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Industry News
A recent report by Akamai Technologies shows hackers are attacking corporate servers over mobile networks.
Security experts have warned computer users with webcams that they may be in danger from hackers.
A new Twitter worm is attacking consumers through Google.
The amount of malware that appeared in 2010 was double the amount in 2009.
The hackers that allegedly accessed 120,000 iPad users� data are facing charges and potential jail sentencing.
Online shoppers now must be aware of a new phishing scam that tricks them with their phones rather than emails, pop-up advertisements or social media messages.
A new malware campaign, hiding in a PowerPoint presentation showing explicit Kama Sutra positions, is wreaking havoc on computers around the world.
One of the trickier viruses out on the web is the Keylogger.
Last year saw a substantial growth in both consumer and enterprise data breaches.
With the new year just beginning, it also means new security threats for unsuspecting consumer and enterprise computer users.
Facebook users were tricked into clicking on photos that contained viruses and anything but pictures over the weekend.
A pair of foreign exchange students from Vietnam were recently apprehended by authorities for allegedly participating in a scam that used stolen credit card numbers to purchase items before they were sold on eBay. The students, who were enrolled at Winona State University in Minnesota, have not been charged as of yet nor are they the only targets of the investigation.


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Organic Root Stimulator Hair Fertilizer
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Nourishment for healthy hair and scalp. Organic Root Stimulator Hair Fertilizer helps to strengthen and nourish weak and damaged hair. Enriched with a blend of herbal extracts to add moisture to dry hair and scalp. Organic Root Stimulator Hair Fertilizer will help to create the perfect environment for hair to grow stronger, giving you healthy beautiful hair - naturally! Organic Root Stimulator Hair Fertilizer is ideal for those: with sluggish hair growth or moderate hair loss due to chemical damage or weave; who have restored their hair with the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Restoration System and want to maintain healthy beautiful hair.
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Aqua (Water), Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Petrolatum, Isopropyl Myristate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Phenyl Trimethicone, Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Extract, Cola Nitida (Kola Nut) Extract, Panthenol, Cholesterol, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, DMDM Hydantoin, Triethanolamine, Carbomer, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Parfum (Fragrance), Benzyl Salicylate, Cinnamic Alcohol, Citronellol, Coumarin, Eugenol, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Hydroxycitronellal, D-Limonene, Linalool, Caramel.
Use daily, or as often as needed. Apply a small amount directly to the scalp and massage gently. Comb through for even distribution from roots to ends, for best results, use with shampoo and hair mayonnaise.
To avoid skin irritation, loss of hair and/or allergic reaction, follow directions carefully. In case of adverse reaction, discontinue use and consult a physician. Do not use on irritated/inflamed skin or on recently chemically treated hair. Do not use four days before or seven days after all chemical services. Not recommended for children under age 12. Avoid contact with eyes. If eye contact occurs, rinse with water. If eye irritation persists, contact a physician. For external use only. If ingested, consult a physician. Keep out of reach of children.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Home Source Swings Deal for Shiner International
February 29, 2012,
ATLANTA-Home Source International has acquired Shiner International, a manufacturer of furniture and lighting.
Terms were not disclosed. Launched by Joe Manus in January 2010, Shiner produces eco-friendly seating, surface products, beds, sofas, couches and lighting.
Keith Sorgeloos, president and CEO of Home Source, said the acquisition "will augment our long-term goals of providing a one-stop shop for total home that brings newness, freshness and distinction to the home. Shiner is a great fit for Home Source as it relates well to its contemporary core of differentiated, unique and innovative Made in America product, is sustainable, eco-friendly and recyclable, and provides a look in the home that is esthetically appealing and functional."
Manus remains with Home Source as vice president of business development. He likened the combination of Home Source and Shiner to "the blending of paints. Even though the existing colors were good on their own, this new, unknown-to-the-world color will have a new breadth and excitement of its own."
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You are the best,
Size Guide
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Fine-knit top in a linen blend with 3/4-length sleeves, V-neck and short button placket. Sewn cuffs on sleeves and small slits at sides. Slightly longer at back.
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Machine wash cold
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HFCS is different than sucrose in many ways. First, HFCS-55 has proportionately slightly more fructose than sucrose (White, 2008). Second, fructose is absorbed further down the intestine than glucose, with much of the metabolism occurring in the liver, where it is converted to fructose-1-phsophate, a precursor to the backbone of the triglyceride molecule (Havel, 2005). Third, fructose is metabolically broken down before it reaches the rate-limiting enzyme (phosphofructokinase), thereby supplying the body with an unregulated source of three-carbon molecules. These molecules are transformed into glycerol and fatty acids, which are eventually taken up by adipose tissue, leading to additional adiposity (Hallfrisch, 1990). And fourth, HFCS causes aberrant insulin functioning, in that it bypasses the insulin-driven satiety system (Curry, 1989). Whereas circulating glucose increases insulin release from the pancreas (Vilsboll et al., 2003), fructose does this less efficiently, because cells in the pancreas lack the fructose transporter (Curry, 1989; Sato et al., 1996). Typically, insulin released by dietary sucrose inhibits eating and increases leptin gain, and the insulin release (Saad et al., 1998), which in turn further inhibits food intake. As previously discussed, meals of HFCS have been shown to reduce circulating insulin and leptin levels (Teff et al., 2004). Thus, fructose intake might not result in the degree of satiety that would normally ensue with a meal of glucose or sucrose, and this could contribute to increased body weight.
...if I tell a twelve-year-old, âHey! Iâm going to teach you how to pay attention better in school and how to focus,â that child is going to run away as fast as they can. But if I say, âHey! Iâm going teach you how to whittle,â Iâm going to have the undivided attention of that child for hours.
...what we consider to be dangerous changes over time and from culture to culture. In India, itâs common to find people who consider it very dangerous to ride a bicycle and yet the children are allowed to run around barefoot.
As I meet more families from around the world, I find nobody can agree on whatâs a dangerous topic in this book.


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Molecules, Genes and Cells
Includes laboratory. An introduction to genetics, cell biology and molecular biology. Students will examine topics in biological chemistry, cellular structure and function, metabolism and energy flow in cellular systems, Mendelian genetics, and the cell cycle. Not open to students with credit in BIO 215: Cells and Genes.
|Distribution Area
|Science and Mathematics
|1 course
Fall Semester informationBruce Serlin
101A: Molecules, Genes & Cells
Melissa Petreaca
101B: Molecules, Genes & Cells
Spring Semester informationStaff
101A: Molecules, Genes & Cells
101B: Molecules, Genes & Cells


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Injury Update: Clippers – Magic
1:05PM: Chris Paul AND Blake Griffin will NOT play tonight for the Clippers. If Jameer can go, the Magic may have a chance…
11:30AM: Both J.J. Redick and Arron Afflalo will be OUT for tonight's Magic game against the L.A. Clippers. Jameer Nelson and DeQuan Jones are listed as game-time decisions.
Arron Afflalo and J.J. Redick won't play tonight, Jacque Vaughn said. But an MRI on Redick's sore shoulder showed no damage
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) February 6, 2013
The good news for the Magic is that 1) Redick does not have any structural damage to his shoulder and 2) Afflalo will be back on Friday when the Magic play against the Cavs. None of the four injured players are likely to miss more than a game or two more, which will allow the Magic to continue listening and having trade discussions before the deadline without teams fearing that Orlando is peddling injured goods.
Chris Paul is listed as OUT for the Clippers and Blake Griffin's status won't be known until close to game time.
Updates will be posted throughout the day as they become available.
***Join Magic Basketball Online on Twitter and Facebook!***Powered by Sidelines


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Click Here to play video
Spring 2017 - Application open for new registrations
Summer 1 2017 - Application open, few spaces remaining
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Spend a semester in Italy with other ECU students and faculty on ECU's only YEAR ROUND study abroad program, for ALL students at ALL levels, from ALL majors!
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This unique program, is located in the heart of Tuscany, birthplace of the Renaissance and one of the most beautiful and culturally rich areas of the world. Certaldo Alto, our school site, is an authentic, medieval walled city where one can easily imagine life in the Middle Ages. Our ECU classrooms are located on the main street in the village, surrounded by towers, gates, prisons, the Vicar's palace and the great writer Boccaccio's home.
Our students study in the Palazzo Stiozzi Ridolfi, a space renovated and designed specifically for ECU, just steps away from beautiful, spacious apartments where we live surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and gorgeous views of the Tuscan countryside. Don't miss this opportunity to study abroad with our own university! Click on the links to learn more about the program that interests you most! Email questions to: firstname.lastname@example.com
Buon Viaggio!!


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filed. as corrected.: July 14, 1994.
STATE OF WASHINGTON, RESPONDENT,v.CURTIS SCOTT BUCKNER, APPELLANT.
Appeal from SUPERIOR COURT STEVENS COUNTY. Superior Court No: 88-1-00014-4. Date filed in Superior Court: March 31, 1989. Superior Court Judge signing: LARRY KRISTIANSON
Schultheis, Thompson, Munson
SCHULTHEIS, J.-- Curtis Scott Buckner was convicted of first degree felony murder and given an exceptional sentence of 960 months. Mr. Buckner contends: (1) DNA comparison evidence is not sufficiently reliable to be admissible; (2) the trial court erred in admitting rebuttal evidence; (3) the prosecution failed to preserve test samples; (4) a change of venue should have been granted; and (5) the exceptional sentence is unwarranted. We affirm on the first four grounds but remand for resentencing.
On January 10, 1988, Cynthia Ferguson's vehicle was found abandoned on a logging road and reported by passing snowmobilers as possibly stolen. Police found blood in and around the vehicle and a search of the area revealed Ms. Ferguson's snow-covered body nearby. She had been stabbed 15 times at another location and transported to where her body was found. Naked except for socks, she appeared to have been raped. A blood sample was taken as were semen swabs. Suspicion fell on Mr. Buckner. He was seen in the area the day of the incident and was known to own a knife similar to the murder weapon found at the scene. Police obtained a warrant for a blood sample. Samples from Mr. Buckner and the victim were sent to the state crime laboratory for analysis. Results proved inconclusive and samples were sent to a private laboratory for DNA typing. Mr. Buckner secured leave to test using his own expert. The results were not helpful to the defense. Mr. Buckner selected another laboratory, but there were insufficient sample materials left to obtain a result.
The jury convicted. At sentencing, the court departed from the standard range of 291 to 388 months and imposed an exceptional sentence of 960 months.
Now that our Supreme Court has addressed the reliability of DNA typing, Mr. Buckner's challenge is no longer viable. State v. Cauthron, 120 Wash. 2d 879, 846 P.2d 502 (1993). The methodology employed here is the same as that addressed in Cauthron. Dr. Michael Baird of Lifecodes Corporation stated the odds of the semen taken from the victim coming from anyone other than Mr. Buckner were 1 in 19 billion. Dr. Mary Clair King, another prosecution expert, thought this estimate conservative. Since there are not 19 billion persons living today, this is another way of saying the match was absolute--a practice arguably condemned by Cauthron. 120 Wash. 2d at 906. Dr. King went further and stated "In my view, there's absolutely no doubt those two samples came from the same human being. Prior to delivering this opinion, she gave the jury an overview of population genetics theory and described the process whereby weight is assigned to test results and how the weights are factored to arrive at a statistical conclusion.
If Cauthron were read as authority for the premise that a DNA expert cannot testify to conclusivity, the rule was violated. If read as authority that an opinion without statistical support is not helpful to the trier of fact, no violation occurred. See 120 Wash. 2d at 906-07. We adopt the latter view.
Mr. Buckner also raises evidentiary questions relative to DNA. The trial court excluded consideration of alleged testing errors at the Frye hearing.*fn1 Although Cauthron left the door open for a determination of testing errors as a matter of law, the question is generally for the trier of fact. 120 Wash. 2d at 898-99; see also State v. Kalakosky, 121 Wash. 2d 525, 543, 852 P.2d 1064 (1993).
Mr. Buckner urges that certain exhibits introduced in rebuttal were significantly different from the materials presented during the State's case in chief because they involved rehybridized test gels for which no foundation was laid during the Frye hearing.*fn2 He also urges no statistical evidence was introduced explaining the significance of the exhibits. He argues this material was cumulative and not designed to rebut anything produced by the defense.
Dr. Baird analyzed seven autoradiograms (autorads) of four test probes, each of which he concluded established a match. Dr. Randall Libby, a defense expert, was critical of Lifecodes' protocols and opined that two of the four asserted matches did not match. Casting out the nonmatches, the odds of anyone else exhibiting the same DNA pattern would fall from Dr. Baird's estimate of 1 in 19 billion to 1 in 325,312. In rebuttal, the State sought to introduce additional autorads of rehybridized test gels and Mr. Buckner objected on the basis that no foundation had been laid establishing this process was generally accepted by the scientific community. The objection was sustained in part and overruled in part. Dr. Baird testified the results were consistent with his earlier testimony. He stated the rebuttal evidence could not be used to determine a match. The rehybridization process was employed only to confirm the accuracy of Lifecodes' earlier work.
A trial court's decision to admit or reject rebuttal evidence will be disturbed only upon a showing of manifest abuse of discretion. State v. Swan, 114 Wash. 2d 613, 652-53, 790 P.2d 610 (1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1046, 112 L. Ed. 2d 772, 111 S. Ct. 752 (1991). In response to counsel's objection, the trial judge declined to accept some evidence, holding it did not meet Frye standards as determined in the prior hearing, and accepted the evidence to which Mr. Buckner objects. Manifest abuse of discretion does not appear on the record cited. The evidence was cumulative to some extent, but Dr. Baird's testimony was offered to rebut Dr. Libby's suggestions of error and is thus relevant.
Mr. Buckner contends the State should have recognized that with the admissibility of DNA evidence unsettled, and the science of forensic typing still in an embryonic stage, multiple testing procedures might be indicated. Accordingly, a greater quantity of sample should have been preserved. Mr. Buckner relies on State v. Wright, 87 Wash. 2d 783, 557 P.2d 1 (1976) for the premise that when evidence is lost or destroyed, the focus is on materiality. To the extent the decision interprets federal constitutional principles, Wright is no longer good law. State v. Straka, 116 Wash. 2d 859, 882-83, 810 P.2d 888 (1991). Nor, when this matter was argued, did our state constitution compel a different result. State v. Ortiz, 119 Wash. 2d 294, 301-05, 831 P.2d 1060 (1992) (plurality) (adopting Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 102 L. Ed. 2d 281, 109 S. Ct. 333 (1988)). Postargument, however, a decision issued which indicates the law is unsettled. State v. Hanna, 123 Wash. 2d 704, 871 P.2d 135 (1994). Hanna, at 713-14, adopted no test, but strongly suggests that Ortiz is displaced:
The law governing destruction of evidence cases is not settled in Washington. See State v. Ortiz, 119 Wash. 2d 294, 831 P.2d 1060 (1992). This court is split as to whether the standard set forth in Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51, 102 L. Ed. 2d 281, 109 S. Ct. 333 (1988), or that enunciated in State v. Vaster, 99 Wash. 2d 44, 659 P.2d 528 (1983), is controlling.
In Youngblood, the Supreme Court held "unless a criminal defendant can show bad faith on the part of the police, failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute a denial of due process of law." Youngblood, 488 U.S. at 58. In Vaster, we articulated a 2-part balancing test. "[A] court should first consider whether there exists a reasonable possibility that the missing evidence would have affected the defendant's ability to present a defense." Vaster, 99 Wash. 2d at 52. The defendant bears the burden of establishing that reasonable possibility. Vaster, 99 Wash. 2d at 52. Then, "the court must balance the consideration of 'reasonableness' against the ability of the prosecution to have preserved the evidence." Vaster, 99 Wash. 2d at 52.
We decline to adopt either standard in this case because the trial court's denial of Hanna's motion to dismiss would be affirmed under either approach.
(Italics omitted.)
This is not a typical "loss or destruction" case. Evidence was neither lost nor destroyed. The prosecution had a sufficient sample for its own purposes, and saved enough so the defense could conduct independent testing. There is no hint of bad faith. Nor is there reason to believe a second, third, or fourth test would have been any more helpful than was the first.
In his pro se brief, Mr. Buckner urges the events underlying the charge were highly publicized in sparsely populated Stevens County, not only because of the nature of the crime, but because this was the first DNA prosecution in the state. According to Mr. Buckner, inflammatory and pervasive media coverage rendered it impossible to select an impartial jury and the court erred in rejecting his motion for a change of venue. This issue cannot be reached. Presumably, supporting material accompanied the motion which described the nature and timing of publicity. This material, however, was not designated. There is nothing in the record allowing the nine factors set forth in State v. Rupe, 101 Wash. 2d 664, 675, 683 P.2d 571 (1984) to be weighed.
Turning to sentencing issues, Mr. Buckner urges his criminal history does not reflect any prior sex crimes. His adult history of violent crime is confined to a single assault charge and is not the sort of indicator of future dangerousness contemplated by the case law. The crime was brutal, but by its nature murder is always brutal. Moreover, felony murder is not a "sex offense". Finally, the trial court impermissibly considered the effect of good time in fixing the sentence.
The State counters that from the age of 15 forward, Mr. Buckner built a record of increasingly callous disregard for others. He graduated in rapid progression over the span of 6 years from minor property crimes to major property crimes to assault to murder. He stood convicted of 12 felonies at the time of sentencing. The only reason the conviction for assault was not a conviction for murder was because when the victim's skull was shattered with a hammer, bone fragments stemmed the flow of blood allowing time for her to secure medical aid. According to the State, enhancement was justified based on Mr. Buckner's deliberate cruelty, future dangerousness, heinous conduct and his pattern of escalating violence.
On review of an exceptional sentence, an appellate court will consider: (1) whether the trial court's reasons for departure are supported by the record; (2) whether the reasons justify the sentence imposed; and (3) whether the sentence was clearly too lenient or clearly too excessive. State v. Pryor, 115 Wash. 2d 445, 450, 799 P.2d 244 (1990). The first prong is tested under the clearly erroneous standard, the second is reviewed de novo as a matter of law and the third is tested for abuse of discretion. Pryor, at 450.
The trial court considered deliberate cruelty and held that 15 separate but tightly grouped stabbings evidence not only an intent to kill, but to do so cruelly. Also taken into account was the dehumanizing rape of a dying or dead woman. The court considered Mr. Buckner's demonstrated pattern of escalating violence and found the progression unmistakable.*fn3 The court also found that if released under a standard range sentence at a relatively young age he would certainly return to violence and thus posed and would continue to pose a danger to the community.
Deliberate cruelty contemplates acts not usually associated with the commission of the offense. State v. Payne, 45 Wash. App. 528, 531, 726 P.2d 997 (1986). Murder necessarily involves extreme violence, but not necessarily brutal tortuous violence where a victim is stabbed repeatedly and left to die leisurely. See State v. Crane, 116 Wash. 2d 315, 334, 804 P.2d 10, cert. denied, U.S. , 115 L. Ed. 2d 1033, 111 S. Ct. 2867 (1991) (multiple injuries in the course of single assault may evidence deliberate cruelty). The trial court did not err in finding cruelty of a nature beyond that normally committed as part and parcel of the crime charged. RCW 9.94A.390(2)(a).
A demonstrated propensity for future violence may warrant an exceptional sentence if the finding is supported by the record with a showing of prior similar acts and a lack of amenability to treatment. Pryor, 115 Wash. 2d at 453-54. Pryor is now confined to sex offenses. State v. Barnes, 117 Wash. 2d 701, 708, 818 P.2d 1088 et seq., 818 P.2d 1088 (1991). The question becomes, is felony murder with the predicate felony being rape a sex offense. Mr. Buckner urges the term "sex offense" refers only to those offenses defined by RCW 9.94A.120(7) for which a rehabilitative alternative to incarceration is available. If so, a serious crime of violence involving sex is not a sex offense because it is carved out by operation of RCW 9.94A.120(7)(a)(i). This construction is inconsistent with the Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (SRA) which defines "sex offense" as all felonies included in RCW 9A.44 plus several others of an inherently sexual nature. The statute in effect during the relevant time frame provided:
"Sex offense" means:
(a) A felony that is a violation of chapter 9A.44 RCW or RCW 9A.64.020 or 9.68A.090 or that is, under chapter 9A.28 RCW, a criminal attempt, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy to commit such crimes;
Former RCW 9.94A.030(23).
Mr. Buckner was charged under RCW 9A.32.030(1)(c), a statute not referenced in former RCW 9.94A.030(23). It is well settled that each element of the predicate offense must be proven to support the crime of felony murder. State v. Maupin, 63 Wash. App. 887, 892, 822 P.2d 355, review denied, 119 Wash. 2d 1003, 832 P.2d 487 (1992). The jury necessarily found Mr. Buckner committed all essential acts necessary for conviction of rape in violation of RCW 9A.44.040. He was not convicted of rape only because the State charged a single count of felony murder rather than split the charges. He was therefore convicted under a statute not enumerated in former RCW 9.94A.030(23), but was convicted of a "felony that is a violation of chapter 9A.44 RCW . . ." because the elements of the rape charge were subsumed into the murder charge and became necessary elements of the latter. Accordingly, Mr. Buckner was convicted of a sex offense and falls within the rule of Pryor.*fn4
The trial court had an ample basis upon which to find a pattern of increasingly vicious conduct. Missing are findings of prior sexual deviancy and lack of amenability to treatment, both of which are required. Pryor, 115 Wash. 2d at 455. As to deviancy, so far as the record reveals, Ms. Ferguson was Mr. Buckner's first victim in which sex played a role. There is a suggestion he demonstrated an affinity for women's underwear in connection with several past crimes, but the record is in no way adequate to support a history of deviancy. Equally fatal is the failure to take evidence on amenability to treatment. "At the minimum the trial court must have before it, in addition to a history of similar acts of sexual deviancy, the opinion of a mental health professional that the defendant would likely not be amenable to treatment." Pryor, 115 Wash. 2d at 455; accord State v. Strauss, 119 Wash. 2d 401, 420-21, 832 P.2d 78 (1992).
Finally, the trial court relied on an impermissible basis for the enhancement decision:
For the record, I'm going to tell you how I arrived at an appropriate sentence. I arrive at an appropriate sentence by looking at your age, and by looking at your criminal history -- and I don't mean counting points now, the specific crimes; I'm talking about the threat to the community, I'm talking about the violence of the crime, I'm talking about all those things. And I do not think, sir, that it is prudent nor will society be safe for you to be released before approximately your 75th year. And for the court, then, to reach that calculation, and realizing I do not have a perfect crystal ball, I note that with your age and with one-third off for good behavior, a sentence of 80 years in the Washington State Correction system will accomplish this end.
An analysis of this nature is not permitted. State v. Fisher, 108 Wash. 2d 419, 429 n.6, 739 P.2d 683 (1987). Good time plays no role until confinement begins and credits are earned. RCW 9.94A.150(1). There is no guaranty credits will ever be earned, either because the prisoner fails to qualify or because the Legislature alters the rules. State v. Ross, 71 Wash. App. 556, 573, 861 P.2d 473 (1993).
The trial court correctly found enhancement justified because of the cruelty with which the offense was committed. The court erred in finding future dangerousness. It was also error to calculate good time credit in setting the length of sentence.
The record does not reflect the weight assigned to each of the bases for departure, but it seems evident the potential for future violence weighed heavily. Accordingly, vacation of the sentence and remand for resentencing is indicated. Barnes, 117 Wash. 2d at 712; Pryor, 115 Wash. 2d at 456. We express no opinion on whether the 80-year sentence is clearly excessive. To do so at this juncture would be to render an advisory opinion on a record which has yet to be completed. Nor do we express an opinion on whether a sentence geared to coincide with a defendant's actuarial life expectancy is the functional equivalent of life without parole, and if so, whether the result is permissible. See Ross, 71 Wash. App. at 573-75.
Affirmed in part and remanded for resentencing.
J. A. Schultheis, J.
Thompson, C.J.
Munson, J.
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Rep. Salmon Introduces Expedited Family Reunification Act
Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ-05) introduced H.R. 5053, the Expedited Family Reunification Act, which will help the thousands of Unaccompanied Alien Children detained by Customs and Border Protection agents after illegally immigrating to the United States be returned to their families in their country of origin. Upon introduction of the legislation, Rep. Salmon issued the following statement:
"When I visited the Nogales Placement Center on June 13, I was horrified by what I saw. As a father and grandfather, I am appalled at what these children have had to endure. Facing essential abandonment by their parents and loved ones, they are sent on a trek hundreds of miles long so that they can surrender to U.S. Border Patrol agents in the hopes of gaining de facto citizenship.
Our law currently does not allow for unaccompanied alien children to be returned to their parents at home in an expedited manner unless the nation from which they arrive is contiguous to the United States. This legislation would make this technical correction in our immigration policy and allow us to quickly reunite these children with their families."
Background: Under current law, Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) from nations not contiguous with the United States are required to face a deportation hearing before they are returned home to their parents. Thousands of Central American children recently apprehended by CBP agents now face immigration courts and the prospect of being forced to live for years in foster care—away from their families, loved ones, and home nations—before being returned home.
The Expedited Family Reunification Act would amend existing statute to harmonize the way unaccompanied children are processed and allow immigration officials to coordinate with Central American governments to ensure the safe return of UACs to their families in their home countries.
Rep. Matt Salmon (AZ-05) serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. He is also a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.


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Hello, I would very much appreciate your looking through my answer to the following question and letting me know any hick ups it may have...
Question: The points A, B, C, in an Argand diagram represent the complex numbers a, b, c, and a = (1-λ)b + λc. Prove that if λ is real then A lies on BC and divides BC in the ratio λ: 1-λ, but if λ is complex then, in triangle ABC, AB:BC = (modulus of λ) : 1 and angle ABC = argλ.
My attempt to answer: λ=x+jy so a = [(1-x)+j(-y)]b+(x+jy)c. If λ is real then y=0 and a is simply the convex combination of b and c and lies on BC dividing it in the ratio λ: 1-λ ( shouldn't λ lie in the interval [0,1] otherwise a will lie on the extension of BC rather than on BC???) If y different to 0 then (1-λ) and λ are complex multiplying b and c respectively. This means that b - resp. c - is turned through the angle arg(1-λ) - resp. argλ - and stretched by the scale factor "modulus of 1-λ" - resp. :modulus of λ" - to give the vector (1-λ)b - resp. λc . Then so long as b and c are distinct ABC is a triangle and AB/AC = (a-b)/(c-b)=[(1-λ)b+λc]/(c-b)=λ and therefore also the angle ABC = argλ. my answer to the case where λ is complex sounds too confused to be right??? thanks for any help..
i hope you can find some time to help with the follwoing question also...
question: if the points a and b are two vertices of an equilateral triangle, prove that the third vertex is either
(1) b + w (b-a) or (2) b + w^2 (b-a) where w is cos(2pi/3) + j sin(2pi/3)
what i have done is to equate (1) with c and (2) with c' and then
divide th two sides of (1) and (2) and arrive at (c-b)/(c'-b) = 1/w, which tells us that vector BC' is vector BC roted about B through the angle 2pi/3 wich is true.
However I have been to understand why c - b = w (b-a) and why
(c'-b) = w^2 (b-a) which seems to me (having drawn a diagram) to be respectively angle pi/3 too far and angle pi/3 too short?
This is probabably obvious, so sorry/thanks in advance


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September 14, 2008 saw the start of something special in Formula One.
That day, on which the Italian Grand Prix was held, heralded a new race winner for the sport: Sebastian Vettel. You may have heard of him?
Red Bull Racing's triple world champion started his F1 career in 2007 as a stand-in driver for BMW and scored a point on his debut at the United States Grand Prix.
After one race, the Red Bull junior was quickly moved into the F1 operation's feeder team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, and he went on to score a remarkable fourth in only his seventh Grand Prix.
In September 2008, his first full season as a racing driver, he entered the history books as a Grand Prix winner. Five years later and, as they say, the rest is history.
But it did get us thinking: What are the other maiden Grand Prix wins which stand out? F1's history is rife with tales of unlikely victors and relieved, "Took me long enough!" winners.
But which are the best? And where does Vettel's triumph stack up against the others?


text:
Project WebSynergy Update Part 1: Community and Roadmap
By bytor on Aug 01, 2008
Since May, we have been working on establishing the project in more concrete forms, establishing an online presence, producing regular builds, and releasing source code. In the next month or so you should see the results of this groundwork. In the meantime, I'll keep you updated on where we are at (in addition to making builds and source available, see below). This "Part 1" will cover Community and Roadmap. In future parts, we'll cover items such as architecture, build structure and distribution contents, feature deepdives, and other technical interests.
Most of the work to date has been over at the Sun Liferay community, integrating components (e.g. Portlet Container), and new features (e.g. Message Board improvements) needed for WebSynergy. As the project evolves, additional features will be developed and used in WebSynergy proper and ultimately be part of a commercial offering.
CommunityOpenPortal consists of a number of projects. Each of these projects delivers a certain set of functionality, and Sun (as well as anyone else who wishes) produces a commercial offering based off of the available source.
- portal.dev.java.net - Core portal software, from which Sun's commercial Portal Server 7.x vintage is derived. In addition, patches to 7.x will be generated for 7.x from this project's source. No changes planned.
- <name>.dev.java.net - Parent project of Project WebSynergy, from which Sun will derive a commercial offering. Source and regular builds will appear here once the site is operational. The name of this site is TBD.
- [mirage,saw,wsrp,ruon,swa,portlet-container,jsfportletbridge].dev.java.net - Projects delivering major functionality, consumed by both Sun Portal Server 7.x and WebSynergy. No changes planned.
- portalpack.netbeans.org - NetBeans & Eclipse plugins for developing portlets. No changes planned.
RoadmapFor WebSynergy, we are going to take a different tact: make things available early and often. Because project community members are now using the latest open source code to develop new features before Sun has released its latest commercial offerings, some consumers are finding that they would rather have features earlier, even if long-term support is not available. In response to this demand from both Sun Java System Portal Server customers, and the OpenPortal community, we will be producing builds with varying support options, much more frequently than in the past --as often as bi-weekly. This will give customers a chance to get working code immediately, and pay only for the support they really need (or use the freely available builds with no support). This kind of a model is being adopted in other projects (e.g. OpenSSO), so its function may already be familiar to you.
There are three types of builds that will be made available based on Project WebSynergy:
- Community Build: Lightly tested, new features likely to be incomplete or have issues. Entirely supported by Community. New community builds generally available approximately 2-3 times a month.
- Stable Build: Higher amount of testing. Complete documentation. Available roughly every 6-8 weeks.
- Commercial Release - Highest amount of testing, complete documentation, commercial support available. Suitable for long term enterprise deployments. Frequency varies.
The demo that was made available at JavaOne represented the first Stable Build (SB1). SB2's plan is to be available this onth, with an expected date for the first Commercial Release in the first quarter of 2009. Before SB2, there may be a community build (I had implied it would be this week, but a few of the features going into Liferay are still under code review, and not ready yet).
As indicated in the original announcement, we are not maintaining a fork. Instead, various components will be developed in WebSynergy, some of which will be integrated upstream (e.g. in Liferay) as needed, and a commercial release (and associated sustaining tail) will be initiated for each Commercial Release. This is depicted in the below illustration (click on the image to get a larger version!).
What you should get out of this image:
- The names of the components and releases and dates are all subject to change :-)
- There is no fork. Each release is based off of a specific point in time of all components, including Liferay. For the next release(s), new snapshots are taken, and the old ones ignored.
- Bugfixes bi-directionally flow between WebSynergy and Liferay before and after each Commercial Release.
Stay tuned for part 2 and for the new WebSynergy site and builds to go live soon!


text: "[T]halli are highly differentiated into holdfast, cylindrical main axis, leaflike blades, and airbladders in the axil of blades. This genus is widely spread in temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters in both intertidal and subtidal zones. Some forms are free-floating, sometimes occurring in extensive rafts that harbor distinctive communities of organisms adapted to the buoyant Sargassum habitat. These occur in the Sargasso Sea off the western coast of Africa. During the 1940s, Sargassum muticum spread from Japan to the northern pacific coast of the US, and by the 1970s had made its way south to California. This species of Sargassum has also spread to Europe, probably on oysters destined for aquaculture operations. Sargassum forms nuisance growths in harbors and on beaches, and it can quickly spread to new areas due to the floatation capabilities conferred by its many air bladders. Other features contributing to rapid spread include fast growth rate, fertility in the first year and monoecious reproduction." (Graham & Wilcox, 2000)


text:
Our Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program offers intensive ten-week internships for talented undergraduate and graduate students to jumpstart their careers and develop their potential for future opportunities within the federal government. Students work side-by-side with leading scientists, engineers, and other top professionals at our headquarters and National Laboratories to develop career skills and enhance leadership capabilities.
Apply today: http://minorityinternships.energy.gov/
We're looking for students with commitment to public service, strong written and verbal communication skills, and an interest in energy-related issues. Positions involve scientific research or a focus on policy, business, and government relations. All internships include paid lodging, round trip airfare, and a bi-weekly stipend.
Careers in STEM are critical to the future competitiveness of the American economy, but there is a large interest and achievement gap in the United States in STEM. As a result, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women are seriously underrepresented in many STEM fields, which denies these fields rich diversity of perspectives and innovations. Opportunities like the Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program allow underrepresented students to experience these careers first-hand and make contacts for future job growth.
Applications close for this opportunity on March 31, 2013. Apply today at our program website: http://minorityinternships.energy.gov/


text:
Movie reviews you can use
The Columbus Dispatch - June 24, 2011 06:39 AM
Cars 2 has enough splash, energy and volatile puns to warrant a trip to the theater, but one hopes that Pixar has satisfied its four-wheel-drive passions enough to put the franchise away in the garage. Reviewer Frank Gabrenya gave it two-and-1/2 stars.
In other movies:
Bad Teacher: Diaz could use an education in nasty humor
The Princess of Montpensier: Her royal highness lacks depth


text:
Headlines (Campus Updates)
Faculty of Science
Laurier welcomes brightest young math minds from across Canada
Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing
Jun 27/10
WATERLOO Training camp has opened for six of the brightest math minds from high schools across Canada who are at Laurier to attend the Canadian Mathematical Society summer training camp for the 51st International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
The six students, along with their trainers and support staff, were treated to a welcome reception and dinner Sunday evening in the Laurier Science Building Courtyard.
They also received a personal message of encouragement from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, delivered by Johan Rudnick, executive director of the Canadian Mathematical Society.
The IMO the most prestigious math competition for high school students in the world will be held this year in Astana, Kazakhstan, from July 3 to July 14. The six Canadian team members, who were selected from among more than 200,000 students in Grades 7 to 12, will be pitting their skills against the worlds best students from more than 100 countries.
These problems are incredibly challenging, said Laurier math professor Edward Wang, who is the training camps local organizer. I have brought back questions from IMO tests in previous years to show my colleagues, and even they have great difficulty solving them.
The Canadian team will train at Laurier until departing for Kazakhstan later this week.
Wang will work with team leader Adrian Tang from the University of Calgary, deputy leader Victoria Krakovna and deputy leader observer Alex Remorov from the University of Toronto, and Canadian IMO committee chair Christopher Small from the University of Waterloo. The training consists of three daily lectures on problem-solving techniques in algebra, geometry, number theory, functional equations, combinatorics and probability. The students will take mock tests that mirror the complexity of problems they will face during the Olympiad, where they are given four-and-a-half hours to solve three problems each day.
Wang has been actively involved in various national and international mathematics competitions for 30 years. He chaired the Canadian Math Olympiad (CMO) committee for three years, organized the summer training camp at Laurier in 2008 and accompanied previous teams to IMO competitions in Taiwan, the United States and Greece. This will be Wangs last involvement with IMO before he retires at the end of this month from a 37-year career at Laurier.
Hosting the IMO summer training camp for the second time shows that Laurier is supportive of math competitions at the highest level and math education in general, said Wang. We hope well be inviting the next generation of math wizards back to Laurier again.
The six mathletes on Canadas national team are: Alex Song, Yuqi Zhu, Jonathan Zung, and three silver medalists from last years IMO, Robin Cheng, Hunter Spink and Chen Sun.
The IMO began in 1959 in Romania with six countries. Since Canada began participating in 1981, the country has accumulated 17 gold, 40 silver and 68 bronze medals.


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|This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies.
Locked on 04/20/2012 7:22:36 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
Gingrich not dropping out (newer thread): http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2874691/posts
Skip to comments.Sources: Gingrich cancels North Carolina trip
Posted on 04/20/2012 5:23:10 PM PDT by No One Special
CHARLOTTE, N.C. There is increased speculation Friday evening about the political future of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.
Sources told NewsChannel 36 Gingrich has canceled all of his appearances in North Carolina next week.
Gingrich was scheduled to make multiple appearances throughout the state, including a visit to Lincoln Charter School in Denver next Wednesday. Fourth graders planned to present him with an American history project.
We are disappointed that the Gingrich camp has decided to cancel the entire NC tour, said Lincoln Charter School Chief Administrator Dave Machado. We were looking forward to the opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of the LCS Community. It is unfortunate for our students and for that we are disappointed.
The former Speaker of the House was also set to talk with an Honors Civics and Economics class at the school.
The Gingrich campaign is reportedly millions of dollars in debt.
North Carolina holds its primary on May 8.
He's bowing out.
Wish he'd bowed out a long time ago and not split the Conservative vote.
Santorum 2012
After amazing debate performances it just went flat.
And I don't enjoy reading how much crap he buys his wife when his campaign is bankrupt meaning he probably won't be able to even pay his employees.
According to the article, "The Gingrich campaign is reportedly millions of dollars in debt." Always a good reason for bowing out.
The Romney campaign's recent cash inflow made it easier for him to offer to liquidate Newt's campaign debt, in effect buying him out of the race.
I recalll that John Glenn's presidential primary run (was that 1984?) still had outstanding debts in 2000. Ususally it is the vendors of services (transportation, telephony, printers, etc.) that are left holding the bag when a campaign fails. Why anyone extends credit to a political campaign, I do not know.
If he is bowing out, it is curious he waited until Santorum dropped out.
Whatever, the 2012 Hucka-hanger-on is finally revealed.
The 2012 race was very similar to the 2008 one — several conservatives stayed in long enough to knock each other out and hand the nomination to the elite's preferred candidate.
What a disappointment for those schoolchildren.
Paging Sarah Palin.
Governor Sarah Palin...
If she has ever actually intended to do something unconventional.
Now would be a really good time. As in, right now. No more stalling.
"The 2012 race was very similar to the 2008 one several conservatives stayed in long enough to knock each other out and hand the nomination to the elites preferred candidate."
Ah, now you're catching on. In spite of the spirited support of the people for any given candidate, elections are part and parcel of a grand scheme that is engineered long before primaries begin.
The fix was in over a year ago, the party had made its choice.
If it's any consolation, I expect both Newt and Rubio to have major roles in a Romney administration.
Wish hed bowed out a long time ago and not split the Conservative vote.
Gingrich 2012
What makes you think the Gingrich supporters would have voted for Santorum? I wouldn't.
Fox News radio is now reporting that Newt's campaign says this isn't true. According to them, Newt hasn't cancelled any appearances in NC.
A perfect trifecta in the eyes of the GOP-E
Why? Maybe what you are reading has Mitt's fingerprints on it so you would feel like you do.
If what Fox is saying is true, this has the stink of the Romney campaign all over it. Remember how they did the same thing to Fred Thompson?
"If what Fox is saying is true, this has the stink of the Romney campaign all over it. Remember how they did the same thing to Fred Thompson?"
Shhh. He's sleeping.
Seems to be a pattern. Struggling candidate adamantly insists he is still in the race, then maybe he falters a bit, then he starts missing appearances. Just sounds like Newt is trying to gradually ease out, maybe trying to let his supporters down easy.
See post #17.
Not a consolation
We'll definitely get amnesty for illegals.... we'll all want to be illegals too by the time they give out all the benefits.
What Gingrich says, does, appears, is no longer relevant. Not even news of penguin bites matter. His has been a quixotic campaign in disarray. The only question now is whether Romney, the presumptive nominee, can be balanced by a true conservative on the VP ticket and whether we can defeat Obama one way or another., This is a fight for the soul of our country.
I do remember, and that was exactly my first thought too!
Hope it's true. heard this on the radio and then did a search. I hesitated over posting because what I heard and this article were the only things I found.
Hes bowing out.
He is.
Earlier today he said he would support Mitt Romney.
See post # 17.
Thanks! Mitt is desperate.
Not Newt. Rubio is a suck up.
"Why do I feel like I have lost the battle for my country?"
We have. Now it will devolve into a CW2 of the states vs. the Fed govt.
Right on target. We have Romney because of an erratic and ego-driven Gingrich with not a snowball -in-hell's chance after his broad-based clobbering in Florida, and with baggage heavy enough to sink a fleet of cruise liners and a gender gap that would separate oceans. Had Gingrich quit following Santorum's spectacular one day trifecta, Romney who won MI by 3% of the vote and won OH by under 1% would have crashed and burned in both these states that would have ended his candidacy. . Subsequent PPP polling showed that as much as 60% of Gingrich's votes would have gone to Santorum. Our task now is to make sure that Romney, the presumptive nominee, have a ticket balanced by a true conservative. Obama must be defeated. Our nation's future is at stake. Current polling shows that a key demographic, white women (single, separated, unmarried, widowed or divorced) is going heavily in Obama's favor and may well be the determinative force in the November elections.
Thanks. But maybe the campaign isn't ready for the withdrawal announcement.
And, the recent reports of Gingrich saying he could endorse Romney were intentional releases.
Gingrich and Romney teams have been talking for some time.
Kind words for the opponent may also be a part if it. Preparation for the withdrawal.
Who gives a flip what mitt the maggot does. Balanced?! LOL! Buy a clue - you are way overdo.
It's no longer about Mitt. Get real. It's about defeating Obama.
I've always figured that the vendors expect to be first in line for lucrative government contracts in the event the candidate to whom they extend credit wins.
Thanks No One Special.
I don't think so, obamacare/romneycare is a killer. It's Newt or nothing for me. There is no option.
It's over and his work is done.
Maybe Newt was hoping for a sudden in-rush of attention and donations once he was the only conservative left in the race and he's cutting back on his schedule now because it didn't happen.
Awww, disappointing the school kids is just a buzz killer. Go home Newt, we have a nominee.
PS, I still nominate Newt for Romney's Space Czar. That position is made for him...assuming Newt can stay on message and not drop a verbal turd in the punchbowl.
Clearly relief from FedGov will HAVE to come at the state level. We need Governors of a few states to set up a mutual defense pact. There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents states from building strong state-of-the-art Militias.
If Newt hasn't said anything then I don't believe it. I doubt he would let the media make any announcements for him.
I will only believe it if Newt says it's so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
Suspicion consumed me
As it does to this day
Lined by desire
I hid the wounds in my heart
You make it all end in tears
Values are abandoned
As if a thorn were pulled out of my heart
Tears spill from my eyes
Lights still burn but the place is deserted
Once faith was unshakeable
A head of snow at my shoulder
Once we were a tongue of flame
Loneliness is my twin
Were there ever such twins before?
Translation notes
A ghazal is a collection of couplets (shers or ashaar) which follow strict rules, for example: every ghazal must have a matla. A matla is the first sher of a ghazal, and both lines of the sher must end in the radeef, the word or phrase that is repeated at the end of the second line in every couplet.


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Notice: I am back on this Wikia, but like before my visits to the chat will be rare, even more rare than last time, anyway you know what to do if anyone wants to get in contact with me :) Nikolai Banks (talk) 19:51, January 2, 2014 (UTC)
Hello Friends, Welcome to my Profile
|Hi there, my name is Nikolai Banks, but you can call me Niko, or Nikolai or even Nick, either is cool with me. I'm always looking forward to meet new people on Wikia, I'm a Christian and I love Jesus Christ, lol my I Love Jesus avatar pretty much explains that, I am a fun loving fellow, I enjoy to chat with friends and occasionally RP, but not all the time, I also like to help others, when they need help, or just want someone to talk to.
About MeEdit
Hi, I'm Niko Banks, if you want to know more about me, feel free to check my profile on Redwall Wiki. And if you wish to chat to me, please leave a message, on my talk page on Redwall wars Wiki, which is this site or on my message waall on the Redwall Wiki site, thank you, hope to chat to you soon, one more thing it is a good thing I'm such a positive thinker ^^ please leave me a message friend.
I don't ask much from people, except to be respected, treated like any other fan and most of all, to be friends with you, the fellow users of this site.
Another thing, I must point out, I am a dramatic kind of person, I am a drama queen, people, and I also overreact or get worked up, over few things (Which should be understandble) and I sometimes can act out in aggression over things, and say things that are mean, that I don't mean by them, though I say them anyway.
My Beliefs/Religion.Edit
I am a born Christian and I follow the Holy Bible (The True Word of God) I have known alot bout God since I could remember, and yet there is alot I still have to learn alot more, during my holiday back in 2012 down at the coast, I gave myself to Christ, and through Christ I now know the wisdom of God, I still have alot to learn, and the Lord is helping me to do that, to learn and know the Gospel. The Holy Spirit speaks to me whenever I am needed by God. I have been given a mission to do, and for reasons I don't know of, I been brought to know some good friends from all sorts of Coulter, My mission is to give the truth to those who wish to know of it, and through me, Jesus Christ shall speak to those who have questions, no matter what your religion is, I shall answer your questions. If there are any questions, please message me on my message wall.
Thank you for reading, and God Bless. Niko Banks (Talk) 06:57, January 10, 2013 (UTC)
My own Wiki site.Edit
I am the admin of my own Wiki Sites. my first is Farthing Wood Fanon Wiki you are welcome to check it out anytime, if you don't know what Farthing Wood is about, please check out Farthing Wood Wiki for more infomation. My second Wiki is The Country Mouse and The City Mouse Adventures Wiki and here is the third edition of my wikis Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville Wiki, feel free to visit them at any time. I got a new Wiki, and its my fourth, its Redwall Fanon Characters Wiki, a wiki I made and I am working on with Rosethorn, The Chamber of Affinity Wiki. my 6th new wiki is Who's the Boss? Wiki, for all of those Who the Boss? fans.
For those Spiderman fans, check out another Wiki I made with co founder, Stan, hope you guys enjoy Stan and Niko's Spidey Series Wiki And for those G.I Joe and Redwall fans, my own G.I Joe: A Real Hero of Mossflower Wiki. and now a new wiki, and the fanon wiki for Puppy In My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville Wiki, meet Puppy In My Pocket Fanon Wiki, and now my newest Wiki is The Secret of NIMH Fanon Wiki. and a new edition to my Wiki sites, meet the new The Adventures of Niko and Wild Wiki.
List of Wikis I own.Edit
- Farthing Wood Fanon Wiki
- The Country Mouse and The City Mouse Adventures Wiki
- Puppy in My Pocket: Adventures in Pocketville Wiki,
- Redwall Fanon Characters Wiki,
- The Chamber of Affinity Wiki.
- Dead Island Fanon Wiki,
- Stan and Niko's Spidey Series Wiki
- G.I Joe: A Real Hero of Mossflower Wiki.
- Puppy In My Pocket Fanon Wiki
- The Secret of NIMH Fanon Wiki
- The Adventures of Niko and Wild Wiki.
- Rupert TV Series Wiki
- Puppy In My Pocket and Other Fandom Wiki
My Friends and Best Friends.Edit
My Favorite Pages.Edit
Grand Theft Auto: Pocketville Series.
My likes and dislikes.Edit
My Likes what makes me happy and a good friend.
- Christianity.
- Meeting Other Christians.
- Helping others and those who are in need of help or a friend.
- I like to RPG with my friends.
- My friends and respecting my friends :)
- Being silly and making my friends laugh.
- Making fan fictions and blog posts ( I hope you comment I'll be glad if you did )
- Horror movies
- Coca Cola
- Gangs, the good kind
- Wolves and Werewolves
- Mice, otters, squirrels, foxes, wolves and hares.
- KFC (Kentucky fried chicken) its finger licking good :3
- Jokes.
My Dislikes what presses my buttons.
- I don't like it when people insulte me or my friends. ( Please don't do that )
- I hate it when people ignore me when I leave a message on their talk pages,Blogs or Wiki Chat ( It is one of the most ways to offende me )
- I really dislike it when people offende me by making fun of me,my religion,the way I spell and being called names ect ect ect.
- I hate it when people swear. ( Though I have sweared myself at one point )
- I truely hate rudeness, bad manners, horried people, people getting on my nerves about stuff or being blamed for something ( Unless if it's in a RPG ) and seeing other people being mistreated and treated poorly by horrid people.
- Seeing fellow users being mistreated and judged for things they didn't do, or seeing new users being abused by hatred filled users who are nothing but ugly to new users.
- Satanism, that I hate
- Gangs, the trouble making kind.
- Remake of classic films
- Lousy radio songs.
- Disrespectful Christian jokes
- Blasthimous and disrespectful talk about Christ.
- People who are filled with hatred.
- Animal Abusers
Stuff I will tolerate
- Alcohol, I will tolerate, but if it gets out of hand, I'll be off.
- Gangs, the good kind, the bad kind I won't mind, but if trouble starts, I am gone.
- War, if its in an RPG or a computer game
- Cursing, but if the person keeps it up, I either ban them or leave.
- Rap
- Hip Hop
- Death Metal
- Horror movies
- Twilight sega movie series (Though it sucks)
- Remake of classic films (Depends what film they make a remake of)
- People being late/tardiness, but if it happens too much times, I get seriously mad.
- Really random or silly people.
- Smoking.
- People with bad attitudes.
More you need to know.Edit
I just need to tell you my friends abit more about myself.
- I am a good and loyal friend and I respect them even if they don't respect me back.
- I have a lot of emotional issues that would explain why I can be random at times.
- I like people who are nice and polite, and who say hello when I come on or when I say hello to them.
- I don't like being ignored that is one of the many ways I can be offended but if you don't feel like talking just say so.
- I have a a mean temper which most of you know about already and is the result of being offended or insulted or ignored
- Most important and is no joke, I am Autistic (Don't know what that is look at this link) Autism and this link aswell Asperger Syndrome
So I know there been a few times I've been kicked off this Wiki's chat due to me speaking about my beliefs with other followers, I like to just clear one thing straight with the Mods, Admins and Staff, I speak about my beliefs because I enjoy it, its my passion and I do it because its one of the things that make me happy, if it annoys you, just ignore it and carry on with your day, and if you can't do that, instead of being a bigshot and kicking me off like you have the right to, instead be civilized and ask me nicely to stop or take the conversation into PM, that is alot more easier to do than kicking, and if no one has learnt in the past is kicking is one of the things that provokes me into becoming angry, hostile or aggravated with those people who committed the crime, so to avoid anymore incidents with Mods/Admins, please whenever I start speaking about the said subject, be nice and ask me to stop or take it to PM, there is really no need for kicking, I have a very caring heart and it hurts me when I am treated poorly by others. You can shove the guidelines in my face all you want, I understand them plain as day, but still your actions like kicking offend me, and thats why I become so angry and agitated and mad, but mostly very hurt and embarrassed to come back on.
But anyway the chances of me talking about my beliefs are very low, I have learnt from my past mistakes and I won't be repeating them this year any time soon, and if any Admin does not like this message I wrote on my profile, DO NOT remove it, you ask me to remove it ok? This isn't your profile, its mine, so don't go around vandalizing my profile, no one here sees me vandalizing their profiles, I would never do such a thing, so please respect me, ask me nicely to remove any content of the message above you don't agree with, and if I have not done so yet, be patient and do not remove anything yourself, like I said, I don't remove things from your profile, so don't do that to me, I am nothing but a normal user with Autism, I want to be accpted into this community and make friends with the people I met on here so far, if you got any questions, you all know where my message wall is, in case you don't, here is a provided link -> My Wall
Thank you for reading and have a nice day. Nikolai Banks (talk) 23:00, January 17, 2014 (UTC)
Redwall Wars Wiki starting to dieEdit
It seems like Redwall Wars Wiki is starting to die, so I and few users who are normally on RWW, are going to try bring it back to like.....I hope.


text:
Bottom Line: The Sox have a logjam of starting pitchers, and somebody likely needs to go. Danks, Peavy and Sale are all shoo-ins for the rotation, and Kenny Williams really likes the upside of the sinker-baller Zach Stewart.
So, who's left in the cold? Mr. Gavin Floyd.
Most likely, it will be Floyd for the sole reason that he has trade value. The only other starter the Sox could conceivably deal would be Peavy. Unfortunately, there's not a dumb enough GM in baseball that will pay him roughly $17 million for a year of DL visits and 6.0 IP/4.0 ERA outings.
Back to Floyd. The guy has developed nicely from a fringe first-round bust to an above-average major league pitcher. He should send Don Cooper a nice gift when all is said and done for reviving his career. If not for Coop, Floyd might be pitching in Japan or coaching little league.
Floyd's best pitch is his deuce. When it's dropping, he's a borderline two starter for any contender. Like any pitch, Uncle Charlie comes and goes at his leisure. During Floyd's tenure with the White Sox, he has definitely improved as a competitor, learning how to claw through a game without his top-notch stuff.
Realistically, the White Sox would be inclined to take a package of two or three solid prospects for the hurler. If I were Williams, I would look for a control pitcher and outfield prospect as my prize.
Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on your opinion), I'm not running the organization.
You might be wondering what the market is for a 29-year-old right-hander who has maintained a respectable 4.18 ERA in the American League earning a reasonable $7 million for this upcoming season. Well, I'm about to tell you.


text:
Molly2+ weeks old
I am looking for a 2 bedroom apartment close to downtown Atlanta, Hartsfield airport, 85, and shopping centers. I'm not a big fan living in the city but I go into the city on a regular basis. I prefer living in a quiet residential area near walking trails or parks. I'm not looking to spend over $650 on a apartment and would like to find something with a patio and private entrance.
I am looking for a 2 bedroom ...


text:
Kathleen Turner Praises the YEO Network
20-year PFAW Foundation Board Member Kathleen Turner stopped by WGN in Chicago last Thursday to discuss her career and her work with People For. Turner, who was in town for the first of PFAW Foundation's 30th anniversary celebrations, had special praise for PFAWF's Young Elected Officials Network.
September 8, 2011
Cocktails and Hors d'Oeuvres at the home of Barbara Bluhm-Kaul


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Capital Area United Way
Contact Information
Social Innovation Fund 2012
Executive Summary
Capital Area United Way (CAUW) is an experienced grant-making institution with an 85 year history distributing funds to Baton Rouge area non-profit organizations. CAUW uses a rigorous, program-focused process to validate programs, select grantees, and support the replication and expansion of programs. 2011 grants totaled over $6 million for over 100 programs in 46 agencies. This data-driven process based on demonstrated, measurable outcomes has led to new research-based methodologies.
We strive to achieve our mission "Helping People--Improving Communities" and create long-lasting change by addressing the causes of problems in education, income, and health--the building blocks for a better life. We identify necessary resource investments, apply them to a process of capacity-building within groups based on evidence-based programs, and evaluate outcomes to determine whether changes are making a difference to address current problems and reduce future needs. We engage a spectrum of partners that share this vision of change and will contribute social and economic capital to leverage our community-building.
As part of a 10-year commitment made July 2011and based on research by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman, and others, we will launch a geographically-based SIF project serving low-income populations in the 10-parish Greater Baton Rouge area. With a Youth Development focus we will build community impact initiatives surrounding early childhood success and its link to the economic well-being of our rural and low-income parishes. CAUW will measure success for this project--children's school readiness--by examining indicators of improved birth outcomes; parents engaged, supported, and educated to meet the needs of their young children (including financial education); all children having access to quality child care and preschool; and children's physical health, safety, and social-emotional needs are met. Research proves that targeted early childhood investments impact not only future generations but also individuals' and families' current economic well-being, by attracting new investments and industry expansions.
CAUW will conduct an open and competitive RFP process, awarding 8-12 subgrants averaging between $100,000 and $250,000 annually. Subgrants will be awarded to replicate or expand early childhood development programs that are both known (such as Help Me Grow, Triple-P, NFP, diverse delivery, and mental health consultation) and new; subgrantees will demonstrate preliminary, moderate, or strong levels of evidence. We will be particularly attuned to programs which can be replicated in other regions, for extended impact. It is anticipated most subgrantees will demonstrate preliminary or moderate levels of evidence; they will receive support to improve their evidence base. Outcomes will be measured by examining the overall community impact through use of the EDI (Early Development Instrument).
While the sole applicant, CAUW will be supported by a team of contracted partners and collaborating entities, including the LSU/Tulane Early Childhood Policy and Data Center, UCLA, and our Impact Cabinet. Representatives from the LSU/Tulane Center; Impact Cabinet; experts from government, education, and non-profit sectors; investment volunteers; and other partners will assist in the subgrant review process and subgrantee selection and help provide continuing technical assistance and support to subgrantees. CAUW will also support subgrantees with centralized data collection and technology support; evaluation support; capacity-building technical assistance; and fundraising.
We are requesting $1,000,000 a year for 5 years, beginning in October 2012. Federal funding will be matched by non-federal funds from area foundations and corporations. Knowing their commitment to preparing for students' success in school, productive work, and healthy and safe lives and to the "well-being of families and communities," we are confident in our ability to secure matching funds. We have provided documentation of our ability and the commitment from our Board to meet matching requirements for year 1 out of existing cash reserves, which are in excess of the required amount, if needed. Shortfalls of our match requirement in each of years 2-5 would be provided from unrestricted annual campaign funding (currently nearly $10,000,000 per year), if necessary.


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CSU hosting 3rd annual criminal justice summer camp
University Relations
Charleston Southern University will host the third annual CSI@CSU summer camp June 17-21 on campus. The week-long camp is designed for rising high school juniors and seniors.
Students attending CSI@CSU will complete classroom lectures, participate in hands-on crime scene investigation; work in small groups and individually. The program is taught by Charleston Southern University criminal justice professors, members of the Charleston Police CSI team, Berkeley, Dorchester and North Charleston police departments and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
"CSI@CSU is an opportunity for prospective students interested in crime scene investigation as a career to work hand in hand with today's local crime scene techs," said CSU professor Alan Fix.
As part of the program, the instructors will stage a mock crime scene with assistance from camp instructors and CSU criminal justice students.
"Students come in thinking TV and leave with a real-world understanding of what crime scene investigation work really is," added Fix. "I'm going to get them dirty. Crime scenes aren't always done on sunny days. Students will see and smell a crime scene."
For more information, visit CharlestonSouthern.edu/csicamp or call Alan Fix, assistant professor of criminal justice, at 843-863-7763.
- Complete the Application and Pay Online
- Limited to 25 Participants
- Registration: $150.00
Charleston Southern University/Science Bldg. Room 125 Campers must arrive on campus of Charleston Southern University between 8:45 and 9 each morning. Campers will report to the Science Building Room 125. CSI Campers must be picked up promptly after class is dismissed at 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and by noon on Friday.
Founded in 1964, Charleston Southern University is a private, four-year liberal arts college. CSU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. The University's vision is to be a Christian university nationally recognized for integrating faith in learning, leading and serving.


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Hamilton on the Fed and oil prices
James Hamilton has a new post reviewing the case for a Fed driven commodity bubble. I must say that, while Hamilton knows more about macroeconomics and econometrics than I ever will, I think he is wrong here.
Behold this quote:
In general, I agree that the Fed needs to keep a watchful eye on commodity prices as one potential indicator that their efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy are having undesirable side effects. But based on the evidence so far, I think the Wall Street Journal is crying wolf a little too early.
The implciation here seems to be that if oil rose to…say $130, Hamilton would favor tightening. I don't wish to put words in his mouth but that is how it sounds to me. Maybe I am so blinded by the NGDP targeting story that I overestimate the amount of slack in the economy, the size of the output gap, the flatness of the SRAS curve. It seems to me though, that with inflation expectations well below target, and the economy missing something like 6 or 8 million jobs, that there is broad scope for boosting AD. Assuming this is the case, I find myself wondering What is the full employment oil price? I suspect it is somewhere between $180 and $210 per barrel on the mid point between WTI and brent.
Hamilton must be taking it as given that either A) The economy is near full employment and catch up NGDP growth would mostly weaken the dollar, not boost employment and RGDP. or B) Monetary policy can lift specific prices through some financial mechanism, not through expectations of higher real demand for oil. I suspect and hope the answer is A and only A.
I recall the months just after QEII, when oil was rising with the jobs reports. I also recall that conservatives and Austrian
cranks ranted and raved at this time about how QEII was lifting oil prices. No Way! I thought adding 400k jobs in one month would be neutral for oil! Again, the question is rarely asked, "What are full employment commodity prices?" Oil was $140 a barrel the last time the world economy was close to full employment. Since then, China is 20odd % richer, plus a slew of smaller emerging economies in Asia and Latin America have made good progress. Why, even the African economies are expanding through shear population growth. All while world oil output treads water.
There is definitely an at least medium term Malthusian aspects to our world economy. Incremental demand for inelastic goods with slowly responding supply will cause a relative price shift. Oil will be dearer in terms of labor and labor intensive goods. How could it be otherwise? How could the price of oil, the supply of which is more or less fixed in the short run, not rise in terms of other, more readily made goods and services?
The question is, do we want to reach our potential? or do we want artificially cheap commodities through tight money and high unemployment? I think I know the sad answer to that question and suspect we wont see a full recovery until enough shale oil is flowing from America to keep the CPI down in the context of a true recovery.
Lorenzo on the impending Greek collapse
Hyperbolic American talking heads like to use the string of words "complete" or "total collapse" when discussing markets. When I hear total collapse, I think Easter Island, or Detroit. The point being that "collapse" invokes feelings of, well, collapse. One goes from a high level of organization and development, and then something happens and suddenly things aren't so organized. Thus I cringe at the word's overuse. With this in mind, it seems to me that collapse is not unfitting in the context of Greece.
Lorenzo has a great post which I wish I had written: Not merely a Greek disaster. The post also links to a Daily Mail article with some gloomy pictures of the works which the Euro hath wrought. My working conclusion is now that whatever hormetic effect the Greek economy might have drawn from the "medicine" of austerity, has long since passed into the realm of poison. The real threat now is that is that the 1500 year running Greek braindrain is completed, and the country never able to truly recover. I usually don't think much good can come from overseas meddling, but at some point Obama should probably tell the Europeans that they are destroying Greece and make a plan to get the Drachma back.
One funny thing about this whole Euro Debt Crisis episode is that the Utopian machinations of the European social democratic consensus have killed the European welfare state. I can't drive this point home enough, as I so value irony. France in 1995 wasn't good enough. No, we must have an unbreakable currency union and to hell with whether or not it works.
By the time this austerity business is over, the only remaining welfare states in Europe may well be Sweden, led by a reasonable, market thinking center right government, and ubercapitalist Switzerland. (As always, Norway is an oil fueled, super Potemkin village.) Lest I be accused of ideological prejudice, Sweden was kept out of the Euro under the Social Democrats who, looking back, were the ultimate conservatives of the 1990s/2000s.
Christensen on devaluation
Lars Christensen has a good post on the workings of currency devaluation. The point is that currency devaluation works through lifting M and V more than through softening the blow to exports, or improving competitiveness. This would suggest that there is unlimited scope for devaluation in a crisis, so long as NGDP is forecast to be under trend. Which in turn implies that Poland is the great monetary hero of 2008/2009, because they temporarily annihilated their currency to keep NGDP going. [I say unlimited scope because "beggar thy neighbor" export boosting should quickly run into diminishing returns, especially in a worldwide crisis. ]
It would be interesting for someone to compare the composition of GDP between Sweden, who devalued meaningfully in early 2009, and Denmark/Finland who were chained to the Euro. If Sweden's stronger recovery was driven by domestic spending—as memory serves— not exports, this would help us to better understand the transmission mechanism at work there. It would also be interesting to dig into Poland's numbers, though I don't know which land is a good control…Lithuania? Each country in central Europe is pretty economically and monetarily unique. Perhaps just graphing net exports along with domestic spending would do it.
Maybe tonight.
A supplyside recovery?
The U.S. economy is clearly recovering at a faster rate. Despite GDP growth coming in around 4% in recent reports, hiring is starting to look quite strong and joblessness is falling.
Lest I be misunderstood, the recovery is still disappointing. My point is just that meaningful progress is being made for the first time since that stretch between August 2010 and say March 2011, just after QEII and just before the Japan nuclear mess.
The oddest thing about today's spike in growth is that stocks are rising, but longterm interest rates are flat:
Every school child knows that long rates track NGDP expectations. Things like flight from the Italian bond market might be leading investors into U.S. treasuries, but that should be a one time premium, after which yields again track stocks. Why the disconnect between shares and bonds?
One story might be, that "despite" the Fed's bizarre commitment to keep interest rates low for two years (to new readers, low rates do not mean easy money by themselves), markets are still expecting weak NGDP growth, and thus staying in bonds. This would suggest that the rally in shares and spike in hiring is due to some mix of positive supply shocks and adjustment in wages, prices and contracts to weaker nominal GDP growth. One way to test this is to look at inflation expectations, which should rise if NGDP forecasts are climbing:
Looks like the markets are not impressed by the Fed's new "inflation target" or its commitment on interest rates. Inflation expectations are stuck around 1.3% out to 10 years, right where they have been since the summer. This makes me more confident that the Market Monetarist model is right and that the requickened 1970s "Keynesians" who say that the Fed should push down longterm interest rates are wrong. Long term interest rates are down and staying down on recent Fed fiddling. However, this is not stimulating aggregate demand because expected inflation is unmoved.
This means that:
- We need Greg Mankiw and Ken Rogoff at the Fed
- The economy seems to be adjusting to the nominal shock of 2008/2009 at a faster rate
- The window to speed the recovery through QE or level targeting is likely closing at a faster rate
It is hard to know how much of the recovery is due to supply side boons like the weirdly warm American winter or the rise in oil production v.s. adjustment to the new NGDP path.
If I had to say which is the bigger factor I would go with wage and contract adjustment. American households have been reorganizing their lives since the Fall of 2008. Rebuilding their balance sheets and consumption patterns to best work in a world where the Federal Reserve is a big fat nominal liar, only giving out 1.5% wage hikes instead of the 4% increases it dealt from 1982 to 2007. You can see this in the higher savings rate, the increase in building of apartments relative to houses, in leasing rather than buying, in delayed marriages. All these are effective strategies for living in a world of uncertain nominal income growth. In my own life I maintain a near-Chinese level savings rate (if you count student loan payments in the "savings" box) but will at some point be tempted by those falling IKEA prices and address my underfurnished abode. Nominal adjustment.
Another possibility is that the newly reemployed are working harder to avoid layoffs in the next downturn, and to get their lives back on track through faster advancement. This would fall under supply shock and suggest that real GDP is more trend reverting. Just speculation.
Estimating market NGDP expectations
One thing which bothers me is that nobody estimates NGDP expectations! This is the be-all-end-all of macroeconomics (or should be) and is of utmost importance to producing good forecasts, yet no one estimates them for any country. At least as far as I know.
In princpal it should be possible to extract the market's implied NGDP forecast from asset prices. The Cleveland fed does this for CPI inflation expectaions, why not for NGDP? When things happen in the economy which change the expected path of NGDP, markets move. We should be able to reverse the chain of causality and turn market movements into an NGDP forecast. Not just any forecast, a market forecast. Even if the forecast turns out to be wrong—all forecast are wrong in the end—knowing what the emergent being we call the market is "thinking" will actually give us insight into how unemployment and output are likely to behave in the near term because the individuals who make up the market act on their individual nominal income forecasts in a fairly predictable way.
Seeing as no one else is interested in estimating this series for me, I am setting out to do it myself. At first I thought it might be possible to estimate a New-Kenyesian Philips curve on the GDP deflator (an equation which maps an "output gap", inflation expectations and past inflation to current inflation) and then rearrange the parameters until I had NGDP as the dependent variable. Then I could model NGDP expectations using TIPS spreads or maybe the Cleveland Fed series. This would only build only bond market prices into the forecast though and would require a forecast of RGDP and the output gap, which is problematic for a number of technical reasons and itself assumes an NGDP forecast.
I think the way to go about it is to keep it simple. I propose using a straightforward VAR to generate medium run forecasts of NGDP conditional on a selection of obvious market prices. Before showing you my simple VAR setup and the forecast themselves allow me to get out ahead of the econometric nerds. I know you can get all sorts of fancy with a VAR. I know there are disputes about estimating non cointegrating VARs on the level rather than first difference. I know I could probably have put my variables into log form too. Keep it simple. I'm halfassing it so that other people who don't work 70 hours a week can come up with something better. If they don't, I will in time.
The setup:
First go to the St.Louis FRED
Next, download quarterly time series of GDP, the S&P500, West Texas Intermediate oil prices, ten year rates, five year rates, six month rates. Shoot over to the Cleveland Fed (they really need to move to a new city) and download three year CPI inflation expectations. Load them into LibreOffice. Load them into R. So far all this costs is a few years of statistics classes.
Estimate a VAR on the above variables over the period 1982Q2 to 2011Q4. 1982Q2 because you forgot to change the default "1982-01-02" to "1982-01-01" at the download page and aren't trying to publish. Use the AIC to find that a lag length of three is pretty good. Next, solve the model for the period 2012Q1 to 2015Q4 and you get a forecast of NGDP conditional on the level of various asset prices (as well as the then unknown first GDP release) as of 2011's close.
From what I remember of the end of last year, this is a completely reasonable forecast. At the end of the year things were getting better but for supply side reasons, especially all the oiling pouring out of those states Obama and his followers don't like. Indicators of nominal activity like inflation expectations and interest rates were atanking. I will wait to further refine the model before bothering with deeper look at this simple forecast. Maybe build some sort of model averaging system and fix the obvious problem that even the almost useless initial NGDP number for the quarter is not known by markets in working time. In the end though, it should be possible to use the old BEA press releases to insert the preliminary and advance GDP figures into the NGDP series at the appropriate points needed to represent the information available in the past. This could allow someone to generate an NGDP version of the Cleveland Fed CPI expectations release. That is, produce average growth rate expectations over different yearly intervals. This could be helpful in formalizing just exactly what markets were thinking in 2008 and 2009 and help us to study the roll of market NGDP expectations on employment, investment and so on.
Now that I think about it I wish I had included a dollar index, thus the need for model averaging.
Pure gold from Hamilton
From Econbrowser:
One of the problems with the gold standard is that when the real value of gold changes (as it does all the time) and the dollar price of an ounce of gold is fixed (as it must be by definition under a gold standard), that means dollar prices have to adjust in response to anything that happens to the gold market. With the economic and financial turbulence of the late 1920s and early 1930s, there was a big increase in the relative price of gold.
For example, to get an ounce of gold in 1929, a farmer would need to deliver a little over a hundred pounds of cotton. By 1932, it would take more than three times as much cotton to get that same ounce of gold. Whereas 18 bushels of wheat would be enough to buy an ounce of gold in 1929, you would have needed more than twice as much wheat to get gold in 1932. And since the price of gold in terms of dollars was fixed between 1929 and 1932, that means you'd need to produce about three times as many pounds of cotton or two times as many bushels of wheat in order to earn one dollar in 1932 as you would have needed to earn one dollar in 1929.
It is hard to know where to being when debating with gold standard people. Do you go after the ABCT? Do you instead try to show them that an inflation indexed bond spread target would be better? Or just point to the unworkability of a deflationary monetary system? Certainly the policy framework was much more progrowth in the 1920s, and that era just happened to coincide with a gold standard. However, if we live in a world where even U.S. monetary policy doesn't work well for a place like Hong Kong, or German monetary policy doesn't work well for Denmark, why should we forwait that a completely random monetary policy should work for America?
This is what a gold standard would be. The price of money set by happenstance. Money is kind of important, I insist its value not be set by the number of weddings in India (Hindu weddings are big on gold jewelry), and political stability of Mongolia or Congo (from where marginal gold output comes). Gold was a great medium of account in the premodern world but it would not work today. That individuals and companies do not write contracts indexed to the gold price is evidence of this. The monetary system should be built to fit the world, not the world to the monetary system. Level target NGDP and ready the gold kooks for the knacker's yard.
[A final note, the price of money is not the interest rate. The price of money is the GDP deflator, or if you like, your wages, or the price of unsalted grass fed butter. Money has many nominal prices but they are all for goods and services. Interest rates are the price of credit, as Sumner reminds us.]
AS Incarnate
Crude production in the U.S. is already increasing. Within three years, domestic output could reach 7 million barrels a day, the highest in 20 years, said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, a consulting firm. The U.S. produced 5.9 million barrels of crude oil a day in December, while consuming 18.5 million barrels of petroleum products, according to the Energy Department.
North Dakota — the center of the so-called tight-oil transformation — is now the fourth largest oil-producing state, behind Texas, Alaska and California.
The growth in oil and gas output means the U.S. will overtake Russia as the world's largest energy producer in the next eight years, said Jamie Webster, senior manager for the markets and country strategy group at PFC Energy, a Washington- based consultant.
I've been long the dollar for about three months, after learning there was a field equal to about 20% of Saudi Arabia deep under the land along the Ohio/Pennsylvannia border. I have wanted to blog on this but haven't made the time. Maybe meager posts are the way to go. Anyway, the U.S. is under rather different conditions than the U.K. To spell it out, we have 1. clearly better immigrants 2. A captive upper middle class (only Vancouver can compete with our yuppie utopias, Brits flee to Oz, North America) 3. Oh…and rising oil output.
No 3. might be enough to explain the rising jobs numbers despite slow NGDP growth. Households should eventually adjust to the new 4% per year NGDP growth path (after they pay off their 7% interest loans with 1% yearly pay hikes, when they were implicitly promised 3.5% hikes by the Fed from 1985 to 2007), but you wouldn't expect to see such a rapid surge in hiring. We will have to see if the recovery continues to gain speed but the key might be shale oil. Ohio, Texas, Montana, Wyoming. There are sites spread throughout the country that need workers, steel, trucks and all sorts of equipment.The problem may be nominal, but the—second best—solution is real.
I'll dig into the numbers later but the U.S. is clearly at the beginnings of a positive supply shock. The most hopeful thing about rising oil production is that it will keep a lid on that pesky energy component of the CPI, which talkingheads, Austrians and dishonest antiObama conservatives brought up during the period just after QEII when the recovery gained speed. The problem with the U.S. recovery has been that, at roughly full world employment, oil is about $140-$200 per barrel, judging from the price we saw mid summer 2008. That means a temporary bout of CPI inflation, and much gnashing of teeth at the petrol station if the economy should recovery quickly. It also means that if the Fed does its job, it will needfully drive up oil prices. Giving this guy ammo. With rising oil supplies, we might just get the sustained CPI weakness needed for enough political cover to print some permanent base money. Plus all that oil is real wealth.