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The government cannot be responsible for systemic credit risk
Brad DeLong's latest has me sputtering. (He seems to have fallen for Caballero's view that the government has to insure private markets against tail risk by insuring private assets — which I have addressed many times. Note that DeLong already has a second post up on this topic.)
When there is excess demand for safe, liquid, high-quality financial assets, the rule for which economic policy to pursue – if, that is, you want to avoid a deeper depression – has been well-established since 1825. If the market wants more safe, high-quality, liquid financial assets, give the market what it wants.
The policy "well-established since 1825" to which deLong refers is the Bank of England's practice of lending generously into a financial panic. Unfortunately, the historical episodes to which deLong refers are not really comparable to our current situation.
(i) Bankers had personal liability for their debts in England — and because the par value of shares was rarely fully paid up by investors this was effectively true for joint stock banks too. Thus, when England's financial system was shaken to its core by the failure of Overend and Gurney (roughly comparable to Lehman Brothers), not one creditor lost a dime. The panic that ended the bank had been triggered by the sale of the Gurneys' personal assets to honor debts that they had guaranteed before selling shares. Even so, shareholders were forced to put in additional funds to honor the firm's remaining debts. (Ackrill and Hannah, Barclays: the business of banking, p. 46.)
(ii) The combination of personal liability and capital calls on shareowners was an effective preventative against "moral hazard" for most of the 19th century in England: the banking system as a whole simply didn't issue bad debt — though individual banks could make mistakes, or be mismanaged. Thus 19th c crises were systemic liquidity crises, not systemic solvency crises.
(iii) The strongest evidence that the 19th c crises were liquidity, not solvency, crises is that the central bank actions were almost always completed, such that markets had returned to normal, within three months. The idea of providing extraordinary liquidity over a period of more than a year as the Federal Reserve has done — or worse the practice of allowing the long-term instability of the financial sector to drive interest rates to zero for years — would have been unthinkable.
(iv) In short, the 19th century environment where borrowers were held to extremely high standards is not comparable to our moral hazard ridden financial system. For this reason, DeLong's appeal to ancient truths is misguided.
However, the assertion that really set me off is the following:
Creditworthy governments around the world can create more safe, liquid, high-quality financial assets through a number of channels. They can spend more or tax less and borrow the difference. They can guarantee the debt of private-sector entities, thus transforming now-risky leaden assets back into golden ones. Their central banks can borrow and use the money to buy up some of the flood of risky assets in the market.
Which of these steps should the world's creditworthy governments take in response to the asset-price movements of May? All of them, because we really are not sure which would be the most effective and efficient at the task of draining excess demand for high-quality assets.
I find it ironic that DeLong compares a government guarantee of private debt to alchemy, because those of us who are concerned about the government over-reaching in trying to support the value of intrinsically flawed private sector assets are concerned precisely because we suspect that it a project that is doomed to failure. While it is certain that governments can spend their resources directly and indirectly reflating private sector asset bubbles, it is far from clear that anything good will come of doing so.
When Bagehot argued that the Bank of England should not be overly discriminating in the bills it purchased, he did so explicitly because he knew that the British financial system was sound and produced only a tiny fraction of bad assets. Unfortunately the modern US financial system does not meet this standard. What good can come of putting a government guarantee behind debt that is sure to default? What reason is there to believe that delaying a default by a year or two or three or four is in the interests of either the debtor or the creditor?
The answer presumably is in the second post:
The hope is that, by Walras's Law which tells us that excess demands across all markets must sum to zero, that relieving excess demand for AAA assets will produce as a consequence the relief of excess supply and full-employment balance in the markets for goods, services, and labor as well.
The problem with this answer is that it is purely aspirational. Somehow the government purchase of bad debt is supposed to return the economy to the growth path that existed when the bad debt was being issued and nobody realized how unreasonable expectation of repayment really was. That is, instead of recognizing that the boom times were just that and that the economy has no choice, one way or another, but to shift to a more sustainable growth path, the formula promoted by DeLong and Caballero is for government to support asset prices until either (i) growth returns and my view is proven wrong or (ii) the government is no longer capable of supporting asset prices. My real concern is that neither DeLong nor Caballero take the possibility of (ii) seriously — they are unwilling to consider the possibility that government does not in fact have the capacity to levitate the whole economy. They don't appear to have a plan b after we implement their recommendations, and it fails. In fact, Caballero explicitly assumes the success of his proposal (my emphasis):
Instead, if the government only provides an explicit insurance against systemic events to the micro-AAA assets produced by the private sector, we could have a significant expansion in the supply of safe assets without the corresponding expansion of public debt. Of course there would a significant expansion of the notional liabilities of the government, but it is nearly certain that the ex-post cost would be much less than in any of the real alternatives.
To which I can only say that I agree with the anonymous blogger at Macroeconomic Resilience that Jon Stewart has demonstrated a remarkably accurate diagnosis of our current problems:
Why is it that whenever something happens to the people that should've seen it coming didn't see coming, it's blamed on one of these rare, once in a century, perfect storms that for some reason take place every f–king two weeks. I'm beginning to think these are not perfect storms. I'm beginning to think these are regular storms and we have a sh–ty boat.
When perfect storms (i.e. systemic crises) are taking place with ever increasing regularity, maybe it's not a good idea to sign the government up for systemic risk insurance.
In short, I'd sputter much less if DeLong and Caballero would spend a significant amount of their time addressing the problem of bad debt and how to deal with it. Remember that the US government has already spent almost two years underwriting mortgage refinances at extremely low rates that do exactly what DeLong and Caballero recommend. The remaining mortgage borrowers are simply not good credit risks (look at the back end DTI here).
The evidence all points to the fact that what we have experienced is a systemic solvency crisis, that we are in a balance sheet recession and that the only way out is to rebuild private sector balance sheets. There are two basic methods to do the latter: (i) shock therapy, where bankruptcy wipes out debt and transfers assets to creditors and (ii) decades long stagnation, where private sector debt is rolled over repeatedly — allowing debtors to avoid bankruptcy, pay mostly interest and very slowly pay down their debt. As long the debt is not wiped out by bankruptcy (or inflation), an economy in a balance sheet recession simply cannot flourish. Pretending — or praying — that the economy will flourish despite the debt overhang, which seems to me to be DeLong and Caballero's plan, amounts to extreme risk-taking of the first order and is not the domain of sound governance.
While I am extremely strongly opposed to the government getting into the business of underwriting private credit risk, I do believe there is an important role for fiscal policy in the current crisis. Supporting the economy by protecting the jobs of municipal and state employees — especially teachers — and programs to help the unemployed, etc., seem to me to be just plain common sense, given the economic straits in which we find our economy today. Keeping a cap on the federal deficit by allowing children to go uneducated or hungry has never, and will never, be good policy.
On the other hand, I'm a bit of an apostate when it comes to the role of monetary policy at the current juncture. I think we will get out of the "liquidity trap" sooner if we give savers who want to put their money in safe assets a small return on their funds. Instead of keeping interest rates at the zero lower bound, and pushing money managers into unreliable and unworthy risk assets, the Fed should raise rates to 1 or 1.5%. Also we should not ignore the benefits of the bankruptcy process in allowing firms and individuals to get a fresh start while transferring assets to creditors who are not crushed by debt.
At the same time aggressive fiscal policy needs to be used to offset the more nefarious consequences of these policies. But the overall task must be to help the economy find its new sustainable growth path. Because zero rates are most definitely not part of this new path, they really only succeed in creating new distortions. The Fed should give the economy a sustainable baseline from which to work and allow market forces to sort out the details, with relatively generous support via fiscal policy.
3 comments so far
Carolyn – great post. I have been meaning to write a post on Caballero's thesis for a while but you've dissected it in a much more comprehensive manner than I would ever have! The inability of so many commentators to grasp the extent of the moral hazard problem in our financial system still baffles me. You've outlined many reasons why the 2000s are different from the 1800s and I have argued many times on my blog how the financial "innovations" of the last twenty years have made it incredibly easy for banks to arbitrage pretty much any regulation that the Fed or Basel can throw at it. I'm a big fan of economic/financial history but this needs to go hand in hand with a better appreciation of the incredible complexity of the financial system as it stands right now.
Let me just add a few points – First, the concept of "excess demand" only makes sense if prices are sticky. This argument may be true for cash or T-bills but it is not true for AAA assets, T-Bonds, Bunds etc. In the last two weeks, prices of T-Bonds and Bunds have increased dramatically and this is exactly how the market takes care of the "problem".
Second, the only "safe" asset in ordinary times is cash or short-maturity T-bills. By ensuring that these instruments have a negative real yield via the ZIRP policy, the Fed has ensured that there is no "safe" asset. Either you keep money in cash and suffer the slow bleed of inflation or you find yourself a risky asset. Seth Klarman put this across brilliantly recently when he said "By holding interest rates at zero, the government is basically tricking the population into going long on just about every kind of security except cash, at the price of almost certainly not getting an adequate return for the risks they are running. People can't stand earning 0% on their money, so the government is forcing everyone in the investing public to speculate."
And last, I agree wholeheartedly with your view that we should focus our fiscal efforts on protecting those hurt most from the fallout of letting market forces operate on our banking system. Again I'm baffled as to why this stance finds so few adherents. On a more speculative note, I'm increasingly convinced that the notion of monetary policy being more "neutral" than fiscal policy does not hold with respect to the Greenspan-Bernanke variant of monetary policy. If anything, the Greenspan put transfers wealth from the poor to the rich and feeds a crony capitalist system.


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Before I start writing my holiday articles, I want to comment on the $1.1 trillion government funding bill that passed Congress Saturday.
While it's good news for consumers that Republicans didn't shut down the federal government again, it's bad news that the government funding bill that passed will do away with a provision that prevents the bailout of banks who get into trouble selling exotic investments, such as the toxic assets they created by packaging risky mortgage loans.
In trying to stop a last-minute amendment written by Citigroup, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said:
Democrats don't like Wall Street bailouts. Republicans don't like Wall Street bailouts. The American people are disgusted by Wall Street bailouts. And yet here we are – five years after Dodd-Frank – with Congress on the verge of ramming through a provision that would do nothing for middle class, do nothing for community banks – do nothing but raise the risk that taxpayers will have to bail out the biggest banks once again.
Continue reading "Government funding compromise is bad for consumers" »

subset: commoncrawl


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Cameroon: Prominent gay rights activist burned with an iron and killed
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Reader comments
This is the reason why we should boycott Orson Scott Card and his products, among others. NOM's activities in Africa concerning the "kill the gay" laws directly lead to tragedies such as this one.
Awful to hear after all the progress we are hearing everyday in Europe and U>S and then this happen. Africa is in a pretty hopeless situation in many ways in terms of LGBT rights(among others)
It makes you take note of how lucky we are to live in the UK. With Gay Marriage almost a certain it is hard to believe there are countries in the world where you get killed, fired from work or discriminated against by government officials for simply being who you are – A LGBT Person. APPALLING! The UK and the EU needs to do more to stop these things happening around the world.
Africa is still largely un-evolved and barbaric. They're ripe for the picking by christian fascists. Religions of all stripes, try to recruit people who can't or don't think about the world at large, and people who have no sense of reasoning. The dumber the better… let us tell you about Jesus… let us tell you about Mohamed. "Now be angry when we tell you to be". Unintelligent drones. (as arrogant as I sound saying such things)
You just sound like another smug Canadian. Talking about barbaric how many cops killed innuits last year?
They probably find it easier to do this than sort themselves out in the same way that most other countries have managed to do.(with the exception of some in the middle east)
Mr Lembembe was a brave man who worked for human rights in difficult circumstances.
His murder is an assault on all of us who believe in individual dignity and freedom.
As LGBT rights progress in the West, the worst backlash is not happening in Europe or America but against our brothers and sisters in those parts of the world where they are most vulnerable.
American evangelical groups which promote hate must be shamed into desisting.
Foreign donors (individuals and governments) must look closely at all the organisations they are funding to find out if they are unwittingly promoting hatred.
Governments, the UN and NGOs must continue to speak out loudly against human rights violations.
And human rights leaders in Africa and elsewhere must make their voices heard.
Otherwise I fear we will see increasingly organised pogroms against LGBTs and allies in a number of countries.
Disgusting – These Scum are worse than animals –
Sadly, and as also seen in the Pew research on the topic, the world is now divided by an emerging gap between Africa (minus SA) and the Islamic World, on one side, and Europe, the Americans (Latin and Anglo) and parts of East and SE Asia in terms of acceptance to homosexuality. The lives of gays traped in the former "part" are sadly strongly at risk.
Is it just coincidental that the countries in the latter group are generally more successful by any other measure as well? Perhaps they should ask their respective religionists why this should be?
Religion, of course. But what's truly sick is they turn it around and find some way to blame the gay's. As if an IRON wasn't enough, this cruel injustice should be enough for any politician with any kind of morality to speak up.
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I grew up on 80's and 90's TV. Most of it was pretty terrible, but some should be required watching for college classes or something. I had to share with my little sister and so I did not always get to watch what I wanted. Thankfully, I had influenced her a lot and we agreed more often than you might expect. One show we did not agree on, but she won out and so she got to watch it, was Home Improvement. You know the one, Tim Allen grunting and talking about making everything more powerful. While the desire for bigger and more powerful tools was a running joke on the show, in real life, it is nothing to laugh at.
I certainly prefer larger and more powerful components when it comes to my own PC builds, although I am limited by funds. Yet, there is a growing trend that I can support wholeheartedly to build smaller machines that use much less power but still perform well, even under the heaviest loads from the newest games. I, for one, support this movement towards smaller, lower powered machines because I know that conserving energy is important. I'm no tree hugger, but I do believe that conservation is super important, and that is just one of the reasons I am very happy to introduce the newest graphics card from EVGA, the GTX 750Ti, which utilizes the new Maxwell architecture from NVIDIA.
The EVGA GTX 750Ti is a non-reference, overclocked 750. The 750Ti from EVGA uses EVGA's ACX cooling and utilizes a 6 pin power connector for more stable overclocking. The EVGA 750Ti has a base clock of 1189MHz with a boost clock of 1268MHz. The Memory clock is set to 5400 MHz (effective). There are 640 Cuda cores and the card utilizes a standard PCIe 3.0 bus. The GTX 750 Ti from EVGA comes replete with 2048MB of GDDR5 with a memory bit width of 128. The memory speed is 0.33ns with a bandwidth of 86.4 GB/s. The 750Ti measures 4.376" tall and 9" long and only weighs 1.35 pounds and uses two expansion slots.
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The Tuesday 25 With Braydon SzafranskiSkip to the rants (2)
Over at Skateboarder.Read more
Click here to check out Figgy's B-Sides from Made Chapter Two! I get it! Thanks!
Over at Skateboarder.Read more
He turns 37 today.Read more
Ten-page spread in issue 65 of The Skateboard Mag.Read more
Head-to-head with Kenny Anderson.Read more
Figgy fifth at Am Getting Paid and Collin ninth at Coastal Carnage.Read more
He turns 20 today.Read more
Across the Southern United States from July 27 to August 13.Read more
On Sunday, June 21, 250 to 300 skateboarders from different cities and villages throughout Italy converged on the city.Read more
Hurry! This contest closes on the morning of Monday, July 27, 2009.Read more
Hang with the team this coming Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 17.00 h. Be there!Read more


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Continuing the NL Central Preview series, I am taking a look at each of the NL Central clubs and looking at their additions and figuring out what I project they could do in 2014.
2013 Results: 90-72, 7 games back
Key Arrivals: 2B Skip Schumaker, C Brayan Pena
Key Departures: OF Shin-Soo Choo, RHP Bronson Arroyo, C Ryan Hanigan, SS Cesar Izturis
The Reds were a lucky team in 2013. They managed to stay relatively healthy. Four of their five starters made more than 30 starts. Six of their eight position players started over 150 games. After they lost the Wild Card Game to the Pirates, the Reds decided to fire manager Dusty Baker. In his place, they promoted pitching coach Bryan Price to his first major league management position.
The Reds offense was rolling in 2013 thanks to the .423 by Shin-Soo Choo leading off games for them. Joey Votto struggled though, only racking up 73 RBI despite playing in all 162 games. The Reds also had a very top heavy lineup with Votto, Choo, and Jay Bruce being the only three Reds starters to post an above average OPS+. Replacing Choo in the lineup this year will be base stealing threat Billy Hamilton. Hamilton may be a quality player, but those are big shoes to fill offensively in center field.
Their only offensive addition of note was Skip Schumaker, who joins the long list of former Cardinals players who have gone to Cincinnati during Walt Jocketty's tenure as GM. A quality clubhouse guy, Schumaker should be a positive addition to the team, even if you don't see it in the box score from him.
Their pitching staff stayed healthy in 2013 with Homer Bailey, Mat Latos, and Mike Leake posting their best seasons in Cincinnati. With Bronson Arroyo moving on, the Reds are depending on Tony Cingrani and Johnny Cueto, who has proved to be one of the NL's best pitchers when healthy, to stay healthy and in the lineup.
The bullpen returning for 2014 is likely one of the most underrated bullpens in baseball. Aroldis Chapman, Alfredo Simon, JJ Hoover, Sam LeCure, Manny Parra are just some of the names of the quality pitchers in their bullpen.
Once again Walt has put together all the pieces. It will be up to the players and their new manager to put it all together.
2014 Verdict: It's hard to see how the Reds can maintain the 90 wins after the loss of Choo. I predict 80-85 wins.


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Councillor Camp - "none of that boring old preaching to the converted nonsense"
Saturday the 12th January saw the first ever Councillor Camp event take place at Facebook HQ in London.
More than a hundred local politicians from across both the country and the political spectrum came along, eager to share and learn about all things digital and social. This was a pretty good start towards our aims for the day - we really wanted to create space for councillors to talk over the issues they see around digital and social media and form networks to share ideas and experience - the same way movements like Govcamp have done for other groups.
The day kicked off with Facebook-ers Simon Milner and Elizabeth Linder giving us some incredible examples of Facebook use and a how-to for getting the most out of it.
We then heard from a selection of fantastic speakers, who each gave a 5-minute lightning talk on their own experience of using digital or social media. All the speakers were excellent, but particular highlights included David Harrington from Stockton telling us about his Skype surgeries, Liz Ixer from Harringay Online, and Alice Perry from Islington talking about digital campaigning. The brilliant Tom Phillips who videoed all the talks is in the process of uploading them to YouTube, so check out our bookmarks for the links.
Over the coffee break people started thinking about ideas for the afternoon unconference. It wasn't long before the post-its were flying around and we had a full to overflowing grid ready for the rest of the day. Sessions ranged from "What can councillors say legally?" and "What support do members really need on social media" all the way through to a big "Twitter bootcamp" session covering all things 140 characters.
Despite all but a few of the attendees being unconference newbies, everyone got stuck in - and the lack of structure seemed to go down really well. There are some brilliant write-ups of the sessions in the huge array of blog posts that have already been written about the day.
The day was rounded up with a closing panel, chaired by Jonathan Carr-West of the LGiU. Panelists reflected on their experience of the day and what they'd learned, before handing over to the audience to do the same.
Throughout the whole day everyone at the event discussed and shared things with each other; there was a continual buzz in the venue all day, which was just as valuable as the talks and sessions.
Our goal for Saturday was to start conversations and give local politicians a network to support each other on social media and associated technology. To encourage those conversations to continue, there's now a Councillor Campers Facebook group, specifically for local councillors to share, ask and learn anything digital or social.
We're now thinking about what next for Councillor Camp and we're open to offers, so do get in touch if you're up for collaborating in the future. And to keep up with all things Councillor Camp, just like the Facebook page.
Check out these bookmarks for links to all the blogs, podcasts, photos and more from Councillor Camp.
Title quote: Kate Butler


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If the low ratings at Oprah Winfrey's OWN weren't evidence enough of viewer disinterest in programming that inspires, then perhaps the massive ratings growth at Investigation Discovery, a network whose shows are almost exclusively populated by murderers and stalkers, can provide convincing.
Advertising weak? Quit worrying so much already
Viacom Inc's not sweating it, Time Warner Inc. isn't all that concerned. Why, CBS Corp and Discovery Communications Inc. are cool as cucumbers. Disney certainly sounds confident, as does Scripps Networks Interactive.
Tech wrap: HP shake-up?
A change could be underway at the top at Hewlett-Packard. The company's board convened on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of ousting CEO Leo Apotheker after less than a year on the job and may appoint former eBay chief Meg Whitman to fill in as interim CEO, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. HP's board of directors has come under increasing pressure in recent months after a raft of controversial decisions has left investors uncertain of the company's leadership.
Oprah's network off to slow start
DiscoveryCommunications CEO David Zaslav is clearly hoping Winfrey finishes up with her daytime gig next month. That's when she will turn her attention to the Oprah Winfrey Network. OWN, as it's called, is a joint venture between Discovery and Oprah that has gotten off to a rocky start.
from Summit Notebook:
Discovery CEO talks about Oprah, her show, and OWN
Now that Oprah Winfrey has set a date for when the sun will set on her syndicated talk show -- Sept 2011 -- everybody wants to know if she will recreate the show on OWN. OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, is the cable channel set to flicker on in some 80 million homes in January 2011 with Discovery Communications.
Boston Globe, still alive
When we went to bed late last night, the state of play on The Boston Globe didn't look so hot. Since then… it's still not looking so hot.
Could Google buy Twitter? Ask Arrington, then ask Swisher
******We sprinkled updates into this blog. We're highlighting them like this.******Thanks to TechCrunch, U.S. tech reporters are about to spend another weekend working instead of playing. UPDATE: Or maybe Kara Swisher at All Things D will save them!******Two sources told proprietor Michael Arrington that Google "is in late stage negotiations to acquire Twitter." He wrote:***
We don't know the price but can assume its well, well north of the $250 million valuation that they saw in their recent funding.


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Missed the live Ask the Expert event?
Not to worry. Check out the archived thread of the Q&A with Ken Hutcheson, President of U.S. Lawns, and the LawnSite community in the Franchising forum .
Give Away Announcement
Discussion in 'Starting a Lawn Care Business' started by Sean Adams, Apr 16, 2003.


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Jackson: "He's not in shape. Lamar's not ready to play."
EL SEGUNDO -- Phil Jackson was matter-of-fact rather than angry as he said after the morning practice about Lamar Odom: "He's not in shape. Lamar's not ready to play."
Odom has been seen dragging with the stragglers in practice-ending wind sprints, and Jackson said Odom's take-it-easy summer has led to a somewhat slow start for him in trying to play more of a quarterback role in the early triangle-offense practices of camp. He said Odom, despite getting fatigued, has done "OK.
Odom said he chose to rest over the summer to ease the tendinitis that bothered him basically all last season. Odom especially had problems with his right knee that he sprained two seasons ago, costing him 21 games in 2006-07.
Jackson expressed some disappointment that Odom didn't do more with his offseason given that he wasn't having surgery, as he has so often before.
Jackson said it remains to be seen if Odom hurt himself -- before he becomes a free agent at season's end -- by not working hard enough over the summer.
"He has to find that out for himself," Jackson said. "That's something you experiment with. But in our exit meetings (in June) with Lamar, we talked about the fact that he hasn't had the opportunity to work on his body in the offseason for the past three or four years, actually. So this was really an opportunity to strengthen his shoulder and do some things that were going to help him in a pivotal year for him – not only for him, but for us."
On the bright side for Odom, when answering a different question about Andrew Bynum, Jackson ran through a list of the other starters and included Odom with Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol.
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Henrico County Board of SupervisorsHenrico County Board of Supervisors
The Henrico County Board of Supervisors is the elected governing body of the county and is responsible for establishing policy within the framework of the Constitution of Virginia and the Code of Virginia. The board typically meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month (except in August and December, when it meets only once) at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room at the western government center, 4301 East Parham Road, Henrico VA 23228. To view an agenda for the next meeting, click here.
Board members are elected to four-year terms by the voters in each of the five magisterial districts: Brookland, Fairfield, Three Chopt, Tuckahoe and Varina. Most recently, board members were elected in November 2011 and took office in January 2012. Current members are Dick Glover (Brookland), Frank Thornton (Fairfield), Dave Kaechele (Three Chopt), Pat O'Bannon (Tuckahoe) and Tyrone Nelson (Varina). The board appoints the county manager, who is the chief administrative officer of the county. It also appoints the members of the Social Services Board, Library Board, Mental Health and Developmental Services Board, the Board of Real Estate Review and Equalization, the Planning Commission, and several other advisory boards and commissions.
The Board of Supervisors adopts the annual operating and capital budgets and appropriates all funds for expenditure. It also provides broad policy direction and oversight to the county administration pursuant to the laws of the United States, the commonwealth, county and other applicable rules or regulations, and it sets county tax rates.
Learn more about the Board of Supervisors here:
Henrico County Board of Supervisors
Brookland District Supervisor Dick Glover
Fairfield District Supervisor Frank Thornton
Three Chopt District Supervisor Dave Kaechele
Tuckahoe District Supervisor Patricia O'Bannon
Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson


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Sue Bookhout, of Cazenovia, poses with a nice gobbler she shot this week in the town of Fenner.
She wrote: "I shot this mature tom this morning. I heard a gobble a couple hundred yards away, so I quickly sat down and made a few yelps on the slate call.
":I heard one more gobble and knew he was coming my way, so I put the call down and readied my gun. In no time a jake appeared. He was real wary and went in the other direction, but right behind him was this mature tom with a beet red head. It unfolded very fast.
"He was 19 pounds with a 9-inch beard and 1-inch spurs."


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I have an article on the coming fight in tomorrow's paper.
In the meantime, I wanted to explore one claim that Icahn and Drapkin made in their CNBC interview -- that Mentor spends too much for the revenue it brings in.
The activists charged that Mentor's SG&A -- selling, general and administrative expense --, is too high, nearly half its revenue. By comparison, they said, the company's competitors record higher sales on lower SG&A.
"The company has over $400 million in SG&A, which is a huge amount when you have a company doing only $950 (million) in revenue," Icahn said (see the interview below.)
So let's compare Mentor with its largest competitor, Synopsys, in their most recent fiscal years.
- Mentor's SG&A totaled $396 million last year on revenue of $802 million. So SG&A was just shy of half of revenue. (Icahn was presumably making projections for the fiscal year concluded Jan. 31; Mentor won't report those results 'til next month.)
- Synopsys, in its last fiscal year, recorded SG&A of $455 million on $
1.158$1.38 billion in revenue -- 39
But Mentor's revenues jumped sharply in the third quarter, and SG&A didn't keep up -- falling to 44 percent of revenue. If Mentor meets its Q4 revenue forecast, and SG&A grows at the same rate it did in Q3, it would be 39 percent of revenue
-- the same as at Synopsis last year.
You could argue that Mentor is only holding down costs now because it's under investor pressure. Clearly, the company has had a hard time delivering profits over the past several years.
Or you could argue that Mentor is finally cashing in on investments it made in hopes of growing the company, and that SG&A will stay low going forward.
EDA analyst Gary Smith told me Tuesday that high sales costs are simply part of the business.
"It's just the structure of the industry, and that doesn't get changed just by selling (the company)," Smith said. "You have to continue the innovations and you have to have a very technical sales force to bring those to market."
Correction: I've corrected my own math above -- I used a subtotal for Synopsys' 2010 revenue, not the actual total. Even if Mentor pulls down its SG&A ratio in Q4, it would still be higher than Synopsys'.
-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; phone: 503-294-7699


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I recently had the privilege of joining more than 30 fabulous gentlemen for lunch at Mandina's. Although I was new to the group, and the only woman at the table, I have never felt more welcomed and entertained.
The Riverwood Men's Group meets on the first Monday of each month at Mandina's Restaurant on Highway 22. Although the group originated from neighbors of the Mandeville neighborhood, the group now hails from all over west St. Tammany parish.
Rick Jennings is the current coordinator of the group and he and Dave Frick were my hosts this past week. The original group consisted of about 12 members and they rotated houses. Later, the group expanded and began meeting outside of the neighborhood.
"Most of our members are retired. We have a great time socializing and telling stories." shares Jennings. "We have lawyers, pilots, veterans and musicians…a varied group of friends who like to share information and support each other"
Richard Moore, a member of the group since the 90's, adds that he was first invited by two friends, and then even more were added from a group that were all participating in a Cardiac Rehabilitation workshop. I also learned that Mr. Moore has been providing piano entertainment at the group's annual Christmas Social for many years.
The conversations ranged from the latest sports news to healthcare and new business opportunities. They share their military service experiences as well as life lessons and family news. "But," added Dave Frick, "we would not be who we are without the past leadership of our previous director, Mel Dennis."
In addition to their monthly "meetings" the group volunteers at the Wooden Boat Festival and the Lake Ponchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, and instructs others on how to build boats. They fly airplanes for sport and charity, and truly just enjoy laughing and telling tales.
Member Paul Borgatti wants to share the experience with other local retirees. "This group gathering helps us all stay active. I was a Delta pilot for 33 years, and I love getting together with this group and sharing lunch and stories," he said.
If interested in joining in the fun, contact Rick Jennings at 985.845.8389. Remember, you don't have to live in Riverwood, just be willing and prepared to have fun and good food.


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- Public Comment Sought on Lucky Peak Reservoir Water
Public Comment Sought on Lucky Peak Reservoir Water
Media Contact: John Redding, (208) 378-5212
Steve Dunn , (208) 383-2222
For Release: December 22, 2003
The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking public comment on a Draft Environmental Assessment for its proposal to renew the Lucky Peak Reservoir water service contracts or convert the contracts to repayment contracts.
Out of a total reservoir storage capacity of approximately 293,000 acre-feet, approximately 71,000 acre-feet of water is allocated to the 19 water service contracts currently held irrigation contractors. The original contracts were signed between 1965 and 1968, each with a term of 40 years. Therefore, these contracts are due to expire between 2005 and 2008, depending on the date of each original contract.
Lucky Peak Reservoir is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir impounded by Lucky Peak Dam which was constructed in the late 1950s for flood control and other purposes. The reservoir is located six miles north-east of Boise, Idaho, on the Boise River.
According to Federal Reclamation law, and an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Reclamation has the authority to enter into irrigation contracts aimed at making some of the reservoir water available to qualifying entities for supplemental irrigation supplies.
These contracts can be renewed as water service contracts or converted to repayment contracts at the request of the contractor. All contractors have requested that the contracts be converted to repayment contracts for their current storage amount.
Water Service Contracts: Water service contracts provide irrigation entities with the right to a quantity of water in exchange for payment of a percentage of applicable reservoir capital, operation, and maintenance costs. They expire after a specific time period, but may be renewed.
Repayment Contracts: Repayment contracts provide irrigation entities with the right to a quantity of water in exchange for payment of a percentage of applicable reservoir capital, operation, and maintenance costs. However, repayment contracts have a specific time period for repayment of project construction costs with no expiration date of the contract.
The purpose of the proposed action for this project is to continue to provide current Lucky Peak contractors with a supplemental irrigation water supply up to the amounts specified in their original contracts.
The National Environmental Policy Act requires Reclamation to evaluate the impacts of this proposed action on the human and natural environments. The Draft Environmental Assessment analyzes the environmental impacts of a Preferred Alternative, which would convert each contract to a permanent repayment contract for the currently contracted amount, a second action alternative which would convert each contract to a repayment contract, but for a lesser amount for some contractors based on highest annual delivery of stored water in past years, and a No Action alternative required by the National Environmental Policy Act which assumes the water service contracts would be continued under present terms.
To obtain a copy of the Draft Environmental Assessment contact Steve Dunn at (208) 383-2222.
Comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment will be accepted until February 6, 2004. Written comments should be sent to Bureau of Reclamation, Snake River Area Office, Attn: Steve Dunn, 230 Collins Road, Boise ID 83702.
# # #
Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western States. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR.
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Nighttime I-405 ramp closures in Kirkland this weekend
The following is a release from the Washington State Department of Transportation:
Drivers traveling to and from Interstate 405 in Kirkland on Saturday night and early Sunday morning should use alternate routes, as contractor crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close three ramps in the area.
Ramp closures:
Saturday, May 31 to the morning of Sunday, June 1
o The Northeast 70th Street on-ramp to northbound I-405 will close from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
o The Northeast 70th Street on-ramp to southbound I-405 will close from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
o The northbound I-405 off-ramp to Northeast 85th Street will close from 11 p.m. to 10 a.m.
Signed detours will direct traffic to alternate routes. During the closure, contractor crews will complete electrical and restriping work as part of the I-405 Bellevue to Lynnwood Widening and Express Toll Lanes project. This work is subject to change.
For the most up-to-date closure details, please visit the I-405 construction updates page.
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By Gabriel Allen
George Wagner has 100,000 postcards. That puts him squarely in the category of collector, so it's no surprise that the Yardville resident is president of the Washington Crossing Card Collectors Club.
But a massive collection like Wagner's is hardly a requirement for pursuing the hobby — though it may become a goal, as postcards are easy to find, available for every interest, and relatively inexpensive.
The Washington Crossing Card Collectors Club was formed in 1972, taking its name from the place where the meetings were first held and continue to be held.
During monthly meetings at the Union Fire Company in Titusville, members can trade, purchase and sell cards. In addition, guest speakers talk about different postcard topics and techniques, Wagner said.
The WCCC is the third-oldest postcard club in New Jersey. Wagner estimated that the club has about 230 members, who hail from New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
"In an average month we have 50 people attending our meetings, though the number could reach 200 or more," he said.
Wagner's favorite postcards depict scenes of Hopewell and Trenton. He has a friend who collects postcards on suffragettes and other historical events.
A recent meeting featured a program of Beatles postcards in honor of the 50-year celebration of the band's music. Another one focused on the work of Ellen Clapsaddle, an early 20th-century illustrator.
The WCCC will holds its seventh annual postcard show and sale on May 31. More information is available at www.wc4postcards.org.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets were extremely disappointed with relinquishing a 2-1 lead in conceding a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday:
April 4, Columbus Dispatch: The lasting image will be that of the puck, flipped by Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg from behind the goal line, hitting the left pad of Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire and bouncing into the net with 11.4 seconds left as he tried to get back in position.
In reality, the Blue Jackets' loss to the Detroit Red Wings last night could be traced to a sequence a few minutes earlier, when a long shift in the Jackets' zone led to a Columbus penalty and, ultimately, to a Red Wings tying goal.
"(Leclaire) gave us every chance to win in this building," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Every opportunity. If I were the players, I'd be really disappointed by what happened at the end, because our goaltender gave us every chance to win."
"These are the games you have to shut down," Blue Jackets defenseman Aaron Rome said. "(Pascal) is the one who kept us in it. What happened at the end is unfortunate. It was kind of the exclamation point, though. It was the goal before that ... we were up 2-1, and we have to close out that game."
Leclaire, who was absolutely tremendous in stopping 36 of 39 shots in the Jax' defeat, accepted the loss:
"I felt good all night," Leclaire said. "A little bad luck at the end. It's unfortunate. We were right there. They never stop, but we were right there. It's just one of those bounces. But if you look at it another way, they hit two or three posts today, and any of those could have gone in, too. I guess they got one bounce back."
The Columbus Dispatch's Aaron Portzline said that Hitchcock, on the other hand, was mighty peeved after the game:
April 4, Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock was seething after this one. Essentially, he pulled goaltender Pascal Leclaire to the side and left the rest of the club in the middle of the road for an oncoming bus. You have to hand it to Hitchcock -- he's as mad about a loss in Game No. 80 as he was Game No. 40 or 60.
Portzline says that shenanigans were averted as Aaron Downey chose to let a sleeping Konopka lie:
After jawing in the warm-ups, I would have been big money that C Zenon Konopka and Detroit's Aaron Downey would have a dust-up. Never happened, though. Konopka didn't look very good, to be honest.
And Portzline got the usual anti-Wings digs in:
Speaking of Hasek, he was not very good again tonight. Rome's goal is a save Hasek used to make. Why he was a No. 3 star tonight, I have no idea. Are the Wings really planning to ride him in the playoffs?
Justin Abdelkader said that he tipped the puck inadvertently, and yes, the Wings will "ride" Hasek--and Osgood...
Zetterberg is a crafty little Swiss dude. He sent a backhand flipper into the crease, with the puck glancing off Leclaire's left pad and into the net. Game-winner. His 43rd goal of the season. I swear 41 of them came against the Blue Jackets.
Now we all make mistakes, but the family name suffixes -berg, -strom, and -sson tend to indicate people with Nordic backgrounds...
In any case, Leclaire's teammates appreciated his effort:
April 3, Associated Press: "Some of the saves he made, especially in the third, were phenomenal," said [Michael] Peca. "He gave us a chance to win it and we let him down in the end."
In the Wings' locker room, the crafty "Swiss" dude admitted that the Wings' win over Columbus was far from meaningless, and in fact, the Wings were relieved to finally capture the President's Trophy:
"It was nice to get that out of the way and get home ice advantage all the way in the playoffs," said Zetterberg. "That was big for us. We had a great regular season, have one game to finish it off and then ready to go for the playoffs."
"The Mule" agreed:
[Johan] Franzen's power-play goal with 3:27 left tied it 2-2. He put in the rebound of Nicklas Lidstrom's shot for his 27th goal, giving him 15 goals and four assists in his last 15 games.
"It felt good to get this game and get the Presidents. We didn't want to lose this game," Franzen said. "Their goalie was playing great but we got a power-play, Nick took a shot that was perfect for a rebound and beat my guy and I had an open net. In front, that's the right place to be."
The fact that the Wings started the night without five regulars, and still rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win after losing a sixth to another cursed below-the-waist injury was equally impressive:
The Red Wings were without LW Kirk Maltby (hamstring), D Brad Stuart (broken finger), C Kris Draper (groin), RW Mikael Samuelsson (groin) and RW Tomas Holmstrom (lower abdominal) ... Detroit C Tomas Kopecky limped off the ice 6:48 into the second period after having his legs taken out from under him in a collision with Columbus' Manny Malhotra. Kopecky went to the hospital for tests.
Franzen reiterated his sense of relief to the Windsor Star's Dave Waddell:
April 4, Windsor Star: "It's a big relief," Franzen said. "We needed one point. "We didn't want to lose it after being on top all year. It's a great honour to win this."
It was a crushing end for Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire, who was brilliant in stopping 36 of 39 shots. After Franzen's goal at 16:33 of the third period, Leclaire got caught wandering in the dying seconds, allowing Zetterberg to score the game winner with a perfect billiards shot off him from behind the net.
Detrioit's Mark Hartigan and Ron Hainsey had exchanged second-period goals before Aaron Rome had given Columbus the 2-1 lead early in the final frame.
"The puck was just laying outside the line [where] he couldn't play it, so he had trouble getting back and I just tried to hit him and it hit his behind and went in,'' Zetterberg said.
Waddell notes that, early on, the Wings kind of dogged it as they tried to find their sea legs again, suggesting that Justin Abdelkader's bombastic style and boundless enthusiasm were the only positive points early on:
April 4, Windsor Star: The 21-year-old proved an interesting distraction to fans in a first period largely devoid of passion.
What quality chances there were fell largely to Detroit. The Wings, who squandered three power-play opportunities, were a little unlucky not to grab at least a goal with Dan Cleary blasting a shot off the post and Pavel Datsyuk hitting the crossbar.
Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire, making his first start after missing the past couple weeks with a concussion, also made a couple of other stellar stops on Johan Franzen and Datsyuk to keep the game scoreless through 20 minutes.
After being wasteful with their own power plays, the Blue Jackets weren't when they got to work with the extra skater. Ron Hainsey opened the scoring at 7:13 with his eighth goal of the season, all of which have come on the power play.
Wings coach Mike Babcock then shuffled his lines and that created some spark.
The Wings scored on their last power play, however, and that guaranteed the Wings a President's Trophy-clinching single point...
That Dominik Hasek guy wasn't bad, either, as the Detroit News's David Goricki notes:
April 4, Detroit News: Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek was looking for a little redemption after getting yanked the previous night in a 6-2 loss to the Blackhawks.
Hasek made the most of the chance, making 20 saves, including a great stop on Rick Nash 's back-hander in the opening minute of the third period.
For a team that struggled early on, the Wings definitely displayed some stick-to-it-ive-ness:
"It was a determined effort," said Babcock, whose team trailed 2-1 before Johan Franzen scored his 27th goal on a power play with less than three minutes to play. "We kept plugging away. The guys found a way to get it done." ... The Red Wings won the Presidents' Trophy for the sixth time since the 1985-86 season when the trophy was introduced by the league's Board of Governors. No other team has won the trophy more than twice.
Zetterberg expressed his relief about the Wings' clinching thereof to the Detroit Free Press's George Sipple:
April 4, Detroit Free Press: "It was nice to get that out of the way, home-ice advantage all the way in the playoffs. That is big for us."
Not having to worry about winning Sunday's regular-season finale against the Blackhawks is also a relief.
"Especially when San Jose is playing the way they were," Zetterberg said. "Thank God we had a good run at the beginning of the year, when we had that slump in February. We still had the points to pull it off and win the Presidents' Trophy."
Babcock gave Leclaire due praise, too:
"Things didn't look very good there for a while, but guys stayed determined and found a way to get it done in the end, which is a real positive for us. Their goalie played really well."
Given that the Wings are playing without the oodles of aforementioned, injured players, don't expect anyone to get a night off this Sunday:
Asked if he planned to rest some players in Sunday's game, Babcock said: "Obviously we're going to do our best to rest the guys we can, and yet if we don't have enough bodies we can't rest them."
Johan Franzen managed to crack a joke about actually being able to score a goal in April:
"I was worried about that," Franzen said. "Feels good to get one this month, too."
Franzen also framed the Wings' President's Trophy win wonderfully:
April 4, Macomb Daily: "To keep being in the top year after year in the era of the salary cap, it's a great job by the coaching staff, the GMs, the whole organization," said Franzen. "Everyone wants to win."
Win they did, and they're also getting some money to put in their pockets:
Other than another piece of hardware for the franchise trophy case and a $350,000 prize, the Presidents' Trophy has this meaning ... home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs and playing the lowest seeded team each round.
The NHL confirms that $350,000 mark, and that would translate to $15,217.39 for each player on a 23-man roster. The Wings will obviously divvy the money up to make sure that their training staff and coaches get a share of the prize money, and the Wings' part-timers will probably get a chunk of change as well.
Pavel Datsyuk's assist on Zetterberg's gamer is pushing him toward the top of Detroit's scoring charts:
Datsyuk got an assist on the goal -- his second of the night -- giving him 66 for the season. That's the fifth highest single-season assist total in Detroit history, trailing only Steve Yzerman (90, 79), Marcel Dionne (74) and Sergei Fedorov (68).
For the record, Datsyuk has 97 points (31 goals, 66 assists), followed by Zetterberg's 92 and Nicklas Lidstrom's 68, Brian Rafalski has 55 points, and Cleary (41 points), Hudler (40), Holmstrom (40), and Samuelsson (40) aren't too shabby, either. The Wings have five 20-goal scorers, Johan Franzen included, and Valtteri Filppula has 19. FYI.
DetroitRedWings.com's Michael Caples got a great quote from Babcock, who puts it all in perspective--all the Wings' regular-season accolades are wonderful, but as of next Wednesday, each and every one of the 16 remaining teams start with the same number of wins, and all the President's Trophy guarantees is home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, were the "throughout" part is on an as-earned basis:
April 3, DetroitRedWings.com: "I think that anytime you can finish and have the opportunity to play in your building throughout the playoffs is a positive thing," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "Plus, if actually the best teams finish higher then that means you're putting off the best teams for later. Now to me, anybody gets in the playoffs in the West are the best team. We're all the same, so it's going to come down to determination and goaltending and health."


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The messages encased in this handmade jewelry are uplifting and possess a hint of vintage charm and nostalgia. This pendant holds the quote from Robert Brault stating, "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." on one side. On the reverse is a vintage postcard image of the Eifel tower. Each item is made from cut glass and is soldered by hand. Because of this artisanal production process slight variation is not only accepted, but expected. These charms are water resistant but not water proof. To prolong the life of your pendant avoid wearing while bathing, swimming or exercising.
Handmade in the USA: variations in size, color and finish may be present, adding to the artisanal quality of each piece.


text: DATE=8/11/2000 TYPE=ON THE LINE TITLE=ON THE LINE: RUSSIA UNDER PUTIN NUMBER=1-00873 EDITOR=OFFICE OF POLICY - 619-0037 CONTENT= THEME: UP, HOLD UNDER AND FADE Anncr: On the Line - a discussion of United States policy and contemporary issues. This week, "Russia Under Putin." Here is your host, Robert Reilly. Host: Hello and welcome to On the Line. Since winning election in March, Russian President Valdimir Putin has moved quickly to consolidate power and reassert Russian influence abroad. At home, he has reined in Russia's regional leaders and vigorously prosecuted the war in Chechnya. Earlier in the summer, the arrest of Vladimir Gusinsky, the owner of Russia's only independent television network, was taken as further evidence of a crackdown on the press, even though Mr. Gusinsky was subsequently released. Mr. Putin has sought to reinvigorate Russian diplomacy with trips to China and North Korea. Some observers worry that Mr. Putin is showing authoritarian tendencies. Others say that, without a basic reorganization of the Russian government, further reform would be impossible. Joining me today to discuss Russia under President Putin are three experts. Anders Aslund is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Paul Goble is director of Communications and Technology at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and a former State Department specialist on the Soviet Union. And Ariel Cohen is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation and author of Russian Imperialism: Development and Crisis. Welcome to the program. Anders Aslund, this far into Mr. Putin's presidency, how do you rate him in the area of your specialty, which is Russian economic reform? Aslund: I think it is quite incredible how much he has done. He has shown an extraordinary political ability to get everything through on the tax reform. Host: Everything being? Aslund: In particular, the thirteen percent flat tax, the income tax for next year, cutting the payroll tax quite substantially, and getting the second part of the tax code through the Duma and the Federation Council, which means that the Russian tax system will be cleaned up. This is the big tax reform that we have been waiting for for years that has now been done in no time. Host: Paul Goble, from the political side, how do you assess these changes in terms of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, the consolidation of power from the regional governors, and other political changes? Goble: In his first few months, President Putin has certainly achieved a lot on paper. There have been a lot of laws passed. There have been a lot of decrees issued. Some of them point in a good direction, some in a bad. But the problem is that a lot of them have not been implemented yet, and there is an awful lot of resistance. Host: Isn't that the whole point of his reforms, streamlining the government so these things can be implemented? Goble: If he wants to implement everything he talks about, it could be very frightening. Just greater efficiency, just greater order, by themselves are not virtues. It is what purposes you are going to put that greater efficiency and greater order to. People make a very good case that Russia has been in such disorder that some reestablishment of order is a necessary precondition. The question is: is this reestablishment of order under Putin going to lead to the foundation of a more open, civil society, or is it going to be the basis for a return to a more authoritarian political system as Russians have known in the past. Host: And what is the answer to that question? Goble: My view right now is that there are too many disturbing signs that he is prepared to go back to much more authoritarian approaches than we had had in the last few years. Host: Let me take a quote, in which President Putin said, "Russia was founded as a super- centralized state from the very start. This is inherent in its genetic code, traditions, and mentality." Actually that was said before the March elections. Does a statement like that worry you, Ariel Cohen? Cohen: Yes, of course. With what we have seen so far, just building on what Paul Goble mentioned, is a crackdown on the media, the forcing of the sale of the only independent T-V channel [N-T-V] and independently held media company to Gazprom, on the board of which the representatives of the Russian government are a majority. So it will be indirectly state-owned. Host: Do you mean Media Most? Cohen: The Media Most sale. Host: May I ask you, in addition to Mr. Vladimir Gusinsky's arrest, who was then released, President Putin is saying that a free press is essential to the development of democracy. Cohen: A free press is not achieved by apparently forcing the owner to sell to the government. Furthermore, we have news that an environmental activist, Mr. [Alexander] Nikitin, may be retried after the Supreme Court of Russia basically forced his acquittal. We see statements by Putin's close political allies and advisers that Russia is moving to something they call a managed democracy. It will be managed by the Kremlin. So both internally and externally in the area of national security, defense and foreign policy, we see rapprochement with North Korea, a trip to Libya, a visit from Iraqi officials, a visit from Serbian officials who are under sanctions, and Putin's incessant talking up of the navy as basically, of the major military services, for power projection. Host: Let me get Anders Aslund's response to that. Are you disturbed by this recentralization of power? Or do you see it as essential to implement reform? Aslund: Let me put it like this. I do not think that Putin's instincts are very democratic. But I think that Russian society is sufficiently strongly pluralist to take this down. And I think that the Gusinsky affair is a good case. It generated an enormous outrage, and Gusinsky was freed after three days. Gusinsky has financial problems. In any case, this is a man who has invested a lot and has got far too little revenue. So I think that Gusinsky is a person who anyhow would go bankrupt, after seeing his business strategy. Goble: Putting him in jail did not help. Aslund: No, but what we heard then was that he is going after Gusinsky because Gusinsky is against him. And after that Putin has quickly moved against all the oligarchs. And all these people have made money in not very acceptable ways. And Putin has done more against more of them than anybody could have expected. So my sense is the governors need to be reined in. They are being reined in and they are becoming accountable. This is fully democratic. There are quite a few statements, as you say, Ariel, that are not acceptable. Yes, it is unfortunate that the K-G-B people are there. I think that they will be reined in. Host: Paul Goble? Goble: Anders makes a very good point. Putin's intentions, Putin's personal style, is not democratic. This is a man whom we know more about than any Russian leader in a very long time, when he is just entering office. His impulses, his statements, are very disturbing. The question is whether he can implement those things. The question is: where is Russian society? Some people see the events of the last decade as having created a countervailing power that no one can resist. Other people don't. My own guess is that it is sector by sector. I'm very disturbed by what is happening in the electronic media. The moves against the oligarchs who did use the media to promote their own interests but also created some balance within the press, is very frightening because if there is no competitive media, there will not be a competitive politics. The fact that he chose to make a deal with the Communists early on, with the Unity faction and the Communists, who, in effect, froze out competitive fights at the parliamentary level raised real problems with where he is going. I don't think he can control the governors. Host: On the other hand, he now has a Duma that has passed, as Anders Aslund said, this quite extraordinary thirteen percent flat tax. Cohen: Nobody is saying Putin is going back to the Communist model of economy. I agree with Anders Aslund fully that we are not going back to a 1985 economic model. There are these things in Russia that are worrisome. And in terms of the governors that have to be reined in - Anders, among other things, what I do is the rule of law. And unfortunately, the ability of the president through the prosecutor general, whom he controls, in a country that does not really have an independent judiciary, to fire governors on the pretense of either a criminal investigation or one violation of the federal laws - this is not a rule of law. This is vertical control and the Kremlin is talking about reinstating vertical executive power and that power is very quickly becoming pretty much the dominant, the hegemonic political power. There are no checks and balances, or these checks and balances are being dismantled by Mr. Putin. Host: I just want to remind our audience that this is "On the Line." And we are discussing today Russia under president Putin with Anders Aslund from the Carnegie Endowment, Paul Goble from R-F- E/R-L, and Ariel Cohen from the Heritage Foundation. Anders, do want to respond to that remark from Ariel Cohen? Aslund: Yes. What we are seeing in Russia is an enormous reaction, which shows that there are checks and balances. To me, Putin is pretty easy to read. This is a man who looks upon the marginal cost and the marginal utility of each action. And he is very politically skillful. He won't do these stupid things because they cost too much, because you would have too good an argument against him if he really did it. So therefore he won't give you that pleasure. He will stop short of it. Host: Paul Goble? Goble: He is not living within the constitution, not living within democratic principles, but in terms of what one can get away with. Gusinsky was released relatively quickly because there was an international outcry about him. Had some other oligarch gone down, people in the West would have pointed to the corruption that they were involved in. On the Chechen war, which was very popular initially, it is a lot less popular right now. The polls from Russia suggest that more people would like to see negotiations than a continuation of the fighting. Host: On the other hand, President Putin's popularity continues in the stratospheric realm. Goble: I think that is largely, one, name recognition and two, the fact that he has been on the international stage. And I think many Russians like the idea of a leader who looks vigorous and is prepared to stand up for Russia. I think that is a very popular thing in most countries. On the other hand, if you go beyond this generic feeling that here is a strong leader and start asking about specific policies and specific approaches, Putin's support is a whole lot less, not only in Moscow, but elsewhere. Host: But in terms of the rule of law, Ariel Cohen, when you listen to President Putin speak and he says, our strategic policy is the following: Less administration, more free enterprise, more freedom to produce, to trade, to invest. And he recognizes quite clearly that "high taxes, arbitrary actions of functionaries and criminal elements" have been the things that have undermined the Russian economy. So isn't his theoretical grasp of the problem right on the mark? Cohen: Well, maybe theoretically, maybe in the realm of words, but in the realm of deeds, it looks like - actually while moving on all fronts simultaneously, Putin manages to create more mess and more political instability than a managed, a more deliberate, slower reform that played up the strengths of the emerging civil society, played up the strengths of the judiciary -- that would be much more helpful. Host: But what about the economy, when you have seven percent growth, inflation under twenty percent and the tax reform? Cohen: The Russian leadership recognized, starting from Mr. Putin himself, Prime Minister [Mikhail] Kasyanov, Deputy Prime Minister [Alexey] Kudrin, that the so-called prosperity is driven by oil revenues. It is a ripple effect of the 1998 devaluation. The Russians are very concerned that there will be a slowdown. And once there is a slowdown and the revenue to the government declines, it's more difficult to prosecute the war in Chechnya. It's difficult already. It's more difficult to fuel the economy through military orders. I don't think that policy is going to work. So I think the instability in the regions with the regional elite's being alienated, with the media elite being alienated, the ongoing war in Chechnya, this all builds up the potential of a crashing failure for Putin maybe two or three years from now. Host: Is that true in the economy, Anders Aslund? Aslund: I don't agree at all here. What we are seeing is that the economy is really booming ahead. The consensus forecast for this year is that there would be growth of one to two percent. So far, it has been over seven percent this year. Clearly, it won't be less than six percent. Host: What about Ariel Cohen's statement that this is driven by higher oil prices? Aslund: Of course, it helps and the devaluation helps. But that is not all of it. Barter has fallen by almost half. Arrears are totally under control and have fallen in real terms by three- quarters. Bankruptcies have risen. What we are seeing now is a sharp real restructuring. The industries that are moving ahead most - it's light industry; it's metallurgy; it's pharmaceuticals. This is not an oil and gas boom we are seeing in the economy. It is something much more. And we are seeing now that transportation, retail trade and everything is growing at a pace with G-D-P [gross domestic product]. And the government is talking it down so that they don't create big expectations. Cohen: There is news coming out that the tax cut is aimed at getting the economy out of the gray and black sector into the light and then they are going to raise the taxes. I hope this is just the rumor mill in Moscow. Aslund: Deputy Prime Minster [Victor] Christenko said the other day that the thirteen percent flat tax will stay constant for three years for certain. Host: I want to make sure we get to the subject of how President Putin is going about reasserting Russia's role in the world because of his performance at the G-8 summit in Japan, his appearance in North Korea, China, and, as Ariel Cohen mentioned, an upcoming trip to Libya. What does this all mean? Goble: I think you have to look at two different parts of what Putin is trying to do. On the one hand, I think that most of the leaders of the G-7 countries were very impressed that finally we have a Russian leader who does not just bluster, who is well briefed, who is very disciplined, who is able to interact with people at the highest levels and do it quite capably. They may not agree with him, but this is a much more effective leader than Boris Yeltsin was at the end. And I think that the evaluations that we've heard coming after Okinawa is that this is an effective leader. Not that this is necessarily a man who is going to do what we want or what we would like to see. The other half of the picture, which I think is very much more disturbing, involves Putin's effort to make the alliance of the aggrieved. All of the countries that have been sort of on the outs with the West have been the particular object of Mr. Putin's attentions. He has received the Serbian representatives, despite international sanctions against them. The Iraqis have been in Moscow, Tareq Aziz last week. You have a possible Putin visit to Libya. You have Putin going to North Korea. You have all the countries that have been identified as rogue states, or now "states of concern" in Washington, are where Putin is going to. That isn't a very attractive view from the point of view of the Western powers when you see the Russian government not building alliances so much with Germany or France or Britain, but alliances with the people who are angry at the international community. And that raises serious problems. Host: Why is he doing that, Ariel Cohen, when the thing he needs the most is investment from the West? Cohen: I think Putin is trying to alleviate Russian weakness by playing up Russian strengths in the developing countries, especially in "states of concern." We did not mention Iran yet. Russia is building up the Iranian nuclear potential, including the nuclear power stations, the Iranian navy, supplying submarines and, allegedly, according to some reliable publications, is selling nuclear weapons technology to Iran. If this is the case and Iran goes nuclear with Russian help, it changes the prognosis for the oil prices. It changes the ability of Iran to block exports of oil from the Persian Gulf. It may change the global economic situation. And Russia, of course, benefits because Russia is a high price oil exporter. Prices for oil from thirty to forty dollars would benefit Russia. Host: As Russia is also selling a lot of military high technology to China, Anders Aslund, are they doing this just because they need the hard currency, or is there some strategy behind this that they wish to complicate the world for the only remaining superpower, the United States? Aslund: If you are in Putin's position and you want to utilize the cards you have, which are the unused cards, there might be a more benign interpretation of it. But I keep it open for the time being. It looks very much like Putin is going where he does not see any resistance. We can see with regard to the Western countries that it was a clear priority list. Who has said the least about Chechnya - Japan - comes first. Who has made the second least amount of trouble, Britain; third, the U.S. And then, France misbehaved most; it came last. So I think that it is very much going for the least resistance and trying to exploit potentials that have not been utilized, but the question remains: is this malign or just opportunism? Host: And what is the answer to that, Paul Goble? Goble: I think it is both. I think that, on the one hand, Putin wants to use these attachments to put pressure on the major Western countries to be more agreeable. Clearly, there was a signal after the G-7. Host: What would be more agreeable? Goble: For example, that you have something to trade away. If you are doing something that people don't like, you can offer to stop it in exchange for considerations of various kinds. That's what a weaker power has to do. This is the [Foreign Minister Prince Alexander] Gorchakov strategy of late-nineteenth century Russia revived at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The problem is, though, as governments always discover, you find yourself often controlled by your client states. The states that you are reaching out to end up getting you involved in things far beyond what you may want. And your ability to back away from them in a particular case is a lot less than you would like. So I think that, while Putin may or may not have a malign intent - I tend to think he does - the involvement with these kind of countries, at least in the next five years or so, is going to lead to a malign confrontation with Western countries and especially the U.S. Host: I'm afraid that's all the time we have this week. I would like to thank our guests - Anders Aslund from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Paul Goble from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and Ariel Cohen from the Heritage Foundation -- for joining me to discuss Russia under President Putin. This is Robert Reilly for On the Line. 11-Aug-2000 10:58 AM EDT (11-Aug-2000 1458 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .


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A Carlisle man was sentenced to 3 to 23 months in county prison for molesting a 12-year-old girl. George A. Cadapan, 38, molested the girl in her home in Carlisle in 2010. The girl's mother reported the offenses to police.
The girl testified during Cadapan's trial in August. A county jury convicted Cadapan of two counts of indecent assault and one count of corruption of minors.
Public Defender Timothy Clawges said Cadapan had no prior record and had served 22 days in jail.
Judge Edward Guido said Cadapan has accepted responsibility but "lays part of the blame on the victim, which is totally misguided."


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All the hard work put forth in the offseason appears to be paying dividends for the Minot High boys golf team.
It was evident Monday at Souris Valley Golf Course, where the Magicians claimed the nine-team Minot Invite with a team score of 314. Minot edged Jamestown by a single stroke to win its home tournament. Century (322), Bismarck (337) and St. Mary's (338) rounded out the top five.
"We didn't win this golf tournament because of just how they played today," Minot coach Shane Hannegrefs said. "It's the extra work they've been putting in. We have some kids who have spent hours and hours extra.
"In order to spend those extra hours, we had people who supported us to give us chances to do that. We have great support in the community for the golf team."
Minot senior Jersey Kelly shot a team-best 75 and tied for second with Century's Drew Lingle. Kelly birdied the first hole and added two more on the back nine. Kelly finished the back nine with an even-par 36.
"It's the first tournament (we've) won all my career," Kelly said. "Course played well. There were shots lost, but other than that it was a pretty good tournament."
Minot sophomore Cody Reynolds and senior Taran Albright also placed in the top 10. Reynolds shook off a 6-over 42 on the front nine by shooting even par on the back nine.
"I just grinded it out and played for par," Reynolds said of his final nine holes. "I wasn't trying to do too much."
Reynolds bogeyed his first three holes and five of his first seven. His luck turned around on the 11th hole when an arrant shot hit off his dad's arm to the left of the fairway and stayed in play. Reynolds pared the 11th and finished 2-under on his final five holes. He chipped in for birdie on the 18th.
"There were plenty of hard holes and plenty of accessible holes," Hannegrefs said. "You saw some good scores. There were 10 kids who shot in the 70s. But if you didn't get it in the fairway, you didn't get it up and around the green, it was difficult to score. There weren't a lot of birdies, but kids who could grind out and make a par, those are the kids who ended up with the best scores today."
Albright didn't record a birdie, but made 12 pars on the round. He finished with a 79.
"It's a great first step," Hannegrefs said. "It's great for our kids. It gives them some confidence knowing we can compete at a high level and we're in that top tier of golf teams in the west and hopefully around the state."
Jamestown's Austin Rene shot a 1-over 73 to earn medalist honors.
The Magicians compete in the East-West Crossover tournament in Jamestown on Friday and Saturday.
Mike Kraft covers Minot High athletics. Follow him on Twitter @MKraft24_MDN.


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'Chinese Government': The New Phrase Censored by China's Internet Control
Radio Free Asia | January 15, 2007
Shen Hua
CHINAThe phrase "Chinese government" has been censored on China's official Web sites. If one searches for "central government of the People's Republic of China" on the Best Tone 114 Web site (China Telecom's Internet phone service and information platform), one gets: "Sensitive phrase: [we] can only provide news search service." An Internet user from China told the reporter that even "Mao Zedong" is listed as "illegal information" in some of China's search engines.
On the Best Tone 114 Web site, not only is "central government of the People's Republic of China" censored, but "democracy" and "National People's Congress" are also sensitive information. Zhou Guoqiang, an Internet user from Beijing, said he often comes across such disconcerting situations.
Zhou said, "When you search 'Mao Zedong,' 'Zhu Rongji' [China's previous premier], and 'Wen Jiabao' [China's current premier], many Internet search engines will tell you these are illegal phrases. Some chat Web sites won't even let you key in these phrases."
According to Zhou, administrators of Chinese Web sites often receive from the government lists of phrases to filter out. All phrases fall into two categories, those that can and those that cannot be searched. Users get "illegal information" in the results if their search falls in the latter category. Sometimes users protest about the censored words being outrageous. Then the administrator will come out and apologize for "technical errors."
Internet control by the Chinese government not only affects what results the Internet users get, but also impedes the freedom of posting messages on the Internet. Zhou said there are ways to bypass this. "One can add a space between characters of the censored phrases or simply create new names for the censored phrases. We refer to Jiang Zemin as Jiang, and the Chinese Communist Party as 'Wei-Guang-Zheng' ["great-honorable-righteous," the three words that have always been used to describe the Chinese Communist Party by the Chinese media]. There is a large pool of [these] misused words but it is becoming chaotic."
Fang Jue, a commentator on China issues who currently resides in the U.S., said, "Censoring the phrase 'Chinese government' tells people that government control over the media is way too much. Internet control in China blocks all phrases that can possibly lead the people to ponder democracy, freedom, and human rights. The range of control is going too far. They are blocking every neutral phrase that relates to politics."
"TerrorStorm is something that should be seen by everyone, no matter what their stance/affiliation/political bent. " - Rich Rosell, Digitally Obsessed UK
Get TerrorStorm on DVD today
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We're live with theCube here at NodeSummit where I caught up with Flowdock's Founder and CEO Otto Hillska.
Flowdock is a communications tools for developers that combines group messaging with data from third party services such as Github, bug tracers, Jira and email.
Node.js Angle: Flowdock has always been Javascript focused because it is running on the client side. They have just started using Node.js for real-time integration. Twitter and other services will be added to the service.
Developers are using Node.js as a component of their service, experimenting and in the process, extending its use.
Alex Williams
Alex Williams is an editor for SiliconAngle and lives a charmed life in Portland, Or.
Latest posts by Alex Williams (see all)
- Google I/O Essentials for the CIO - June 30, 2012
- Amazon Web Services Faces Another Outage and the Critics Go Wild - June 30, 2012
- The Launch List: The Partners Aligning with Google Compute Engine - June 28, 2012


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He has a knack of smuggling unorthodox material past the jazz police. The singer-pianist Joe Stilgoe launched into his opening set with a funky arrangement of the Temptations anthem Get Ready, fusing Tamla Motown energy with lounge-lizard guile. A debonair performer with a dry sense of humour — comedy devotees will know him as a member of Alex Horne's house band — he draws his ideas from all directions but always makes them his own. For proof, look no further than his cover of the Steve Miller Band hit Abracadabra.
Anyone allergic to festive sentiment would have been relieved to discover that


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State offices and businesses weren't the only things forced to close by the Blizzard of 1978. The snow and ice also froze out a wedding, or at least postponed it.
The 30-year anniversary of Lee J. and Anne Marie Koski's marriage comes on the heels of the white storm's. The former Saginawians who now live in Midland plan to celebrate with a tad less snow than was present for their Jan. 29, 1978, ceremony.
They had scheduled their nuptials for Friday, Jan. 27, 1978 -- the day snow levels reached 18 inches -- but reluctantly agreed to a delay when they realized proceeding with the service wasn't practical.
"My aunt was the caterer," said the former Anne Marie Chernich, who works as a preadmissions nurse at MidMichigan Medical Center in Midland. "She called me saying it would have to be postponed. She had cooked enough for 500 people, and she was saying not even 50 would show up."
Husband-to-be Lee Koski had just moved into a new apartment and did not yet have a phone. With no other alternative, he walked two miles through the slush from his Bond Street apartment to his parents' house to find out whether the wedding was going to proceed as planned.
Calling all the invited guests to inform them of the delay was no easy task, but the couple received added help by enlisting the aid of three radio stations to announce the cancellation on the air.
With much of Michigan crippled by the blizzard, their 500 guests were understanding. The photographer, florist and band likewise agreed to reschedule.
"They were great, easy to deal with," said Lee Koski, who has taught advanced biology and chemistry at Midland's Dow High School for 29 years. "We were really fortunate."
The priest reserved for the wedding -- a family friend from Mackinaw City -- made it to Saginaw for the Friday nuptials but ended up having to wait out the storm over the weekend.
The wedding eventually took place at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, 1978, at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, 4735 W. Michigan in Saginaw Township. Afterward, about 500 guests gathered for the reception at UAW Local 455 Hall, 110 Florence.
"I was surprised so many came," said Anne Marie Koski.
"I can't think of anyone who didn't show up," added Lee Koski. "Everybody had cabin fever. After being cooped up for four or five days, everybody was ready to have a good time. We had a great night, lots of festivities."


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As you all know, Kristen Stewart was on the cover of the Vanity Fair this month. She was on the list of top 40 Hollywood stars as number 37, having reported earned roughly $16 million in 2009. Rob Pattinson earned $18 million, earning him 35th place. They both earned the most amount of money from staring in eclipse ($7.5 million each), and $5 million for new moon.
Views: 24


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The Navy is stopping the purchase of ball caps, plaques and the often-traded command pins, the latest casualties to sequestration's across-the-board cuts.
The Navy released new guidance May 16 suspending expenditures on presentation items.
"We have significantly reduced our rate of expenditure of appropriated funds to preserve mission essential operations," said Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson.
The policy does allow previously purchased items, as well as those bought with personal funds, to be distributed.
Ferguson didn't stipulate how long the ban was in place, but said he would provide additional information if the situation changes.
The cutbacks are just part of the Defense Department's efforts to deal with some $32 billion in cuts from sequestration this fiscal year.


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FLINT, MI -- A former Genesee County inmate testified that an accused member of the Howard Boys gang admitted to a 2012 Easter Sunday double homicide while the two were in jail together.
The witness testified during a Wednesday, Sept. 25, preliminary exam that Markus Evans admitted while the two men were in the Genesee County Jail's recreation area to shooting and killing a man on Easter 2012. The witness also testified that Evans told him a man named "Rod" shot and killed a woman at the same time.
Evans and Roderick Jackson are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree home invasion, felon in possession of a firearm and felony firearms in the April 8, 2012, killings of Michael Edwards and Latosha Fox at Edwards' Neilson Street home.
Autopsy reports show that Edwards died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds while Fox died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The jailhouse witness is currently serving time in prison on 2012 convictions of unlawfully driving away an automobile and third-degree fleeing a police officer and a 2013 federal conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to state and federal records.
A neighbor at the scene told The Flint Journal previously that suspects shouted "Police!" before entering the home and killing the two.
"I seen the lights flashing from the gunshots," said Scott Stamper. "There were like nine or 10 shots. There was a shootout going on in there."
After hearing the gunshots, Stamper said he saw a man stumble into a Crown Victoria that looked similar to a police vehicle. The vehicle then sped away.
Evans, 25, and Jackson, 27, were stopped by Genesee Township police following the incident, former Flint police Detective Michael Angus testified.
Jackson was charged locally and Evans was named in a May 2012 federal indictment following a multi-year investigation by local, state and federal authorities into the alleged Howard Boys street gang, which authorities said used violence to preserve a drug and gun trafficking operation on the city's south side for the past decade.
Evans was sentenced to 16 years, 8 months in federal prison in a judgment signed July 1 by Flint U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith. He pleaded guilty Feb. 5 to one count of participating in a racketeering conspiracy for his role in the Howard Boys gang.
He had previous convictions of possession of less than 25 grams of cocaine and attempted carrying a concealed weapon.
Jackson was sentenced Tuesday, Sept. 24, to 4 years, 9 months to 10 years in prison by Genesee Circuit Judge Judith Fullerton after pleading guilty to assault with harm less than murder. He will also serve a consecutive two-year prison sentence for felony firearms.
The exam on the murder charges for the two men is scheduled to continue Oct. 18.
State records show Jackson has an extensive criminal history, including serving time in prison for assault with harm less than murder, felony firearms, delivery of less than 50 grams of cocaine and felony firearms. He was last paroled Nov. 29, 2011.


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Work planned on county roads
The state Department of Transportation announced that work on Maui County roads this week is scheduled in the following areas:
* There will be a multiple lane closures at the Hana Highway-East Kaahumanu Avenue-Hobron Avenue-East Kamehameha Avenue intersections near Maui Mall and Kahului Harbor from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly through the end of the month for sewer main installations, including the right-turn lane from Hana Highway onto Hobron Avenue, the right-turn lane from Hobron Avenue onto Kaahumanu Avenue and access to Hobron Avenue from East Kamehameha Avenue. There will also be alternating lane closures in both directions at the intersection of Hobron and East Kaahumanu avenues.
* There will be a single-lane closure on Hana Highway in the westbound direction near Milepost 14, between Wailua and Papaaea roads, from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today through Friday for roadway work.
* Ocean erosion repairs continue on Honoapiilani Highway in the area of Launiupoko State Park, shifting lanes mauka. Speed limits are reduced in the work zone.
* Honoapiilani Highway traffic will experience single-lane closures in both directions between Prison Street and Kualapa Loop from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday for pavement marking and lane striping.
* There will be alternating single-lane closures on Kahekili Highway in both directions between Milepost 36, in the vicinity of Honokohau Bay, and Milepost 42, in the vicinity of Papanahoa Gulch, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today through Friday for pavement marking and lane striping.


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Syracuse, NY - Dylan Jones avoided state prison when he was sentenced in 2009 for a Pompey home burglary in which the homeowner's collection of valuable animal pelts was stolen.
He got a second chance to avoid state prison when he violated probation within a year.
He barely avoided a state prison sentence 10 days ago when he was again charged with violating probation. But continued probation was no longer an option from County Judge Tony Aloi.
Aloi threatened Jones with a one- to three-year state prison sentence but agreed to two consecutive one-year penalties in the Onondaga County Correctional Facility instead if the defendant admitted violating his probation in the Pompey case and a separate Manlius burglary case.
The judge noted Jones had not committed any new crimes but had been seen in a bar in violation of the probationary terms to stay out of such establishments.
Court Notebook looks at the odd, unusual and humorous in the court and legal system. Sample some of Jim O'Hara's other Court Notebooks.


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Tomorrow night the epic match up between the "LeRoys" takes place.
"The Freak" Tim Lincecum vs. "The Doc" Roy Halladay.
Hopefully it will be a good game but things this hyped rarely live up to the billing. I expect one (if not both) of these guys to be a little off and that some runs will actually be scored.
I am just holding out hope that it is the other guy.
If your on Twitter you should definitely follow the The Crazy Crabbers. If you're not you should really consider joining, lots of good stuff going on there.


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Six years ago, when the Blue Bottle Café opened, it was something of a pioneer in a culinary desert.
Elements, the most important restaurant in the state, had not yet opened. Nathan Myhrvold had not written his $625 tome on modernist cuisine. Eno Terra, a farm-to-table restaurant in Kingston (one that now has its own farm), was just an idea. First Field, a terrific Jersey tomato story — a company that takes organic, locally grown tomatoes and turns them into remarkable jars of ketchup — was not around.
All these wondrous food adventures happened in the Blue Bottle vicinity, creating an exponential culinary rippling that has helped transform the Princeton area, long a mundane gastronomic region, into a dining destination and culinary incubator.
The folks at Blue Bottle — owner-chefs Rory and Aaron Philipson, who correctly pinpointed the area's potential, plus chef Christopher Voigtsberger — have impressive résumés, with backgrounds in the kitchens of Rat's, the (former) Ryland Inn and Eleven Madison Park in New York.
On the menu, some things seem thoroughly modern — the gnudi trend is here, plus most ingredients are proudly local. Yet the food at Blue Bottle Café seems trapped somewhere in 2006 (not that there's anything wrong with that).
A sautéed calamari and chorizo ($13.50), for example, may have seemed quite the innovate darling on a Jersey menu six years ago, especially in this neighborhood. Today, despite its nonrubbery calamari, this dish seemed quite tired, with a chorizo that lacked nuance and blunt chickpea croutons that were just there. Braised veal breast ravioli ($12) with mirepoix vegetables and a vegetable veal reduction also seemed thoroughly dated (you can just picture such a dish on David Drake's former Stage House menu), but this dish was executed well, the veal tender, the ravioli crisply edged for texture — a remarkably nostalgic nod to the era.
Seared Griggstown chicken ($26) is a robust and tender dish, exactly what you've come to expect from Griggstown (another great Princeton-area culinary story). This dish came with an impressive cornucopia of accompaniments. The sweet potato and butternut squash puree was perfectly sweet and nutty, but the ricotta gnudi was just a disappointing clump.
Beef tenderloin ($33) had a nice energy and a welcome gaminess. It was accompanied by potato and bacon croquettes and a thoroughly old-fashioned (and not really in a good way) creamed Swiss chard.
Desserts ($9) are comforting. The profiteroles boasted a remarkable chocolate sauce, dense and not sweet, while the apple crumb tart was exactly familiar, just as expected.
The café itself, which could be mistaken for a house were it not for its gravel parking lot, is quite casual and quirky, despite its white tablecloths. Inside is a crowd of happy regulars. Clearly the café, with its puff pastry strudel and its pan-roasted venison, has a local niche. However, the area is now intensely competitive, offering much culinary excitement elsewhere.
Blue Bottle Café
101 E. Broad St., Hopewell. (609) 333-1710, thebluebottlecafe.com.
Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.