 4 bedrooms
|Check in time:
|Check out time:
|Nearest beach
|Marina di Grosseto 110 km
|Will consider
|Long term lets (over 1 month)
|Car essential
|Nearest Amenities
|3 km
|Nearest travel links
|Nearest airport: Florence 75 km, Nearest railway: Siena 25 km
|Family friendly
|Great for children of all ages
|No pets allowed, Yes, smoking allowed
Features and Facilities
|Log fire, Internet access, DVD player
|Private outdoor pool (unheated)
|Central heating, TV, Video player, CD player, Safe, Satellite TV, Wi-Fi available
|Toaster, Iron, Hair dryer
|Dishwasher, Cooker, Microwave, Fridge, Freezer, Washing machine
|4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms of which 3 Family bathrooms
|1 Sofa beds, Double beds (1), Single beds (5), Cots (1), Dining seats for 8, Lounge seats for 8
|Linen provided, Towels provided, High chair
|Private outdoor pool (unheated), Balcony or terrace, Private garden, Private tennis court, BBQ, Bicycles available
|Further details indoors
The villa:
200 qm habitable area.
Wide sitting/dining room with fireplace.
Kitchen completely furnished with crockery, gas-cooker, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, electric oven, microwave, toaster, American coffee maker.
Spacious bedrooms:
1 double bedroom, 1 twin bedded room (convertible in a double bedroom), 1 three- bedded room.
Separate studio (convertible into a single bedroom).
Very cosy tower room with TV Sat.
2 full bathrooms with shower.
1 bathroom with wash-basin, WC and bidet.
Washing-machine, iron and ironing-board,
Recreational reading library, games for adults and children.
Possibility to be rented together with the closed Villa PetrAlexa (#44922, same owner) for larger groups, up to 14 people. Extra 5% off for renting the 2 villas together!!
|Further details outdoors
- Private tennis court in synthetic grass, (shared with villa PetrAlexa, same owner) - Tennis racquets and tennis balls available.
- Swimming pool with outside shower (6x12 meters). Opened from May to October included.
- Sun beds for each party member.
- Wide English garden all surrounded by vineyards and woods.
- Furnished loggia terrace for eating al fresco with bbq and pizza oven.
- Parking for 3 cars inside the fenced garden.
|Further details
Deposit of 250 Euro; refunded at departure after a check of the villa.
The weekly rates are all included excluding following extras:
- Central heating 15Euro/day if requested on site
- Firewood: 15Euro/cubic meter if requested on site
Upon request, to be booked in advance and paid cash on site:
• Welcome pack: 30 Euro*
• Cook to come in and prepare a dinner: prices per menu
• Extra sheet and towel change: 15Euro/person
• Tennis lessons with private teacher
• Personalized guided tours
If you prefer to visit the surroundings on your own, we can help you in your choices and plans to make the most of your time!
* The welcome pack is a basic shopping for the first breakfast: 2 bottles still water, 1 bottle sparkling water, 1 Orange juice,1 box of tea bags, 1 packet of coffee, 1l fresh milk, Fresh season fruits, Bread, Jam, Sugar, Butter, and Biscuits. (30 Euro cash to hand to the housekeeper at their arrival)
The Tuscany region
Tuscany does not need any presentation! The cities with its history and art attractions, the medieval villages, the special food and wine, the welcoming people make it a region with a matchless offer.
Villa LisiDor is situated in the heart of this region. Just a taste of the many places you can visit:
* San Gimignano, today UNESCO patrimony, famous for its many towers.
* Siena, may be the best-preserved medieval city in Italy.
* Florence….How is a summary possible?
* Monteriggioni, one of the few completely walled towns that can be proud of its original medieval walls still standing.
Famous for the wine, its production in Tuscany still follows the ancient guidelines to produce some of the best wines in the world: Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Nobile di Montepulciano, Sassicaia and the sweet Vin Santo with 'Cantucci' biscuits! Basically, the harvest (called "vendemmia", in Italian) in the whole Tuscany starts on the end of August and beginning of September, a very fascinating period to visit the Chianti hills.
Think about choosing a week in relation to the many events of this region, for example:
Yearly events:
- "Cantine aperte", last weekend of May: over 800 wine cellars open to be visited for free wine tasting.
- "Palio" of Siena, 2 July and 16 August: the bareback horse races.
- "Calici di stelle": 10 August: possibility to delight in "the raining of San Lorenzo's tears" quality wine and typical quality products in the historical centre and piazzas, among courtyards of unexpected beauty and castles.
- "Welcome harvest", September: discover the production cycle of wine through walks through the vineyards, visits to the companies, and tastings.
- "St. Martins day", 2nd week of November: the Wineries will be open to the public for the tasting of the "Novello Wine" (the new wine of last season)
- Chianti bycicling and mountain biking:
June: "Chianti Classic" non competitive cycling road race
October: "L'Eroica", Vintage Race, participants from all over the world
- "Stelle mercanti", Stars and Merchants. A market held at night with local artisans, hand crafts and music. From 6 PM to 11 PM. Every third Thursday of the months of June, July and August at Greve in Chianti.
... and many other local events ...
Once you decide your period of holiday, I will help you to find out all what's going on so to fully experience your Tuscan stay!
Radda in Chianti
The villa is located in a very strategic position for mountain bike tours! The most beautiful tours in this surroundings pass just next to our house. You can choose a different tour each day, between easy and demanding. We have detailed maps of all our favorite tours and can help you in the organization.
From the villa you can start beautiful relaxing walks in the silence of the area, go jogging on the unpaved road along the woods, and cycle passing vineyards and olive trees.
Or take the car and quickly reach many wine-and oil tasting farms, special restaurants, an 'Enoteca' for happy hours with "bruschetta" and visit the beauties of this country. Our suggestions:
Our suggestions what to see:
* Castellina in Chianti:
medieval village famous for its tower 'La Rocca' and for the Via delle Volte, a medieval trail under the town with military origins.
* Radda in Chianti:
the medieval fortified village that has grown around the church of San Nicolò and the 1400's Podestà building – now municipal building. Among the stony buildings of this cosy town you will find souvenirs shops, wine shops, restaurants, bars and typical products boutiques.
* Greve in Chianti:
one of the oldest towns in Chianti area; Piazza del Mercato is nowadays the biggest attraction. There are more then 20 restaurants, wine shops, souvenir shops, typical products shops.
* Panzano in Chianti:
a charming hamlet built on the top of a hill during the 11th century, famous for the Chianina steak.
* the castles and vine cellars of Broglio, Albola castle from the 1000's; Volpaia hamlet
* The Chiantigiana road crossing the countryside
* and for longer day trips Lucca, Pisa and the seaside whish are reachable in more or less 1 hour and a half.
Moreover there are horse riding opportunities and itineraries, the Golf Ugolino, 18 holes in Grassina near Florence (63km), the Termal baths - Spa: Terme di Rapolano: 42km, 45min. Terme di Radicondoli: 54km, 1h. Terme di Murlo: 60km, 1h. Terme di Rapolano, San Giovanni: 62km, 1h.
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6 May 2014
"Perfect holiday location"
Our family group of 8 adults spent 5 nights at Villa LisiDor - a perfect location for both relaxing & a great base for exploring the local region. The roads in Chianti can be narrow & windy but worth the drive to villages like Montepulciano & San Gimignano. The tennis court was a bonus for some extra exercise after sampling the amazing local food & wine. Definite highlight was Maria Rosa cooking a delicious four course meal for us. The villa has a good layout with a big central living area - great for sitting around the open fire. Petra was very efficient through the whole booking process & while the caretaker doesn't speak English, we managed to communicate. Highly recommend this property.
13 Nov 2012
"Excellent vacation"
We were a group of 6 couples that rented both villas for a week. They waited us with a full case of local Chianti wine, so the trip had the best start! The rooms were clean, pretty comfortable, with a nice family room and a kitchen well equiped. It was enough room for more people, actually. We really enjoyed spending our time there, inside and especially outside. Some evenings we cooked and liked to sit outside where it is a nice place for eating. In september was not warm enough for the girls to enjoy the outside pools (really clean), but some of the more athletic guys had really fan. We tried also the tennis court and was good. They have everything you need. The internet was a little slow sometimes and, because we forgot to shut it off when not in use, the last couple of days we didn't have connection anymore. Our time expired! The best thing about these villas is the location! You need definetely a car. The closest store is in Radda, 10 minutes away. From there you can go and visit Siena, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Montepulciano, Arezzo, Volterra, San Gimignano and many other medieval historical towns. There are a lot of places where you can taste and buy wine, actually you are in one of the best wine regions of the world! And the italian food... really good, everywhere. I really recommend the family restaurant in Lecchi, a very good cooked meal. One day we went even to the Mediterranean beach, almost 2 hours away. So, the location is very good. We really had a great time in Tuscany!
8 Nov 2012
"Excellent location, Wonderfull accomodation"
Large and well organised villa, staff frendly and helpfull, dreamlike surroundings with forests and wineyards. An excelent location to visit Tuscany
2 Nov 2012
"I recommend Villa LisiDor"
Our family - two teenagechrildren, a girlfriend, mother and father - spend a wounderful week at Villa LisiDor mid October.
The house, the surrondings and the weather was very nice. The pool was still open, and was used by the youngsters. And the fine tenniscourt 30 meters from the house was used every day. The housekeeper, a charming only italian speaking elderly man, welcomed us, and used a lot of italian words to inform us about the house. We did´nt understand a lot, but it worked fine anyway.
We spend af week with relaxation, sports, redwine and nice trips to Siene and Firenze. Just as it was meant to be.
So if a pool and a tenniscourt are essential for a hollyday in tuscany Villa LisiDor is a very good choise. We can only recommend the house.
Kindly regards
The la Cour & Rode family, Denmark
12 Sep 2012
"Excellent, spacious accommodation with a fantastic pool and view."
Very good, clear communication with the owner.
Spacious, clean property
Wonderful pool
About 2 miles from villa to nearest village with bar, restaurant and small store
Character property with high ceilings and lots of room
Keeps cool indoors
21 Oct 2011
"Lovely location"
Villa Lisidor is a lovely old villa located at the top of a hill. The views are gorgeous (would be even better if the high hedge was cut down), and the property is very private. The old caretaker take… More
5 May 2011
"Wonderful Tuscan Holiday"
When you think of Tuscany, you think of the beautiful picturesque photos you always see, with old buildings dating back centuries and beautiful valleys covered in olive groves. On our arrival in Radda, that is exactly what we got. Villa Lisidor, a 10 minute drive from Radda, is situated in the most spectacular scenery, we have never been to Tuscany and this villa was more than what we expected. Besides the amazing setting, the villa itself catered for all our needs. Beautifully clean, very comfortable, spacious and a very well equipped kitchen. The villa is very central to all the major attractions in the area.We had an absolutely spectacular stay and want to go back. Lastly, when you book holiday accommodation on the internet you often do not get what you thought you were getting. Villa Lisidor will not disappoint you.
15 Mar 2011
"We had a great time"
We celebrated the fiftieth Anniversary of our parents and rented this wonderful house in the hills of Tuscany. The house lies in the middle of a vinyard with a beautiful view from the first floor. Unf… More
7 Mar 2011
"Atmospheric Tuscany"
We stayed in Villa LisiDor over easter 2010. Our host Petra Giacone was always prompt in replying to emails re our booking. She was very accommodating when we requested dates outside her normal rental… More
28 Feb 2011
the house is set in a beautiful location and is just how we expected it. the rooms were large, with twin beds or double beds and all but one had fantastic views from the window. the beds were very c… More
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Petra G.
- 7 Years listed
90% Response rate
Calendar last updated:21 May 2015
Based in Italy
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|9,526,468 sq km (3,678,190 sq mi), including 233,798 sq km of inland water and 155,293 sq km of the Great Lakes that lie within U.S. boundaries but excluding 111,849 sq km of coastal water and 193,148 sq km of territorial water
|(2012 est.): 314,785,000
|Washington, D.C.
|Head of state and government:
|President Barack Obama
Pete Souza—Official White House PhotoRobert Duyos—Sun-Sentinel/ZUMA Press/AlamyChris Carlson/APBeset by a paralyzing internal partisanship and an underperforming national economy, the United States government moved during 2012 in a reactive manner, at times seemingly unable to take decisive action either at home or abroad. Instead of providing widely anticipated direction, federal elections (see Special Report) produced only marginal change, though the reelection of Pres. Barack Obama effectively provided an endorsement at the ballot box for his administration's controversial increase of government control of the nation's health care system, which had been confirmed in the courts earlier in the year. At year's end, as lawmakers struggled to reduce an extravagant and unsustainable federal deficit, the preferred solution was to impose a major tax increase on the highest-income earners while making little effort to reduce government expenditures. As a result, serious policy questions were left unanswered, and the country's sluggish economic recovery remained in doubt.
For most of a second consecutive year, the U.S. Congress remained mired in partisan division, producing virtually no significant legislation. Republicans, who held a majority in the House of Representatives, professed concern over excessive federal deficits and advocated holding the line on spending growth, while Democrats, who controlled the Senate, resisted cuts to existing federal programs and favoured higher taxes. The result was again legislative gridlock and drift; for yet another year, the Congress could not even set spending priorities by producing a federal budget. As a result, the government operated through continuing resolutions, and "kicking the can down the road" became an overused cliché.
President Obama repeatedly used executive orders and regulatory authority to fill the legislative leadership void, at times stretching his constitutional authority. In January he broke a deadlock over appointments to important labour and consumer-protection agencies by circumventing Congress with "recess appointments," made when the Senate was conducting brief pro forma sessions, which the administration argued constituted a recess, though opponents disagreed. In June Obama granted a two-year reprieve from deportation and offered the opportunity to seek a work permit to illegal immigrants aged 30 and under who had arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16; the Senate had blocked a similar "Dream Act" bill in 2010. In July an administration directive allowed states to modify the work requirement in administering welfare laws. Republicans argued that the order violated the core of the 1996 welfare act.
Without having consulted Congress, the administration announced that it would not defend a legal challenge to the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act, thereby allying Obama with same-sex-marriage proponents. Without gaining specific congressional authority, a regulation from the Department of Health and Human Services declared that contraception and pregnancy measures had to be covered by employer-provided insurance under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), often referred to simply as Obamacare. The decisions generally angered conservatives, produced slow-moving legal challenges, and motivated Obama supporters as the election approached.
On June 28 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the PPACA was constitutional as part of the federal government's taxing power. The 5–4 decision was announced by Chief Justice John Roberts, whose position on the case reputedly changed during the court's deliberations. One major part of the law was invalidated: the court said that states could not be compelled to expand their Medicaid programs. (See Special Report.) Overall, however, the decision provided a boost to the president's election campaign by validating the major legislative accomplishment of his first term. Republicans made repeal of Obamacare a major political issue, and with Obama's reelection in November, the last major challenge to the divisive health care legislation disappeared.
Although Republicans attempted to force Obama to approve a Canada-Texas pipeline opposed by environmentalists, the president managed to avoid a final decision during 2012. He instead split the project into two; he approved the southern Texas-Oklahoma portion and demanded lengthy study of a new pipeline route around environmentally sensitive sections of Nebraska. (See Special Report.)
Democrats were energized by gains in congressional elections, and the newly reelected president clearly had the whip hand as Congress reconvened in November to consider a budget showdown mandated by a similarly split Congress the previous year. On the theory that only a crisis could produce agreement on deficit-reduction specifics, lawmakers had enacted the 2011 Budget Control Act, which mandated draconian tax increases as well as military- and nonmilitary-spending cuts unless an alternate scheme was agreed to by the end of 2012. The threat of those increases and cuts became known as the "fiscal cliff."
Even as economists predicted disaster for the fragile economy from continued inaction, negotiations went nowhere for more than a month. Obama pushed for a continuation of most of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts but called for $1.6 trillion in income-tax rate increases for the top 2% of taxpayers. Republican negotiating efforts under Speaker of the House John Boehner were muddled and collapsed after Boehner was unable to achieve majority backing from House Republicans for his "Plan B," which included tax increases only for those earning more than $1 million annually. In the year's final week, negotiations shifted to the Senate, and Democrats were successful in keeping the focus on taxes and away from long-term spending reductions.
The final bill, approved by the Senate on December 31, raised taxes by $600 billion, mostly on high-income earners, boosting their tax rate from 35% to 39.6%, lifting their capital-gains and dividends taxes from 15% to 20%, phasing out availability of itemized deductions, and imposing a 3.8% net-investment tax authorized by Obamacare legislation. Lower-income earners were also affected as a 2% reduction in Social Security payroll tax, enacted two years earlier as an economic stimulus, was not renewed.
The legislation resolved several long-running controversies. The estate tax was raised to 40% from 35%, but only for estates exceeding $5 million. An annual budget-driven reduction in Medicare-provider fees, routinely opposed by doctors and hospitals, was delayed. In addition, the inflation-driven imposition of the Alternative Minimum Tax—a measure that would have affected more than 30 million taxpayers—was permanently revoked.
Overall, however, the compromise served only to postpone several decisions until early 2013. At year's end the federal government reached its authorized debt limit, requiring cash-management maneuvers by the Treasury Department to prevent a default or partial government shutdown. The spending reductions called for by the Budget Control Act were postponed for only two months, and no other spending reforms were included. While financial markets initially cheered avoidance of a fiscal cliff dive that might have derailed a fragile economic recovery, the compromise fully reflected deep divisions in Washington and the government's inability to fashion long-range solutions to pervasive national concerns.
Despite continued massive government intervention, economic activity remained in the doldrums during 2012 as the U.S. struggled to break free of the effects of the 2008–09 recession. A few positive signs appeared, including general gains in financial markets, modest growth in GDP, and a nominal decline in unemployment at year's end. Moreover, the hard-pressed housing sector, the collapse of which had triggered a worldwide financial crisis in 2008, showed real signs of robust recovery. These developments came, however, as Europe coped with a debt crisis and Chinese economic growth slowed. (See Special Report.) Under these circumstances the U.S. economy, long counted upon to guide the world out of economic downturn, was unable to provide significant leadership as it struggled to find its footing.
Borrowing almost 40% of every dollar spent, the federal government expended almost $1.1 trillion more than it took in during fiscal 2012—its fourth consecutive trillion-dollar deficit. This fiscal stimulus was supplemented by monetary stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve System (the Fed), including a December announcement that short-term interest rates would be maintained at just above zero until the country's unemployment rate—then at 7.7%—was down to 6.5%. The decision was historic; it marked the first time that the central bank had ever directly tied its interest rate policy to the overall state of the economy.
Additionally, in September Fed officials had initiated a third round of liquidity generation known as "quantitative easing," buying more than $85 billion per month in mortgages, effectively creating new money and helping to reduce a national backlog of unsold homes. The program also drove down long-term interest rates to their lowest point in 60 years and propped up equity markets by encouraging investors to seek more substantial returns from stocks rather than interest-bearing instruments. By November the average rate on a 30-year home mortgage was down to a record low of 3.31%. That in turn helped produce an upturn in the housing sector, with home values in major markets expanding by a healthy 7% during 2012 following five consecutive years of decline that had left average house prices nationwide at roughly two-thirds of 2006 values.
Other major indicators were less robust, however. Although economists warned that continued excessive government deficit spending would eventually lead to renewed inflation, the sluggish economy at least temporarily forestalled major price increases during the year. The national consumer price index rose by a modest 1.9%, down slightly from 2011. On Wall Street low interest rates helped the broad, large-company S&P 500 average gain 13.4% for the year, while the narrower industrials average picked up just over 7%. Unemployment rates fell from 8.3% at the start of 2012 to 7.8% at year's end. Fewer than two million new jobs were created, however, and many attributed much of this statistical improvement to a continued exodus of discouraged workers from the job market; only 63.6% of the potential workforce was working or seeking employment by November, the lowest percentage since 1981.
The most important economic indicator, GDP, expanded at a sluggish rate of less than 2% for the first half of 2012, well under the average postrecession growth of recent decades. Economic activity appeared to pick up momentum in the third quarter before stalling as the election failed to produce a major change in the country's political deadlock. Threatened tax increases added additional uncertainty, reducing consumer confidence, and even after the "fiscal cliff" crisis was temporarily resolved at year's end, no clear change in the five-year-old U.S. economic malaise was apparent heading into 2013. (See Special Report.)
After two decades of sometimes boisterous activism as the world's only superpower, the U.S. under Obama continued to pursue a more modest multilateral agenda in its 2012 foreign relations. With U.S. influence on a downslope worldwide owing to domestic fiscal and political deadlock, diplomatic breakthroughs were rare, and the U.S. particularly struggled as it maneuvered through the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring dislocations in the Middle East.
U.S. relations with China continued to deteriorate during the year as Washington moved to check growing Chinese influence in Asia. On the surface most disputes focused on trade practices and alleged currency manipulation by the Chinese, but basic strategic differences were more worrisome. As China became embroiled in aggressive territorial disputes with Vietnam, Japan, and the Philippines, the U.S. took the side of China's opponent each time, underscoring the aims of a well-publicized 2011 "pivot" that shifted added U.S. military capability to the Pacific region. North Korea, China's unpredictable nuclear-armed ally, tested a missile in December that officials said was capable of reaching the continental U.S.
"Resetting" U.S.-Russia relations also proved problematic for the Obama administration, particularly after Vladimir Putin returned as Russia's president in May. At times Russia appeared to operate an informal alliance with China and Iran, foot-dragging on U.S.-endorsed economic sanctions against Iran and pointedly siding with the Syrian government in its extended battle against Sunni-dominated rebels. In a low point at midyear, after Russia repeatedly opposed UN sanctions against Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointedly accused the Russians of supplying attack helicopters to the Syrian regime.
After the U.S. election, the U.S. Congress approved punitive legislation, the Magnitsky Act, named after a corruption-fighting Russian lawyer who died under mysterious circumstances in a Russian prison in 2009. The law banned visas and froze assets of Russian officials suspected of having committed human rights violations, particularly those deemed responsible for Magnitsky's death. The legislation was paired with another bill that normalized U.S.-Russia trade relations by repealing an outdated Cold War provision targeting Soviet Union emigration abuses, the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment. Only days after Obama signed the legislation, Russia's Duma enacted retaliatory legislation banning American families from adopting Russian children.
Pressuring Iran to halt its nuclear program was again the top U.S. diplomatic concern, and U.S.-inspired economic sanctions imposed by Western allies on the Iranian regime continued to weaken the country's oil exports, currency, and economy. The measures failed to produce negotiation breakthroughs during 2012, however, much to the dismay of the Israeli government, which had applied pressure for an allied (or unilateral) military strike on Iran's nuclear capability. U.S.-Israeli relations were strained throughout the year. While restraining Israel, Washington also quietly negotiated with Persian Gulf allies to cooperate on a missile-defense system to counter any future Iranian threat. The standoff produced competing cyberattacks, including penetration of Iranian official computers by a mysterious data-mining virus named Flame, countered by a wave of cyberattacks on U.S. banks and allied energy firms attributed to Iranian hackers.
Throughout the year Iran continued to engage in aggressive policies that irritated U.S. officials, including shipment of military equipment to the Syrian government through purported U.S. ally Iraq. On November 1, for the first time, Iranian warplanes fired upon an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone flying in international airspace over the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. administration attempted to maintain its close relationship with Egypt even as the country voted for an Islamist-dominated government and constitution. Although the developments appeared to increase security threats for neighbouring Israel, U.S. ties to Egypt's military remained strong, and at year's end the U.S. said that it would deliver a promised shipment of 20 advanced F-16 attack planes to the new regime. The U.S. also helped lead an international alliance backing rebels seeking to overthrow Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, even though dissident forces included suspected al-Qaeda sympathizers and Islamists. As the Assad government went on the defensive, the U.S. formally recognized the loosely allied opposition.
On September 11, armed militants linked to al-Qaeda stormed the U.S. diplomatic post in Banghazi (Benghazi), Libya, and later attacked a nearby CIA facility, killing four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, and igniting a political firestorm in the U.S. The incident, and the first violent death of an American ambassador since 1979, ran counter to U.S. administration claims that international terrorism was on the wane. Five days after the attack, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, appeared on five Sunday television talk shows and asserted that the attack had occurred spontaneously, by a mob angered by an anti-Islam video produced in the U.S. After it became clear that the attack had been premeditated, the Obama administration came under criticism for its response to the incident.
Moreover, an independent investigation at year's end faulted the State Department for having ignored repeated requests over months for tighter diplomatic security, for failure to anticipate threats to the Banghazi facility, and for excessive reliance on untrained local militia for assistance. The inquiry faulted several mid-level State Department officials for poor leadership; four managers were reassigned, and Rice, facing Republican charges of duplicity for her public appearances, withdrew as a candidate to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during Obama's second term.
Legislative gridlock, particularly Republican opposition to increasing world government, again thwarted attempts to gain U.S. Senate confirmation for several international treaties and conventions during the year, including measures covering the law of the sea, rights of persons with disabilities, rights of children, and discrimination against women.
As popular support for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan continued to wane, and having concluded that outright victory was impossible, the administration accelerated efforts to extricate itself from active military operations in that country during 2012. The decision capped a troubled year in which Afghan trainees turned to initiating attacks on their trainers, Afghan government officials increasingly bristled at aggressive U.S. pacification tactics, and signs of significant progress were rare. In September the U.S. death count passed 2,000, over 12 years of intervention, the longest war in U.S. history.
A major administration goal was reducing U.S. combat exposure and encouraging Afghan efforts at self-reliance in defense matters following the main U.S. pullout scheduled for 2014. Results were decidedly mixed. In March a U.S. staff sergeant killed 16 civilians in south Afghanistan and was removed to a U.S. military prison over Afghani objections. American troops burned several Korans collected in a prison cleanup. The two incidents prompted outrage in Afghanistan, a public apology from President Obama, and the cancellation of preliminary peace talks by Taliban insurgents. The Afghan army reached its targeted strength during the year, but after some 15 international coalition troops were killed by "insider attacks" in August, the U.S. suspended the training of local Afghan police.
In May Obama visited Kabul under tight security and signed a landmark security partnership agreement, promising continued U.S. assistance for Afghanistan for at least 10 years following the 2014 allied pullout. Even so, serious doubts remained about the viability of the Afghan regime, and the year saw a resurgence of activity by traditional Afghan warlords preparing for potential fragmentation of the central government after the U.S. departure.
Early in the year, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta declared that the U.S. combat role could end as early as 2013, more than a year earlier than the exit of allied troops. When that statement was seen as encouraging antigovernment resistance, U.S. officials suggested that a residual force (of uncertain size) would remain even after 2014. The last of 33,000 additional U.S. "surge" troops inserted in 2009 were removed during the year, leaving some 68,000 U.S. and 30,000 NATO forces in place at year's end. In an apparent move to limit exposure of allied personnel, U.S. manned aerial sorties were reduced, and the use of military-controlled drones was markedly increased, for surveillance and missile-attack purposes.
The U.S. government continued a robust drone attack regime in several areas controlled by Islamic militants worldwide, particularly in Pakistan and Yemen, even as the program's legal status under international law was being investigated by the United Nations. A May article in the New York Times highlighted President Obama's personal role in selecting and approving targets for these strikes, and administration officials claimed that the incidence of collateral civilians casualties had been markedly reduced over the course of the program since it began in 2004.
At year's end, under deadline pressure, Congress renewed two laws affecting terrorism. One defense authorization measure continued controversial congressional restrictions on the transfer of international prisoners to the U.S. from the detention centre at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The other, sponsored by the administration, renewed the authority of the National Security Agency to conduct wiretap surveillance without a warrant. Near year's end the issue of gun control rose to the top of the administration's agenda following the horrific shootings in December at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 students and 6 teachers.
John Hart—Wisconsin State Journal/APShannon Hicks—Newtown Bee/APBrennan Linsley/APMajor legislative changes—whether regarding taxes, spending, or new policy initiatives—were rare in 2012 as the states continued to recover steadily from the national economic downturn that had hit the United States in 2008. Wrangling with the federal government over health care and related spending issues continued at a high level. Voters in several states surprised policy makers by approving relaxation of traditional laws banning same-sex marriage and marijuana use.
Eleven states held gubernatorial balloting in November. In the process Republicans picked up one additional governorship, in North Carolina. As a result, 2013 would see 30 Republican governors, 19 Democrats, and 1 independent. State legislative elections in 44 states produced modest overall gains for Democrats and a trend toward one-party control of state capitals. Going into the election, the GOP enjoyed majorities in both chambers of 26 states, Democrats controlled 15, and 8 states were split or tied. For 2013 the lineup would be Republican oversight of 26 states, Democratic control of 19, and 4 split or tied. Nebraska has a nonpartisan unicameral legislature.
In June, Wisconsin GOP Gov. Scott Walker became the third governor in American history to face a special recall election and, following an expensive and bitter campaign, the first to survive one. Walker turned back a union-driven protest inspired by 2011 Republican legislation that had stripped public employees of collective-bargaining rights and had prohibited unions from deducting dues from state paychecks. Three of four GOP state senators also survived recall on the June ballot, but the recall of the fourth handed control of the upper chamber to the Democrats, which they lost again in the regular November election cycle.
State Supreme Court judges in Florida and Iowa also survived bitter election battles. Iowa Justice David Wiggins was retained even though he was part of a 2009 court majority that had legalized same-sex marriage; three of his colleagues had been ousted in 2010. Three Florida justices also faced opposition over several decisions, including a 2010 order removing a referendum on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) from state ballots. California voters adjusted the state's legislative term limit from 14 years (with service split between the Assembly and the Senate) to 12 years; the new term limit, however, allowed a member of the legislature to serve his or her entire tenure in a single chamber.
Controversy over voter-identification legislation created uncertainty prior to the November elections and helped roil federal-state relations. Voter-ID advocates claimed that new laws were necessary to combat fraud, but opponents argued that added requirements disenfranchised minority and low-income voters. Despite objections from the administration of Pres. Barack Obama , a federal court approved a new South Carolina voter-ID law. Other courts, however, blocked voter-ID legislation in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. In November Minnesota voters rejected a photo-identification requirement for voting.
Michiganders rejected a ballot measure requiring approval by a two-thirds majority vote of the legislature or the electorate prior to a tax increase; Washington voters again required a two-thirds legislative vote before any tax increase; and voters in Illinois rejected a referendum that required two-thirds-majority legislative approval for increases to state pensions.
Pressure on states' budgets was reduced during the year, a reflection of the slow improvement in the national economy, but cautious lawmakers avoided major fiscal changes. Most tax and spending changes were relatively minor. Although Kansas and Oklahoma discussed eliminating the state income tax, Kansas settled for major cuts in business, personal income, and state sales taxes. Oklahoma, Idaho, and Nebraska enacted smaller income-tax reductions. As North Dakota accumulated a huge budget surplus, thanks to oil-extraction tax income, voters considered—but ultimately rejected—the elimination of state property taxes.
Maine adopted a long-term measure designed to reduce future personal income taxes through targeted use of excess government revenues. Indiana and Tennessee enacted a long-term phaseout of estate taxes. Georgia revamped its tax system, reducing overall tax burdens. New York extended a temporary income-tax increase, and Maryland raised income levies on those earning more than $100,000. Both Arizona and South Dakota voters rejected a 1% sales-tax increase to help fund public schools. Missouri voters turned down an increase in the state's tobacco tax (the country's lowest) to finance public education.
While most states were handling fiscal problems well, California and Illinois continued to struggle. Illinois boosted cigarette taxes and channeled the funding to Medicaid (a joint federal-state program for low-income Americans), but it also enacted deep cuts to Medicaid providers. Nevertheless, the state ended the 2012 fiscal year with $8 billion in unpaid bills and a $96.8 billion unfunded-liability shortfall in its public-employee pension system.
For most of 2012 California lawmakers were unable to make significant headway in reducing the state's $15.7 billion budget shortfall. Legislators attempted some spending cuts, including a $1.2 billion trim to Medicaid, but federal regulators overturned much of the plan. Legislators continued to pursue the country's biggest public-works project, a $68 billion high-speed-rail link between northern California and San Diego, despite cost overruns. Gov. Jerry Brown, faced with increasing deficits, asked voters in November to raise the state sales tax by 0.25% and increase taxes on income over $250,000, retroactive to the start of 2012. When that initiative, Proposition 30, was approved 55–45%, the state's budget crisis was at least temporarily forestalled.
At year's end state officials watched nervously as Washington engaged in "fiscal cliff" negotiations that threatened a significant budgetary impact on the states. A failure by lawmakers to strike a deal foretold dramatic cuts in federal assistance to states, particularly in education. The outcome also promised to have a major impact on state revenues, depending upon individual state linkage to federal income- and estate-tax provisions. A last-minute agreement merely postponed most spending decisions by two months, until early 2013.
The legislative year saw further erosion of labour-union power in the economically hard-pressed Midwest. After voters overwhelmingly rejected a state constitutional amendment entrenching collective-bargaining rights, the Michigan legislature quickly approved the country's 24th right-to-work law. The measure, similar to a 2011 Wisconsin law and an Indiana statute approved earlier in 2012 over strong union protests, declared that workers could not be forced to join a union or pay union dues as a requirement for obtaining employment.
In an unexpected development that set up potential federal-state confrontation, voters in Colorado and Washington state approved the country's first measures to legalize nonmedical marijuana use. Oregon voters turned down a similar measure. Marijuana remained a controlled substance under federal law, in the same category as heroin, but Obama administration officials pointedly declined to preview any enforcement plans for the two states. Massachusetts became the 18th state to allow marijuana use for medicinal purposes.
Massachusetts became the 26th state to enact a habitual-offender law—in this case, one mandating that a person convicted of any of certain felony offenses for the third time serve the maximum sentence for that offense. California voters, however, trimmed their "three-strikes law," requiring that the third conviction be for a serious offense, such as a crime of violence. Amid signs that a two-decade reduction in serious crime nationwide was coming to an end, Connecticut became the fifth state in five years to repeal its death-penalty statute. California voters, by a narrow 52–48% majority, decided to retain that state's death penalty, thus keeping more than 700 prisoners awaiting execution on death row. In the aftermath of a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision, a federal appeals court gave Illinois six months to remove its ban on the carrying of weapons in public. All 49 other states already allowed some version of "concealed carry."
Although the national economic slowdown reduced the urgency of the illegal-immigration issue, several states wrestled with the effects of such immigration during the year. The U.S. Supreme Court in June invalidated several parts of a 2010 Arizona law—including provisions that criminalized seeking employment or failing to carry status papers—and declared that controlling immigration was chiefly a federal responsibility. The court let stand, at least temporarily, however, a provision allowing local police to check federal immigration status during a routine police stop. Courts soon blocked similar portions of Alabama and Georgia laws. After President Obama ordered a two-year halt to the deportation of illegal aliens aged 30 and under—who had immigrated before age 16, been in the country for at least five years, did not have a criminal record or pose a security threat, and were either students or high-school graduates or had served in the military—some 17 states began issuing driver's licenses to those qualifying. In November, Montana voters denied public services to undocumented aliens, but Maryland voters upheld a state law allowing in-state tuition for students lacking immigration papers.
Opponents of the 2010 federal health care overhaul lost several challenges during the year, including a lawsuit brought to the U.S. Supreme Court by 28 states and, perhaps most important, the November presidential election. On the state level, Obamacare remained unpopular with Republican voters; ballot measures protesting some of its provisions were approved in Alabama, Montana, Wyoming, and Missouri. State officials faced more-significant decisions, however, in the implementation of the complicated legislation, which included provisions for a dramatic expansion of Medicaid and the establishment of "insurance exchanges."
Medicaid was the fastest-growing part of most state budgets, with states administering and paying 20–50% of costs. Under the new federal law, income-eligibility requirements would be relaxed to insure additional citizens, with all added costs absorbed by the federal government for three years and at least 90% thereafter. Some critics of the measure considered even a 10% share for the states as too costly. After the high court declared that Medicaid expansion was optional for states, a dozen Republican governors declared that their states would pass up the federal offer and keep Medicaid in its current form.
States faced a pressing deadline at year's end over another requirement—the establishment of insurance exchanges designed to allow consumers to shop for private policies and apply for Medicaid and tax credits. Authors of the federal act, responding to state calls for more flexibility and control over fast-growing health care expenditures, provided for state-operated exchanges. By the end of the year, however, some 26 states (mostly headed by Republican governors) had directly refused to set up exchanges, leaving the expensive task to federal officials. Six more states were considering similar decisions.
Advocates for same-sex marriage achieved a major breakthrough when voters in Maine, Maryland, and Washington approved gay-marriage referenda in November. The votes in Maryland and Washington affirmed legislative decisions—the first time that approval had been reached in a statewide vote. Previous legalization of gay marriage in six states had been achieved entirely through court decisions or legislative action. Moreover, proposals to constitutionally recognize traditional marriage only were rejected by Minnesota voters and approved in North Carolina. That left 30 states with legislative or constitutional bans on same-sex unions, 9 states (plus the District of Columbia) with legalized gay marriage, and 11 states with civil-union or domestic-partnership laws that granted same-sex couples rights that fell short of full marriage.
Montana voters required parental consent before a minor could obtain an abortion, but Florida voters rejected an Obamacare-related measure that would have banned the use of public funds for abortion insurance coverage. Massachusetts voters narrowly rejected a proposal to legalize euthanasia, leaving Oregon, Washington, and Montana as the only states allowing physician-assisted suicide.
Spurred by concern over water-supply safety, legislators in 24 states considered taxing and regulating the fast-growing hydraulic- fracturing (fracking) industry during the year. Fracking involved production of natural gas by blasting water, sand, and chemicals into wells. Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming moved to toughen regulation, many including requirements for disclosure of chemicals used, and Vermont at least temporarily banned fracking altogether. When federal regulators enacted rules regulating methane emissions and disclosure of chemicals used in fracking, legislators in Kansas, South Dakota, and Utah objected, declaring that fracking regulation should be under state control.
California began rolling out its long-delayed controversial cap-and-trade pollution-control system, which allowed industries to bid on rights to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The system, broader than the only other similar U.S. system—a nine-state pact among Northeastern states—had been held up by legal challenges since its legislative approval in 2006. Hawaii became the first state to ban plastic bags; the law would become effective in 2015.
Decentralization remained a trend in public education. Federally imposed testing and punitive measures of the landmark federal No Child Left Behind law were eroded as most states obtained waivers from NCLB requirements. On the state level, alternatives to public schools were expanded. Georgia established a commission to review charter applications, and Washington became the 42nd state to allow charter schools. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Tennessee bolstered in-class requirements, adding more than 300 hours to classroom teaching time. Unions won key ballot tests in Idaho and South Dakota, defeating measures that would have abolished tenure and established merit pay or bonuses for public-school teachers. Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee joined Florida in requiring drug tests for all applicants for public assistance. Utah's screening process required applicants to complete a written questionnaire regarding drug use.
Education, Welfare
Decentralization remained a trend in public education. Federally imposed testing and punitive measures of the landmark federal No Child Left Behind law were eroded as most states obtained waivers from NCLB requirements. On the state level, alternatives to public schools were expanded. Georgia established a commission to review charter applications, and Washington became the 42nd state to allow charter schools. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Tennessee bolstered in-class requirements, adding more than 300 hours to classroom teaching time. Unions won key ballot tests in Idaho and South Dakota, defeating measures that would have abolished tenure and established merit pay or bonuses for public-school teachers.
Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee joined Florida in requiring drug tests for all applicants for public assistance. Utah's screening process required applicants to complete a written questionnaire regarding drug use.


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"˜Digi-Novel' Will Include Book, Video, Web
"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" series creator Anthony Zuiker is releasing a new "digi-novel" that will be a combination of three different types of media "" a book, a Web site and a movie.
Zuiker's "Level 26″ crime novel invites readers to log on to a Web site about every 20 pages using a special code to watch a "cyber-bridge" — a three-minute video tied to the story.
"Just doing one thing great is not going to sustain business," Zuiker told Reuters.
"The future of business in terms of entertainment will have to be the convergence of different mediums. So we did that — publishing, movies and a website."
The new digi-novel, which brings a new twist to traditional book publishing, will be available next Tuesday, when readers can purchase the book, view the online "cyber-bridges," and read, discuss and contribute to the story.
Although Zuiker said he did not believe his creation would ever replace traditional publishing, he acknowledged the publishing sector could use a boost.
"They need content creators like myself to come in the industry and say, 'Hey, let's try things this way,'" he said.
Zuiker assembled a 60-page outline for the novel, which was written by Duane Swierczynski, and authored and directed the "cyber-bridges." However, the book can be read without watching the "cyber-bridges," Zuiker said.
U.S. consumers are smitten with technology, which has grown to become such a ubiquitous part of people's lives that more entertainment choices are needed.
Indeed, people are increasingly reading books on electronic readers like Amazon.com's Kindle and Sony Corp's Reader, he said.
However, since those devices don't play videos, "Level 26″ readers still need to access the Web on a different device.
Apple Inc. is rumored to be developing a touchscreen tablet, which some believe could be a multimedia device capable of playing videos.
Zuiker said it is important to offer people more options for entertainment and books as attention spans grow increasingly short.
"Every TV show in the next five, 10 years will have a comprehensive microsite or website that continue the experience beyond the one-hour television to keep engaging viewers 24/7," he said.
"Just watching television for one specific hour a week … that's not going to be a sustainable model going forward."
"I wanted to bring all the best in publishing, in a motion picture, in a website and converge all three into one experience."
"And when the book finished and the bridges finished, I wanted the experience to continue online and in a social community."
Zuiker said the idea for the "digi-novel" first came to him during a three-month TV writers strike in 2007/08.
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Testing varied by geography. For example, patients in Miami tended to have more echocardiograms, while patients in Portland, Ore., had the fewest.
"Diagnostic tests are frequently repeated among Medicare beneficiaries. This has important implications not only for the capacity to serve new patients and the ability to contain costs but also for the health of the population," the study authors concluded.
The authors noted that while the tests themselves pose little immediate risk, "repeat testing is a major risk factor for incidental detection and overdiagnosis."
In an accompanying journal editorial, Dr. Jerome Kassirer at Tufts University and Dr. Arnold Milstein at Stanford University wrote that "it is discouraging to contemplate fresh evidence . . . of our failure to curb waste of health care resources."
The editorialists recommend new and better physician guidelines and the end of payment incentives tied to services performed -- such as tests.
Fitterman agreed. "The 800-pound gorilla in the room is that we live in a fee-for-services world; there are financial incentives to do repeat testing," he said.
Part of the answer is to move away from fee-for-service and replace it with practice-redesign using evidence-based guidelines, Fitterman added. And he suggested limiting malpractice liability when doctors follow these guidelines.
Kassirer and Milstein concluded: "No matter what future payment system is implemented, some intercession in clinical decision making will be required to protect patients from too many tests and from too few tests. We have not come close to getting it right."
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Chain care
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Joined: Jun 2009
Location: Western Vermont
Oddometer: 608
just a point of reference. I just replace my chain at 30k miles. the O ring on one link failed and that one link wore badly( ie stretch almost 1/8 inch) so I had to replace the whole chain. I did replace the front sprocket...it was slightly worn...did not need to but it was cheap and easy.
Looking at the comments here, I do much LESS maintenance....lube about every 1000 miles, clean much less frequently.
why I think this is ok and seems to have worked
there are two wear/lube point on the chain
1) the contact between roller and sprocket,
This is the one every one sees, over lubes...build up dirt and dust. using a Scott oil in my mind is installing a dust and dirt magnet...dumb. Using a limited amount of Wax based oil do reduce this wear....using heavy oil just makes everything dirty
2) the more important between the pins internal to the rollers and the side plates of the chain. It is these second, more important that are lubed at the factory and the lube is kept in place by the O ring (or X rings). It is important that these O/X rings are not damaged and the factory oil does not leak out.
Protecting the O rings.....No harsh brushing, No pressure washing No solvents like WD40 to dilute and flush out the factory lube behind the O rings...you get the idea
Using a lubricant like the dupont teflon helps the O rings stay healthy.
Just my 2 cents
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Today I continue to honor the gods maligned by the atheists' graveyard. Medeina is deity number 30 from that list and is a Lithuanian forest goddess. I could not find out much about her so a short prayer is my offering.
PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.
Today I continue to honor the gods maligned by the atheists' graveyard. Medeina is deity number 30 from that list and is a Lithuanian forest goddess. I could not find out much about her so a short prayer is my offering.
It seems that festival season is upon us once again, and lots of other folks are listing Pagan festivals you can go to (thanks Jason Mankey and Heather Greene)! Both of them mentioned some of the stuff going on up here north of the 49th Parallel, and I would like to thank them for that! But this blog is about Canadian Paganism, so I'm giving you a list of ALL the Canadian Pagan festivals I know about, whether I've been there or not. Contrary to popular belief there's lots going on and not all of it is in Ontario or Alberta! If you know of a Canadian Pagan festival I'm missing, please let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to add it to the list, no matter how small. Share the list around!
As you can see, I'm not committed to anything this year except Gaia Gathering, which is already passed. So if anyone wanted me to come . . . Just sayin'. ;)...
Step into the place of the lover, and the beloved will turn up. The Lover is here for you, has been here all along. Step into the place of the Beloved and sense Earth from this position. Gaia. She's here. She's more than ready to be your Lover. Open up to what starts happening in your life- today- as you step into this. Feel your cells responding. Feel your energy. So much wonder, magic and love right here, right now!
It becomes easier when you allow yourself to be the Beloved of Gaia first. You don't need to make the first move. Gaia is inviting you through every tree, every bird song, every flower. Will you stop and see? Allow your breath to quicken and your heart to miss a beat? Step into the place of the lover, and the beloved will turn up.
Change is inevitable. How we deal with it, however is another matter. This week's article of Faithful Friday takes a look at how the tapestry of religion is changing around the world, from the pluralization of religion in America to the rise of Hindu nationalism in India. Will tomorrow's religious landscape look the same as today's? If that's a question you think is worth asking, read on.
It's been awhile since I've been here, and that's because things have been... mutable. I've decided to try to re-enter (because Mercury retrograde is always a good time to go back to something that's been previously started, right?) working with clay again. I believe I mentioned it previously, in my last article. I've been doing a lot of reflecting since then.
You see, Tarot is such a part of my life that it is hard for me to isolate things. I see the cards in shapes throughout the day. I think about what card would represent what activity I'm doing at the time. I use the Tarot as a guide to activities, as a focal point for my art, and more. Between astrology (to which I've also returned over the last year), runes, stones, and the tarot, my life is pretty full of amazing shapes, themes and designs....
The Charge of the Goddess is Doreen Valiente's masterpiece, incontestably the best of its kind.
In fact, the Charge has single-handedly created its own literary genre. Modern paganism's hodgepodge of gods, few of whom many of us grew up knowing about, has made the charge—a "self-description of a deity"—a liturgical necessity.
Note that the pagan use of the term, though, departs significantly from its original use in Freemasonry, where it means, essentially, "a list of instructions." Although the divine monologue was known in late antiquity—Classicist R. E. Witt would call it an "aretalogy"—Valiente's Charge is the Great Mother of all modern charges.
Think of the other charges that you know.
Regular readers of this blog no doubt ask themselves from time to time: So, is Paganistan really the matchless Summerland of the Snows that Posch makes it out to be? (Paganistan is the Secret Witch Name of the 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropagan area.)
Well, shown above is a sign that I saw while driving to work this morning. It's 4 blocks from my house.
You decide.


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Best Buy has trimmed 400 positions at its Richfield, Minn., headquarters, as part of a streamlining strategy designed to reduce $750 million in costs during the next few years. The retailer did not cut staff at the store level, instead planning to invest in store remodels and employee training in an effort to increase sales. Best Buy has also postponed its latest earnings report by one day.
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