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About the Author: Luke Forgerson serves as DipNote's Managing Editor.
Last week, we revealed DipNote's most popular entries in 2008. After tallying the results, I can't say that I disagree much with our readers. They indeed identified some of DipNote's memorable entries from last year. As I reviewed a year's worth of blog entries, though, I realized there were several other entries from last year I wanted to highlight.
Some of the entries just missed being mentioned last week, including Jun Bando's entry on piracy off the Somali coast. It was the sixth most popular individual entry last year. USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore's entry on Kosovo and Maria Gabriella Zambrono's entry on Cuba were also among the most popular entries last year.
Assistant Secretaries David Kramer and Samuel Witten brought to our attention the issue of statelessness. Ambassador James McGee communicated to us the dire political and humanitarian conditions in Zimbabwe.
Josh Glazeroff's entries from India expanded our understanding of consular work, and Solomon Atayi's message from Chad reminded us of the challenges and dangers American diplomats face.
Brian Van Pay's entries allowed us to join him aboard the Healy on the Arctic Ocean, a place most of us will most likely never visit. Department Spokesman Sean McCormack took us to other places we likely will not visit. His entries from Tripoli and Rabat gave us a glimpse of Secretary Rice's meeting with Colonel Qadhifi.
Last year has already been described as historic, not in the least because of the U.S. presidential election. Many around the world watched the U.S. presidential election with great interest. On Election Day, Thomas J. Dowling at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi wrote about the reaction from Kenya.
Collectively, these entries illustrate the broad scope of American diplomacy. These entries also reveal much about you, our readers. Your comments on the entries have grown to become one of my favorite components of the blog. I enjoy reading your insights and opinions and am always eager to see the reactions to a posting. Let us know what entries you personally found most memorable last year, and what you'd like to see more of on the blog as we look toward the year ahead.
On behalf of everyone at DipNote, thanks for reading, and we wish you the best in 2009.
Rita writes:
Thank you for taking the time to round up all of these links and, in advance, for your work in 2009!
Susan in Florida writes:
The postings on human trafficing by Mark Lagon and the posting on contraband diamonds. I found these postings both heartbreaking and inspiring. I was inspired by the individuals, like Mark, who are trying to end these inhumane and illegal practices. I appreciate their courage and their dedication. By bringing attention to these situations perhaps more will be done to eventually eradicate these extremely horrific global problems forever.
Dan in Washington, DC writes:
@ Luke -- I work at the State Department, and wanted to send my thanks to you and the DipNote team for all the provocative content over 2008. All the best for 2009.
One of things I've liked best some DipNote articles has been when the writer of the post has responded to the comments by readers. I think this is good for both the writer and the readers, as it helps them learn from and acknowledge each other views. Unfortunately it seems that most of the State employees who write DipNote entries do not take the time to respond to any of the comments from readers. Doing so would make this blog a more interactive, interesting and useful collaboration and communications medium.
DipNote Blogger Luke Forgerson writes:
@ Rita, Susan in Florida and Dan in Washington, DC -- We are glad to count you among our readers. Thanks for your kind messages.
@ Dan in Washington, DC -- I agree that an author's direct engagement with readers makes for a more enriching blog entry. We will make a concerted effort to encourage bloggers to take a more pro-active role in responding. Some of our authors have responded directly to our readers. Tara Foley, Greg Garland, and Ambassador Mussomeli are just a few who come to mind. I suspect more authors will take advantage of the opportunity do so in the future.
John in Greece writes:
@ Dan in Washington, DC -- DipNote has a great feedback! Mr. Forgerson is right! I never expected that Mr. Sean McCormack would answer to my question some weeks ago.
But he did!
A U.S. Assistant Secretary of State talking to me?
Replying to "Mr Nobody" from Greece? What other nation, which other Foreign Affairs Ministry offers you this chance?
Luke and Tara, and plenty of other authors indeed, did the same (answered back) and not only for me, but for everyone who deserved a descent answer to a descent question (hit the archives section and check)
Best Regards Dan! I really welcome you here!
Ron in New York writes:
As an early dipnoter, I saw the possibility for critical real-time give and take on State Diplomacy. I must say, the Dipnote devolved into a self-congratulatory PR mechanism.
Unfortunate that such a great technical communications tool has been so hermetically sealed.
John in Greece writes:
@ Ron in NY -- I strongly disagree with your point Ron. DipNote IS NOT a self-congratulatory PR mechanism, but an open, healthy, democratic forum.
You are indeed an early dipnoter and I have read the majority -- maybe all -- of your very interesting posts. However, an early dipnoter like you should have noticed by now hundreds of non-self-congratulatory posts.
For example, do you call Zharkov's or SNP's posts self-congratulatory? Do you think that Joe's in TN and Eric's in NM extremely intellectual analysis and views are self-congratulatory? They are powerful, constructive and creative contributions. And this counts for many other simple civilians like you and me, who freely contribute here without any tendency to make PR.
I do not understand why you believe that this communication tool became "so hermetically sealed" when at least half of the posted texts are against SD and the U.S.A. policy.
If it was "sealed", they wouldn't post such material. On the contrary, it's absolutely "Dipnote", as Sean describes the term in the Welcome section.
Best regards Ron!
Dan in Washington, DC writes:
@ Luke - thanks for the feedback and glad to hear that you and the DipNote team at State are encouraging Department employees who write articles for DipNote to respond to comments from readers. I know how busy many of these State Department staff are, but if you and Sean McCormack can do it, so can they! (I once wrote a letter to Colin Powell when he was Secretary of State, and he took the time to write back, in his own hand, a short personal note. If Secretary of State Colin Powell can do this -- on paper, more State employees can and should also write back too -- electronically -- and the letter I got back from Secretary Powell is now framed in my office.)
@ John in Greece - I do indeed recall that some DipNote writers from State have responded, e.g., Tara Foley and Press Spokesperson Sean McCormack to name a couple. I think these exchanges have been some of the most provocative and productive on DipNote. Unfortunately, this sort of back and forth between the State writers and the readers' comments has been something more of an exception than the rule, at least from my reading of DipNote. Nevertheless, State has certainly come a long way and is to be commended for breaking new ground, and sharing more diplomatic information and perspectives with people around the world, via DipNote ... This represents a noteworthy and appropriate step toward a properly engaged, effective U.S. diplomacy for the information age and today's increasingly open, integrated, and intricate era in international relations.
Regarding your question about what other foreign ministry offer such a chance to blog, there is only one other such national foreign ministry blog that I am aware of (there might be others that I don't know about) -- the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) ... see http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/
It is interesting to note that the head for the UK's FCO, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, has his own blog and posts pretty frequently. It would be interesting to see something similar from the U.S. State Department's senior leaders. Also re the UK blog, seemingly most of their postings are just that, i.e., there is not a lot of back and forth between the FCO writers and those who post comments to the FCO blog site.
Eric in New Mexico writes:
@ Dan in Washington, DC -- Thanks for the link Dan, I found it to be interesting, and I think it would be a good thing if Sec. Rice posted her thoughts on a favorite subject (or three) before her leaving office.
And if she's reading this I wish her much happiness in private life.
I got no small amusement reading the cold statistical analysis of Dipnote performance specs of posts and commentary...now I know how it feels to be swimming in a fish bowl...(chuckle).
But cold statistical analysis doesn't touch upon actual results that have taken place by public interaction with those implementing US foreign policy.
And it is those results that really make Dipnote a worthy project to persue through this next administration and beyond.
I told Luke Furgeson with a grin when he took this on that we the public would make him earn his paycheck...(chuckle).
But what value can be put on ideas from the peanut gallery when they cause the powers to be to think about an issue on a whole new level?
And therein lies the opportunity and invitation to think that Dipnote affords one to and all.
So I would repectfully ask the Sec. of State to seize the opportunity to contribute.
Then I'll have the opportunity to thank her in person (virtually)for doing an outstanding job over the years.
@ Ron in New York -- And to Ron, this is not the Mickey Mouse Fan Club...LOL!
It's on the cutting edge in the war of ideas, if Dipnote has any potential at all for sustainability. Otherwise it it just becomes a place to vent at taxpayers expense.
It's up to you, and the rest of us commenting as to what we help Luke, Sean and DoS create here.
If it's cold statistics that work for folks, then ponder this; There's over 7 billion people on the planet, and someone out there has a better idea.
I'm not suggesting Dipnote has the combined intellectual capacity to solve the world's ills....yet.
But then I'm not one to pray to statues in order to practice dissapointment.
Thus my presence on this blog, as one small fish among many in a rather large fishbowl.
John in Greece writes:
@ Eric in NM and Dan in DC -- I thought we had OUR BLOG here guys: U.S. DipNote! Why do we have to change frequency Dan?
DipNote works perfectly!
John in Greece writes:
What I mean by saying that DipNote "frequency" is fine, I agree with Eric in NM. It's very complicated to analyze web statistics.
According to my "media logic", when you analyze a web medium platform you should take in serious consideration the fact that along with the mathematical measurements you have to analyze the qualitative data (characteristics) of the visitors. Nevertheless, this is almost impossible. Some months ago, Joe in TN wisely "posted" a general question concerning the Blog: what is the background of the people writing here.
Moreover, I would add: what is the BACKGROUND AND INFLUENTIAL POWER IN DECISION MAKING of the people READING this Blog and how many they are?
This is statistics you cannot have, though, due to the complexity and nature of the internet platform!
What I mean is that you may have just one unique hit per day from Iran, Russia, China or Sudan, but this one unique hit can be "translated" in thousands of significant/meaningful "hits" if the visitor can affect local policy and he/she is inspired by the Blog's "ideas".
Another example: Maybe you statistically "trace" only one unique visitor from Syria or India, but this unique visitor may be a ?web bug? who prints out posts in a hard copy format and distributes 100 photocopies to another 100 local officials. So, you cannot measure this unique hit as one, but you are not sure about the 100. All of which means that you cannot be so sure about the real web penetration.
In other words, you can have a Blog with hundreds of thousands of visitors, which however are "meaningless" due to the lack of decision making power, while you can have an internet platform with only 500 visitors who can change the world.
When it comes to diplomacy and politics is what Joe says: "Who is Who" is that makes the difference. And I doubt if there is such a web counter yet.
A simple comment describing my view concerning the issue "diplomacy in the internet era" is that DoS (Dr. Rice, Sean McCormack and all the staff who run not only DipNote, but every internet project) brought American Diplomacy to the new millennium era. DipNote and all the other SD's internet platforms are not only vital tools, but also "non-negotiable" concerning their importance in this modern "war of ideas".
I would not dare to think that U.S.A., the pioneer of everything, will quit "internet fight" -- the most important communication tool of today and tomorrow.
Of course, SD and the new Administration can evaluate all these matters extremely better than me.
Eric in New Mexico writes:
@ John in Greece, Check this out bro -- I think it will answer at least one of the questions you raised, and I've got a workable alternative to data collection on at least those who choose to post commentary at the end of this excerpt.
"As we noted in Part 1, Dipnote is in a unique (and unenviable) position of being prohibited by law from setting cookies to collect information about users of the blog. This denies its editors important information like how many individuals view which posts, whether the audience is diverse or primarily a recurring group, whether particular kinds of posts increase its audience, and so on. In short, they can't get information that bloggers normally use to improve their offerings. This information is available to some extent through analysis of comments, but few users post comments.
We're not lawyers, so we don't know the specific legal constraints on what the blog can do. However if the limitation is that the government cannot set cookies and collect individual data, perhaps an alternative is to use a third party for this purpose. Analytic services like Google Analytics and SiteMeter provide html codes that bloggers embed in their pages. The analysis server?not the blog's server sets the cookies and collects the user information.
Reports provided back to the clients, to our knowledge, do not contain information about individual users but only aggregated data (for example, about the number of unique users who viewed a particular post). These services are commonly used on blogs and other web sites. Visitors can even disallow the cookies from these analytic services if they don't want to have their data collected. Perhaps this offers a way for the State Department to learn more about Dipnote readers without actually collecting individuated data about them."
If one visits the site linked above, you'll understand who provided my amusement with the cold statistical data. And they have some good ideas to share.
But to solve Joe's conundrum...and a personal frustration in accessing my own archived posts on multiple topics over what? A year and a half now and probably about a thousand posts placed on site? (Something like that as my best guesstamate.)
I think it would be fairly simple to create a way for the blog users..."we the peanut gallery" AKA -- contributors of public comment...( now was that politically incorrect or what?...chuckle!)...To create a user profile...by linking the name on the post to a voluntary profile (if the user wishes to include say age, occupation, etc.) in addition to the basic info like name and location.
On the individual's profile screen should be a link to "all posts by author".
In other words, Even though Dipnote by law cannot gather personal information, I wouldn't think it would be prevented from allowing a user to divulge their own personal information, should they wish to share it with other bloggers. I'm not suggesting this to include email or phone numbers for obvious reasons.
If I as a long term user could access (without having to spend hours wracking my brain and searching through the archives for one particular comment I'd like to reference, but have lost track of)...and could just do so by a click on an author's profile -- mine, or your's or Joe's for instance...The ergonomic aspects of this site would be much improved...and such a feature would tend to create continuity of ideas and the ability to cross-pollinate (reference) ideas and thoughts across threads of topics which at present is not possible without a heck of a lot of effort.
A lot of these issues we discuss are inherently interdependant by the very nature of the world we live in.
Thus a comment I may have made a year ago on one topic, may have relevance to a interrelated topic discussed today...but if I can't find it to save my life, how am I going to be able to bring it's relevance to bear in the here and now?
Short of archiving all my posts on my box separately, (which I could kick myself for not having done already)...I can't think of any other way to recall my own posts, much less anyone else's. Like trying to find a needle in a haystack at present.
The ergonomics of the blog, is akin to the drivability of a car...and for one who likes a manual transmission and the stream of concious thought blowing 190 MPH with the top down, I hope Luke and the gang can help put GPS on my dash board.
'cause this blog runs best at the speed of thought.
"Where was it I left that skid-mark?"....LOL!


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""Not everything can fly. We will not install a swimming pool or a fireplace. That is not possible.""
Who's Number One? Maybe Everybody
Which bizav provider leads the industry? Maybe it's Jet Edge International, whose website announces that it is "the leading large-cabin aircraft-management and charter company in the U.S." Then again, perhaps it's Magellan Jets, "the leader in domestic and international private jet travel." On the other hand, there's NetJets, "the world leader in private aviation," and Le Bas International, which is "leading the air charter industry." And let's not forget Talon Air, "the leading provider of private jet and private aircraft services," and Executive Jet Management, "the leader in…private jet charter services."
The fact is, this industry has so many leaders, you have to wonder whether anybody's left to follow. ElJet, for example, is "an industry leader" and PrivatAir is "a leading international business aviation group." Then there's Tag Aviation, which "leads the world in private and business aviation services." Priester Aviation is "a global leader in private aviation" and Air Charter Service is "a global leader in providing aircraft charter solutions" but VistaJet is "the leading global business aviation company" and, in fact, "the only truly global business aviation company," though I'm not sure where that leaves Chapman-Freeborn's "unparalleled global coverage." Even fractional-provider Avantair was calling itself "the industry leader"—right up until it went bankrupt.
With almost everybody leading, you might want to rely on a more tangible measure of success when evaluating bizav providers. You could, for example, focus on growth rate, in which case there's Vistajet, "the world's fastest-growing private aviation company." But apparently nobody told XOJet, which calls itself "the fastest-growing aviation company in history." If you're impressed by size, you could opt for Pentastar or Fair Wind Air Charter, both of which claim to be "one of the largest" suppliers of private aviation services. But why settle for "one of the largest" when you can fly with the largest? That might be Blue Star Jets, "the largest broker of private jets for hire"—unless perhaps it's Sentient Jet, "the world's largest provider of private jet travel."
Maybe you'd be better off judging companies by years of experience. In that case, the standout could be Clay Lacy Aviation, which calls itself "the most experienced operator of private jets in the world," ostensibly because it was established in 1968. Or maybe not, because Pentastar proclaims that it was founded in 1964. Then again, there's Air Partner, which opened its doors in 1961 and states flatly that it has "been in business longer than anyone else." But what about Landmark Aviation, with "over 60 years' experience"? Or Priester Aviation, "with a proud heritage dating back to 1945"?
Something tells me this industry needs a fact checker.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Share Your Reflection

Beautiful and goodness are one! Thank you Krista! This
Beautiful and goodness are one! Thank you Krista! This is such a good podcast!

As long as you're not saying evolution is ONLY a theory
As long as you're not saying evolution is ONLY a theory or that only God can cause the climate to get warmer. As long as you are not telling me we don't need to conserve our resources because Jesus is coming back and the Earth will be over anyway.

I'm deeply disturbed by the credence that's leant to
I'm deeply disturbed by the credence that's leant to particle physicists on all aspects of science. Polkinghorne's statements on evolution aren't just simplified for the layman, they're factually incorrect -- even conceptually incorrect.
It bothers me that you would think that Polkinghorne would have insights in this area, or into topics like geology. Yes, there are questions that are deeply interesting in particle physics, and many of these questions have powerful implications throughout science and philosophy *but you are not asking those questions.* Polkinghorne, like too many physicists, is being treated more as a guru whose loose coupling of other fields is worth consideration. It's as if you had on someone with a role in the creations of the transistor, but rather than dealing with those topics, chose to ask them about the merits of various tax programs.
Please, if you want to deal with these issues in a serious way, stop treating them as if they are the subject of mere conjecture.

You can't put people in boxes. Mr. Polkinghome obviously
You can't put people in boxes. Mr. Polkinghome obviously knows enough to have an opinion. If a part of his opinion seems overtly unfounded , educate us as to which part. Otherwise enjoy the reaching and conjecture of a sincere and gifted mind. If you have a gifted mind with other answers , then share them. This isn't a science show.

Quarks are not only an article of faith but also of hope
Quarks are not only an article of faith but also of hope and love. The inclusion of hope and love as foundational elements will further help us "interpret and understand the rich, varied and surprising way the world actually is." God claims to be Love. God claims to be Hope. God claims to be Truth.
Prayer is a required work. When integrated into all aspects of life it allows more accurate interpretation and fuller understanding.

I think one of the basic problems with both science and
I think one of the basic problems with both science and religion, as well as how they relate, has to do with our basic concept of time. We think of time as the present moving from past to future, but the physical process is the reverse. The present is the constant and it is the changing configuration of what exists which turns future potential into past circumstance. The earth doesn't ravel the fourth dimension from yesterday to tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes yesterday because the earth rotates. Time is an emergent effect of motion, not the underlaying basis for it.
Since linear cause and effect is the basis of our rational thought process, this simple explanation can be difficult to intellectually process. Especially in light of the fact that so much of the conceptual basis of modern life is built on the past to future vector. All our religious, national, familial and personal senses of identity are largely based on some form of individual and group narrative. Our very minds are the record of events receding into the past, as circumstances constantly produce new ones.
The reality though, is that any particular thread can be braided into some larger narrative, much as a rope is made of many strands, or it is woven into a non-linear tapestry. While it is practically necessary for societies to have commons purposes and means in order to function as a larger whole, the larger reality is that every action exists in some larger equilibrium, so there needs to be the recognition of that greater balance, for society to maintain a stable relationship with its situation and environment.
Much as we still see the sun moving across the sky, from east to west, but know it is actually the earth rotating west to east, we would still experience time as moving from past to future, but know it is those events coalescing out of possibilities and then replaced by the next. As we think of past as cause and future as effect, think is due to events being viewed in retrospect. Prior to the occurrence, the causes of any event are still in the future and once it has occurred, the result is past, so future potential is cause and past circumstance is effect.
One of the problems raised by time as moving from past to future is the issue of free will. If we exist at this dimensionless point of the present and cannot change the past, or affect the future, what input do we have? On the other hand, if time emerges from motion, our actions are part of that activity, which then becomes those events we recall. Just as outside influences affect us, we affect the rest of our situation.
I've mostly discussed this idea on physics forums and while it is not a particularly popular idea, it does raise interesting debate. If time is an effect of motion, there can be no dimensionless point in time, as that would freeze the very motion which creates reality. It would be like trying to take a picture with the shutter speed set at zero. Reality would effectively vanish. Like a temperature of absolute zero, there would be no motion and no connectivity. For physics, this means a particle cannot be isolated from its motion, whether micro or macroscopic. While this is a generally accepted principle in physics, the logic to reach that conclusion is far more complicated.
Also, since reality emerges from the collapsing probabilities, there is no multi-worlds emerging with every quantum superposition.
As for religion, this idea does have some rather profound consequences. As there is only the present, the process of creation requires the replacement of what came before. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. The spirit sheds old generations like dead skin, in order to move onto new generations. So the reality of time and life is that the thread is constantly being drawn from that which came before. The spirit doesn't have to go to a different reality, as it's constantly renewing this one.
The conventional monotheistic view is that the spiritual absolute is an ideal from which we fell, but the universal state of the absolute is basis, not apex, so the spiritual absolute would be the essence from which we rise, not an ideal from which we fell. Good and bad are not a metaphysical dual between the forces of light and dark, but the basic biological binary code. Left/right, good/bad, personal/public, birth/death, light/darkness. As biological organisms, we may be attracted to one and repelled by the other, but as thinking beings, we need to see beyond our own immediate circumstances. What is good for the fox is bad for the chicken, yet there is no clear line where the chicken ends and the fox begins. It's all one cycle of creation and consumption.
The fact is that polytheistic religions were elementary abstraction. Those ancient Gods were what we would call memes today. Basic concepts common to society and given anthropomorphic identities. Then the underlaying unity became one larger and final deity. This proved to be a very powerful social concept, as it broke down cultural barriers to create ever larger social organisms. The problem is that it provides no balance. There is no female goddess to mitigate the one explicitly male God. Which served to solidify patriarchal societies and monolithic political structures. It should be noted though, that it was the polytheists who first developed democracy.
We need to reincorporate more of that spiritual tapestry into our views on life and not try braiding all into the one thread. It will provide a far more sustainable culture.

@Mark: I would be interested in what specifically is
@Mark: I would be interested in what specifically is factually incorrect and some sources for further study.
I enjoyed this interview immensely, but I certainly would like to understand more of the facts that he is misrepresenting.

It seems significant to me that the Bible begins and ends
It seems significant to me that the Bible begins and ends with books about events that were not witnessed by the writer. I am grateful that Moses doesn't begin his story by talking about mitochondrial DNA. Moses was a human being and I believe God's spirit spoke through him but it would have been useless and inappropriate to begin with a scientific theory that hadn't evolved, if you will, yet. Neither to I go to a science book to hear from God. But there is an overlap of truth between these two subjects.
I love exploring this overlap.

The add on reference to the Tuscon shootings as way of
The add on reference to the Tuscon shootings as way of setting up a show on civil discourse and the limits of common ground was inappropriate at best.

In response to John Polkinghorne, on today's program on
In response to John Polkinghorne, on today's program on Quarks anc Creation, I enjoyed the seminal thoughts. He reminds me of the Jesuit Priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The difference is that he is not a true pantheist as Teilhard was because he has not yet figured out how to account for 'problem of evil.' Polkinghorne thinks we must accept the dark with the light. He is a quantum physicist and should understand that we are composed of the light--not of darkness. Per Teilhard, God was in nature and was nature. In other words, the laws of physics are God's body. There should never be any separation between spirituality and science. He also does not understand the difference betwee 'freedom' and 'free will.' At the quantum leve of being there is freedom. Within that freedom, each person is a director and has a free will. People can choose even to violate the laws of physics, which are God's laws. And that is where the darkness originates. But because we are beings oflight, we can overcome the darkness. We can get back on track, which is nothing more nor less than a decision to be obedient to law.

If you require a god to make sense of the world, that is
If you require a god to make sense of the world, that is a personal preference. However, Polkinghorne's arguments were weak and rather shallow given his beliefs. To say that god exists because light can be explained as being a wave function and a point simultaneously is nonsensical.

Polky is such a naughty boy, trying to sneak his god of
Polky is such a naughty boy, trying to sneak his god of the gaps in through the front door and in broad daylight by portraying the god of the gaps argument as a mere obsolete phase of the science vs. religion debate. He brushes it of with: "people could see, in hindsight, that it was in itself a theological mistake". Well that settles it then, it was just a mistake. Funny that most of the world's leading scientists and public intellectuals continue to make that very same "theological mistake." In fact, the scientific elite almost universally rejects the god hypothesis the way it rejects that the earth is flat.
Mr. Polkinghorne gets full points for chutzpah and sophistry, none for intellectual integrity -the unmistakable profile of a Templeton toady.
The Templeton foundation hands out prizes (£700 000 to Mr. Polkinghorne) and funds individuals and organizations that support the views of its late founder, John Templeton. Mr. Templeton not only presumed the existence of his god as established fact; he also presumed as fact that his god not only created the universe but also did so with a purpose! His son, who now runs the foundation, is an evangelical Christian. Funny how the faithful now feel the need to buy former scientists to try to lend credence to their truth claims.
Is Ms Tippett gunning for the Templeton prize? One can't think of a worthier candidate. She welcomes all sorts of gods except perhaps the –no longer in vogue -Greek, Roman, and Viking gods. She welcomes all sorts of religious beliefs and breathlessly gives them equal credence regardless of the fact that these beliefs all fundamentally contradict each other and themselves at every turn while presenting no credible evidence in their support.
Who she does not welcome, however, are those whom she rightfully fears would point this out and thereby expose the dubious premise of her show. Ms. Tippett has systematically kept off of her show, by dismissing as "secular extremists" any scientist or intellectual known to publicly challenge the theistic position, luminaries such as Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Steven Weinberg to name but a few.
This type of deliberate and willful suppression of views is not what one would expect to find much less tolerate on listener (many of which have raised the same issue) supported public airwaves.

I found godsbuster's comments disturbing and nonsensical.
I found godsbuster's comments disturbing and nonsensical. Onbeing is a program for people who try to make more sense of this world and and this life. "Quarks" interview lends insight to both and more. Our existence in this immense universe would be pathetic if we shut our ears to messages that transcends what only meets the eye. Dr. Polkinghorn strides across the chiasm between science and religion and sheds new light onto issues that have been puzzling humans for centuries. He won the Templeton for his search for truth. And God IS truth. Ms Tippett's program is for exploration of humanity. Religions are a big part of humanity. She should be applauded for the boldness to take on such a task. Yes, there are contradictions among different religions. However, "God is above religion". The difference may be more the difference in humans than that in God.
As for the speakers that she does not include in the show, people should be reminded this is not a science show. It takes science as an integral part of human existence but focuses more on humanity which rises above physics or chemistry.
I agree with a lot of this
I agree with a lot of this comment: There is a clear theistic bias in the show and it is disturbing that they are taking money from the Templeton foundation. The Templeton Foundation has a clear program to fight atheistic interpretations of science. That is antithetical to rational, disinterested discourse. As for Polkinghorne, I agree with A. Physicist
(2014 comment below) that he is a lightweight, using a little physics
in an extremely superficial way to justify his religious proclivities.
Despite all that, I do listen to the show, because it is one of the few
places where such issues are discussed at all.

Didn't know where to leave this message...
the ending
Didn't know where to leave this message...
the ending to Krista's interview with Studs Terkel was so beautiful!
i want to compliment Krista on the courage to go head to head... or, meet heart to heart!.... with such a hero in their field. it's inspiring.

long live Finnegans Wake! and long live a god who creates
long live Finnegans Wake! and long live a god who creates those who create!

(Insert pompous, venomous post by belligerent religion
(Insert pompous, venomous post by belligerent religion-basher here.)

Polkinghorne dismissed magic. But I'd like to hear how
Polkinghorne dismissed magic. But I'd like to hear how he reconciles the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as anything but magic.
Revd Polkinghorne's idea that
Revd Polkinghorne's idea that no one has seen a quark is as naive as that no one has seen an electron. Quarks have been seen in Wilson cloud chambers, and many other measuring devices. And he falls on his face with light as wave and particle. Waves are waves of space, as Einstein showed us, and particles are standing waves, they do not exist only as answers to respective questions, but as amazing real phenomena. The man needs to go back and ask more basically, What is god, (1) in distinction from just nothing at all, (2) in distinction from everything in the universe and the universe itself, and (3) in clear relationship to everything in it and itself. My PhD thesis at U Chgo Div Schl in 1972 dealt with those 3 necessary met conditions or else no talk about, or concept of, or even belief in god, is possible. Give me a call if you want more. 603-930-5593 firstname.lastname@example.com
I would lend a great deal of
I would lend a great deal of credence to physicists, just not Dr. Polkinghorne, who is scorned at large in the scientific community. His distortions and misuse of quantum mechanics in order to superimpose sprituality onto physics plays upon people's inadequate mathematical and scientific foundations, confusing them into believing he holds some great truth. I would encourage people to educate themselves, quantum theory is very well established. Shame on you, Krista, for doing this article. Ira should have a rebuttal on SciFri.


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By CHRISTINA K. COSDON
Published May 27, 2007
Old Harbor Bank chairman to retire
CLEARWATER - Old Harbor Bank has announced the retirement of Barry K. Miller, the bank's chairman and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.
Under his leadership Old Harbor has grown from a start-up in July 2003 to a bank with total assets of $200-million. He will continue to serve as a director of the bank.
William W. Short, the bank's chief executive officer and president, will become chairman and CEO. He is a founding director of the bank.
The bank board has elected Gregory A. Mohr as chairman and Robert P. Symanski as vice chairman. Mohr, a founding director of the bank, is executive vice president of Financial Transaction Services LLC. Symanski, who joined the board shortly after the bank opened in July 2003, is a partner of Symanski & McKnight CPAs.
Old Harbor, based at 2605 Enterprise Road, Clearwater, provides commercial banking services in Pinellas, southwestern Pasco and northwestern Hillsborough counties. It has branches in Belleair Bluffs, Dunedin, Palm Harbor and Trinity.
TBE Group VP named to utility board
Nicholas M. Zembillas, a principal of TBE Group of Clearwater and senior vice president of its utilities division, has been appointed to the board of directors of the National Utility Locating Contractors Association, an organization of contract locators, facility owners, excavators, subsurface utility engineers and industry suppliers.
Zembillas is an internationally recognized expert in subsurface utility engineering, a process that incorporates civil engineering, surface geophysics, surveying and mapping, non-destructive excavation and asset management technologies.
TBE Group, incorporated in 1984, is a full-service international consulting, design and engineering firm. It is headquartered at 380 Park Place Blvd. and has more than 40 offices in the United States, Canada, China, Great Britain and Puerto Rico.
PrimeNet hires automotive executive
Kristen Lynds has joined PrimeNet in a new position in its automotive division as a business development executive. She will be responsible for current automotive clients as well as the development of new clients.
PrimeNet provides nationwide direct marketing services to marketers of retail, publishing, financial, automotive and other services. Its data processing, printing and mailing service facilities are at 2100 Palmetto St. in Clearwater and in St. Paul, Minn., and Milwaukee, Wis.
Wellness center opens in Largo
A Therapy Above of Indian Rocks Beach has opened a wellness center in Largo at 1590 Seminole Blvd. The business specializes in thermal imaging, acupuncture, acupressure, massage and other therapies, and offers programs in yoga, quitting smoking and weight loss.
Printing company honored in Clearwater
Clearwater Printing, a commercial printing company that has operated continuously since its inception in 1893, received the Heritage Award from Clearwater's Downtown Development Board. The award recognizes companies that have made a commitment and investment in downtown Clearwater.
The company was established in downtown Clearwater as a combination newspaper and printing company. The newspaper ceased publication in the late 1940s.
Clearwater Printing, at 1002 Grove St., has been owned by a company headed by Bob Clark since 1982. It specializes in one- to four-color printing and rubber stamp manufacturing for some 500 clients.
News of businesses and business people can be faxed to the Business Digest at 445-4119, e-mailed to email@example.com or mailed to Business Digest, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. We are interested in new and unusual businesses, promotions, expansions and major new contracts. Photos can be mailed or e-mailed by jpeg file.
[Last modified May 26, 2007, 18:04:26]
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text:
We recently discovered that some of the wiring in the cave was not grounded properly/at all and was therefore not safe to use with equipment like amps and the PA.
Thus, the Cave is closed completely until further notice. The key has been removed from the Cafe to prevent it being accidentally handed to someone.
We will be doing a big clean up of the cave in co-ordination with the electrician and so if you'd like to help, please come along on Sunday at 1pm.
on behalf of the Cave Crew


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This thread will collect my 3e conversions of the Wild Cards characters statted for 2e in official supplements and serve as a repository for the write-ups of original characters in the same universe, especially from the Carioca Cards series of articles I wrote for RPGnet as part of my column, Superseeds. These three installments describe Rio de Janeiro as a campaign setting for Wild Cards game. If you want to check it out, here are the links:
Part 1: describes the history up to the early 90s
Part 2: describes some of the aces
Part 3: describes some of the jokers and a deuce
This project will probably proceed at a veeeeeeeeeery sloooooooow pace, but I'll try to have new content every once in a while.
I'd also like to state that I have never played 3e (I played 2e though) and don't consider myself an expert on the mechanics. The subtleties of power level and the interactions between abilities and advantages still escape me, so be gentle. Having said that, there are some principles that will guide my conversions and write-ups.
First, I'll try to maintain the basic limits of power level, like the relationships between defense and toughness, but the more convoluted mechanics involved with this concept may be relaxed. Second, I'm not a big fan of the split between "punching" strength and lifting strength, so in most of the cases, I'll probably drop that. Finally, conversions and write-ups will be filtered by my understanding of the characters. Obviously, I'm not a monolithic entity and will be open to suggestions on how to better model them.
Oh, and this thread might be a little spoilery if you haven't caught up to Death Draws Five (book 17).
Black Eagle
Carnifex (Billy Ray)
Golden Boy
The Midnight Angel
Cruzeiro do Sul


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Another American sports owner is buying a Premiership football club
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 323037.stm
Liverpool have agreed a deal with American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks, who are set to complete their takeover of the club early next week.
Gillett and Hicks flew to England earlier this week for a secret meeting with senior Liverpool officials.
They persuaded the club to stall talks with Dubai International Capital, who had been expected to buy out the club.
Hicks and Gillett will split the £470m takeover on a 50-50 basis with £215m of that earmarked for a new stadium.
Gillett owns National Hockey League side Montreal Canadiens while Hicks owns rival NHL franchise Dallas Stars as well as the Texas Rangers baseball team.
Buying out shareholders (incl £80m debt): £255m
New stadium: £215m
TOTAL COST: £470m
Hicks has built up a reputation for developing state-of-the-art new stadia for his teams and his participation was a key factor in Liverpool deciding to go with the US bid.
The other issue which clinched the deal is the Americans guaranteed that Liverpool's new stadium on Stanley Park would not be on a groundshare basis, which had been Gillett's original plan when he was considering a solo takeover.
Gillett has impressed Liverpool with his proposals and the speed at which he completed due diligence - the process of investigation by potential investors - in three days.
The 68-year-old American has also stressed his experience in running successful sporting operations.
However, the Independent has claimed that Gillett's business empire collapsed in 1992, leading to a £33.7m personal bankruptcy.
Gillett and Hicks have worked together in the past on the board of a major US meat-processing firm.
Their idea to take over Liverpool gathered force when they met at the NHL All-Star Game last week.
It would be the first time that two owners of rival sports clubs in one league have combined to purchase a club in another.
I'm familiar with the current exchange rate so its costing them about $930m
and thats before any investments in new players and into the Youth academy.
hope they know what they're doing, this isnt the crappy NHL


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The Share specimen. Superbly original, the coin possesses light golden toning and near perfect surfaces. Very eye appealing!
Q. David Bowers: The following narrative, with minor editing, is from my "Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia" (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., 1993).
Coinage Context
New Orleans issue: After construction commencing in 1835 and the setting up of equipment in 1837, the New Orleans Mint opened for business in 1838. However, it struck no silver dollars until 1846. This was the first of only four dates of Liberty Seated dollars from this mint: 1846-O, 1850-O, 1859-O, and 1860-O.
Although some 1846-O dollars may have been exported, and most likely many were melted, many also circulated within the confines of the United States, probably in the Mississippi Valley.
The Assay Commission found that silver coins (of all denominations, taken as a class) from the New Orleans Mint produced in 1846 assayed a remarkably high. 9011 fine, which was above the legal standard (but still within the legal tolerance of .987 to .903); This was far out of the range of normal variation from the .900 standard, as reflected in Assay Commission reports.
Numismatic Information
Circulated grades: The 1846-O has always been relatively easy to find in circulated grades below Extremely Fine (but EF or better pieces are quite rare). I suspect that this issue circulated widely and saw use in the channels of commerce up and down the Mississippi River Valley, especially riverboats (which numbered in the hundreds) and casinos. Relatively few must have been melted or exported. As the first branch mint silver dollar and as an issue of the New Orleans Mint, the 1846-O has always occupied a place of affection in collectors' hearts.
Mint State grades: In Mint State the 1846-O is very rare; just how rare is not known with certainty. Some of the specimens seen by me have been so deeply toned that it is impossible for anyone (including a certification service) to determine, for example, whether they are AU-58 or Mint State. Notwithstanding this, a top grade 1846-O is an object of desirability. In MS-63 or better grade it is a prime rarity.
Business strikes: Breen-5437:
1. Obverse: Normal. Reverse: With heavy O mintmark.
2. Obverse: Normal. Reverse: With "normal" O mintmark.
3. Obverse: Normal. Reverse: With very weak and thin O mintmark.
Business strike mintage: 59,000; Delivery figures by month: June: 59,000.
Estimated quantity melted: Unknown
Characteristics of striking: Average strike, often showing weakness, particularly on the eagle's head and claws; stars at the right side of the obverse are often weak.
Known hoards of Mint State coins: None
This was the first branch mint Liberty Seated dollar and one of just four dates coined from the New Orleans Mint (the others: 1850-O, 1859-O, and 1860-O).
Additional Information
What Might Have Been
What might have been but wasn't is an appropriate comment on the shipment of four pairs of dies from Philadelphia to New Orleans for use in coining 1847-O dollars, but no such coins were ever made. Four more pairs were shipped from Philadelphia to New Orleans for making 1848-O dollars, but these too never materialized.
The Treasury also intended that 1849-O dollars be made, and one obverse die bearing that date was shipped to New Orleans, to be mated with one or more reverses left over from earlier times. However, no 1849-O dollars were made. As it turned out, 1849 was a year for silver rarities at the New Orleans Mint, and collectors today recognize the half dime, dime, and quarter of the 1849 issue as elusive.
John G. Mills Collection - S.H. & H. Chapman 4/1904 - John M. Clapp Collection - John H. Clapp Collection, sold intact in 1942 - Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection - Bowers & Merena 4/1997:2213, $46,200
Heritage 1/2015:4169, $70,501.18 - Legend Collection of Mint State Seated Liberty Dollars
Linnemann Family Collection - Stack's/Bowers 6/2013:2027, $44,062.50
Heritage 10/2015:3378, not sold


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I just finished hearing "A hard day's night" in its entirety. By Far it is the Beatles most rocking album. Too bad "I wanna be your man" is not on it. The album is as concise and enjoyable as Rubber Soul (though rubber soul has more moments of sheer brilliance).
by the way. have any of the tracks from the George Martin Orchestra (from the US release) ever come out on CD form? I would love to hear them.


text:
You limited your search to:
Serial/Series Title: Mirror of Women of Wisdom and Courage
Collection: ARTsource
A brief note about your search: All of the results matching your search query require you to be a member of the UNT Community (you must be on campus or login with university credentials for access).
- Chûjô-hime
Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community.
A roundel in the center features a woman in a highly patterned kimono holding two pieces of a vegetable. A lotus blossom is featured on the roundel. In the uppermost portion of the piece is a rectangular inset with Japanese text and double row of cloud formations. A large leaf extends below and from underneath the roundel on the lower right side. A narrow band on the right side of the artwork graduates from yellow to blue and also includes Japanese text. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc41307/
- Tokiwa Gozen
Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community.
Japanese text in the uppermost portion of the print while below, inside a circle, a woman is surrounded by several red flowers. digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc41306/


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Skip to comments.Gingrich to packed house: Wal-Mart must be empty
Posted on 03/10/2012 3:55:56 PM PST by VinLEdited on 03/10/2012 4:01:19 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
There was an overflow crowd greeting Newt Gingrich when he arrived at the Wiregrass Museum of Art in the southeast corner of Alabama on Saturday.
Looking over the hundreds of people packed into the gallery area and spilling down the steps in the main lobby, Gingrich enthused, "What a crowd. I'm really impressed. There must be no one left at Wal-Mart this afternoon."
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.blogs.foxnews.com ...
Ja vell, so gates.
Excellent and Amen
The only thing offensive about the Newt rally today was the Ron Paul flyers scattered over our cars and parking area. Tacky, but so typical of Paul supporters
The big stores in Dothan are a Walmart Supercenter, Target, Kohls, JC Penny and then things like Big Lots and Burlington Coat Factory.
I don't know where others are from, but here in 'bama, Walmarts are packed on weekends.
That's all Newt was implying.
That's not condescending, it's the truth.
Condescending is "I even say y'all now" and "I love those cheesy grits".
Actually, I thought it was well-put by you.
Newt understands. That is not condescension
If Im not mistaken, Larry the Cable Guy uses that line at his appearances.
Hornet, Newt isn't Romney. I'm certain Newt thought out what he was going to say- and determined that the reference to Walmart was positive.
When one's part of the group, one can "needle" the group— it's the outsider trying to ingratiate himself, who is out of place.
"Santorum also took on Gingrich obliquely, reminding the crowd that he and his own wife, Karen, have been married 21 years and home-schooled their seven children."
So what? That woman with eight babies beats him! Let's elect HER president then!Or the other woman who's got EIGHTEEN kids!
Rick is an idiot if he thinks that is an argument to be elected.
Ricky knows the real score in Alabama and Mississippi. He's about to lose in both states so he becomes the snarky Rick.
" I would only sit on the couch with my wife"....
Yes, Rick, gather your holy robes around yourself, lest you be tainted by the masses of the unwashed.
It's remarks like this that are a complete turn off. Tell us again about your "Courage", Rick.
It was not ABOUT shopping at Walmart versus another store, it was about (the whole crowd) shopping at Walmart for the afternoon versus doing another local ACTVITY. HE sounds like he thinks that's all there is to do in saying what he said, even though it may not be the case that it's what he thinks. And given that Calista outwardly prefers high-end stores (much moreso than the other candidates' wives,) I just think it may have hurt him more than it helped him.
OH, and I shop at Walmart TOO...all the time, Cindy, so don't go snobby on me thank you.
And that's all I'm going to say on the subject, so I'll just let that stand.
Well....I'm an average Joe, and I don't care about whether somebody else can have a "500 thousand dollar shopping spree at Tiffanys" or not, since it's no skin off my back. But I *do* connect with a candidate who expresses my concern about the prices I have to pay for gas and the deficit my grandkids will be facing, rather than the candidate who is concerned about my sex life.
Newt talks about what he will do in the future. Those other three talk about what they did in the past.
I didnt sit on the couch with anybody, Santorum said.
REALLY? Barbara Bower and Hillary Clinton are "anybodies"?
In his tough 2006 race to retain his Senate seat, which he lost by double digits, Rick Santorum attempted to appeal to moderates and liberals in an advertisement touting his work with Sens. Joe Lieberman, Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton.
There's nothing condescending about that remark. If you are from rural America, Walmart is where everyone goes.
Bower -> Boxer
I totally disagree that this was a dig at Gingrich's many marriages and affairs.
Santorum was simply using an analogy about not sitting on the couch with another woman (I had a pastor that would never sit alone with a women nor be in a car alone with a woman because he wanted to make sure that there was never any question about fidelity) and the incident with Newt and Pelosi- sitting on the couch with Pelosi was improper because it led to all kinds of questioning of Newt's loyalties. Period.
I bought Cat food and socks at Wal-Mart today, I must be a redneck.
Mine too. On any given Saturday afternoon, it's generally the busiest place in town. I think 90% town winds up shopping there at some point. It's two miles away from my country home and I think that's a good selling point actually.
Newt is saying that he has the support of normal Americans who shop at Walmart. We need a candidate who attracts regular Americans. Newt is a Walmart kind of guy.
Obama is a Whole Food's shopper where everything is organic and expensive:
Nov 15, 2011 And have you seen the price of arugula at Whole Foods lately? Most people can't eat as well as Michelle Obama because they simply can't ...."
Newt? I don't even see Newt in the running.
Reminds me of our experience shopping at a WalMart next to Ft. Riley, KS when our daughter and Son-in-law were stationed there. Wow, what a difference shopping in a "flyover country" WalMart! The place was clean, the folks were friendly, and the checkout people were polite. Compare that to shopping at a WalMart in the northeast, where people will just run over you rather than wait for you to get out of their way.
Well Said! Living in Dothan, today I receive SEVENTEEN robocalls, all treacherous against Newt. Yesterday I received the call that Newt would be here today. His talks hit home with the issues that people are most concerned with for our FUTURE
I'm up here in the Pacific Northwest and I LOVE Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, the closest one to me is in Newport, 25 miles down the Coast. A beautiful drive when the weather is nice, but when the weather is not nice, which it often is up here...not so much.
Well, Rick picked up a few things while he was an attorney for Pro Wrestling. Have you noticed how he only mentions Newt's past, but hopes no one knows that his own wife shacked up with an abortion doctor for seven years?
The White House is no place for him since you have lead there, not compromise like he did in the Senate.
I totally disagree that this was a dig at Gingrichs many marriages and affairs.
Newt's "many" marriages and affairs. Very clever, Red. I'll take your alternative view of Santorum's comment in that context.
That is because there many of the posters on Free Republic are men and we can spot someone who isn't.
I thought it was funny, speaking to the middle class.
Santorum also took on Gingrich obliquely, reminding the crowd that he and his own wife, Karen, have been married 21 years and home-schooled their seven children.
Before Karen Met Rick
So I guess that means we cant count on your vote for Newt?
Nice poster.
Why do you think it was condescending?
I just texted a friend of mine in AL with the campaign, and told her there was this international incident discussion going on about Newt's walmart remark, and she said there is a wal-mart straight down the highway from where newt was speaking, you don't even make a single turn. Depending how you get there, highway or backstreets, it's just a little over 2 miles away, which is the center of town activity, as many walmarts are in small towns.
If Santorum wants to make an issue about Pelosi and Newt, the issue is his judgment on believing the scam of global warming, which Newt now admits he was wrong about.
I like this a lot.
That is sinking pretty low, you know.
I didn't know the wives were fair game.
Thank you for posting the article about Rick's wife. Since he seems to continue to want to take pot shots at Newt's past, lets shine the light of truth on his hypocrisy.
No, nobody, and I mean nobody, thinks Newt was cheating with Nancy. That's not the problem.
I think you're reading way too much into it. My Walmart is crowded on the weekends because most people work Monday through Friday. Feels like half the town is there sometimes. What would have been better...looks like everyone isn't at the movies, museum, mall, bowling, at home, etc. Shopping at Walmart is relatable to everyone, especially in places where that's really the only (or best) places to shop. The people at FR who actually live in the area didn't think it was condescending.
I look at Newt's comment as an admission of the shrewdness of Wal-Mart shoppers. If anyone knows where the good deals are, it's Wal-Mart shoppers. And this afternoon, the best deal in those parts was Newt.
especially, now that some of them are featuring sit-down food places. Mine has a subway and Pizza Hut - oops I guess that's condescending too. And some of them have really cool wifi cafes.
I know a bunch of guys at Fort Gordon Ga - and they get dressed up and go out on Sat night to the 24-hour walmart. One of them told me they behave really well while they're in Walmart because if they ever got banned, they wouldn't have anywhere to go or anything to do. Apparently the management has some rules of conduct they consider outlandish - like no bumper car races with the handicap shopper scooters, and some other really unreasonable rules. :)
Santorum smiling at abortion? Santorum supporting Arlen Specter, while he's talking of his pro-abortion stand:
THIS speaks for itself.
I'm in Oregon too! Just south of Cottage Grove.
Rick has paraded his wife and kids out as a personal testament to his supposed unblemished life, while he has continued to make unChristian remarks about Newt's past. Rick is the one running as a values voter, so if he wants to sling mud, it flies both ways.
The difference is, Newt has only brought up policy issues about Rick. Rick is the one who has engaged in personal attacks.
do you know that romney's live calls are being made by telemarketing firms, and not campaign volunteers, like Newt's and Santorum's are. romney has to buy everything. The man is literally buying the presidency.
don't hang up on those robocalls, let them play through, till you get the beep - if you can stand it. some of them are prorated based on how much of the messages gets played...
I have not received any "live" calls, all robocalls...disgusting as I have EVER seen and I lived 45 years in Harry Reid's state
I don't agree, simple as that. Newt is no hero. A few months ago everyone on this site reviled Newt. His transformation from liberal RINO to Conservative saint is amazing at best. LOL
That said, I will vote for whoever the nominee is because Obama is far worse than all of ours.
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:
Monday through Friday
between the hours of
8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Headquarters does not function operationally as a precinct for downtown. Patrol duties for the downtown area fall under the West Precinct, located at 810 Virginia.
If you have a scheduled appointment with a Police Employee who works in Headquarters, enter in the main lobby and check in with the Officer at the front desk.
The public request unit handles a wide variety of police services, and is located in lobby of the Seattle Police Department Headquarters Building.
Seattle Police Headquarters is located at:
610 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98124-4986
P.O. Box 34986
Seattle, WA 98124-4986
Direction to City of Seattle Downtown Campus
Metro: If you choose to use Metro's Trip Planner to find a bus route enter Fifth Avenue & Cherry Street or Fifth Avenue & James Street as your destination point.
Traveling South to Downtown Seattle:
Take I-5 Southbound to the James Street exit, Exit 165A, turning right on James Street.
Traveling North to Downtown Seattle:
Take I-5 Northbound to the James Street exit, Exit 164A, turning left on James Street.
There is no free public parking at Seattle Police Headquarters. The SeaPark Garage is located on 6th Avenue between Cherry and James Streets on the east side of the Justice Center.
It is open until 10pm, Monday through Friday, and closed on the weekends.
The vehicle entrances to the garage are on:
• Cherry, mid-block between 5th and 6th Avenues
• 6th Avenue at James Street
• James, mid-block between 5th and 6th Avenues
Please note, you will not be able to enter directly into the Justice Center from the SeaPark Garage. You will need to enter from the main doors on fifth avenue.
Metered parking is available on streets surrounding the Seattle Justice Center. Many other public pay lots are also available within walking distance.
Passenger Dropoffs:
Fifth Avenue is one way southbound. There is no drop off point in front of the Justice Center. Cherry street is one way eastbound. On the left side of past the 5th Avenue intersection on Cherry Street there are load/unload spaces. The right side of the street is for police vehicles only.


text:
Want to double the impact of your contribution? Many companies and some law firms will match a gift to the Law School. (Law firms particularly offer matching gift programs to associates to encourage philanthropy.) If you or your spouse work for an employer offering this benefit, contact your personnel office about a matching gift. Depending on your employer's program, it can be made online, by automated phone system, or with a paper form to be submitted with your gift.
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For questions or comments, please contact the web administrators.
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text:
Gym Class Heroes and The Dirty Heads are hitting the road this fall! For one day only, you can be the first to get tickets when you enter the password DIRTYGYM into the presale box HERE.
The Papercut Chronicles II Enhanced Ticket Package
1 GA ticket w/ Early Entry
1 Preorder of the new Gym Class Heroes CD: The Papercut Chronicles II
1 Gym Class Heroes T-Shirt
1 Signed Gym Class Heroes Poster
1 Commemorative VIP Laminate
30 people at each show who get the Enhanced Ticket Package will be chosen at random for a Meet & Greet with Gym Class Heroes. Good luck!


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Farm bill extension no fix-all
MARSHALL – In the U.S. Congress, farm bills that set policy and fund U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, are usually passed every five years. This year, instead of passing a new farm bill, Congress passed a nine-month extension with modifications as part of "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
Local farm interests have found the bill a mixed bag – what Kevin Paap, who farms near Mankato and serves as president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau, calls "the good, the bad, and the ugly."
According to Paap, the extension was only a stop-gap measure to prevent farm law from reverting back to 1940s legislation.
"All farm bills since then have only been amendments," Paap said. "It's the default position, nobody likes it. It's unworkable."
Paap said on the good side was the fact Congress made the estate tax exemption permanent. The tax exemption formerly stood at $5 million and is now fixed at $1 million, though the rate was raised from 35 percent to 40 percent.
"The average age of a farmer is 58," Paap said. "We need to have planning, we need certainty. Previous laws had expiration dates, this made the estate law permanent."
The bad part, according to Paap, was the bill continues to fund $5 billion in direct payments to commodity producers but cuts programs to fund crop insurance and livestock disaster programs.
Paul Sobocinski farms north of Wabasso and works with the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) on policy issues. Sobocinski agrees on direct payments, but differs on the estate tax issue.
The LSP's stated position on estate taxes is that lowering the tax results in keeping more land in the possession of fewer landowners, to the detriment of new farmers.
"What I see from my perspective as a farmer, I think it's very unfortunate the farm bill got renewed," Sobocinski said. "Most farm groups all knew we had to give up something, and we came up with a general consensus that we should give up direct payments. But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden agreed to strike it out. Agriculture was asked to come up with a certain percentage of cuts. Unfortunately, the McConnell-Biden agreement strikes out any support for new farmers, rural development, even disaster aid."
Among the worst provisions of the bill was cutting funds for the Conservation Stewardship Program aimed at supporting farmers who conserve soil and water on their working farmland, according to Sobocinski.
Both Paap and Sobocinski agree that cuts are necessary to avert a looming fiscal crisis for the country.
"The ugly part is the fiscal and budget uncertainties," Paap said. "We are on a one-way road to fiscal disaster. The tax side was taken care of, but they haven't addressed the spending side."
But for many, the worst aspect of the extension is the uncertainty of what congress will eventually come up with so farmers can make plans out longer than a year.
Dave Lanners farms corn and soy north of Minneota.
"It was just a year extension," Lanners said. "I don't know what's going to happen next. Who knows what people in New York City think? Who know if Congress cares about the one or two percent of us (farmers) left?"


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Skip to comments.Google details how it hands over data to federal officials
Posted on 06/12/2013 11:29:36 AM PDT by Brad from TennesseeEdited on 06/12/2013 11:30:50 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Google on Wednesday pushed harder to downplay its role in a secret national surveillance program, detailing for the first time how it typically hands over data to federal officials.
Surprisingly, the global innovator uses decidedly simple and low-tech methods, including the delivery of information by hand or by transferring files from one computer to another.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
"We leave the key under a rock out in the parking lot of our headquarters. And over the weekend while we are closed, the Feds use it to break in and take everything".
Hey google, did it ever occur to you to JUST SAY NO?
This from a company that just days ago had never heard of prism.
I suspect that Google runs the DNC database that Maxine Waters was bragging about. "It knows everything about every American", she said, along with her belief that the Democrats will now win every election using the database.
Google's IT department still uses floppy disks???? Seriously???
Do they listen to music on 8 track tapes?
Fat chance. Eric Schmidt is a big time democrat party money boy, and he has ambitions that go way beyond running a tech company. It's only a matter of time before he runs for elected office or gets appointed to some high position.
Googles president set it up for the dnc. It's name is Civis
Yes, weren't they just denying passing data to the feds? Are we supposed to believe the latest? Or the fed story that. Archived data can only be viewed with a warrant?
Google and this WH swap staff,,they are besties who cannot be disconnected.
I don't care. Google is like GM. Goodbye.
Hit Google where it hurts, in the pocket book, fist boycott the movie.
"That could include putting data onto a floppy disk or external hard drive"
After reading the comments, I'm glad I'm not the only one who found this extremely bizarre wording.
It's as if Google is trying to say "The statement we're giving you is BS." in the only way that it legally can.
Scrambling to cover their butts I see.
Exactly. The leftist pigs at google are probably writing the algorithms to mine their data to further the goals of the Stalinist left.
They were in the business of collecting user data from the gitgo.. no surprise.. that they are willing and able to swim with sharks speaks volumes.. just wait 'til the schmidt hits the fan
Holy bleep! A punch card, haven't seen one of those for ages! Wow!
[. . .along with her belief that the Democrats will now win every election using the database.]
That could be cause for a federal antitrust suit.
More important, who is representing the citizen's interests at these FISA hearings. If only one side shows up; it's like getting an indictment - as is often said "you can indict a ham sandwich" because there is no one to challenge what you say!
If FISA court proceedings are secret; if no one is representing the "people" (although the A.G. is supposed to be - what a laugh), who is monitoring them on our behalf? The judges, so we are told, are rubber stamps (damn, now I'll get audited) - who protects us??
Given the rate and volume of these file transfers, how exactly does that pass for "low tech"?
Thanks for the memories! Have not seen one of those babies since my college programming classes on a DEC 10.
Dear Google Execs,
Has your company ever provided, to any agency of the United States federal government, any data, metadata, or any information whatsoever regarding my Google account, with or without my name included? Has your company ever provided any of same to any of the same regarding my Google usage, where my account name or my account email address or any account identifier was coupled with usage metrics?
Joe User
I noticed that the Washington Post had linked in a list of the ten biggest leakers in U. S. History right beside the reports on Snowden.
In this manner, I think the seek to influence public opinion, showing clearly damaging reports to U. S. security, to this incident that protects individual security.
Let's be clear about something here. Former spies and leakers divulged information that caused potential harm to the nation and it's assets.
Snowden merely revealed a policy. He didn't provide methods and names. He didn't expose our operative's names on foreign soil. He merely exposed what the government was doing wrong.
He really doesn't compare to the other spies and leakers IMO. And so it goes in the Amerika the Washington Post seeks to strengthen.
WTF is this "Google" you speak of? Oh, I'd almost forgotten...it's the company that displayed communist azzhole Cesar Chavez on their front page instead of EASTER.
I switched to Bing that day and have not used their page since. EFF Google.
They should not hand over that data. The whole thing is a massive violation of the Fourth Amendment, and likely the Fifth as well.
There are at least 2 Google Analytics that track Free Republic. Ghostery a Mozilla add on will stop them.
"along with her belief that the Democrats will now win every election using the database."
Voting records too.
Metadata, realtime phone gps, political affiliation,
drone-strike. This could be automated. 10k drones, 3 hits
a day? If the ground crews could service multiple drones a
day then they could run everything out of DHS.
Naturally Google hasn't heard of Prism. Prism is only the application.
An rough allegory to Google's explanation might be the Bank of America in Manhattan orders a billion dollars worth of T-Bills and pays for it by hiring temporary laborers to haul cash in duffel bags to the New York Federal Reserve.
Google provides the world's largest repository of anti-Semitic material in the world, YouTube. And conversely, say mean things about Islam on YouTube and see how long it takes to get suspended. Google is an extreme liberal socialist anti-Western values Co.
Deny easy access to your search data. Avoid Google and rotate through other search engines. Dogpile, DuckDuckGo, Ixquick, Blekko, etc. Use the Tor network where possible. Use TAILS https://tails.boum.org/
Google has Ingress. http://www.ingress.com/ Worldwide tracking for any/many individuals via their cell phones. Entertainment addicted people provide free beta testing services for them.
These tech firms have that in common. That and they love social engineering and nudging. They manipulate, so it isn't a surprise that a government that manipulates is their bud.
A search firm that kept data private or destroyed search histories instantly would do well in this environment. It might be the next Google.
Exactly and I didn't see your post before posting mine.
There are many on the 'right' like McCarthy's recent article, who are defending this policy as innocuous and 'for our benefit'. I suspect you're analysis is spot on and agree.
If our records are public, why not governments? I mean let's get it all out there. Let's see Obama's records and the Clinton's, too. I mean it's all 'nonprivate', correct?
Bing's just like Google. Find an anonymous browser if you're serious.
I didnt see your post before posting mine.
— That's cuz I precognitively read your thoughts before they reached yur finger tips.. ;-]
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Re: Share Your Syntax Color Theme
If anyone would like to use the theme I created, you can check it out here:
http://www.danielfischer.com/2007/04/07 big-fisch/
This is an archive from Rails Forum. Check out the new community here!
A forum for Ruby on Rails users
If anyone would like to use the theme I created, you can check it out here:
http://www.danielfischer.com/2007/04/07 big-fisch/
In my Dreamweaver days I was using a self-made theme (which I now hate):
But now, I just use the standard Textmate Blackboard scheme in e with Monoco 10/11pt.
Last edited by shadow (2007-04-07 19:52:38)
Ack, dream weaver looks nasty .
It looks better than that little screencast shows but its not as nice as Textmate themes. Unfortunatly, DW colouring is poor.
If anyone tried to use my theme and noticed it looked different, I exported it wrong. So, go ahead and try again and it should work.
has any one got any good non-text mate themes for the other editors?
There are thousands of editors around... which one are you looking for?
wow greate ,is it possible to use this theme with scribes?
or how can i teak it,even simple thing like change the backgroud color to dark one?
am new here so hi
If your editor supports syntax highlighting, it should allow you to change the colors to your preference.
Hey Ryan,
Could you share your tweaked version of idlefinger's light-on-dark theme?
You can find it on the Railscasts About Page.
I agree it's a lovely theme you've got there, love the blue symbol colouring (then again everything about ruby's symbols fill me with joy )
I wonder, is there anybody who likes coding for long periods with a dark on light scheme? Perhaps my eyes are getting old but they really begin to hurt after even a short time with a bright background
You guys all seem to be on Macs, do you agree with a lot of comments on the 'net that Macs tend to 'blur' fonts too much, or is it a lot of rubbish?
Do you know why they "seem" to looked blurred?
OSX tries to maintain the "shape" of the font while "Windows" tries (and succeeds) to cramthe font into each pixel thus resulting in a poorly represented "font", what I mean is the font is not what the font designer intended it to look like... OSX keeps the shape of the font... OSX displays the fonts as they would on Print! I develop on a PC and use Safari when i want an OSX "feel" for my page.
Windows has it wrong, what we see as their representation of the font is not what was intended by the designer of that particular font.
Hope that helped!
I'm now using Ryan's Railscasts theme (switched over from Vibrant Ink) with Consolas 13pt as my font. It's pretty
I downloaded the theme from idleFingers and the modified version from Railscasts but my
redirect_to and my has_many statements etc are still showing white and not red as in the posted pics.. Do I need to add/change something else?
I am new to textmate, I just received my Mac tonight and Im trying to get textmate setup with a theme.
Never mind, found my issue. I had it set to Ruby and Not Ruby on Rails.
This is my Syntax Color Theme in TextMate:
Custom/self made, based on Ryan's color theme.
And of course if you want to use it, here you go:
eclips3.media (ECLM) TextMate Theme
I missed rdark.vim when I used TextMate, so here's a simple port:
You can download it here: http://ncogni.to/RDark.tmTheme.zip
Edit: Preview link, the image doesn't appear to be showing..
Last edited by ncognito (2007-12-19 10:08:47)
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The NFRC Label: A Tool for Meeting and Exceeding Building Energy Codes
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The first commercial building energy code that was adopted on a widespread basis by many states was ASHRAE 90.1–89. The first residential building energy codes adopted by many states were the 1992, 1993 and 1995 versions of the Council of American Building Official's (CABO's) Model Energy Code (MEC). The Energy Policy Act of 1992 required states to meet or achieve the requirements of ASHRAE 90.1–89 and to review their existing energy codes to see how they compared to CABO's MEC.
Since that time, ASHRAE 90.1–99 was published with significant revisions to the 1989 version. In an effort to harmonize building codes across the United States, an International Code Council was formed. As a result the CABO's MEC was revised to become the first International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The first IECC building energy code was published in 2000 and included both residential and commercial buildings requirements.
Note, every energy code provides regulatory, prescriptive, and system or design requirements.
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Contact NFRC's Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing, Tom Herron, at 240-821-9505 to schedule a class.


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Elsie Spirit Print
Style: 3570037257
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Our go-everywhere, do-anything dress is designed with a flattering crossover neckline and faux wrap front. The brushstroke print paints fall in rich colors of plum and amethyst with charcoal and black. We love it with the Oh My Gorgeous Lace Cami Bra.
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