text:
History of the
Coast Guard Legal Program
The Coast Guard Legal Program Begins
The Coast Guard legal program began as the Military Discipline Branch in the Office of Operations after an Act of Congress of May 26, 1906, created a military discipline system for the Revenue Cutter Service. The branch remained in the Office of Operations following the creation of the Coast Guard on January 28, 1915 with the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service. The function of the branch during these early years was primarily to review the several types of Coast Guard courts, to prepare actions for the Secretary of Treasury, and to perform other matters of military discipline. Edward P. Harrington served as the head of the Military Discipline Branch and held the title of Chief Law Officer.The Legal Division is Created
The Revenue Act of 1934 placed all legal duties and functions of the Department of the Treasury in the newly created Office of the General Counsel of the Treasury Department. As a result, a Legal Division was established as a part of the organization of Coast Guard Headquarters with the division chief designated chief counsel. Organizationally, the Legal Division was part of the commandant's staff, and the chief counsel worked under the direction of the assistant commandant. Joseph P. Tanney, who had succeeded the retiring Harrington in 1931, became the first chief counsel.
The Revenue Act of 1934 and the efforts of Herman Oliphant, the first general counsel of the Treasury Department, substantially enlarged the functions and responsibilities of the Coast Guard Legal Division that was created in 1934 by creating a legal advisory service to provide legal opinions, both formal and informal, to the Coast Guard administrative officers. Over time the General Counsel regularly assigned to the Legal Division other legal work concerning contracts, real estate, legislation, regulation review, and other matters affecting the Coast Guard.
Kenneth Stevens Harrison assumed the position of Chief Counsel in 1938 upon Tanney's resignation to enter the private practice of law. Harrison was assigned to the Coast Guard by the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury where he had been serving since his employment from the War Department in 1930.
Coast Guard Law Expands in World War II
The outbreak of war in Europe was swiftly followed by the Neutrality Act of 1939. This act, together with the transfer of the Lighthouse Service to the United States Coast Guard in the summer of 1939, resulted in a considerable increase in the functions and duties of the Coast Guard and its Legal Division. These additional responsibilities required an increase in resources, and several attorneys, stenographers, and clerks were assigned to the Legal Division and the position of Assistant Chief Counsel was created. A short time later, when President Roosevelt declared a State of Limited National Emergency and activated the Espionage Act of 1917, a Port Security program was established with extensive organization, regulations, and responsibilities. The size of the United States Coast Guard continued to increase, and the passage of emergency legislation, such as the Coast Guard Reserve Act, added to the duties and responsibilities of the Legal Division. The transfer of the Coast Guard to the U. S. Navy on November 1, 1941, created several legal challenges, particularly regarding the transition from the Coast Guard disciplinary system to that of the Navy under the Articles for the Government of the Navy. The sudden entry of the United States into World War II on December 7, 1941, resulted in a rapid expansion of the Coast Guard to carry out its war missions.Almost all of the attorneys in the Legal Division were civilians at the time. Most were commissioned in the Coast Guard Reserve during the war – including Harrison who, having served as an officer in the Army Reserve for sixteen years before World War II, was appointed as a lieutenant commander on May 30, 1942. He rapidly advanced in grade, first to commander sixteen days later, and then to captain in May, 1943.
Article 841 of Coast Guard Regulations, 1940, for the first time provided for a District Law Officer whose duties concerned the proceedings of Coast Guard Courts and Boards and examination of contracts and leases. Practically no law officers were created in the two years following, attributable to a lack of available regular officers with law degrees and apparent concerns about the relationship of these officers with the Treasury General Counsel to whom all legal activities of the department were committed. Once the war began, the need was great and passage of the Reserve Act provided the means to fill out the offices. As these positions were filled, law officers were also provided to captains of each major port and the major independent units such as the Coast Guard Yard, Supply Depots, and Training Stations.
The Legal Division at Coast Guard Headquarters faced difficult problems during the first year of World War II. Besides the increased demands for opinions, legal advice, and other legal functions, recruiting and indoctrinating new commissioned officers for the Legal Division – Mr. Harrison described an avalanche of applications – and for the field activities, and creating a service-wide legal organization, for the first time required considerable time and attention. Most of the new officers were appointed as lieutenant (junior grade) and a few as ensign. During the first year of the war, several groups of law officers came to Headquarters for a two-week indoctrination course created for them. This was also the first time in its history that the Legal Division provided support to the field. This nascent Coast Guard-wide program required personnel management for the first time, and in 1942 a study of Coast Guard organization prescribed that the Legal Division would advise the Chief Personnel Officer on matters relating to legal personnel.
Executive Order 9083, which became effective on March 1, 1942, transferred the major functions of the former Bureau of Maritime Inspection and Navigation to the Coast Guard. This move resulted in an extensive field of new legal activity for the Legal Division. For the first time, the Coast Guard was vested with the authority to regulate certain phases of an industry – namely, the administration of vessel inspection and navigation laws. These statutes encompassed a system that had grown piecemeal for 150 years; they were difficult of construction and interpretation, particularly in view of the special considerations and adjustments resulting from the emergency conditions arising from the war. To handle this new workload, a special section in the Legal Division was created and designated the Admiralty and Maritime Section.
Coast Guard commanders and officers, unaccustomed to having lawyers close at hand, did not know what to do with them or whether they could be trusted. Mr. Harrison took on this issue when addressed the chiefs of staff of the districts who were assembled at Headquarters in the summer of 1942:
I regret to say that in some quarters there is a general antipathy against lawyers. They are looked upon as obstructionists and causes of delay when something is desired to be done. This is a mistaken viewpoint, gentlemen. The role of the lawyer, as a legal adviser, is to ascertain what his client wishes to do and the procedure he proposes to follow, and then advise the client whether there is any legal objection to such action. If the objective is legally permissible, but the procedure is faulty from a legal point of view, it is the role of the lawyer to advise his client in what manner the action may be taken without legal objection. He should exhaust every ingenuity he possesses to support the action which his client wishes to take. … The value of the district law officer … depends upon the extent his services are utilized. … Whenever a Coast Guard officer acts upon the legal advice given to him by the District law officer, the District law officer shares with him the responsibility for the action taken.In tandem, The law officer should be regarded as the general advisor of the District Coast Guard Officer on legal matters. The law officers should attend staff meetings and his opinion should be solicited, whenever possible, prior to decision on all matters of law or important decisions of policy having legal aspects. In particular, the law officers should have cognizance of contracts, real estate, courts and boards, law enforcement and review, marine casualty investigation and review, tort claims of and against the Government, and fines, penalties and forfeitures." He cautioned that: "The law officers so assigned is [sic] not to be relieved of his legal duties unless the District Coast Guard Officer personally assumes the responsibility of the performance of these duties." Although the 1940 regulations authorized a single officer, the Commandant observed the volume of work may warrant the assignment of others.
The Legal Division was organized into eight sections during the war reporting to the Chief Counsel. The sections were: Opinion, Port Security, Admiralty and Maritime, Contracts, Real Estate, Courts and Boards, Legislative, and Patent. In addition, there were several special assistants to the Chief Counsel who were assigned special projects and tasks not falling within the cognizance of any particular section. The office of the District Law Officer was organized along the same lines, except that in the small offices the work of several sections was combined. There were no legislative or patent sections on the district level.
During the war, the staff of the Legal Division comprised about fifty, half of whom were lawyers. There were about eighty officer-lawyers assigned to field offices, including sixteen in the districts.
With the end of World War II and the resulting massive demobilization, the civilians that had been commissioned as reserve officers reverted to their civilian status and many returned to private practice. Captain Harrison returned to civilian status in April 1946, but retained his commission in the Coast Guard Reserve, eventually being appointed the Reserve's first permanent Rear Admiral on June 28, 1956.
The post-World War II period contained few legal billets for active duty Coast Guard officers with law degrees. In late 1947, for instance, of the twenty-one people assigned to the Legal Division in Coast Guard Headquarters only three were commissioned officers, the remaining eighteen were civilians. There were no field personnel whose time was fully devoted to the handling of the legal matters that arose in the various Coast Guard district offices. The legal section headed by the district law officer that had existed in each district office during World War II had been consolidated in July 1947 into an organizational component headed by the "Legal and Intelligence Officer." This office was responsible to the district chief of staff for the performance of all duties other than those duties concerning legal matters. In the performance of legal duties, the Legal Officer advised the district chief of staff, but was responsible to the Legal Division and the Chief Counsel at Coast Guard Headquarters. Coincidentally, a Coast Guard Reserve Voluntary Legal and Intelligence Unit 05-8 was established in 1949 and was commanded by Harrison in his Reserve capacity until 1960.
During the late 1940's some lawyers returned to active duty in the Coast Guard after a brief period as civilians in private practice. Despite the scarcity of legal billets for military lawyers following World War II, many landed in quasi-legal billets, such as Marine Inspection and Investigation Offices, Captain of the Port Offices, and Port Security Units.the Commandant sent a letter on August 15, 1942, to all District Coast Guard Officers calling to their attention that "[m]any issues arising from military and civil law enforcement activities, the port security program, the merchant seaman training program, and the integration of the former Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation are legal in character", and that "the District Law Officer serve on the staff of the District in the same fashion as the Chief Counsel functions as a part of my staff at Headquarters.
Uniformed Law Specialists Are Created
The arrival of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) in 1950 created an immediate need for legally qualified officers in the Coast Guard districts. The requirements of the UCMJ resulted in the establishment of a single legal billet in each Coast Guard district as the staff legal officer. To fill these billets initially, the Coast Guard used some of the lawyers commissioned during World War II. Although Congress had authorized funds as early as 1934 to fund law school for regular officers, not more than five or six were sent between then and 1942, and all of them went to sea after graduation. Few others were funded subsequently. One example was Lieutenant Commander William L. Morrison who attended law school from 1947 to 1949 and would eventually become the first military chief counsel. With the UCMJ looming, a program of postgraduate education in law was institutionalized. In 1949-1950, prior to the effective date of the UCMJ, five Coast Guard officers entered law school. whether other officers had been sent to law school before then is unclear. Subsequently, varying numbers of officers received assignments to law schools, with the number stabilizing at two per year by the mid 1950's and continuing until 1969.
The increased legal responsibilities and workload resulting from the UCMJ also caused a number of military lawyers to be added to the Legal Division at Coast Guard Headquarters as "Special Assistants to the Chief Counsel," who remained Mr. Harrison. Enactment of the UCMJ also required a Judge Advocate General for the Coast Guard for the first time and Congress assigned that duty to the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury, although many of the duties were subsequently delegated to the Chief Counsel.
The Legal Division Becomes the Office of the Chief Counsel & the First Military Chief Counsel is Appointed
When the Office of the General Counsel of the Treasury Department was created and the Legal Division in Coast Guard Headquarters was established in 1934, the Chief Counsel and his staff in the Legal Division operated under the supervision of the general counsel of the Treasury Department. The transfer of the Coast Guard to the newly created Department of Transportation in 1967 provided an opportunity for change in the Legal Division's organizational alignment.
When the Coast Guard was transferred, the Legal Division was under resourced and its organization had not appreciably changed over time. At the same time, there was no established office of the General Counsel in the newly created Department of Transportation. A call went out to all of the modal administrations to provide personnel to staff the new department until permanent personnel could be hired. Captain William L. Morrison, a military attorney who was then serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Coast Guard, was assigned in April, 1967, as Assistant to the General Counsel. Captain Morrison had by then four command tours afloat and two ashore, and legal tours as Third District Legal Officer and Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel. Captain Morrison's assistance in organizing the General Counsel's office which included a study of other general counsel offices and the legal offices of the new modal administrations provided him a unique perspective to assess the Legal Division.
The Administrative Management Division of the Coast Guard conducted a study of the Legal Division in 1968. Recommendations of the study led to reorganization and realignment of the Legal Division, including its elevation to office level and making the Office of Chief Counsel responsible directly to the Commandant. The Office of Chief Counsel now consisted of six divisions: Maritime and International Law, Regulations and Administrative Law, Procurement Law, General Law, Military Justice, and Claims and Litigation. The Regulations and Administrative Law Division also was responsible for the Coast Guard legislative program. It quickly became clear, however, that legislation should be handled separately, and so a Legislation Division was soon created.
The 1968 reorganization also established the position of Chief Counsel as a military billet with the same rank as other office chiefs – rear admiral. On January 1, 1969, William L. Morrison, who had been appointed a rear admiral in January, 1968, and reassigned to the Coast Guard, was assigned as Chief Counsel. Records suggest he may have begun functioning in the role in November 1968. Mr. Harrison retired in 1968 at the age of 68. The Chief Counsel would remain a military billet from that time forward. The Assistant Chief Counsel remained a civilian.
The creation of the Office of Chief Counsel in 1968 coincided with the Military Justice Act of 1968, which radically changed the military justice system, creating the Courts of Military Review, military judges, and greatly expanding the role of attorneys in the military justice system. As a result, the Coast Guard field legal corps expanded rapidly. Civilian attorneys were offered reserve commissions to fulfill short-term needs, and the post-graduate program was expanded from two to ten students per year to provide a larger cadre of career law specialists.
In addition to implementing the reorganization of the Office of the Chief Counsel, Rear Admiral Morrison, who had earlier served as the legal advisor to the 1958 United Nations Law of the Sea Conference, was the Department of Transportation representative to an interagency Task Force on the Law of the Sea. Other judge advocates would participate in the development of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including future Chief Counsel Joseph E. Vorbach and future Judge Advocate General John E. Crowley, Jr.
Rear Admiral Morrison detached from duty as Chief Counsel in 1972. He was subsequently assigned to command of the 14th District from 1973 to 1975, establishing a pattern that would be followed by his successors. He was succeeded as Chief Counsel by Rear Admiral Ricardo A. Ratti (1973-1976), Rear Admiral George Herbert Patrick Bursley (1976-1978), Rear Admiral Clifford F. DeWolf (1978-1981), and Rear Admiral Edwin Hassel Daniels (1981-1986).
Although the need for additional attorneys to fulfill the mandates of the Military Justice Act of 1968 abated by the mid-1970's , the number of military lawyers assigned in the field and, to a lesser extent, in the Office of Chief Counsel, continued to rise. This need was principally due to two laws: the Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act in 1976, which established the 200-mile Fisheries Conservation Zone (precursor to the Exclusive Economic Zone) and expanded the Coast Guard's role in enforcing fisheries laws; and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1973, which greatly expanded the Coast Guard's role in environmental protection. The post-graduate training for career military attorneys continued, but the rate slowed to about six per year by the early 1980's.
The Coast Guard Realigns
Rear Admiral Joseph Edward Vorbach became Chief Counsel in June 1986. Coast Guard "realignment" began in 1987 to add 500 billets to meet the expanding "War against Drugs" when the Coast Guard was unable to obtain congressional approval to augment the force. The district offices in New York City and San Francisco were closed, and some support functions were withdrawn from the remaining ten districts and consolidated in two new Maintenance and Logistics Commands (MLC's) in New York City and Alameda, CA. Among the functions transferred to the new MLC's were claims, defense advocacy, real property, contract law, and civilian personnel law; the personnel needed to perform these functions and support the legal needs of the MLC commanders and their units nationwide were also transferred. As a result, the number of attorneys in the Coast Guard remained unchanged, although their distribution changed substantially. However, the number of legal support personnel declined by 15 percent, primarily at the district level.
The ultimate effects of realignment probably were not what anyone
expected. First, the loss of clerical personnel meant that there
were far fewer people to maintain the office law libraries, act as
court reporters for courts and boards, or perform ordinary clerical
tasks. As a result, the Chief Counsel successfully convinced the
chief of staff to purchase computers for every lawyer and support
staff assigned to the districts and MLC's, together with a suite of
hardware and software that put the legal program at the forefront of
the Coast Guard's office automation effort. Each attorney was given
word processing, E-mail, and calendaring software. Every computer
came equipped with the modem and software necessary to use both
LEXIS and WESTLAW, and each office was equipped with a laser
printer, color daisy wheel printer, and a scanner. All of the
computers within each office were networked, and every legal office
was linked via E-mail, giving attorneys from
A second effect was that the MLC Pacific Legal Staff, believing that its defense advocacy branch was understaffed, entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Navy Legal Services Office (NLSO) on Treasure Island under which the NLSO would provide all of the Coast Guard's defense advocacy needs in exchange for the Coast Guard providing two attorneys to the NLSO to perform military justice work for the Navy. The pilot program, begun in 1988, was formalized with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Chief Counsel of the Coast Guard and the Judge Advocate General of the Navy with the Navy, providing for 4 Coast Guard attorneys to be detailed to Naval Legal Services Offices and/or Trial Services Offices in Seattle, Norfolk, and Washington, DC, in return for the Navy providing the Coast Guard defense advocacy services nation-wide. Defense appellate legal services remained a direct Coast Guard responsibility. On February 24, 1987, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Bruce, Jr., became the first member of the armed forces to argue a case before the Supreme Court, representing the accused in Solorio v. United States. While this landmark case was not decided in the accused's favor, it dramatically widened court-martial jurisdiction over service members and, incidentally, affirmed the decision of the Coast Guard Court of Military Review. In 2012, the Coast Guard entered into an arrangement with the Navy in which a Coast Guard judge advocate was assigned to the Naval Legal Service Command which assumed responsibility for defense appellate services.
In 1991, the new Chief Counsel, Rear Admiral Paul E. Versaw, made several changes to the post-realignment legal program in order to "re-level" the workload in the district and MLC legal offices. First, he moved the MLC Atlantic Advocacy Branch to the Fifth District Legal Office in Portsmouth, Virginia, and entered into an memorandum of understanding with the Navy Legal Service Office in Norfolk similar to the one already in place in on the west coast concerning defense advocacy. Second, he centralized the household goods claims processing function in the Second District Legal Office. Third, he added attorney billets to several district offices to bring their complement of law specialists to at least three, which had been found to be the districts and MLC's, partly to put a necessary second clerical person at the smaller districts, and also to re-vitalize the Legal Assistance Program which had very nearly died due to realignment.
Two other significant changes occurred in the early 1990's.
First, as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Congress passed
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 which greatly added to the Coast
Guard's regulatory responsibilities. Additional attorneys were added
to the Coast Guard to write more than eighty major regulatory
packages needed to implement the Act, and a legal division was
established at the
The Coast Guard Streamlines
The 1996 Coast Guard streamlining and reorganization had its
impact on the legal program. Organizationally, the Office of the
Chief Counsel became just the Chief Counsel as the existing legal
divisions at Coast Guard headquarters became Offices. The Second
District Legal Office in
Rear Admiral John E. Shkor, the only officer to serve two tours as Chief Counsel, from 1993 to 1996, and 1998 to1999, and the only officer who, having served as Chief Counsel, was promoted to vice admiral, presided over the dramatic changes following enactment of the Oil Pollution Act, and shepherded the legal program through the difficult changes of streamlining. Rear Admiral Paul M. Blayney, who served from 1996-1998, also played a significant role during this turbulent time.
On February 18, 1996, Mr. Robert Horowitz became Deputy Chief Counsel, replacing Mr. Rue Helsel, who, after serving over a decade in the position, retired on September 30, 1995. Mr. Horowitz would serve in the position until November 19, 2000, when he was detailed as Director of Finance and Procurement.
Among his other accomplishments, Rear Admiral Jay S. Carmichael, who served as Chief Counsel from 1999 to 2001, created the seal of the Chief Counsel that has remained unchanged since.Coast Guard Law Responds to 9/11 & the Judge Advocate General is Designated
On September 11, 2001,
Rear Admiral Robert F. Duncan was serving as Chief Counsel during
the attacks on
Guard attorneys played a leading role at the
Assembly of the International Maritime Organization which convened
in November 2001. At the
urging of the
On November 25, 2002, Congress enacted the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 which created a comprehensive regime for ship and port security. Coast Guard attorneys played an integral role in drafting the legislation, synchronizing many of its provisions with international measures that would be adopted the following month at the IMO. The Maritime Transportation Security Act triggered the most ambitious and extensive in Coast Guard history; the rulemaking was also adopted in the most abbreviated period in our history: interim rules were published in seven months; the final rules were published on October 22, 2003, becoming effective on November 1. This rulemaking, begun by the Maritime Safety and Security Council under Rear Admiral Duncan, was concluded by Rear Admiral John E. Crowley, Jr., who became Judge Advocate General in 2003 and served in that capacity until 2006.
The Homeland Security Act was enacted on the same day as the Maritime Transportation Security Act. Coast Guard counsel played an important behind-the-scenes role during negotiations on Capitol Hill concerning the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, ensuring that the Coast Guard transferred intact and that its military maritime multi-mission character would be preserved.
The Homeland Security Act also amended the Uniform
Code of Military Justice to afford the Secretary discretion to
designate any official to serve as Judge Advocate General of the
Coast Guard. On March 1,
2003, the date on which the Coast Guard transferred to the new
Another dramatic development affecting the Coast Guard after 9/11 was passage of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2002, which amended the National Security Act of 1947, to place the intelligence element of the Coast Guard within the Intelligence Community. A military lawyer was assigned to advise Ms. Francis Townsend who later was appointed the first Assistant Commandant for Intelligence (and who would later become Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism). As the intelligence program would grow, so would the number and sophistication of military and civilian counsel supporting it.
In June 2002, the Integrated Deepwater System contract was awarded to Integrated Coast Guard Systems, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northup Grumman. This contract was intended to launch a $24 billion recapitalization of Coast Guard vessels, aircraft, and command, control, communications, computers and intelligence. Although the award followed 9/11, the Deepwater program had been planned since the mid-1990's. Coast Guard procurement counsel participated in every aspect of the program design and the award process. Subsequently they would participate in the sweeping revision of the program to accommodate post 9/11 requirements, down-stream procurements, and the Coast Guard's response to reverses that would occur in the program.
The year 2002 also saw appointment of Vice Admiral Thomas J. Barrett as the first judge advocate to serve as Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the second judge advocate after Vice Admiral Shkor to serve as a vice admiral. Other judge advocates have served in other flag positions throughout the Coast Guard. At one point in 2004, six Coast Guard flag officers were judge advocates, including the Judge Advocate General. Many other judge advocates have served in command at sea in small and large cutters and ashore, as well as in staff positions at all levels of the Coast Guard.
When the Department of Defense initiated its investigation of war crimes and began planning for military commissions, Coast Guard judge advocates supported the Criminal Investigation Task Force from 2002 to 2003, and served in the Office of the Department of Defense General Counsel from 2004 to 2006, planning for the commissions and advising the Legal Advisor to the Office of Military Commissions.
In August 1, 2003, the Judge Advocate General established Legal and Defense Services as a staff element to manage the legal assistance program and provide legal assistance in the National Capitol Region, and provide all physical disability counsel representation and criminal appellate defense, as well as manage trial defense billets and oversee other criminal defense services provided to the Coast Guard by the Navy. This moved the appellate defense function out of the Office of Military Justice and responsibility for legal assistance out of the Office of Legal Policy and Program Development. Over time, the number of appellate defense counsel increased and a Chief of Legal Assistance for the Coast Guard was created to support civilian legal assistance attorneys who had been hired for all district and MLC offices. This was the same period in which civilian legal assistance attorneys were established in every district, carrying on a program whose precursor was a legal assistance program created in World War II in which several commissioned officers at headquarters, and district legal officers, provided the same services provided today and worked with the ABA Committee on War Work just as CGJAG works with today's ABA Committee on Legal Assistance to Military Personnel.
Professional development of attorneys was enhanced from 2004 through 2006, with the first Coast Guard military attorneys attending the Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia, to earn a master of laws (LLM) degree and serving year-long follow-on fellowships at the Center for Law and Military Operations. The decision to invest in the Charlottesville LLM rather than a subject-matter specific LLM was intended to provide a broader experience for officers to better prepare them for future leadership positions and exposure to judge advocates in other services. An annual Missions Law Course for operations law judge advocates and attorneys was run for the first time in 2006.
CGJAG Responds to Hurricane Katrina
On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region and more than fifty Coast Guard attorneys – active, reserve, and civilian – from across the nation deployed to support the Coast Guard response to Katrina, and later, Hurricane Rita. Attorneys assigned the 8th Coast Guard District, now commanded by former Judge Advocate General Robert F. Duncan, supported the initial lifesaving and pollution response. In succeeding days and weeks, a Coast Guard attorney deployed as the legal advisor the Vice Admiral Thad Allen, the Principal Federal Official, and he and other Coast Guard attorneys solved numerous operational problems On the operational front, Coast Guard attorneys, from a variety of disciplines, provided real time/on demand advice to the legal staff of the Primary Federal Official (PFO) for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and supported Coast Guard, DHS and federal interagency actions in response to a wide range of issues, including authority for inland search and rescue operations; law enforcement and force protection while escorting convoys of supplies; authority for removal of debris and pollutants; authority for forcible evacuations; facilitating the waiver or extension of certification, manning and licensing requirements for crews of commercial vessels; waiver of user fees associated with vessel inspection and licensing applications; applicability of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to floodwater removal operations; execution of a temporary waiver to the Jones Act allowing foreign-flagged vessels to supplement U.S. vessel movement of petroleum products in the Coastwise trade; interpretation of the applicability of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to foreign vessels chartered to assist in the survey and repair of damaged oil and gas platforms; advising on the use of the Oil Spill Liability Trust fund or the Stafford Act to pay for pollution response; and evaluating the safety and security regulations applicable to cruise ships utilized to provide temporary housing. Legal assistance and claims teams fanned out across the 8th and 7th Coast Guard districts to support Coast Guard people, 60 percent of whom in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi suffered catastrophic losses. Legal teams provided legal assistance to over 1000 clients and assisted with approximately 600 personal property claims. Attorneys in the field and at headquarters supported Congressional, Government Accountability Office, and Inspector General investigations; and creatively resolved numerous operational issues.
At the same time, Captain William D. Baumgartner, who would become Judge Advocate General in 2006, led efforts at a diplomatic conference from October 10-14, 2005, to finalize amendments to the maritime terrorism convention: the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation.
Coast Guard judge advocates deployed to Iraq from 2008 through 2010 to participate in the prosecution of terrorists in the Criminal Court of Iraq and support detainee and counterinsurgency operations. One judge advocate served as command cadre in the Patrol Forces Southwest Asia. Other judge advocates deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 and from 2010 through 2012.
CGJAG Responds to Deepwater Horizon
In January, 2010, Coast Guard attorneys supported Coast Guard forces that deployed to provide humanitarian support after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Their efforts called up reservists, prepared Coast Guardsmen for deployment, and provided legal support to deployed forces.
Not long after Haiti, on the evening of April 20, 2010, the Transocean-owned, BP chartered, Marshall Islands-flagged Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit, Deepwater Horizon, located approximately 72 miles Southeast of Venice, Louisiana, reported an explosion and fire onboard. After an intense search and rescue operation led by the Coast Guard, where 115 of the 126 crewmembers were saved, the Deepwater Horizon sank on April 22, severing the riser that connected the MODU to the Macondo wellhead, triggering the largest oil spill response operation in United States history, and declaration of the first "Spill of National Significance." Rear Admiral Baumgartner detached from service as Chief Counsel to become 7th District Commander shortly after the explosion and the Deputy Judge Advocate General, Calvin M. Lederer, became Acting Judge Advocate General. He would serve in that capacity until January, 2011, when Rear Admiral Frederick J. Kenney became Judge Advocate General.
While the 8th District Staff Judge Advocate provided initial support to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, a legal support structure drawing on CGJAG-wide resources quickly evolved that spanned operations at all levels of the response. Coast Guard attorneys deployed to the Incident Command Posts in Houma, Louisiana and Mobile, Alabama, and attorneys from the 7th District Staff Judge Advocate supported the Incident Command Post in Miami. A legal staff, typically numbering five attorneys, supported the Unified Area Command, with the legal advisor seated literally at the right hand of the FOSC while the UAC operated in Robert Louisiana in the first several weeks of the response.
Legal advisors were also assigned to Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander. The Judge Advocate General, the Legal Service Command, and other offices provided support in depth to deployed attorneys. Coast Guard attorneys advised the NIC and FOSC regarding their authorities under the Oil Pollution and the Clean Water Acts, and on a wide range of novel issues, including the decision to direct BP to fund the construction of $360 million of barrier islands, protection of endangered species including sea turtles and other marine life, air quality monitoring relating to in situ burns, worker safety for responders on the beach and in wetlands, public safety, and international implications of the spill. Increasing response assets in the Gulf led to development of an expedited process to waive the "Jones Act", which limits coastwise trade to U.S.-flagged vessels, to introduce additional response vessels, and promulgation in ten days of an emergency regulation reducing response requirements in other part of the United States to permit the movement of oil skimmers. Coast Guard attorneys were active on Capitol Hill, briefing members and staffs, and led drafting and advocacy of legislation to ensure adequate funding for the response, increasing draws on the Oil Spill Liability Emergency Fund and lifting the cap on funding to $1.5 billion.
In the first week of the response, the Judge Advocate General drafted the charter for a joint Minerals Management Service (which later became the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management, Regulations, and Enforcement) and Coast Guard investigation into the disaster. A Coast Guard judge advocate was later detailed to board of investigation and would play a key role in authoring the Coast Guard's findings. Coast Guard lawyers were also detailed to a Department of Justice criminal investigation and the Coast Guard's Incident Specific Preparedness Review.
Under the leadership of then-Captain Kenney, the Coast Guard joined the Environmental Protection Agency in referred for litigation claims for judicial civil penalties against the responsible parties. Coast Guard counsel were intimately engaged in the litigation from drafting the complaint, managing discovery, and preparing for settlement discussions and trial. Throughout the response, CGJAG response documentation specialists preserved response documentation and later established a Central Archive for digital and printed data.
Judge Advocates played other significant roles in the response. In the early days, Captain David Nichols, 8th District Staff Judge Advocate, served as the first chief of staff for the UAC. Captain Steven Poulin, Mobile Sector Commander, served as the Incident Commander for the eastern part of the Gulf.
CGJAG Evolves
The last decade has seen increased focus on collaboration, integration, and professionalism among both attorneys and supporting professionals, as well as growth.
Increasing demands for legal services have resulted in numerous billets created by clients to support their operations.
Starting in 2002, competencies for those in legal yeoman positions were prescribed followed recently by revisions as well as competencies and standards for both yeoman personnel and paralegals. In 2005, the Coast Guard Professional Legal Responsibility Program published.
When Admiral Thad Allen became Commandant, he ordered a reexamination of Coast Guard missions and structure which ultimately resulted in reorganization of the mission support organizations and the creation of Deputy Commandants for Mission Support and Operations. In addition to the significant role played by CGJAG in proposing and drafting legislation to execute the reorganization and participation in the development of new policies, Rear Admiral Baumgartner led a reexamination of the delivery of legal services. The result was a number of changes in organization and policy.
When the Maintenance and Logistics Commands in Norfolk and Alameda were disestablished, the two large legal offices supporting them were integrated into a new bi-coastal Legal Service Command, commanded initially by Captain Beth Pepper. The Legal Service Command was the first new unit commissioned during the "Modernization" effort. Organic Staff Judge Advocates were established for the first time for both Atlantic and Pacific Areas and for the 5th and 11th Coast Guard Districts.
With the growth of CGJAG and the increasing demand for legal services, increasing collaboration and integrating judge advocates and civilian counsel was a high priority for both Rear Admiral Baumgartner and his successor Rear Admiral Kenney. In 2009, the Leadership Council approved Judge Advocate General oversight of legal billets. In August, 2009, the Vice Commandant approved the Judge Advocate General serving as reviewer on all Staff Judge Advocate officer evaluation reports and that a lawyer participate in the evaluation of all lawyers. In May, 2011, the Assistant Commandant for Human Resources agreed that the Judge Advocate General would propose and finally approve judge advocate assignments, recognizing that Coast Guard judge advocates are unique among the rest of the officer corps in the respect that law is the only specialist where the assignment of officers is government buy statute, not policy.
These structural changes implement the foundational PRINCIPLES FOR THE DELIVERY OF COAST GUARD LEGAL SERVICES, first published in 2010:
Coast Guard Law Today
Judge advocates have routinely deployed in support of homeland security contingencies, including hurricanes and national special security events. They have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been assigned to the Department of State and the Department of Justice. Judge advocates have served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and today serve in AFRICOM, NORTHCOM, and SOUTHCOM. Judge advocates and civilian counsel continue their involvement in international and maritime law, leading initiatives to counter piracy, ensure environmental protection, and secure the maritime transportation system. They also expertly practice across the full spectrum of legal specialties that support Coast Guard missions and support. Judge Advocates and civilian counsel, and those who support them, can be found at every echelon and their efforts are reflected every day in mission success.


text:
Sheet cake never looked so regal! Little hands can help decorate this colorful party time staple.
Weekdays on Nick Jr.
Preheat the oven to 350�F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Spoon the chocolate frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (#4). Tint 1 cup of the vanilla frosting with the blue food coloring to make a light blue color. Spoon half of the blue frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (#3). Spoon the remaining blue frosting into a plastic resealable bag. Spoon 1 cup of the remaining vanilla frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip. Tint 1/2 cup of the vanilla frosting light pink with the red food coloring and spoon half of this into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (#3). Spoon remaining half into the plastic resealable bag.
Invert the cake and place on a work surface. Trim the top of the cake to make level. Transfer the cake, cut side down onto a serving platter. This makes for easier frosting. Spread the top and all the sides of the cake with vanilla frosting. Make smooth.
Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl. Dip the tines of a fork in the cocoa powder and press the back side of the tines onto the side of the cake. Repeat with the fork and cocoa powder, pressing around three sides of the cake to look like the pages of a book. Trim the fruit leather into two 13-inch pieces, and press along the edge of cake without the cocoa to look like the binder of the book.
Arrange the template in the center on top of the cake. Use a toothpick to lightly score an outline of the template. Pipe and outline Dora in her dress with the tinted frostings in the pastry bags. Microwave the blue and the pink frostings in the resealable bags until just liquid, about 5 seconds. Massage the bags. Snip a very small corner from the bags. Fill in the outlined areas with the same colored frosting. Use a toothpick to push some of the frosting into the smaller areas.
Pipe the whites of Dora's eyes with the vanilla frosting and her eyebrows with the chocolate frosting. Add the chocolate chips, pointed side down as Dora�s pupils and pipe a dot of vanilla frosting for the sparkle in her eyes. Cut a small piece of the red fruit leather for her mouth. Sprinkle the blue sugar on hat. Pipe lines for the decorations on her dress and hat with the vanilla frosting through a plain round tip and add the blue pearl sprinkles. Replace the tip with a small star tip and pipe along the top edge of cake.
Pipe a message with the dark chocolate frosting at the top of the cake.
Dora takes the cake. And in this case, she IS the cake!
Get a taste of the tropics with this healthy, fruity drink!
Thanksgiving guests will want to swipe every last piece
Make this a-DORA-ble autumn treat for the apple of your eye!
Kids will go bananas for Boots' yummy baked treat!
Turn breakfast into an adventure when you make Dora pancakes!
Present your pie with your preschooler's favorite explorer!
Dress up sugar cookies in Dora's festive and fruity attire!
Bake up purr-fect cookies for your Halloween fiesta!
Make this a-DORA-ble sandwich for your sweetheart!
Charm loved ones with Dora's dainty cupcake rings on Valentine's Day!
Warm their hearts with Dora's favorite drink!
Kids will get a kick out of making Boots from bread and bologna!
You'll be a star in your preschooler's eyes when you make these stellar yet easy treats!
Bake up Boots with your little kitchen helper!
Your little star will love exploring this healthy pasta salad!
Share this snack with your little explorers. They're sure to swipe it right off the kitchen table!
The ice-cold treat is just right for quenching an explorer's thirst.
A homemade holiday tradition with a delicious Dora twist!
Summon a sea filled with sweet starfish covered in icing
Treasure the smiles when you make these cupcakes for your little pirate!
A royal recipe with a sweet surprise!
Ahoy! It's Dora in her pirate gear
Wishing Backpack could join your birthday party? Here's how he can!
Kids of all ages will swipe these cupcakes faster than you know who!
Dora on a cupcake? Delicioso!
Dora takes the cake. And in this case, she IS the cake!
Bake up a perfect party cake for your Peppa fan!
On a mission for an umirrific cake? It's Bot to the rescue!
Bake a cake to look just like your kid's favorite pattern-powered Umi friend!
Shape a cake to look like Geo!
Bake the cake and top it off with Molly and Gil!
Turn plain pound cake into bite-sized cake pops that look like Little Fish!
Here's a fresh cake that will take center stage at your next party!
Take your little Umizoomi fan for a sweet ride with this easy homemade cake
A simple sheet cake gets the royal treatment with frosting & fruit chews!
Bake up Boots with your little kitchen helper!
Invite Jack to your child's birthday party
Boutique baker? Make it look that way with our template
A royal recipe with a sweet surprise!
Want a clue about what to serve at the next birthday party?
Wishing Backpack could join your birthday party? Here's how he can!
Making Pablo is a piece of cake
It's a cake of everyone's favorite DJ, DJ Lance Rock!

subset: commoncrawl


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MARTINEZ -- The mother of Arnold Muckleroy's 5-year-old daughter stood in court Friday morning, fighting to keep her composure as she faced the man who shot the aspiring Antioch rapper to death during a drug deal gone wrong.
"I don't know how to feel. ... If you have the opportunity to make a family for yourself, I hope that you don't put your children in this situation," she said, crying as her daughter -- 2 when her father died -- looked on from a courtroom seat.
"It's just so unfortunate. I don't have strong hatred toward you, I feel like I should hate you more, but I don't."
Moments later, Judge Mary Ann O'Malley sentenced Michael Pulliam-Banks, 22, to serve the maximum 14 years in state prison for the Dec. 20, 2010, shooting of Muckleroy while the pair sat inside a car on Rockspring Way in Antioch. Prosecutors sought murder and robbery charges against Pulliam-Banks, but a jury convicted him only on an involuntary manslaughter charge, with a firearm enhancement. Attorney Joseph Tully successfully argued that Pulliam-Banks did not intend to fire the fatal shot during the marijuana transaction.
O'Malley stopped him short when Tully referred to the shooting as an "accident" during the sentencing hearing Friday.
"It wasn't an accident, so let's get that clear," the judge said. "Killing in a drug deal is not an accident."
After shooting Muckleroy, Pulliam-Banks pushed him out of the car before driving away. Muckleroy died the next day.
Pulliam-Banks was immediately identified as a suspect but evaded capture for five months while three other suspects were arrested on lesser charges.
Tully emphasized that his client had no previous criminal record, and that his mother had been shot in the head when he was a boy and was thereafter cared for by relatives.
"He's not a violent person; he's a loving person," Tully said.
Pulliam-Banks read a brief statement during Friday's hearing.
"There are no words to express my regret and remorse," he said, while he sat wearing a white sweater and black-rimmed glasses. "I never intended to take the life of Arnold Muckleroy ... I am truly and deeply sorry."
Prosecutor Dominique Yancey said the defendant lived two lives -- one with his family, another on the streets.
"He lived this drug life," she said.
Contact Matthias Gafni at 925-952-5026. Follow him at Twitter.com/mgafni.


text:
"These guns must be challenged by people who respect life."
— Al Sharpton, exploiting the Sandy Hook massacre in speech at Zion Baptist Church in Waterbury, Dec. 18
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al.cap wrote on Dec 29, 2012 6:33 AM:
" exactly why the left cannot claim the moral high ground in the gun control debate. and sharpton is a piece of garbage. "
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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Details are unclear regarding circumstances that led to a fatal big-rig crash Monday afternoon at the runaway truck ramp near the intersection of highways 431 and 28 on Lake Tahoe's North Shore.
The incident occurred about 2:50 p.m. Monday. An 18-wheeler hauling long pieces of wood and other items appeared to have struck the ramp at a high speed, but did not catapult off.
The man was identified Tuesday as Eric S. Holton, 31, of Gardnerville. No one else was hurt in the incident and no other damage was reported.
Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen said the ramp was effective in stopping the truck and its trailer.
"However, the load did not stop, and it continued through the cab, killing the driver, essentially crushing the driver," Allen said.
It took several hours for officials to clear debris out of the truck's cab before they could extricate the body.
The truck came to rest near the ramp's edge, officials said, powering through the four large piles of rock and sand that serve as a barrier between a truck stopping versus flying off the inclined plane and landing in the residential neighborhood below.
NHP is investigating the incident. It is unclear how fast the truck was going when it hit the ramp, or whether other factors, such as driver distraction or brake failure, played a role.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked contact Trooper Chris Kelly at 775-687-0400 regarding case number NHP-120423450. A timetable for the investigation to wrap up is unknown.
While the ramp did its job Monday to stop the rig, it failed on June 18, 2010, when a man driving an out-of-control semi hit the ramp and vaulted off it, striking a tree and crashing into a private home at 645 Woodridge Circle.
The vehicle overturned and caught fire, setting the house ablaze. The driver — Frederick Matthews, 41, of San Diego — was trapped inside the truck cab and died.
A local woman — Gwendolynn Ewasko — was the sole occupant in the house at the time of the collision. She escaped unharmed. Four cats died in the fire.
According to an NHP investigation, a brake malfunction on the semi was the largest contributing factor to the incident.
The incident brought into question the safety of the ramp, considering it was built to stop trucks.
In interviews after the incident, Magruder said the department was assessing the ramp, and everything was being considered, from possibly widening it to adding additional speed-slowing barriers to purchasing the property of the destroyed home owned by Damon and Suzanne Ewasko.
In an interview Monday, Magruder said the department is still in the middle of a statewide runaway truck ramp study; a timetable for its completion is not known.
"We're looking at everything — safety, functionality — on all state truck ramps," Magruder said.
Perhaps hampering the study's completion is the fact a lawsuit was filed in 2011 in Washoe County District Court by the Ewaskos, who've owned the Woodridge Circle home since 2004.
The civil suit names four defendants, — NDOT; Knowles Trucking Co. of Redding, Calif., and Rafael Diaz, who both are alleged to have owned, operated and maintained the truck; and Andrew Hamilton, a local real estate agent believed to have sold the Woodridge property to the Ewaskos.
According to the state attorney's office, the suit is making its way through the legal system, and no other updates are known.
At the time, the June 2010 incident marked the third major truck crash in the past nine years at the ramp, including a May 2002 incident when a truck carrying gypsum wallboard and a hydraulic lift was also sent airborne.
In that instance, the driver, 23-year-old Manuel Ortega-Portillo, suffered moderate head injuries and was airlifted for medical attention. The truck came to rest next to the same house on Woodridge Circle, which was damaged slightly from flying debris.
The Lake Tahoe runaway ramp is among four in the state of Nevada; two are on U.S. Highway 50, between Carson City and Spooner Summit; the fourth is on Highway 163 near Laughlin in Southern Nevada.


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Blogs, satire, and press release sites
Google News strives to provide you with access to as many different types of news sites and perspectives on current events as possible. Many users have asked us to let them know when they're clicking on a certain types of content in Google News. To satisfy this request, articles published in a blog format, that contain satirical content, or are press releases appear with a special tag next to the publication name. Read below for more information on each category.Blogs
Blogs typically identify themselves as such, and adhere to standard blog formatting by displaying regular entries in order from newest to oldest. In many instances, blog posts contain more opinion content. Sources that have identified themselves as a blog will appear with the tag (blog) next to their publication name.
To offer a diversity of opinions and content Google News does contain some satire, often humorous or hyperbolic stories with the intention of social commentary. We identify these types of articles with the tag (satire), so that you'll know when you're reading a satirical article.
We mark sites that distribute press releases from different sources and organizations that publish press releases with the term (press release). This allows you to know if you're reading a press release from a distributor or public institution before clicking on an article.
We acknowledge the difficulty in characterizing different types of content in the rapidly changing publishing landscape, but we also hope to provide useful ways of helping you select what you want to read. If you find a source in Google News you believe to be mislabeled, please contact us with the name of that publication, and we'll review it.


text:
USA, 1970, 94 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Archival, Based on a Book, Black Comedy, Gay/Lesbian, GLBT, Musical, Womens IssuesLanguage: English
35mm presentation - MYRA BRECKENRIDGE may be the first punk manifesto, a celebration of pop culture nihilism. A precursor to films by directors like David Lynch, and perhaps influenced by those of avant-garde Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, this outrageous, searing, blackly comic cult film satirizes Hollywood, homosexuality, America, family, and more. Myron Breckenridge (Rex Reed) is a frustrated homosexual who undergoes a sex-change operation, against the advice of his doctor. As a result, Myron becomes Myra (Raquel Welch), a stunningly beautiful woman with a rocket of a body. Myra moves to the South and enrolls at a university, where her adventures include sodomizing a Southern man--and stealing his girlfriend while she's at it. In general, the bodacious, lewd Myra wreaks havoc on Southern conventions in this outrageous classic film. Once thought to be "unfilmable," Gore Vidal's book was the satiric source material for this film. Originally Rated X in 1970, the film may seem less shocking today, but it retains a truly bizarre quality. Among the most memorable moments is the appearance of Mae West, top-billed and still bawdy as ever in her 70s, singing a comically sultry number.
DIRECTOR: Michael Sarne
Screenwriter: David Giler, Michael SarneCinematographer: Richard MooreMusic: John PhillipsPrincipal Cast: Mae West, Raquel Welch, Rex Reed, John Huston, Roger HerrenUS Distributor: 20th Century Fox
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text: Erky and Perky are living the dream at a city Hot Dog Stand. With an abundance of crumbs, relish and hot dogs... it's a bug paradise! Then, one day they're cruelly swept away in a take-away bag and to their horror end up in a sterile suburban kitchen with NO FOOD IN SIGHT! These two bickering, dim-witted and lazy bugs are forced to survive in the new and scary 'Land of Kitchen'.


text:
Gilford water company asks PUC for 129% rate hike
Dockham Shores states that its currently effective rates do not allow it to meet its anticipated operating expenses and earn its last authorized rate of return.
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Hi all,
Lately I have been experiencing a "new" problem and I wonder if someone can give me some advice.
I am an "experienced" runner (used to be a casual runner but lately have been running 30-40 miles/week for the last year and a half). My problem is that my feet, in some very speciffic situations, tend to fell numb and finally "fall asleep" (pins and needles sensation).
This used to happen to me when I began running because of shoes being tied too tight leading to poor blood circulation, but in this case my shoes are very loosely tied. Additionally, this sensation only happens when I am running at my top speed for a while:
So the sensation does appear: 1) In races 2) in long speedwork series (at least four miles)
But it does not appear 1) while training at "cruise" speed, even for long runs (of 13 miles) 2) for short speedwork series (of 1-2 miles), even if I am running as fast as I can.
If I stop and walk or just reduce my speed drastically, the sensation disapears in a few minutes, but it is very uncomfortable and I cannot run through it (yes, I have tried and no, it was probably not a smart thing to do).
Possible causes, well, I do have new shoes (asics gel kayano 18) but I experienced the same thing with my old pair (asics gel pulse 3). I also changed my running tights (but do not believe they are causing me circulation problems). I am not aware of having changed anything else. Is there anything apart from poor blod circulation that could cause this?
Thanks for your help.
Current PB:
5k: 19:53 (December 31st 2014)
10k : 42:30 (March 9th 2014)
Half Marathon: 1:32:40 (February 1st 2015)
Marathon: 3:33:31 (March 15th 2015)
Completed my first marathon! Feeling like getting some more!
I am a little worried about the circulation issue, and it's worth checking into, but I'm more worried about the transition from "casual" running to 30-40 miles a week. That seems like a pretty radical shift within a year and a half or so.
If you had been averaging 20+ for a few years, and were training to do well in full marathons, there might be an excuse for that kind of mileage, but I think there can be other explanations than circulation for foot numbness in light of the numbers you are putting up. If I can BQ on 20 miles a week, you should not need that kind of punishment to do well in the Half. Individual results vary, of course, but it sounds like you are mixing in enough quality speedwork that raw miles may be a waste of wear and tear. That may be the only real problem, but there is more important stuff to know.
Tissue can build up around nerves in your feet in response to all that repetitive motion. Since there is more general swelling in the feet as the miles pile up, the two symptoms - one semi-permanent, and the other quite temporary - can combine to produce the problem you have.
Meanwhile, test the circulation in your feet with a simple test after/during a good long run, when these symptoms set in:
-Pull over to the nearest lighted spot where you can sit and pull your shoes off.
-Remove shoes/socks from at least one foot.
-Press/squeeze fingers into various fleshy parts of your foot and release.
-You should see a little whiteness in the foot where you pressed, followed by pink as blood returns.
If this "pinking" occurs in the skin, it is a sign that there is plenty of blood flowing into your feet. It would stay white longer if your circulation is cut off.
Ruling out a general circulatory problem, there can be tissue build-up or swelling in other places that can contribute to foot numbness, all of which will be made worse by too-aggressive a running program, which is what I expect in your case. Depending somewhat on how efficient a runner you are, your Piriformis muscle (deep in the butt) can swell up and trap the Sciatic nerve, leading to tingly sensations and numbness in the lower extremities. Sitting on a wallet can negatively affect this on one side, and the way, or how much you sit in general, can affect both sides.
Excess pronation, or other faults in anatomy or form, can produce excess motion in the Piriformis muscle as it rotates the leg with every stride to push the foot outward. A treadmill analysis can pinpoint this problem, as well as skillful reading of the wear pattern on the soles of your shoes. Runners can pronate excessively to supply stability if there is a problem with hip structure or function, and it is also likely if the bones of your feet are arranged or bound by ligaments in such a way that pronation helps. In this case, many runners will suffer overuse injuries as a result.
One problem that frequently pops up on this forum, and which I've experienced personally, is tingling, numbness, and eventual sharp pain in the foot from a perineural fibrosis, or "Morton's Neuroma," that afflicts many high-mileage runners. This thickening of tissue around common digital nerves can produce the effect even without swelling. This used to ruin my marathons until I found ways to compensate for the structure of my left foot, which has a shorter 1st metatarsal than the one on the right. I still can have issues when walking barefoot, so it can be a permanent issue for that kind of foot if no steps are taken to minimize excess motion.
In general, a mature runner can expect gradual adaptations over time that make running easier as the years go by. When running gets harder, due to pain or symptoms like yours, you are pushing too hard for those adaptations to keep up. You then run the risk of compensation injuries and maladaptations that are there to control damage and limit your activity. Always run within the ability of your body to adapt in a healthy way. Just as with success, this healthy adaptation, and the need for it, varies considerably between individuals. It's about what makes sense for you, and nobody else.
First thing you should do is have your gait analyzed by a PT or somebody who knows what to look for. If the style that was OK for casual running has flaws, overuse injuries can be expected in a high-mileage program.
When dealing with medical professionals, an important thing to keep in mind, is that there is one set of conditions, outcomes, and rules that apply to the sedentary population, and another for athletes, especially ones training as hard as you are. Some sports-med docs are very familiar with the training, results, injuries, and recovery of elite athletes, but that knowledge does not always translate to weekend warriors like us. We can expect an entirely different relationship between those factors. Don't let anyone superimpose the expectations of Ryan Hall or Dean Karnazes on yourself, because anyone can't do what they do. We are all built differently.
Find out how your body is operating, and make sure your goals, training, and recovery strategy apply to your unique situation. If I were you, for a long-term plan, I'd start with fewer total miles, keeping the quality up as usual, at least for the near future.
First of all, thakns for your very detailed and informative answer JamesJohnsonLMT, it has really given me some things to thinks about.
I'm more worried about the transition from "casual" running to 30-40 miles a week.
Ok, my bad, I should have provided more details, I realise now the way I wrote it makes it look like a little different than it is. I am now 34 and I consider that I have been running "a lot more" lately, but the transition was relatively smooth.
I played handball from secondary school to university (I would typically train three days a week for two hours and then play a match on the weeked). During these years I also began running (casually) on my own and doing some races from time to time. I enjoyed running but at that time I never concerned myself with mileage, pace or training for races (I would always finish middle of the pack). Of course I had my ups and downs, but managed to stay reasonably fit.
About 10 years ago I moved to another city, quit handball and took up running. I would run 2-3 times a week for totals of around 10 miles a week. I would also play all kinds of sports with friends (once or twice a week). Once I got quite a nasty ankle injury that took me a full year to recover completely from (specifically I was told by the specialist doctor I got to see that I had broken my soleus). During that year I took up swimming and slowly quit playing any sport that made me feel my ankle could get hurt. I did not, however, quit running ( but stopped for half a year due to PT advice). I also run for a while wearing an orthesis but eventually got confident enough to leave it home and have not had any ankle problems since then. During these years I also kept on racing three or four times a year just for fun. In this period some years I would end up running closer to 15 miles a week and some others I would be closer to 10 (in those times I would swim more). Generally I would do some kind of sport three to five days a week.
Finally, about two years ago "the running bug" bit me again and I started gradually increasing my weekly mileage. At first it was not a conscious decision but after a while I was consistenly running three or four days a week for 15-20 miles. After about half a year I decided to train for a half marathon and started looking for training plans, bought myself a GPS watch, new shoes, new clothes... I kept increasing my mileage slowly (never more than 10% each week). Up to 25-30 miles a week. After about another year (half a year ago), I increased a bit more to my current 5-6 days and 30-40 miles. I have also completed many races this year (three HM, five 10k, two 5K). I also try to swim one or two days a week (but have been less able to keep that up lately). I do at least one full rest day a week, no running, no swimming, nothing at all.
So, I do not "feel" like the distance I am running now is too hard, I got used to it and feel quite comfortable. I have to say that I run most of it at a slow pace. I do about three speedwork/hills sessions every two weeks. The rest of session I run them between 30-120 seconds slower than my HM pace at what is a very comfortable pace for me (from 60 seconds slower than HM pace I can have a conversation while jogging). The reason for this is that during this year I did have my issues with overtraining, got myself some quadriceps problems due to bad stretching and too many hills. I ended up learning to take it a little easier, running slower and taking additional rest days whenever I feel a little too tired.
I went to a podiatrist a year ago to get my gait analised (I will see her again in a couple of weeks for a follow up and tell her about this). She told me I ovepronate a lot and gave me corrective insoles. She is also a runner and has quite a lot of experience with running shoes. Her advice was to use neutral shoes with my "personalised" insoles. I run comfortably in my asics gel pulse 3 for a year and lately changed to gel kayano 18. This numb feet problem has only become aparent since I am running with the new shoes but on one race I tried going back to the old ones and the problem persisted. I will try to explore this further by doing some more speedwork with my old shoes.
Another thing that might be important is that this whole problem seems to appear mostly in my right foot (although I have had occasional problems in the right one too). The fact that the foot that presents the problem more often is noticeably bigger than the other one (about half a size) also led me to think that the whole thing might be due to the foot swelling and causing circulatory problems.
I work an "office" job, so I do spent most of my times sitting,
(feel like I am writing a paper, with all these sections :-) )
I will try to determine whether or not I have poor circulation by doing the "pinching" test you suggested.
Will also experiment with the shoes I already have some more to try to determine if the problem is shoe-related.
Will speak to my podiatrist in a couple of weeks and see what she has to say.
Meanwhile, I will cut my mileage a little (I have already done this involuntarily this week as I have the flu) and probably substitute some of my easy runs by easy swim sessions. If I manage to get rid of the problem, then I will slowly build up the mileage again.
Thanks for your help!
Current PB:
5k: 19:53 (December 31st 2014)
10k : 42:30 (March 9th 2014)
Half Marathon: 1:32:40 (February 1st 2015)
Marathon: 3:33:31 (March 15th 2015)
Completed my first marathon! Feeling like getting some more!
James gave you a pretty comprehensive analysis, but without having all the added information. I think the shoes are a definite consideration. The Pulse is considered a neutral shoe, the Kayano is a (for lack of a better word) substantial stability shoe, perhaps giving too much control in combination with the inserts. Maybe try them without the inserts?
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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$util.date("MMMM d, yyyy",$topLevel.timeZone)
2 8 or 9 inch cake layers (yellow or white. I use a good mix)
1 can ready to use vanilla cake icing
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg frozen grated fresh coconut, thawed
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text:
'SNL' Star Seth Meyers Offers An Election Night Prediction
While many Americans have been eagerly awaiting Election Day, some are probably more excited to see how "Saturday Night Live" will squeeze some last laughs out of the 2012 presidential campaign. As in other election seasons, millions tuned into "SNL" this year to get their weekly dish of political jokes, impersonations and satire.
Last night, we caught up with Seth Meyers, "SNL's" head writer and Weekend Update host, during a reception held for the New York premiere of the new James Bond film "Skyfall." Meyers discussed how the show will be able to poke fun at presidential politics no matter who is elected–and he also gave us a fearless election prediction.
Which candidate do you think will be funnier to spoof as President, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Meyers: Joe Biden…is my first choice. The good news about governing as president is you're always going to do things that are fun for comedians to poke fun of. So it really doesn't matter who it is in the end, we'll always find something.
SNL political satire has long been a touchstone in our culture and in some ways has been an influential filter on how the public views politicians. Do you think the show has become more important to our political discourse this election?
Every time an election rolls around there's always pieces about the great debate sketches over the years. I started in 2001 and I think 2000 was certainly a year when the show was a touchstone for the election. We always have to raise our game during election season because people are watching and hopefully we did this year.
How do you strike the right balance between finding humor in our political culture but not being too offensive?
You aim for the line of good taste.
How smooth was the transition from Fred Armisen playing Barack Obama on "SNL" to Jay Pharoah taking over the role on the show?
It went really smoothly for us. Fred was great…he helped give Jay as many tips as he could. Jay is really an impressionist without peer, so it's been really fun having someone like that doing Barack Obama.
How are you guys preparing for Tuesday's election?
Tuesday would be the night we would stay…all night writing anyway. It will be fun to watch the returns come in.
Tell us your election prediction.
I predict that 49% of the country will be bitching for the next four years.


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Through the Weeping Glass
Timothy and Stephen Quay are American-born stop-motion animators whose latest film brings to life the medical history and intrigue behind the Mutter Museum's collection of 19th century scientific anomalies.
View some articles about the Quays movie Through the Weeping Glass:
The New York Times
Animators Amok in a Curiosity Cabinet By FRANZ LIDZ
Published: October 13, 2010
"Our films are dark fairy tales with elements of grotesquerie and the pathological," Stephen Quay said on a recent afternoon.
Timothy added, "We set them in a twilight world, midway between sleep and wakefulness."
"The Mütter, the Quays agreed, transcends the morbid. Behind each malignancy, each deformity, they see an individual. On screen they'll try to take stories awash in rarity and peculiarity and imbue them with the universal."
NPR (National Public Radio)
Quays Focus 'Weeping Glass' On The Mutter Museum
by CHRISTOPHER JOYCE
"The Quay brothers are so good at revealing the hidden," he says, "at creating stories about the inner lives of overlooked or unusual things. They animate straight pins used in sewing; they animate puppets, screws, dust. They're particularly virtuosos at manipulating dust."
All Things Considered
May 23, 2012
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Quay Brothers focus on Mütter Museum in 'Through the Weeping Glass'
September 22, 2011
By Tirdad Derakhshani


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Leanne Mascall
|Hervey Bay, Australia
2011 (Sophomore): Finished the season 2-2 in singles matches and 4-4 in doubles matches … went 4-0 with doubles partner Nadia Filmalter … won her final two singles matches of the year.
2010 (Freshman): Earned an 11-9 record during her first year as a member of the Islanders, with a record of 6-5 in Southland Conference matches … went 5-3 at No. 5 singles during the season … won a season-best three-straight matches to start her collegiate career.
Personal: Born Leanne Mascall on April 30, 1991, in Crawley, England … parents are Andrew and Ineke Mascall … has one brother … management major.


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Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The three teenagers accused of breaking out of the Augusta Youth Development Campus nearly a month ago were in front of a juvenile court judge on Thursday morning.
The three youths, two 16-year-olds and one 15-year-old, came in with their attorneys and a number of guards. Those who saw the proceedings say there was heavy security at the request of the new director.
Judge Jennifer McKinzie explained the court process to the boys, but the judicial system is something they are familiar with already, as two of them were in custody for robbery and the other for terroristic threats.
Now, all three of them are charged with escape, which is a felony offense.
The teenagers admitted to escaping from the YDC on Oct. 19 in court Thursday morning.
According to the personnel file of former YDC Director Ronald Brawner, a broken lock that went unreported was part of the reason the juveniles were able to escape.
The trio is part of a larger group of five who escaped. The other two are not in juvenile court and are accused of taking a car right after escaping.
The three teenagers will be sentenced in their home counties where the court has their history, school records and families nearby.
One of the teenagers is from the Valdosta area and another is from the Dekalb County area.
Sentencing will take place within 10 to 30 days. The maximum sentence for a juvenile would be 5 years.
Right now, the inmates are back in the YDC but will most likely be separated when they are sentenced for their felony offense of escape.


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Pinwheels are a collection of beautiful colors, but what they represent in this community is very ugly.
They symbolize a substantiated child abuse case and soon, you will see them popping up in your community serving as a reminder.
"I think public awareness is crucial to see any improvement and that's what this campaign is all about," said Linda Hogan from the Department of Families and Children.
The pinwheels are helping to mark the beginning of child abuse awareness month.
Case manager Sandra Woodruff says though the pinwheels may be small, it represents the large scope of the problem in our area. By educating the community, she hopes it will put a stop to abuse and neglect.
The Grady County Children and Youth Coordinating Council has also been working aggressively in the fight against abuse. The Council has implemented several abuse prevention programs with great success.
"It is something we feel strongly about and we feel really good that Grady County is making such strides in bringing our numbers down and educating our populous," said Deborah Loftiss from the Council.
If you notice one of these pinwheels this month, those who work with abused and neglected children everyday want you to remember what it really stands for.
Grady and Thomas County have also started similar programs that educate new parents about childcare, a first step in prevention.
wctv6.com Extended Web Coverage
Sexual Abuse on Children Facts
Do's and Don't when a child tells you about an incident of sexual abuse.
Source: A collection of Web Reports contributed to this report


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With Te'o silent, questions about hoax mount
Published: Friday, January 18, 2013 at 8:51 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 18, 2013 at 8:51 a.m.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Manti Te'o has already tried to explain how his heartwarming story of playing through adversity was a lie he wasn't responsible for, how he was the victim of a cruel hoax about a dead girlfriend who never existed.
He still has questions to answer, with many wondering whether he was a victim or participant in the scam. Those doubts even extended to his own campus, where he is one of the most popular players in Notre Dame's storied history.
"Whenever Manti decides to speak I'll bet the entire campus will stop what they're doing and watch what he has to say," Notre Dame student body president Brett Rocheleau said Thursday. "I think the majority of students believe in Manti. They just want to hear him answer these final few questions and hear the story from his point of view."
When Te'o will do that, like so much else about this story, is still a mystery.
An Associated Press review of news coverage found that Te'o talked about his doomed love in a Web interview on Dec. 8 and again in a newspaper interview published Dec. 10. He and the university said he learned on Dec. 6 that it was all a hoax — not only was she not dead, she wasn't real.
On Thursday, a day after the bizarre news broke, there were questions about whether he really was duped, as he claimed, or whether he and the university were complicit in the hoax and misled the public, perhaps to improve his chances of winning the Heisman. He came in second, propelled by one of the most compelling plot lines of the season.
Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel said the case has "left everyone wondering whether this was really the case of a naive football player done wrong by friends or a fabrication that has yet to play to its conclusion."
Gregg Doyel, national columnist for CBSSports.com, was more direct.
"Nothing about this story has been comprehensible, or logical, and that extends to what happens next," he wrote. "I cannot comprehend Manti Te'o saying anything that could make me believe he was a victim."
On Wednesday, Te'o and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the player was drawn into a virtual romance with a woman who used the phony name Lennay Kekua, and was fooled into believing she died of leukemia in September. They said his only contact with the woman was via the Internet and telephone. Te'o was not at the news conference; the school released a 225-word statement from him.
Te'o also lost his grandmother — for real — the same day his girlfriend supposedly died, and his role in leading Notre Dame to its best season in decades endeared him to fans and put him at the center of one of college football's feel-good stories of the year.
Relying on information provided by Te'o's family members, the South Bend Tribune reported in October that Te'o and Kekua first met, in person, in 2009, and that the two had also gotten together in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up.
Sports Illustrated posted a previously unpublished transcript of a one-on-one interview with Te'o from Sept. 23. In it, he goes into great detail about his relationship with Kekua and her physical ailments. He also mentioned meeting her for the first time after a game in California.
"We met just, ummmm, just she knew my cousin. And kind of saw me there so. Just kind of regular," he told SI.
Among the outstanding questions: Why didn't Te'o ever clarify the nature of his relationship as the story took on a life of its own?
Te'o's agent, Tom Condon, said the athlete had no plans to make any public statements in Bradenton, Fla., where he has been training with other NFL hopefuls at the IMG Academy.
Notre Dame said Te'o found out that Kekua was not a real person through a phone call he received at an awards ceremony in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 6. He told Notre Dame coaches about the situation on Dec. 26.
The AP's media review turned up two instances during that gap when the football star mentioned Kekua in public.
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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According to Pro Resources' guidelines for employment counselors: "Your main focus is to wet their appetite and get them to set an appointment for the same day and come in prepared with a fee." (WRDW-TV / Aug. 16, 2012)
If you have a complaint about Pro Resources, contact the Better Business Bureau of the CSRA at (706) 210-7676. Any evidence they have will help them make a decision on Pro Resources' accreditation.
Also you can call the Governor's Office of Consumer Protection at (800) 869-1123.
News 12 at 6 o'clock / Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Management with a local employment service company claims more than 80 percent of the jobs available through their database are exclusive positions only available through their service. However, a News 12 Special Investigation reveals that number isn't quite right and many of their advertised jobs are not local or exclusive.
"George" doesn't want News 12 to show you his face or tell you his name. He's embarrassed because he feels like he fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book: deceptive advertising.
"It's a hard economy out there and it's hard enough trying to find a job, then you got some company that's taking advantage of the weak, so to speak," he said.
An ad on CareerBuilder caught George's eye, "Medical-Monitor Supplies and Equipment."
The unemployed father called the number listed on the ad.
"I called down there the day before I went down there about the job and they told me the job had a valid date on there," George said.
The company George called was Pro Resources, which markets itself as a "premier employment service." Pro Resources' website states: "We are the premier employment service dealing with permanent jobs and top-paying employers. We work hard to find 100's of available positions in your community."
"In order to follow through with job, I had to sign a contract and pay $190 fee," George said.
It was only after George paid the fee could he could view the details of the job Pro Resources advertised on CareerBuilder.
News 12's Elizabeth Owens: "Was the job available when you got there?"
George: "No, it wasn't."
Owens: "What did they tell you?"
George: "They told it me it was not showing or listed, so chances are it was filled."
George had no idea the job that caught his eye on CareerBuilder advertised by Pro Resources was long gone before Pro Resources even published the ad. The medical job he was interested was with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Human Resources with the VA told News 12 On Your Side that job had closed four days before Pro Resource published the online ad.
"Ed" is a former employee at Pro Resources.
"Tell them whatever it takes as long as you don't go outside of the guidelines. Whatever it takes to get them into that office," he said.
He says his manager let him go after not meeting his sales quota.
Owens: "What's the number one goal for Pro Resources?"
Ed: "Bring them in. Get them to sign."
Owens: "Get that money?"
Ed: "Get that money."
According to Pro Resources' guidelines for employment counselors: "Your main focus is to wet their appetite and get them to set an appointment for the same day and come in prepared with a fee."
Pro Resources' employment counselor material also reads that " You are not to service clients and become a personal counselor."
Instead, "Employment counselors are sales people -- pure and simple."
"It's all about the sale," said Warren Oliver, a former employment counselor with Pro Resources. He says their deceptive practices range past expired jobs advertised as open jobs. Oliver says they overstate the number of job listings that are exclusive to them.
Management told News 12 that 80 percent or more of the jobs in their system are exclusive to Pro Resources. Even Pro Resources' job development guidelines read, "We must maintain 80 percent exclusive rights to the positions we list in our directory."
So News 12 On Your Side looked into Pro Resources' claim of exclusivity. We examined nearly 180 jobs in Pro Sources' database. Out of all those ads, we discovered about 65 percent are exclusive to the employment service, not 80 percent.
Jennifer Solberg is the director of operations for Pro Resources. She tells News 12 their definition of "exclusive" means you won't find the positions listed in the paper or posted on job search engines by anyone other than them.
"That does not mean the company may not be advertising their job on their internal website," Solberg said.
And how about those jobs being local?
"They say within a 60 mile radius of Augusta," Oliver said.
The manager at the Augusta branch of Pro Resources told News 12 the same thing off camera. Even Pro Resources' sales script reads: "We employ full-time job development staff that markets the local area daily to bring in new jobs."
Even the corporate spokesperson was adamant that their focus is on local jobs.
"We don't advertise jobs in Columbia and run those positions in the Augusta area. We've never done that. Ever," Solberg said.
But our News 12 On Your Side investigation shows otherwise.
We compared ads Pro Resources posted in an Augusta newspaper to information in their database over a six-week period of time. Out of 36 ads, nearly 40 percent were not located in the CSRA. Our investigation also reveals two of the ads clearly state "local" or "Augusta area."
However, both jobs are located in Columbia.
"I've had people come in there with six felonies and the manager tells them, 'Sure we can get people who have felonies jobs every day,'" Oliver said.
The local manager also told News 12 she can get felons jobs.
However, our investigation shows management may not always warn ex-cons about background checks.
News 12 obtained information indicating that management knew a prospective client was a sex offender and was interested in a specific job listing. The job requirements clearly state "clean background" in Pro Resources' system, but Pro Resources still signed the felon and took his money.
"Not everyone should pay this fee and you know what, buyer beware," Solberg said.
Both Ed and Warren are now ashamed of their involvement with Pro Resources.
Owens: "Do you feel guilty at all for signing those people up and taking their money?"
Ed: "Yes."
Owens: "Why do you feel guilty?"
Ed: "Because they're still looking for a job."
"I'd like to apologize to anyone I ever convinced to come in there and give their money," Oliver said.
George eventually did get a full refund after News 12 On Your side contacted the local manager about our investigation.
The manager told News 12 several times she would talk to us on camera about the allegations. However, she canceled several interviews and eventually told our cameras no.
"The job service cannot satisfy every person every day all the time because it's based on the job market," the corporate spokesperson said.
George is now searching for a job the old-fashioned way, but he is going forward a little more leery of employment services.
Currently, Pro Resources in Augusta has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. However, the BBB says it has had trouble with another Pro Resources' office in the past. The BBB tells News 12 after a previous investigation, Pro Resources agreed to change the way it advertises their jobs and an employee was fired.
If you have a complaint about Pro Resources, contact the Better Business Bureau of the CSRA at (706) 210-7676. Any evidence they have will help them make a decision on Pro Resources' accreditation.
Also you can call the Governor's Office of Consumer Protection at (800) 869-1123.