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Quick, pinch me--am I still living in the same country? Reading and
watching the same media? This "Bob Woodward" fellow who co-wrote a tough
piece in the May 18 Washington Post demonstrating that the
now-famous August 6 presidential daily briefing, contrary to
Administration officials' claims about its contents, actually carried
the heading "Bin Laden determined to strike in U.S."--is this the same
Bob Woodward who co-wrote the Post's infamous "Ten Days in
September" series earlier this year, the ur-document of George W. Bush's
Churchillization? And this "Michael Isikoff," sharing a byline on the
eye-opening May 27 Newsweek cover story that shreds the
Administration's "we did everything we could" line of defense--is this
the Isikoff who four years ago defined national security in terms of
dress stains and cigar probes? One begins to suspect that unbeknownst to
all of us, the terrorists have indeed struck--the Washington, DC, water
An overstatement, to be sure. But it does seem to be the case that
wherever this potentially incendiary story leads, from fog of
unprovables to hot smoking gun, one change has already taken place
because of it that is well worth marking. For the first time since
September 11--or, arguably, since ever--the press corps appears ready to
expend more effort poking holes in the vaunted Bush Administration spin
operation than admiringly limning it. More to the point, Is a new
skepticism stirring around such heretofore Teflonized officials as
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice? Before her May 16
damage-control press conference, Rice was probably the Administration's
leading untouchable. After it ("I don't think anybody could have
predicted these people would...use an airplane as a missile," a
statement left bleeding on the floor after a pile of evidence came
forward showing plenty of people were predicting precisely that), her
status has taken a major hit. So, as Professor Harold Hill might put it,
certain wooorrrrdds are creeping into the media vocabulary--words
like "serious credibility gap," in the Newsweek piece.
It's been a long time coming. If anything "un-American" happened after
September 11, it was the triumph of the notion--propounded by the
Bushies, reinforced by the major media and far too readily accepted by
cowardly Democrats--that "patriotism" somehow equals "support the Bush
Administration." CBS's Dan Rather said it recently in an interview with
the BBC: "Patriotism became so strong in the United States after 11
September that it prevented US journalists from asking the toughest of
the tough questions about the war against terrorism," adding, "I do not
except myself from this criticism." The genuflection sometimes reached
levels that we might call comic, except that there's nothing comic about
a "free" press choosing to ape state-owned media, throwing rose petals
at the feet of officials from the most unilateral and secretive
Administration in modern American history ("sixty-nine years old, and
you're America's stud," Meet the Press's Tim Russert once said to
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld).
One is not quite ready to say, on the evidence of several days' worth of
stories, that this sorry era is over just yet. The New York Times
and the Washington Post both ran editorials on May 17 that were
something short of being full-throated calls for investigation; from the
right-wing papers, the predictable yelping about how it's really
Clinton's fault.
All this will probably continue, but at least now it appears that it
will be offset by some post-post-9/11 aggression. It will be interesting
to watch what leads the media now follow and how far they follow them.
For example, some reports--originating with the BBC but picked up in a
few minor US outlets--indicate that US intelligence agents were told to
back off the bin Laden family and the Saudi royals soon after Bush
became President. Reporters might also look into the way the
Administration declined to continue a process of tightening overseas and
offshore banking regulations begun by the Clinton Administration in an
effort to track down narcotics traffickers and terrorists. The Bush
people acted partly at the behest of Texas Senator Phil Gramm, which
means partly at the behest of Enron--and which may have ended up helping
"Connecting the dots" has become the operative cliché about
whether intelligence officials should have been able to put together the
various pre-9/11 clues they received. Now, maybe the media will start
connecting some dots of their own.
An odd thing has happened in the obscure but spirited fight activists
are waging against NAFTA's notorious Chapter 11 and the exclusive legal
privileges it gives to multinational investors. The Chapter 11
opposition is going mainstream and respectable. Not so long ago, the
only folks raising the alarm were globalization critics like Public
Citizen's Global Trade Watch or the Sierra Club--people the Wall
Street Journal likes to describe as "Luddite wackos." But what will
the Journal's editorial writers say about the National
Association of Attorneys General? Or the National League of Cities, the
US Conference of Mayors and the National Conference of State
Legislatures? These organizations and some others have studied what the
critics say about Chapter 11's true meaning and concluded, Good grief,
they're right! This so-called "investor protection" poses a fundamental
threat to state and local governments' ability to enact laws that
protect the public's health and general welfare.
The issue is currently in play again because the Bush Administration
(and all right-thinking free-trade cheerleaders) is pushing to expand
the same doctrine in the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas and
asking Congress for blank-check authority to negotiate (better known as
"fast track"). But this time Congressional skepticism is alive and
growing, stoked partly by the prestigious, bipartisan expressions of
concern. Chapter 11 was a sleeper provision in NAFTA that essentially
established a private court for capital--secretive arbitration tribunals
where corporations can bring suits for huge damage claims against the
United States, Canada or Mexico over new regulatory laws or other
actions that may crimp their profit-making. Chapter 11 borrows
property-rights language from the US right wing's domestic "takings"
movement and goes far beyond settled US legal doctrine [see Greider,
"How the Right Is Using Trade Law to Overturn American Democracy,"
October 15, 2001]. That is what alarms the state and local officials.
The Conference of Chief Justices from state Supreme Courts is also
expected to weigh in on the sovereignty issue.
Senator John Kerry is leading the fight for a corrective fast-track
amendment that would instruct the Administration not to negotiate any
new agreement that gives foreign investors greater rights than US
citizens. As a possible presidential candidate, Kerry has a big
problem--he has been an unblinking supporter of trade agreements, so he
has to show environmentalists and labor that he's not totally owned by
the multinationals. If his measure prevails, fast track must go back to
the House, where it was passed by only one vote in December. The
legislative action in any case educates and builds momentum for the
longer fight against these investor-dictated rules stealthily imposed by
so-called free-trade agreements.
The trouble with Kerry's amendment--and with fast-track authority in
general--is that these legislative instructions are really no more than
limp-wristed guidance. The negotiators can ignore Congress, as they have
in the past, and probably get away with it. A pending amendment with
much more bite, first proposed by Charles Rangel and Sander Levin in the
House, would create a mechanism for genuine Congressional leverage over
trade negotiations: the right of either chamber to force a vote on
withdrawing fast-track approval if the negotiators are straying from
their instructions. That would begin to bring daylight and
accountability to the murky politics of globalization. It would also
restore responsibility to where the Constitution says it belongs--in
Congress, not the White House.
Army Secretary Thomas White appears to be inching closer to becoming the
first Bush Administration casualty of the Enron scandal. Senators Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California have asked Attorney General
John Ashcroft to launch a criminal probe into Enron's role in
manipulating California's electricity market, after Enron memos released
by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission showed how Enron boosted
electricity prices in California and created shortages.
People close to Feinstein and California Congressman Henry Waxman said
the lawmakers will ask Ashcroft to direct that the criminal
investigation include White and whether the unit he helped lead, Enron
Energy Services, played a part in California's two-year energy crisis.
"We believe we have evidence, based on our conversations with former
Enron employees, that Mr. White and other executives from Enron Energy
Services may have worked side by side with Enron's traders and supplied
inside information about the amount of electricity California needed,"
an aide to Feinstein said. "We believe, based on this information, that
the traders were then able to create shortages and manipulate the price
of power in the state."
Neither a spokesman for White nor for Enron returned calls for comment.
Enron is already under investigation by California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer for allegedly manipulating the price of electricity and natural
gas. White is being investigated by the FBI on the timing of his sale of
Enron stock last year and by the Inspector General's office on his use
in March of a government airplane to fly to Aspen to sign papers on the
sale of a $6.5 million house he owned, prompted by Enron-related
financial problems. Separately, he engaged in a dispute with Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over the Crusader weapons system; Rumsfeld
continued to express support for him.
Former employees of EES have come forward saying that the retail unit,
under White's leadership, played a role in California's power crisis and
that White told his staff that EES would earn millions in profits
because of the crisis. In addition, former employees are coming forward
with information about White that indicates that his involvement with
Enron's suspect accounting was far deeper that he has let on. White has
said that EES was a legitimate operation and not a house of illusory
John Olson, an analyst now with Sanders Morris Harris, recalls asking
White in 1999 how EES, a relatively small operation, could show millions
of dollars in profit with barely a shred of business. "I did not believe
Mr. White, nor any of the other Enron executives I spoke with, were
being honest or forthcoming about EES's profits," Olson said. "When I
pressed Mr. White for an answer he said, 'One word: California.'"
White told EES's sales team in 1998 that they could earn hefty bonuses
by signing energy contracts with large businesses in California to
manage their electricity needs for a substantially cheaper price than
these companies had been paying through their local utilities. But
promising customers a discount at the beginning of the contracts meant
EES wasn't earning enough money to cover what the local utilities were
charging for gas and electricity. Moreover, EES was spending much more
than anticipated setting up the infrastructure for the contracts, said
Lee Jestings, a former EES executive who worked directly with White.
Jestings said he told White that EES would actually lose money this way,
but White said Enron would make up the difference by selling electricity
on the spot market in California, which Enron had bet would skyrocket in
2000. Jestings said he continued to complain to White that the profits
declared by the retail unit were not real. "Tom told me those are the
orders," Jestings said. "He said he never questions a direct order. This
man spent thirty years in the Army and was a four-star general. His life
was based on taking orders." Jestings said he resigned from EES in 2000
because he did not agree with the way EES reported profits. He is now
working as an energy consultant.
The ex-employees, more than a dozen interviewed, said White often
clashed with Lou Pai, chairman of EES, over the company's use of
"aggressive" accounting methods to make the unit appear profitable when
it wasn't but that ultimately White agreed that EES would have to use
such methods because the unit was hemorrhaging cash right from the
start. Steve Barth, a former EES vice president of special projects who
attended meetings with White and Pai, said White's job was that of
cheerleader--he was supposed to motivate the EES sales force to show, by
any means necessary, that the retail unit made a profit. "That meant
lying to Wall Street," Barth said. "White did it, and so did I." Barth,
who transferred from EES to Enron's broadband unit in 1999 and left last
July to start a broadband firm, said his experience at the company had
been positive.
Enron reported that EES, founded in 1997, became profitable during the
fourth quarter of 1999 and had steadily rising profits every quarter
thereafter. Those reports helped send Enron's stock price to $83 by the
end of 2000, from $43 at the beginning of the year. As part of his
employment contract with Enron, White was given a small financial stake
in EES, later converted into Enron stock, which he sold for more than
$50 million.
Eventually, with Enron becoming a target of California lawmakers, White
may have decided it was time to get out. In early 2001, according to
Barth, when then-Enron chairman Kenneth Lay was under consideration to
be Energy Secretary, Lay met with George W. Bush and urged him to
appoint White as Secretary of the Army. Barth said White told him that
the California energy crisis was hurting EES and that the unit's profits
would never materialize. White "just wasn't happy with his role at the
company anymore," Barth said.
As Molly Ivins put it in a recent column: "Across the length and breadth of this land of ours, from the mountain to the prairie, from every hill and dale comes the question, 'Where are the Democrats?'" For weeks pundits have dismissed Democrats as having no clue about how to mount a credible challenge to the failed domestic policies of the Bush Administration. But when representatives of the party's core progressive constituencies gathered in Washington in mid-April at the Reclaiming America conference, sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future, it was possible to imagine the lineaments of such an opposition. Members of Congress like Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Sheila Jackson Lee and Senator Paul Wellstone, who have been pressing for months for a more aggressive Democratic stance on domestic issues, no longer sounded like voices in the wilderness of post-September 11 politics. These leaders of the democratic wing of the Democratic Party were joined at the podium by House minority leader Dick Gephardt, Senator John Edwards and Vermont Governor Howard Dean--all prospective presidential candidates--who seconded Schakowsky's message that the Republican agenda of tax cuts for the wealthy and service cuts for the majority is making the rich richer, the poor poorer and the middle class less secure.
A Democracy Corps survey, released by pollster Stan Greenberg at the conference, provided evidence of public support for an issues-based assault on the Bush Administration's domestic agenda. As Joel Rogers, co-author of America's Forgotten Majority, aptly summed up: "On a broad range of basic concerns, ranging from investing in education, securing affordable healthcare for all, protecting Social Security, lifting the minimum wage to a living wage, leveling up not down in trade, protecting workers on the job as well as the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink, large majorities of Americans stand with us and oppose Bush's policies." And as Senator Jon Corzine argued, the Enron scandal reminded a lot of people "that the pendulum has swung far too far to the right, now endangering our prosperity as well as our core values."
So if progressive values are flourishing at the grassroots, how come Democrats in Congress continue to be cautious? That's a question that speakers like the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Ivins, National Organization for Women president Kim Gandy and populist political agitator Jim Hightower asked in well-received speeches at the conference. We'd like to think that Gephardt and others headed back to Capitol Hill as ready to fight as their rhetoric suggested. But we know Gandy was right when she said that progressive activists must keep the pressure on by refusing to be satisfied with a little bit of Congressional opposition to the Administration's right-wing agenda. It is time, Gandy and others said, for progressive Democrats to start demanding that our representatives give us more victories like the defeat of Mississippi Federal Judge Charles Pickering's nomination to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. As long as there is no bold challenge to the extremism of this Administration, it will exploit the tragedy of September 11 to stifle debate and push national policy in an ever more regressive direction.
Having a hard time finding a new apartment to fit your budget? Consider a move to the blocks around Ground Zero. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the body set up by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Governor George Pataki to oversee the rebuilding of downtown post-September 11, will pay you up to $12,000 to relocate south of Chambers and west of Broadway for two years, or stay there should you live there already. I know--I couldn't believe it either. This bounty to adventurous tenants is federal money and comes even as area rents are already down by as much as 30 percent since 9/11. Think of it as a mini-version of the millions ladled out to keep corporations from abandoning lower Manhattan for New Jersey. I figured out that I could sublet my apartment on the Upper West Side, move downtown and actually be able to live on my Nation salary (well, almost).
It's true downtown is a mess right now--depending on whom you talk to, the air quality's somewhere between itchy and lethal, a lot of little shops and restaurants have folded, and Ground Zero is not everyone's idea of a view. Still, whatever happened to the survival of the fittest? To the market and its omnipotent invisible hand? Why shouldn't downtown apartments fall to their "natural" price--the rent at which sufficient numbers of people will want to take out a lease despite the angst and aggravation? And if that figure turns out to be so low that the current landlords can't make a go of it, isn't it the capitalist theory that other, cleverer landlords will step into the breach, with the consumer the winner? Why should the federal government pay middle-class professionals to live in one neighborhood rather than another? The answer is, to keep downtown a great place for those same middle-class professionals to live and for real estate interests to invest in.
Public subsidy is certainly not the principle animating housing policy for low-income people and homeless families like the ones whose tribulations were superbly, unforgettably chronicled by Jennifer Egan in The New York Times Magazine ("The Hidden Lives of Homeless Children," March 24). Five hundred dollars a month to brighten a scruffy and underpopulated district with their presence? The housing allowance for a family of three on welfare is $286. It's one thing to herd women and kids into filthy motels at the city's edge, miles from grocery stores and hours away from schools and jobs--at daily rates for which they could be happily ensconced in their own apartments. It would be quite another matter to treat low-income New Yorkers as members of society with contributions to make that are equal to (or greater than) those of bond traders or publicity agents, and to see their children as no less deserving of a safe and stable place to live than any other kids.
As Egan points out, homeless families--now 75 percent of the city's shelter population, including 13,000 children this past winter--are caught between falling or stagnant wages and skyrocketing housing costs. The housing market is just too tight, no public housing is being built and the waiting list for section 8 vouchers, which poor families can use toward private-market rents, has more than 200,000 names. Homelessness is a civic emergency, an affront to human dignity and a threat to the city's future, affecting everything from public health to public schools to public safety. But can you imagine Mayor Bloomberg, inspired by Egan's crusading journalism, proposing that we move homeless families--virtuous, sober, quiet homeless families, to be sure--into those hard-to-rent vacancies downtown? Middle-class New Yorkers would lie down in traffic to prevent it.
As society polarizes between rich and poor, differential treatment becomes ever more blatant and punitive. Thus, George W. Bush, seconded by Congressional Republicans and the Democratic Leadership Council, proposes forcing welfare mothers to work forty hours a week--nearly double the national norm for working moms. Thus, the Supreme Court, in a staggering 8-to-0 verdict (Justice Breyer recused himself), decides that public housing authorities can evict tenants if someone in the household uses drugs--including pot, which Mayor Bloomberg himself has acknowledged enjoying in his flaming youth. The rule applies even if they don't know about the drug use or do all in their power to prevent it, and even if it takes place outside the apartment. The plaintiffs? Two grandmothers whose grandsons smoked pot, one mother whose mentally disabled daughter was found thirty blocks away using cocaine, and one elderly disabled man whose health attendant had a crack pipe. Patricia Williams and others have wondered out loud why Jeb and Columba Bush didn't have to vacate the Florida governor's mansion because of their daughter's drug problems. Is it only poor grandmothers who are expected to have perfect control of the young?
The same law of punishing all for the crimes of one, which HUD has titled "One Strike and You're Out," is being used against battered women who seek help from the police, only to find themselves threatened with eviction from public housing because the household was the site of "criminal activity"--the assault. Can you imagine the headlines if the management at Battery Park City tried to evict a woman because her husband beat her up?
In the words of that noted social theorist Jesus Christ: "For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." He was speaking of spiritual riches, but these days his words seem to apply to material ones as well.
* * *
My apologies to Tricycle, which did indeed cover strife in Sri Lanka, contrary to my reckless assertion ("God Changes Everything," April 1). No apologies, however, for failing to include Billy Graham's thirty-year-old anti-Semitic remarks in my catalogue of sins of the cloth. Why do I suspect that had I given to that ancient evangelist the space I allotted to West Bank settlers, priestly molesters, Islamic fanatics, Hindu arsonists and murderers or other contemporary religious rampagers, Christopher Hitchens would have suggested I was ignoring current crises in favor of musty Nixoniana?
Now that the recommendations of George W. Bush's Social Security task force have been quietly shelved, it's time to recall that there are simple and equitable solutions available to deal with Social Security's potential future problems resulting from the retirement of millions of baby boomers.
Five years ago, four former senators--Alan Simpson of Wyoming, John Danforth of Missouri, David Pryor of Arkansas and I (two Democrats and two Republicans)--met on the campus of Southern Illinois University with the deputy chief actuary for Social Security. After looking at many possibilities, we recommended two changes:
First, all income should be taxed for payments into the Social Security Retirement Trust Fund. Today income up to only $84,900 is taxed. While the benefit payments are mildly progressive, the taxes are regressive. Most Americans pay more into Social Security than to the IRS. Covering all income would not only help Social Security, it would reduce the growing gap between those more fortunate and those less fortunate. If you earn $1 million a year, your increased tax would be less than $57,000. You could afford that. And you would pay it knowing that you are helping insure a more secure old age for your children and grandchildren.
Second, the Consumer Price Index, which is used to measure inflation for the purpose of determining cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits, should be corrected. If the price of beef goes up, more people buy chicken, but the cost of food in the index reflects the price of beef--substitution is not considered. Similarly, although drug costs have shot up, boosting the inflation rate, the index does not reflect that generic drugs can be substituted, lowering the cost of prescriptions slightly. If adjustments in the CPI are made, Social Security benefits could continue to rise with inflation, but the rate of increase would be slightly reduced.
Adopting just the first of our proposals would bring in most of the funds needed to meet increased Social Security costs. Adopting both of them, according to the actuaries, would keep the retirement fund solvent for seventy-five years, barring an economic disaster. Neither of these proposals is popular. Political parties don't like to do unpopular things, but a bipartisan Congressional commission could reverse this. It should be created. The longer we wait, the more difficult it will become.
The alternative advocated by George W. Bush and his carefully rigged commission--that a portion of Social Security payments be designated for investments in the stock market--should be a nonstarter. It would be a bonanza for stockbrokers but could hurt most retirees. Has anyone tabulated the cost of auditing millions of private accounts? Does the performance of the stock market during the past two years argue for subjecting people already living on the margin to greater risk? And not simply the experience of the past two years. From December 31, 1964, to December 31, 1981, the Dow Jones average went up less than 1 percent for all those seventeen years. The inflation increase for that period was 95 percent. Interest on government bonds looks good compared with that performance.
The wildest scenario came from a former Reagan Administration economist, Martin Feldstein, who suggested that the federal government should guarantee these investments. I would love to have the government guarantee my investments, but the S&L bailout would look tiny compared with what that idea could cost.
Social Security has a problem. Let's face up to it and deal with it in a way that makes our tax system slightly more progressive.
The Bush Administration has vigorously and effectively responded to the terrorist attack of September 11. The country seems united behind that effort. Certainly there was no hint of a doubt in the repeated standing ovations Congress gave the President's State of the Union address, including his bold declaration that the war on terrorism has just begun. The President singled out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the most likely next targets of America's aroused ire against terrorists and governments that attempt to acquire weapons of mass destruction that we, the Russians, the British, the French, the Chinese, the Indians, the Pakistanis and the Israelis already possess.
No longer in government, I do not have the benefit of national security briefings or Congressional committee deliberations. So perhaps instead of making assertions, it may be more appropriate for me to ask some questions that have been on my mind both before and since September 11.
Which course might produce better results in advancing American security? Is it by continuing to boycott, diplomatically and commercially, such countries as Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya and Cuba and threatening to bomb them? Or would we be better off opening up diplomatic, trade and travel relations with these countries, including a well-staffed embassy in each? If we are fearful of a country and doubtful of its intentions, wouldn't we be safer having an embassy with professional foreign service officers located in that country to tell us what is going on?
Our leaders frequently speak of "rogue nations." But what is a rogue nation? Isn't it simply one we have chosen to boycott because it doesn't always behave the way we think it should? Do such nations behave better when they are isolated and boycotted against any normal discourse? What do we have to lose in talking to "rogue nations" diplomatically, trading with them commercially and observing their economic, political and military conditions?
Instead of adding $48 billion to the Pentagon budget, as the President has proposed, wouldn't we make the world a more stable, secure place if we invested half of that sum in reducing poverty, ignorance, hunger and disease in the world? We are now twentieth among nations in the percentage of gross national product devoted to improving life in the poor nations. If we invested half of the proposed new military spending in lifting the quality of life for the world's poor we would be the first among nations in helping others.
Is it possible that such an achievement would reduce some of the gathering anger that the poor and miserable of the earth may be inclined to direct at the rich and indifferent? Why does a wealthy zealot like Osama bin Laden gain such a huge following among the poor and powerless of the world? Acting on the old adage "charity begins at home," why not invest the other half of the proposed new money for the Pentagon in raising the educational, nutritional, housing and health standards of our own people?
Our military services are the best in the world. But with a military budget at record levels, do we need to allocate another $48 billion--an amount greater than the total military budget of any other nation? Is not the surest foundation for our military forces a healthy, educated, usefully employed citizenry? And is not the best way to diminish some of the international trouble spots, which might embroil our young men and women, by reducing the festering poverty, misery and hopelessness of a suffering world?
Of course we need to take reasonable precautions in our airports and other strategic points to guard against terrorists or nut cases. As a World War II bomber pilot, I appreciate the role of both tactical and strategic bombing in all-out warfare. But is sending our bombers worldwide in the hope that they might hit terrorist hideouts or such hostile governments as Iraq an effective way to end terrorism? May it not more likely erode our current international coalition, while fanning the flames of terrorism and hatred against us as the world's only superpower, hellbent on eradicating evil around the world?
The Administration now has seventy-five officials hidden in bunkers outside Washington poised to take over the government in the event of a terrorist attack. Is it possible that paranoia has become policy? No such extreme measures were undertaken in World War II, nor in the half-century of cold war between the two nuclear giants, Russia and the United States.
All of us who love this land want our President to succeed. Nothing would give me greater happiness than to see him become a great President. But is it possible that our well-intentioned President and his Vice President have gone off the track of common sense in their seeming obsession with terrorism? Is there still validity to the proverb "whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad"?
For half a century, our priorities were dominated by the fear of Russian Communism--until it collapsed of its own internal weakness. As I listen to the grim rhetoric of Messrs. Bush and Cheney, I wonder if they are leading us into another half-century of cold war, with terrorism replacing Communism as the second great hobgoblin of our age.
There is enough blame to go around for the events that have turned the Camp David promise of peace into the killing fields of the Mideast without dragging in President Bush.
Two years after a tragic accident, activists are celebrating a major victory.
They helped set the stage for the current scandals.


text:
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This adorable Cubic Zirconia sterling silver bow necklace got its start in 'Seventeen' magazine and has been a popular pick for prom, bridal and casual occasions ever since.
Paris Hilton wore a similar necklace for a celebrity studded event. The pave bow measures .75 inches high by .75 inches wide, and arrives on a 16 inch chain. It has been dipped in rhodium electroplating for the sophisticated look of platinum and weighs 4.5 grams. This product is part of the Emitations jewelry collection.
The celebrities mentioned do not sponsor or endorse the products sold on Emitations.com and are not associated or affiliated with Emitations.com. Emitations.com's use of the celebrities pictured are for informational purposes only, in order to demonstrate the similarity of Emitations.com's products with those worn by celebrities.
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Don't Pass This One Up!:)
By N.C.
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describe yourself Career, Classic, Comfort-Oriented, Modern, Stylish
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Comments about Emitations Becca's CZ Bow Necklace, Silver, 1 ea:
I have looked at every jewelry website for a CZ bow necklace. This necklace is perfect, especially for a picky shopper like me. I love this one and so glad that I chose to buy it. It's worth the price....[...]. Buy it...you won't be disappointed.
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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By Deb
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Just like the photo, this darling cz bow necklace is right for anyone. No age would be inappropriate, I think. I bought it for my 16 year old daughter, but will be buying another for myself or friends.

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A crisis of trust
The ESI Roadmap Proposal for Enlargement
Belgrade presentation, November 2014
Every year the European Commission publishes its Enlargement Strategy. The 2014 Enlargement Strategy, presented in October, starts out on a very optimistic note with the following sentence:
This raises questions. How does the Commission measure the credibility of enlargement policy? For whom is enlargement policy more credible today than five years ago?
Here is a reality check. Eurobarometer surveys in 2008 and 2013 show growing opposition to enlargement in every single EU member state: old and new, rich and poor, those hit hard by the global economic crisis in 2008 and those relatively unscathed.
Enlargement has never been less popular in the EU than now. The 2013 Eurobarometer survey shows that an absolute majority of EU citizens oppose further enlargement (52 per cent). Opposition is stronger among euro area respondents (60 per cent). This table shows the huge distrust in this policy:
What is even more striking is the TREND in the past five years: a dramatic fall of support EVERYWHERE.
The fall in support for enlargement is sharpest in traditionally pro-enlargement countries such as Italy (where opposition to enlargement increased by 22 percentage points) or Spain (21). Post-2004 EU members, which initially were less sceptical, are rapidly catching up with pre-2004 members. The changes in Cyprus, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are dramatic.
Here opposition to enlargement has increased most since 2008:
What about the second claim in the opening sentence: that the European Commission has enhanced the TRANSFORMATIVE power of enlargement policy?
Here is a second reality check. Every year the European Commission assesses progress and the state of alignment with EU rules and norms (the acquis) in its annual Progress Reports. It examines for all accession countries whether the alignment in each policy area is "advanced", "moderate" or at an "early stage."
Here is what the Commission found in 2013, put into one table:
And here is what the European Commission found for 2014, again put into one table:
Comparing these two tables, based on the European Commissions' own assessment of progress, about the TRANSFORMATIVE impact of the process, we see the following:
First: there is very little change anywhere.
Second: in the case of Macedonia the Commission finds regression (from 9 to 8 "advanced" chapters).
Third: in the case of Serbia – which had an intense year in which it also opened accession talks in January – the Commission finds no change at all!
Either the EU process is not actually transformative or the current way in which the European Commission measures transformation in its progress reports is inadequate; or both. Either way, the most important documents written by the European Commission to show transformative impact everey year do not support the sunny view of the Strategy paper.
There is a second striking sentence in the 2014 Enlargement Strategy:
This is a standard claim, made by EU member states and by the European Commission. On 7 June 2014 the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, made a video podcast on Western Balkan enlargement where she asserted: "There are very clear criteria for the steps needed to move closer to the EU. In the end it is up to each country whether they pass through this process rapidly or not." The message: "the process is fair. It depends on merit. It depends on you."
Is this claim convincing?
Look again at the 2014 assessment by the Commission. Macedonia, which became an EU candidate in 2005, is ahead of all other Balkan countries when it comes to its alignment with the acquis according to the European Commission. And yet it is behind Montenegro, Serbia and Albania when it comes to accession. Clearly this is NOT about merit.
Is Macedonia an exceptional case? Hardly. As bilateral vetoes have proliferated, the political nature of every single step in this process has become ever more obvious.
In fact, the problem of merit and fairness goes very deep. Today the accession process is like a stairways with more than 70 steps: to obtain candidate statue, to open accession talks, to open (34 or 35) chapters, to close chapters; then ratification and finally accession. (Note: one could count many more small steps if one wanted, including the adoption of screening reports, etc …)
For each step up this stairways there are 28 gatekeepers (EU member states) which have to agree to EACH step taken. And these 28 decide on the basis of political criteria, not merit. Whether Turkey opens Chapter 23, or when and whether Albania, Serbia or Montenegro are allowed to open a chapter, or formally start talks (Macedonia) or apply, is a political decision.
This image captures accession today: a stairways that may well appear to be a stairway to nowhere, given the many veto points and the huge potential for obstruction.
There is one more striking fact about this stairways which renders the current debate on accession puzzling.
Half of these stairs are linked to the "opening of chapters". In fact, much of the political debate on enlargement today is focused on chapters: how many get opened, and when. But few people – including experts or journalists – ever ask themselves: what is the POINT of "opening a chapter"? What does it mean? What does it do?
Take the case of Turkey, the most advanced country in its talks, having started in 2005, as an illustration. In 2014 Turkey had 14 open and 18 closed chapters (we leave two chapters, where the Commission provides no assessment of alignment, out of this table here – chapters 23 and 34).
As the following table – based on the Commission's own assessments in its progress report – shows, there is no casual or other link between the alignment (state of progress) in a sector and whether a chapter is open or closed. This means: whether a country has many or few open chapters is no indicator of where it is in terms of its preparedness for EU accession.
What is no less surprising: opening chapters is not only not a yardstick of progress, it is also not an incentive to make more progress in the future. This is what the European Commission found in Turkey in 2013: there was MORE progress in closed than in open chapters in Turkey during the year.
This raises a basic question: why is it so important to open chapters? Having many open chapters does not indicate progress towards meeeting EU standards. Having many open chapters also does not make future progress more likely.
A recent study of EU-Turkey relations made the following strong recommendation:
"In the light of the above it is stated that opening the chapters Energy (15), Judiciary and Fundamental Rights (23), Justice, Freedoms and Security (24) and Foreign, Security and Defense Policies (31) would facilitate Turkey's drawing a robust road map under the EU umbrella at a time when the country faces three successive elections."
This is the conventional wisdom, repeated in conference after conference, article after article. However, it is not explained HOW opening a chapter is crucial for either the EU or for Turkey; why a Turkish citizen or a sceptical EU member state parliamentarian should be concerned.
Take one example to see why the sceptics would be right. In summer 2013 there was a heated debate in Turkey and Europe whether to open a new chapter after many year in which none were opened: Chapter 22 (regional policy). There were many statements by politicians about how important this would be. Egemen Bagis, Turkey's chief negotiator, explained in April 2013:
"Since no new chapter has been opened, I have kindly asked our prime minister to slow down everything until a new chapter is opened. I thank him for having done that. Now the process for the openening of the regional policies chapter has begun."
Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated:
"No postponement or review of the decision to open it is possible. As we said before during the reform follow-up group meeting, we want not only the chapter 22 to open but also the chapters 23 and 24."
The German government, on the other hand, insisted on delaying the opening until after the summer. In the end chapter 22 was formally opened in the autumn. Leaders – and international media – spoke about this as if something very significant had happened (Die Welt: "Accession talks gain new momentum")
In fact, following the meeting – the so-called Intergovernmental Conference – when it was declared that Chapter 22 was now "open", nothing else happened. There was no additional meeting. There was no additional funding. There was no additional impetus for reform. The "opening" was political theater, for one day. It had no link to merit, criteria, or progress. Ultimately it made no difference.
So let us sum up how all these dynamics create a deeply frustrating and dysfunctional process.
In the face of growing public opposition, many EU leaders have given up defending the enlargement policy. Seen from Brussels, Berlin, Paris or The Hague, the current group of candidates looks problematic. They are poorer, have weaker institutions, have more dysfunctional economies and are more politically polarised than any previous group of applicants. This is not enlargement "fatigue", suggesting a temporary state of exhaustion. It is a chronic ailment, which is getting worse.
This has created a vicious circle. As enlargement loses popularity in EU member states, EU leaders try to reassure their voters that the process is stricter than ever. Yet as the hurdles to be jumped appear more and more arbitrary, candidate countries find it harder to take difficult decisions in pursuit of a goal that is increasingly distant and uncertain. And the stairways approach makes vetoes extremely easy. And the public debate is focused on whether chapters are open or closed, not on whether reforms are taking place … and how to know this.
And at the heart of this frustration are the annual Progress Reports. As ESI found, very few people even in EU foreign ministries read these carefully. They do not do a good job measuring progress. They do not allow for comparisons in any detail. They do not educate the public about what needs to happen. Above all they do not make real transformation – if it happens – clearly visible also to sceptics.
Such a proces is bound to increase frustrations and cynicism. This is what we have called the Godot effect. It is today most pronounced in Macedonia and Turkey. However, unless things change it is easy to predict that something similar might soon happen in Montenegro, Serbia and Albania. As for Bosnia and Kosovo, there is frustration, cynicism and apathy even before any process has begun.
So what is to be done? In order to answer this question let us imagine a different approach to defining and assessing progress, strictly, fairly and transparently, as follows:
To imagine such a process is noto to day-dream. For this is how the Commission has acted for years, when it came to assessing alignment and progress in the field of visa liberalisation.
In this crucial sector ALL countries in the Balkans were given precise visa roadmaps with dozens of benchmarks. Roadmaps set out clearly what the Commission expected. They listed all individual criteria. There were no short cuts.
The Commission then organised a serious monitoring and assessment effort. This involved experts from the Commission and from member states. Based on their findings detailed progress assessments were issued.
This process was developed by the Directorate General for Home Affairs together with the Directorate General for Enlargement. And it worked. It inspired many reforms. It made it possible to see where real reforms happened … and when they did not. Above all it convinced even sceptical EU interior ministers that when the Commission did find progress they could trust it.
In fact, in October 2014, while DG enlargement published its regular progress reports, another part of the Commission also published a detailed document on progress made in the field of visa liberalisation by Turkey. It offers a clear, readable, strict and fair description of where Turkey stands. Each benchmark is assessed, using the following categories:
The result of such a strict, fair, and meritocratic process in the case of the Western Balkans was to inspire civil servants. It was also clear to them what needed to be done. All countries were assessed based on the same criteria. It was possible to make transformations visible; even in special grade reports, which ESI issued at the time, based on the Commmision experts' assessments:
We can compare the thoroughness of this process with the current assessment of progress in key chapters in the Progress Reports. Let us take just one subject, Chapter 18 (Statistics).
Look at the current assessment of progress in the field of statistics in Turkey, which has been involved in this process the longest. In 2014 the European Commission published just four short paragraphs, about half a paage. A reader does not understand from this how far Turkey has come, what remains to be done to reach EU standards, or in what specific fields most efforts are still needed. Nor can one see how Turkey compares to other candidates.
This is surprising for many reasons:
1. The recent experience with Greece. Following the discovery of just how unreliable key statistics earlier provided by the National Statistical Service of Greece (NSSG) had been before 2010, a new statistical agency, ELSTAT, was created. This was a priority for reform for the EU!
One might expect the EU to be just as keen to see all Balkan countries reach real EU standards for all key statistics, as soon as possible and well before actually joining the EU, in order to be able to develop a credible track record.
2. The importance given to "economic governance" in the accession process. Without reliable statistics, discussions of economic governance in progress reports are of very little use and evidence-based policy making on the part of governments is very hard.
3. One objective of the annual progress reports is to assess whether a country is a "functioning market economy" or FU-MAR-E. How can this be done without comparable and solid numbers and statistics?
The sooner all accession countries reach EU standards in the field of statistics the better. Now imagine the European Commission draws up a roadmap for Chapter 18, gives it to every country, and thus spells out what all the key benchmarks for a future EU member are … and then assesses the state of affairs against these benchmarks every year with the help of experts, in order to produce a document on statistics similar to the recent October report the Commission produced for the Council and the European Parliament on visa liberalisation.
The current EU accession process has not halted the erosion of trust in the policy and has not led to a measurable tranformative impact in key policy areas. The visa roadmap process has inspired and encouraged change. It has also – crucially – made this change visible and credible to sceptical outsiders.
Given these experiences ESI proposes to the European Commission to seriously test the idea of chapter roadmaps as soon as possible.
We propose that DG enlargement develops 4 pilot roadmaps, and then assess progress in these 4 fields similar to the Commission has done with visa roadmaps, for all accession countries, in the 2015 Progress Reports: Statistics (fundamental for economic governance), Procurement (central to progress in the rule of law and the fight against corruption), food safety (key to attract FDI in a vital sector) and Financial Control.
Giving such chapter roadmaps to all seven countries, and assessing them by reference to these benchmarks in 2015, would mark a small but very important improvement in the current process of writing progress reports.
One additional effect would be similar to the regional competition we have seen in the field of visa liberalisation. Or to the debates on public policy triggered by the Paris-based OECD with its regular publication of results of its PISA tests in the field of education.
ESI has recently presented these ideas in many capitals. Here are five of the most frequently asked questions concerning this CHAPTER ROADMAP PROPOSAL
The first question concerns incentives. In the case of visa roadmaps, we often hear, there was a clear "reward" at the end of the road: visa liberalisation. Would elites and civil servants in accession countries be equally motivated to carry out reforms in fields such as Statistics or Procurement, without a similar tangible reward?
We believe that this question puts the issue of incentives upside down.
When elected governments say that they want their countries to join the EU as a matter of national interest – and embark on a many-years-long process that requires work, focus, human resources and that remains uncertain until the very end – they thus make clear that they have an instrinsic motivation to carry out reforms. The notion that the EU would need to "bribe" government to incentivise them to carry out reforms is all wrong. Such governments should nevere apply or risk being exposed as actually uninterested in any reforms.
EU acccession is in fact more similar to a young football player offered to go to to LA MASIA, the famous football school of FC Barcelona; or to a budding entrepreneur admitted to Harvard Business School.
People do not get PAID to submit themselves to rigorous training at these institutions of excellence. Instead they have to work hard. If they do not have intrinsic motivation this will become apparent very quickly, but in a fair manner.
However, no one would think that a young footballer might just as well practice all by himself in the street, rather than benefit from the training system of La Masia; or that a great business school has nothing to offer to those who come prepared to work hard. What such centers offer is excellent coaching by experts, precise feedback, a system of instruction that will make those who take part better at what they say they want to do in the future.
Of course there are also more specific rewards: prestige; certificates to validate progress. In the case of chapter roadmaps more FDI – if investors believe that institutions and rules are becoming more predictable. One can even imagine more donor aid for those who perform best. But the real reward is for leaders – and civil servants, who do most of the extra work and are not paid more for it – to feel that what they do is taking their countries forward; that is makes sense for their country and for them professionally. For this incentives must be intrinsic.
Can such chapter roadmaps be done for every chapter? No. We believe that they cannot be done for some chapters where there is no clear acquis (Chapter 23 or Chapter 30).
But this does not mean it cannot or should not be done for most chapters.
Does such a roadmap-approach encourage superficial reforms? Not if the roadmap – like visa roadmaps – is done well, and measures not just laws but institutions and performance. Then it becomes a very good tool also to assess progress over time and track records.
Is this a dramatic change in enlargement policy?
No. Member state do not lose their veto. They still have to agree – unanimously – to give candidate status, to open accession talks, to open chapters, to close chapters. They still have to offer contracts to the graduates of La Masia. However in the meantime the Commission helps these students get better … and provides member states with more information and feedback to assess how accession countries do.
Such an approach allows the European Commission to do better what it is already doing and already has a mandate for: assess annual progress according to the Copenhagen criteria in all countries in a strict and fair manner, provide feedback, nd encourage reform.
Such a change puts the substance of actual reform back at the heart of the accession process. This is win-win situation for everyone.
Not everything will be in such roadmaps. Some reforms only make sense just before accession. The aquis changes, so it also makes sense to adapt roadmaps every two years. It is always possible for member states to insist on additional reforms as preconditions for them allowing a chapter to be closed (or even opened, though this can both happen at the same time later; Croatia actually opened and closed a number of chapters all in the final year of its talks).
These chapter roadmaps would likely capture 95 percent of reforms needed in key areas. This would be a flexible tool (fishery benchmarks might be of different importance in landlocked Macedonia than in Turkey), but in the end the idea is that the acquis is the same for all future members, as they are all heading for the same horizon.
The past five years have seen a steady erosion of trust in enlargement across the EU and in many accession countries.
Turkey has been negotiating since 2005 and has not yet opened even half its chapters.
Macedonia is a candidate since 2005 and has not yet been given a date even to open talks.
Albania became a candidate this year, but has been warned already that it could be years away from opening accession talks.
Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded its negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement in 2008 without seeing the agreement enter into force.
To an increasing number of people in accession countries the current process appears to be a stairway to nowhere. And yet, reforms in all these countries are in the interests of their citizens. They are also in the interests of the EU. As the new Commission ressessed how it can best promote reforms, we believe it should seriously look at what has worked in recent years.
We believe that improving the work that goes into the progress reports does not constitute a change in enlargement policy, and that therefore the European Commision can act on its own to improve what it is already doing. However, such a change does change the way the Commission works. It is a real challenge, and it makes sense to implement it gradually, testing it along the way. It remains to be seen whether the new European Commission is able to carry out such reforms.
For the sake of all Europeans, we can only hope it is.
Earlier presentation:
- Rumeli Observer: Enlargement reloaded – ESI proposal for a new generation of progress reports (31 January 2014)
- Video presentation: Enlargement and the benefits of competition
See also:
- ESI report: Vladimir and Estragon in Skopje – A fictional conversation on trust and standards and a plea on how to break a vicious circle (17 July 2014)
- References and sources
- Video presentation: Vladimir and Estragon in Skopje. How the EU lost Macedonia (6 June 2014)


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The XT550 Thread: Info, Stories and Mods Inside!
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Gnarly Adventurer
Joined: May 2009
Location: Iceland
Oddometer: 462
Thanks guys, for the info regarding the CDI's.
After doing all the measurements, I still was not 100% convinced my problem was the CDI box. I have worked on burned stators that measured within specs.
So I decided to build myself a cheap/simple CDI to be absolutely sure before buying a new one. New CDIs are not cheap. Besides, I like messing with stuff..
A guy has done a lot of research and development regarding the CDIs on the older XTs, and he has generously put his findings on the web. Really nice of him!!!
So I decided to build the simple analog CDI. To be honest I wasnt sure it would work
I have not messed with PCB (printed circuit boards) since in school many years ago. But no problem, the cost is low, so no big deal if the thing would not work.
The build:
Board blueprints
The board in solvent!!
Board and components
Board, long legs on the components, as I planned to re-solder the board.
Board again
Notice the professional wiring
So I took out the plug to see if I would get some sparks. Kicked the bike BLUE nice sparks . YYYeeeess So the original CDI was the problem, no doubt.
Screwed the plug back in, didnt really expect the bike to start . But it did . And idled just fine. Gave it some gas . Reved up fine . And returned to idle and sat there purring.. Wow. Didnt expect that.
Maybe I can test-ride the bike next week. It will be an interesting ride, the spokes are loose and the swingarm has play, the bike will be wobbling all over the place. Still I am kind of excided to test it, Ill never grow up I guess
Im sure the engine will run kind of silly with this DIY CDI, with the timing advance of 12 deg jumping to 36 deg in one step. But I will keep the CDI as a spare part, since it works. Just need a waterproof box to house it in
Now for the big question to buy a decent CDI or build my own programmable one . Hmmmm
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Earl Broussard
City: Austin, Term: 2005-17
Earl Broussard was appointed to the Texas Historical Commission in 2005. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Broussard is the founder of landscape architecture and planning firm TBG Partners and currently serves as chairman of the board of directors. He started the firm in 1987 after working professionally for several well-known design firms in addition to teaching at Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University. Broussard received his Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University and his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University. He is a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects and previously received gubernatorial appointments for positions on both the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners as well as the Texas Historical Commission. He previously served for 12 years on the West Lake Hills City Council.
John Crain
City: Dallas, Term: 2007-19
John Crain of Dallas is President and CEO of the Summerlee Foundation. He is past president of the Texas State Historical Association and is a life member of its board of directors. Crain is also a former chairman of the Dallas County Historical Commission, an ex-officio member of the Sixth Floor Museum, an advisory director of the Texas State History Museum Foundation, and director of the Southern Methodist University Clements Center. Crain received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas and a master's degree from Southwest Texas State University.
Michael Donegan
City: McLendon-Chisholm, Term: 2012-15
Michael "Mike" D. Donegan was raised in Texas and attended Texas A&M University, graduating with a degree in Agricultural Economics in 1972. He served five years in the U.S. Army stationed in the U.S. and Europe. His professional career has been in agricultural sales positions in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas. Mike is a Fertilizer Accounts Manager with El Dorado Chemical in Rockwall, Texas. He has been a city councilman and held the office of Mayor of McLendon-Chisholm for 17 years. He has served as the co-chair of the Dallas area Fundraiser for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis," Lou Gehrig's Disease") for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He also served on the board of directors for the Rockwall Youth Fair and was class agent for the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M. Mike is involved in Ridgeview Church and the American Legion in Rockwall and the Rockwall County Historical Commission. He and his wife Sharon live in McLendon-Chisholm.
August W. Harris III
City: Austin, Term: 2012–15
August W. Harris III, is vice-chair of the Commission. A native Austinite, he is president of Covenant Financial Solutions, LLC and a consultant with Seeds for Change Consulting, LLC. He was selected a 2014 Austin Area Research Organization (AARO) McBee Fellow. He is treasurer of Leadership Austin, on the board of Preservation Austin, and serves in leadership roles for numerous other civic and nonprofit organizations. He is former chair of the transportation committee, the local issues committee, and the public policy roundtable of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce; is past president of the Austin High School Continuing Education Foundation; former treasurer of the Texas School for the Deaf Foundation; and a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Harris received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas and is a certified mediator from the University of Texas School of Law Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution.
Thomas M. Hatfield
City: Austin, Term: 2014-17
Thomas M. Hatfield is director of the Military History Institute in the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin where he is Dean Emeritus of Continuing Education. After earning his master's degree in history and doctorate from UT Austin, he was a college president for eight years. He was the founding president of Austin Community College, co-founded UT's esteemed Normandy Scholar Program, and past-president of the English-Speaking Union and the global University Professional and Continuing Education Association. Hatfield enlisted in the Texas Army National Guard as a teenager and was honorably discharged from the United States Army as a captain in military intelligence. He is the author of Rudder: From Leader to Legend, the acclaimed biography of Earl Rudder, hero of WW II, commissioner of the General Land Office, and reform-minded president of Texas A&M in the 1960s. Hatfield owns and operates a family ranch near his hometown of Medina, Texas. An advisor to the Tom Lea Institute, his hobbies include leading tours across battlefields of the Second World War.
Tom Perini
City: Buffalo Gap, Term: 2011–17
Tom Perini of Buffalo Gap is the owner/operator of Perini Ranch Steakhouse. He is a member and past president of the Texas Restaurant Association, a member of International Association of Culinary Professionals, James Beard Foundation, and the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health Advisory Board. He is a former board member of the American Red Cross, St. John's Episcopal School in Abilene, and the Ben Richey Boys Ranch of Abilene. Perini grew up proudly surrounded by historians. Locally, Perini serves on the board of the Buffalo Gap Historic Village, the Fort Chadbourne Foundation in Bronte, Texas, and various committees of the Buffalo Gap City Council, including Planning and Zoning. He graduated from Peacock Military Academy in San Antonio and attended the University of North Texas.
Gilbert E. Peterson
City: Alpine, Term: 2007–19
Gilbert E. "Pete" Peterson III is the chair of the Texas Historical Commission. He is an investments officer located at West Texas National Bank in Alpine. He is President of the Davis Mountains Trans-Pecos Heritage Association, President of the Board of the Museum of the Big Bend and Vice-President of the Friends of the Center for Big Bend Studies. Peterson is Past President of the Board of Leadership Big Bend and of the Rotary Club of Alpine, former member of the Alpine Public Library Board, and former Treasurer of the Alpine Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the Board of the Friends of the Governor's Mansion. He is also a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. Peterson received bachelor's and master's degrees from Southern Methodist University.
Judy Richardson
City: Caldwell, Term: 2011–17
Judy Williams Richardson was appointed to the Texas Historical Commission in 2011. She is currently a member of the Burleson County Historical Society and the Burleson County Historical Commission. As fifth-generation person living on the family land, she has had numerous opportunities to be instrumental in the preservation of history, including contributing to the writing of "Astride the Old San Antonio Trail," a history of early Burleson County and it's families. Richardson received a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Sam Houston State University. She worked for Tenneco Oil before starting the family's insurance business with her husband Gordon Richardson about 40 years ago. She continues to be a leader in community activities, was a charter president of the local Lions Club, a former school board member, and a former chamber of commerce director.
Robert K. Shepard
City: Weatherford, Term: 2012–17
Robert K. Shepard of Weatherford is the secretary of the commission. He is a rancher and retired American Airlines pilot. He also served as Captain and aircraft commander in the U.S. Air Force after receiving a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University. Shepard is a past member of the Allied Pilots Association, a past member of the North Texas Tollway Authority Board of Directors, and an involved member of New River Fellowship. He and his wife Janelle have two children and four grandchildren.
Nancy Steves
City: San Antonio, Term: 2009–15
Nancy Steves of San Antonio is a community volunteer. She is past vice president of the San Antonio Conservation Society, past director on the San Antonio River Authority Board, and a past member of the San Antonio Botanical Garden and the Witte Museum boards of directors. She is also a member of San Antonio Museum of Art and San Antonio River Foundation boards of directors, and represents the San Antonio Museum for Art to the San Antonio Fiesta Commission.
Daisy Sloan White
City: Houston, Term: 2011–17
Daisy Sloan White has more than 40 years of experience in fundraising, development, communications, and planning. She has organized and executed many large local and national productions. Events have included multi-day Presidential Inauguration events, Super Bowl, Major League Baseball World Series, and corporate and nonprofit events, large and small. She was recognized by the United States Secret Service with a Certificate of Appreciation in 2004 for her organizational, management, and communication skills, as a result of her work on 41 @ 80, the 80th birthday for President George H.W. Bush. She continues as a Special Events Consultant in Houston, Texas.
Volunteering has long been the hallmark of White's life. She chaired the largest fundraiser in the nation for the American Cancer Society, the Cattle Baron's Ball of Houston; the Nutcracker Market of the Houston Ballet, the very first year that it raised over $1 million; and the Race for the Cure, continuing its reputation of breaking both attendance and fundraising records in its efforts against breast cancer.
White currently is on the Texas A&M University Press Advancement Board and is a member of the Campaign Committee of The Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University. She has served as a member of the Governor's Commission for Women from 2005–2011.
She received her bachelor's degree from The University of Texas and her master's degree in speech pathology from Southern Methodist University. She is married to John D. White, a partner in the Southern Funds Group in Houston. They have two daughters.
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text:
But don't make me your enemy
Your enemy
Your enemy
from Katy Perry (Ft. Juicy J) – Dark Horse Lyrics on Genius
Katy has a lot of influence on pop culture. She became besties with Juicy, and made him a bunch of money making this song. Make friends with her, it's probably not wise to be on her bad side.
In addition, this continues with the message of the previous line. Katy takes the dominant role in the relationship, and she even compares herself to a goddess.
To help improve the quality of the lyrics, visit Katy Perry (Ft. Juicy J) – Dark Horse Lyrics and leave a suggestion at the bottom of the page


text:
By Christian Viveros-Fauné
Bridget Everett Whacks Rock Bottom at Joe's Pub
By Miriam Felton-Dansky
The Valley of Astonishment Will Leave You...Astonished
By Tom Sellar
By Tom Sellar
By Jessica Dawson
In September, Site-Specific Theater Rules the Day
By Tom Sellar
How Chuck Jones Defined America Through Cartoons
By R. C. Baker
Between Riverside and Crazy Bares Its Wounds
By Tom Sellar
Clive seems to embody the serious artist in an age of arts councils and literary thrillers aspiring to greatness and permanence, but with one eye on the headlines and the other on the market. McEwan keeps the reader guessing about Clive genius, or fake? until the end. Then he undoes the book. Suddenly Clive and Vernon are dead each man, unbelievably, kept his promise and Clive's "Millennial Symphony" is declared a dud. Satire overwhelms realism, plot outruns character and theme reducing Amsterdam to little more than a higher airplane read. Why did McEwan do it? Maybe the euthanasia twist is his idea of an artistic surprise that will guarantee his novel's originality. Or it is his solution to the problem of serious art: you may express your yearnings for artistic grandeur, as long as you deflate them as pretensions in the end. In any case, Amsterdam winds up unsettled rather than unsettling. Let's hope that Amsterdam isn't the model for the Euro-novel of the future, for it is a book in a tremendous hurry to get where it is going but one with no real destination.
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©1997 Candace B. Pert, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved; (P)1997 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved; SOUND IDEAS Is an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.
"Finally, here is a Western scientist who has done the work to explain the unity of mind and matter, body and soul." (Deepak Chopra)
"Unbelievable Discoveries"
I was amazed to find out how much autonomy the body and it's various systems have and how they are affected by our very thoughts...much like our appetites. This could be ground-breaking self-healing or self-improving information for people who carry a lot of stress in their lives. It certainly leaves you with a different perspective about who you and your body are and how you both function together.
"Love it!"
Interesting to find out we are most of neural activity is chemical and non-synaptic. A scientific research of how our thoughts affects our health.
"Very disappointing"
The book, unfortunately, talks more about the author's odyssey in science than it does about the topic of the book. The author's personality looms large, while peptides only get short shrift. The narration is good and easy to listen to.
"Off topic and dull"
This book is 90% dead dull blather about the politics of lab people and 10% science that relates somewhat to the title.
"A great read"
I have to agree with the earlier review, very enjoyable book. Good science, good story, good sense of humor.
"Where's the substance?"
Seemed more of a journal of the author' s experiences.
Needed more information on how the molecular emotions effect the body. And suggested alternatives.
"Abridged version disappointment"
Candace Pert ' s brilliance should never be abridged! The shortened version left me sad and wanting more. I will need to reread the full book. I am sorry she didn't write more before she had to leave this world.
Devourer of all books fantasy
"More autobiography than science"
I got this as a free audiobook from audible.com. I am a chemical engineer/chemist by trade and thought this sounded like an interesting read. The book is narrated by the author Candace Pert.
The very first thing I noticed is that the author is incredibly conceited, she spends a lot of time bragging about her accomplishments right away. This book is more of an autobiography than an actually book behind the science of emotion.
There are some interesting theories in this book, that I think many people would agree with. The main theory is that emotional state is caused by a variety of chemicals, particularly peptids. These molecules not only have an influence on your emotions but on your overall physical health as well, you can't really separate the two. I think this theory was groundbreaking at the time, but much more widely accepted now.
There is a also a lot of discussion about the male domination of science and how hard the author had to work to get recognized. I think maybe this might have been more true in the 70's than today. The author also comes to the realization by the end that maybe it was her aggressive attitude and combativeness that caused some of her issues with her male cohorts and I couldn't agree more.
Working as a female in a male dominated field I have found that the opinion of those around you (male or otherwise) is fed by your attitude towards them. I have never had a ton of issue with my male coworkers respecting me and treating me as an equal. I had some issues in college, but now that I am working with the people I want to work with and in a field I am comfortable in it just hasn't been an issue. If you have an attitude of competence, but aren't completely arrogant, I don't think you will have much of an issue.
Okay stepping off my soapbox now...
Overall this was an interesting read, but not exactly what I was hoping for or expecting. It is more an autobiography of Pert's work and a treatise on the struggles of female scientists than an explanation behind the chemicals that guide our emotional and physical health. It was free so I can't really complain, but I wouldn't really recommend it either.
"Boring Book"
More about her discoveries and less about her anger issues and boring life story.
Not sure.
All except the ending.
Candace Pert's book is more like a diary full of boring details about her life that only she would be interested in. I was interested in her discoveries, not her life dramas and anger issues. There was nothing to be learned from this book. It was a waste of time and money.
"A scientific explanation for mind-body healing"
Audio books are by far my favourite format for digesting books and so I was surprised to conclude that this book may be a better read rather than listen. The reason for this is that the early part of the book presents a lot of scientific jargon, a preponderance of biochemical names for example, such that it's easy for the layman to get lost in the explanations. Having said that, I think there was some undoubtedly fascinating parts to this book - treasures of information in fact that I haven't found elsewhere. The book is a great source for someone who is searching for scientifically grounded explanation for emotions, for healing, for mediation - and other such topics that are often dismissed, even ridiculed, by scientific establishments. Have you ever found your credibility questioned if you mention the word healing in a spiritual sense? Then this book could help you stand your ground. I'm pleased to have come across this book that is a fortunate bridge between science and healing from a mind-body approach. I'm grateful to have listened to it and I expect to follow up by reading it in print too.
"Molecules of Emotion"
This book describes the Ligand/receptor communication system within the body and some of the authors work on the opiate receptors. Her work on a new approach to understanding cancer and the development of peptide-T as a possible cure is also described.
Much recent work on consciousness has emphasized the electrical properties of neurons in the brain but Pert points to the importance of an integrated view in which the electrical neural pulses are coupled to the ligand-receptor system and the latter is closely linked to mind through the emotions.
The author also describes the difficulties faced by women scientists in a predominantly male world and the problems involved in bringing a new drug to market. Towards the end of the book she touches on her interests in alternative medicine and a more holistic approach to healing.
A fascinating book, readily accessible to the general reader.
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Prepare for Fenders on Front Street traffic changes
June 12, 2012
Motorists should prepare for a downtown Issaquah road closure June 17 during the Fenders on Front Street Car Show and Cruise.
Organizers plan to close Front Street North from Gilman Boulevard to Sunset Way between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the car show, a Mountains to Sound Greenway Days event.
Registration starts at 6 a.m. at Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in, 98 N.E. Gilman Blvd. Vehicles start to park at Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in, and then park along the Staples parking lot to Front Street North and then along Front Street North toward Sunset Way as the need for space increases.
The car judging starts at about 11 a.m., with trophies presented at the historic Hailstone Feed Store, 232 Front St. N., at 2 p.m.
Following the trophy presentations, at 3 p.m., car show participants gather on Front Street North and cruise to Sunset Way, and then to Newport Way and along Gilman Boulevard to the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in.
Find quiet contemplation in Issaquah's Christian Science Reading Room
October 11, 2011
One of the staples of the Christian Science religion is its reading room.
Usually, it's a quiet atmosphere that lends to the pursuit of thoughtful prayer, studying Bible lessons, reading Christian literature or investigating the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
With the church located on 238th Way Southeast, leaders have long had to rent out space in Issaquah for a reading room to serve its congregation of fewer than 200.
However, Issaquah's last reading room didn't have an ideal location for its intended pursuits in the Brandt Building on Front Street, not with its neighbor — The Kaleidoscope School of Music — pursuing its intended purpose.
Find simple Italian cooking off beaten path at Montalcino Ristorante Italiano
October 11, 2011
When my wife and I vacationed in Venice, Italy, one of the best meals we had the entire trip came via recommendation of a local resident.
The bed-and-breakfast owner suggested a little family-run restaurant, way off the beaten path away from the usual touristy spots. The food at this hole in the wall was exquisite and memorable for its simplistic, yet bold flavors.
Well, Issaquah now boasts its own hole in the wall, family run ristorante Italiano — Montalcino Ristorante Italiano.
Located on Northwest Alder Place, a block off the beaten path of Front Street, Montalcino brought back memories of Venice with its intimate, rustic interior.
'It was like being in a war zone' amid shootout
September 27, 2011
Investigation continues after police kill gunman at Issaquah school
Issaquah police stopped a gunman in a fusillade of gunfire Sept. 24, after he led officers on a circuitous chase through downtown Issaquah, prompting residents to scramble for cover inside homes, and athletes and spectators at a youth football game to duck beneath bleachers for protection.
Officers fatally shot the 51-year-old Maple Valley man on the Clark Elementary School campus, not far from a youth football game on nearby Issaquah High School fields.
Off the Press
September 27, 2011
It can't happen here; yes, it can
"This kind of thing doesn't happen here," people always say when some tragedy, especially one involving violence, occurs in a community.
I heard the phrase again and again Sept. 24, because that kind of thing doesn't happen in Issaquah either. Until it did.
I was shopping in Maple Valley when a friend called to tell me there was a gunman on the loose in Issaquah and she couldn't get into town because of all of the police officers blocking the streets.
Despite the fact that her voice was crystal clear, I immediately said, "What? Can you say that again?"
Same thing — gunman, downtown Issaquah, cops everywhere with guns drawn, helicopter flying overhead. She then asked if I was OK. (I live downtown.) I felt stunned for a moment. Were my pets OK at home? Could I even get there? Did I want to go there? How would I know if the gunman was inside the house or hiding on the property?
Artist re-creates favorite downtown landmarks in handmade postcards
September 13, 2011
Downtown Issaquah isn't necessarily related to Jane Garrison's duties as a docent for the Issaquah History Museums at the Gilman Town Hall Museum.
Still, it seems appropriate that Garrison can speak happily and fluently about the background of various downtown buildings and landmarks.
"I love downtown Issaquah. I love the buildings," said the talkative and friendly Garrison, 70.
With an architectural landscaping business of her own on Front Street for roughly 25 years, Garrison said that after she retired she got to know and truly appreciate the feel of downtown Issaquah. Always having been an artist, one of her side projects included pen-and-pencil drawing of various downtown landmarks.
The spots she sketched include Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive-in, the Eagles Hall and the salmon hatchery. Garrison initially made the drawings strictly for her own enjoyment. But now she has decided to use the sketches to create some very unique and localized greeting cards.
A portion of the proceeds from sales of the cards will benefit the history museums. The cards are blank inside, but one of Garrison's 12 drawings appears on the front along with a history capsule about the location depicted.
Salmon Days lawsuit could hinge on public safety
August 23, 2011
The legal challenge to city rules for leafleting at the Salmon Days Festival is focusing attention on unfettered freedom of expression in public places.
The lawsuit presents hurdles to the plaintiff, a Snoqualmie man, and the city, constitutional scholars said. The case is rooted in past court decisions about limits on freedom of expression and the steps governments can enact to limit such acts.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Paul Ascherl said Issaquah police officers threatened to arrest him for handing out Christian literature in places outside the pair of downtown "expression areas" on festival grounds last year. Ascherl relocated to the "expression areas" after police and a festival official intervened.
"The suit presents some cognizable First Amendment arguments," said David Hudson, a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn.
Salmon Days featured "expression areas" near downtown festival entrances last year. The areas hosted local political parties and candidates for office.
Truck rollover snarls Interstate 90 traffic through Issaquah
August 9, 2011
Emergency crews converged on westbound Interstate 90 between Front Street and state Route 900 just after 8 a.m. Aug. 5 after a tractor-trailer toppled across three lanes, snarling the morning commute.
The tractor-trailer was heading westbound in the center lane when the driver attempted to make a lane change to the right, Washington State Patrol Trooper Julie Startup said. In the process, the truck bumped into a car in the adjacent lane.
The truck driver, realizing the rig had bumped the car, attempted to correct to avoid a more serious collision, but lost control and ended up in a brush-filled ditch on the left road shoulder.
Then, as the truck driver attempted to pull out of the ditch, the rig flipped and landed on its side, blocking most of the westbound interstate.
Medics transported the driver of the car, a 29-year-old Sumner man, to Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue for treatment of minor injuries. The truck driver, a 30-year-old Auburn man, escaped uninjured.
The state patrol's commercial vehicle inspectors plan to inspect the tractor-trailer as a standard part of the investigation. Startup said the tractor-trailer driver is unlikely to face charges in the incident.
Crews managed to right the toppled rig after 8:30 a.m. and reopened lanes to traffic at about 9:15 a.m. Traffic backed up for two and a half miles as state troopers closed the lanes to investigate and clean up. Startup said the toppled truck had been hauling hay.
"Luckily, the hay stayed inside the vehicle today," she added. "That could be a mess. But hay is much easier to clean up than a load of marbles."
Issaquah girl, 9, dies after Bellevue pileup
July 26, 2011
Rachel Beckwith, a 9-year-old Issaquah girl injured in a 14-vehicle pileup in Bellevue early last week, died July 23 from injuries sustained in the crash.
Rachel and a 2-year-old sister rode in a Lexus sedan driven by the girls' mother, Samantha Paul, as a tractor-trailer jackknifed into a loaded logging truck and spurred the chain-reaction crash.
Medics transported seven people, including a handful of Issaquah residents, to area hospitals in the aftermath.
Only Rachel sustained life-threatening injuries, and responders rushed the girl to Harborview Medical Center.
Just before 8 a.m. July 20, as traffic slowed due to congestion near the Interstate 405 interchange at 133rd Avenue Southeast, authorities said a tractor-trailer jackknifed into a logging truck in the adjacent lane.
"For whatever reason, whether the semi truck was going too fast, wasn't paying attention or a combination of the two, for the conditions, he didn't seem to see that traffic had stopped until the last second," said Sgt. Keith Trowbridge, a Washington State Patrol spokesman. "At that point, he tried to put the brakes on, but he jackknifed and went into the log truck."
The impact dislodged the rear axle of the logging truck and sent the piece hurtling into traffic.
Off the Press
July 19, 2011
One good mania deserves another
After a decade of sweeping readers and moviegoers off their feet with a school named Hogwarts, games of Quiddich and battles of good against evil, the final wave of Pottermania is now sweeping over Issaquah, the nation and the world, with the last of the epic movies having blasted through every worldwide box office record last weekend.
Ticket sales of $475 million in three days is not too shabby!
Over the years, we've covered lines of fans at the local movie theater, costume parties for the latest book release at local shops, and huge shipments of Harry Potter books making their way from King County Library System headquarters on Newport Way to all of the branches in the system.
The question is, now what? Every generation has its "mania." We've had the Jazz Age, Golden Age of Hollywood, Beatlemania, discomania and now the end of Pottermania. What should we proclaim in Issaquah to be the next all-consuming mania?
For the socially conscious, my personal preference would be to promote "Littermania," getting us all to join in to pick up every scrap of paper, every beverage bottle and every plastic wrapper. Ever hear of the 1950's fad of college students cramming into a phone booth? There's at least one phone booth still in town, across the street from The Press building. Let's have a contest of bagging up litter around town and seeing how many bags it takes to fill the phone booth!
Or, how about "musicmania?" There are a lot of scheduled music events this summer in town. For instance, during the next ArtWalk on Aug. 5, we could all bring that musical instrument in the back of the closet that we used to play — kazoo, violin, bongo drums, tambourine — and make ourselves a gleeful racket on Front Street and at Gilman Village.


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EGM's Best of 2013: Editor's Awards: Chris Holzworth
By Chris Holzworth, News Editor
Posted on December 22, 2013 AT 12:00pm
Posted on December 22, 2013 AT 12:00pm
If 2013 had a theme, at least as it pertains to me personally, it would be Hitting All the Right Buttons. Looking back, a considerable amount of what came out this year catered to what appeals to me most about games: my love of strong storytelling, my desire for non-traditional game experiences, my affinity for good dumb fun, even the sentimental side of me reared on tales told in 2D on 16 bits.Part of me thinks my list is too dull, too obvious. You'll be hard-pressed to find very many people who write about games for a living (or even those who don't) not listing BioShock Infinite, A Link Between Worlds, and The Last of Us on their respective toplists. But what can I say? These games left quite the impression on me. Once more, I invite you to have at me—tell me how this list proves I'm crazy. That's what the comment section's for, after all.
Chris' Top Five Games for 2013
#05: DmC: Devil May Cry
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Ninja Theory
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Ninja Theory
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Chris' Take
You know what, Devil May Cry purists? You're wrong. DmC is awesome. It breaks my heart that the concentrated effort of privileged crybabies combined with a poorly chosen release window have pretty much guaranteed I won't get a follow-up to one of the most enjoyable third-person action games I've played in years, let alone 2013. DmC is fast-paced and stylish, boasts art design that's actually appealing and not generically gothic like the original Devil May Cry, and takes Dante in a direction beyond the "character that looks cool" status he celebrated as a purely Capcom creation.
#04: The Last of Us
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Naughty Dog
Platforms: PS3
Developer: Naughty Dog
Platforms: PS3
Chris' Take
I was going to introduce The Last of Us with my now-go-to anecdote about obliterating a red DualShock 3 over how frustrating I found the gameplay at times, but our regular readers probably know that story as well as I do. Does The Last of Us stumble as something that's played? I certainly think so. But despite this, including The Last of Us among my personal top five games of 2013 was a no-brainer. Outside of Gone Home, no other game this year has furthered storytelling in videogames as much as The Last of Us.
#03: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Platforms: 3DS
Developer: Nintendo
Platforms: 3DS
Chris' Take
There was never a moment I thought A Link Between Worlds would be bad, but I never thought that it would rival its predecessor, A Link to the Past, in terms of quality. Honestly, this sequel to the series-defining SNES installment proves to me that there are still wizards working at Nintendo capable of casting the same spells that worked on me as an elementary school student. But A Link Between Worlds is more than a nostalgia farm—Ravio's rental shop shakes up the coarsening Zelda formula in a surprisingly, welcomingly refreshing, and non-disruptive way.
#02: Bioshock Infinite
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Irrational Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Irrational Games
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Chris' Take
BioShock Infinite is the inverse of my Game of the Year pick. It rings a lot of familiar-sounding bells as far as videogames go, but hits its notes with perfect pitch and narrative harmony rarely achieved in this industry. I think Infinite's biggest detractors failed to understand that Ken Levine and his team at Irrational set out to make a first-person shooter first and foremost, not a story that they wrapped a game around. There's no narrative dissonance found here, but rather gameplay perfectly in line with the industry commentary that BioShock has been a vehicle for since its inception.
#01: Gone Home
Publisher: The Fullbright Company
Developer: The Fullbright Company
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Developer: The Fullbright Company
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Chris' Take
In my life, no game has moved me emotionally as much as Gone Home. And not because of themes and elements that struck chords familiar to my own youth, but because it was an intensely personal, character-driven narrative that eschewed exhausted, conventional videogame tropes both in storytelling (Gone Home is the most down-to-earth game I've ever played) and in gameplay. No guns, no magic, no melee, just exploration and observation within a household that I could very well imagine having grown up in myself. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Gone Home's narrative is powerful.
Chris' Off-Topic Awards for 2013
The Peer Pressure Award for Best Instance of Gettin' Gamey
Crysis 3
Crysis 3
Look, I won't deny bias—Crysis 2 was scripted by my favorite author, Richard K. Morgan. But I maintain that Crysis 2 is a first-person shooter that sports better storytelling than most others because it feels like it was written by an adult for adults and, as such, never talks down to players. Crysis 3, on the other hand, feels like a giant leap back in an effort to give mainstream players the simplicity they want, complete with poorly executed plot points and a giant, gamey final boss that's eye-rollingly banal.
The F*** Yeah Award for Best Use of Middle-Finger Flippin'
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is an over-the-top love song to equally over-the-top '80s action flicks. I could talk at length about how absurd Blood Dragon is, but I think the best instance of its silliness, in terms of something players can elect to do in-game, is the taunt-like option to press a button and flip enemies off. It has absolutely no bearing on gameplay, but there's something undeniably satisfying about following a string of murdalizing with a triumphant "F*** you." It's very metal, and very '80s.
The Cutest Couple Award for Best Videogame Marriage
Lost Planet 3
Lost Planet 3
Romance is a hard thing to pull off in videogames, and marriage portrayals are few and far between. No doubt this is largely due to our industry's insistent desire to appeal to adolescent straight white males by having the typically male protagonist save the day and get the girl. But because Lost Planet 3 abandons this tired trope in favor of an established marriage between protagonist Jim Peyton and his wife, Grace (and because Lost Planet 3 is a surprisingly well-written game), their long-distance (off-planet) relationship actually feels genuine.
EGMNOW's Best of 2013 Awards Schedule
|Editor's Choice: Eric L. Patterson
|Editor's Choice: Andrew Fitch
|Editor's Choice: Ray Carsillo
|Editor's Choice: Josh Harmon
|Editor's Choice: Chris Holzworth
|Editor's Choice: Marc Camron
|Editor's Choice: Matthew Bennett
|Best of 2013: #25 ~ #21
|Best of 2013: #20 ~ #16
|Best of 2013: #15 ~ #11
|Best of 2013: #10 ~ #06
|EGMNOW's Best Games of 2013: #05 ~ #01
|Reader's Choice: Best of 2013
|Tobias Bruckner Memorial Awards
Categorized Under: 3DS, Best of the Year, EGM Top Lists, Featured Content Rotator, Features, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
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