text:
Note: This website is no longer being updated and is being maintained for archive purposes by the Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Please see About the Project for further details.
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region begins c. 150 km south-east of Mexico City approximately between the cities of Puebla and Orizaba in south-eastern Puebla State, and extends into northern Oaxaca. The region is dominated by a rift valley, La Cañada or Tehuacán-Cuicatlán-Quiotepec depression (Map 15), in the Oaxaca-Puebla Uplands subprovince of the Sierra Madre del Sur morphotectonic province (Ferrusquía-Villafranca 1993). Tamayo-L. (1962) considered the region within a Mixteca-Oaxaqueña physiographic province.
The predominating Tehuacán Valley opens to the north-west with low borders c. 15 km apart and declines gradually over some 100 km to the south-east, where it narrows to Tomellín Canyon. The north-eastern to eastern boundary is formed by a part of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca known as the Sierra de Zongólica, which reaches 2500-3000 m or more (its northern portion is the Sierra de Tecamachalco, its south-eastern portion the Sierra Mazateca). The valley is bounded to the south and west by the Sierra de Zapotitlán, a part of the Sierras Mixtecas (to 2500 m high). A major valley adjoining from the west is Zapotitlán Valley.
Topography in the Tehuacán Valley is varied. Over much of its upper expanse, wide plains slope gradually to the south. There are many gently rolling hills, outliers from the parallel mountain borders. The northern portion across the valley floor lies at an elevation of 1500-1700 m and is drained southward, forming the Salado River. Permanent surface water begins more or less near Coxcatlán where several watercourses converge, including the Zapotitlán River, which is the valley's major seasonal source of water from rainfall in the bordering highlands. The more narrow southern portion of the valley is drained northward by the Grande River. Altitude in the Tehuacán Valley declines in gradual steps to the confluence of these rivers at an elevation of less than 600 m.
Early in the Quaternary, the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region was transformed from a closed basin with a large lake at 1700 m into the dry eroding valleys - which are still hydrostatically draining their Quaternary groundwater reserves - by the upstream erosion of the Santo Domingo River with creation of Tecomavaca Canyon. The region thus forms part of the watershed of the Papaloapan River, which empties eastward into the Gulf of Mexico.
López-Ramos (1981) considered the region part of the Tlaxiaco geologic province. The Tehuacán Valley has a mosaic of outcrops of different geologic ages and composition. In general the area presents Early Tertiary sedimentation, followed by some volcanic activity in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Centrally, near the regional capital Tehuacán (which is at 1676 m) are limestones, sandstones and gypsum outcrops from the Late and Early Cretaceous. From Tehuacán south-east to Teotitlán del Camino are Precambrian outcrops with undifferentiated metamorphic rock, as well as Early Jurassic mudstones and sandstones. Part of the Sierra de Zongólica has outcrops of metamorphic rocks from the Palaeozoic. In the lower parts are outcrops of sediments from the Tertiary and sandstones and conglomerates from the Quaternary.
The mean annual temperature in the Tehuacán Valley varies between 18°-22°C, rising to 24.5°C at Cuicatlán; the mean January temperature in the city Tehuacán is 15°C. The arid climate is largely controlled by the Sierra de Zongólica, which is between the valley and the Gulf of Mexico. These mountains intercept much of the moisture from trade winds blowing westward off the Caribbean Sea, resulting in a rain-shadow enclave. The average annual rainfall in the valley region varies from 250-500 mm, mainly occurring from May to October, with more precipitation in June and September (Smith 1965a, 1965b; Enge and Whiteford 1989).
During the Pleistocene the climate had less differentiated seasons, might have been slightly more moist and was cooler with regular winter frosts. Probably there was extensive grassland, much less thorn forest, and many of the cacti, Agave and other desert plants could not have lived in the valley. The transition to the Recent climate occurred between 7800-7400 BC (MacNeish, Peterson and Neely 1972). The generally grey soils are either intrazonal, ranging from halomorphic alkaline and saline to calcimorphic rendzina soils, or zonal sierozem, characteristic of arid and semi-arid regions.
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region has a great variety of habitats related to the variations in topography, altitude, geological substrates and climate. There are many vegetation formations and associations (Miranda 1948; Rzedowski 1978; Zavala-H. 1982; Dávila-Aranda 1983; Jaramillo-Luque and González-Medrano 1983). Some are edaphically determined, such as communities of gypsophytes and halophytes. Communities are strongly affected by the marked seasonality of precipitation with six essentially dry months, as well as frequent droughts; some types of vegetation lose their leaves very rapidly. Six vegetation formations are recognized, along a descending altitudinal gradient:
1. Sclerophyllous scrub or chaparral is located above 1900 m on limestone. It is a dense community 1-2.5 m high, composed of evergreen or briefly deciduous shrubs with leathery leaves. Common genera include Ceanothus, Cercocarpus, Condalia, Ephedra, Quercus, Rhus, Sophora and Vauquelinia.
2. Spiny rosette scrub is located at 1500-1800 m on limestone. It is characterized by rosette-formed shrubs and plants with somewhat thick, spiny leaves. The dominant shrubs are 50-60 cm tall, and 1-3 m tall plants also occur. Typical genera are Agave, Dasylirion, Nolina, Beaucarnea and Yucca all of which have the majority of their species and perhaps their origins in Mexico.
3. High, scarcely thorny scrub is a complex, variable formation with great species diversity. It is dominated by shrubs over 2 m tall, some with thorns or spines but most unarmed or nearly so. Low trees are sometimes interspersed. Some species are deciduous during the dry season. Frequent genera are Acacia, Forestiera, Fraxinus, Gochnatia, Leucaena, Ptelea and Schaefferia.
4. High thorn scrub is characteristic of alluvial soils in the lower portion of valleys. Thorny shrubs 2-3 m tall are dominant, and trees 5-6 m tall are frequently interspersed. Common genera are Acacia, Agonandra, Bumelia, Celtis, Cercidium, Lysiloma, Myrtillocactus, Opuntia, Stenocereus, Parkinsonia, Prosopis and Ximenia.
5. High, spiny thick-stemmed scrub is dominated by cacti which characterize the Tehuacán region (Meyrán-García 1980). Species may be unbranched, or slightly to strongly branched. Outstanding is Neobuxbaumia tetetzo, a few-branched columnar cactus 10-15 m tall, which sometimes densely dominates in communities ("tetecheras"). Other associated species are Cephalocereus columna-trajani and Neobuxbaumia mezcalaensis, and sometimes Beaucarnea gracilis - a notable rosette plant with distinctive thick stems. A strikingly dense stand of arborescent cacti is near Calipan, south-east of the city of Tehuacán. This type of scrub grows on latosol soils and often on mudstone. Other important genera are Escontria, Pachycereus, Pilosocereus, Polaskia, Stenocereus, Fouquieria, Hesperothamnus and Lasiocarpus.
6. Low early deciduous forest is very rich in number of species, and notable for the mostly quickly deciduous trees 8-10 m tall with exfoliating bark. This type of vegetation is characteristic of the warmer and moderately more humid areas in the lower portion of valleys and canyons, on varied soils ranging from latosols and conglomerate to mudstone. Often represented are cacti in Cephalocereus and Neobuxbaumia, as well as species of Beaucarnea. Also important are Amphipterygium, Bursera, Ceiba, Cercidium, Cyrtocarpa, Lasiocarpus, Lysiloma, Pseudobombax and Pseudosmodingium.
This arid region has been recognized as the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Floristic Province (Rzedowski 1978; cf. Delgadillo-M. and Zander 1984). The flora is very rich (Dávila-Aranda 1983), with c. 910 genera of seed plants, including 8 gymnosperm genera; there are c. 2700 species of vascular plants. Endemism is estimated to be 30%. The southern Tehuacán Valley is considered one of three Mexican centres rich in Agave taxa. Of the c. 250 genera endemic to Mexico, c. 10% occur in this region (Jaramillo-Luque and González-Medrano 1983; Rzedowski 1978, 1993). Local endemics include several plants recognized near or at the generic level, such as Gypsacanthus, Mammillaria pectinifera (Solisia), Oaxacania, Pringleochloa, Salvia sect. Conzattiana (S. aspera) - which may be relictual (Ramamoorthy and Lorence 1987), and Trichostema sect. Rhodanthum (T. purpusii). Rare endemics include Agave lurida, A. peacockii, A. titanota (perhaps), Mammillaria pectinifera (Solisia pectinata) and Salvia aspera.
The surrounding mountains are part of an interrupted chain from the U.S.A. into Central America. From the north, the Sierra Madre Oriental separates Puebla and Veracruz states and ends at the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which extends to the Atlantic coast; south of the belt is the Sierra de Zongólica, and then the Sierra de Juárez (CPD Site MA3, see Data Sheet). These extended mountains have been a bridge for the dispersal of plants and animals for millennia. South of the Tehuacán Valley are other dry valleys and mountains that may serve as a pathway for many plants that require xeric habitats (Smith 1965b; López-Ramos 1981).
Phytogeographically, the region's flora is related to the floras of other arid and semi-arid regions, such as the Balsas Depession nearby to the west; to the north-west in Hidalgo State, a small desert enclave - the only other locale for Lepechinia mexicana (Sphacele mexicana); and farther away (250 km) to the north, the Chihuahuan Desert and as well southern Texas. The valley has floristic affinities not only with the arid regions; there also is a marked influence of tropical elements, especially those characteristic of Mexico's Pacific slope (Smith 1965b; Rzedowski 1978; Villaseñor, Dávila and Chiang 1990). The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region is geologically ancient, and probably was more climatically isolated in the past - which helps to explain the high endemism (Smith 1965b).
Useful plants
Native species are used traditionally for example as medicinals, food (e.g. cactus fruits), fibre (e.g. basket-making), fuelwood, living fences and in ceremonials; some are sold in local markets (Meyrán-García 1980). Various species of considerable horticultural value have attracted national and international markets, and some are being readily produced in cultivation elsewhere. For example among hobbyists and landscapers, interest is strong for some cacti, Nolina, Beaucarnea, Dasylirion, Agave, Hechtia and Tillandsia (Dávila-Aranda 1983).
Social and environmental values
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region has localities (e.g. San Juan Raya and near Tepeji de Rodríguez) with important Mesozoic fossils. The region is one of five truly desert biotic provinces in Mexico. The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley is within the arid intermontane areas of the Balsas drainage and interior Oaxaca, which is recognized as an Endemic Bird Area (EBA A27). A number of restricted-range species occur, including dusky hummingbird (Cynanthus sordidus), grey-breasted woodpecker (Melanerpes hypopolius), pileated flycatcher (Xenotriccus mexicanus), Boucard's wren (Campylorhynchus jocosus), bridled sparrow (Aimophila mystacalis) and white-throated towhee (Pipilo albicollis).
Archaeological research in the Tehuacán Valley has contributed greatly to understanding processes on the origin and spread of plant cultivation and domestication (MacNeish 1972; Bye 1993; Hernández-Xolocotzi 1993). Comprehensive research by the Tehuacan Archaeological-Botanical Project has reconstructed the 11,500-year prehistoric chronology of the inhabitants' patterns of subsistence and development of agriculture, including the domestication of some plants (Byers 1967; MacNeish, Peterson and Neely 1972). Remains include up to 15 races of maize (Zea mays subsp. mays) - the earliest dated 5600 years ago (Long et al. 1989); several kinds of squashes and gourds (Cucurbita spp., Lagenaria siceraria, Crescentia cujete, Apodanthera sp.); species and races of beans (Phaseolus spp., Canavalia sp.); amaranths (Amaranthus spp.); cassava (Manihot esculenta); chili pepper (Capsicum annuum); avocado (Persea americana); guava (Psidium guajava); and tempesquite (Mastichodendron).
Economic assessment
The Tehuacán Valley has been irrigated for over two millennia. Local communities have transformed areas by means of an irrigation system that has grown elaborate and very extensive. Construction between 1944-1969 greatly expanded the system and has resulted in irrigation of 166 km², mostly throughout the year. The water-capture technology includes not only use of surface water in a lengthy network of canals, but also tunnels from the New World's only well-known development of qanats - laterally hand-dug tunnels ("galerías") that tap distant aquifers, creating gradual flow of their groundwater into wells (Enge and Whiteford 1989).
Amerindian bands apparently developed into loosely organized agricultural communities that were chiefdoms, independent small villages or city-states prior to conquest by the Aztecs at the beginning of the 16th century (Flannery 1983). The present regional inhabitants tend to be ethnically associated with local communities and speak dialects of Náhuatl and/or Spanish. Population density in the productive valley is c. 100 persons per km².
Agriculture in the Tehuacán Valley is of two main types: upland farming on good areas above 1800 m in the oak-pine zone of the surrounding mountains, and intensive valley farming. About 410 km² of the valley were in cultivation in 1981: on the limited alluvial areas of canyons and watercourses, c. 40% of the total as irrigated croplands on the valley floor and gentle hillsides, and dry farming on the marginal land of hillsides. Crops are diverse, e.g. maize, beans, squash, tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica), tomato, garlic, dry peppers, peas, sugarcane, saffron, alfalfa and sorghum. Between 1973 and 1981, many of the region's farmers converted from mainly subsistence cultivation to almost completely cash-crop agriculture.
The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region connects the city of Oaxaca with Mexico's heavily populated Central Plateau. The Mexico City-Oaxaca railroad (constructed in 1892) and a major highway pass through the valley. Another main highway links the cities of Tehuacán and Orizaba (67 km away) and continues east to important markets in the Veracruz lowlands.
The surrounding mountains have been heavily deforested, with the inevitable results of decreased water infiltration for aquifer recharge, and rapid runoff with erosion and flash floods. The groundwater level is decreasing in the Tehuacán Valley's upper aquifer stratum (which is between 30-50 m subsurface). Natural springs around the city Tehuacán decreased c. 12% in flow rate from 1976 to 1983; galería systems measured from 1968 or 1976 to 1983 decreased c. 38%. Demand is intensifying to drill more deep wells to obtain fossil water from a separate stratum at 114-195 m - an essentially non-renewable supply already also showing decline. Yet increasing the use of water might expand agriculture.
The valley's flora is severely threatened by agricultural and pastoral activities, especially overgrazing by goats. About 500 km² in the Tehuacán Valley are used for grazing. In the broad lower part of the valley, the vegetation is affected most by the agricultural activities. Road improvements cause additional losses of natural vegetation. Also, some of the native species and populations are threatened by trade and commercialization of wild specimens, especially those with ornamental value such as some of the cacti and other succulent or thick-stemmed (pachycaul) species.
Although there is general interest in protection of representative areas within the region, there is no official plan to establish nature reserves. So far, just 1 km² near Zapotitlán de las Salinas has been set aside, as the Helia Bravo Hollis Botanical Garden. The necessity for conservation is clear from the biological standpoint, and because the region's hydrology is critically important to support an increasing human population (Enge and Whiteford 1989).
Map 15. Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Region, Mexico (CPD Site MA4)
Bye, R. (1993). The role of humans in the diversification of plants in Mexico. In Ramamoorthy, T.P., Bye, R., Lot, A. and Fa, J.E. (eds), Biological diversity of Mexico: origins and distribution. Oxford University Press, New York. Pp. 707-731.
Byers, D.S. (ed.) (1967). The prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Vol. 1: Environment and subsistence. University of Texas Press, Austin. 331 pp.
Dávila-Aranda, P.D. (1983). Flora genérica del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. M.S. thesis. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, D.F. 694 pp.
Delgadillo-M., C. and Zander, R.H. (1984). The mosses of the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico, and notes on their distribution. Bryologist 87: 319-322.
Enge, K.I. and Whiteford, S. (1989). The keepers of water and earth: Mexican rural social organization and irrigation. University of Texas Press, Austin. 222 pp.
Ferrusquía-Villafranca, I. (1993). Geology of Mexico: a synopsis. In Ramamoorthy, T.P., Bye, R., Lot, A. and Fa, J.E. (eds), Biological diversity of Mexico: origins and distribution. Oxford University Press, New York. Pp. 3-107.
Flannery, K.V. (1983). Pre-Columbian farming in the valleys of Oaxaca, Nochixtlán, Tehuacán, and Cuicatlán: a comparative study. In Flannery, K.V. and Marcus, J. (eds), The cloud people: divergent evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations. Academic Press, New York.
Hernández-Xolocotzi, E. (1993). Aspects of plant domestication in Mexico: a personal view. In Ramamoorthy, T.P., Bye, R., Lot, A. and Fa, J.E. (eds), Biological diversity of Mexico: origins and distribution. Oxford University Press, New York. Pp. 733-753.
Jaramillo-Luque, V. and González-Medrano, F. (1983). Análisis de la vegetación arbórea en la provincia florística de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. Bol. Soc. Bot. Méx. 45: 49-64.
Long, A., Benz, B.F., Donahue, D.J., Jull, A.T. and Toolin, L.J. (1989). First direct AMS dates on early maize from Tehuacán, Mexico. Radiocarbon 31: 1035-1040.
López-Ramos, E. (1981). Geología de México, Tomo III. Publ. particular autorizada, Mexico, D.F. 446 pp.
MacNeish, R.S. (1972). Summary of the cultural sequence and its implications in the Tehuacan Valley. In MacNeish, R.S. et al., The prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Vol. 5: Excavations and reconnaissance. University of Texas Press, Austin. Pp. 496-504.
MacNeish, R.S., Peterson, F.A. and Neely, J.A. (1972). The archaeological reconnaissance: [introduction]. In MacNeish, R.S. et al., The prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Vol. 5: Excavations and reconnaissance. University of Texas Press, Austin. Pp. 341-360.
Meyrán-García, J. (1980). Guía botánica de cactáceas y otras suculentas del Valle de Tehuacán, 2nd edition. Soc. Mexicana de Cactología, Mexico, D.F. 52 pp.
Miranda, F. (1948). Datos sobre la vegetación en la cuenca alta del Papaloapan. Anales Inst. Biol. Univ. Nac. Méx. 19: 333-364.
Ramamoorthy, T.P. and Lorence, D.H. (1987). Species vicariance in the Mexican flora and description of a new species of Salvia (Lamiaceae). Adansonia 2: 167-175.
Rzedowski, J. (1978). Vegetación de México. Editorial Limusa, Mexico, D.F. 432 pp.
Rzedowski, J. (1993). Diversity and origins of the phanerogamic flora of Mexico. In Ramamoorthy, T.P., Bye, R., Lot, A. and Fa, J.E. (eds), Biological diversity of Mexico: origins and distribution. Oxford University Press, New York. Pp. 129-144.
Smith, C.E., Jr. (1965a). Agriculture, Tehuacan Valley. Fieldiana, Bot. 31: 49-100.
Smith, C.E., Jr. (1965b). Flora, Tehuacán Valley. Fieldiana, Bot. 31: 101-143.
Tamayo-L., J. (1962). Geografía general de México, 2nd edition, Vol. 1. Inst. Mex. Invest. Econ., Mexico, D.F. 562 pp.
Villaseñor, J.L., Dávila, P. and Chiang, F. (1990). Fitogeografía del Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán. Bol. Soc. Bot. Méx. 50: 135-149.
Zavala-H., J.A. (1982). Estudios ecológicos en el valle semiárido de Zapotitlán, Pue. I. Clasificación numérica de la vegetación basada en atributos binarios de presencia o ausencia de las especies. Biótica 7: 99-120.
This Data Sheet was written by Dra. Patricia D. Dávila [Universidad Nacional Autónoma
de México (UNAM), Instituto de Biología, Departamento de Botánica, Apdo. Postal 70-367,
Mexico 04510, D.F., Mexico] and Olga Herrera-MacBryde (Smithsonian Institution, SI/MAB
Program, S. Dillon Ripley Center, Suite 3123, Washington, DC 20560-0705, U.S.A.).
North | Middle | South
CPD Home
Botany Home Page | Smithsonian Home Page


text:
December 15, 2006
'Tis the season traffic is moving at a snail's pace...especially around shopping centers.
Police are working to relieve congestion. That's been the goal ever since Thanksgiving, and it will continue to be the goal until the day after Christmas.
Park in front of any shopping center, like Augusta's mall, and you'll see drivers aren't so giving.
"You got to kind of expect it," said one driver we spoke with. "It's the holiday season, you know?"
For Sgt. J.R. Compton of road patrol, it's another year of stacking the schedule.
"The hours have increased," he said.
Since Thanksgiving, the sheriff's office has devoted anywhere from two to six deputies to patrol each entrance and exit to the mall.
"You do get the occasional fender bender there," Sgt. Compton said.
From Marks Church Road to Bobby Jones Expressway, a deputy can manually control the traffic lights.
"They plug in a jack to the lights, and they have a plunger, and it will cause the lights to cycle," Sgt. Compton explained.
The most common mistake drivers make is blocking intersections.
We saw a white SUV sitting in the intersection waiting to turn.
That's illegal...and moves like those don't sit well with others who are sitting, waiting, and not moving.
"Takes you 25 minutes to get from the corner up to Augusta West Parkway," said one driver.
Some turn on the tunes.
Others try to beat the traffic before it begins.
"I was hoping people were still at work, because I got off a little early, and trying to beat the crowd just a little bit on Friday," one driver said.
Sgt. Compton suggests more people try that: get up early and stay stress-free.
"Be patient," he said. "Everybody's trying to accomplish the same goal."
Of course, the length of these lines is different depending on the time of day. The morning rush hour, the lunch hour, and the dinner hour are the times you want to avoid.
The traffic lights are re-programmed during the holidays for this very season.
Sgt. Compton gives traffic engineers a lot of credit for what they do. He says they've done wonders with the timing of the lights.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
News 12 First at Five / Monday, Jan. 28, 2013
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW) -- Democratic Congressman John Barrow stopped by the News 12 studio on Monday to discuss some of the most heated issues that Washington is facing.
One of the most hotly-debated issues right now is gun control. President Barack Obama says he wants police officers from three communities that have experienced mass shootings and officers across the country to help convince Congress to pass gun legislation.
The president says no group is more important than law enforcement in the gun debate and is asking Congress to pass an assault weapons ban that limits high-capacity magazines and requires background checks.
"For a great many people in this country, the right to keep and bear arms is not just a recreational thing for hunting or something like that -- it involves personal defense and home defense. This is how many people regard it," Barrow said. "That is deeply in the roots of the 2nd Amendment and what it's all about."
Back in the fall, Barrow put the gun debate at the center of his reelection campaign, which he used to gain bipartisan support to send him back to Congress.
Immigration is also on the minds of many Americans as Congress begins debating on a new immigration bill. Barrow says he hasn't had a chance to see the new bill yet but says it contains a lot of the very things he's concerned about.
"My policy is that we need to secure the border, we need to secure the jobs and we need to secure the benefits. If you do those things, the problem will take care of itself," he said.
Barrow says securing the border is a key part of any immigration plan.
Click here to watch the video or watch below.


text:
While Oracle deserves some praise for its donation of OpenOffice.org code to the Apache Foundation, it is disappointing again to see a legitimate open source market contender that has been marginalized by miscommunication and mismanagement of the project by a large vendor.
OpenOffice.org, warts and all, was probably the most significant competition for Microsoft Office for years and in many ways demonstrated the advantages of open source, helping usher in wider use of it, as well as greater usability. OO.o was in fact my reason for originally investigating and moving to open source software more than a decade ago. Regardless of …[Read more...]


text:
With high unemployment, housing foreclosures and families struggling to make ends meet, there's no denying that many Ohioans are hurting financially. And nowhere is that more apparent than in southeast Ohio, a region that has struggled economically for decades.
But there is hope.
Ohio is fortunate to rest upon the Utica shale, an oil-and-gas-rich geologic formation thousands of feet below the topsoil. Due to expanding oil and gas exploration and development in the region, Ohio is on the cusp of a potential energy boom that could provide tens of thousands of jobs and generate substantial tax revenue that would benefit citizens throughout the state, including in Marietta.
While there's plenty of excitement about the positive economic impact that oil and gas development could bring to the state, there's already talk about imposing impact fees and increasing taxes on oil and gas producers. With Utica-shale exploration in its infancy, even the threat of increased taxes and fees could bring capital investment and job growth within the state to a grinding halt.
Under Ohio's current tax structure, the average oil and gas producer pays five different taxes - commercial activity (CAT), income, sales, ad valorem (property tax) and a severance tax on the amount of oil and gas extracted from the ground.
In 2010, the state's crude-oil and natural-gas producers generated more than $23 million in tax revenue at the municipal, county and state level. If the current tax structure remains intact and planned industry spending and development in the Utica shale moves forward, oil and gas production could generate $1.05 billion in annual tax revenue in 2015.
That amount would provide $129 million to Ohio's counties, $255 million to municipalities and $670 million to the state. For example, with an overflowing tax coffer, Marietta could make vital and valuable investments in education, infrastructure and development projects. The opportunities are limitless, just step up and grab them.
The oil-and-gas opposition will no doubt claim that the oil and gas industry is just greedy and doesn't want to pay its fair share. Not true. Oil and gas exploration is an expensive endeavor that requires millions in up-front investment. After development costs, royalties and taxes, the average oil and gas producer is lucky to earn about 6 cents for every dollar of natural gas they produce. And unlike many other businesses, oil and gas producers typically wait 20 years or more to see a return on their investment.
The oil and gas companies working in Ohio aren't asking for a handout, just a fair tax and fee structure, which is what we've got. Let's not ruin a good thing by imposing needless taxes and fees on capital investment and job growth, especially now when the positive impact of both are beginning to revive and restore communities throughout the state.
Thomas E. Stewart is executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association.


text:
b. dolan wrote: I agree. SFR's design squad is killing it lately. Thanks to everyone involved for the great work on these.
Also, I'm not sure if the pictures even communicate how nice this yellow is. I've had an um, glaring experience with yellow shirts in the past (though that was mostly an intentional move...the bombzo shirts were more performance art than viable clothing choice.) ... however... this yellow is a great tone. slightly muted but not muddy. I never thought I'd rock a yellow shirt til I saw these.
Good summer shit. House of beeeeeeesss....
Travadone wrote:
not one of "my" shirts that i wear myself but a logo shirt.


text:
The second season of Tosh.0 closed with a reflection of redemptions, naming of the season's MVP, and showing of the perfect web video. Most interestingly, we got a preview of Tosh's potential Web Redemptions for season three.
Looks like next season we'll see everyone from Antoine Dodson to Tay Zonday and the leprechaun dudes from Mobile, Alabama.
Season Three of Tosh.0 starts in early 2011, and new episodes will air on Tuesdays at 10 pm.


text:
Request Info
Undergraduate Admission
Prospective undergraduate students interested in St. John's request info today! Fill out our request form below and we will be in touch with you shortly.
Online Learning
Students interested taking courses or obtaining a full degree online should contact our Online Learning representatives.
Contact St. John's
Find other areas within the University by viewing our online Directory or see our general Contact reources below.


text:
A hardboiled egg and some pink dye or paint are just the beginning. With finishing touches, such as antennae and a rosy-cheeked smile, this egg decoration is as fun to look at as it is to make.
Catch the Backyardigans on Nick Jr.
Cut an individual cell from the carton, turn the cell upside down, and cut an opening in the top just big enough to secure the small end of the egg. If you can't find a pink egg carton, kids can paint the carton using the light-pink glitter paint. At the same time kids can dye or paint the egg light pink. While the egg and egg carton are drying, prepare the eyes, antennae, and felt overalls pieces so they will be ready to glue on as soon as the egg and egg stand are dry.
Cut out two small ovals from white paper and show kids how to glue one wiggle eye on top of each white oval. Snip a pipe cleaner into two 1 1/2-inch lengths for the antennae. Cut out pale pink overalls freehand from the pink felt. Cut out two straps, about a half inch wide and about 2 inches long. Have kids mark one red dot at the end of each strap of the overalls to create buttons. Set the pieces aside.
When the egg (and the egg carton, if necessary) is dry, have kids paint four large dark-pink spots on the egg. Let dry.
Glue the overalls to the dry egg carton cell. Glue the straps to the egg carton cell.
Have kids glue the eyes to the large end of the egg. With the red marker, draw the mouth.
Parents can use the sewing needle to bore two holes in the top of the egg for the pipe cleaner antennae. Older kids can insert the pipe cleaners themselves. Place the egg on top of the stand.
Make this mobile and swing into spring!
Sail away on this boatload of family crafty fun!
Bubble-filled Backyardigans buds for squeaky clean bathtime fun
Love's in full bloom with this Backyardigans craft
Surround your Valentine with a circle of hearts!
Goody! Goody! Some cool Backyardigans party favors
Take Tasha trick-or-treating!
Your little Uniqua fan will feel pretty in pink in this costume.
Awesome antlers announce that Tyrone is making the rounds this Halloween!
Good old-fashioned fun--indoors or out!
Orange ya gonna put Tyrone the moose together?
Pablo's looking eggscellent.
Adorn your table with this easy, eye-popping Backyardigans craft
Arctic-worthy warmth inspired by Pablo
Wrap up your little penguins in something warm and friendly after bathtime.
Your little kangaroos will hop into this warm and cute bath towel.
Get hoppin' with the Backyardigans at your next play date.
Wrap up your little hippos in something warm, friendly, and smooth after bathtime.
Proudly display those family photos in this homemade magnetic clay frame.
Calm nighttime fears with a friendly face!
Welcome to a Knight at the Theater
Dress your preschooler as his favorite penguin pal!
Little puppets for little hands
Masters of Disguise? Or Goody Bags?
Dad will get a charge out of this holiday gift!
Create this simple paper basket and make it a Hoppy Easter!
Make this simple cut-and fold-card before Easter!
Kids will eat up the idea of dinosaur eggs resting in this sweet nest
Kids will love wearing this easy-to-make hare accessory!
Turn an egg into the Guppies' playful puppy!
Transform an egg into a bubbly Guppy, using our printable template!
Kids will crack up when they see their funny Guppy friend looking like an egg
A tisket, a tasket, a Dora Easter basket!
Bot's belly belly Easter egg adds up to a bunch of cheery fun
Shape up this Easter with a Team Umizoomi decorative egg
Calling all UmiFriends! Have we got a craft for you!
Let's make some BIG music with Jack's colorful Easter egg
Say "ni hao" with the el-egg-ant springtime craft from Kai-lan
Decorate with some egg-cellent Diego decor
A happy Easter is about to hatch!
Come out of your shells to make this one terrific Turtle Tuck
This guinea pig sure is egg-cited for spring!
Bring home a little bit of Brobee with this super springtime craft!
It just wouldn't be Easter without this colorful family craft!
Make any egg more festive with a little help from Foofa!
Orange ya gonna put Tyrone the moose together?
Pablo's looking eggscellent.
For a fantástico time, decorate a Dora egg with your little explorers
Add a touch of Blue to your home decor
Kids beam with pride when they scramble up some springtime fun with Nick Jr.'s stylish star.
Steal the time away with this easy-to-make, fun family craft, but no swiping!
Go, tiger! Step it up with a craft from Kai-lan's best friend


text:
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - Here we go, "Sibling Rivalry Maximus." Two brothers who fought so intensely as youngsters that their mother had to cry to get them to stop, mano-a-mano on Super Sunday - the Harbaugh Bowl. Oh, yeah ... put the children out of the room.If you're looking to bet on a brother, I'm here to tell you which brother that should be, and why...As a boy four years younger than my brother, Tom, I learned what every younger brother learns about rivalries. On a sunny morning in the springtime, while walking through the kitchen minding my own business with an open-face PB&J in hand, my brother, unable to resist the temptation, sent my PB&J somersaulting into the air. I tried to catch it without result. This was not the first of his hazings, but it would prove to be one of the last.That evening, while he was busy with his homework, I scooped as much peanut butter as I could gather in one hand from the Skippy jar, crept up behind him, and as quiet as a Fennimore Cooper Indian, grabbed him by the face, pulled him over backwards, and shoved that peanut butter up his nose. Then I ran like crazy, but he caught me and with the heat of a thousand suns, pummeled me soundly.Well, my mind then went feverish with schemes to even the score, and I was consumed with the worst of all possible passions, revenge. But my time was well spent, and I was rewarded in spades...I had seen a weather balloon advertised for sale in Boy's Life magazine, so I scraped ten dollars together and ordered it. When it finally arrived it didn't look like much until I started to blow it up, and I realized it was going to take me most of the night to fill it, but I did it, coming near to passing out on several occasions from hyperventilation. When fully inflated it was as tall as I was.My brother had to get up at four o'clock for his job, and he set his alarm clock across the room on his dresser so he could not reach out and turn it off. Knowing this, I dragged the weather balloon into his room while he slept and placed it strategically between his bed and the alarm clock. Then I took a piece of cardboard, stuck a tack through it, and taped it to his dresser so the tack faced the weather balloon.Well, I guess you know the rest of the story. I was wide awake at 4 a.m. when I heard his alarm go off, followed by an explosion that rocked the house. He told me years later that the blast blew him back into bed. Needless to say, my big brother didn't mess (for lack of a better word) with me much again after that.So as a younger sibling, I would like to go on record as predicting a win for the younger Harbaugh, and not just a win, but a win that will cover the Nevada spread and more. You see, younger brothers know a thing or two about sibling rivalries.Niners, 31 - Ravens, 17. Take it to the bank.- Learn more about McAvoy Layne at www.ghostoftwain.org.
Back to: News
January 28, 2013
Follow News


text:
STOCKTON - A man was shot while riding his bicycle with friends in north Stockton late Wednesday, authorities said.
The shooting occurred at 11:51 p.m. in the 2200 block of Pyrenees Avenue, just south of Valverde Park, police said. The victim said he and his friends were approached by a vehicle, possibly a black Honda, which was occupied by two men. Someone in the vehicle opened fire, striking the victim once, authorities said.
The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury, police said. There was no further description of the assailants.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
Every day, the Devils Lake Journal publishes a selection of stories both in print and on the web you can't find anywhere else.
Today, Thursday, 15, 2012, found only in print in the pages of the Devils Lake Journal will be Letter to the editor and Sex in the city on page 4, Warwick School honors custodian page 3, Winter Sports Preview No. 1 pages B1 - B8.
Found only on the web will be Today in history - Nov. 15 and Photo gallery from the raising of the RR tracks.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
- Select colors and sizes on sale!
- Currently Unavailable
Ankle support and foot comfort. 62/28/6/4 polyester/cotton/elastane/nylon. Imported.
NOTE: Please choose your normal sock size or use our sock sizing chart to make your selection. Packaging may reflect a different size when they arrive, but when tried on the socks will fit.
Soporte al tobillo y comodidad en el pie. 62/28/6/4 poliéster/algodón/elastano/nailon. Importadas.


text:
TAHOE/TRUCKEE, Calif. - Tahoe Forest Hospital is pleased to announce the first baby of the new year was born Friday, Jan. 4 at 3:43 p.m.. This was the first year in many the hospital didn't have a baby on the first of the year according to Shawndee Carnell, unit clerk at Tahoe Forest Hospital's Women and Family Center in Truckee.
Baby boy Damian Guerrero weighed 5 pounds 8.9 ounces at birth and measured 18.5 inches. His parents are Angelica Guerrero and Gerardo Ruiz of Kings Beach. He also has a big sister, 5-year-old Jacqueline.
The new parents were pleasantly surprised to have the first baby of the new year, and were presented by the Women and Family Center with a gift basket of items donated by local merchants and residents.
"I feel excited to have the first baby of the new year," said mom Angelica. "I feel lucky and very happy." She also said it was a long labor and she's happy to have it over with, and she's looking forward to being able to be back home with her family and her daughter.
"Thank you to everyone at the hospital for taking such good care of me," said Angelica. She also wanted to express her heartfelt appreciation for the lovely gifts.
Tahoe Forest Hospital would like to recognize Gratitudes, who donated a rattle, bath salts, and a blanket, and assembled the beautiful basket; Mazie Carnell for her hand-quilted baby blanket; Sonja Bena of Images Salon for the gift certificate for a haircut and style; Mane Attraction, who donated Phyto hair products; Dorinda's Chocolates for the hand-dipped chocolates; Truckee Love, who donated an infant T-shirt; Wild Cherries Coffee House for the $20 gift card; Tahoe Forest Auxiliary for the stuffed animal; Tahoe Forest Women and Family Center who gave Starbucks gift cards, diapers, and spirits; and Deb Safford, RN who gave a knitted hat.
Tahoe Forest Health System is a not-for-profit rural health care facility located in Truckee and was recently named one of the nation's Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals and Top 20 for patient satisfaction. For more information visit www.tfhd.com.


text:
Location: Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit
Project Number: 8020-22000-039-00
Start Date: Mar 04, 2013
End Date: Apr 28, 2014
Utilize molecular approaches such as UP-PCR, rDNA sequencing, etc. to distinguish pathogenic Rhizoctonia isolates and to group them. Construct expressed gene cDNA libraries of virulent and hypovirulent Rhizoctonia isolates, and analyze to identify differentially expressed genes. Develop transformation system for R. solani. Evaluate transgenic gladiolus for resistance against Fusarium oxysporum, fsp gladioli. Screen to identify plant extracts inhibitory to R. solani and other soilborne plant pathogens. Evaluate antagonistic fungi, bacteria, or other microbes to check their effectiveness alone or in combination with biorationals or soil amendments in controlling soilborne pathogens of ornamental crops.


text:
KANSAS CITY, MO -- After taking a pair of South Atlantic Conference victories this past week, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team moved one spot to No. 19 in the latest NABC/Division II Coaches Poll, which was unveiled on Tuesday afternoon.
The Railsplitters moved to 18-4 on the season and 11-3 in league play after sweeping two South Atlantic Conference road games this past week. Lincoln Memorial opened the week by withstanding a second-half surge and a hot-shooting performance by the Brevard College Tornados to take a 73-71 win in Brevard, North Carolina on Wednesday night. The Tornados netted 14 of their 28 three-point attempts but came up empty on a game-winning attempt with two seconds left in regulation to let the Railsplitters escape with a narrow victory.
On Saturday afternoon, the 'Splitters put on the clamps defensively and grinded out a workman-like effort on the offensive end en route to a 61-52 victory over the Anderson University Trojans. LMU led wire-to-wire and snapped a five-game losing streak to Anderson in the process. The Railsplitters regained their edge defensively in that contest, as they held the Trojans to only a 35.4% effort from the field, marked by a dismal five-for-23 mark in the first frame.
Lincoln Memorial extended their South Atlantic Conference record streak to 39-consecutive weeks ranked in the NABC/Division II Coaches Poll by moving to No. 19 in this week's rankings.
The Railsplitters continue to be led this season by senior forward Jake Troyli, who paces Lincoln Memorial at 14.5 points per game. Along with that scoring mark, Troyli ranks second on the squad with 6.5 rebounds per game. Troyli's running mate, Vincent Bailey, is pouring in 12.6 points per outing while leading the team in rebounding, pulling in 7.6 boards per game.
The back court has been bolstered this season by the three-headed attack of Wally Jones, Cam Carden and Lorenza Ross. Jones leads that group with 11.5 points per game, while Carden is notching 10.0 points per and Ross is just under that mark at 9.8. Carden, a senior from Clearwater, Florida, is currently honing in on joining the 1,000 Point Club, as he sits 23 points away from notching his 1,000th career point in a Railsplitters' jersey.
The Railsplitters are slated for a pair of South Atlantic Conference contests within the friendly confines of Tex Turner Arena this week, beginning on Wednesday night with arch-rival Carson-Newman. That game is set to tip at 8 p.m. in Harrogate, Tennessee. The week concludes on Saturday night with Lenoir-Rhyne set to come to town for another 8 p.m. tip.


text: Joan Jett may well be one of the most important women in the history of rock and roll. While this may romanticize the details, her breaking out after the dissipation of the Runaways to produce the Germs album and start the Blackhearts, experiencing commercial success on her own terms, makes her the Lucille Ball of punk rock and rock in general. Along the way, Jett proved that it was possible to have sex appeal while not being a teased, airbrushed and angel-voiced blonde, and also possible to have male fans who respected her musical ability.


text:
Sorry, no content matched your criteria.
You are here: Home / Archives for Basic Blogging Tips
WordPress SEO Blog Design Company GEO Targeted Content Experts
Optimization for Search Engines - Writing for Real People - Call 813-602-6019 to Get Found Now
Sorry, no content matched your criteria.
Copyright © 2016 Get Found Now a Division of On Top Of It,Inc.· Log in


text: When you want a Harrisburg, PA, lawyer you can trust, The Quinlan Law Group LLC is ready to help get you through the legal challenge that you are facing. Whether you are considering filing bankruptcy, or you have been charged with a DWI offense, you can count on our firm to provide the representation you need. A representative with our Harrisburg, PA, office is ready to take your call. You can meet with our attorney at the time that is best for you, because we offer flexible appointment availability. We have payment plans that can fit nearly any budget, and we also provide free consultations. If you like, we can come to your Harrisburg home to discuss the legal troubles you may be facing and how The Quinlan Law Group LLC can help.


text:
Thank You Lakeland
Published: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 9:44 p.m.
There are a number of great things to do and see in Lakeland on the weekends — and one of the gems is the Downtown Farmers Curb Market strung along North Kentucky Avenue. It has grown in size and quality and variety of vendors.
Much of the credit should go to people like Jim Luna, Market Manager, a little guy with a lot of drive and talent. We don't miss a Saturday morning. Thanks, Jim, and thanks to the city of Lakeland.
SCOTT and SUZONNE McGREGOR
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text:
Alec Sundly scored in the 97th minute to give the Cal men's soccer team a 3-2 overtime win over No. 2 Maryland in Berkeley on Sunday.
It was Cal's second big win of the weekend. The Bears (2-0) beat No. 3 Georgetown 2-0 on Friday. Maryland and Georgetown both were College Cup semifinalists last season.
Maryland, which tied Stanford on Friday, fell to 0-1-1.
On the winning goal, Maryland goalkeeper Zach Steffen deflected Steve Birnbaum's header into the path of Sundly, who converted from close range.
"It was a tremendous clutch play," Cal coach Kevin Grimes said of Sundly's winner. "He found a way to get in the right place at the right time."
Birnbaum scored Cal's first goal on a header at 13:46. Maryland tied it at 46:12 on a goal by Schillo Tshuma.
Cal retook the lead on Stefano Bonomo's goal at 50:35, but Maryland's Jake Pace retied it at 2-2 with a goal at 78:04.
Field hockey
No. 4 Connecticut scored in the 60th minute for a 2-1 victory over Cal at Stanford's Varsity Turf. Cal's Jordan O'Reilly scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Shannon Elmitt for the Bears (1-1).
Defending champion Brandon Hagy leads six Cal golfers into Monday's third and final round at the 89th California State Fair men's amateur at the Alister MacKenzie Golf Course at Haggin Oaks in Sacramento. Hagy carded a 4-under 68 and shares the lead with Owen Taylor (67) at 9-under 135.
The others Cal players who made the cut are Joël Stalter (136), Cameron Shaw (138), Clayton Madey (142), Walker Huddy (143) and Andrew Morgan (143).
Wire services contributed to this report.


text:
Stećci - Medieval Tombstones
Ministry of Culture
ExportWord File
The Secretariat of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Heritage Centre do not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information or documentation provided by the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention to the Secretariat of UNESCO or to the World Heritage Centre.
The publication of any such advice, opinion, statement or other information documentation on the World Heritage Centre's website and/or on working documents also does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of UNESCO or of the World Heritage Centre concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party
Velika i Mala Crljivica, Cista Velika, 16º 53΄ 33.97˝ E, 43º 30΄ 57.48˝ N
Dubravka - Sv. Barbara, Konavle, 18º 25΄ 20.57˝ E, 42º 32΄ 30.42˝ N
Stećci are medieval monolithic tombstones found on the entire territory of the present Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in parts of Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia. Available data suggest that they first appeared in the second half of the 12th century, with the first phase lasting throughout the 13th century. A period of the most intensive production and decoration were the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 16th century their use completely ceased.
Out of 70,000 odd tombstones recorded at 3,300 odd sites, about 60,000 monuments are located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4,400 in Croatia, 3,500 in Montenegro and 4,100 in Serbia. Stećci fall into two main groups: recumbent and upright stone monoliths. The majority are recumbent, appearing in three types: slabs, chests and ridged tombstones. Among the upright stećci, the following types can be distinguished: steles, pillars (obelisks), crosses and nišan monuments. According to the records 63 per cent of monuments are chests, 21.5 per cent slabs, 9 per cent ridged tombstones (sljemenjaci), 4.4 per cent columns, stelae and turban-shaped monuments, 0.6 per cent crosses, and 0.6 per cent amorphous monuments. So far 4638 items with decorations (rendered in relief) and 384 items with inscriptions have been identified.
The recumbent monuments represent a primary form of stećci. They are found in all of the distribution areas. Artistic shaping of stećci is expressed in their form and decoration. The basic artistic quality of stećci lays in decorations rendered in two stone-carving techniques. The most frequent is a bass relief, though engraved drawings are not uncommon
Along with their accentuated symbolism characteristic of the mediaeval art, decoration motifs also exhibit secular and religious symbols as well as other interlaced and combined ornaments. Generally speaking, the stećci ornamentation reveals the understanding and sensibility of an entire era, both of the people who took part in their creation and of the deceased who found their final resting place under them and upon whose wishes - according to inscriptions - stećci were made.
Apart from the regional differences manifested in the selection of shapes, ornamental motifs and quality, stećci were usually organised in groups thus forming family graveyards with only a few monuments, kin graveyards ranging from 30 to 50 monuments and/or village graveyards, sometimes with several hundred monuments. Especially significant are representative cemeteries of noble families belonging to the highest rungs of feudal society.
In Croatia stećci are located in southern parts of the country, i.e. in Dalmatian hinterland and on the coastal belt, from the territory of Konavle to Northern Dalmatia and Southern and Central Lika region. They are the most numerous in the territory of Dubrovnik, in the territory of Neretva's mouth, in the Makarska Littoral as well as in the territories of Vrgorac, Imotski and Sinj. More than 400 sites with stećci have been registered in Croatia so far. Research of their typology, decorations, graveyards, arrangement, relationships with other sites and cultural influences on a wider territory give a clearer picture of appearance and development of stećci.
Stećci on the territory of Croatia represent a kind of culturological bond to other medieval tombstones in the region, which were created within a wider Mediterranean cultural circle.
All aspects of their appearance and development make stećci a distinctive feature of the Croatian cultural heritage.
The two selected sites represent the best preserved sites of this kind in Croatia.
The archaeological site of Velika i Mala Crljivica, Cista Velika, Split-Dalmatia County
The site is located near the village of Cista Velika along the road Trilj-Imotski, in a length of 200 meters. Crljivica is a complex archaeological site with several occupation phases. The first phase is represented by three Bronze Age cairns (so-called Velika i mala Crljivica), north and south of the modern road. The second phase is attested by the route of the Roman road Salona - Tilurium - Novae - Narona, which was overlaid with modern road on this location, whilst on some other parts it runs more to the north. The third phase is associated with a medieval graveyard with stećci which in the 14th and 15th centuries (some of the burials are later) developed on the cairns and on the surrounding area, along the Roman, i.e. then contemporary medieval road. To this day ninety odd monuments of all types (slabs, chests and ridged monuments) have been preserved. The repertoire of ornamental motifs is similar to decorations on other stećci in this area: all types of crosses, anthropomorphous lilies, hunting scenes, circle dance scenes, duels, various vegetal motifs, crescents, stars, half-knobs, etc. On two ridged monuments partly preserved are inscriptions in bosančica which mention the names of Jerko and Vladna Kustražić (today one of these monuments is located in front of the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split). They can be dated to the first half or mid-fifteenth century.
South of sc. Velika Crljivica (eastern part of the site) lays a karst valley with seven wells constructed in the Middle Ages or even earlier. The entire area makes a unique complex which developed along the karst valley with water and the main road communication in this part of Dalmatian hinterland. Taking into consideration the state of preservation, number of stećci, context and number as well as diversity of decorations, Velika i mala Crljivica represent the most significant site with stećci in Croatia.
The archaeological site of Dubravka - Sv. Barbara, Konavle, Dubrovnik-Neretva County
The site is located near the village of Dubravka in the territory of Konavle (also Municipality of Konavle), Dubrovnik-Neretva County, near the three-border point of Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two types of stećci are recorded: chests and slabs. With 84 monuments, it represents the largest preserved medieval necropolis in the Konavle region. Most common decorations include stylized wine grape tendrils, rosettes with crosses, bows and arrows, hands and arms. These stećci can be dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. At the site also located is the church of St. Barbara. It was built in 1889 on the location of an older church. The site is encircled with a drystone wall with a cairn next to it. There are two entrances to the graveyard with two tombstones used in their construction. Next to the necropolis ran a road connecting the inlands of Herzegovina and the valley of Konavle. It was in use from Prehistory to the Late Middle Ages.
Justification of Outstanding Universal Value
Made as a work of art, as a sculpture, with an intention to make a memory of the deceased immortal, as well as an organic component of the European funerary practice, medieval tombstones - stećci represent a specific phenomenon and a specific synthesis of language and script, religion and custom, history and chronology, culture, art and aesthetics. Their primary interpretative context is Central and South-Eastern Europe as a transitional area of the European culture, marked by intertwining and blending of cultural influences of Eastern and Western Christianity, placed between the medieval West and East.
An outstanding value and European dimension of stećci as medieval tombstones and a specific expression of the medieval sepulchral art is determined by their threefold historic context: West European, Byzantine and South Slavic.
Bridging confessional, political, ethnic and geographical divisions within the wider South Slavic region and reconciling two, otherwise sharply detached, concepts of medieval culture - aristocratic (court and clerical) and popular concepts - and by making the notion of the end of human existence universal through the combination of the pagan and Christian motifs and art, the complex art of stećci exhibit the most profound artistic expression of a truth of one world. It is verbally accompanied by inscriptions - epitaphs.
Comprehensiveness, universality and applicability of a complex phenomenon such as stećci are a reflection of reflected in the universal nature of what they depicted and visualised artistically: death.
Criterion ii Medieval tombstones - stećci represent an original artistic expression originating in a specific context of the fusion of different cultural influences.
Criterion iii Stećci are a unique phenomenon in the medieval European artistic and archaeological heritage in terms of their typological diversity, number, variety of ornamental motifs, inscriptions as well as historic context.
Criterion vi Stećci have been deeply rooted in various customs and beliefs from the time when they first appeared to the present day. Stećci-related phenomena (superstitions, folk traditions and tales) exhibit several similar patterns encountered in the entire distribution area. The epigraphy and symbols displayed on stećci have influenced a modern literature and other forms of art.
Statements of authenticity and/or integrity
The nominated graveyards are integral part of a unique cultural phenomenon and representative examples of stećci which together merit equal treatment.
Due to systematic archaeological excavations into the graveyards with stećci, conducted within the scope of research projects, and numerous publications and exhibitions on stećci, those graveyards have been included in various protection and presentation programs for more than six decades. This all has raised public awareness on the significance of stećci, thus preserving their authenticity and integrity. An investigative work of Šefik Bešlagić made a particular contribution in his book Stećci - kultura i umjetnost (Mediaeval Tombstones - Culture and Art), in 1982.
On the other hand, inaccessibility of many of the graveyards, remote from roads and settlements, has been a key factor in preserving the authenticity of both graveyards and their natural surroundings as well as in minimising any human impact.
Notwithstanding, the graveyards with stećci have been occasionally at risk due to public and private works. Stone blocks have sometimes been unsystematically removed from the graves they marked, taken to new locations, thus diminishing the authenticity and integrity of certain sites.
The nominated graveyards with stećci, their archaeological context and diversity of their types, decorations and inscriptions represent all embracing aspects of phenomenon and study of stećci.
The graveyards in this serial nomination have preserved the highest level of authenticity and integrity amongst all other graveyards with stećci. The nominated graveyards are protected cultural properties in all four countries, and are all subject to statutory protection.
Comparison with other similar properties
In certain details, particularly decorative motifs, stećci may be compared to other medieval tombstones in Europe, and even in their area of distribution. This primarily includes slabs located at medieval graveyards or in churches. Decorations on slabs vary from simple to elaborately decorated depictions of the deceased (priests, nobles and other relatively wealthy figures). Stećci and slabs share their shape (thick or thin slabs) and certain ornamental motifs and inscriptions.
Some of the motifs or scenes depicted on stećci are also to be found in other works of art (paintings, reliefs) or artefacts (jewellery, tapestry) of that period. In terms of their number and monumentality, stećci can be to a certain degree compared to the Irish and British high crosses which are also covered with various ornaments. However, they appeared during the Early Middle Ages, and disappeared as late as the 12th century. Furthermore, these crosses were not used solely as grave marks. The same applies to Armenian khachkars - tombstones and memorial monuments created in Armenia in the period between the 9th and 17th centuries, reaching a peak in the 14th century.


text:
this week's tournaments
Site: Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Courses: Walt Disney World Resort, Magnolia Course (7,516 yards, par 72) and Palm Course (7,010 yards, par 72).
Purse: $4.7 million.
Winner's share: $846,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.)
Last year: Luke Donald won the season-ending event to win the PGA Tour money title and went on to become the first player to also top the European Tour money list in the same season.
Notes: The top 125 on the money list after the event will earn full 2013 exemptions, and the next 25 will receive conditional status. Jeff Maggert is 122nd with $671,494, followed by Kevin Chappell ($623,775), Rod Pampling ($620,893), No. 125 Billy Mayfair ($619,961). ... Donald is skipping his title defense because of a medical procedure for one of his children.
Site: Guadalajara, Mexico.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Guadalajara Country Club (6,644 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1 million.
Winner's share: $200,000.
Television: None.
Last year: Scotland's Catriona Matthew won her fourth career LPGA Tour title.
Notes: Tournament host Lorena Ochoa is in the 36-player field after sitting out last year before the birth of her first child. She won 27 LPGA Tour titles before retiring in 2010. ... Stacy Lewis is in position to become the first American to win player of the year since Beth Daniel in 1994. Lewis has a nearly insurmountable 58-point lead over South Korea's Inbee Park with two events left. ... The season-ending Titleholders is next week in Naples, Fla.


text:
A North Dakota woman who spent 11 hours in a South Fargo Walmart before reportedly trying to steal more than 75 items has been charged with felony theft.
The Forum newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/WMKRkI) that 20-year-old Jessie Fay Cavanaugh, of Saint Michael, appeared in Cass County Court on Monday and was charged with felony theft.
Charging documents say store loss preventions officers watched Cavanaugh in the store for 11 hours and called the police when she tried to leave to get a cab. The documents state that she had 78 items on her body. They were worth more than $1,000.
An arresting officer observed that Cavanaugh appeared to be under the influence.
Cavanaugh's lawyer says he could not comment on the case.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
Click Here for Cleaning Instructionsand to Learn More
Mid-century modern style in a fun little ottoman! This oval-shaped ottoman can be used with a chair, or it can stand alone as a cocktail ottoman. Don't miss the extra touches- a button right in the center and modern wedge legs.
See an error on this page? Please report it so that we may correct it.
Your Email Address:
This item has been discontinued by the manufacturer, or please describe the issue:
Prices subject to home office audit & correction.
Join our email list


text:
Knitter's Review
September 17, 2009
Three companies have each come out with fun new stuff for the fall.
First, let's peek at Montana Mountain's needle-of-the-month club, then we'll try to prevent rough skin with the new Knitters Hands lotion bar, and finally let's see just how tiny the holes are in the new lace needlesizer from Debra's Garden. Here we go.
This Weekend in California
Going for the G-20
In the Forum: How Much?
Need help logging into the Forums?
As always, I thank you for your readership and your support.
Happy knitting, and I'll see you in the Forums!
P.S. Do you have friends who would enjoy Knitter's Review? If so, don't hesitate to forward this email to them.
Knitter's Review Poll
Do you like learning about the knitting techniques and traditions of other countries?
Participate in our Knitter's Review Poll and you'll see an instant tally of all the votes.
Subscriber Services
Having problems viewing this? %%webversion%%
Did you miss a week? Visit our online archive of all past newsletters.
Has your email address changed? Update your subscription: %%modifydetails_3%%
Receive this from a friend? Join us!
No longer wish to receive this newsletter? %%unsubscribelink%%
© Copyright 2000-2009 by Clara H. Parkes. All rights reserved.
This week's sponsors


text:
I was invited to give a short introduction to Ruby on Rails at Tech Meetup in Edinburgh a couple of days ago. I'd been racking my brain for days on what to talk about — 15 minutes is too short for me to give a meaningful introduction to Rails — and eventually settled on telling a few stories.
The slides don't make much sense on their own, so I've included the "script" of what I talked about too. I deviated quite a bit from the script as I got into it, so hopefully I should be able to provide audio (or, dread the thought, maybe even video) of the talk in due course.
…[Read more...]


text:
The Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers cervical cancer team includes world leaders in the field who are dedicated to providing you with the highest level of patient care, and the compassion and experience to help you and your family cope with the physical and emotional effects of cancer and its treatment. Our team makes optimum use of our state-of-the-art facilities, research, and advanced care, available only at a premier academic medical center.
Learn more about our cervical cancer treatment team.
Next: Cervical Cancer Support Services and Follow-Up Care
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 | Call us toll-free:


text:
If you go ...
What: Brothers Keeper with John Popper and Jono Manson, a fundraiser for Red Sandstone Elementary School.
Where: Shakedown Bar, Vail Village.
When: 8 p.m. Friday.
Cost: $50 ticket includes appetizers provided by Magustos and desserts by The Last Course.
More information: There will be giveaways featuring custom orthodics by Surefoot, Volkl Bridges (in honor of the Blues Traveler 2001 album "Bridge"), and Denver Bronco tickets. Tickets can be purchased at The Shakedown Bar, The Vail International Gallery in Vail Village or by calling 328-2910 or by emailing email@example.com. At press time, there were about 25 tickets left, so organizers thought a few would be available for purchase at the door.


text:
Week in Review: Innovation Provides Value for Patients…And Everyone Else, Too
Week in Review: Innovation Provides Value for Patients…And Everyone Else, Too
06.07.13 | By
Medical innovation does an enormous amount of good for patients, but there is also a broader societal impact: innovative research positively impacts the economy, as well. Indiana Governor Mike Pence, for example, discussed on Tuesday the positive impact biopharmaceutical research has on his state and his commitment to increasing the sector's presence. "Indiana's life sciences industry has tremendous potential for growth," Pence said. "We are actively working to expand the partnership among life sciences and biopharmaceutical companies and our state's universities and hospitals to grow the economy, to attract and retain talent and to address the critical health issues we face today."
BioCrossroads, a catalyst organization for life sciences development in Indiana, confirmed the good news for the Hoosier state. The organization issued a report that found pharmaceuticals accounted for approximately $5 billion of the $7.4 billion in life science product exports from the state in 2009. And life science exports overall nearly tripled in Indiana from $2.5 billion to $7.4 billion between 2002 and 2009, ranking the state third-highest, following California and Texas.
In addition to these posts, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting this week highlighted the importance of innovation and medical advances and reinforced the value medicine provides to patients. Every year, the research presented at ASCO changes the way oncology is practiced; it's a game-changer for physicians and the medical community. For example, a blog post from the meeting noted that in 2002 there were about 10,000 PubMed citations mentioning "oncology." Last year, this increased to 23,000, providing new data points and information to caregivers that ultimately benefits patients.
Medicine helps patients and caregivers in invaluable ways, but its reach is even further than the incredible impact on patients. In addition to curing disease and saving lives, the discovery of new medicine helps strengthen local economies and create great jobs. Stay tuned for more blogging on how the discovery of new medicines could impact your state.


text:
NEW: For a prettier blog interface, see the Wordpress version!
|Improve notes for planner-diary.el {{Tasks:624}} (PlannerModeCompletedTasks)
|Fix planner error from summary buffer {{Tasks:621}} (E-Mail from John Sullivan)
~/.diary schedule
|CS21B at F228
|CS21B at F228
4. CS161 Finals Schedule
3. More stuff about finite automata in
I had exactly this issue when I was tutoring a group of Computability Theory students. I found that only GNU Pic gave good results. You can embed pic inline in <nop>LaTeX documents and have it render properly but it's probably better results to use a Makefile and run pic/groff to get EPS files.
P.S. thanks for all the planner-mode help... I am up and running!!
E-Mail from David O'Toole
2. Free calculus textbooks
1. Jester: A test coverage tool that introduces bugs
"Why just think your tests are good when you can know for sure? Sometimes Jester tells me my tests are airtight, but sometimes the changes it finds come as a bolt out of the blue. Highly recommended." Kent Beck
Jester finds code that is not covered by tests. Jester makes some change to your code, runs your tests, and if the tests pass Jester displays a message saying what it changed. Jester includes a script for generating web pages that show the changes made that did not cause the tests to fail.
E-Mail from Calen Martin D. Legaspi
I'd love to hear about any questions, comments, suggestions or links that you might have. Your comments will not be posted on this website immediately, but will be e-mailed to me first. You can use this form to get in touch with me, or e-mail me at [email protected] .


text:
Main Content
Order as many items as you like with our $4.99 flat rate shipping.
This item ships within one business day.
Order as many items as you like with our $4.99 flat rate shipping.
Need it faster?
You are just like your Phillies – play as hard as you work! Keeping cool while staying active just got easier with this Enduracool Instant Cooling towel. This unique towel works by first being soaked in water, then wrung out and finally snapped in the air to activate the cooling properties. It works great when worn around your shoulders, neck or any other hot spot! This towel will stay cool for about two hours before needing to be reactivated. You can also use it dry because the soft microfiber is great at absorbing sweat! With a printed Philadelphia graphic, you'll be showing off your team pride wherever you use it!
- 90% Polyester/10% Nylon
- Chemical-free, re-usable and machine washable
- Imported
- Lightweight
- Measures approximately 37" x 13.25"
- Officially licensed MLB product
- Screen print graphics
- To activate: get it wet, wring out excess and snap 3 times to activate the cooling technology
- UPF 50+ protection
- When dry, the soft microfiber absorbs sweat
- Imported
Phillies Customers also liked:
Special event items are produced by manufacturers only after the outcome of a game or event. These are advanced sale items and will ship immediately after they are received in our warehouse.
Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
Customized items can be personalized with options such as your name, your favorite number, and/or designs. Some options may be limited by league rules.


text:
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Hat World / Lids at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Get it today!Shop Now
OrAdd to Wish List
Add a little team spirit to your tree this year with a team themed nutcracker ornament from Memory Company. This classically styled miniature wooden nutcracker is painted in team colors and proudly displays your team's logo atop his signature hat. Approx 3". Price: $9.99
© Copyright 2016 - Christmas.com. All rights reserved and protected by Christmas Spirit


text:
July 1976: Willie Nelson U.S.A.
With the country's bicentennial celebrations in full swing, the WSJ wrote about the July 4 picnic to be thrown by 43-year-old country singer Willie Nelson. "It's gonna be hot and there'll be lots of ants, some snakes," Nelson said. "But it's gonna be good music." Nelson's picnics are still an annual event. Today in WSJ History, July 1976.


text:
After the Oilers turned the puck over at the Kings blue line, Carter beat goalie Nikolai Khabibulin through the legs with a quick shot. Los Angeles then put the game away with an empty-net goal by Jarret Stoll.
Colin Fraser also scored for the Stanley Cup champions, who have won three of four. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves.
Sam Gagner had a goal for the Oilers and Khabibulin stopped 35 shots.
Edmonton had the best early chances. Taylor Hall dropped a pass to Jordan Eberle just 3 minutes in, but he hit the post behind Quick.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 4:44 of the second period. Khabibulin made a save on a long shot by Jordan Nolan, but the Oilers were unable to clear the rebound and Fraser swooped in for his first of the season.
Los Angeles had most of the momentum in the period, at one point outshooting Edmonton 13-1, but the Oilers fought back to tie it.
Seconds after Khabibulin made a diving save after an odd bounce off the boards, Edmonton connected on the power play when Gagner's shot beat a screened Quick at 16:50.
Edmonton once again had a great chance denied 3 minutes into the third when Quick stoned Hall point blank on a shot from the top of the crease.
The Kings finish a three-game road trip in Calgary on Wednesday. The Oilers play the fourth game of a five-game homestand Thursday against Minnesota before heading out on a nine-game road swing.
NOTES: It was the second of three games between the teams this season. Edmonton won the first matchup on Jan. 24 after rookie Nail Yakupov scored with 4.7 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Gagner finished off a 2-1 victory at Rexall Place. ... Los Angeles came into the game having scored the fewest goals of any NHL team this season, with 30 in 13 games. ... Khabibulin made his second start in the Edmonton net this season after coming in to start the second period and earning his first win in more than a year in the Oilers' come-from-behind 6-4 win over Colorado on Saturday. ... Kings defensemen Alec Martinez (upper body) and Willie Mitchell (knee) remained out and are day to day, while Matt Greene (back) is out indefinitely. ... Teemu Hartikainen was back in the lineup for the Oilers, while Lennart Petrell (head) and Ryan Jones (eye) are day to day. Anton Lander (foot) and Andy Sutton (knee) are out indefinitely. ... Former Oilers forward Dustin Penner played in just his seventh game of the season for the Kings.


text:
NEW ORLEANS — The 49ers will miss the annual sideshow to the Super Bowl, a steady stream of multi-million-dollar commercials that are discussed almost as much as the actual game is.
But those on the team don't need to be around a television to know what their favorite commercial is. In fact, they were in it. The 49ers filmed a Visa commercial during training camp that has been shown regularly during the NFL season.
"It's weird to see it so much," said lineman Joe Staley, one of the 49ers shown in the commercial. "We've been pretty surprised by how much that's been on TV."
The commercial, filmed over the course of eight hours at Candlestick Park, features a fan (played by an improve comedian) firing up the 49ers before a game. Only a handful of 49ers were invited and the rest of the set was filled up with extras wearing 49ers jerseys.
Alex Smith is the first 49er to be prominently displayed, giving a strange look to the camera early in the commercial. Teammates said Smith didn't need long to nail the scene.
"He's pretty quick," Staley said. "He's a natural born actor."
Near the end of the commercial, coach Jim Harbaugh walks into the shot and asks, "What the heck is going on in here?"
What did Harbaugh's players think of his performance?
"No comment," lineman Alex Boone said, laughing.
It wasn't Harbaugh's first acting experience. He appeared in "Saved by the Bell" when he was a player and the clip circulated earlier this season.
"His acting has come a long way," fullback Bruce Miller said. "He was pretty good this time around."
While most 49ers enjoyed the experience, one player said the team's commercial isn't his favorite 49ers commercial.
"The best one is the one with the 49ers dude sitting on the couch," running back Anthony Dixon said, referring to the Bud Light spot where a fan goes to his old apartment and watches a game from the exact spot where he used to sit.
"We're one win away."


text:
Eau De Toilette
by Amc Beauty
100% Authentic
Item #
Free Shipping in U.S. (orders over $59.00)
- Design House: Amc Beauty
- Fragrance Notes: Flowery fragrance
- Recommended Use: casual
No reviews written for this product
1 - 4 (of 4 Reviews)
Enchantment has been a favorite for many years. I have people compliment me and ask what I'm wearing. It lasts for the whole day and keeps a subtle fragrance so I can feel confident the whole day. So happy to know you carry this wonderful product! Thank you!
Written by Bridgette on September 18, 2015
Horrible sickening sweet smell. Bought based on the reviewer that said it was a powdery flower smell so I thought it might smell close to Kenzo's Flower... NOT even close and smells gross. This is coming from a perfume addict who likes most fragrances. Sorry, this one is not for me at all!
Written by Charlotte on September 09, 2015
I have used Enchantment since the day it came out on All My Children. Its a beautiful fragrance that many men have asked "What is the name of your perfume? I truly love the fragrance as both men and women always say "you sure do smell great". I leave my car and people can smell me coming. Thanks so much for carrying Enchantment because I haven't used any other fragrance in years. I usually buy at least a dozen at a time. I cannot stop using Enchantment.
Written by Mary Ann on October 07, 2014
1 - 4 (of 4 Reviews)


text:
Hackers compromise AP Twitter account
Published: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 2:24 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 2:24 p.m.
LONDON (AP) — Hackers compromised Twitter accounts of The Associated Press on Tuesday, sending out an erroneous tweet about an attack at the White House.
The tweet said that there had been two explosions at the White House and President Barack Obama was injured. The attack on AP's Twitter account and AP Mobile Twitter account was preceded by a phishing attempt on AP's corporate network.
The AP confirmed that its Twitter account had been suspended following a hack and said it was working to correct the issue.
The tweet put out by hackers briefly sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply lower.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text:
Every now and then, you have to take a lesson or two from history. In the case of George Bush's Iraq, here's one: No matter what the President announces in his "new way forward" speech on Iraq next week -- including belated calls for "sacrifice" from the man whose answer to 9/11 was to urge Americans to surge into Disney World -- it won't work. Nothing our President suggests in relation to Iraq, in fact, will have a ghost of a chance of success. Worse than that, whatever it turns out to be, it is essentially guaranteed to make matters worse.
Repetition, after all, is most of what knowledge adds up to, and the Bush administration has been repetitively consistent in its Iraqi -- and larger Middle Eastern -- policies. Whatever it touches (or perhaps the better word would be "smashes") turns to dross. Iraq is now dross -- and Saddam Hussein was such a remarkably hard act to follow badly that this is no small accomplishment.
A striking but largely unexplored aspect of Saddam Hussein's execution is illustrative. His trial was basically run out of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad; Saddam was held at Camp Cropper, the U.S. prison near Baghdad International Airport. He was delivered to the Iraqi government for hanging in a U.S. helicopter (as his body would be flown back to his home village in a U.S. helicopter).
Now, let's add a few more facts into the mix. Among Iraqi Shiites, no individual has been viewed as more of an enemy by the Bush administration than the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. American troops fought bloody battles with his Mahdi Army in 2004, destroying significant parts of the old city of Najaf in the process. American forces make periodic, destructive raids into the vast Baghdad slum and Sadrist stronghold of Sadr City to take out his followers and recently killed one of his top aides in a raid in Najaf. The upcoming Presidential "surge" into Baghdad is, reputedly, in part to be aimed at suppressing his militia, which a recent Pentagon report described as "the main threat to stability in Iraq."
Known and very popular cialis coupon which gives all the chance to receive a discount for a preparation which has to be available and exactly cialis coupons has been found in the distant room of this big house about which wood-grouses in the houses tell.
Nonetheless at the crucial moment in the execution what did some of the Interior Ministry guards do? They chanted: "Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada!" In all press reports, this has been described as a "taunting" of Saddam (and assumedly of Iraqi Sunnis more generally). But it could as easily be described as the purest mockery of George W. Bush and everything he's done in the country. If, in such a relatively controlled setting, the Americans couldn't stop Saddam's execution from being "infiltrated" by al-Sadr's followers -- who are also, of course, part of Prime Minister Maliki's government -- what can they possibly do in the chaos of Baghdad? How can a few more thousands of U.S. troops be expected to keep them, or Badr Brigade militiamen out of the streets, no less the police, the military, and various ministries?
Consider the "new way forward," then, just another part of the Bush administration's endless bubbleworld. And check out exactly what madness to look forward to in next week's presidential address via Robert Dreyfuss, a shrewd reporter and the author of the indispensable Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. Tom
Copyright 2007 Robert Dreyfuss
The Surge to NowhereTraveling the Planet Neocon Road to Baghdad (Again)
By Robert Dreyfuss Like some neocon Wizard of Oz, in building expectations for the 2007 version of his "Strategy for Victory" in Iraq, President Bush is promising far more than he can deliver. It is now nearly two months since he fired Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, installing Robert Gates in his place, and the White House revealed that a full-scale review of America's failed policy in Iraq was underway. Last week, having spent months -- if, in fact, the New York Times is correct that the review began late in the summer -- consulting with generals, politicians, State Department and CIA bureaucrats, and Pentagon planners, Bush emerged from yet another powwow to tell waiting reporters: "We've got more consultation to do until I talk to the country about the plan."
As John Lennon sang in Revolution: "We'd all love to see the plan."
Unfortunately for Bush, most of the American public may have already checked out. By and large, Americans have given up on the war in Iraq. The November election, largely a referendum on the war, was a repudiation of the entire effort, and the vote itself was a marker along a continuing path of rapidly declining approval ratings both for President Bush personally and for his handling of the war. It's entirely possible that when Bush does present us with "the plan" next week, few will be listening. Until he makes it clear that he has returned from Planet Neocon by announcing concrete steps to end the war in Iraq, it's unlikely that American voters will tune in. As of January 1, every American could find at least 3,000 reasons not to believe that President Bush has suddenly found a way to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
What's astonishing about the debate over Iraq is that the President -- or anyone else, for that matter, including the media -- is paying the slightest attention to the neoconservative strategists who got us into this mess in the first place. Having been egregiously wrong about every single Iraqi thing for five consecutive years, by all rights the neocons ought to be consigned to some dusty basement exhibit hall in the American Museum of Natural History, where, like so many triceratops, their reassembled bones would stand mutely by to send a chill of fear through touring schoolchildren. Indeed, the neocons are the dodos of Washington, simply too dumb to know when they are extinct.
Yet here is Tom Donnelly, an American Enterprise Institute neocon, a co-chairman of the Project for a New American Century, telling a reporter sagely that the surge is in. "I think the debate is really coming down to: Surge large. Surge small. Surge short. Surge longer. I think the smart money would say that the range of options is fairly narrow." (Donnelly, of course, forgot: Surge out.) His colleague, Frederick Kagan of AEI, the chief architect of the Surge Theory for Iraq, has made it clear that the only kind of surge that would work is a big, fat one.
Nearly pornographic in his fondling of the surge, Kagan, another of the neocon crew of armchair strategists and militarists, makes it clear that size does matter. "Of all the 'surge' options out there, short ones are the most dangerous," he wrote in the Washington Post last week, adding lasciviously, "The size of the surge matters as much as the length. … The only 'surge' option that makes sense is both long and large."
Ooh -- that is, indeed, a manly surge. For Kagan, a man-sized surge must involve at least 30,000 more troops funneled into the killing grounds of Baghdad and al-Anbar Province for at least 18 months.
President Bush, perhaps dizzy from the oedipal frenzy created by the emergence of Daddy's best friend James Baker and his Iraq Study Group, seems all too willing to prove his manhood by the size of the surge. According to a stunning front-page piece in the Times last Tuesday, Bush has all but dismissed the advice of his generals, including Centcom Commander John Abizaid, and George Casey, the top U.S. general in Iraq, because they are "more fixated on withdrawal than victory." At a recent Pentagon session, according to General James T. Conway, the commandant of the U.S. Marines, Bush told the assembled brass: "What I want to hear from you now is how we are going to win, not how we are going to leave." As a result, Abizaid and Casey are, it appears, getting the same hurry-up-and-retire treatment that swept away other generals who questioned the wisdom on Iraq transmitted from Planet Neocon.
That's scary, if it means that Bush -- presumably on the advice of the Neocon-in-Chief, Vice President Dick Cheney -- has decided to launch a major push, Kagan-style, for victory in Iraq. Not that such an escalation has a chance of working, but there's no question that, in addition to bankrupting the United States, breaking the army and the Marines, and unleashing all-out political warfare at home, it would kill perhaps tens of thousands more Iraqis.
Personally, I'm not convinced that Bush could get away with it politically. Not only is the public dead-set against escalating the war, but there are hints that Congress might not stand for it, and the leadership of the U.S. Armed Forces is opposed.
Over the past few days, a swarm of Republican senators has come out against the surge, including at least three Republican senators up for reelection in 2008 in states that make them vulnerable: Gordon Smith of Oregon, whose remarkable speech calling the war "criminal" went far beyond the normal bland rhetoric of discourse in the U.S. capital, along with John Sununu of New Hampshire and Norm Coleman of Minnesota. In addition, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, less vulnerable but still facing voters in 2008, has questioned the surge idea. And a host of Republican moderates -- Chuck Hagel (NE), Dick Lugar (IN), Susan Collins (ME) -- have lambasted it. (Hagel told Robert Novak: "It's Alice in Wonderland. I'm absolutely opposed to the idea of sending any more troops to Iraq. It is folly.") Even Sam Brownback, one of the Senate godfathers of the neocon-backed Iraqi National Congress, has expressed skepticism, saying: "We can't impose a military solution." According to Novak, only 12 of the 49 Republican senators are now willing to back Sen. John McCain's blood-curdling cries for sending in more troops.
Meanwhile, says Novak, the Democrats would not only criticize the idea of a surge but, led by Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, might use their crucial power over the purse. "Biden," writes Novak, "will lead the rest of the Democrats not only to oppose a surge but to block it." Reports the Financial Times of London: "Democrats have hinted that they could use their control over the budget process to make life difficult for the Bush administration if it chooses to step up the military presence in Iraq." A Kagan-style surge would require a vast new commitment of funds, and with their ability to scrutinize, put conditions on, and even strike out entire line items in the military budget and the Pentagon's supplemental requests, the Democrats could find ways to stall or halt the "surge," if not the war itself.
Indeed, if President Bush opts to Kaganize the war, he will throw down the gauntlet to the Democrats. Unwilling until now to say that they would even consider blocking appropriations for the Iraq War, the Democrats would have little choice but to up the ante if Bush flouts the electoral mandate in such a full-frontal manner. By escalating the war in the face of near-universal opposition from the public, the military, and the political class, the president would force the Democrats to escalate their own -- until now fairly mild-mannered -- opposition to the war.
However, it's possible -- just possible -- that what the President is planning to announce will be something a bit more Machiavellian than the straightforwardly manly thrust Kagan wants. Perhaps, just perhaps, he will order an increase of something like 20,000 American troops, but put a tight time limit on this surge -- say, four months. Perhaps he will announce that he is giving Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki that much time to square the circle in Iraq: crack down on militias and death squads, purge the army and police, develop a plan to fight the Sunni insurgency, find a formula to deal with the Kurds and the explosive, oil-rich city of Kirkuk which they claim as their own, un-de-Baathify Iraq, and create a workable formula for sharing the fracturing country's oil wealth.
By surging those 20,000 troops into a hopeless military nowhere-land, Bush will say that he is giving Maliki room to accomplish all that -- knowing full well that none of it can, in fact, be accomplished by the weak, sectarian, Shiite-run regime inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. So, sometime in the late spring, the United States could begin to un-surge its troops and start the sort of orderly, phased withdrawal that Jim Baker and the Carl Levin Democrats have called for.
Levin suggested as much as 2006 ended. "A surge which is not part of an overall program of troop reduction that begins in the next four to six months would be a mistake," said Levin, who will chair the Armed Services Committee. "Even if the president is going to propose to temporarily add troops, he should make that conditional on the Iraqis reaching a political settlement that effectively ends the sectarian violence."
That may be too much to ask for a Christian-crusader President, still lodged inside a bubble universe and determined to crush all evil-doers. And it may be too clever by half for an administration that has been as utterly inept as this one.
At the same time, it may also be too much to expect that the Democrats will really go to the mat to fight Bush if, Kagan-style, he orders a surge that is "long and large." Maybe they will merely posture and fulminate and threaten to… well, hold hearings.
If so, it will be the Iraqis who end the war. It will be the Iraqis who eventually kill enough Americans to break the U.S. political will, and it will be the Iraqis who sweep away the ruins of the Maliki government to replace it with an anti-American, anti-U.S.- occupation government in Iraq. That is basically how the war in Vietnam ended, and it wasn't pretty.
Robert Dreyfuss is the author of Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. He covers national security for Rolling Stone and writes frequently for The American Prospect, Mother Jones, and the Nation. He is also a regular contributor to TomPaine.com, the Huffington Post, Tomdispatch, and other sites, and writes the blog, The Dreyfuss Report, at his website.
More from this author:
Tomgram: Elizabeth de la Vega, Bringing Bush to Court (12722 Hits)
by Tom Engelhardt Keep in mind, I've run Tomdispatch.com for only a few years, but I've been a book editor in mainstream publishing for over 30...
by Tom Engelhardt Keep in mind, I've run Tomdispatch.com for only a few years, but I've been a book editor in mainstream publishing for over 30...
Tomgram: Elizabeth de la Vega, Indicting Bush (12973 Hits)
by Tom Engelhardt Think of it as a Tomdispatch.com milestone. This is now the first website to "indict" the President, the Vice...
by Tom Engelhardt Think of it as a Tomdispatch.com milestone. This is now the first website to "indict" the President, the Vice...
How to Stay in Iraq (12331 Hits)
by Tom Engelhardt The Iraq Study Group Rides to the Rescue Finally, the President and the New York Times agree. In a news conference...
by Tom Engelhardt The Iraq Study Group Rides to the Rescue Finally, the President and the New York Times agree. In a news conference...
Tomgram: De la Vega, A Predisposition to Invade (12506 Hits)
by Tom Engelhardt [Note: For those in the Santa Barbara area in California, Elizabeth de la Vega will be speaking on December 10th at a ...
by Tom Engelhardt [Note: For those in the Santa Barbara area in California, Elizabeth de la Vega will be speaking on December 10th at a ...
Tomgram: Biking with Donald Rumsfeld - Rumsfeld's Last Stand (14548 Hits)
by Tom Engelhardt Last week, someone slipped New York Times reporters Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud the secret memo finished by...
by Tom Engelhardt Last week, someone slipped New York Times reporters Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud the secret memo finished by...
Related Articles:
Dear Dubya: The Iraq Solution! (13554 Hits)
Hey there Georgie Boy, long time no speak. From what I've been hearing, you've had a rough time as of late. As always, I'm here to help. So...
Why Bush Smiles: Victory is at Hand in Iraq (15158 Hits)
Despite George W. Bush's ostentatious bucking up of the Iraqi government yesterday, it is very likely that there will indeed be an...
Behind Bush's Nuclear Gift to Terrorism (11820 Hits)
by Chris Floyd I am now writing a piece for Truthout.org on the wider ramifications of the Bush Administration's lunatic dumping of a...
Armagideon Time: Bush's Nuclear Folly and the National Security Lie (18202 Hits)
Written by Chris Floyd This story is appearing today at Truthout.org. "The Bush Faction's remaining claim to political...
The New Media Offensive for the Iraq War (14538 Hits)
By Norman Solomon The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. ...
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
| More...
Hits: 7672
Comments (1)
mallee said:
hard act to follow badly???
"Iraq is now dross -- and Saddam Hussein was such a remarkably hard act to follow badly that this is no small accomplishment." - This statement makes no sense whatsoever. Iraq under Saddam (prior to the atrocity committed by US/UK of the first "Gulf War" and the sanctions that followed), was the leading state in the Mid East when it came to health, education, social programs and infastructure. Saddam invaded Kuwait on a nod and a wink from the US administration through its agent Gillespie, setting in motion the US/UK atrocities against the Iraqi people. Polls taken in the last week show that 90% of Iraqis consider that they were better off under Saddam. So how then was Saddam "a remarkably hard act to follow badly"? Tom's editorial on the Dreyfuss piece reads remarkably like gatekeeping to me!
Write comment