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MAY 5, 2015 REISSUE – Available now!
ORDER NOW: Amazon |iBooks | B&N | Kobo | BVC
A taciturn soldier and a social butterfly —is the perfect home worth the price of a marriage of inconvenience?
Blake Montague's draconian temper and clever mind belong on the Continent, decoding French communications. Instead, as the youngest son of a baron, he's terrorizing London ballrooms in search of a wife who will buy the commission he can't afford.
Jocelyn Carrington, after years of smiling through the pain inflicted by an uncaring family, has just inherited a fortune. Now she can buy the special home with an aviary her eccentric younger brother needs—but Blake Montague's family owns it. They offer the house if she will marry their son and prevent him from marching off to war. Except Blake will use her dowry to buy his commission.
How can Jocelyn gain the home of her dreams while keeping alive a courageous man with a bad habit of attracting trouble? Can Blake believe the beautiful Jocelyn might actually free him from his family's manipulations?
Can this wary, cynical pair open their hearts to trust in the power of love?
"Intriguing protagonists, quirky secondary characters, and a surprising plot make for an endearing sequel to …The Wicked Wyckerly" – Publishers Weekly
"Rice takes her cast of characters—including the naughty French-speaking parrot, Percy—on a passionate, sensual, rib-tickling romance. A master of the nuances of humor, she brings joy, lots of love, and plenty of laughter to this fast-paced, unforgettable second Rebellious Sons story"— 4 ½ stars Top Pick, Joan Hammond, RT Reviews
MARCH 31, 2015 ORIGINAL RELEASE – Available NOW!
ORDER NOW: Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | BVC
He's a tradesman; she's a marchioness. They have only one thing in common….
Having married once out of desperation, the Virgin Widow Lady Belden has no intention of giving up her independence… until her long-lost siblings arrive on her doorstep. By law their guardianship belongs to the power-hungry marquess of Belden, but Bell will defy law and society to keep her newly reunited family together.
Formidable in trade, unlucky in love, Lord Quentin Hoyt has eyed Lady Bell from afar—not just because she possesses the family fortune, but because she's the most desirable woman he's ever met. Now that the widowed Bell is ripe for seduction, the shrewd Scotsman is prepared to negotiate the business merger of his lifetime.
Who will be the victor when the imperial Lady Bell engages the clever Lord Quentin in a battle of wits over life, lust, and love?
the first volume of the Rebellious Sons series!
Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | BVC
John Fitzhugh Wyckerly has been the spare heir all his life, supporting himself with gambling and charm. The news that he's inherited the bankrupt title of Earl of Danecroft shatters his indolent world. Even penniless, he's always paid his debts, but now the estate's creditors are closing in. He can fake his death and run for cover…or accept overwhelming responsibility and find a rich wife—one who will also accept his illegitimate terror of a daughter.
On his way to find an heiress, he meets Abigail Merriweather, who is neither rich nor aristocratic, but she can tame The Terror and stomp cockroaches. Unfortunately, she needs a wealthy, powerful man who will fight her father's executor and retrieve her four half-siblings. When an unexpected inheritance falls into Abby's lap, she sets out for London to seek a lawyer.
Can Fitz charm his practical Abby into trusting him to save her siblings when it's doubtful that he can even save himself? And can Abby surrender reason and logic for the folly of love offered by a man who can have any woman he wants but insists he wants only her?
"Rice is a master storyteller …A wonderful blend of humor, pathos, adventure, and charm, this page-turner is book one in Rice's promising Rebellious Sons series." Shelley Mosley, Booklist —a top ten romance for 2010
ORDER NOW: Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | BVC
Raised in rural isolation, Alyson Hampton is bereft after the death of her aristocratic English grandfather. Introduced to society, she is horrified to learn that her illegitimacy—and the wealth she's inherited—leave her a target for fortune hunters. Fleeing the only home she's ever known, she nearly falls prey to her devilish cousin, until a dashing Scotsman comes to her rescue.
Thanks to the hated English, Rory, Laird Maclean, is the last of his family. He is a wanted rebel in England, a smuggler in the Americas, and intent on buying back his former home. Then the wealthiest—most virtuous—heiress in all the kingdom falls into his lap. What's a blackguard to do when smitten by this virtuous beauty? Alyson insists on marriage. Rory would sooner rob an Englishwoman than marry one.
Even should love find a way, the Maclean is reluctant to trade her virtue for the price on his head..
Previously published by New American Library
ORDER NOW: Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | BN | BVC
Bostonian Evelyn Wellington has always worked in her father's prosperous warehouse. After his death, she has no choice except to continue her masculine occupation to feed her family. But the discovery that one of her major suppliers is shipping smuggled goods to avoid the new taxes endangers her family and livelihood.
Alex Hampton, heir presumptive to the Earl of Cranville and the earl's shipping partner, has reluctantly left his comfortable London home to uncover the traitor using his ships for smuggling. He's quite prepared to rake the complaining warehouse owner over the coals… until he's stunned by a highly improper beauty in breeches.
How can a freedom-loving American beauty and a luxury-loving rake uncover smugglers in a country on the brink of revolution—while fighting a fierce attraction?
Previously published by New American Library
"Ms. Rice is a surefire bet to steal your heart away…" Romantic Times
ORDER NOW: Amazon Apple Kobo
It's a magical time of year, and Patricia Rice delivers magical holiday stories to celebrate the season! This unique special collection brings together three of Patricia's favorite holiday romance stories in one joyful book.
Taking care of family and helping a once prosperous town survive was all Marian had in mind after the tragic death of her fiancé. The unexpected visit of a stranger with a heavy heart turns everything she knew upside-down. Maybe this will be the Christmas of change they both need – with a gift that lasts forever.
Rebecca gave up her comfortable home for love, but her husband died on a distant battlefield. Now she struggles to care for his young sisters, removed from the grace of her prosperous family. The last thing she needs is another soldier like Simon, whose soul has been devastated by war. But in this feisty woman, Simon sees a new goal worth fighting for—the love Rebecca has renounced.
Jeffrey fought the good fight in the halls of government but disillusioned, he returns home at the holiday, exasperated with life, law, and people. Much to his dismay, a sarcastic guardian angel leads him to question his sanity. Mary's bright humor and pragmatic views give him a gift he's never experienced – a way to look beyond himself and into the world again. Could she be the key that opens that last door at Christmas?
Enjoy these wonderful Christmas romance stories by bestselling author Patricia Rice to warm up the season!
Series: California Malcoms, Book #3
Order: Amazon | B&N | Apple | Kobo
Sparks fly when special forces meets psychic forces…
Brilliant psychic Nadine Malcolm is held prisoner in an asylum by her stepfather, a power-mad general. As the Librarian, she secretly hijacks computers to prevent his plans to turn paranormal children into weapons. When her younger sister ominously disappears, Nadine reaches through cyberspace for help.
Ex-Special Forces warrior Magnus Oswin has focused his formidable talents on stopping the rogue general who once held him prisoner. After picking up the Librarian's frantic plea, he roars into the fray in his latest engineering marvel, a modified muscle car.
The last thing Nadine needs is another military control freak in her life. The last thing Magnus needs is an aluminum-foil-wearing nutcase. But fierce attraction forges an uneasy alliance as two desperate people fight to save the children who cannot save themselves.


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UK Regulatory Update — Issue 2: product and promotion intervention
In the second issue of our eight step-by-step guides to the new regulatory landscape, we take a look at two of the significant new powers granted to the new conduct regulator, the FCA. In keeping with the judgement-led and interventionist approach promised by the new regulators, from 1 April 2013 the FCA will be able to intervene on the sale of products with immediate effect and ban firms from making particular financial promotions.
These new powers support a profound shift of regulatory focus that positions the FCA as a product regulator. To date, a narrow list of products such as UCITS aside, the FSA has not played this role. Its rules have been promotions and sales focussed resulting in an over-reliance on TCF and Customer Outcomes to address product issues. The obvious challenge to setting up a 'product regulator' is that an all-encompassing rules-based product regime is impracticable to operate and stifles innovation. The new FCA power navigates cleverly around this issue by allowing the FCA to swiftly impose product focussed rules on a surgical basis where it sees mischief develop…
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Briefings from Taylor Wessing
Introduction of personalised tax protection 2014 in relation to pension savings
For the tax year from 6 April 2014, the standard lifetime allowance has reduced from £1.5m to £1.25m.
The regulator and FCA issue a guide on how workplace DC pensions are regulated to protect consumers
One of the areas highlighted last year by the Regulator was the regulation of workplace DC pension schemes.
Analysis from The Lawyer
Corporate crunch time: who will triumph at The Lawyer Awards 2014?
As the equity capital markets rocketed back into favour and global M&A saw at least a partial return to form, there have been some rich pickings for The Lawyer's Corporate Team of the Year award shortlisted firms in 2014.
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The city-state is working hard to become a global wealth management hub, and law firms are gearing up for a prosperous new world

subset: commoncrawl


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Hey everyone came across this today and thought I would share. Looks like Marty Sklar is will be doing a discussion and book signing of his new book Dream it! Do it! My Half-Centruy Creating Disney's Magic Kingdoms. It will be at Vroman's in Pasadena. I'm sure he will be doing other book signings but this was the first one I seen outside of the D23 Expo.
Martin Sklar discusses & signs Dream it! Do it! My Half-Century Creating Disney's Magic Kingdoms | Vroman's Bookstore
Start: 08/21/2013 7:00 pm
695 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, California 91101 United States
Marty Sklar was hired by The Walt Disney Company after his junior year at UCLA, and began his Disney career at Disneyland in July 1955, the month before the park opened. He spent his first decade at Disney as "the kid," the very youngest of the creative team Walt had assembled at WED Enterprises. But despite his youth, his talents propelled him forward into substantial responsibility: he became Walt's speech writer, penned Walt's and Roy's messages in the company's annual report, composed most of the publicity and marketing materials for Disneyland, conceived presentations for the U.S. government, devised initiatives to obtain sponsors to enable new Disneyland developments, and wrote a twenty-four-minute film expressing Walt's philosophy for the Walt Disney World project and Epcot. He was Walt's literary right-hand man.
Over the next forty years, Marty Sklar rose to become president and principal creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, and he devoted his entire career to creating, enhancing, and expanding Walt's magical empire.


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The median home value in Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA is $1,412,500.
This is
higher than
the county median home value of $445,300.
The national median home value is $170,100.
The average price of homes sold in Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA is $1,412,500.
Approximately 84.12% of Palos Verdes Peninsula homes are owned,
compared to 11.24% rented, while
4.65% are vacant.
Palos Verdes Peninsula real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale.
Commercial properties are also available.
If you see a property you're interested in, contact a Palos Verdes Peninsula real estate agent to arrange a tour today!
Learn more about Palos Verdes Peninsula Real Estate.
Spectacular Estate Property with Dramatic Amazing 180 degree city light views from almost every room in the house. Sophisticated six bedroom with office home with large finished basement. Gorgeous gourmet kitchen with granite counter tops with sycamore cabinets and flooring. Huge center island, gourmet appliances, and family eating area. Wonderful private master suite with private bath and huge walk in closet. Large formal living room, large formal dining room, and huge family room located conveniently next to kitchen. Great car enthusiast garage with parking for four cars and unique drive thru garage with two driveways. Large finished basement would make an excellent media, playroom, or gym. Mostly usable 2 acre lot with beautiful pool area. Sprawling rolling lawns. Room for barn and horse facilities. Guest quarters located off laundry.
Built by Pritzkat & Johnson Architects, this custom home sits on a sprawling lot that offers panoramic views of breathtaking sunsets in a secluded space that illuminates a serene peninsula at the edge of the world where the sea meets the horizon and fresh breezes sweep on uncluttered coast. Reclaimed hardwood floors, artisan stonework, and hand-carved cabinets give a modern yet rustic feel throughout. The master bedroom features a Palos Verdes stone fireplace, hardwood floors, large walk in closet with its own separate washer & dryer, private views of the ocean & easy access to the rear yard that is superbly landscaped with a serene water fall and pond. The master bath has a shower with multiple shower heads, and soaking tub. Every bedroom has access to the ocean views - one bedroom has glass double doors that has been converted into an office & can be used as a guest room and opens to the rear yard. An upstairs bedroom has its own den with fireplace and a deck to experience spontaneous whale sightings. The first floor powder room uniquely features a large boulder as a sink. With a majestic dining and living room as its centerpiece, this elegant plan makes for both the perfect family home as well as entertaining space to socialize with friends and family.
It doesn't get better than this. Nowhere else are you going to find over 9 acres of land located in a private, gated city, that has been engineered, graded and is ready to build a fully approved 15,500 (NOT a typo) square foot home plus 2,000 square feet of garage space! The approved plans include a 7 bedroom, 10 bath home with office, media room, spectacular views of the city and hills and even a 2 lane bowling alley. Don't just look at the plans...see this virtual home on the attached link. This is a one of a kind opportunity to build and own one of the premiere estates on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The asking price includes the land, entitlements and plans, but not construction of the home. Grading and retaining walls are being completed at this time.
270? breathtaking views of the ocean, coastline, Catalina, coves and sunsets in this spacious single level home. Builtin 2004, this home sits on approximately 2 acres of land that is surrounded by beautiful landscaping and multiple fruittrees and has a tranquil, private feel. Large windows throughout help you watch the many phases of the ocean andgorgeous sunsets from almost every room in the house. Relax near the pool or find peace next to the soothing koipond. Enormous gourmet kitchen is fully equipped with top-of-the-line Viking appliances. The home also features aformal living room with fireplace, a formal dining room with two gorgeous chandeliers, an expansive family room w/fireplace and a beautiful master suite with fireplace, a luxurious master bathroom and his & her walk-in closets.Theother three bedrooms have great views, hardwood floors, private baths, and walk in closets. This elegant home isperfect for anyone seeking spectacular views and a peaceful, private environment. Located in the guard gatedcommunity of Rolling Hills.
Magnificent completely rebuilt from the ground up home w/breathtaking panoramic unobstructed ocean, city & harbor views. Walls of Nana doors open to sprawling stone entertaining patios to make this the ideal California outdoor/indoor living experience. Over an acre of completely landscaped and manicured grounds with waterfalls, fountains, and beautiful natural stone patios. The ultimate outdoor living experience with dramatic pool and spa, outdoor kitchen, rolling lawns, and room for a barn. Six bedrooms most with private terrace areas and five elegant baths. Separate guest quarters with private entrance and kitchenette. With extreme attention to detail this home offers extensive use of limestone, Santos Mahogany floors, doors, crown molding and baseboard of solid Mahogany, and artisan finished beams on all the vaulted ceilings. Bright and airy this home offers incredible views from almost every room. The elegant kitchen offers granite counter tops and professional quality Wolf range, Sub-Zero refrigerator, dual dishwashers, warming drawer, and custom clear coat Red Birch cabinets. This home has state of the art light and sound systems, dual zoned heating and air conditioning, and dual paned windows. Wonderful master suite w/impressive bath.
CONTEMPORARY DESIGNER SHOWHOME perfect for entertaining: Designed + built by an interior design professional. Open floorplan, oversized windows and skylights blend the indoors with the outdoors. Designer touches in every room. Master retreat features giant windows, French doors, private spa, fireplace, two story closet, roman tub, cathedral ceilings and a large deck with views of the Queen's Necklace. Two additional bedrooms also have direct access to the outdoors. The Chef's kitchen has premium stainless appliances, butler's pantry + temperature controlled cold pantry. Custom cabinetry in black walnut, cathedral ceilings with re-sawn cedar add rich character to this home. Extensive Italian marble and imported granite are among the premium finishes used. The library features double sided fireplace + 75 ft of bookcases. The loft offers 70 feet of bookcases and can serve as a home office or recreation room. The family room and gallery both feature French doors opening to patios. Bonus room and plenty of storage throughout. The free form pool and spa have newer pumps and heater. Solar water heating. Plenty of space for a barn or outbuildings -direct trail access. 10 min to shops/restaurants, 30 min to downtown from this private, gated comm.
Private, gated Italian-style custom estate situated on a 1/3 acre in the prestigious Lunada Bay. This immaculate 5,241 sf. spacious home features 4 BR, 4 BA, a den/guest BR down stair, a maid?s quarter, and 3 car garage. The elegant master retreat (over ? of the house) has a sitting area. Imported French limestone and marble flooring, Italian natural maple cabinetry throughout, 3 custom designed chandeliers, 4 fireplaces, and a sky roof. Natural light opens to a welcome foyer with soaring ceiling leads to a step down on the left, the formal Living Room. To the right of entry is an airy formal Dining Room with a bi-level, hand-painted marble soffit ceiling. A built-in bar is conveniently located between the kitchen and Family Room. A gourmet kitchen consists of a granite island; custom cabinets, and a large walk-in pantry. High vaulted, wood paneled ceiling with French doors from the Family Room leads out to the garden, swimming pool, and Jacuzzi. This estate is well-planned for great Southern CA luxury living!
A rare opportunity to own a beautiful Colonial style home on the highly desired street, Williamsburg Ln. This home offers 5 bedrooms (one of the bedrooms is being used an office) and 5.5 bathrooms with over 4,500 sq ft. of living space. Step into the formal foyer with high ceilings and make your way into the large formal living room with fireplace and French doors that exit to brick patio. The large kitchen has an oversized island, fireplace, sitting area for guests to gather and lots of natural . The expansive formal dining room has built in cabinets for the special China with lots of natural light coming from the French Doors that exit to the brick patio. Also featuring a family room/den for casual entertaining. Master suite has a large luxury bathroom attached with a garden outside the tub area, 2 wardrobe closets and a walk in closet. A special feature for families is the bedroom that has a large loft for a kids special play area or a desk for school work. The backyard is breathtaking with flowers and landscaping that you could spend hours looking at. The pool is fully enclosed with a gate for child safety. Barn is on the lower level with street access and space for horses AND a horse trail across the street.
This property has not been on the market since it was purchased by its current owner in 1959. One of the great Rolling Hills lots on the beautiful tree lined Pine Tree Lane. 5 acres of gently sloping land with breathtaking views of the entire Los Angeles basin and Queen's Necklace coastline all the way to Malibu. Charming Ranch house originally built in 1936 and then expanded and remodeled. Build your dream estate or upgrade the current home. Current home has vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, large kitchen and spacious family room. Newly painted and carpeted. Large formal living room and dining rooms. This property has endless potential. Property has city approval for a lot split but does not have HOA approval yet.
Ocean view tennis estate in Palos Verdes Estates! Located in prestigious Palos Verdes Estates, completely gated and enclosed for privacy and security,with stunning unobstructed panoramic ocean views from Catalina to Santa Barbara. Fully air conditioned,this turnkey estate is bright, warm and inviting - perfect for resort style living with recreational opportunities for adults and children of all ages to enjoy. New N/S regulation tennis/basketbal l/ volleyball court, oversized swimming pool/spa. 5 BR 4.5 BA with 3 marble fireplaces, all granite and marble surfaces, custom alder cabinetry and 24x24 Italian travertine flooring throughout. Open floor plan with large formal living and dining rooms, a spacious ultra modern gourmet kitchen and a large master bedroom suite - all opening onto a 50 ft ocean view balcony. A luxurious great room with elegant sports bar opens onto the expansive patio. One of the bedrooms/studies has a separate entrance - perfect for guests or for use as an office/gym. Set on a large gently sloping (all usable) 21,239 sf lot, the estate is beautifully landscaped. The 3 car garage has an epoxy floor, work area and ample storage. Show to your most discriminating buyers!
Real Living Pacific Realty
27281 Las Ramblas
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Email Us | Visit our Real Estate Website


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For 32 years, Cody Teets, 48, has been with McDonald's, working her way up from the kitchen crew to vice president and general manager of McDonald's, covering nearly 800 restaurants in the five-state Rocky Mountain region.
Teets, who lives in Castle Pines with her husband and two sons, indulges twice a month in a Big Mac, fries and iced tea, her long-standing favorite on the menu, and around her neck wears a golden key on a chain, a gift from her husband. Her new book, "Golden Opportunity: Remarkable Careers That Began At McDonald's," collects the stories of 42 people, from celebrities Jay Leno and Andie MacDowell to franchise owners and McDonald's corporation staff.
As it happens, Teets' first job wasn't at McDonald's, but at Der Weinerschnitzel, whose manager was willing to hire a 14-year-old. Once she turned 16, she applied to McDonald's. Within three months, she was employee of the month, and in her high school yearbook, she was voted "most likely to marry Ronald McDonald."
Her husband likes to say she has two speeds: fast and asleep.
The restaurant at 630 W. Hampden Ave. in Englewood recently received a renovation. Now it's bright and airy, resembling an upscale-ish coffee shop more than the old-school Mickey D's where Teets' mother took her children after shopping excursions to Cinderella City. Cin City's gone, demolished in 1998.
Q: You used to come to this McDonald's for lunch?
A: Yes. We grew up poor in North Denver. We'd drive here to shop at Sears, J.C. Penney's and Kmart, and we'd go on the merry-go-round in Cinderella City because it wasn't very expensive. Then Mom took us to this McDonald's for lunch; she found small things that didn't cost much to turn a trip into an event.
Q: What did you order?
A: I got the cheeseburger when I was younger, and fries and a shake. In high school, I got the quarter-pounder.
Q: And you worked for McDonald's when you were in high school?
A: Yes! There are a lot of people whose careers started with humble beginnings on the crew at McDonald's.
Q: Sounds like a good idea for a book. How did you choose the people whose stories you tell?
A: Some, I knew. I reached out to the senior vice presidents and general managers around the country, and asked them to tell me whose stories were unique. I looked for a husband-and-wife operator team. I felt it important to cover varying backgrounds both inside and outside McDonald's. I had to spend a bit of extra time looking for celebrities.
Q: How'd you find them?
A: Finding celebrities is easy! You just look on the Internet. There are several that share information on celebrity jobs. Finding that was the easy part. Access to the individual was the hard part.
Q: But you managed to get actress Andie MacDowell, Jay Leno and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.
A: It was great that they were so willing to participate in this project. While all are busy, even those with the most hectic of schedules made time to provide their point of view. Some of those were really difficult. Interviewing them felt like prying information out of them. Jeff Bezos was one. He told me to send them questions, and he'd e-mail me the answers. I sent him 10 questions, and he graciously answered six of them.
Q: How did you find Hank Thomas, one of the 13 original 1961 Freedom Riders, the civil rights activists who traveled on Greyhound buses to protest segregation?
A: I know his wife, Yvonne, who is influential in McDonald's women's network. He and Yvonne own and operate Marriott Hotel franchises and McDonald's franchises. He'd just received an award for his work, so I called him to congratulate him and asked him to be in the book.
Q: What is your greatest fear?
A: To be the victim of physical violence, or watching my children suffer and not being able to do anything for them.
Q: Do you have a motto?
A: I like ' Shoot for the moon: Even if you fall short, you'll land among the stars.' And I like this from Gandhi: ' Be the change you wish to see in the world.' I have that on a pillow on my bed, and on the magnet on my refrigerator. I use 'shoot for the moon' a lot when I speak to women's groups.
Q: Who is someone you admire?
A: Oprah Winfrey. As a women's role model, for the issues she works on, and for how she gives back. She lifts other people up. It's not all about her.
Q: What most surprised you while you worked on "Golden Opportunity"?
A: When I look at a celebrity, like Jay Leno or Andie MacDowell, I couldn't have imagined that they, too, sometimes started from humble beginnings. It's easy to assume they were always rich, instead of having to work for it. That was my biggest revelation. To me, it gives hope and inspiration and says that it doesn't matter where you started from — you can make your own way.
Q: Any specific stories about that?
A: Jeff Bezos talked about cracking 300 eggs to make breakfast at McDonald's. It reminded me how hectic Saturday mornings were before we could leverage technology. His favorite shift was Saturday morning. He took something so mundane as cracking so many eggs, and made it into a personal challenge. He asked himself what he could learn from that, and how could he make it better each time.
Q: Anyone else?
A: Folks like [major league baseball star] Jerry Hairston Jr. talked about how working at McDonald's taught him responsibility and about saving the money he earned. Or Andrew Card, who was chief of staff for George W. Bush. He wanted his daughter to work at McDonald's so she could learn the things he'd learned there. Did she need to work for the money? No. Did she need to get a job so she would learn how to work? Yes. She learned how to prioritize. I hope these stories will be motivating for parents. We want to teach our children how to be successful on their own.
Q: Will your sons work at McDonald's?
A: I am not sure where they will work as they approach 16, but I do believe it is important that they do work, even if it is just one day a week, balancing school and sports.
Q: What is your favorite way to spend time?
A: I love to read and spend time watching my boys' sporting events. It is often hectic, but fun just the same. At work, one of my favorite things is to look for new real estate opportunities and assist others as they set their career journey.
Q: What's something that friends and colleagues would be surprised to learn about you?
A: When I was growing up, my dad had two horses. I wanted to join the Westernaires.
Q: Do you think McDonald's will ever open a vegetarian restaurant in the U.S., as it has in India?
A: In markets across the world, McDonald's respects local cultures and has adapted our menu and dining experience to local preferences. The new restaurants in (India's) pilgrimage areas will be vegetarian-only because of the specific area and customer base.
Q: What's your favorite special meal to make at home?
A: I hand-make my pasta. Every November, my family makes 300 to 500 ravioli. Our Christmas dinner is homemade ravioli and meatballs and sausage, not turkey.
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, firstname.lastname@example.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin


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You remember very well Ian and love it too
Ironically I live 15 miles from wolves too (just commute there for uni ).
I plan on doing the buildings in three stages.
Stage one will be recceing suitable buildings and taking initial test shots using my *SLR :P (I'm sure you can guess the missing letter) so I can visualise the buildings etc. quickly and easilly.
Stage two will be planning the end result (it's actually going in a brochure type thing - highlighting the benefits of re-using buildings rather than demolishing and putting some concrete monstrosity up instead ) so figuring out which buildings I'll use etc.
Stage three will be shooting them properly with LF and probably will take place in about 2-3 weeks ( the hand in is week 13, we're in week 9 next week, but have easter too ).


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Godley, Texas
|Godley, Texas
Location of Godley, Texas
|Coordinates: 32°26′54″N 97°31′46″W / 32.44833°N 97.52944°WCoordinates: 32°26′54″N 97°31′46″W / 32.44833°N 97.52944°W
|United States
|• Total
|1.7 sq mi (4.3 km2)
|• Land
|1.7 sq mi (4.3 km2)
|• Water
|0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
|928 ft (283 m)
|Population (2006)
|• Total
|• Density
|586.47/sq mi (231.86/km2)
|Time zone
|Central (CST) (UTC-6)
|• Summer (DST)
|ZIP code
|Area code(s)
|FIPS code
|GNIS feature ID
Godley is a city in northwestern Johnson County, Texas, United States in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is on State Highway 171, Farm roads 2331 and 917, and the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad nine miles northwest of Cleburne. The population was 997 in 2006.
Godley is located at 32°26′54″N 97°31′46″W / 32.44833°N 97.52944°W (32.448427, -97.529520).[3]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2), all of it land.
Godley was established in 1886 and named for R. B. Godley, a Cleburne lumber merchant who donated an eight-acre tract for a townsite and twenty acres of land as a right-of-way to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. A station was constructed in 1886. By 1888, when the post office opened, Godley had a gristmill, three cotton gins, and two dairy-processing plants. Four years later it had two general stores. By the mid-1920s the population was 613. In 1930 it was 378, and twenty-two rated businesses operated locally. In the 1940s the town had a population of 317 and twenty businesses. By 1956 it had a population of 424 and sixteen businesses, and by 1990 it had 569 people and twelve businesses.[4]
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 879 people, 296 households, and 235 families residing in the city. The population density was 523.7 people per square mile (202.0/km²). There were 313 housing units at an average density of 186.5/sq mi (71.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.43% White, 0.46% African American, 0.80% Native American, 2.73% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.13% of the population.
There were 296 households out of which 45.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.1% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.3% were non-families. 17.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 3.34.
In the city the population was spread out with 32.5% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 84.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,667, and the median income for a family was $44,583. Males had a median income of $37,692 versus $23,571 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,556. About 5.2% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.9% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.
Public education in the city of Godley is provided by the Godley Independent School District.
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ GODLEY, TX, Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed January 27, 2010.


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The Agricultural Finance Monitor is a quarterly survey of agricultural credit conditions in the Eighth District.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, along with the rest of the Federal Reserve System, recently turned 100. To mark its centennial, the St. Louis Fed published "100 Years of Service." You'll read about the financial instability in the country that led to the birth of the Federal Reserve, our nation's third attempt at a central bank. You'll also find out why, a half-century later, the St. Louis Fed came to be known as the maverick in the Fed system. But the book also looks at the Bank today and what lies ahead. See how we serve not only financial institutions and the Treasury, but also educators, those who work in community development, the wide variety of people who look to us for economic research and data, and the public at large.
The Beige Book is a summary of current economic conditions in the Eighth District. The information is gathered via survey and interviews from business contacts, economists, market experts, directors of the Bank and its branches, and others. This online-only publication links to the full document, which includes similar anecdotal reports from the 11 other Fed districts. Published eight times per year.
Burgundy Books provide anecdotal economic information and formal data specific to each of the four zones that comprise the Eighth District. These books complement the Beige Book and are released four times per year.
Central Banker is a quarterly overview of Fed policies, initiatives and news affecting financial institutions in the Eighth District and across the United States.
Connecting Policy with Frontier Research is a conference volume based on interviews with presenters at our Annual Fall Conference. The conference seeks to provide perspectives on whether economic policies adopted in the past still work well today and whether developments at the frontier of research can be applied to improve policy.
Economic Synopses are short essays from our economists that provide insight and commentary on timely issues in economics, finance, banking and other areas, written for the interested, but not necessarily expert, reader.
The Housing Market Conditions (HMC) report is a quarterly overview of housing market conditions in each of the seven states that comprise the Federal Reserve's Eighth District. Some national data are included.
In the Balance are short essays related to research on understanding and strengthening the balance sheets of American households.
Inside the Vault is an economic education newsletter for educators and is distributed twice a year.
Page One Economics essays provide informative, interesting content on economic and personal finance topics. This publication includes links to relevant data and articles, and is published nine times per year.
The Regional Economist is a quarterly publication aimed at an engaged, nonacademic audience. This publication addresses the regional, national and international economic issues of the day.
U.S. Financial Data includes charts and tables relating to weekly monetary and reserve aggregates, selected interest rates, commercial bank loans and more. Produced weekly.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis working papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussion and critical comment.


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Press Room
Welcome to Winterthur's online Press Room. Members of the media may view information for current, past, and upcoming exhibitions and programs.
How can I obtain permission to film or photograph at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library?
Please email a detailed request to: firstname.lastname@example.com. State the purpose and use of the filming/photography, preferred locations, proposed schedule/time(s), deadline, and any special considerations. All requests are reviewed individually. You will receive a response within one to three days.
For media-related questions, please contact:
|Liz Farrell
Communications Manager
|Stephanie Gaster
Communications Assistant
Current Press Releases
Elegance of Horse-Drawn Carriages Will Grace Winterthur's 37th Annual Point-to-Point May 3
Winterthur Hosts First-Ever Daffodil Day and Children's Daffodil Show
Helen Kaminski Hat the one to Wear at Winterthur Point-to-Point
Winterthur's 37th Annual Point-to-Point Wristbands go on Sale March 1, 2015!
Welcome Spring at Winterthur's Seasonal Reopening March 1, 2015
Winterthur Welcomes Art Needlepoint to its Licensed Products Program
Winterthur Announces New Endowed Leadership Position Honoring Charles F. Hummel
Dogfish Head Shows its Love for Point-to-Point by Hosting Kick-off Celebration
Coming Winterthur Exhibition to Shed New Light on Pennsylvania German Fraktur/Folk Art
Printed Textiles: British and American Cottons & Linens, 1700–1850
Winterthur in the News
An international team of scientists led by Winterthur Museum's Senior Scientist Jennifer Mass, Ph.D., announced new findings on Matisse painting.
Piecework magazine features A Colorful Folk exhibition.
Maine Antique Digest features the announcement of the Charles F. Montgomery Director.
WHYY/Newsworks adds Enchanted Summer Day to its Weekly Entertainment Guide - Welcome Summer.
Enchanted Summer Day and Music Along the Bank at Winterthur featured in The Coatesville Times.
WHYY/Newsworks features Enchanted Summer Day as the perfect kick off to summer!
The News Journal features Winterthur's Pop-Up Beer Garden and polka music.
Early American Life magazine (August 2015) features cover story of Winterthur in their 30th annual Directory of Traditional American Crafts, photographed in April at Winterthur.
George Washington's Commander-in-Chief Flag on display at Winterthur featured in Delaware Today.
NPR features rare American Revolution Flag presentation.
WHYY/Newsworks features Winterthur's "Banners of Liberty: Flags of the American Revolution" presentation.
Antique Trader magazine features Winterthur's "Banners of Liberty: Flags of the American Revolution" lecture and exhibition.
Antiques & Auction News features Winterthur's Flag Day presentation.
One day only: Winterthur to display three rare flags from American Revolution featured by The News Journal.
USA Today Travel features Winterthur as a must-see stop on its Road trip USA: 50 states, 50 stops.
Furniture World Magazine features the announcement of The Establishment Of The Charles F. Montgomery Director.
Delaware Today features Pop-Up Beer Garden as a great way to start your weekend!
The Avon Grove Sun features Pop-Up Beer Garden in conjuction with A Colorful Folk exhibition.
A Colorful Folk exhibition serves as inspiration for beer garden.
Winterthur's Pop-Up Beer Garden featured in The News Journal.
Town & Country features Winterthur's Historic Auto display.
Point-to-Point's race director, Jill Abbott and daughter, Mikki share their wardrobe picks for race day.
A blanket of crocuses reveal spring has finally sprung!
A Colorful Folk featured in the Sunday edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
USA Today takes a closer look at Winterthur's A Colorful Folk exhibition.
The Philadelphia Inquirer features Winterthur's Fraktur exhibition.
Winterthur has been featured in the article: "25 Best Botanical Gardens to Visit on Your Romantic Weekend Getaway" by VacationIdea.
The News Journal takes readers on a tour of The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection, Winterthur's new exhibition.
Antiques and the Arts Weekly examines Winterthur's latest major exhibition, Common Destinations: Maps in the American Experience.
Find out how Estate Historian Maggie Lidz and Director of Exhibits Felice Lamden finalized choices for The Costumes of Downton Abbey on a trip to costume company Cosprop in this USA Today article. The exhibition opens at Winterthur March 1, 2014.
News Journal writer Betsy Price gets a glimpse at preparations for Winterthur's upcoming major exhibtion, The Costumes of Downton Abbey, opening at Winterthur March, 1, 2014.
The beauty of the Brandwyine Valley and the grandeur of Winterthur make the region one of the "Top 10 American Road Trips," according to Forbes Magazine.
The Baltimore Sun takes a closer look at the origns of the very different gardens at Winterthur and Nemours in this facinating article.
New York Times writer Geraldine Fabricant pays a visit to Winterthur and other gems in the region in this article, "36 Hours in the Brandwyine Valley."
More Press Releases...
More News Articles on Winterthur...


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Saturday, March 7, 2009
© Copyright 2015 Clayton News Daily
By Valerie email@example.com Six-year-old BiIly Ward, of Locust Grove, is the youngest recipient ever to be presented with "the key to the city." Billy, a student at Locust Grove Elementary School, was given the key to the city by Locust Grove Mayor Lorene Lindsey when he attended a city council meeting with several family members on March 2. He received the honor because of a letter he wrote to the mayor specifically asking for the key, says Pat Davis, the boy's grandmother. When called, Billy came to the front of the room, stood before the mayor and council and read the letter aloud. His letter, spelled phonetically, detailed his request, and backed up that request with examples of what he would do if he were given the key. "We all got a kick out of it," says Davis. "He did a good job." The student drafted his letter as part of a class assignment, requiring the children to write a persuasive letter, she adds. Because of the students' young age, the teacher explained to the class how to draft a persuasive letter, and what ideas to outline in it. Davis is not sure where Billy got the idea to request the key to the city, but says he may have picked it up from watching television. Kerrie Ward, Billy's mother, says her son wrote in the letter that he would use the key to keep the city safe, and because it was longer than the usual length for a key, he would also use it to exercise. Ward says she first learned about her son's letter during a parent-teacher conference in November. "They [the teachers] instill writing skills at a very early age," says Ward. She says Billy put his creative writing skills to work to complete his assignment. "He has an active imagination." The Wards attend the same church as the mayor, so Kerrie Ward mentioned the letter to Lindsey one Sunday morning in February, adding that Billy's request was for a key. After thinking over the child's request, Lindsey says she decided to grant it. She asked a city employee, who has his own workshop at home, to make the iron key, and affix a pin on the key bearing a picture of the Locust Grove City Hall. Ward says her son, and all of the grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family members in attendance that evening, will remember the moment for a long time. "He'll never forget it," she continues. "All of us will never forget it." Lindsey was impressed by the letter, and the boy's good manners when addressing her and the council. "It was the sweetest thing," she says. "I thought it was wonderful." The city council was not notified in advance that Billy would be given the key to the city, and council member Robert Price was surprised when he entered the council chambers and saw the packed room. "We thought something was up," says Price. "We didn't know about it until it happened, but it was very interesting. We were tickled to death."
More like this story
- Lindsey, Carter end Locust Grove leadership tenures ( December 20, 2011 )
- Lindsey bids farewell as Locust Grove mayor ( January 3, 2012 )
- Locust Grove mayor lauded by other leaders ( November 1, 2011 )
- Brother swears in new Locust Grove councilman ( November 25, 2011 )
- Locust Grove city manger's contract not renewed ( November 28, 2011 )


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Register for Osher programs online or call 414-227-3200. You must be a member to register for any Osher Lecture Series program.
Avoiding Viruses, Spyware, and Malware: Medicine to Protect your Personal Computer
Wed.,, Jul. 8
Bees and Beekeeping: Healing from the Hive
Thu., Jul. 16
History of the Development of Sewer Infrastructure in Milwaukee
Tue., Jul. 7
Introduction to Quakerism
Thu., Jul. 23
Merry Wives of Windsor - Context
Thu., Jul. 9
Refresh and Relax with Hypnosis
Tue., Aug. 4
Sleepless in Milwaukee
Soto Zen, A Buddhist Tradition
Fri., Jul. 10
The Amazing Power of Hypnosis
Tue., Jul. 21
Summer 2015 Osher Catalog
Or download the PDF
Member Quote
"I find membership to be fulfilling. I enjoy the friendships I've made. The courses are intellectually stimulating."
- Stephanie Kasper


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VIDEO/PHOTOS: Hundreds attend meeting to oppose rezoning to Golden Gate High School
Anger over a plan to rezone Collier County schools came to a head Wednesday as hundreds of parents and students spoke out at a meeting in the Golden Gate High School auditorium.
It was the fourth of five informational meetings the Collier County School District is holding after voting to rezone elementary and high schools to meet the class size amendment.
Collier County School Board Vice Chairwoman Julie Sprague stood at the back of the auditorium listening to parents and students argue against the proposal.
"I am still listening. I get e-mails every day from people with new suggestions. And I haven't spoken with the superintendent yet," she said. "But I am pleased so many people have come out to speak about this issue."
Sprague and other district administrators got more than an earful when parents and students packed the auditorium, most to express displeasure with the plan to rezone them to Golden Gate High School to meet the requirements of the class size amendment.
The amendment, which was passed by Florida voters in 2002, requires schools to limit the number of students in core classes such as English and math to 18, 22 or 25 students, depending on grade, by the start of the 2010 school year.
The district is planning to rezone 141 students from Palmetto Ridge High School and a little more than 300 students from Gulf Coast High School to Golden Gate High next year to alleviate overcrowding at the two high schools.
Jennifer Hecker begged district administrators not to rezone her neighborhood.
"Gulf Coast and Golden Gate are not equivalent quality schools. You are depriving our children of an equivalent education," she said. "And you are decreasing our home values in an already depressed market. You do have options. Building additions or adding portables, though expensive, are the equitable solutions. Our children's welfare and our property rights should not be sacrificed as a cost cutting measure."
The School Board voted to rezone students to different schools rather than spend $3 million on portables to supply the needed classrooms.
Golden Gate High senior Danny Joseph, 17, said he was offended that parents asked whether their child would have honors or Advanced Placement classes at Golden Gate.
"If you buy into the stereotypes, your kids will buy into them," he said. "I urge you to take a tour of Golden Gate High School. I am sure you will change your mind."
But Gulf Coast students said they loved their school and they didn't want to move.
"We have the biggest band in Collier County — over 300 kids — and I am part of it," said Gulf Coast sophomore Summer Forbis. "I am in the drum line. I am involved in volleyball, basketball and track and field. ... My sister was part of the first Gulf Coast graduating class in 1999. My brother is a senior this year. The band is going to California next year. For the kids being rezoned, it is not fair at all that we won't be able to go. Some people have already started paying for it. It is not right to rezone us."
Gulf Coast High parent Jeff Raimer said to parents and students who attend the North Naples high school, the issue is not a line on a map.
"Gulf Coast ... represents the best in public education," Raimer said. "Your first concern should be first, do no harm. Closer schools to your homes equals less driving, equals safer driving. I think this whole process is wrong."
Many parents said they did not want their children rezoned from Gulf Coast, which is an A school, to Golden Gate, which is a C school.
Those comments struck a chord with Chief Operations Officer Michele LaBute.
"The worst thing this state has done is give letter grades to schools," she said, adding schools are graded by a percentage of students in certain subgroups making gains on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. "If you are a C school or a D school or an F school, it doesn't mean you offer a poor education. It just means you have more students not achieving as high on achievement tests as other schools."
In the end, most people left the auditorium with the attitude they had when they came in. But Golden Gate High School senior Alex Morris hoped they would change their minds about the rezoning.
"This rezoning is going to mean your students are going to have more one-on-one time with their teachers," said Alex, who has a 4.0 grade point average. "We are the most diverse school in Collier County. There are no gangs, there is no violence. What are you afraid of?"
The final meeting for parents and students to express opinions about the proposed rezoning maps is 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. administrative center, 5775 Osceola Trail.
The rezoning proposal goes to the school board for its first reading Jan. 21.


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Around the House
Around the House
Around the Yard
Around the House
Keep reusable shopping bags in your car and in every pocketbook.
Replace your light bulbs with CFL's or LED lights.(see Environmental Working Group's best list)
Insulate your water heater and turn your water heater temperature down to 120 degrees.
Turn off lights when you're out of a room.
Use a power cord and turn off all computers, stereos and TVs if you do not use them for longer than an hour. Buy only rechargeable batteries.
Dry your clothes on a clothes line.
Avoid buying toxic household products (detergents, cleaners, paint, etc.).
Use cold water in the washer when possible.
Ask your utility company for an energy audit.
Use a programmable wall thermostat.
Keep your refrigerator's coils clean. Store cold water in fridge (and freezer) to help it stay cold.
Use the air dry option on your dishwasher or open the door.
Carry stainless steel water bottles, and refill with tap water.
Recycle everything possible. Donate reusable items to charities or list them on online (freecycle.com).
Put a brick in older toilets.
Coat older windows with reflective "low-e" film. Weatherstrip around windows and doors. Or replace old windows with insulated windows.
Invest in ceiling fans, not air conditioners.
Insulate your attic.
When you upgrade your appliances, buy Energy Star.
Install solar panels. Buy a wind turbine.
Ride a bike.
A small oven is much more efficient than a large oven.
Make low-impact food choices. Local, low on the food chain, organic.
Avoid overexploited fish and non-recyclable packaging.
|The Rocky Mountain Institute estimates the average single family American home emits 26,028 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.
Around the Yard
Plant vegetable gardens, not lawns !
Compost as much as possible.
Pull weeds or kill with something natural like orange oil or vinegar.
Apply only organic fertilizers.
Harvest rainwater from your spouts to water your plants.
Green your roof !
Use mulch to conserve water in your garden.
Use an old-fashioned manual push or electric mower.
Take plastic pots back to the nursery.
Plant native dense shrubs close to your foundation to help insulate your home.
If you live in a hot climate plant native shade trees.
Install outdoor solar lights
Consider porous paving stones for driveways, etc...
|Lawn mowers and other gas-powered lawn care equipment contribute to 10% of the nation's air pollution. EPA
|Articles that might inspire you.....What you can do....
|"Why Bother?" Great article by Micheal Pollan from the NY Times, April 20, 2008. ***
|Rocky Mountain Institute. "Cool Citizens: Everyday Solutions to Climate Change: Household Solutions Brief" describes how homeowners or renters can lighten their impact on the earth's changing climate by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from households. PDF.
|Around the Yard
|Native Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center offers a searchable database of more than 7,000 native American plants.
|NRDC. You can help keep bees healthy by making your yard and garden colorful, diverse and pesticide free. Here are some tips from NRDC on how you can be Bee friendly.
|"Turf War" Americans can't live without their lawns—but how
long can they live with them? Excerpt from book
by Elizabeth Kolbert
|Rain barrel instuctions-make your own.
|"Why Mow? The Case Against Lawns" by Micheal Pollan.
NY Times Magazine. May 28, 1989. Old but appropriate.
|Safe lawn's mission is to educate society about the benefits of environmentally responsible lawn care and gardening. How to videos and tips.
|Cleaning Tips
|Earth Easy. Non-Toxic Home Cleaning Tips, Substitutions and Safe Formulas to make from scratch.
|Monthly Challenge Program provides one new thing to implement into our lives each month, slowly guiding us along a path toward sustainability. For even the busiest of folks. A "one step at a time" approach.
|Throwplace is a site where global users may list goods they wish to give away to others. Registered Charities, Businesses or Individuals are able to search the site and make requests for items of interest. Items listed on Throwplace are not for sale— they are to be donated.
|Simple Living Network, newsletter, community forums, study circles, tips.
|Center for a New American Dream, non-profit works with individuals, institutions, communities and businesses to conserve natural resources, counter the commercialization of our culture and promote positive changes in the way goods are produced and consumed.''
|Freecycle Network is made up of 4,682 groups with 6,459,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.
|Stop the Junk Mail:
|OptOutPrescreen.com is a centralized service to accept and process requests from consumers to "Opt-In" or "Opt-Out" of firm offers of credit and/or insurance.
|Catalog Choice is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. It is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund.
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Recent Issues Blog Posts
Our Universe is absolutely huge! We are but a speck in space.
The Climate Accountability Institute has updated its Carbon Majors Project which details the direct and product-related emissions traced to the major industrial carbon producers in the oil, natural gas, coal, and cement industries through 2013.
Avgas (aviation gas) contains lead and avgas is unregulated. Aviation aircraft is the single largest source of lead emissions.
Record Warmth in Northeastern Canada, Norway, Denmark. Record cold in Indiana and Arkansas.
Recent Building Blog Posts
Each year in the UK there is a Shed of the Year Contest.
Klinker or clinker bricks were overcooked rejects, a product of intense and smokey coal-fired kilns. They were considered a waste product until early Craftsman builders found their sculptural architectural merits.
Beautiful buildings but the thought of birds flying into the glass is dreadful, so all large panes of mirror should have a deterrent, like a hawk cut-out or strips of ribbon hanging in front. Nesting season would be a particularly problematic time.
No maintenance, long lasting, impenetrable poplar bark siding is a cradle to cradle siding option.
Recent Art Blog Posts
Honey and butterfly Godess paintings by Lea Bradovich.
Robert Tatin's sculptural retirement home in France.
Bark Furniture and Accessories. Bring bark indoors. It is long lasting and visually interesting.
Karen Hackenberg paints local beach-found detritus that washes up near her Discovery Bay, Washington studio.
Recent Movies Blog Posts
Eight minute short film on the health of the oceans expressed through art.
Our fate is tied to even the smallest of creatures...
A Permaculture Perspective.
The Plastic Age A Documentary


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Saudi king's call for ban on photos of women a non-event
This just in: Evidently reports that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had banned publication of photos of women in his country's newspapers were incorrect.
As far as we know.
There was a bit of a dust-up last week when it was reported that Abdullah, seen as a cautious reformer in the Saudi context, had talked up such a prohibition.
Reportedly, while meeting with Saudi editors, he addressed the issue. He was quoted as saying, "One must think, 'Do they want their daughter, their sister, or their wife to appear in this way?' Of course, no one would accept this."
Predictably, that set off a fluttering in the West. But hold on. Friday brought a rebuttal from Saudi Arabia's Arab News, an English-language paper. By its account, the purported ban had never been imposed; rather, the king had just commented unfavorably about "provocative" photos of women.
An official of the Ministry of Culture and Information elaborated: "The king was referring to indecent pictures in general and not women's pictures in particular. He didn't allude to women at all."
This does not amount to the king's embracing U.S. pop culture. But, assuming the correction is correct, it reminds us that, before we roll out the artillery, we need to get the story straight - particularly when it bears on a nation that casts a long shadow in a turbulent, dangerous corner of the world.
Correction/ clarification
A Thorns & Roses editorial on Friday incorrectly named Luis T. Lamas as the mayor of Ingleside. The mayor is Elaine W. Kemp. Lamas and Debra K.L. Sanders flipped a coin for a council position.
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LD Remanufactured Replacement High Yield Matte Black Ink Cartridge for C9403A / HP 72
The high-quality LD remanufactured C9403A (HP 72) high yield matte black inkjet cartridge is an OEM HP C9403A cartridge that has been professionally remanufactured by LD Products after one cycle of service. This remanufactured LD cartridge for HP 72 comes equipped with an ink indicator chip that accurately tracks your ink levels and communicates with your printer to be sure you are receiving the best quality print possible.
Our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee ensures that you will get excellent printouts when you buy our remanufactured C9403A. LD remanufactured ink cartridges are not remanufactured by HP.
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Hewlett Packard (HP) - DesignJet
|OEM Number
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|Shelf Life
|12-18 Months


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Likes stadium, but not one funded by public money
Letters to the editor for Dec. 27, 2013: Football stadium; no-frills life; military sacrifice; sexual predators; rare tiger's death; Americans' freedom
Yes on sports palace, but no on public dime
Thank you for recognizing the major infrastructure deficiencies in our neighborhoods ("Christmas: What can we give back?" Dec. 25). The U-T's support means a lot.
Could you please, however, not hold our neighborhoods hostage to the creation of a sports palace at public expense? If San Diego cannot figure out how to turn the Qualcomm site into a sports wonderland by upgrading the current venue and using the rest of the 160 acres to finance the dream, then we don't deserve it.
Gary Weber
Normal Heights
Fears congestion from stadium
Anyone who viewed the backup on the freeways around Qualcomm Stadium around noon this past Sunday would surely question the concept of building an NFL stadium anywhere in downtown.
P.S., I'm not against a new, privately funded stadium.
Robert Lang
Leading a simple life is all we need
Regarding "The spirit of giving" op-ed by Bishop Cirilo Flores (Dec. 22): I agree with the good bishop on the necessity of giving and helping those in need. But, mankind has heard this refrain since antiquity.
What exactly is it within our society that will bring about the words of both Pope Francis and our own Catholic bishop in shunning the trappings of opulence and excess? From cradle to grave, we are brainwashed into believing what we need, what we must acquire and how to be fashionable and cool.
My father as a child wore clothes made of potato sacks sewn by my grandmother. Imagine this today — come to think of it, it might be a moneymaker. The point is, in large measure, we love to pretend, and everyone has a claim on King Tut.
Would it not be refreshing if folks were just happy with good health, family and friends? The way that I view the new Catholic order regarding the so-called folly of "trickle down" economics is vote your conscience. The Jesuits had it right a generation ago. I say it's all a revival of the old religious left.
Daniel J. Smiechowski
San Diego
Military giving more, receiving less
A Dec. 24 story said Marines were poised to enter Sudan.
After a foray there, news will be brought to the doors of some families, as well to the rest of America through newspapers and TV. Some will hear of the loss of a son, daughter, husband, wife, father or mother. This would be following our military folks being told their pensions will be reduced and medical fees are rising and being forewarned commissaries might have to close.
All this is being done by our congressional leaders to balance the budget they can't control. Of course they went on their holiday break after taking care of business. They have a backlog in claims for active and discharged veterans that can't be cleared until sometime in 2015. They can add to that list the ones who will be injured in all the places our volunteer military serve to protect our country.


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BANKING that benefits everyone?
The UK Stem Cell Bank in South Mimms is about to receive a deposit from Peter Braude's team at King's College London: human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that are safe to use in medical applications. Best of all, researchers will be able to withdraw the cells for free.
The two new cell lines differ from all other known sources of hESCs because they have never been exposed to animal products, and so carry no risks of passing on animal diseases to patients.
"These are going in the bank for public benefit," says Braude. His team has spent 10 years developing the "clinical grade" stem cells. "They're in the public domain for national and international use." Industry may have to pay for the cells, though.
"Something should go back into the public pocket," Braude says.
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Just minutes later, Dan Rather describes the collapse of Building 7:
"…the collapse of this building … amazing, incredible… pick your word. For the third time today, it's reminiscent of those pictures we've all seen too much on television before when a building was deliberately destroyed by well-placed dynamite to knock it down."
"I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile."
–Condoleezza Rice, May 16, 2002
Late 1980s, throughout the 1990s:
October 2000:
September Song
A Review of "The New Pearl Harbor"
By Marc Estrin
The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11
David Ray Griffin
Olive Branch Press, 2004
Paper, 214 pp, $15.00
The official story goes something like this:
With no actionable warning from intelligence agencies, four planes were hijacked by terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001. Two crashed into the Word Trade Center, which then collapsed, and shortly thereafter, the third into the Pentagon. The last plane went down in Pennsylvania after a struggle between passengers and hijackers. Air defense arrived too late to stop the catastrophes. Responding to this attack on the homeland, the president declared a global war on terror which may last for generations until evil is finally eradicated, the security of America firmly established, and the world made safe for freedom and democracy.
In The New Pearl Harbor, David Ray Griffin compiles the evidence that every single assertion in the official story is implausible or impossible, and that something other must explain the inconsistencies and contra-factual assertions.
The implications of the accumulated evidence is that the Bush administration was complicit in the events of September 11th, and not merely a victim of structural problems or incompetence on the part of the intelligence establishment. In a nuanced discussion of "complicity", Griffin distinguishes eight possible levels, from the lying about events to maximize political ends, through intentionally allowing expected attacks, to actual involvement in the planning of them.
Griffin does not make specific accusations, nor does he hypothesize a "true" version of what happened. But he does demand unflinching investigations of all the contradictions, clear reporting of the results, and most difficult, a courageous drawing of conclusions, no matter how "unthinkable" or outrageous they may appear.
Excellent review of Griffin's tour de force by the intrepid Counterpunch crew, one of the few lefty journals willing to even look at that day.
In the months since the book was published, we have been swamped with news from the 9/11 Commission concerning both domestic and foreign intelligence which indicated a large and imminent attack on the United States. But the Commission, its members appointed by President Bush, is focusing on the future. According to Vice-Chair Lee Hamilton, "We're not interested in trying to assess blame…" Their goal is to understand what happened so as to restructure intelligence so that such "a breakdown" may not happen again. Given this limited mandate, almost none of the contradictions Griffin raises is likely to be discussed, or its ramifications analyzed before the case is closed.
The first part of The New Pearl Harbor looks in detail at the timeline and events of 9/11 itself. How is it, Griffin asks, that even the first airplane was not intercepted — given standard procedures, operating normally many times a year, for off-course or otherwise anomalous aircraft? The FAA, NORAD, and the NMCC (National Military Command Center at the Pentagon) have a clear and working set of standard operating procedures which on September 11th, and on that day only, failed to operate. Griffin lays them out, along with the strange, and changing official excuses for their "failure". Continue reading
By JOHN DOBBERSTEIN Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND — The laboratory director from a South Bend firm has been fired for attempting to cast doubt on the federal investigation into what caused the World Trade Center's twin towers to collapse on Sept. 11, 2001.
Kevin R. Ryan was terminated Tuesday from his job at Environmental Health Laboratories Inc., a subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories Inc., the consumer-product safety testing giant.
On Nov. 11, Ryan wrote a letter to the National Institute of Standards and Technology — the agency probing the collapse — challenging the common theory that burning jet fuel weakened the steel supports holding up the 110-story skyscrapers.
Underwriters Laboratories Inc., according to Ryan, "was the company that certified the steel components used in the construction of the WTC buildings."
Ryan wrote that last year, while "requesting information," UL's chief executive officer and fire protection business manager disagreed about key issues surrounding the collapse, "except for one thing — that the samples we certified met all requirements."
UL vehemently denied last week that it ever certified the materials.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is conducting a $16 million, two-year investigation of the collapse of the twin towers. The agency expects to issue a draft report in January, and UL has played a limited role in the investigation.
Ryan wrote that the institute's preliminary reports suggest the WTC's supports were probably… Continue reading
by Jim Hoffman
Version 1.0, February 7, 2005
The Hearst-owned Popular Mechanics magazine takes aim at the 9/11 Truth Movement with a cover story in its March 2005 edition. Sandwiched between ads and features for monster trucks, Nascar paraphenelia, and off-road racing are twelve dense and brilliantly designed pages purporting to debunk the myths of 9/11.
The article's approach is to identify the 9/11 skeptics movement with a series of mostly physical-evidence issues, while entirely ignoring vast bodies of evidence that only insiders had the means, motive, and opportunity to carry out the attack.
The article gives no hint of the put options on the targeted airlines, warnings received by government and corporate officials, complicit behavior by top officials, obstruction of justice by a much larger group, or obvious frauds in the official story. Instead it attacks a mere 16 claims of its choosing, which it asserts are the "most prevalent" among "conspiracy theorists." The claims are grouped into themes which cover some of the subjects central to the analysis of 9-11 Research. However, for each theme, the article presents specious claims to divert the reader from understanding the issue. For example, the three pages devoted to attacking the Twin Towers' demolition present three red-herring claims and avoid the dozens of points I feature in my presentations, such as the Twin Towers' Demolition.
The article brackets its distortion of the issues highlighted by 9/11 skeptics with smears against the skeptics themselves, whom… Continue reading
by David Ray Griffin
Testimony at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference 2005 (September 21-24, Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC) for the session, 'The 9/11 Omission: What the Commission Got Wrong,' September 23, 2005, sponsored by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA):
There have been two main theories about 9/11, each of which is a conspiracy theory. The official conspiracy theory says that the attacks were planned and carried out entirely by al-Qaeda. The alternative theory says that the attacks could not have succeeded without the involvement of forces within our own government.
In examining The 9/11 Commission Report , I have focused on how it dealt with evidence supportive of the alternative theory. I have found that it did so by distorting or simply ignoring this evidence. This is no surprise, because the man running the Commission, Philip Zelikow, was essentially a member of the Bush-Cheney administration. But it is a fact that needs to be brought to light.
Because there are so many omissions and distortions—in my book I identified at least 115—I can point to a significant percentage of them only by moving through my representative list quite quickly.…Continue reading
by Will Bunch
Philadelphia Daily News
March 25, 2005
It has been more than three and a half years since the terror attacks of Sept. 11. The main perpetrators have been ID'd by the government and died in the suicide assault, and key planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is also in custody.
Yet both the federal government and New York officials continue to block the public's right to know more about what really happened that day — even though it's the family members of the victims of the tragic attack now pleading for a fuller public account.
In blocking the free exchange of information, public officials are heavily damaging one of the key democratic values that the terrorists themselves so badly wanted to knock down on 9/11/01. The latest blow came yesterday from a New York courtroom:
The emergency phone calls made by people trapped inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, need not be released to the public, a New York court ruled Thursday.
The New York State Court of Appeals declined to grant the wish of September 11 families who joined in a lawsuit seeking release of all tapes and transcripts of calls made from inside the Twin Towers to 9-1-1 operators.
"We are not persuaded that such disclosure is required by the public interest," the judges said in their ruling.
Instead, it agreed only to the release of calls from any relatives of the eight families who joined a lawsuit, originally filed by The New York… Continue reading
The 9/11 Commission v. 19 Named Muslims:
A Trial in Absentia
Gary Wenkle Smith1
[This article first appeared in The Warrior, the official journal of the Trial Lawyers College (www.triallawyerscollege.com) and is reprinted here with permission.]
Within a few hours after the 9/11 attacks, our government named a group of 19 Muslim men as the principal players in the most devastating attack on this country–even more so than Pearl Harbor, as it was mostly civilians who were murdered on 9/11, unlike the mass murder of our sailors by another military power. Further, in addition to approximately 3,000 murders, there could easily be many counts of attempted murder2 charged, as well. Assuming an indictment is issued, there will undoubtedly be dozens of kidnapping charges, some major theft counts, destruction of public and private property, and sundry other charges arising out of the death and destruction of that day's events. Of course, the principal charge will be the conspiracy to commit these crimes. The 9/11 Commission Report, frequently referred to as the Kean-Zelikow Report3, has concluded that the 19 named Muslims were the operatives of Osama bin Laden, and that they conspired to hijack airliners and commit the atrocities of 9/11.
I will proceed with this article as though I had… Continue reading
by Bruce David and Carolyn Sinclair
Hustler magazine – August 2005
We all know what happened on September 11, 2001 – Osama bin Laden inspired 19 Muslim extremists to hijack commercial airplanes and fly them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. But what if it didn't happen that way at all?
David Ray Griffin is a professor of theology, a well-respected scholar and author of more than 20 books, including The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions and The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11. Griffin maintains that the evidence contradicts the government's official story and that, so far, nobody's come up with a theory that can account for all of the facts.
At HUSTLER we believe the murder of 2,987 innocent people demands hard questions and digging deeper. We're especially troubled by the collapse of Building 7, but we're determined to keep an open mind. As such, we sit down with Griffin to discuss what appear to be disturbing inconsistencies with the government's story.
Imagining Dr. G's national magazine debut in Hustler may cause a bit of cognitive dissonance, but his truths will now go out to a huge audience among our troops. While many may find the surrounding XXX scenery outrageously raw or offensive, the presentation of Griffin's interview is extremely sympathetic, lengthy and well done.
Larry Flynt has been both edgy and successful with his earlier campaigns targeting J. Edgar Hoover, rightwing censors,… Continue reading
(Aug. 2005)?
"You know like when they demolish a building, how when they blow up a building, when it falls down? That's what I thought I saw."
This month the New York Times published a vast online archive of emergency-call tapes, radio transcripts and first responders' oral histories of September 11th at the World Trade Center. The Times waged a long legal battle with the City of New York to gain the records' release under the Freedom of Information Act.?
New York Times: The 9/11 Records (front page)
The Sept. 11 Records The complete set of the oral histories of rescue workers and audio of dispatch transmissions from Sept. 11.?
9/11 researchers combing through the new documents are discovering a surprising number of witnesses who said they saw or heard bombs going off at the WTC, among other anomalies, in some cases long before the buildings came down. One anonymous researcher has compiled many such passages from firefighters' testimonies . A discussion thread at a 9/11 forum includes a few more, plus a number of seemingly outlandish statements as well as counter-arguments from debunkers.?
We're not sure where this line of inquiry is heading, but it's hard not to be impressed by items like the following:
Gregory Stephen, Assistant Commissioner (F.D.N.Y.) p 14
A. No. I know I was with an officer from Ladder 146, a Lieutenant Evangelista, who ultimately called me up a couple of days later just to find out how I was. We both for… Continue reading
by Dr. David Ray Griffin
Testimony at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference 2005 (September 21-24, Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC) for the session, ?The 9/11 Omission: What the Commission Got Wrong,? September 23, 2005, sponsored by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA):
There have been two main theories about 9/11, each of which is a conspiracy theory. The official conspiracy theory says that the attacks were planned and carried out entirely by al-Qaeda. The alternative theory says that the attacks could not have succeeded without the involvement of forces within our own government.
In examining The 9/11 Commission Report, I have focused on how it dealt with evidence supportive of the alternative theory. I have found that it did so by distorting or simply ignoring this evidence. This is no surprise, because the man running the Commission, Philip Zelikow, was essentially a member of the Bush-Cheney administration. But it is a fact that needs to be brought to light.
Because there are so many omissions and distortions—in my book I identified at least 115—I can point to a significant percentage of them only by moving through my representative list quite quickly.
Flights 11 and 175
I will begin with the question of how hijacked airliners could have struck the Twin Towers.
The Commission?s answer was the third answer we have been given to that question. The first answer, given by military leaders the first few days after 9/11, was that no fighter jets were sent up until after… Continue reading
by David Ray Griffin
"[T]here was just an explosion [in the south tower]. It seemed like on television [when] they blow up these buildings. It seemed like it was going all the way around like a belt, all these explosions."
–Firefighter Richard Banaciski
"I saw a flash flash flash [at] the lower level of the building. You know like when they demolish a building?"
–Assistant Fire Commissioner Stephen Gregory
"[I]t was [like a] professional demolition where they set the charges on certain floors and then you hear 'Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop'."
–Paramedic Daniel Rivera
The above quotations come from a collection of 9/11 oral histories that, although recorded by the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) at the end of 2001, were publicly released only on August 12, 2005. Prior to that date, very few Americans knew the content of these accounts or even the fact that they existed.
Why have we not known about them until recently? Part of the answer is that the city of New York would not release them until it was forced to do so. Early in 2002, the New York Times requested copies under the freedom of information act, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration refused. So the Times, joined by several families of 9/11 victims, filed suit. After a long process, the city was finally ordered by the New York Court of Appeals to release the records (with some exceptions and redactions allowed). Included were oral histories, in interview form, provided… Continue reading
In The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 (2004), I summarized dozens of facts and reports that cast doubt on the official story about 9/11. Then in The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions (2005a), I discussed the way these various facts and reports were treated by the 9/11 Commission, namely, by distorting or simply omitting them. I have also taken this big-picture approach, with its cumulative argument, in my previous essays and lectures on 9/11 (Griffin, 2005b and 2005d).[1] This approach, which shows every aspect of the official story to be problematic, provides the most effective challenge to the official story.
But this way of presenting the evidence has one great limitation, especially when used in lectures and essays: It means that the treatment of every particular issue must be quite brief, hence superficial. People can thereby be led to suspect that a more thorough treatment of any particular issue might show the official story to be plausible after all.
In the present essay, I focus on one question: why the Twin Towers and building 7 of the World Trade Center collapsed. One advantage of this focus, besides the fact that it allows us to go into considerable detail, is that the destruction of the World Trade Center provides one of the best windows into the truth about 9/11. Another advantage of this focus is that it will allow us to look at revelations contained in the 9/11 oral histories, which were recorded… Continue reading
They include Robert M. Bowman, former director of the U.S. "Star Wars" space defense program, and Morgan Reynolds, former chief economist for the Department of Labor in President George W. Bush's first term. Most of the members are less well-known.
The group's Web site ([url]www.ST911.org[/url]) includes an updated version of Jones's paper about the collapse of the Twin Towers and a paper by Fetzer that looks at conspiracy theories. The government's version of the events of 9/11, that the plane's hijackers were tied to Osama bin Laden, is its own conspiracy theory, says Fetzer, who has studied the John F. Kennedy assassination since 1992.
"Did the Bush administration know in advance about the impending attacks that occurred on 9/11, and allow these to happen, to provoke pre-planned wars against Afghanistan and Iraq? These questions demand immediate answers," charges a paper written collectively by Scholars for 9/11 Truth. The group plans to write more papers, and present lectures and conferences.
"We have very limited resources and no subpoena powers," Fetzer said. "What you have is a bunch of serious scholars taking a look at this and discovering it didn't add up. We don't have a political ax to grind."
Fetzer has doctorates in the history and philosophy of science. "One of the roles I can play here," he said, "is to explain why a certain line of argument is correct or not."
In his original message to potential members last month, Fetzer warned that joining the group might make them the… Continue reading
Source: The Miami Herald
I was 8 years old when President John Kennedy was shot to death in Dallas in 1963. If grace favors me, I'll be 62 when documents related to the assassination are released to the public, and 84 when the Warren Commission's investigative files into the tragedy are finally opened.
That's a long time to wait for a chance to evaluate the purported truth.
It's a blot on the presumed sophistication of the people of the United States that any aspect of an event so dramatic and shocking should be kept from us. Perhaps it's true, to abuse the line from A Few Good Men yet again, that we can't handle the truth. But there cannot be genuine resolution as long as such critical information remains concealed.
Transformed by 9/11
Since Kennedy's assassination, Americans have lurched between demanding to know and plugging their ears: The Pentagon Papers, My Lai, the King assassination, Watergate, Iran-contra, the savings-and-loan debacle, Monicagate. Lately, however, it would seem the public's verdict is in: Don't tell us. Keep us in the dark. We don't want to know.
This is the worst possible time for probe-ophobia to grip us. Our nation was irretrievably transformed by 9/11 — and yet there remain troubling questions about what really happened before, during and after that day. Rather than demanding a full and fearless vetting to hone in on the truth and silence the conjecture about 9/11, many Americans remain unwilling to peer into the… Continue reading
February 1, 2006
Seminar: "9/11 Revisited: Scientific and Ethical Questions," by Prof. Steven E. Jones
7:00 – 8:30 p.m., at CS 404 at Utah Valley State College in Orem, Utah
Thanks to www.911truthseekers.org for the original version, and www.911blogger.com for hosting the video: Click Here
Thanks to dz from www.911blogger.com for making Professor Jones' slides available for download: Click Here
Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Ethics and the School of Science and Health
Why, Indeed, Did the WTC Buildings Collapse? by Steven E. Jones
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Press Release posted at YahooNews: Experts Claim Official 9/11 Story is a Hoax
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BYU professor's group accuses U.S. officials of lying about 9/11
By Elaine Jarvik
Deseret Morning News
Last fall, Brigham Young University physics professor Steven E. Jones made headlines when he charged that the World Trade Center collapsed because of "pre-positioned explosives." Now, along with a group that calls itself "Scholars for 9/11 Truth," he's upping the ante.
"We believe that senior government officials have covered up crucial facts about what really happened on 9/11," the group says in a statement released Friday announcing its formation. "We believe these events may have been orchestrated by the administration in order to manipulate the American people into supporting policies at home and abroad."
Headed by Jones and Jim Fetzer, University of Minnesota Duluth distinguished McKnight professor of philosophy, the group is made up of 50 academicians and others.
They include… Continue reading
March 28,2006
"Already there is near-consensus as to the sequence of events that led to the collapse of the World Trade Center."–Shankar Nair, as quoted in the Chicago Tribune, September 19, 2001
Turn on C-Span, or "Meet The Press," or any other media program presenting federal officials. Whatever the issue, it always comes back to the same thing. Our government really has nothing else to offer us but protection from another 9/11. It uses this painful story to cut public services, eliminate our basic rights, and plunder the national coffers. But for many of us, it is not entirely clear from whom we most need protection.1 As our debt explodes and our freedoms diminish, it would be wise to maintain focus on the origins of our War on Terror. No matter where this war leads us, we will need to keep the beginning in mind if we ever hope to see an end.
The Point of Origin: The Collapse of the WTC
Many have found that the 9/11 Commission not only failed to help us understand what happened; it also omitted or distorted most of the facts.2 But if we really want to zero in on the exact turning point around which we plunged into chaos, we need to focus in particular on the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. This is where our hearts were wrenched and our minds were made ready for never-ending war, torture, and apparently the end of everything that was American.… Continue reading
Extremely hot fires caused structures to fail, BYU expert says
By Suzanne Dean
For the Deseret Morning News
EPHRAIM — A Brigham Young University physicist said he now believes an incendiary substance called thermite, bolstered by sulfur, was used to generate exceptionally hot fires at the World Trade Center on 9/11, causing the structural steel to fail and the buildings to collapse.
"It looks like thermite with sulfur added, which really is a very clever idea," Steven Jones, professor of physics at BYU, told a meeting of the Utah Academy of Science, Arts and Letters at Snow College Friday.
The government requires standard explosives to contain tag elements enabling them to be traced back to their manufacturers. But no tags are required in aluminum and iron oxide, the materials used to make thermite, he said. Nor, he said, are tags required in sulfur.
Jones is co-chairman, with James H. Fetzer, a distinguished professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group of college faculty members who believe conspirators other than pilots of the planes were directly involved in bringing down New York's Trade Towers.
The group, which Jones said has 200 members, maintains a Web site at www.st911.org. A 40-page paper by Jones, along with other peer-reviewed and non-reviewed academic papers, are posted on the site.
Last year, Jones presented various arguments for his theory that explosives or incendiary devices were planted in the Trade Towers, and in WTC 7, a smaller building… Continue reading