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Above is Bryant Cottage at the Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo. A judge has ordered the home to be reopened. / Charlie Litchfield/Register File Photo
Juvenile Home task force chairman Jerry Foxhoven says 'It's just hard to imagine that all of a sudden we'd have 50 kids back there, or even 20.' / Christopher Gannon/Register File Photo
More reaction to Juvenile Home court ruling
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Gov. Terry Branstad, who issued a statement, praised Wednesdays ruling by Polk County District Court Judge Scott D. Rosenberg.
House Minority Leader MARK SMITH, a Marshall County Democrat: Im pleased with the courts ruling ... Its time for the governor to work with us on the bipartisan bill offered in the legislature that will not only improve our statewide assessment system for both boys and girls, but also create an accredited treatment center for females at the Iowa Juvenile Home location.
DANNY HOMAN, president of Iowa Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees: Iowas young girls are the real winners in this decision. For the sake of the safety of Iowas children, the governor should immediately comply with this court order and reopen the Iowa Juvenile Home as instructed by the district court.
SEN. JACK HATCH, a Polk County Democrat running for governor: Iowans never wanted to abandon these children ... The Senate has already begun work on legislation that will fundamentally reform how Iowa helps all troubled Iowa children, especially girls. Gov. Branstad should join the conversation about how to implement a new, more effective, and more accountable statewide approach to helping Iowa boys and girls who need serious help.
GOV. TERRY BRANSTADS statement read, in part: The governors utmost concern is the health, safety and education of the children who did not receive adequate care at the Iowa Juvenile Home. Because the children werent receiving the education they deserve and their safety and treatment were being compromised, Gov. Branstad believed seeking alternative court-ordered placements in licensed and accredited facilities or in their own homes was in the best interest of the children. ... The decision to seek alternative placement for the youth was a decision the governor didnt make lightly and was made only after the governor met with Disability Rights Iowa and appointed and received recommendations of the independent Iowa Juvenile Home Protection Task Force.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairman SCOTT BRENNAN said the juvenile-home closing was another example of Terry Branstad picking and choosing which laws he obeys and which laws he ignores. Brennan said that throughout his career the governor has tried to run this state like his personal kingdom, willfully ignoring laws and making decisions with no more input than talking with himself in a mirror.
Judge Scott D. Rosenberg says the state must 'reopen the Toledo home and abide by the duly passed laws of the state of Iowa.' / Justin Hayworth/Register File Photo
A court order directing the state to reopen the Iowa Juvenile Home has left legislators and the governors office scrambling to figure out their next move.
Declaring that we are a nation of laws, District Court Judge Scott D. Rosenberg ruled that Iowas Executive Branch, led by Branstad, cannot unilaterally decide which laws it will obey and which laws it will not.
Rosenberg said that by ordering the home closed in December, Branstad chose to essentially ignore the law of the state of Iowa.
The judge ordered the governor and the Iowa Department of Human Services to reopen the Toledo home and abide by the duly passed laws of the state of Iowa.
But Jerry Foxhoven, a Drake University law professor who recently chaired the governors Iowa Juvenile Home Protection Task Force, said Rosenbergs ruling poses a real challenge for the state now that the 27-acre campus has been shuttered, its 93 workers laid off and its juvenile clients relocated.
I am sure at this point the state is stepping back and saying, OK, what are we going to do now? Foxhoven said. Its difficult to see where in the short term this is going to lead.
Register Investigation: Years of problems before state-run home is closed
This order doesnt say how the state has to staff the home. Obviously, you could have a facility thats open, but with one staff and one kid there, or one kid and three staffers. Its just hard to imagine that all of a sudden wed have 50 kids back there, or even 20.
Branstad spokesman Jimmy Centers declined to say how the governor will respond to the ruling, but said Branstad still believes alternative placements are in the best interests of children who would otherwise be sent to Toledo.
Spokesmen for the Iowa Department of Human Services, which ran the home, and the attorney generals office said only that they are reviewing the ruling.
Because Wednesdays court ruling faulted the manner in which the governor acted and not what he was trying to achieve Branstad could attempt to close the home effective July 1, which is the beginning of the next fiscal year, by vetoing any appropriation for the home thats made in the current legislative session.
However, such a veto by itself might not be enough to close the home. As Rosenberg pointed out in his ruling, there are several long-standing laws on the books that anticipate the home is operational and in existence, and closing the home would render those laws ineffectual.
I think were all concerned about the fact that the governor could simply veto the next appropriation (for the home), said state Sen. Steve Sodders, a State Center Democrat who was one of five plaintiffs in the case.
He said hes hopeful Branstad will instead support legislation that establishes a new juvenile-care facility one with an expanded mission and more juveniles to house on the Toledo campus.
Attorneys, mayor, ex-resident react
Reaction to Wednesdays ruling was mixed.
This looks like a pure, 100 percent win for us, said the attorney for the plaintiffs, Mark Hedberg. Remember, the case itself has little to do with the merits of the facility, and everything to do with the constitutionality of the governors actions.
Regardless of what we like or dislike about a facility, a program, or an institution, we do have a constitution and the Iowa Legislature passed a law appropriating money to keep the home open. Its not the governors prerogative to close the home.
Mary M. Richard, a Coralville attorney who specializes in special-education law, said she disagreed with the judges decision. In a checks-and-balances system of government, it makes no sense that the states top executive is without power to shut down a state facility with a long, documented history of abusing children who are wards of the state, she said.
Toledo Mayor Dave Svoboda, who has led an effort to reopen the home, called the ruling very good news. The problem is that a lot of damage has already been done, Svoboda said. The workers are all scattered now, and the girls who lived there have been shipped out to other places. So the process of reopening the home well, I guess they will just have to start over from scratch.
Amber Opdahl, who lived at the home from 1996 to 2000, said Wednesday was a happy-tears day for her because she supports the home, its mission and its staff.
I pray that the professionals who have done so much for me and many other young women are allowed to be reinstated to their positions, she said.
Judge calls state's argument 'absurd'
Four Democratic state lawmakers and the head of the state employees union went to court last month to argue that the state-run facility, which was shut down Jan. 16 by order of the Republican governor, should be reopened.
They claimed the shutdown amounted to an unlawful use of the $8.8 million that legislators had appropriated to operate the home through June 2014. They sought an injunction to prevent what they called the unconstitutional impoundment of the money, as well as a ruling on the constitutionality of the governors actions.
The Iowa attorney generals office, representing the governor and the Department of Human Services, argued that the state had the authority to spend none of the $8.8 million appropriation if it so chose, and said there is no risk of any harm to the general public when appropriations are not spent as planned by legislators.
In his ruling, Rosenberg called that argument absurd and disingenuous and said such a view would lead to ridiculous and illogical results.
If the governor of the State of Iowa decided that the Toledo home should not operate, he had the opportunity to end its operation when the appropriations bill was placed upon his desk for signature, Rosenberg wrote.
At that point, the governor could have vetoed the bill. To later, however, decide that the Toledo home should no longer operate under any circumstances is not only a failure to carry out his constitutional duties to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, but is an affront to the very purpose and establishment of our governmental institutions as adopted by the constitution of the State of Iowa with the approval of the people of the State of Iowa.
The danger in allowing such an action to happen is the destruction of our republican form of government itself and the democracy which it is designed to serve for the general welfare of all of its citizens.
Two weeks before the home closed, four Democratic state lawmakers and the head of the state employees union filed their lawsuit against the governor and Charles Palmer, the head of the states Department of Human Services.
And while the plaintiffs claimed potential injury to both the youths who have been relocated and the workers who have been laid off, the attorney general argued the plaintiffs lacked the necessary standing to bring such a lawsuit.
The plaintiffs in the case are Sodders; House Minority Leader Mark Smith, a Marshall County Democrat; state Sen. Jack Hatch, a Polk County Democrat running for governor; state Rep. Pat Murphy, a Dubuque Democrat; and Danny Homan, president of Iowa Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Disability Rights responds to ruling
For more than 50 years, the Toledo campus provided housing, schooling and treatment for troubled youths. In July, The Des Moines Register reported that Disability Rights Iowa, a federally funded agency, had discovered that the DHS violated state law by placing young girls in long-term isolation cells in one case for almost a year.
The Registers investigation into problems at the home revealed that in one 12-month period, youths spent more than 47,000 hours in seclusion units at the home.
Because the home also failed to meet minimum federal standards for education, state officials have set aside more than $1 million to pay for the compensatory education of youth who failed to receive the proper schooling.
Reports about the problems at the facility led to investigations by the Legislatures Government Oversight Committee, the Iowa Department of Public Health, the Iowa Department of Education, the state ombudsmans office and others.
In October, the Iowa Juvenile Home Protection Task Force recommended that the home remain open, if that was economically feasible. The task force said that if the home were to remain open, it should be drastically reduced in size, admitting only girls with criminal histories. Historically, the home served a mix of female delinquents as well as male and female foster children.
Under the task forces proposal, the home would have served no more than 20 youths at a time, and all of them would have been female.
Jane Hudson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, said the organization had no comment on Wednesdays court ruling since it centered on a dispute between two branches of state government.
But however that dispute is resolved, we continue to urge decision-makers to place children-in-need-of-assistance in small community-based treatment settings nearer their homes and to not mix them in the same facility with girls who are adjudicated delinquent, she said.


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Squeezebox controller app arrives for Android handsets
updated 05:45 pm EDT, Tue March 22, 2011
Free download now available on Android Market
Logitech has announced that it has finally released an Android app that will allow users to remotely control their Squeezebox devices. The utility can be used to control any Squeezebox located throughout a home, though it appears to be limited to devices connected on the same Wi-Fi network. The interface presents several menus to choose from devices and content.
Aside from basic playback controls, the app also provides access to supported apps such as Pandora, Last.fm, Facebook and Flickr, among others. Content is displayed with additional information such as album art.
Squeezebox Controller is now available as a free download on the Android Market. The company has yet to announce plans to develop an iOS equivalent.

subset: commoncrawl


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Wine Room
Bringing the Napa Valley to Orange County
Levendi Winery takes pleasure in bringing its fine wines to places across the United States and beyond. For the enjoyment of its many Southern California customers, Levendi has joined together with Antonello Ristorante, in Orange County's beautiful South Coast Village. The Levendi Wine Room, located within the restaurant on the second floor, is a refined testament to the Levendi legacy. Displaying the many Levendi varietals in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment, the Levendi Wine Room can comfortably seat up to 14 people and is the perfect venue for corporate events, family dinners or a night out with friends! Private wine lockers are available for Levendi collectors.
For more information and for advanced reservations, please call Antonello's at (714) 751-7153 or visit www.antonello.com


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Press Release Distribution
Filter NewsShow All Results
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News By TagHubzone
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hubzone Press Releases+ XML/RSS
By River Linguistics, Inc.
River Linguistics, a Native American woman-owned small business, is excited to use its HUBZone certification to bring federal money into the local economy.
By National Supply Network, LLC
Hubzone certified on November 19th 2014 National Supply Network.
By Prescient Solutions Group
Prescient Solutions Group, Inc. (PSG) was chosen by AECOM for the ongoing project control system needs in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), SIKA-West project
By ESAM Inc.
Grants Pass, OR, November 9, 2012 – Barbara Spani, Vice President of Operations announced that Robert A. Dooley has joined the ESAM management staff as Quality Assurance Manager.
By ESAM, Inc.
Grants Pass, OR October 26, 2012 – ESAM Inc. announced the appointment of Lakeside Sales of Buffalo, MN as the company's new independent sales representative for its Electronic Manufacturing Services in the states of MN, IA, ND, SD and Western WI.
By ESAM Inc.
Grants Pass, OR, October 25, 2012 – Craig Pear, National Sales Manager at ESAM, Inc. announced the addition of Danyieka Stallworth to the ESAM sales staff. Based in Austin, she will be responsible for supporting ESAM's Texas customers.
By ARC Technology Solutions
ARC Technology Solutions, LLC Certified as HUBZone Small Business Entity
By David Oates
Designation good for three years, support's prime government contractors' requirement to utilize such companies in work
By Moore County (NC) Partners in Progress
Part of the $250,000 will fund a master site plan for the 3,000-acre Heart of North Carolina MegaPark project. This eco-friendly Park will be the largest industrial park of its kind in NC and will offer maximum state tax credit incentives.
By Perini & Associates
JPE's share of roofing contract at Fort Bliss, Texas could reach $30 million
By Gallagher + Gallagher Worldwide
The Government Contractor's Resource Guide used by government contractors, contracting officers + as resource material for university curriculum featured in national newspapers + magazines, one of the best selling guides on contracting in market
By DonnaInk
LSI supports Headquarters Air Force in their goal of upgrading disparate legacy and emergent unstructured data by engineering a functional knowledge management system.
By DonnaInk
LSI chosen to support HQDA G-4's top priority of providing the Army and Joint Warfighter with premiere logistics support.
By DonnaInk
LSI selected to provide its logistics/inventory management capabilities to support PM LIS and the Army STAMIS.
By M. Lefcowitz
Qualifies As A Veteran-Owned HUBZone Small Business
Page updated every 10 minutes


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Just wouldnt rate it as a 4 star b&b
Breakfast was awful - Room 5 has a tin roof - if you want a good nights sleep and it rains you can forget about it!
no fans in the room - plenty of mosquito's
Stayed for one night on a trip along the Garden Route. Warm welcome, fantastic spacious and open plan room, excellent evening meal, a good night's sleep, and equally excellent breakfast.
Very good place to beak your journey along the N2, between George and Cape Town
We stayed at Frieden River Lodge for the 2nd time at the end of March 2010 and loved it again. The tranquillity. the ever helpful, friendly staff, the spacious accommodations, the chance of using a well equipped kitchen to prepare our own meals when we chose, all helped towards a delightful few nights in Heidelberg. It is an excellent stay...
We stayed at Frieden River Lodge at the start of our tour of the Garden Route. We had a huge luxurious room with a great view over the river to the golf course. The rooms were spotless and the service and breakfast were excellent. We opted for a braai on the evening and this was a wonderful experience. Overall a...


text: Stuart Helm – Horsforth 29 Saturday Jun 2013 Posted by Author in West yorkshire ≈ Comments Off on Stuart Helm – Horsforth June 2013 Church worker jailed for sex abuse on young boys A church worker has been jailed for sexually abusing young boys. Stuart Helm, 29, wept in the dock as he was handed a three-year sentence by a judge sitting at Leeds Crown Court. Jailing Helm, Judge Guy Kearl, QC, said: "All your victims were vulnerable, some more vulnerable than others, and the sentence must be of immediate imprisonment." The court was told how after his arrest police found evidence that Helm had also been in contact with underage boys in America and had tried to get them to engage in sexual activity via a webcam. Helm, of Church Mount, Horsforth, pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual assault on a child under 13, two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three of sexual activity with a child, three of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and three of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Robin Mairs, prosecuting, said Helm was able to gain access to three boys. The court heard that many of the offences involved Helm pretending to be concerned about his victims' health. He would later get them to remove their clothing before then touching their private parts. One of his victims was subjected to assaults on many occasions and was told to keep the incidents a secret. The court heard that the youngster has been left badly affected by what had happened to him and that he no longer felt safe. Mr Mairs said an element of grooming had been involved in the offences Share this:FacebookTwitterLinkedInGoogleReddit Related


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Parent trap: pimp my kid cultureComment on this story
Overbearing. Forceful. Fame hungry. Dictatorial.
These are just some of the titles attributed to that breed of parent who has taken on the dual role of caregiver and career manager to their offspring; fathers and mothers who have effectively given up their day jobs (if they had one to begin with) in order to nip, tuck and train their kiddies into becoming superstars.
Some will say they simply want to help their children fulfil their dreams. Others claim they're guided by idle curiosity, a "what if" outlook. A good number are in it for the money and a taste of the celebrity pie they were never able to attain when their own sporting/screenwriting/singing/ acting aspirations came to nought. Even if they won't admit it.
Probably the most notorious among the momagers – as they've been dubbed – and their male counterparts, the dadagers, is Joe Jackson. The man who brought us the Jackson 5 and ignited the flame that was to become the King of Pop fire ran a tight, tyrannical ship. His penchant for emotionally and physically abusing his family to force them into doing his bidding is also well documented.
Currently topping the momager charts is Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner.
Already regarded as something of a domineering control freak when it comes to her darling daughters, the latest scandal surrounding Mama K follows posthumous revelations from her ex-hubby's (aka, Papa Kardashian) journals that, so determined was Kris to get her own way, she even allegedly resorted to beating her kids – Kim in particular.
From Emmanuel Agassi, Kit Culkin (father to Macaulay) and mother of Breakdown Britney, Lynn Spears, to monster of a stage mom Ethel Gumm, the list of parents pushing their offspring into the limelight is a long and winding one.
But while society at large and, in some cases, even their own children, are quick to brand them as opportunistic parasites, you have to wonder if the world would have known of the sensations that were Michael Jackson, Andre Agassi or the iconic Judy Garland, had the Joes, Emmanuels and Ethels not relentlessly yielded their whips.
Consider: were it not for Kris constantly driving her daughters and doggedly capitalising on their every sexual exploit, tawdry fashion choice or dim-witted remark, the Kardashians would never have made it on to the map – much less become a reality TV phenomenon. Particularly since none of the girls has any talent to speak of.
Nevertheless, look at how the likes of Britney, Lindsay Lohan, Miley Cyrus and (back in the day) Drew Barrymore deteriorated into substance-abusing, law-breaking, wanton and unstable young adults thanks to the pressure put on them by their parents, you might counter.
But can such behaviour really be blamed on their parents' approach, or is it actually the result of the deluded existence that is the shallow showbiz village?
After all, if Beyoncé, Usher and Biebs have managed to keep it together despite their careers taking off on the back of mom and dad's often heavy-handed persistence, it follows that Lohan et al went down the dark path because of their own choices.
So unless the Kardashian sisters and their ilk are willing to relinquish the designer wardrobes, luxury getaways, bulging bank balances, flashy cars and mass (if misguided) adoration their parents' efforts have afforded them, perhaps they would do well to simply shut up and put up.
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Want to get paid faster? You can when you submit your claims electronically
You can submit medical claims in one of three ways:
Dentists can submit claims on our Aetna Dental® site.
The National Provider Identifier (NPI) improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the electronic transmission of health information. It replaces many numbers you may have previously supplied to payers on electronic claims, certifications and authorization transactions. This includes Medicare and Medicaid numbers, and other payer numbers.
We may ask you to submit clinical records before we pay a claim if the claim includes:


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And, that makes me a sad panda :(
if you are having trouble viewing this email, try the web version.please add email@example.com to your address book to ensure our emails reach your inbox.
URGENT: Apple® Mac OS X Leopard Compatibility Issue
Dear Mike,We are recommending that you do NOT upgrade to Mac OS X Leopard at this time. We have discovered that there is a compatibility issue between Flash Player and the new Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 release.This issue has been acknowledged by Adobe® in the following blog post but unfortunately does not include a definitive date for a fix. We also know that this is an identified issue between Adobe and Apple that is affecting millions of people on any site which is delivering web upload capabilities through Adobe FlashTM Player. For example, there is a web post that identifies this as an issue for FlickrTM customers.This issue is important to you as a liveBooks customer because it means that if you upgrade to Mac OS X Leopard you will NOT be able to upload any files to your website including images, galleries, movies, etc. The only area where upload will continue to function is within the FTP module of the liveBooks editSuite because this feature does not use Flash for upload.We are currently working with Adobe to identify a fix for this problem and will keep you updated via the editSuite news page as we have updated information.If you have already upgraded to Mac OS X Leopard you will need to perform your uploads on a system that uses Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 or an earlier version of Mac OS, or use any Windows machine. If you do not have access to another computer, you can setup an external hard drive as a bootable drive running an earlier version of Mac OS X. Thank you for your understanding on this issue. If you have any questions regarding this issue please submit them via our online support form.The liveBooks support team
If you prefer not to receive promotional email messages from us, just click here to unsubscribe. This means we will still email you for business critical issues such as contracts but you will not receive any of our educational email interviews, videos or promotions.©2007 liveBooks. 3221 20th St. San Francisco, CA 94110. all rights reserved.
I just came across this compile on one of the MS discussion lists...
Core (discontinued)
Matte black, chrome trim
Matte white, chrome trim
Matte white
Included storage
256 MB Memory Card
Wireless controller
No, Wired3m breakaway cord
Ethernet / System Link cable
Xbox 360 Headset
Yes(excluding Oceania and Mexico wherea Media Remote was bundled instead)
HDMI 1.2 equipped
Yesafter August 2007[33]
Yesafter August 2007
Video cables[1]
HDMI 1.2 (HD)Component/Composite (HD/SD)
Component/Composite (HD/SD)
Composite (SD)
Xbox LIVE
1 Month Gold trial, Silver
Bundled games
"Go Big" package:Marvel: Ultimate Alliance,Forza Motorsport 2,Hexic HD
"Go Pro" package:Marvel: Ultimate Alliance,Forza Motorsport 2,Hexic HDMexican "Premium" package:Perfect Dark Zero,Project Gotham Racing 3,Hexic HD
"Xbox Live Arcade" disk:Boom Boom Rocket,Feeding Frenzy,Luxor 2,Pac-Man Championship Edition,UNO
Elite's mine, of course! :)
-Mithun Dhar
I am sure Apple's screen of death is multi-colored with lot's of sexy information, with sexy fonts, and all the sham/glam! They sure can talk the talk but can they walk the walk?
Apple says software on users' machines that may not be Leopard-compatible is to blame for the computers freezing up.
- Of, course!!! D'oh, how can users be stupid like that? What were they thinking? Phew!!
And why wouldn't they?
Oct. 25, 2007
Microsoft's profit jumped 23% and revenue reached $13.76 billion, up 27% from a year ago -- its fastest quarterly growth since 1999. Sales of the company's flagship Windows and Office products topped $8.2 billion in the quarter, fueled by PC demand and "robust" uptake of its Vista operating system. Revenue in the company's videogame division nearly doubled, boosted by the launch of the blockbuster Halo 3 game. The company raised its financial forecast for its fiscal year.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, see: http://online.wsj.com/technology?mod=djemalert
The best part:
After Hours: 35.80 +3.79 (11.84%) - Oct 25, 4:57PM ET
We recently announced the launch of our new Live Search Platform. I was just amazed at the innovations that's gone into this release.
There are three key areas I'd challenge you to try and not like:
Maps: http://maps.live.com – I was just amazed at the number of features and simplicity that was added. For a long time now we've been ahead of Google in terms of mapping but in this release, I think we outdid ourselves.
Mobile version: http://m.live.com – I've been using m.live.com on my mobile for the past 4 months at least. And, I'm in love with it. With the latest addition of voice, and enhanced search capabilities it's nothing short of awesome. Some of the salient features are,
Live.com: http://live.com – Finally, I think we all deserve a second chance! J just give live search a shot, it's always a matter of YOUR choice – you can easily go back to using yahoo or whatever other search engine you use! ;) but, do try something new!
And since you won't take my word for it, here's what Gartner had to say: "It's clear you guys know how to build innovative technology. You've been ahead of Google in maps for awhile and now it looks like you've passed them in other areas." -- Gartner analyst, Van Baker
We are Microsoft, we are not used to being #2 – We will continue our pursuit to offer our customers a better experience.
Several companies have come together to form the new Seattle Team System User Group. The efforts are primarily led by Sumit Chawla from Sogeti and Steven Borg from NW Cadance. (Also read Steve's Blog post about the announcement)
The first meeting is on Oct 31 go here to Register: http://www.seattleteamsystem.org/default.aspx (Be sure to book mark!) They are currently planning on meeting on the last Wed's of every month.
Be sure to register and participate. After all it's YOUR user group!
See you on 31st?
This is one of the most ingenious billboards I've ever seen...very nice! Here's the original link.
Optimizing the Software Process with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System
…with Keynote Speaker Sam Guckenheimer
Group Product Planner for Visual Studio Team System & author of Software Engineering with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System
In collaboration with one of our leading Gold Certified Partners, Vertigo, Microsoft's Developer & Platform Evangelism Team would like to invite you to attend our upcoming one day seminar. See how Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) can help drive predictability, visibility, and control into your software development process.
VSTS is an integrated software development platform used to build the mission-critical applications that businesses depend on. It extends Visual Studio's integrated and productive experience from the developer to the entire development team by delivering new role-based tools for software architects, developers, testers, database professionals and project managers.
During this event, we will deep dive into VSTS and walk you through the development of an application from architecture and design through system build and test. We will also demonstrate best practices with VSTS allowing you and your teams to be more effective!
Please join us and register for this event; where you will have the chance to win a Legendary Edition Xbox 360 and game.
To register, please visit http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/default.aspx?culture=en-US and search on the event code listed below, or call 1.877.MSEVENT (1.877.673.8366). Lunch will be provided.
November 13, 2007 – Bellevue, WA
Microsoft Corporation
Civica Office Building
205 108th Ave. NE, Suite 400
Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: (425) 705-1900
Registration: 8:30 am
Event: 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032352715&Culture=en-US
Event ID: 1032352715
Register soon as there are limited number of seats. Thank you, we look forward to seeing you there!
Halo's Spartan Master costume's sold out! :(
Is there any sanity left here?
When damsels are in distress, there is Superman! And when Team System customers are in distress there are the VS Team System Rangers. Working with Microsoft Consultancy services, the Product teams and customers they have collated and given you a single point of contact for all VSTS documentation. Customers repeatedly complained that 'Scattered documentation' was one of the biggest problems they had and the Rangers have done a fantastic job addressing this problem.
Additionally it delivers education in a Consulting and Best Practices manner.
Check it out at:
Operations Guidance for Team Foundation Server
Hope this helps!


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- unordered_set and unordered_map,
- unordered_multiset and unordered_multimap, allowing for duplicate elements.
In this data structure, each bucket points to a null-terminated singly linked list of elements. If the provided hash function works as it should, the number of elements in each bucket only rarely exceeds by much the specified load factor, so insertion and erasure of elements is O(1) on average. In the figure above, buckets b1 and b3 have one element each, and bucket b2 holds two elements. Simple and memory-efficient as this structure is, it turns out C++ unordered associative containers cannot use it directly: containers are required to be traversable, i.e. they must provide an associated iterator type which can go through all the elements of a container c as comprised in the range [c.begin(), c.end()). So, how does an iterator go from say bucket b1 to b2? The obvious solution of scanning the bucket array until the next non-empty bucket is found does not work, since the average time this operation takes grows as the bucket array is depleted and more buckets need to be walked through to reach the following element, whereas the standard requires that iterator increment be O(1). As this has been discussed in extenso elsewhere, we'll make a long story short and simply conclude that, in order to meet the requirements of C++ unordered associative containers, all the elements must be linked together.
Let's see the resulting data structures used by some popular implementations of unordered associative containers, plus a new approach adopted by Boost.MultiIndex. We consider containers without duplicate elements fist (unordered_set and unordered_map), and study unordered_multiset and unordered_multimap in a further article. In what follows we call N the number of elements in the container and B the number of its buckets.
These are the providers of the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ standard library implementation. Their hash tables are designed as shown in the figure:
(A note on this and the following diagrams: althoughly seemingly implied by the pictures, bucket entries need not be arranged in the same order as their corresponding buckets are traversed.)
As anticipated, all the elements are linked together, although in this case they are doubly so: this allows for bidirectional iteration at the expense of one more pointer per element, and, more importantly, makes unlinking elements extremely easy. As for the bucket array, each entry holds two pointers to the first and last element of the bucket, respectively (the latter pointer is needed to determine the extent of the bucket). Insertion of a new element is simple enough:
- Use the hash function to locate the corresponding bucket entry → constant time.
- Look for duplicate elements in the bucket and abort insertion if found → time linear on the number of elements in the bucket.
- Link into the element list at the beginning of the bucket → constant time.
- Adjust bucket entry pointers as needed → constant time.
And erasure goes as follows:
- Use the hash function to locate the corresponding bucket entry → constant time.
- Unlink from the element list → constant time.
- Adjust bucket entry pointers as needed → constant time.
The resulting complexity of these operations is then O(1) (in the case of insertion, under the assumption that the hash function is well behaved and does not overpopulate buckets) and the memory overhead is two pointers per element plus two pointers per bucket entry:
All is well then, right? Well, actually not: Dinkumware's scheme has a serious problem with erasure, as the first step of the procedure
- Use the hash function to locate the corresponding bucket entry.
will fail if the user-provided hash function throws an exception, and the C++ standard requires that erasure work unconditionally and never throw. Blunt as it sounds, it is my opinion that Dinkuware's implementation of C++ unordered associative containers is broken.
Boost.Unordered, libc++, libstdc++-v3
Boost.Unordered and libc++ (Clang's standard library implementation) use basically the same data structure, whose design is a direct application of three guiding principles:
- All elements are linked (here, singly linked) together.
- Recognizing the fact that, in order to implement erasure without throwing, we must connect an element with its bucket entry without invoking the hash function, the associated hash value is stored as part of the element node.
- This is the trickiest part: in a singly linked list, erasure of an element takes linear time unless we know the preceding element in advance. So, instead of having each bucket entry point to the first element in the bucket, we make it point to the element before that one. The figure can be more easily understood if color codes are taken into account: for instance, b2, which is yellow, points to a fuchsia element (in b1).
The algorithm for insertion is based on the same guidelines as those of Dinkumware (with the complication that the end of the bucket is located by comparing stored hash values), whereas erasure follows these steps:
- Locate the associated bucket entry via the stored hash value → constant time, never throws.
- Locate the preceding element → linear on the number of elements in the bucket.
- Use the preceding element to unlink from the element list → constant time.
- Adjust bucket entry pointers as needed → constant time.
Insertion and erasure are then O(1) for reasonably good hash distributions, which is the minimum mandated by the C++ standard. The memory overhead is, using the same terminology as before,
(here we are assuming that storing a hash value takes the same space as a pointer, namely a word.)
GNU Standard C++ Library v3, also known as libstdc++-v3, provides a memory optimization over this data structure: if the hash function is determined to not throw (by noexcept specification) and is marked as "fast" (via some dedicated type trait), hash values are not stored and the function is safely used instead. The way this optimization is currently implemented looks to me to a bit dangerous, as the __is_fast_hash type trait is true by default except for some basic types, which means that all noexcept user-provided hash functions will be deemed as fast unless the user is aware of this implementation-specific trait and states otherwise.
So, leaving libstdc++-v3 optimizations aside, 2N + 1B seems to be the minimum overhead required to implement C++ unordered associative containers based on closed addressing and meeting the complexity requirements of the standard. In fact, we can do better in the area of complexity without giving up extra memory.
A novel data structure
As of Boost 1.56, Boost.MultiIndex hashed indices internally use a new hash table design with some nice complexity characteristics. The key insight behind the approach taken is this: a circular doubly linked list has redundancies that we can take advantage of to accomodate extra information:
Given a node pointer X, let's call Xn and Xp the pointers to the next and prior node, respectively. A circular doubly-linked list maintains this invariant:
X = Xnp = Xpn for every X in the list.
With some care, we can redirect Xn or Xp (which is detected by the breach of the former invariant) provided we know how to get back to X. This is precisely what we are doing to associate elements to bucket entries in a hash table:
Think of this data structure as a simple circular doubly linked list where some redirections have been applied in the following case:
- If an element X is the first of its bucket, Xp points to the bucket entry.
Besides, bucket entries point to the element preceding the first one in the bucket, just as Boost.Unordered does. Extending our terminology so that if X points to a bucket entry then Xn denotes the element the entry points to, we have these formal properties:
- X is the first element of its bucket iff Xpn ≠ X,
- X is the last element of its bucket iff Xnp ≠ X,
- the element following X is always Xn,
- the element preceding X is Xpn if X is the first of its bucket, Xp otherwise.
Note that the evaluation of all these properties can be done in constant time, so we can treat our element list as a circular doubly linked list with special operations for accessing the preceding and following nodes and use it for implementing hash table insertion (following the same general steps as with the other data structures) and erasure:
- Unlink from the (doubly linked) list → constant time.
- Adjust bucket entry pointers if the element is the first or the last element of its bucket, or both → constant time.
Erasure of an element does not imply traversing the bucket, so unlinking happens in constant time even if the bucket is crowded by a bad behaved hash function; we have then designed a hash table with unconditional O(1) erasure complexity at no extra cost in terms of memory overhead (2N + 1B).


text:
Far beyond the city limits, tucked away in a metal garage is where you'll find one of the rising stars of country.
The award-winning Yarbrough Band is composed of Jason Yarbrough on bass and vocals, Dawson Yarbrough on guitar and vocals, Jacy Yarbrough and Milly Guillen on fiddle and vocals, Mike Matthews on drums and Jimmy Tomlinson on pedal steel. The local band recently gained national attention when they took the award for "Best Pure Country Duo/Group" — beating out two-time award-winner Jake Hooker — and nominated for "Best Album" for "Heroes From the Past," at the Academy of Western Artists.
"We never thought we would win," Jason Yarbrough said. "It's one in a million. We're just (a group) from New Mexico that nobody knows about, who beat all the big guys from Texas."
The group was nominated after working with one of the academy's nominating members on their recent CD. The top five groups in each category were selected to attend the awards ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas.
Jason said the main reason he wanted to go to the ceremony was to meet famous artists, and he and the other band members were shocked when they found out they'd won.
"I think the coolest part of that award is that we weren't even trying," Guillen said. "We were just out there playing and having fun and then all of sudden we were there and had this award."
Having fun is one of the things this band does best. Each of the members talked about their love for performing. They said they feed off each other's energy, allowing them to play better as a group than they ever could on their own. The band stays true to their laid back ways. Their practices are filled with plenty laughter, but their passion and dedication shine the second they start playing. The Yarbrough are also one of the last remaining groups that dress in formal attire for each of their performances.
The group's musical style also differs from most modern country songs. They said they wanted to keep with the old style, but try to bring it back with a new touch, stirring a positive reaction from their fans.
"With everything we play there are people dancing," Jason said. "And those people are happy."
The Yarbrough Band came to fruition more than 12 years ago. Jason said he didn't know a thing about music, but one day he heard how well his children sang and decided he needed to do something about it.
Since that day, the band began practicing and people began to attend the rehearsals just to hear them play. After they were asked to play at a party, the band started booking more shows.
"One of the main (reasons we play) is because God gave us the gift and we're going to use it," Jacy said. "And it also brings us together as friends and family, and it brings other families closer, as well."
Currently, the Yarbrough Band plays more than 50 shows a year. Jason said almost every weekend they are performing in a different town.
As the newest member of the band, Matthews said he has enjoyed playing with the group, and just like all the other members, Matthews said one of the best parts is performing live.
"I've wanted to play music since before I could talk," he said. "I've played music all my life. I've played at clubs and I've played in other bands, but this band is different. When you go to a dance and see a 2-year-old dancing next to a 90-year-old to this music, it has to make you happy."
The album, "Heroes From The Past," nominated in the "Best Album" category at the AWA's, is only the band's second album. The CD is a mix of songs, but 70 percent of them are the band's original work. Jason said he hopes in the future the band can release a new album every year.
Staying true to the ease and dedication that fans are drawn, the group is open about the possibility of losing and gaining members, but want to stay with music for as long as they can.
"The feeling I get when I play, that's why I stick with it," Jacy said. "That's what makes my heart happy."
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Yarbrough-Band/114855205207382
In stores and online: The Yarbrough Band's albums can be purchased at all shows, Western Mercantile or on iTunes.


text:
GCHQ, the British intelligence agency, has certified six Master's degrees in cyber security as the government bids to close the much-talked about cyber-security skills gap.
According to GCHQ, the development of a certification "will help the successful universities to promote the quality of their courses and assist prospective students to make better informed choices when looking for a highly valued qualification".
The spy agency also suggested that employers will be able to better differentiate between candidates when employing security staff, as a result of the certification.
Four courses were given full certification: Edinburgh Napier University's MSc in advanced security and digital forensics, Lancaster University's MSc in cyber security, the University of Oxford's MSc in software and systems security and Royal Holloway's MSc in information security.
Cranfield University was given a provisional certified status for its MSc in cyber defence and information assurance, as was the University of Surrey for its MSc in information security.
Education is a key part of the National Cyber Security Strategy, and earlier in the year UK universities were invited to submit their Cyber Security Master's degrees for certification against GCHQ's criteria for what it deems a broad foundation in cyber security.
GCHQ said that partnerships had been key throughout the process, with the assessment of applicants based on the views of industry, academia, professional bodies, GCHQ and other government departments.
The six successful Master's degrees were judged to provide well-defined and appropriate content, delivered to the highest standard.
De Montfort University's (DMU) MSc in cyber security has not been given the same certification. When the course was launched in May 2013, Computing questioned whether the course would be able to attract quality candidates.
But a further call for Master's certification will take place in late 2014, so it could still make the cut, although GCHQ said this would mainly be extended to degrees that are focused on critical areas of cyber security such as digital forensics.
Chris Ensor, deputy director for the national technical authority for information assurance at GCHQ offered his congratulations to the universities and encouraged those that didn't make it this time around to reapply in the near future.
"Recognition of these degrees is an important first step towards recognising Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Education," he said.


text:
Constipation Symptoms
Questions to ask yourself
Are you constipated? It may not be as easy to tell as you think.
For people with pain from advanced illness: Are laxatives giving you the relief you want?
You may have constipation from opioid use if you have had1
- Hard stools
- Infrequent stools (<3 per week)
- Excessive straining
- Sense of incomplete emptying
- Excessive time spent on toilet
- Unsuccessful bowel movement
In addition to the above symptoms of opioid-induced constipation, you should ask yourself these important questions:
- When was the last time you felt as if your bowel movements were complete and satisfactory?
- Think back to before you were on opioid therapy. If you experienced complete and satisfactory bowel movements at that time, do you get the same sense these days?
- How many bowel movements each week consist of a formed stool leading to what you would consider a reasonably complete bowel movement?
The answers to these questions may help you and your doctor better understand whether your laxative therapy is effectively treating your constipation—or whether it's time to talk about RELISTOR.
To get a better sense of what your current condition may be, download and print the RELISTOR OIC Symptom Scale for Advanced Illness (PDF). You can use it when discussing constipation with your physician. The scale provides visual cues to the quality of your bowel movements.
Indication for RELISTOR
RELISTOR® is indicated for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in patients with advanced illness who are receiving palliative care, when response to laxative therapy has not been sufficient. Use of RELISTOR beyond four months has not been studied.
Important Safety Information about RELISTOR
Do not take RELISTOR® (methylnaltrexone bromide) Subcutaneous Injection if you have or may have a blockage in your intestines called a mechanical bowel obstruction. Symptoms of this blockage are vomiting, stomach pain, and swelling of your abdomen. Talk to your healthcare provider if you have any of these symptoms before taking RELISTOR.
Cases of holes or openings in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract have been reported in adult patients with opioid-induced constipation and advanced illness with certain conditions (i.e., cancer, peptic ulcer, Ogilvie's syndrome). These holes or openings have involved varying regions of the GI tract (e.g., stomach or intestines). Use RELISTOR with caution if you have a known or suspected wound or injury to the GI tract. If you get abdominal pain that is severe or will not go away, or nausea or vomiting that is new or worse, stop taking RELISTOR and call your healthcare provider.
If you get diarrhea that is severe or does not stop while taking RELISTOR, stop taking RELISTOR and call your healthcare provider.
Use of RELISTOR beyond four months has not been studied.
Safety and efficacy of RELISTOR have not been established in children.
The most common side effects of RELISTOR in clinical studies include: abdominal (stomach) pain, gas, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, and sweating.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch/ or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
For product information, adverse event reports, and product complaint reports, please contact:
Salix Product Information Call Center
Phone: 1-800-508-0024
Fax: 1-510-595-8183
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Reference:1. Lembo A, Camilleri M. Chronic constipation. N Engl J Med. 2003;349(14):1360-1368.


text:
Lagan, Briege M, Sinclair, Marlene and Kernohan, W George (2006) Pregnant women's use of the internet: a review of published and unpublished evidence. Evidence Based Midwifery, 4 (1). pp. 17-23. [Journal article]
|PDF - Published Version
URL: http://www.doctoralmidwiferysociety.org/Portals/c8d3e3f8-9c01-4bf5-abd9-3fd6b4c510ae/Lagan%20et%20al%20EBM%202006,%204(1)17-23.pdf
|Item Type:
|Journal article
|Pregnant women's use of the internet, information-seeking behaviour, published/unpublished evidence
|Faculties and Schools:
|Faculty of Life and Health Sciences
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences > School of Nursing
|Research Institutes and Groups:
|Institute of Nursing and Health Research
Institute of Nursing and Health Research > Managing Chronic Illness
Institute of Nursing and Health Research > Maternal, Fetal and Infant Research
|ID Code:
|Deposited By:
|Dr Briege M Lagan
|Deposited On:
|31 May 2012 14:43
|Last Modified:
|31 May 2012 14:43
Repository Staff Only: item control page


text:
Aug. 19, 2008
A lofty preseason national ranking has been given to the Eastern Washington University football team, but the same is true for its Aug. 30 season-opening opponent.
The Eagles are ranked seventh in The Sports Network preseason NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) poll announced on Tuesday (Aug. 19). The Eagles are one notch ahead of Big Sky Conference rival Montana, which is ranked eighth.
Eastern opens the season on Aug. 30 against a Texas Tech team that was ranked 12th in last week's Associated Press preseason poll for the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
"There is some merit to be near the top because that can help you when it comes to the playoffs," said first-year EWU head coach Beau Baldwin. "That can sometimes make it a little easier to stay in the top 16 rather than to have to climb all the way into it."
Texas Tech was 9-4 last season and defeated Virginia 31-28 in the Gator Bowl. The Red Raiders feature a prolific passing offense, averaging 470.3 yards per game last season to lead FBS and 529.6 yards of total offense to rank second nationally. Led by a pair of national honors candidates, quarterback Graham Harrell and receiver Michael Crabtree, the Red Raiders attempted an average of nearly 60 passes and just 19 rushes per game.
"We're excited for our first game of the year -- that will be a tremendous challenge at Texas Tech," Baldwin added.
Eastern Washington was picked to finish second behind Montana by the coaches and the media in the Big Sky Conference preseason polls, but those positions were reversed nationally. The Eagles received 1,951 total points from The Sports Network in the poll of media and sports information directors, while Montana received 1,848 points.
Eastern finished the 2007 season 9-4 and ranked eighth in the final poll of the year. The Eagles lost in the FCS Playoff quarterfinals by three points to eventual national champion Appalachian State. The Mountaineers are the three-time defending national champion and begin the 2008 season ranked No. 1. The Mountaineers earned 97 of the 101 first-place votes, and 2,546 total points. North Dakota State is ranked second, followed by Northern Iowa, Richmond and Massachusetts.
James Madison is sixth, followed by EWU and Montana. Rounding out the top 10 are Delaware and McNeese State, which was unbeaten in 2007 until EWU beat them 44-15 in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
Montana is gunning for its 11th straight Big Sky Conference title. Montana went 11-1 in 2007, losing in the first round of the FCS playoffs to Wofford. The Grizzlies, who play at EWU on Oct. 11, ended 2007 ranked 10th in the nation.
Three other Big Sky teams also received votes in the poll as Northern Arizona just missed out on cracking the top 25. The Lumberjacks earned 249 total points, most among teams not in the top 25. Montana State received 146 points (32nd), while Weber State received 17 (47th).
More on The Sports Network Preseason Poll . . .
For the second year in a row, Appalachian State was a near unanimous pick as the No. 1 selection in The Sports Network FCS preseason top-25 poll released Tuesday morning.
The Mountaineers, the three-time defending national champs, received 97 of 101 first-place votes and 2,546 points. It is the third consecutive year that ASU has opened the season ranked No. 1 by The Sports Network.
North Dakota State, the No. 2 team in the poll with 2,275 points, received one first-place vote and No. 6 James Madison was selected first by three voters. The poll was dominated by three major leagues -- the Colonial Athletic Association, the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Southern Conference.
The CAA landed four teams in the top 10 (Richmond at No. 4, Massachusetts at No. 5 and Delaware at No. 9 to join James Madison) and six teams in the top 25. New Hampshire placed 16th and Villanova finished at 21.
The MVC also had six teams ranked, with Northern Iowa at No. 3, Southern Illinois 11th, Youngstown State 12th, South Dakota State 19th and Western Illinois 25th to join North Dakota State.
The SoCon placed five teams in the poll, with Appalachian State being followed by Wofford at No. 13, Elon at 15th, Georgia Southern at 17th and The Citadel ranked 23rd.
Other teams in the top 10 include two Big Sky schools at seven and eighth, Eastern Washington and Montana, and McNeese State of the Southland finishing at No. 10.
Cal Poly of the Great West came in at No. 14 and two Ohio Valley Conference teams, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky, were ranked 18th and 20th. Completing the top 25 were No. 22 Central Arkansas of the Southland and the lone Ivy League representative, Harvard at No. 24.
The regular season top-25 poll will be released every Monday afternoon during the football year, except the final weekend when it will be released on Sunday morning to allow it to be used officially by the NCAA Division I Football Committee when it selects the 16-team playoff field.
The Sports Network will release a final top-25 poll following the national championship game, which will be held December 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank
1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (97) 13-2 2,546 1
2. North Dakota State Bison (1) 10-1 2.275 9
3. Northern Iowa Panthers 12-1 2,204 4
4. Richmond Spiders 11-3 2,162 5
5. Massachusetts Minutemen 10-3 2,148 7
6. James Madison Dukes (3) 8-4 2,078 12
7. Eastern Washington 9-4 1,951 8
8. Montana Grizzlies 11-1 1,848 10
9. Delaware Blue Hens 11-4 1,747 2
10. McNeese State Cowboys 11-1 1,687 11
11. Southern Illinois Salukis 12-2 1,286 3
12. Youngstown State Penguins 7-4 1,228 16
13. Wofford Terriers 9-4 1,158 6
14. Cal Poly Mustangs 7-4 1,081 24
15. Elon Phoenix 7-4 1,028 23
16. New Hampshire Wildcats 7-5 760 14
17. Georgia Southern Eagles 7-4 656 17
18. Eastern Illinois Panthers 8-4 622 18
19. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 7-4 547 19
20. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 9-3 487 13
21. Villanova Wildcats 7-4 396 NR
22. Central Arkansas Bears 6-5 374 NR
23. The Citadel Bulldogs 7-4 317 NR
24. Harvard Crimson 8-2 316 21
25. Western Illinois 6-5 299 NR
Others receiving votes: Northern Arizona 249, Fordham 212, Delaware State 198, Jacksonville State 195, Yale 170, Sam Houston State 166, Montana State 146, Furman 120, Liberty 115, Jackson State 79, South Carolina State 76, Holy Cross 74, Colgate 56, Grambling 55, Norfolk State 48, Coastal Carolina 44, Hampton 41, Southern 32, Northwestern State 30, Tennessee-Martin 30, UC Davis 22, Weber State 17, Lafayette 16, Alabama A&M 10, Texas Southern 9, Brown 9, Nicholls State 9, Dayton 6, Tennessee State 5, San Diego 4, Albany 4, Maine 1, Prairie View 1.


text:
jGuru Forums
Posted By:
Posted On:
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 04:37 PM
If I understand ant correctly, a dependency list is created by ant when it is invoked. Is there any way to capture this information in an external file? Something similar to the Dependency Walker tool provided in Visual Studio?
Re: Dependency list(s)
Posted By:
Posted On:
Friday, October 17, 2003 05:31 AM


text:
The State Senate passed Same Day Voter Registration following State Auditor Les Merritt's failed intervention into the legislative process.
The Senate attached two amendments to the bill. One amendment would require English only voter registration forms and ballots. The second amendment makes the effective date of the new law unworkable for many North Carolina counties.
Because the Senate version of the bill is now different than the version passed by the State House, each chamber has appointed conferees to work out the differences in the bill. The conferees are:
Reps. Deborah Ross (D-Wake), Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson), Joe Tolson (D-Edgecombe), Earline Parmon (D-Forsyth), Carolyn Justice (R-Pender) and Danny McComas (R-New Hanover). On Wednesday, the Senate appointed its conference committee: Sens. Dan Clodfelter (D-Mecklenburg), Tony Rand (D-Cumberland) and Richard Stevens (D-Wake).
We anticipate that the English only provision will be removed from the bill. Bill Drafting Director Gerry Cohen has advised legislators that this amendment violates the Voting Rights Act with respect to Puerto Rican citizens on this basis. We also expect that the conferees will work out an effective date for the new law that will be workable for all counties.
It now appears that SDVR will become law in North Carolina. Progressives can claim a large measure of pride in helping to enact the new law that may bring new voters into the civic politic.
The Charlotte Observer editorially stings State Auditor Les Merritt's intervention into the legislative debate over Same Day Voter Registration ("SDVR"). The editorial calls Merritt's performance "awkward."
State Auditor Les Merritt has been in office only about 21/2 years, but his curious intervention in a legislative debate constitutes one of the strangest political episodes in a long time. Lawmakers of both parties were left shaking their heads as to what he hoped to accomplish. It seems likely he has undermined his department's credibility and left his own judgment in question. . . .
When the committee convened . . . , the hearing room was packed with legislators from both parties and a public audience interested in the "sensitive information" Mr. Merritt had mentioned. What they heard, instead, was a defensive, disjointed denial by Mr. Merritt that his agency was motivated by partisan politics or that it was trying to influence the Senate vote on the voting bill. Mr. Merritt said his agency still had questions, but he backed away from preliminary findings of irregularities his staff evidently reported a week ago to the State Board of Elections. He added, "We'll eventually get to a correct, final report, and that final report, it could very well say there isn't anything here, that everything's fine, we're doing a super job."
Mr. Merritt's non-response to the request for specific information seemed to underscore state elections director Gary Bartlett's assertion last week that the auditor's staff misunderstood either the law or the data they were examining. Senate committee members of both parties were perplexed that Mr. Merritt would interrupt the legislative process without providing compelling evidence that would affect a bill.
As Sen. Clodfelter put it, "When you blow the whistle while the process is still incomplete, and then aren't able to say to us whether there is a problem or is not a problem ... it does create a very awkward situation."
Awkward, indeed. It also creates the possibility the legislature will seek changes in audit procedures -- or perhaps even contemplate auditing the auditor. The bill for this gaffe could be a big one.
The Charlotte Observer's editorial makes a valid point, but misses the broader reality of just how inaccurate the preliminary report Merritt produced proved to be.
Last week in TPJ documented that Merritt did not know two critical aspects of North Carolina election law.
First, one would assume that Merritt's auditors would know the basic facts. One such basic fact is how many registered voters exist in North Carolina. This number is requires no complicated calculations; it is readily available from the State Board of Elections' web site. Merritt got the number wrong. Merritt's preliminary report contended that North Carolina has some 8.5 million voters and that half of those voters, 4,227,708 to be precise, registered to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles ("Motor Voter").
Wrong. North Carolina has some 5.5 million registered voters. Therefore, 4,227,708 voters could not have possibly registered through Motor Voter. And, Motor Voter registrations account for far less than 50% of all registrations in North Carolina as claimed by Merritt.
Second, Merritt contended that a number of 17 year olds who voted in primaries represented voter fraud.
Wrong. Merritt and his staff did not understand basic election law. North Carolina Law, § 163-59, permits a citizen who is 17 years old to vote in a primary IF they become 18 before the general election or municipal election for which that primary is held.
This week, we cover a third aspect of Merritt's report that missed the mark -the dead vote in North Carolina. Merritt's office contended that between the 2004 general election through the 206 general election that eight voters cast a ballot that were dead.
Wrong: An investigation outside Merritt's "preliminary report" determined that in three cases there an administrative data entry error had been made. In five of the cases, a citizen lawfully cast an absentee ballot before Election Day and died prior to the election. Election officials were not notified of the death until after the official canvas for the election.
From a larger sample of voting records including elections prior to 2004, Merritt contended that some 380 voters cast ballots after the dates of their death.
Wrong. The State Board of elections determined that all of the 380 voters cast their votes by absentee ballot prior to the election and simply died prior to the election. Again, elections officials were not informed of the deaths prior to the official canvas that determines the final results of the election.
That election officials are not informed of a death prior to the election is quite understandable IF one has a proper knowledge of election law. Election officials, by law, must rely on Department of Health and Human Services records that are transmitted to the State Elections Board monthly. There is a 90 day period between the dates of death and the date the State Board receives that notice. Therefore, the Board of Elections may not receive a notice of death of a citizen who cast a legal absentee ballot, who dies 30 days before Election Day, until well after the election has been certified.
Readers should recall that it was Merritt who made this statement regarding his preliminary findings:
Merritt said that the audit has turned up numerous instances of people improperly listed in the state's database as eligible to vote. He said that the audit has found hundreds of dead people or people under 18 listed in the voter database, as well as uncovering thousands of invalid numbers on driver's licenses. He added that the data are preliminary, and he is not ready to issue a final audit report.
The assertion that there were "numerous" instances of voter registration irregularities grabbed the headlines as Merritt's assertions appeared to be facts. They were not. There are several critical perspectives related to Merritt's preliminary report:
1. Even if Merritt's findings had been correct, and they were not, the number of "dead voters" is so small statistically (some 400 out of millions of votes cast) that there is obviously no orchestrated voter fraud.
2. Merritt's auditors clearly did not understand the basics of North Carolina election law. The simple fact remains that the Auditor did not even know how many registered voters exist in North Carolina. The lack of understanding did not stop there; it includes a lack of basic understanding of the laws on which North Carolina elections are predicated for 17 year old voters and reporting the death of registered voters.
3. Merritt's intervention into SDVR registration (his request to impart "sensitive" findings to the General Assembly) denotes that Merritt and his auditors were convinced that they had discovered proof of wide spread voter fraud in North Carolina.
Merritt's "preliminary report" contains even more errors that demonstrate a lack of understanding of basic election law and State Board records. TPJ will return to more examples in the weeks to come.
What has been revealed is that the Charlotte Observer's description of Merritt's performance as "awkward" is simply an adjective. The compelling question is how a State Auditor got his facts so wrong. Unfortunately for North Carolina's reputation; Les Merritt's name is synonymous with his report; there was indeed less merit in it than he claimed.
Please, Contact With Us : firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Tonight: Bruery Provisions Serves 'Beers You Have To Wait in Line For' Flight
Categories: Hops to It!
|Deschutes' "The Abyss"
The downtown Orange shop is offering a special 'Beers You Have To Wait in Line For' flight. Featured in the all-star lineup: The Bruery's Black Tuesday, Mélange 3 and Barrel Aged Coton, along with Deschutes' The Abyss and Cantillon's Cuvee De Champions.
Author Joshua Bernstein will be signing copies of his book, Brewed Awakening. The event starts at 6 p.m. and the flight is $12.
Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook!
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Everything tagged
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Jan. 15, 2014 in Food on Page C1 "No one is born a great cook," Julia Child said. "We learn by doing." That quote highlights the home page of INCA After Dark, the Spokane Community College program that …
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Jan. 1, 2014 in Food on Page C1 This week's Fresh Sheet lists a few classes for the new year. Backyard bread-baking
Greek Dinner Festival begins Thursday
Sept. 25, 2013 in Food on Page C1 Get your Greek on at the 78th annual Greek Dinner Festival this weekend. The three-day event begins Thursday and features baklava, souvlakia, Greek coffee, traditional Greek dancing, cooking demonstrations and …
New JunoBar free of gluten, dairy and soy
Aug. 7, 2013 in Food on Page C1 BumbleBar has a new gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and mostly raw addition to its organic snack bar family. The Spokane-based company owned by Liz and Glenn Ward has created the new …
Cossette back at Bake-Off
June 19, 2013 in Food on Page C1 Joan Cossette has done it again. The Colbert woman is one of 60 semifinalists in the 46th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest. Her Lemon Pistachio Blackberry Thumbprints need votes to advance to …
Gingerbread Build-off Sunday
Dec. 5, 2012 in Food on Page C1 The annual Christ Kitchen Gingerbread Build-off is Sunday at the Davenport Hotel. Watch as local chefs and architects team up to decorate gigantic gingerbread structures from 10 a.m. to 1 …
Roasted peppers at the Spokane Farmers Market
Sept. 19, 2012 in Food on Page C1 There's a new smell in the air at the Spokane Farmers Market. Market vendors Jeff and Jeanette Herman are perhaps best known for the organic fruit they grow at Cliffside …
Look online for 'Hotel Hell'
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Cookbook filled with year-round grilling recipes
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Strawberry season arrives
June 27, 2012 in Food on Page C1 One of summer's sweetest flavors has arrived. Growers in the Green Bluff area and Newman Lake U-pick favorite Carver Farms are reporting that it is strawberry time.
Fresh sheet
June 20, 2012 in Food on Page C1 Blue-ribbon bragging Ready those recipes for two national contests at this year's Spokane Interstate Fair.
Learn cupcake skills at Charm school
May 23, 2012 in Food on Page C1 Cupcake lovers who want to learn how to make those delectable, frosting-stacked treats for themselves are in luck. North Idaho College has an upcoming event that will have you wielding …
Super bowl of fundraisers held at Center Pointe
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Ferris' Kimbrell wins culinary award
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Organic delivery service now includes Spokane, Stone-Buhr flour donates to food banks
March 16, 2011 in Food on Page C1 Organic food grower Full Circle Farms of Carnation, Wash., has expanded its farm-to-table delivery service to include Spokane. The farm, in the Snoqualmie Valley east of Seattle, offers subscribers a …
Sapphire Lounge turns to Santé's Hansen
Feb. 23, 2011 in Food on Page C1 Chef Jeremy Hansen, owner and chef at Santé Restaurant and Charcuterie, confirms he'll be the culinary talent in the kitchen at the new Sapphire Lounge in the revamped Hotel Ruby …
Nectar Tasting Room set to open its doors
Dec. 29, 2010 in Food on Page C1 The Nectar Tasting Room makes its debut Jan. 7. Owner and wine blogger Josh Wade has transformed his virtual wine discussions into a bricks-and-mortar tasting room at 120 S. Stevens …
Fresh Sheet: Market finds new South Perry spot
Dec. 22, 2010 in Food on Page C1 The South Perry Farmers Market is still in the neighborhood. Plans to move inside for the winter were disrupted when the fire marshal wouldn't issue a permit for its planned …
Fresh Sheet: Chef to offer holiday hints
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Fresh Sheet: Farmers markets relish insider trading
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Marines and sailors arrive in Thailand. The fiscal 2014 Marine Corps budget reflects a shift in priorities as the U.S. turns its attention to the Pacific region. (Lance Cpl. Cody Underwood / Marine Corps)
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Pacific pivot and the budget
The Marine Corps proposed $24.2 billion budget for fiscal 2014 reflects its shift in focus to the Asia-Pacific region. The amount includes only the baseline budget, not overseas contingency operations, which are expected to add an estimated $6 billion to the total. Therefore, some of the numbers below, including personnel numbers, may fluctuate as Congress approves additional funds.
The Marine Corps end-strength numbers remain as previously planned over the next three years:
FY13: 21,157; FY14: 21,467; % change : 1
FY13: 176,143; FY14: 168,733; % change : -4
Accessions: FY13: 32,100; FY14: 30,199; % change : -6
First-term re-enlistments
FY13: 6,725; FY14: 6,300; % change : -6
Subsequent term re-enlistments
FY13: 8,385; FY14: 8,414; % change : 0.3
Total: 15,110 : 14,714
With favorable recruiting and retention conditions, re-up bonus funding will continue to shrink in FY14:
FY13: Recipients
Re-enlistment bonuses: 5,050; Total Amount: $86 million
Enlistment bonuses: 2,175 : Total Amount: $12 million
FY14: Recipients
Re-enlistment bonuses: 4,600; Total Amount: $79 million;
Enlistment bonuses: 1,853; Total Amount: $10 million
Unit readiness remains a top priority. The 2014 budget emphasizes large-scale training and post-combat reset projects including:
* Integrated Training Exercises. The Corps is slated to conduct 50 ITXs through 2016. Those will include infantry, artillery and logistics battalion exercises and aviation squadron exercises.
* Mountain exercises. Four infantry battalion-level mountain training exercises and three infantry regiment-level exercises are scheduled through 2016.
* Asia-Pacific region. A boost in funds geared toward the shift to the Asia-Pacific region will be invested in the readiness of units in that part of the world.
* Post-combat reset. The process of getting equipment back from Afghanistan and moving it through depot maintenance is expected to extend through 2016 or beyond. Budget documents state that repairing and rebuilding equipment that supports operations remains a priority.
The Navy will continue to invest in the Corps major aviation projects:
* The F-35B. The Corps version of the Joint Strike Fighter continues to inch forward, and leaders remain confident it will be a successful replacement for the F/A-18, AV-8B and EA-6B. The budget proposal calls for procurement of six F-35Bs in 2014 and about 50 more through 2018.
* The MV-22B Osprey. The Corps will continue to invest in the tiltrotor aircraft, which Marine officials have deemed critical as the Corps reinvigorates its amphibious operations. Marine Corps Base Hawaii will construct hangars to house Ospreys there. The Corps is budgeting for the procurement of 18 new Ospreys in 2014 and 60 more through 2018.
* Upgraded helos. The Corps will continue its plan to field new attack and utility helicopters, the AH-1Z Super Cobra and UH-1Y Huey. The budget proposal calls for 25 helos to be procured in 2014 and another 111 by 2018.
* RQ-21A STUAS. The department scrapped its plans to purchase 10 more of the Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System in 2014 and 2015. Development efforts will continue in 2014, however, according to budget documents.
Military construction will fall by 9 percent. Structures used for training have been safeguarded, but the modernization of other buildings will be slowed. Structures used for training at places like the School of Infantry, Weapons Training Battalion and Motor Transport School will continue to be modernized. But infrastructure not associated with readiness or family housing will be lower-priority.
Construction projects will include:
* $133 million for an Osprey hangar, parking apron and infrastructure at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
* $84 million for a new headquarters for Marine Corps Forces Cyber Command in Fort Meade, Md.
* $33 million for upgrades to Camp Wilson, which is used for ITXs, aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.
* $20 million for upgrades and repairs to the regional communication station at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.
The Corps wants to procure certain critical ground vehicles, while postponing the development or slowing purchases of others.
* Amphibious Combat Vehicle. The budget preserves funding for the vehicle that carries combat Marines ashore from Navy ships afloat at sea.
* Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The budget supports development and testing of the JLTV, which is expected to replace the Humvee throughout the militarys fleet.
* Humvees and Light Armored Vehicles. Less funding for Humvees and delayed upgrades to LAVs can be expected as the Corps shifts funding to the ACV and JLTV.
* Marine Personnel Carrier. Funds for the development of this next generation eight-wheeled vehicle, which also floats, have been curbed.
Source: Department of the Navy fiscal 2014 budget
The Marine Corps' proposed budget for 2014 prioritizes the service's shift to the Asia-Pacific, but does not address the lurking issue of sequestration, which still has the potential to force sweeping cuts across the Defense Department starting as early as October.
Unveiled April 10, the Corps' overall request is likely to top $30 billion once the Defense Department finalizes its needs for overseas contingencies, said Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. That includes a base budget of $24.2 billion, according to budget documents. The total will be nearly identical to the $30.8 billion requested for fiscal 2013.
Of top priority are unit readiness and the structural rebalance necessary for the Pacific shift, with $4.6 billion slated to cover future unit rotations to Japan, Australia and Guam, the relocation of two helicopter squadrons from the continental U.S. to Hawaii, and training Marines who will need to conduct operations in that part of the world.
And while adjustments were made in other areas to account for these new priorities, the Corps' proposal is void of plans for dealing with the deep cuts tied to sequestration. President Obama's federal budget plan proposes $526.6 billion in military spending next year plus an $88 billion placeholder for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas operations. But it excludes the $500 billion, 10-year sequestration defense cut that went into effect March 1 and instead proposes a mix of tax hikes, spending cuts, entitlement program reforms and interest accumulated via past deficit reduction moves.
Speaking the same day at the Sea-Air-Space Expo outside Washington, the Marine Corps' assistant commandant, Gen. John "Jay" Paxton, said the services were instructed not to budget for sequestration in fiscal 2014. However, he added that it'd be foolish to think they weren't planning for it in some capacity.
"The spirit of the guidance was 'Do not self-sequester,'" Paxton said, a nod toward what it would have taken to budget for the fiscal cuts. "There's a big difference."
As such, the Corps is forging ahead with development of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, two major acquisition projects.
The ACV is intended to replace the Corps' aging Amphibious Assault Vehicles. Marine officials say the ACV or a newer version of the AAV will be needed before the existing crop becomes obsolete in the early 2020s.
The JLTV is expected to replace Humvees throughout the military's fleet. The Corps' vehicle strategy called for the service to buy about 5,000 JLTVs before the ACVs hit the fleet to make sure both are affordable within a limited budget. But the timeline of the JLTVs rollout has been called into question by ongoing budget constraints.
Additionally, the Corps intends to allocate several billion dollars for continued procurement of new aircraft, including its variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Navy Department plans to procure six F-35Bs next year and about 50 more through 2018.
Also on schedule is the Corps' plan to push the Osprey into the Pacific, with $133 million in military construction funds planned to build a hangar, parking apron and infrastructure in Hawaii. Marine officials announced a plan last year to base as many as 24 tiltrotor aircraft there.
The Navy Department also intends to procure 25 new AH-1Z Super Cobra and UH-1Y Huey helicopters in 2014. Plans call for adding another 111 of the attack and utility helos by 2018.
Where the Corps will cut, invest
To offset some of the spending needs in 2014, nearly $2 billion would be cut from equipment-modernization and infrastructure-sustainment accounts compared with the Corps' budget request for fiscal 2013, according to budget documents. That will entail delaying planned upgrades for its fleet of Humvees and Light Armored Vehicles while cutting funds for development of a next-generation troop transport known as the Marine Personnel Carrier.
Cut from aircraft procurement was the Navy's plan to purchase another 10 Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems — or RQ-21A STUAS — by 2016. The aircraft was expected to provide Marine expeditionary unit commanders with better surveillance options. The Navy bought five in 2013 with plans then to do the same in 2014 and 2015, but budget documents show development efforts are expected to continue only into 2014.
Military construction at Marine Corps bases and air stations is scheduled to fall by $323 million compared to fiscal 2013, according to budget documents. Dozens of programs would be affected, including some planned modernization and maintenance not directly associated with operational readiness.
But funding for military construction will remain a priority if tied to training facilities. The budget allots for a $33 million upgrade to Camp Wilson aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. Camp Wilson has been used for Integrated Training Exercises, which replaced Mojave Viper, the predeployment desert training Marines received before heading to Afghanistan until last summer.
Also receiving military construction funds would be Marine Corps Forces Cyber Command, based in Fort Meade, Md. Cyberwarfare capabilities are a hot commodity across the military as security threats turn digital. The budget proposes $84 million in military construction for a new headquarters building.
The long view
Commandant Gen. Jim Amos said April 7 at the Sea-Air-Space Expo that the services still need to look for ways to rein in personnel costs in coming years. About 64 percent of every dollar the Marine Corps spends goes to manpower and personnel overhead, and the growing cost of health care has become a burden for the military, he said.
Amos said he and the other service chiefs advocated last year a series of proposals to help, including moving some pharmacy services online and looking for savings in Tricare, the military's health care program. "Quite honestly, many of them — in fact, most of them — did not see the light of day through Congress," he said. "I think we're going to have go back and do this again."
Amos said there has to be a balance between caring for people who are about to enter the force, those who are serving and those who already have. The Joint Chiefs recommended unanimously that if changes are made to the retirement system, all veterans and service members on active duty should be grandfathered, with the changes affecting only the next generation of service members.
A few days later, Amos appeared alongside Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Mike Barrett in a video message to Marines. He said the Corps has enough money to continue training through the rest of the year, but is working to prevent furloughs to its civilian employees who support operations at bases and air stations worldwide.
"The very latest information that I have is that furloughs have been delayed until mid-May, with an effective date of mid- to late-June," he said.
But Foreign Policy magazine reported the same day that the Navy and Marine Corps might have a plan for avoiding those furloughs. A Navy official told the publication the department has other ways to cut the $300 million it would save by furloughing more than 200,000 civilian workers.
Paxton, the ACMC, said Marine officials believe they have enough money for two more deployment cycles, but that sequestration would begin having more serious operational impact sometime between next fall and this time next year.
Staff writer John T. Bennett contributed to this report.
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Cub Pack 127 Pinewood Derby winners
Abbottstown Cub Scout Pack 127 held its annual Pinewood Derby recently at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. The winners were as follows:
Tiger Den: first, Jackson Keffer; second, Garrett Kpahn; third, Henry Rumbaugh.
Wolf Den: first, Nathan Maysilles; second, Evan Barnhart; third, Cole Smith.
Bear Den: first, Wyatt Stambaugh; second, Jakob Keffer; third, Mike Beski.
Webelo Den: first, Grant Kpahn; second, Nate Hoover; third, Zach Barnhart.
Overall Winner: Wyatt Stambaugh
Open Class Winner: Thomas Roth
Fastest Looking Car: Jakob Keffer
Most Colorful Paint Job: Carter Costella
Coolest Design: Mike Beskid
Most Creative: Grant Kpahn
Fan Favorite: Ryan Gebhart.


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Another song by Jordan Harris
Singer/Songwriter, Jordan Harris has been nominated for Best Male Artist for the Portland Music Awards. He performed the song "And I Know" today.
More information can be found on his site.
To become a fan of Jordan you can find him on Facebook.
Most Popular


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November 29, 2015
Within the next year, Houston parents will gain a new tool to control what their kids eat. An automated cafeteria system lets parents dictate and keep track of their child's lunchtime choices.
The prepaid accounts let parents declare sweets or other things off limits. Parents can also go online and track their child's eating habits and make changes if needed.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or email@example.com.