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29 April 2005
Spoiled Again!
There are lot of reasons to be in favor of spoiler warnings. Particularly for reviewers of mystery novels. There are very few reasons that any rational human being would be against some form of spoiler warning. In fact, I've even used them occasionally myself, as BionOc pointed out.
But in general I dislike spoiler warnings. I have a few reasons for this odd belief, but the important one is that spoiler warnings raise plot above other elements of a narrative. I like plot, and tend even to prefer stories that contain some sort of plot to stories that don't, but it's rarely what I read a book for or watch a movie for, it's seldom what determines whether I am impressed by a work or not, and it's not usually what I remember about a particular story. Therefore, to me, any commentary on a particular work contains spoilers -- spoilers about characters, language, viewpoint, imagery, etc.
None of that, however, would be reason enough to avoid spoiler warnings here at The Mumpsimus, because I realize most people value plot more than I do, and are disappointed when reviewers reveal major plot points. As I've thought about it, I've realized that my quest is even more ridiculous than I already knew it was, because I was hoping that my intentions would be clear from my actions, from the general avoidance of spoiler warnings, but that's silly. Realizing this, I've decided that I will soon put up a link at the top of the site to this post as a "statement on spoiler warnings".
One thing I particularly liked in BionOc's comments was: "I think it's fairly safe to assume that most reviewers in the mainstream press don't share your principled reluctance to privilege plot, especially given that plot is generally all they can fucking talk about." The latter part of that sentence is a particularly important one. The tendency to devote 90% (or more) of a review to describing the plot of the work in question is idiotic. It does a disservice to most writers, particularly the good ones.
So the lack of spoiler warnings here (with occasional exceptions) is a deliberate act, not an oversight, but not intended to cause major angst, either. I am simply trying to show that there is life beyond worrying about the plot all the time, and that plot is neither greater nor less than other important elements of any narrative which get mentioned all the time without warning.
22 comments:
I used to hate spoiler warnings too.
What changed my mind was Frank McConnell's introduction to the Sandman trade 'The Kindly Ones'. Because, for various valid but irrelevant reasons, I was living under a rock at the time the individual episodes came out I didn't know how the story ended. I read the introduction, chomping at the bit, raring to go. Then I screamed when Frank said, "Dream dies at the end. Sorry to bust your bubble, but this is a tragedy...so you should know"
I could not believe it, and since that time I've stopped reading introductions/prefaces until I've read the book.
As a direct result of that I've come to value spoiler warnings.
Not to elevate plot beyond its 'normal' importance, but to recognize that it is an integral part of the narration, a part that we, the readers, would like to enjoy just as much as the allusions, the language, the imagery and so on.
That said, I don't mind the revelation of SOME (or even most) plot points. As long as something critical like the death of Morpheus is left out I'm not bothered.
I should also say that I saw The Assassination of Richard Nixon after reading your review and still enjoyed it.
Matt, I hope I made clear that I absolutely respect your position, and admire your trying to formulate a rigorous philosophical approach to this.ReplyDelete
I'm struggling to hammer out a working spoiler theory that, though I suspect somewhat philosophically incoherent, does address the actual experience of people-in-general interacting with fiction-in-general.
I keep coming back to the notion that narrative, while I agree it's no more important than other elements like characterization, political viewpoint, &c., is nonetheless qualitatively, experientially different. And different in a specific way such that plot spoilers, in general (working theory!), interfere with the experience of narrative more, and more negatively, than 'spoilers' about other aspects of a work.
From a purely narrative perspective, fiction is definitionally the deliberate juxtaposition/sequencing of events, ordered as the author intends the reader or viewer to experience them. Therefore, becoming aware of any event outside of that order disrupts the inherent experience of the narrative (as the author intended, anyway, a contentious point I know but for the sake of argument).
Of course you could argue that the author equally intends characterization, &c. to unfold in the way s/he has laid it down, and you wouldn't be wrong. But from the viewpoint of general experience, I think it would be disingenuous to claim that we-in-general respond with as much rage to a review that reveals 'there is a fascinating female Marxist protagonist' as we do to one that says 'the protagonist is killed by the gay ex-Mafia hitman'. Not that we shouldn't, but we don't.
And with great respect to your attempt to change that, I think it's also worth our time to try and formulate a way of engaging with things as they currently stand for a great number of readers, or risk being patronizing. Dunno, maybe I'm pandering, but it's something I see in myself.
Ideally, we would know absolutely nothing about a work going in, but again on a practical level, not really workable IRL. Unless we each had someone who knew us so intimately we could trust them to pick our culture for us blind, which I suppose is an idea. Anyone up for the experiment?
I'm in agreement with you Matt. Only in a few cases (mystery novels are a good one, read Agatha Christie's "Roger Ackroyd" knowing the (very surprising) ending and it just wasn't very thrilling a read) would I use a spoiler warning (though I'll be damned that I did in my last review of the new Harry Mathews novel).ReplyDelete
- China4/30/2005 9:24 AM
Hi Matt. Just fwiw, your planned 'Statement on Spoiler Warnings', an initiative I vehemently support, in presumably warning that in what follows all spoilage is fair, could of course be viewed by some unkind souls less as not-a-spoiler warning than as the MACK DADDY of spoiler warnings. An uber-spoiler warning. The Great White Whale of spoiler warnings, spuming in a sea of narrative. I'm just saying. Thar she blows.ReplyDelete
derikb and Matt,ReplyDelete
But if you make exceptions for things like detective novels, aren't you gutting your position? Or are you excluding those kinds of fiction as unworthy of un-plot-privileging? Is the idea that plot is so paramount--or other literary elements so vestigial--in detective fiction, that your rules don't apply? That smacks of genre-ghettoization, which I imagine you would oppose, Matt.
- Anonymous4/30/2005 10:30 AM
No offense intended, but honestly, this sounds like an attempt to rationalize knowingly harming other people. You don't deny that having key plot elements revealed can ruin the reading experience for most readers; it seems to me that therefore common decency should trump idiosyncratic literary theory.ReplyDelete
I'm not a fan of spoiler alerts myself, but they are almost always preferable to spoilers.
Let's see, working backwards:ReplyDelete
*I don't agree that it is a justification of harm, because I think the supposed harm is, with some exceptions, overrated.
*Many types of mystery novels (and certain other types) are more about the plot and the revelation of the mystery as anything else, which is why I think they're a valid exception. It's not a ghettoization of a type of writing so much as an acknowledgement of certain things that make it different from the majority. But not always. I actually read a couple of Jim Thompson novels knowing the entire plot beforehand, and enjoyed them nonetheless. But if the plot -- and, more than plot, the surprise of the ending -- is the primary thing to be enjoyed in the book, then knowingly destroying that surprise is to knowingly destroy the pleasure the book possesses. I don't see discussing a book as a whole doing that in most other cases.
*China made me laugh. (Working on another sea novel, m'boy?) One of the reasons I think it will be fine to link to this post and comment thread as a statement on spoiler warnings is that it will so drown the entire endeavor in context that it will be all things to all people. In the end, both I and spoiler warnings will come out looking absurd, and that's probably how it should be!
*Derik, like me, has discovered that the stronger you hold an opinion, the more likely you are to provide an exception to your own rules.
*An experiential difference between narrative and other literary elements is an interesting idea, and would certainly be valid to a point, since if we're going to separate something and identify it as an element, then it must have properties of its own. My own position is against the exceptionalism that has made plot the holy of holies at the expense of other things, a tendency that I think (or, perhaps, feel) spoiler warnings contribute to. I like the idea of the experiment BionOc proposes about blind exposure to some cultural item, and would be curious about the results. What are the things that affect a reading/viewing experience? After all, readers or viewers more sensitive to, for instance, foreshadowing have a different experience from others -- I can think of movies and books I find predictable that other people don't, and vice versa, and that makes for vastly different judgments.
I don't necessarily think my position is one that should become a universal. In the post I linked to at Sarah's blog, she points to a review that is a masterpiece of discussing a novel without giving away any important plot details. That's probably the ultimate goal for reviews aimed at readers who haven't yet encountered the work in question. Most of the time here, I'm writing for myself to try to figure out what I really think about something, so that's not entirely my audience or goal, but it's certainly one I respect.
(Maybe the position I'm taking is the one of a not-quite-sane radical idealist, so that the more moderate pragmatists can look less crazy and gain more ground than they would otherwise.)
*Morpheus died?
'Many types of mystery novels (and certain other types) are more about the plot and the revelation of the mystery as anything else, which is why I think they're a valid exception.'ReplyDelete
Ooh, that's a slippery-ass slope you're toeing, Matt. Now you have to start facing questions of quantifying the relative prominence of plot vs. other elements in any given work, and whose judgment that is to make, and it turns into a big subjective mess.
What if you have a splendidly characterized, fully-fleshed detective novel with a mediocre ending? What about a horribly written piece of suburban family litfic with a killer twist? &c.
I think if you're going to take your radical idealist stance, you have to go whole-hog and make no exceptions. Caveat blogtrollor and de'il take the hindmost.
Well, any idealistic position is going to ignore some grey areas and complications, but the difference, I think, between a useful idealist and a ridiculous idealist is in their ability to at least acknowledge degrees of judgment.ReplyDelete
What if you have a splendidly characterized, fully-fleshed detective novel with a mediocre ending? What about a horribly written piece of suburban family litfic with a killer twist? &c
In the first case you mention, revealing the ending doesn't hurt the book at all, and may, in fact, help a reader appreciate it and not feel as let-down as they might otherwise. In the second case, if the book is ruined by a mention of its ending, then the other stuff in the book can't be very interesting, and the ending probably isn't very well integrated with the other elements, so it's a gimmick that deserves to be flogged.
To see Nick Mamatas get yelled at for being a spoiler, read the comments to this post. Nick uses far more interesting and colorful language than I do.
I am simply trying to show that there is life beyond worrying about the plot all the time, and that plot is neither greater nor less than other important elements of any narrative which get mentioned all the time without warning.ReplyDelete
That is simply because those other elements can't usually be ruined by revealing them to the reader beforehand.
Nick's position is similar to yours, Matt, but honestly I think most of that thread is pretty silly and immature. All that nonsense about 'Well, I like spoilers, so you can fuck off!' is profoundly beside the point.ReplyDelete
Spoiler warnings do exactly no harm to those who want their plot spoiled; they can simply bowl right past and read to their hearts' content. They're just enjoying dissing people they think are less radical and anti-plot-pomo than they are.
And the argument that a book that can be spoiled by plot spoilers wasn't worth reading to begin with is both presumptuous and ex post facto.
Today I'm feeling quite hardheaded and lumpen-common-sensy about this, and I think as a reviewer you are absolutely entitled to reveal as much or as little about a work as your aesthetic principles demand, but if you want to be gracious to your readers you will do them the courtesy of posting a warning. Even if it's a giant general uber-warning about not posting warnings. Just something to make the reader aware she proceeds at her own risk. It's the nice thing to do.
Spoiler warnings do exactly no harm to those who want their plot spoiled; they can simply bowl right past and read to their hearts' content.ReplyDelete
But, but, but ...
We're not talking about shouting in a public place (or even the internet equivalent of shouting in a public place.) Both Matt and Nick were writing in their personal journals. Just because other folk choose to read them hardly requires that they modify their conduct to some arbitrary societal convention.
but if you want to be gracious to your readers you will do them the courtesy of posting a warning.
I find this a rather wrongheaded sentiment - I've never had a problem stopping reading a review that I felt was giving away more of the plot of a book than I wanted. (And this includes Matt.) I don't need someone to tell me maybe I shouldn't read this, I'm more than capable of making up my own mind.
I assume others who read my journal have that same ability. Suggesting I follow someone's arbitrary rule of courtesy in a personal journal seems about as foolish as insiting I don't use green on my website because some people are colorblind.
Matt's journal belongs to him and there is absolutely no reason why he shouldn't run it any way he likes, even if you don't like it.
- Mervius5/01/2005 1:46 PM
Writing on a "personal" blog or not (which, by the way, happens to be as public as virtually every other website out there), I think most people "get" the idea that others may take that spoiler stuff seriously. I take it very seriously. And how am I, as a casual visitor of Matt's blog, supposed to learn that he may post spoiler material without warning? I discover it by having something spoiled for me. I find that defending the no-spoiler-warning position - as anything like a policy - is ridiculous. Sure, you're not breaking a law. So what? Nobody is saying that. But you spoil plot details for someone, you should at least be gracious in retrospect and acknowledge that you've stepped over a pretty reasonable line.ReplyDelete
'Matt's journal belongs to him and there is absolutely no reason why he shouldn't run it any way he likes, even if you don't like it.'ReplyDelete
Bit simplistic, that. Presumably Matt wants me (as in any or all of the many me's thronging the Ultraweb) to read his posts, or he wouldn't post them publicly. You only write in a vacuum if you write secret reviews in a notebook marked 'Private! Keep out!! This Means You!!!' that you keep under your mattress at home.
Otherwise you're writing for an audience, and like it or not they will have opinions about how you do it. You are of course free to disregard them--to that extent you're right, it is Matt's journal--but then you risk them not reading you anymore.
As a reader who finds Matt's stuff interesting and would like to read it, it's worth my while to try to get him to present it in such a way that I know when I can do so 'safely' (to be melodramatic about it). Again, he's free to refuse, and I'm free to fuck off. But it's not as simple as 'Matt's, he can do whatever he wants'.
'I've never had a problem stopping reading a review that I felt was giving away more of the plot of a book than I wanted.'
I certainly have. Many's the time I've been innocently reading along and had a single sentence land some gigantic spoiler before I even knew what had hit me. Call me hypersensitive, it's a problem for me.
On the contrary, offering a spoiler warning lends sanction to the idea that spoilers are important.ReplyDelete
It's not just a social nicety, it plays to a wrongheaded and foolish expectation. That there may be large numbers of wrongheaded and foolish people out there does nothing to make the anxiety over spoilers wrongheaded and foolish.
Plaain and simple: if Matt starts putting up spoiler warnings with any regularity, Matt is no longer a critic. He's an ad man.
That should read "does nothing to make the anxiety over spoilers LESS wrongheaded and foolish."ReplyDelete
Ah ha ha ha ha Nick, Freudian slip. I win.ReplyDelete
*pats bionoc's head*ReplyDelete
That's right. You win.
Also, "rosebud" is a sled, the chick in The Crying Game is a dude, and the Titanic sinks at the end.
Curse you for a sadist and a puppy-kicker! I was saving 'Titanic' for a special occasion, and now you've ruined everything.ReplyDelete
I suppose next you're going to tell me Kevin Spacey is really Kaiser Soze. Or that the von Trapps don't get stuck in a death camp.
I also highly recommend The Movie Spoiler ;-)ReplyDelete
"The man who tells the truth about a detective story is simply a wicked man, as wicked as the man who deliberately breaks a child's soap-bubble -- and he is more wicked than Nero. To give away a secret when it should be kept is the worst of human crimes; and Dante was never more right than when he made the lowest circle in Hell the Circle of the Traitors. It is to destroy one human pleasure so that it can never be recovered, as if one had jerked the elbow of Roberts when he was doing an unprecedented stroke in billiards, or smashed the skull of Milton the moment before he wrote 'Lycidas'."ReplyDelete
G. K. Chesterton, in _The Illustrated London News_, November 7, 1908 (Collected Works, volume XXVIII)
...What Chesterton said about detective stories doesn't apply to all stories of every kind, of course; but I would venture to say that it applies to any story in which the plot (or any other element: characterization or world-building, for instance) takes surprising turns. But how to define "surprising"? What is surprising to me may be obvious to you, or vice versa, depending on our past reading experiences.
I disagree about the anxiety over spoilers. I'm grateful when told that an article has some spoiler contained within it and will avoid the article if I've been anticipating the movie. I appreciate that touch on behalf of a reviewer.ReplyDelete


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Marc Coleman is Economics Editor of Newstalk Radio in Dublin and a noted commentator.
Last Saturday I was agreeing fully with Niall O'Dowd's editorial on Cardinal O'Malley's snub to our Taoiseach (Prime Minister). Having shook hands with Obama I couldn't understand how he couldn't do the same with Enda Kenny.
Then I spotted the following comment he made in relation to government plans to legalize abortion in Ireland – and previous governments not having done so until now- where he wrote the following:
"The tragic consequences of not legislating were laid out in Galway recently when a young Indian woman died after a doctor refused to terminate her non-viable fetus."
Wow. Just Wow. Had he made any effort to follow the facts of the abortion debate since last November, this is what he would know: As the Coroner's report into the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar death makes clear, her death occurred due to hospital systems failure and not the lack of abortion.
The contention that Ireland's "Catholic laws" caused her death were stupid and bigoted to begin with (enacted by an overwhelmingly protestant parliament in 1861, they are decidedly protestant). Since the Coroner's report was published anyone with sense has backed away from that view.
Virulent sepsis, aggravated by a litany of mistakes - blood samples not followed up in time, management protocols not followed, poor communication between staff on call, confusion over medical notes – are the real causes of death.
As I pointed out in my last article for IrishCentral, Dr. Hema Divakar of the Indian Federation of Obstetricians believes an earlier termination could, far from helping, have led to an earlier death. But even if it had been helpful, it would, under Irish law – which permits termination if there is a "real and substantial" risk to the life of the mother – have been lawful.
So the correct response to this tragedy is not legislation, but better guidelines to apply the law already there. And a drastic overhaul of hospital management systems. Unfortunately compared to entrenched vested interests in publicly run hospitals, unborn children are voiceless and easier to scapegoat politically. Thanks to biased agenda driven reporting, public anger has directed away from cause and fact and towards myths and agendas. We must now, we are told, legalize abortion because in 1992 the Supreme Courts said so in its infamous "X case" ruling.
This we are told, will address the issue of "thousands" of women who travel to Britain each year. But what about the thousands of children who don't come back? And could legislation involving the threat of suicide have done anything to help a woman who was fighting for her life with every inch of her breath?
The truth is it wouldn't. Nor would it help anyone else. In a signed letter opposed by none of their peers 113 Irish psychiatrists have stated that abortion is not a cure for suicidal feelings (this was of course downplayed by the media). As for the Supreme Court ruling former Taoiseach and EU Ambassador to the US John Bruton has debunked that myth: It has been overturned by a 1994 "proportionality" test of the High Court and a 2001 referendum outlawing the intentional taking of life by the state. Sadly the truth is being laid aside in the push to get (in the words of one journalist) legal abortion "over the line."
Most disturbing is this: Savita's death occurred in October. But the Sunday Independent of April 28th last published recordings of two Labour TDs taken the preceding June - months before her death – in which they maintain the Labour leader had pushed Enda Kenny to "whip TDs into line" to support this legislation and that this was done as a first step towards abortion on demand.
Now many in good conscience felt until now they were supporting legislation to help women. Now it seems clear that a tragedy is being commandeered to push a sinister agenda based on mistruths.
nd if the catholic church lacks moral status to defend the unborn let us turn to Jewish wisdom instead: Between the response of making our hospital systems safe for women and our guidelines clear for doctors on one hand, and legalizing abortion on the other, Solomon would know what to do.

subset: commoncrawl


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Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California and includes parts of two deserts: the higher Mojave Desert and the lower Colorado Desert. Previously a national monument, Joshua Tree was designated as a U.S.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced it will take a second look at the effects of toxic air pollution caused by 34 oil and natural gas drilling projects across western Colorado.
This pattern is pushing drill rigs right to the edge of our communities and national parks, while leaving wildlands protection in the wake.
This bill is one of the most environmentally disastrous funding bills of late, and leaves many programs and agencies slashed below levels not seen since the Reagan administration.
Denali National Park and Preserve, located in Interior Alaska, is home to pristine wilderness, diverse wildlife and world class outdoor recreation opportunities.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell first rejected his plan in May, but in early July, Parnell again proposed a 3-D seismic testing program to search for oil and gas in the biological heart of the refuge.
The Senate's Energy and Natural Resources committee met last Thursday, July 25th to discuss funding for the national parks and how budget cuts are impacting America's most special places.
Federal agencies managing our national parks, forests and wildlife refuges have faced a series of cuts to their budgets in recent years, resulting in declining public access and enjoyment of these lands.
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, known as the crown jewel of America's wildlife refuge system, supports more varieties of plant and animal life than any other protected area in the Arctic Circle.
H.R. 2728 would give states (and only states) the power to set the rules for monitoring and regulating fracking on public lands.


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LU weekly sports wrapup
January 3, 2000
The women's basketball squad won on the road Thursday, January 6, defeating Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Culver-Stockton 60-43.
LU center Jaime Bonney finished with a team-high 18 points and 15 rebounds. Guard Katie Pizzardi had 16 points, along with eight points and seven rebounds from guard Katie Cannon.
The Lady Lions are currently 2-1 in conference play and 13-2 overall. LU hosts William Jewell College at 6 p.m. Saturday, January 8.
In men's basketball action, the Lions squeaked past Culver-Stockton in a see-saw road battle, 65-64, on Thursday, January 6.
LU senior forward Chad Moore finished with 23 points. He was followed by guard Chad Stewart, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. Guard Steve Medford had nine points and forward Jared Meisner finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
The Lions are 2-1 in conference play and 10-6 overall. LU hosts William Jewell College at 8 p.m. Saturday, January 8.
Press Release Contact:
Public Relations


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SCHLADMING, Austria - One year from the Sochi Olympics, there's no Lindsey Vonn or Bode Miller competing in the downhill at the world championships.
They're out of action with injuries - Vonn crashed and will need knee surgery, while Miller is recovering from surgery - but the U.S. Ski Team still has plenty of skiers capable of winning medals.
Start with Julia Mancuso. She already won a bronze in super-G, could be a threat in Friday's super-combined and seeks her first podium of the season in Sunday's women's downhill.
Steven Nyman, from Sundance, Utah, grew up mowing Robert Redford's lawn. He won the classic downhill in December in Val Gardena, Italy, after years of injuries and appears in top form for the men's downhill Saturday.
"It's all about building confidence and this race here is the second biggest race we race," Nyman said. "Especially being in Austria, there are going to be tons of fans and media. It's a good warm-up for the Olympics."
Skiing is the top sport in Austria and some 50,000 fans are expected to descend on this small Alpine village for the men's downhill Saturday.
Nyman will be joined by team captain Marco Sullivan - who earned his first podium finish in four years this season - Olympic super-G bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht and emerging talent Travis Ganong of Squaw Valley, Calif.
Besides Mancuso, the women's team will feature recent World Cup winner Alice McKennis, veteran Stacey Cook - who finished twice behind Vonn earlier this season - and Leanne Smith, who also had two podium results in downhill this season.
The women's team has been performing so well that Laurenne Ross, who posted a fifth-place result last month, likely won't make the downhill squad, with only four spots available.
"There's definitely some confident skiers on our team right now and feeding off each other is a great environment to be in," Smith said. "We're all really excited for this weekend and the rest of the season."
Cook was the top American in Thursday's second training session in eighth.
"Everyone keeps saying this is a good downhill for me," said Cook who, though the same age as Vonn and Mancuso at 28, has never won a top-tier race. "I'm a good glider and it's pretty flat up top and it's got a lot of gliding.
"But then it has these tricky elements and one thing that's hard on this course is to make and keep speed," Cook added. "It's really hard to gain (speed) anywhere. You have to be really perfect and that hasn't been something I've been dominating this year in - perfection - I've been kind of wild."
Even if she doesn't win a medal here, Cook still has a lot to look forward to the rest of the season. With Vonn out following her season-ending crash in super-G, Cook has a chance of winning the World Cup downhill title. So do McKennis and Smith. The current standings read: Vonn 340 points, Cook 211, Tina Maze 189, McKennis 180, Anna Fennninger 179 and Smith 167. Three more World Cup downhills remain this season.
So it's not like the team is about to slow down without Vonn.


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5 Workout Moves That Will Make You Better at Heart-Pumping, Marathon Sex
At some point, we need to take the high road and realize that we can't control what others say about us (as much as we'd like to believe otherwise!). If your frenemy keeps talking trash and it's getting out of control, confront her and ask her what her freaking deal is. But doing nothing could actually send a bigger message. If you ignore it, she'll likely stop when she sees she can't get a rise out of you.
You could actually use her constantly hinting about your nuptials to discuss your toxic friendship and provide some closure. This is a good chance to be honest with her and let her know where she stands with you and the reasons why she won't be invited, if that's the case. You'd want that same courtesy.
9 St. Patrick's Day Cocktails You'll Be Lucky You Made


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It was fate that brought my husband and I on vacation from the U.S. to the round table at Gleeson's, the popular bed and breakfast in Roscommon Town Square many years ago.
Seated at our side, the affable proprietor offered suggestions and pointed us toward local inhabitants who could be helpful in our search for Roscommon's past. "You really must talk with Ruairí Ó'Brádaigh. He's an expert on local history, and really into that stuff."
That recommendation was all that was needed to spur us out the door and down Main Street headed toward the Abbey Hotel. Further along the Galway Road, my husband and I found the proper house number. We had arrived unannounced. Dressed in a suit, Ó'Brádaigh cordially invited us into the parlor, and proceeded to talk with us about the early days of the Volunteers in Roscommon.
Our interview was soon interrupted by a television camera crew from the BBC. Asked to return several hours later, we exited the cottage only to come back for more reminiscences about the Black and Tan War and the men who fought in it. Family medals were shared over tea in the kitchen as the profile of a devout Republican began to emerge.
Born Peter Roger Casement O'Bradaigh in 1932 in Longford town, he was called Rory (the Hiberno-English translation of Roger). During his secondary (high school) years at St. Mel's, he sat next to the boy who would become this author's parish priest in Oregon. Father Joe Black well remembered his school chum's escapades at the old Dillon House in Loughglynn, with the nuns leaning out the second storey windows shouting at the embracing boys and girls, "Not in this holy place!"
His father was an avid Republican who had been badly wounded in the Black and Tan War, and later served as the Chairman of the Easter Rising Commemorative Ceremony. His great aunt, having been burned out of her Belfast home, suffered health problems as a result of the trauma, and spent five years in a mental hospital. Ó'Brádaigh's mother was an Irish speaker, who instilled in her son not only a love of the native tongue but a reverence for the sacrifices of past patriots. She had been active in the Cumann na mBan.
An eight-year-old's brush with Republican milestones directed this young boy to a road of political activism. On the morning of 7 February 1940, his father checked his watch, and when the small hand pointed to nine and the longer hand snapped to twelve, the elder Ó'Brádaigh turned to his son and daughter and said, "Kneel down and say your prayers. Two Irishmen now lie into quicklime in Birmingham." (Peter Barnes and James McCormack were hanged for their supposed participation in a bombing in Coventry.)
Two months later a funeral cortege inched through Longford town amid an assembly of reverential silence which was noted by the young lad. The death march honored Sean McNeela, hunger striker, who had died in St Brecin's Hospital in Dublin while attempting to be recognised as a political prisoner rather than a common criminal.
The uncharacteristically somber behavior of the townspeople puzzled the youngster. Why were his neighbours and family so moved to quietness? Why were Irishmen dying in Irish jails? His quest for answers to these queries has prompted a lifelong search into the hearts of Irish men and women and into the fiery cauldron of Irish politics.
Rory Brady left Longford in 1950 and headed to Dublin as a student at University College Dublin (UCD). He was soon a student of the IRA as well, and his classroom became the Sinn Féin office in Parnell Square. At this juncture in his life, he changed his name to its Irish form—Ruairí Ó'Brádaigh.
He returned to Longford where he helped to organise local units of the IRA and reported his activities directly to Tony Magan (Chief of Staff at the time). The first unit of the IRA that he organised in Longford was technically under the command of a Leitrim man—John Joe McGirl. Ó'Brádaigh's primary responsibility was training his men in weapons care and explosives, a job he took seriously at their weekly meeting.
In 1953 he was an elected delegate to the IRA Army Convention. In the spring of 1954, he graduated from UCD with a degree in commerce and a certificate to teach that subject and the Irish language. When the autumn leaves began to flutter that year, he journeyed to Roscommon town where he took a position at the Roscommon Vocational School.


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When you put on an event for two decades, you learn a thing or two. And eventually, other people want to learn from you.
That's what has happened with the Blues, Jazz and Folk Music Society of Marietta's River City Blues Competition, the 21st edition of which is slated for Friday and Saturday.
"Over the years ... we have fine-tuned it," said "Cobbler" John Bolen, president of the society. "We work on it now to the point where it's down to a science."
That's just one reason Andy Pressler, president of the Northeast Ohio Blues Association in the Akron-Canton area, plans to be in Marietta this weekend.
"It's a lot of fun to begin with," he said.
Pressler's group is getting ready for its third annual competition in April. Before they even contemplated having one of their own, a number of members attended Marietta's. Eventually, they adapted aspects of the Marietta format to their own event.
Fact Box
If you go
What: 21st annual River City Blues Competition.
When: 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, 12:30 to 6 p.m. and 8 to 11:30 p.m. Saturday; doors open one hour before showtime.
Where: Lafayette Hotel, 101 Front St., Marietta.
Cost: Friday night, $10 for Blues, Jazz and Folk Music Society members, $15 for non-members; Saturday afternoon, $15 for members, $20 for non-members; Saturday night, $20 for members, $25 for non-members; weekend pass, $40 for members, $55 for non-members.
Blues contest schedule
8 p.m. - Paul the Resonator, Sheperdstown, W.Va.
8:30 - The Rooster Jones Band, Akron.
9 - Dan Holt, Mentor.
9:30 - Brickhouse Blues Band, Cleveland.
10 - Melissa McKinney and Jay Hayes, Princeton, W.Va.
10:30 - Chaz Humley and The Effects, Teays Valley, W.Va.
12:30 p.m. - Vinnie and the Lubricators, Marietta.
1 - J. Blues, Parma.
1:30 - Dock Adams and Blues Hammer, Columbus.
2 - Leo Clarke, Cincinnati.
2:30 - Doug Hart Band, Dayton.
3 - Frank Harrison Band, Columbus.
3:30 - Chris Sutton, Barboursville, W.Va.
4 - Lucia, Urbana.
4:30 - Little Jimmy and L.T., Elyria.
5 - The Michael Gough Group, South Union, Ky.
8 - Finals, featuring two bands from Friday night and four from Saturday afternoon.
"The society down there has done this competition for 20-plus years, so we've got a lot to learn," Pressler said.
The competition awards at least one act sponsorship to the next year's International Blues Competition in Memphis (two if a band and a solo/duo act finish in the top three). But the city of Marietta wins too with the number of people the event draws from outside the area.
"They come out of the woodwork," Bolen said. "We've got pre-sales from all over Ohio (plus) Pennsylvania, Kentucky.
"I think maybe cabin fever must have set in by February. People need an excuse to get out and have a good time," he said.
Blues music appeals to some people who might not otherwise have Marietta on their itinerary, said Casey Knowlton, public relations and social media manager for the Marietta-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"Blues is a very niche market, but people follow it very closely, and any time there is a competition, people tend to flock to it," he said.
The fact that there are no geographical restrictions on who can enter the contest is a plus.
"This competition draws people from different areas and (brings) in visitors from those different areas," Knowlton said.
This year's competition features one local act and 10 others from around the Buckeye State, along with four from an hour-and-a-half to more than four hours away in West Virginia and one group from Kentucky.
Some, like Marietta's Vinnie and the Lubricators and Chris Sutton of Barboursville, W.Va., have been here before, but many are newcomers.
"A lot of the bands, I really don't know what to expect," Bolen said. "We like that, you know, to have some new blood."
The competition begins at 8 p.m. Friday, with six acts performing. The music resumes at 12:30 p.m. Saturday as 10 more take the stage. The top two competitors from Friday and the top four from Saturday will perform for the judges once again Saturday night, after which scores will be tallied and winners announced.


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Used Oil Management Plan
- Introduction
- Purpose
- Used Oil Defined
- Used Oil Management
- Storing Used Oil
- Recycling Used Oil
- Responding to Release of Used Oil
- Managing and Disposing of Used Oil Filters
- Shipping/Transporting Used Oil
- Employee Training
- Reporting
- Record Keeping
- Maintaining the Plan
Properly managing used oil is important for four main reasons:
- To protect the environment.
- To protect human health.
- To protect against liability for environmental damages.
- To reuse, rather than waste, a valuable resource.
Used oil, even when not classified as a hazardous waste under RCRA, can have harmful effects if it is released into the environment. In addition, people's health can be affected if used oil is handled improperly.
Superfund regulations allow the federal government to hold any party that created or contributed to the creation of a hazardous waste site (including some used oil) financially responsible for cleanup costs.
Used oil is a valuable resource because it has lubrication value and heat value. When treated to remove contaminants, used oil can be used as a base stock to produce new lubricating oil. Because used oil has heat value it can be burned as fuel. Properly burning the used oil keeps its heat value from being wasted and saves the virgin heating oil that would be burned instead.
This plan provides one source of written documentation for used oil records for the Community College of Rhode Island. In addition, this plan will inform interested persons, including College and contractor employees, of our compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements (found at 40 CFR 279) for used oil generators.
This plan provides a written description of used oil management procedures, disposal methods, and transportation requirements. We encourage any suggestions that our employees have for improving our written plan for used oil management, as we are committed to developing and maintaining an effective protocol. We strive for clear understanding, environmentally sound practices, and involvement in the plan from every level of the College.
A copy of CCRI's used oil management plan may be reviewed by employees. It is located in the offices of the Security and Safety and College Police Department and in the office of the Director of Administration.
Used Oil Defined
The EPA defines used oil as "any oil that has been refined from crude oil or any synthetic oil that has been used and as a result of such use is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities." Used oil can be generated during "do-it-yourself" projects, from automotive sources, or during industrial operations. This includes oils that are used as hydraulic fluid as well as oils that are used to lubricate automobiles and other machinery, cool engines, or suspend materials in industrial processes. Oils used for these purposes can become contaminated with physical materials (such as metal particles from engine wear) or chemical contaminants (such as gasoline combustion products, like toluene).
Used Oil Management
At this facility, we generate used oil from routine maintenance of motor vehicle, snow blowers and lawn mowers. Since we do not mix engine lubrications oil with other wastes it does not contain any contaminants that would preclude it from being recycled.
The Community College of Rhode Island adheres to the following practices. We:
- Never dump or dispose of used oil in the trash, in sewers, or on the ground.
- Make sure our collection and storage set-up is leak proof, spill proof, and that tanks have lids or are covered to prevent water from entering.
- Use lockable fills to prevent dumping of materials into the tank when it is not supervised.
- Maintain our collection containers regularly, comply with local fire and safety regulations, and avoid leaks and spills.
- Post a "Waste Oil" sign over each collection drum.
- Label storage drums "Used Oil." In addition, each drum must have a hazardous waste label with the following information written on it: Waste Oil, Combustible Liquid, UN 1270, Packing Group 3 and Class 3.
- Clean up any used oil spills or leaks. This includes providing soak-up material (e.g., sawdust, kitty litter, or a commercial product) for minor spills. It keeps the area clean and helps prevent personal injury.
- Keep records of used oil removed by outside vendors.
Storing Used Oil
Our facility stores used oil in fifty-five gallon drums. We opted for drum storage of our used oil because we accumulate a relatively small amount of used oil each month. This facility follows these storage practices. We:
- Never mix used oil with any other material. This facility keeps gasoline, solvents, degreasers, paints, and so on, from making the used oil a hazardous waste and increasing collection costs.
- Carefully record the amount of used oil placed into and removed from storage devices. Have constructed secondary containment around our drums/tanks with a capacity for 100 percent of the contents of the drums we store; the base of the containment area is sloped so that any spilled oil may be recollected and removed.
- Equip storage containers with wide-mouth, long-necked funnels to reduce spills during filling.
- Keep sorbent materials such as kitty litter and sawdust to clean up any spills that occur.
- Keep the area near the storage devices neat and clean.
Recycling Used Oil
Recycling used oil cashes in on either its lubricating value or heat value. We use this method of management whenever possible because is easier to do and more cost effective than properly disposing of used oil.
At this facility, we recycle our used oil from vehicle maintenance. It is pumped out and taken away by a licensed recycling company because we consider it the most environmentally safe method.
Responding to Releases of Used Oil
Even though all steps have been taken to prevent leaks or spills from occurring, this company is also prepared to respond to spills of used oil. We instruct workers to use the following protocol to manage spills of used oil and provide any necessary equipment:
- Stop the release. This action will vary depending on why the release is occurring. For example, if the spill occurs because a 55-gallon drum has been knocked over, the drum should be righted to stop more used oil from being released.
- If the spill occurs because a valve on a storage device has been left open, the valve should be closed. If a leak is a result of a puncture in the tank or drum, rags or similar materials should be used to plug the leak.
- Contain the release. We strive to prevent the used oil that has been released from spreading. For example, a sorbent, such as kitty litter or sawdust, should be spread over the spilled used oil. Clean up the release. Depending on the extent of the release, cleaning up the used oil can be a simple or a complicated task. For small spills on the ground, the soil can be dug up and removed by a licensed cleanup company. (The soil must be tested to determine if it exhibits hazardous characteristics.) For larger spills where puddles of used oil have formed, vacuum-type machinery can be used to collect the used oil before the soil is dug up for disposal. Because releases that contaminate a great deal of soil or ground or surface water are very difficult to clean up, the College maintains a list of professional cleanup vendors to conduct the cleanup operation.
- Properly manage the used oil that has been cleaned up. Any leaked or spilled used oil is managed like a hazardous waste under 40 CFR 279.
- Properly manage the solid materials generated during the cleanup. We place solid materials used to clean up a spill of used oil into a leak proof storage device. Materials contaminated with used oil are managed in the same manner as hazardous waste.
- Contaminated materials that will not be burned for energy are tested to determine if they exhibit hazardous waste characteristics. If they do not test hazardous, they are disposed of in a RCRA subtitle D facility. If they are hazardous, they are disposed of in a RCRA subtitle C facility.
- Remove the storage device from service and repair or replace it.
Managing and Disposing of Used Oil Filters
Whenever a mechanic changes the oil in a fleet vehicle, the oil filter is also changed to keep the solid contaminants of the old oil from immediately contaminating the new oil. Used oil filters can contain 10 to 16 ounces of used oil; Therefore proper management of this source of used oil is a concern of the College. Used oil filters are not considered a hazardous waste under RCRA if they have been properly drained of oil.
When used oil filters are removed from a warm engine, the mechanic uses the gravity draining method to drain the filter.
We store our drained used oil filters in a covered, rainproof container to prevent used oil from being washed from the filters to the surrounding environment. Our used oil filters are properly disposed of.
Shipping/Transporting Used Oil
The used oil management standards define a used oil transporter as "any person who transports used oil, any person who collects used oil from more than one generator and transports the collected oil, and owners and operators of used oil transfer facilities". The Community College of Rhode Island has chosen Western Oil, Inc. of Providence, RI. to transport used oil. Our transporter has an EPA ID number and complies with all relevant used oil regulations, including keeping tracking records of where the used oil is collected and where it will be transported to. When working with our transporter, we:
- Know that the hauler has an EPA ID number.
- Check our used oil hauler's qualifications to make sure the hauler takes the oil to a reputable recycling operation.
- Measure the level of oil in a tank before and after the hauler collects it to be certain the oil collected matches the amount the hauler reports collecting.
- Make sure a company representative signs and dates the hauler's tracking sheet.
- Ask for a receipt from the transporter that states how much used oil was collected from our facility and where the used oil will be taken. (These records are not required under the used oil management standards, but may be useful should a problem arise.)
- Make sure that the hauler maintains storage tanks/containers; labels containers "Used Oil"; stores used oil over oil-impervious surfaces; has secondary containment structures in place; stores used oil for no more than 35 days; tests waste in out-of-service tanks; closes out-of-service tanks containing hazardous waste according to EPA standards.
Employee Training
Although training is not strictly required under the regulations, we have designated Michael Archetto and Daniel Farrell to train personnel who will handle used oil. Direct any questions concerning used oil training to the Physical Plant Directors.
Under this plan, employees are informed of used oil management procedures relevant to the positions in which they work. This training occurs on the job.
We keep records of job titles and written job descriptions for all positions related to used oil management and the names of employees doing each job. We also keep records describing the type and amount of training provided.
Our company performs the following reporting activities:
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the local fire and police departments of the cities of Warwick, Providence and Lincoln have copies of our emergency contingency plan.
The Department of Security and Safety and College Police is responsible for keeping and maintaining copies of the Waste Automotive Oil Manifest forms
Maintaining the Plan
The Chemical Safety Coordinator is responsible for:
Conducting periodic site audits. Keeping records of all inspections and reports. Updating the plan as needed by incorporating any necessary changes resulting from major changes in our facility's operation or maintenance.
This page developed and maintained by Environmental Health and Safety. Send comments and suggestions to email@example.com.


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Creasing to Exist
$100 bill another government fiasco
April 29, 2013
Printers, especially those doing high-volume jobs requiring special paper and techniques, sometimes encounter challenges that delay production. We're in the printing business. We understand tha....
What a joke - how many people really realize the Federal Reserve is NOT federal? It is a private institution owned by people like the Rockefellers and Rothchilds - the U.S. pays them for our money - they collect the payment thru taxes. Kennedy wanted to do away with the middle man and print our own money, much like Jefferson did. Its messed up people. The rich own the banks so no matter what gov. does - they just keep getting richer.
2 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Yeah a democracy or a republic is imperfect...even wasteful. A democracy even has to allow its citizens to vote. Let's save money and just have a dictatorship then everyone will be as happy just like it was Christmas. Even the money would always be printed without creases.
2 Agrees | 4 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
I work for a living, I haven't seen a hundred dollar bill in years. This is ridiculous.
1 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
They are still printing the old style Benjamins at an astounding rate. The old style is much easier for terrorist countries to counterfeit, but that's not much different than what our government is doing. Print the money, give it to the banks, let them buy toxic paper and prop up the Stock market with fraudulent buying. At least the last administration sent some of the money directly to the people and allowed them to spend a little. The last thing this administration wants is ANY oversight in its currency manipulation.
3 Agrees | 2 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
You know it might be a long shot but wouldn't it be nice to see some outside body gain some oversight over the operations of the government and be tasked with increasing efficiency and decreasing waste?
I mean find the best company who's operations are run impeccably allow them the necessary leeway to make the changes our government needs.
If they decided to do that it'd take 10 years and 5 committees to just decide whether or not they wanted to look at doing that. Given how its all currently ran.
2 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Showing 5 of 5 comments


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Report: Suspensions re-issued in Saints bounty scandal
Published: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 3:57 p.m.
The NFL has re-issued the suspensions against current and former New Orleans Saints accused in the bounty scandal, according to a report in Pro Football Talk.
The league's move to re-issue the suspensions against Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita comes after an appeals panel vacated the suspensions earlier.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen tweeted that Vilma's suspension remained at a year and Will Smith's remained at four games. He said Scott Fujita's suspension was reduced from three games to one game and Anthony Hargrove's from eight games to seven.
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.


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Shaylá, on 28 November 2012 - 03:29 PM, said:
i've sent you a pm with the article.
Buglamp, on 28 November 2012 - 03:47 PM, said:
that is complete bullshit. The useful energy extracted from the humans would necessarily be equal to or less than the energy expended in keeping them alive


text:
|Tucson, Arizona
|High School:
|Canyon Del Oro HS
|Previous College:
|Yavapai College
2010: As the starting catcher for the Islanders, Tucker produced both offensively and defensively, hitting .300 for the season while setting a new Islanders record with 11 home runs during the year and tying for the team lead in RBI at 38…finished the year with a team-high 13 multi-RBI games and also had 12 multi-hit games…was one of the top defensive catchers in the nation, throwing out 22 base runners, by far the highest total in the Southland Conference, while only allowing 21 stolen bases, the lowest total in the league…had a .587 slugging percentage and drew 17 walks...named a Second Team All-Southland Conference pick following the season.
Prior To Texas A&M – Corpus Christi: Played at Yavapai College as part of the 2009 NJCAA National Champions...team finished with a 60-8 record during her sophomore season and a 48-16 record her freshman season...holds the school record for single-season home runs at 20...named First Team NJCAA All-American, NJCAA Region I Catcher and first team all-conference her sophomore year...Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I First Team All-American...awarded 2009 Diamond Sports NJCAA Catcher of the Year honors...NJCAA Region I catcher, NJCAA Second Team All-American, NFCA Second Team All-American and second team all-conference following her freshman season.
High School: Played for coach Amy Swiderski at Canyon Del Oro High School in Tucson, Ariz...team finished 33-3 her senior season and won the state championship in 2005 and 2007...2004 Newcomer of the Year...2005 Arizona Republic All-Arizona 5A Team, Arizona Daily Star, All-Southern Arizona and Arizona Citizen All-Stars honorable mention.
Personal: Born Brittany Tucker on June 12, 1989, in Tucson, Ariz...parents are Keith and Dottie Tucker...has one older brother...sports medicine major.


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Eleanor Brown, author of The Weird Sisters, is back with a new novel set in the City of Light. When Madeleine's seemingly perfect life cracks, she escapes to Paris to find herself again.
Inspired by vintage photogragahs, Alexander Mccall Smith weaves five lyrical stories about love and friendship.
Browse below for fiction of all kinds!


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I have a $250 gift certificate I need to sell by 12/31/2012. It is good for any expense there including any registration for your team into a tournament. Please make me an offer. I'll send the GC to Midwest prior to getting your money and you can call Midwest to verify prior to paying. I got this by entering my team into a tournament and then having to back out. THey refunded half of my money and then gave me the other half in credit. Help me out and save yourself or your team some $$.
You can reply to this or email me at email@example.com or call me at 615 554 3302.
ACTIVE is the leader in online event registrations from 5k running races and marathons to softball leagues and local events. ACTIVE also makes it easy to learn and prepare for all the things you love to do with expert resources, training plans and fitness calculators.


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Sheerine Alemzadeh
Sheerine Alemzadeh L'11 is a second-year Skadden Fellow at the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE). Sheerine grew up in Virginia, outside of DC, and attended Georgetown University, where she majored in International Politics, with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. After college, she worked for the legal department of the Tahirih Justice Center, an organization that provided legal representation and strategic policy advocacy for immigrant women and girls fleeing gender-based violence.
Building a bridge to connect the women's rights, workers' rights, and anti-violence movements.
At CAASE, I provide legal representation to survivors of sexual assault with a specific focus on achieving workplace justice for survivors. I also have been building a Chicago-wide coalition of rape crisis advocates and labor organizers to address the issue of sexual violence and gender inequality at work. My long-term career goals are to make a meaningful contribution to bridging the women's rights, workers' rights and anti-violence movements, and to help bring fairness and dignity to the processes that survivors of abuse engage in when they attempt to tell their stories and vindicate their rights.
Practice skills honed by clinic work.
The Transnational Legal Clinic was instrumental in shaping the practice skills I use now–in working with Professor Paoletti, and diving headfirst into highly complex areas of immigration law, I learned the struggle of connecting contentious, highly litigated legal theories to the complicated, often messy realities of my clients' experiences.
Opening doors to the public interest law community.
I found the Toll Public Interest Center to be absolutely critical in becoming a part of the public interest law community. I received incredible professional mentoring, which helped me to understand very complicated application and networking processes for which no clear guidelines exist. Arlene and her staff provided me with everything from interview practice for my fellowship applications to advice on how to approach certain members of Philadelphia's public interest law community. I realized through TPIC the importance of establishing a community in my legal practice, and cultivating a space where I knew I could come for moral support and thoughtful insights into the next steps in my career.
Lasting friendships forged in law school.
At Penn, I was lucky to be friends with some of the most dedicated and passionate public interest attorneys I know. I still call these friends all the time when I'm looking for inspiration and comfort in knowing I'm part of a larger community of attorneys who see the justice system the same way that I do and want to spend their lives changing it. These friends have been an invaluable source of support for me in my first years of practice, whether it's getting emergency advice on how to protect a client from getting deported or figuring out how to sustain ourselves long-term in our movement work.
Student engagement's lasting rewards.
Founding Students Against Gender Based Exploitation with two other classmates (Turhan Sarwar and Amanda Schwartz) was my most rewarding experience in Law School. Through building SAGE, I had amazing opportunities to meet many legal advocates at organizations like Philadelphia Legal Assistance, the Women's Law Project, and Friends of Farmworkers. Not only did I get to meet them, but I got to collaborate with them to bring law students into the fold to help provide access to justice for low-income survivors of gender-based violence.


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The latest Washington County engineer's report says the county's roads and bridges are in good shape overall, but additional funding is needed to make sure they stay that way.
"We only have good roads because we have an aggressive maintenance plan," county Engineer Roger Wright said.
Replacement of bridges and roads has been dialed back a bit in recent years as the cost of materials has risen and funding to the engineer's office has been reduced. The biggest decrease came when commissioners voted to divert funds from the 1 percent permissive sales tax to other uses in 2010, replacing them with an additional $5 license fee that brought in about a third of the revenue the department received from the sales tax, Wright said.
Wright, who has worked for the county for 14 years and was elected engineer last year, said he understands why that had to be done. But in the annual report recently submitted to commissioners on the department's 2012 activities, he says he will "continue to advocate for the return of 1 (percent) sales tax funds as originally intended, while seeking alternative funding."
Commissioners contacted Tuesday indicated their support for increasing the money for road and bridge maintenance in some way.
"I think that that is something that we would consider during the budget process for sure," Commissioner Tim Irvine said. "I take his concerns seriously."
Fact Box
At a glance
Engineer's additional money from permissive sales
Year BudgetPermissive Tax sales tax total
* - projected
Source: Washington County Engineer's Office, county fiscal clerk.
Irvine noted the commissioners did increase the share of the permissive sales tax going to townships for road maintenance from 15 percent to 24 percent for this year.
Commissioner Ron Feathers said he wants to see the townships stabilized but also supports sending more money to the engineer's office.
"We do recognize that we are living on an aged infrastructure," he said. "They have done a marvelous job maintaining those over the years."
In his report, Wright notes the original intent of the 1 percent permissive sales tax was primarily to fund road and bridge maintenance, with 85 percent of the revenue dedicated to that when the tax was enacted in 1983. From 1983 to 2009, nearly $37 million was allocated to the engineer's office from the permissive sales tax.
"I don't think we can go back to 85-15, but what we're looking for is more of a 50-50 division," Wright said Tuesday.
The engineer's budget was about $6.38 million in 2008, plus an additional $1.84 million in permissive sales tax funds. In 2009, those amounts dropped to $5.77 million and $873,000, respectively.
Since 2009, the office's budget has grown each year but without any permissive sales tax accompanying it. This year, it is expected to be flat, thanks to an anticipated decrease in gasoline tax revenues that Wright hopes will be offset by a slight increase in license fees. Those funds are the primary sources of the department's revenue.
"We're starting to finally trend back up, but in the meantime, the cost of living has gone up from 2008 to 2012, the cost of materials has gone up from 2008 to 2012," Wright said.
The office does try whenever possible to obtain additional funding from state and federal grants, Wright said.
The report also outlines the conditions of the county's roads and bridges. According to the report, more than 97 percent of the roads in the county are in good or excellent condition. Less than 2.7 percent are labeled fair and less than a 10th of a percent - about a 10th of a mile - are considered poor. None fall into the serious, critical or out of service categories.
Forty-six percent of bridges in the county are labeled in good condition, with 98.4 percent labeled fair or better. Six are considered poor, and five of them are slated for replacement, at least two this year.
The biggest planned project for the engineer's office in 2013 is replacement of the Archers Fork Bridge at the intersection of Washington County 14 and Ohio 26. Almost $57,000 in local funds will be spent on the project; the rest of the $1.1 million tab will be paid by federal funds and Ohio Department of Transportation bridge credits.
The Baker Bridge on Washington County 9 is scheduled for replacement this year at a cost of $147,846, paid solely from local funds. If funds are available, the Stevens Bridge on Aurelius Township 75 will be replaced for $200,000, as well as the Ferrebee Bridge on Washington County 4 for $172,000.
The Ward Bridge on Washington County 14 is expected to be done next year, with the engineer's office bearing 5 percent of the nearly $272,000 cost.
The sixth bridge is on Independence Township Road 920. Wright said it only serves one household and still has some useful years left with continued inspections and maintenance.
The department plans $1.2 million to $1.4 million in paving projects this year, depending on the number of landslips and other repairs that are needed. The largest on the list is a four-mile section of Highland Ridge Road, from Rollyson Road to Ohio 530.


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News 12 at 6 o'clock / Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012
MARTINEZ, Ga. -- When the Springlakes neighborhood took on Augusta Prep over new lights for a new football field, it turned into one of the most heated decisions for Columbia County commissioners last year. In the end, it was a compromise that brought them together.
Now the Augusta Prep football players are getting ready for their first Friday night home game ever, and they're inviting their Springlakes neighbors to come and be a part of it.
"I can't even tell how excited the whole entire community is, Friday night under the lights," said Becky Gilmore, head of school at Augusta Prep.
Dozens packed a commission chamber complaining the lights and noise from games would be a bother.
"I'm not really going to go there ... I just know that we're going to more forward," said Mike Frits, the liaison between the Springlakes HOA Board and Augusta Prep. "That was taken care of by the county. They voted to allow the lights to be put in."
After compromising on the number of night games and how late the games could go, Augusta Prep also compromised on the lights themselves, paying $200,000 for lights that only shine on the field.
"The compromise part of it was that we would spend the extra money to purchase that type of lighting so that it did minimize the impact," Gilmore said.
"We have some neighbors that are concerned and we just have to go with what's been decided on and move forward," Frits said.
But now the two groups are working to play nice.
"We just want to be good neighbors. We've started a liaison between Springlakes and Augusta Prep; we meet with them quite often," Frits said.
And Augusta Prep is inviting the neighbors to come enjoy free tickets and help cheer the Cavaliers on to a win.
"We invite them to be on our campus and be part of our family and join in the excitement in hopes that as we work together in the future things will be much more smooth," Gilmore said.
"We're excited as neighbors that they're having their first game under the lights and we're just excited to have the offer made to us to come and join them," Frits said.
More than 20 Springlakes neighbors have picked up their free tickets and plan on coming to the game Friday. Augusta Prep takes on Thomas Jefferson Friday at 7:30 p.m.
News 12 will be there for Operation Football Live's tailgate party on News 12 at 6 o'clock.
According to the agreement, the lights must be off by 10:30 p.m.


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The City of Marietta hopes to reach an agreement soon with Marietta College over land the city needs to acquire to add a turn lane at the Seventh, Pike and Greene Street intersection.
The city engineering department recently requested $227,700 for right-of-way acquisition for the more-than $2 million project to improve traffic and pedestrian safety, slated to be done next year. There are six pieces of property ranging from a couple hundredths of an acre in size to more than a tenth of an acre that the city must obtain to make room for the widened road.
"Offers have already been made to every one of these property owners with the exception of Marietta College and Captain D's," said city engineer Joe Tucker. "Those are two of the more complicated ones."
Article Photos
The Seventh, Pike and Greene Street intersection project includes adding a turn lane from Greene onto Seventh, meaning the garden shown here, maintained by the Marietta Morning Rotary, will have to be moved back.
EVAN BEVINS The Marietta Times
The college's soccer field sits on the property of which the city wants a piece. The portion the city is to acquire would go about three-and-a-half feet past the fence, which would have to be removed and replaced. A temporary fence will be erected while the work is being done. Those additional costs will be included in the city's offer to the college.
Tucker said city and college representatives have met multiple times to discuss the acquisition and the size of the property the city is seeking has been scaled back.
If an agreement cannot be reached, the city could invoke its power of eminent domain to acquire the land. A jury trial could be held to determine how much the city should pay for the land, city law director Paul Bertram III said.
Fact Box
At a glance
Properties from which rights of way are to be acquired for the Seventh, Pike and Greene streets intersection project:
Apex True Value, 600 Greene St.
Captain D's, 104 Pike St.
Food 4 Less, 110 S. Seventh St.
Marietta College, Seventh and Greene streets.
Qdoba, Seventh and Pike streets.
Sheila's Hair Shoppe and Tanning, 109 Pike St.
Source: City of Marietta.
But both sides say they aren't looking to go down that road.
"We're trying to do a mutually agreeable process," Tucker said.
A statement issued this week by Tom Perry, Marietta College's executive director of strategic communications and marketing, said the college has been working with the mayor's office and city council for more than a year on the issue.
"We are pleased with the progress that has been made up to this point, and college officials are optimistic that an acceptable resolution will be reached," Perry said. "We are focusing on collaborative solutions and have not discussed, nor have we considered, legal action."
Once the offers are presented to the property owners, they have 30 days to review them and respond. The project is being funded mostly with state money and is expected to be put out for bid in March. Tucker said the project is running close to its original timetable, and the plan is to have everything completed next year.
Another entity that will feel the impact of the project is the Marietta Morning Rotary, which maintains the garden at the intersection that includes greenery spelling out the city's name. The garden will have to be shifted, something that is expected to cost about $30,000, included in the overall project price.
Morning Rotary member David Haas isn't a fan of the project itself, believing adjustments to the traffic lights could cut down on congestion, but he's not overly concerned about the impact on the garden, he said.
"What we decided to do is move everything back," he said. "I'm pretty well satisfied that they're going to get us back to something we can live with."


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Thursday's letters: Separatism
Published: Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 6:36 p.m.
To the editor: It was Spirit Week at East High, and the days were themed to build spirit and excitement before the homecoming game. However, one of the theme days did little to promote unity and in fact encouraged stereotypes and exclusion.
What message does Mathlete vs. Athlete send to the students? Promoting the stereotype that someone who is intelligent cannot be athletic is absurd.
This sends a message that asks students to choose if they want to succeed in the classroom or on the field or court.
In a time when bullying is so prominent, Im appalled that schools would feel comfortable encouraging students to be pitted against one another. I understand that students often suggest these activities; however, its the staffs responsibility to maintain a safe space.
Although this was only a Spirit Day, a strong message of separatism is sent to students who may not know the difference! It has the potential to make athletes feel they cant be successful academically, while making students who thrive in the classroom feel as if they cant succeed outside of it.
Why are we creating an environment that asks students to choose between the two instead of embracing all student interests?
Becki Jalernpan
Flat Rock
Election overkill
To the editor: I cant possibly be the only one whos sick to death of the incessant campaigning and years of nonstop talking to raise money for the next election.
Its no wonder the country is in a mess, and both parties are to blame. If they spent that time talking with and not blaming each other, maybe somebody could get actual work done.
Wouldnt three or six months be more than enough time to campaign? Other countries manage to do so why cant we? Wouldnt one term of six years be enough for presidents? Then they could do their jobs without wasting precious time running for re-election.
To put it very simply, Congress (and lobbyists) make the laws, presidents enforce them, and the Supreme Court interprets them. Why does the blame for whatever goes wrong in the country and the world rest on one person who does not get elected by all voters? Just because one presidential candidate gets most of the votes doesnt mean he or she will get to be president!
By the time West Coast polls close, we already know who the new president will be, thanks to a few deciding states. Does that even make sense?
Ines Illgen
Free choice
To the editor: In the Roe v. Wade decision of 1972, women were given the constitutional right to make decisions about their own bodies. Always a difficult decision, abortion is a matter of deeply personal free choice.
There are those in todays Republican Party who want to end that freedom with no exceptions.
Paul Ryan, Republican candidate for vice president, his House cohorts and the wannabe, Mark Meadows, would ban all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. To force a woman to bear a child conceived by rape is cruel and inhumane as well as a loss of her freedom.
Rape can and does cause pregnancy. As a man, I cannot begin to imagine the trauma, physical and psychological, of rape let alone being forced to carry a rapists child to term. However, as a man, I can speculate how a man whose wife or teenage daughter is pregnant due to rape might feel. How many men would be willing to provide for the birth and rearing of that child? How many men would forget the violence, the pain, and welcome the child as their own?
I am just wondering, but I think I know the answers.
Doug Freeman
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.


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PEBBLE BEACH -- Bill Murray would be proud of D.A. Points, the pro playing partner he abandoned this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am to help promote his new movie "The Monuments Men."
Points was disqualified from the professional part of the tournament Friday when he used a practice device -- a spongy ball -- as he waited to hit a shot on the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach Golf Links. But he hung around Saturday to complete his obligation in the pro-am with his playing partner, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Points, who won the pro portion of the tournament in 2011 and also teamed with Murray to win the pro-am, had no thoughts of abandoning Rice and bolting the premises after his tough DQ.
"Well, it's not every day that you get to play 18 holes at Spyglass, let alone 18 holes with Secretary Rice," Points said. "And she's such a sweet, warmhearted woman and loves golf. I signed up to play the Pebble Beach AT&T Pro-Am, it's not just about me and the golf tournament. It's about playing with our amateurs and making sure they have a good time."
Rice was appreciative.
"It meant an enormous amount to me," she said. "He didn't have to do that. I, more than anybody, know what it's like to be on the road a lot and perhaps get to go home early. But he's a wonderful, wonderful person, and it really speaks well for him and for the (PGA) Tour that he came out and played anyway."
Neither Points nor Rice will be on the course Sunday -- they finished 147th out of 156 pro-am teams.
Mickelson understands what he has to do.
"I've got to go out and get a hot round like I did a couple years ago," he said. "I certainly think it's out there. That's what I'll be gunning for. I'm playing and hitting the ball well enough to do it."
Mickelson bogeyed his final hole at Spyglass, which left him at 1-under 71.
It was the first time a defending champion has missed the cut since Mickelson did it in 2008 after winning in 2007 but the fifth time it has happened in 11 years. Matt Gogel, Davis Love III and Vijay Singh missed the cut from 2003-05 after winning the previous years, respectively.
James Hahn, who flirted with the top 10 on Friday, shot 10-over 81 at MPCC. Veteran Charlie Wi, who finished second two years ago, shot 8-over 80 at Pebble, while rookie Max Homa posted his second consecutive 76, this time at MPCC.
Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers failed to make the pro-am cut. Playing with pro Jerry Kelly, he finished tied for 62nd.
A shot behind Lacob and tied for 20th was a large group that included Giants pitcher Matt Cain, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and hockey great Wayne Gretzky.


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- Jun 18:
- San Jose stowaway: Teen speaks about flight to Hawaii, mom
- Jun 3:
- San Jose stowaway: Pilot on tape talks of teen in the landing gear
- May 5:
- With return to California, San Jose police looking to interview stowaway teen about airport breach
- May 3:
- Official: Boy who stowed away on jet leaves Hawaii
- Apr 30:
- San Jose airport fences passed inspection three weeks before teen's breach
- Herhold: The messy moral of the stowaway story
- Apr 28:
- Hawaiian Airlines stowaway's mom in Ethiopian refugee camp cries for son
- Apr 27:
- Santa Clara: Teen stowaway 'a good kid who I love dearly,' father says
- Apr 25:
- Stowaway: For advocates, survival tale shines light on national 'runaway crisis'
- Apr 23:
- Stowaway: Father of 15-year-old Santa Clara boy 'thanked God' he is safe
- Apr 22:
- Stowaway: San Jose airport eyes security changes after 'very serious' incident
- Santa Clara High student who stowed away on flight to Maui reportedly eyed African destination
- Apr 21:
- Santa Clara teen stowaway's survival in jet's wheelwell was literally death-defying
- Santa Clara teen stowaway's feat highlights airport security concerns
- Mercury News editorial: San Jose airport stowaway does us all a favor
SAN JOSE -- The 15-year-old who ran away from home and stowed away in the wheel well of a Hawaii-bound jetliner two weeks ago has been sent back to California and put in the custody of Santa Clara County social service officials, a source close to the family said Saturday.
What happens next to Yahya Abdi, a Santa Clara High student and Somali refugee who is at the center of an international family drama, is unclear.
But one thing is certain: His father, who flew to Hawaii last Monday with clothing and gifts in hopes of reuniting with his son and bringing him home -- but who sources say was not allowed to see or talk to him -- will be returning home without him.
Kayla Rosenfeld, the spokeswoman for Hawaii's Department of Human Services, did not return phone calls on Saturday. But late Friday night, she told The Associated Press that Yahya is "no longer in Hawaii."
Earlier Friday, a court hearing was held in Hawaii and a judge apparently transferred Yahya out of the custody of the Hawaii Department of Human Services and into the custody of Santa Clara County's Department of Family & Children's Services, according to the source close to the family.
Officials at the Santa Clara agency did not return calls on Saturday but previously had said that in cases similar to this, a child would be escorted on a flight by a social worker -- this time in the comfort of a ticketed seat.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Santa Clara, which is helping the family deal with the media, did not return calls Saturday.
Yahya's dramatic ordeal made international headlines and launched a congressional hearing about airport security after he hopped a barbed-wire fence at Mineta San Jose International Airport and climbed into the wheel well of the nearest plane, a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 767.
The teen defied tremendous odds and survived the 5 1/2-hour flight in subfreezing temperatures and extreme altitudes before landing in Maui's Kahului Airport on April 20.
He was captured on video there, his feet dangling from the wheel well, then weaving disoriented on the tarmac until he asked a luggage handler for a bottle of water.
He told authorities he had run away from home after an argument with his father and stepmother and longed to see his birth mother, who lives in an Ethiopian refugee camp. He also complained to airport officials that his ears were hurting.
He remained in the hospital for more than 10 days with breathing difficulties.
In the days that followed the incident, a rift in the extended family led to accusations from the stepmother's cousin, Mukhtar Guled, that the stepmother and father treated their six youngest children "like kings and queens" and the older three children to the first wife "like trash."
Guled also arranged a phone interview last week with the birth mother, Ubah Mohammed Abdule, from the refugee camp. She echoed to reporters those accusations of mistreatment and said her ex-husband had told her children she had died in a rocket attack in Mogadishu and refused to allow her to contact them. The children found out only recently their mother was live, she said. She is hoping to reunite with them.
In an interview with KPIX-TV last week, Yahya's two full siblings said neither they, nor their brother, were mistreated. In an interview with this newspaper, the stepmother said she considers Yahya her son and hopes "he comes home soon."
In an emailed statement last week, the father, Abdilahi Yusuf, called Yahya "a good kid who I love dearly." With no formal education in Somalia or during their time in a refugee camp before moving to the United States in 2006, he said, Yahya was "struggling adjusting to life" in America. Yahya recently transferred from Oak Grove High to Santa Clara, where the family of 12 now lives.
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at email@example.com


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|Winter Travel: 10 Snowy Sites
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
If your family is the slightest bit outdoorsy, they'll love Lake Tahoe.
Things to Do:
Biking Along the Truckee River
Borges Carriage Rides
Donner Memorial State Park and Emigrant Trail Museum
Stowe, Vermont
Your kids can stay out past dusk, dessert is a staple in the diet, and fresh air and exercise come with the territory.
Things to Do:
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory
Cold Hollow Cider Mill
Laughing Moon Chocolates
Denver, Colorado
The mile-high city offers something for kids of every age group, and you, too. You'll find a bit of history, great shopping, kid-friendly museums, and plenty of ways to enjoy that near year-round sunshine outdoors.
Things to Do:
Capitol Building
Children's Museum of Denver
Denver Art Museum
Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley has the feel of understated elegance and unbridled fun at the same time.
Things to Do:
Bowling at Sun Valley Lodge
Fly Fishing With Silver Creek Outfitters
Hiking and Biking at Sun Valley White Clouds
Minneapolis, Minnesota
With more than 500 stores, an indoor theme park, aquarium, and a miniature golf course - is admittedly impressive. But the Twin Cities also boast a renowned theater scene, plenty of parks and green space, an urban atmosphere, and more.
Things to Do:
Children's Theatre Company
Como Park Zoo & Conservatory
Guthrie Theater
The Berkshires, Massachusetts
If quaint and cozy is your thing, head to western Massachusetts where you'll be tempted by a rich offering of historical tours and museums, plus skiing at the Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort.
Things to Do:
Horseback Riding
Whitewater Adventure or Smooth Sailing
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the cultural and political center of Utah. It has plenty of cultural offerings, numerous parks and some inspiring buildings, including the splendid structures of the Mormon Temple Square and the historic This is the Place Monument.
Things to Do:
Lodging - Search
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is chock-full of kid-friendly attractions. Older kids will enjoy Seattle's music history as well as the city's waterfront, especially Pike Place Market. The younger set will find plenty of hands-on fun at the various museums, plus lots of open, grassy spaces to romp in. And the entire family will appreciate the beautiful mountains and water that surround the city.
Things to Do:
Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum
Pike Place Market
Space Needle
Whistler, British Columbia
Your family can try every imaginable snow sport, from dog sledding to snowshoeing. When you're done playing in the outdoors, you'll find nearly endless shops and restaurants in Whistler Village, nestled at the base of the mountains. With non-stop outdoor adventures and energetic village life, this four-season resort is fun for everyone.
Things to Do:
Bear Viewing and Ecology Tours
Core Kids Adventure Zone
Cross-Country Skiing and Olympic Sports at Whistler Olympic Park
Yellowstone Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone National Park delivers big when it comes to geysers and hot springs. You won't have to look far for adventure on your Yellowstone vacation.
Things to Do:
Visit Old Faithful and Other Geysers
Wildlife Viewing
Other Winter Travel Ideas:
10 Warm Weather Getaways
Family Cruises
Train Adventures
Source: family.go.com
Images: www.sxc.hu


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A photographer trying to shoot Lana Del Rey filming a video says he was attacked by three guys from the production company, one of whom slashed his finger with a box cutter.
Karl Larsen, a concert photographer who shoots for Rolling Stone, is filing a suit saying he tried to take pictures last June of Del Rey shooting her "Tropico" video on the Los Angeles River when he was confronted by three men from Black Hand Cinema, according to TMZ.
Larsen says the men ordered him to stop shooting. When Larsen said he was within his rights, one guy allegedly threatened to smash his $14,000 camera, while another allegedly tried to rip it from his hand.
You'd think more photographers would learn karate or something.
Larsen says one of the men them produced a box cutter razor and slashed his finger -- which required stitches -- while another guy grabbed his camera and erased the memory card.
Apparently it's incredibly important the world not prematurely view still pictures from a Lana Del Rey video.
Larsen's suit against Black Hand Cinema -- which TMZ reports will be filed later this week -- seeks $1 million in damages, saying the company has a habit of intimidating photographers.
Contact Tony Hicks at Facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks or Twitter.com/insertfoot.


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Japanese Marketing: Buy the Rakuten Kobo Aura H20, Win a Year of Bath Salts!
Getting Your Read on in the Tub
Meet the AQUOS K Android Flip Phone: No Touchscreen! No Google Play!
The Nostalgia is Strong with This One
Yes, feature and flip phones are still widely available in Japan (not huge sellers these days), but we're pretty sure this is first time anyone's bothered to shoehorn Google's Android OS into a device that doesn't even have a touchscreen.
World's First: CASIO to Release Standard Scientific Calculator that Displays Arabic Script
Meet the New CASIO ClassWiz fx Series
Terrie's Take: Japanese Snowbirds! (TOURISM EDITION)
Terrie's Take is a selection of Japan-centric news collected and collated by long-time resident and media business professional Terrie Lloyd. AkihabaraNews is pleased to present Terrie's learned perspective; we all could use another take on the news - here's Terrie's:
Mazda introduces the 4th-generation Roadster to their fans
Mazda is having a series of fan events for their 4th-generation Roadster called "Mazda Roadster THANKS DAY in JAPAN 2nd" in various cities around Japan.
The events are about the new Roadster that is planned to be released in July 2015. Participants can check out the prototype and have a test ride, and also there is a talk session by the developers.
Toshiba - The world's first SDHC memory card with NFC functionality
Toshiba is releasing the world's first NFC-enabled SDHC memory card on February 21.
8GB model (SD-NFC08GA) - about ¥2,000
16GB model (SD-NFC16GA) - about ¥3,000
32GB model (SD-NFC32GA) - about ¥6,000~¥7,000
Thanko - Hammock Foot Rest
Feel a vacation under your feet.
Sitting at the desk all day gives you swollen legs. You somehow start feeling tired and get distracted although you are just sitting down.
If you are annoyed by that situation, you might want to try Thanko's new hammock-style foot rest. Simply hook it on the desk and it's ready to use. Place your feet on it and it will make your feet relaxed while you do desk work.
Long Stroke Parallel Draw-down Chuck that Eliminates Need for Setup
At JIMTOF 2014, Kitagawa Iron Works exhibited the DLL chuck, a new chuck that eliminates the need for setup by further enhancing the conventional jaw based parallel draw-down type chuck that secures a workpiece to chuck surface.


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|3.3 lbs.
|Air Flow (CFM):
|Air Speed (MPH):
|90 / 130
|Batteries Included:
|Battery Type:
|Mulching Capability:
|Speed Controls:
|Toggle Switch
|Speed Settings:
Do you have questions about this product?
Get answers from real customers and in-house experts with AnswerBox.
Q:what model no. of the battery comes with the blower?
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A:The Greensworks 29312 24V 2 Ah Lithium-Ion battery is included. Yes, you can use this battery with any other 24V Greenworks item.
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NEW GreenWorks products are protected against all defects under normal use for a period of (4) four years (90 days for commercial use) from the shipping date.
Reconditioned GreenWorks products are protected against all defects under normal use for a period of 30 Days from the shipping date.
GreenWorks can opt to repair, replace or issue a refund for products that are determined to be defective, or that have been damaged during shipping. Replacement of products or parts subject to normal wear and tear is the responsibility of the customer. If GreenWorks accepts a return under Warranty, you can return the defective or damaged product only after you call and receive a Return Authorization from GreenWorks. You also will receive a refund for your original shipping charges, and GreenWorks will arrange and pay for your return shipping charges. Batteries carry a one-year warranty against defects in workmanship and materials. Batteries must be charged in accordance with the operator's manuals directions and regulations in order to be valid.


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Men's Sof Sole FIT High Arch Insole
The Sof Sole FIT Men's High Arch Insole is designed for men with high arches. The insoles use high rebound foam for a perfect fit and to help promote natural range of motion. The goal is to improve your footwear fit, performance and comfort.