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LYNN NEARY, host:
Guitarist and songwriter Bill Kirchen is a lanky guy with a shock of white hair and a ready laugh. He carries his guitar with the ease of someone who hasn't been separated from it too much over the last 40 years.
Kirchen has played music all his life, from classical as a kid to folk in the '60s. He got his first national exposure as a founding member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.
(Soundbite of song, "There's a Riot Going on")
COMMANDER CODY & HIS LOST PLANET AIRMEN (Music Group): (Singing) There's a riot going on up in cell block number nine.
NEARY: On his new CD, "Word to the Wise," Kirchen is joined by some of the many musicians he's worked with over the years, including Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Maria Muldaur, and of course, Commander Cody.
(Soundbite of song, "I Don't Work That Cheap")
Mr. BILL KIRCHEN (Musician): (Singing) So I made it back home for the big inaugurama. I had to play my record for my man Obama. I blew right by the Secret Service. I said, put that thing away, man, your making me nervous.
NEARY: Bill Kirchen joins us now with his guitar.
So good to have you with us.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Well, it's good to be here, Lynn. Thank you.
NEARY: Now, I understand you're called the King of Dieselbilly. What exactly is dieselbilly?
Mr. KIRCHEN: Well, I really made that up just so I could have my very own genre I wouldn't have to share with anyone else. Now, at one point, I first got into country music back in the '60s, there was a sort of legitimate form, truck driving songs. And for some reason, I took a liking to them, and they had a guitar sound that attracted me that I got into.
So at one point, more of just as a joke if any - that I started calling what I played dieselbilly, figuring if I had my own genre, anything I played would be legitimate dieselbilly, so...
NEARY: Well, there's one example from the new CD that I wanted to play called "Bump Wood."
Mr. KIRCHEN: Right.
NEARY: And I was listening to that song in Calvert County, Maryland, which I understand is where you live.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Exactly, yeah.
NEARY: Driving along on a country road, and I have to say, this was just the right thing to be listening to.
Mr. KIRCHEN: True. It's a good-to-be-alive song.
(Soundbite of song, "Bump Wood")
Mr. KIRCHEN: (Singing) If I could stretch a dollar like I stretched that cent I would have all the money that I already spent. If I had the money, I'd spread it all around 'cause it don't mean nothing when I'm layin' in the ground. I'm layin' in the ground, when I'm layin' in the ground. And I know in the morning that it's gonna be good when I stick out my elbows and they don't bump wood. They don't bump wood.
NEARY: Now, if you can listen to that song without bouncing your head up and down, then...
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. KIRCHEN: Even I was bouncing up and down, and I've heard it before.
(Soundbite of laughter)
NEARY: So you called that a good-to-be-alive song.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Yeah.
NEARY: Is that just because of the way it makes you feel or does it go beyond that or...
Mr. KIRCHEN: Well, it's what it's about, really. It's about writing I wrote it with the idea of, hey, I like it here, you know.
NEARY: You like it here on Earth.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Exactly.
NEARY: And you want to continue to be here.
Mr. KIRCHEN: In this neat suit that I've been issued, yeah. Just fine with me.
NEARY: So what are your roots? Are your roots country, are they blues?
Mr. KIRCHEN: I started out being a classical musician and hearing the pop music of the day. But I really didn't start playing until I got caught up in the big folk scare in the mid-'60s.
NEARY: The folk scare?
Mr. KIRCHEN: The folk scare whoa, what's this? But I would hitchhike to New York City into the Newport Folk Festival...
NEARY: Oh, yeah.
Mr. KIRCHEN: ...in 1964 and '65, and I saw all the great bluesmen like Skip James and Son House. And that was the music that I got going on. I really didn't start playing rock and roll in electric until a couple years later. And then I got a crash course in Western swing and country at that point when I started Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, we started that band.
NEARY: That's really where your career began, isn't it?
Mr. KIRCHEN: That's where my national career began, absolutely.
NEARY: All right, tell me a little bit about that, playing with Commander Cody.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Well, we were it started out almost as a - just a fun band. There was a floating membership and there were dancing girls, and it was kind an art rock thing. But we were mining boogie-woogie from the '40s, hard blood and guts country from the '50s, Hank Williams songs and whatnot, writing our own material. And so we were doing a lot of kind of things, which came to be known later as roots music. But we were playing them for rock and roll audiences in the '60s and '70s.
NEARY: Did you ever did you start playing trombone before you played guitar?
Mr. KIRCHEN: Yeah. I was a classical trombone player in - through junior high and part of high school until I got seduced by the banjo and guitar.
NEARY: And I know that you said that you really got into the folk music...
Mr. KIRCHEN: Yeah.
NEARY: ...but did you ever think about going into pure blues or jazz? Where you headed in that direction at all, or...
Mr. KIRCHEN: Well, to be honest with you, I never this wasn't a thought-out career. It's like the next thing I know, like, whoa, I've been a musician for 40 years now. And so it's hard for me to think back and think where the forks in the road were.
But I've really just been lucky enough to play the music that really struck me.
NEARY: All right. I wanted to play a track from the CD. This is one that I think you wrote for Elvis Costello. It's called "Man in the Bottom of the Well."
(Soundbite of song, "Man in the Bottom of the Well")
Mr. ELVIS COSTELLO and Mr. KIRCHEN: (Singing) I spend my time thinking about the tales he's got to tell. There's a man in the bottom of the well. Don't go there for water you might walk away as dry as dust and bone.
NEARY: So that is Elvis Costello...
Mr. KIRCHEN: Yeah.
NEARY: ...singing with you. And did you write that with him in mind?
Mr. KIRCHEN: I really did not write it with him in mind, but I picked it for him. I was I wanted a song for him to really sink his teeth into, and I thought somehow that reminded me of him and sort of the emotional intensity that he's capable of delivering.
NEARY: So, you know, over the years, you have earned some very lofty titles.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Oh, my goodness.
NEARY: Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods.
(Soundbite of laughter)
NEARY: Titan of the Telecaster.
Mr. KIRCHEN: They say.
(Soundbite of laughter)
NEARY: And I understand you've been using the same Telecaster guitar since 1967?
Mr. KIRCHEN: I think I got it in '69, actually, about 41 years ago. And it was at least 10 years old then. But I did. I managed just the same old guitar. I'm sure it was because back in the day, I had roadies to rescue it for me and put it away every night. But I've been able to take care of it myself now for the last - yeah.
NEARY: Well, is there something special about the sound of that guitar that makes you hold onto it or...
Mr. KIRCHEN: Yeah. Well, I think any guitar has its own voice and especially the good ones, and that was one of the good ones. Even if it's just a plank of wood and a stick and some wires, it's still got character to it, and that was one of the good ones.
NEARY: Yeah. It's not the only guitar you play with.
Mr. KIRCHEN: No. As a matter of fact, I don't have it with me today. It's a - I have a guitar now that I just got yesterday that's made check this out. It's made by Carmen Street Guitars(ph) in the Village, and the neck is from pine taken from the fabulous Chelsea Hotel in Greenwich Village.
NEARY: Well, we're going to have you play that.
Mr. KIRCHEN: All right.
NEARY: But wait. Before we have you play that, I understand something else...
Mr. KIRCHEN: What?
NEARY: ...which is you're a good whistler.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Oh, yeah. I can whistle.
NEARY: Can I hear you whistle something?
(Soundbite of whistling)
NEARY: That's great.
Mr. KIRCHEN: I learned how to whistle walking my dog. As a kid, I'd walk my dog and whistle.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. KIRCHEN: What can I tell you?
NEARY: Well, one song that you're really well-known for is "Hot Rod Lincoln," and I was wondering if you could play that for us.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Sure. Why not?
NEARY: Okay. Great.
Mr. KIRCHEN: First off, a little back story on this. We learned this from a Johnny Bond record. And I was pretty new to learning songs off records. And I thought I pretty much nailed it exactly, but I go back now, and it wasn't even close. But I like mine better, and it was originality born of incompetence.
(Soundbite of laughter)
(Soundbite of song, "Hot Rod Lincoln")
Mr. KIRCHEN: There you have it.
(Soundbite of laughter)
NEARY: Yeah, there really is something about your music that makes you want to move, I think. What inspires you when you're writing?
Mr. KIRCHEN: That's a good question. I don't know. Generally I love music, that's one thing. I always have. And sometimes I feel that I just want to go, hey, listen to this, or even if it's a song like a Dylan song I love or whatnot. So for openers, I was a fan, and then I was lucky enough to learn how to play and make my living doing it.
NEARY: That's singer-songwriter and guitarist Bill Kirchen. His new CD is called "Word to the Wise," and he joined me here at our studios in Washington, D.C.
Thanks so much for being here.
Mr. KIRCHEN: Thank you so much for having me. This has been a wonderful experience.
NEARY: All right. Now, maybe you can play something else to say goodbye?
Mr. KIRCHEN: Sure. I'll play a song. Yup.
(Soundbite of song, "Sleepwalk")
NEARY: And this is Bill Kirchen, playing and whistling the 1959 classic, "Sleepwalk."
(Soundbite of song, "Sleepwalk")
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State of the Logistics Industry 2010: Modal Perspectives
Restocking of depleted inventories has resulted in a rebound in shipments for the first half of 2010, but year-end statistics have yet to be compiled.
November 2010
Underlying the growth in all-water containerized service activity at the Atlantic and Gulf coast ports, as well as the investment in distribution center activity, is the expansion of the Panama Canal to be completed by 2014, and the increased deployment of vessels via the Suez Canal, particularly to serve the growing trade with ports located to the south of Singapore. But it is unclear that the expanded Panama Canal will alone actually increase the share of containerized cargo moving via the East and Gulf coasts at the expense of the West Coast ports.
As a result of the shifts in all-water services that have occurred since 2002 due to the West Coast port shutdown; the changes in distribution center geographic locations and logistics supply-chain patterns of importers; development of new container terminals on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts; and intermodal pricing by the railroads that shifted cargo away from West Coast ports; the dynamic changes in all water vs. intermodal services may be over, or at least slowing. The West Coast ports have come to realize that the demand for their usage is not inelastic, and, in fact, substitute port routings via the all-water services are viable.
Similarly, the railroads have also found that pricing of intermodal serv ices do impact importers/exporters port choice decisions, and the higher intermodal rates of the early 2000s actually did impact the West Coast port routings in favor of all-water services. What the expanded Panama Canal will most likely impact is the size of ships that will call at U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports.
As far as the Suez Canal, dimensions don't limit the size of the container ships that can transit, but there is concern over the region's political instability and piracy incidents. The Suez routing from Asia to the East Coast is longer than via the Panama Canal, but as production centers shift to South Asia and India, this routing can, in some cases, provide very competitive transit times to the use of the transpacific routings and intermodal moves from the West to the East coasts. In addition, ocean carriers are increasing India-Europe express services, with the use of Mediterranean ports for transshipment centers for cargo destined for the United States and Europe.
Changing Times for Air Cargo - Dan Muscatello: Managing Director, Cargo and Logistics, Landrum & Brown
The August 2010 imposition of the new TSA mandate for 100 percent belly screening of air cargo, on the surface, appears to have had little impact on the air cargo industry. Nevertheless, industry finds itself looking at an accelerating growth curve built on a potentially tenuous foundation. Despite the encouraging numbers for international cargo, we need to be mindful of several things as follows:
Despite the recent growth in certain world markets, the drop in volumes in 2009 brought many airports to tonnage levels last seen in the 1990s. The early 2010 growth of 25 percent quoted for many airports has slowed, and the reality is that number reflects recovery from a 30 percent drop in 2009. Much of the activity reflected a temporary surge to increase depleted inventory levels and the increased use of freighter aircraft as ocean vessels are slower to come back on line. A review of the holiday shipping season will give us a better picture of the state of the industry.
In China, the emerging giant, the middle class has grown from 30 million to 300 million in the past 10 years. This dramatic surge, along with the growth of markets in India, is creating a seminal shift in global distribution. The increased purchasing power in China and India, their rising labor costs, combined with higher fuel costs and security surcharges, are pushing many companies to reexamine their distribution strategies. The result is an emerging trend to shift manufacturing (and distribution) back to Europe and North America. Continuation of this pattern may very well impact the phenomenal growth experienced in the Middle East, where the cargo levels are driven by an aggressive transfer strategy to move goods between Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Truck and Intermodal - Charles Clowdis Jr., Managing Director-North America Global Commerce & Transport, IHS Global Insight
As diesel fuel increases, expect fuel surcharges to increase, driving overall transport costs upward. Likewise, as the economy improves, lessened truck capacity, exacerbated by an evolving "driver shortage," will be a challenge not only as a result of rate increases, but also because of the ability to source truckers with the capacity to move freight on a timely basis.
New truck sales are finally growing as aging truck fleets are being replaced. But the keys continue to be the price of fuel and the growth of the economy. As either occurs, the cost for moving goods will rise.
Inland ports, especially those with good rail and road connections, are an evolving addition to supply-chain efficiencies. As the rail corridors improve, more and more container traffic will find its way to rail-intermodal transport. The "environmental issue" of clean port initiatives, as begun in LA/Long Beach, will impact the availability to source adequate drayage providers to move containers.
On August 1, CenterPoint Properties' 3,600-acre Intermodal Center in Joliet, Illinois, opened as an inland port for Union Pacific. The success of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.'s 2,500-acre intermodal center in nearby Elwood, Illinois, also developed by Centerpoint, triggered interest from Union Pacific as the real estate practices at the Elwood site demonstrated significant savings. Combined, these sites rival the Alliance Global Logistics Hub in Alliance, Texas. The intermodal developments allow retailers and distributors to cut down on shipping costs by locating warehouses much closer to railyards.
3M Expands Springfield, Missouri, Operations
31st Annual Survey of Corporate Executives: Confidence in U.S. Economy, Need for Investment in Infrastructure Reflected
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13th Annual Consultants Survey: Confidence in U.S. Economy, Concern Over Proposed Trump Policies
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Automation Takes Hold, But Humans Still Needed
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Industrial Manufacturers' Optimism Reflected in Expectations of Higher Revenue Growth, Increased Capital Spending
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In Focus: Has the Moment for Infrastructure Revival Arrived?
Walter Kemmsies, Ph.D., JLL
Where Should Aerospace Companies Invest? Evaluating Aerospace Manufacturing Hubs
Scott Thompson, PwC
2016 Top States for Doing Business: Georgia Back in Top Spot Again
Steve Stackhouse-Kaelble
Regional Talent Attraction Study Results: It's Not All About Core Cities
Joshua Wright, Emsi
U.S. Manufacturers Attempting to Upskill Their Workforces
Geraldine Gambale, Area Development Magazine
Developing Loyalty Among a Millennial WorkforceAll Studies/Research/Papers
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Related Publications
- Related by Author
- Related by Topic
Related Links
The Contemporary Jewish Lexicon
Eugene Borowitz, April 3, 1992
Arnold D. Samlan compares the phrases "Jew by choice" and "Ba'al teshuvah." He states that all Jews are Jews by choice: some choose to be Jewish, and some choose how to be Jewish.
Topic: Jewish Identification, Jewish Identity, Religious Denominations, Identity
Name of Publication: Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Ideas
Editor: Borowitz, Eugene B.
Volume/Issue: Vol.22/no.431
Page Number(s): 87-88
Genre: Article
Coverage: United States
Language: English
Copyright Holder: Publisher
Copyright Information: Download for personal use, freely distribute link
Bibliographic Information:
Samlan, Arnold D. The Contemporary Jewish Lexicon. Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Ideas. Eugene Borowitz. 3 April 1992: 87-88. http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=10600
» View Publication
(PDF, 1.22 Mb)


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|Message view
|« Date » · « Thread »
|« Date » · « Thread »
|Aron Kramlik <aron.kram...@tenzing.com>
|TC32b8 build fails for me
|Tue, 21 Nov 2000 19:52:27 GMT
Hello everyone, I just downloaded the sources for beta 8 from http://jakarta.apache.org/builds/tomcat/release/v3.2-beta-8 I have been successfully compiling and upgrading most revisions of 3.2. The last one I did was beta 6. I got a problem with beta 8 today after getting tomcat and the servletapi from the above location with the beta 6 version of the jakarta-ant and the usual jaxp and parser jars. The error output was: [root@akramliklnx jakarta-tomcat]# ./build.sh Buildfile: build.xml BUILD FAILED build.xml:33: Could not create task of type: copy because I can't find it in the list of task class definitions Total time: 0 seconds Please tell me what I have done wrong, it must be something at my end. Thanks, Aron.
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Great ammo Definitely what Colonel Cooper had in mind Great price.
I fired 100 rounds of this ammo through a brand new EAA Witness Elite Match today with no malfunctions at all. Burns clean and is very accurate. Will buy again.
Great round for hunting whitetail, mule deer and boar. Penetrates pretty deep. High quality brass and burns very clean. Always cycles in Glock 20!
The best mass produced 10mm practice ammo! Still pretty mild for 10mm but you still know its not a .40 S&W at the range. High quality brass and burns clean! Could be cheaper but nothing really is in 10mm. Just got some from Able's and it works great in my Glock 20. I buy it all the time.
This is a great medium load 10mm round!! I have the best grouping with this round, 2-3 inch grouping at 10 yards. Can't say enough good about it and the price is decent compared to other JHP 10mm ammo. If you own a 10mm you have to try this stuff!!


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A wise person once said, never work with children or animals and after seeing this you could probably understand why.
A model was bitten on her fake breast by a snake after 'seductively' playing around with it.
The footage of the attack on Israeli model Orit Fox is from a few years back, but has been doing the rounds and gone viral once again.
The model was filmed holding a large snake, and as it wraps around her leg one of the film crew says it looks 'sexy' – whatever floats your boat mate.
But things suddenly take a turn for the worst when she goes to lick it.
Not too surprisingly it mega pisses off the snake, and it aggressively strikes her.
It latches onto her right breast, and Orit screams in pain as she tries to yank the snake of her boob.
Eventually, one of the crew comes to her rescue and manages to get it off her.
The Mirror reports that Orit needed a tetanus shot, but there were rumours that the snake suffered a grimmer fate and later died of silicon poisoning.
However, Orit has since claimed that her breast didn't in fact kill the snake and described the whole incident as 'cute'.


text:
Jump to navigation
Julia Roberts isolated Nancy Motes from their mother, according to a friend.
The Oscar winning actress changed Betty Lou Motes' mobile phone number and the locks to her house in order to cut off her half-sister - who took her own life last Sunday (09.02.14) - after she gave a tell-all interview, according to Nancy's close friend, Jerem Hutcheson.
Jerem told the New York Daily News newspaper: "Nancy was very close with her mom, and when they changed the locks and [later] relocated her, it was devastating to Nancy.
"She couldn't reach her mom when she needed her most.
"I think [Julia] was resentful of the relationship Nancy shared with their mom and also did it out of spite."
In Nancy's interview she told how Julia had teased her about her weight when they were younger and said they were "both trying to change our opinions of each other".
Nancy also reportedly left a "ranting" suicide note in which she is rumoured to have said Julia "drove her" to suicide.
Nancy died of an apparent overdose of prescription medicines, but Jerem denies she was a drug abuser.
He added: "Nancy didn't have a drug problem. She had an overly emotional moment and acted on it."
Nancy was engaged to fiancé John Dilbeck and they were planning their wedding at the time of her death.
Related story:
Julia Roberts' half-sister found dead
Julia Roberts' half-sister found dead: Victim left note blaming her for suicide
Julia Roberts tried to get half-sister to go to rehab in the months before her death
Julia Roberts worried she will be banned from her half-sister's funeral?


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(800) 788-4150, (305) 296-4440
- Free Night Participating Inn
- Westwinds Inn, located in the heart of Old Town Key West, is a perfect place for...
- Westwinds large back pool, with a Jet Spa, is heated in the winter so you can en...
- Delight in a Complimentary extended continental breakfast that includes fresh fr...
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- A Jr. Suite where you can look at the sky and savor the beautiful view....
- Westwinds Inn has its own Library. Have fun reading a spy novel, interesting boo...
- Enjoy the splendor of our lush tropical gardens and a mini waterfall. ...
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- A standard room at Westwinds Inn....
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- $285
iLoveInns sent you!
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A note from the Innkeeper/s
Circa 1950. Experience the hallmarks of hospitality, intimacy and relaxation during every stay at this inn. Built before World War II, it is located in the Historic Seaport District of Old Town and boasts a delightful Victorian compound with the comforts of a modern hotel. Secluded in a native tropical setting, the gardens are lush with balmy palm trees, shrubs and a mini waterfall. The surroundings provide the perfect place to relax, unwind, and set worries aside. An extended continental breakfast is served by the pool every morning. One of the two large swimming pools includes a jet spa. Enjoy free wireless Internet access. Make use of the lounge with a kitchen, sitting area and library. The waterfront is close by for entertainment, sunset sails, snorkeling and fine seafood restaurants, as well as Duval Street's dining and shops.For more information visit the website.
$195 to $285Off Season: $120 to $210
Payment Types Accepted Include Travelers Checks, Visa, Discover and Master Card.
This property has 5 total guest accommodations, 22 with private bath, 4 total suites, including 3 two-bedroom suites, 4 cottages and 1 conference room. The types of beds available include Twin, Queen and King.
Business Traveler Amenities
|Check-in time at 3:00 pm. Check-out time at 11:00 am.
Late arrival after 8:00 pm. Please indicate.
Late check-out request with minimal fee.
Events Hosted
Romantic Interest
Westwinds Inn is your soothing, tropical getaway where you can relax and unwind. Enjoy nature's beauty in a private, tranquil setting surrounded by enchanting lush gardens. Swim in our two large pools, one of which is heated with a Jet spa.
Innkeepers Association Memberships
Describe Garden and Grounds
The grounds and garden area are surrounded by local tropical foliage such as stately palms, jasmine, mariposa, hibiscus and Spanish lime trees. Mini waterfall is surrounded by palm trees. Westwinds has one of only six sausage trees (Kigelia africana) in Key West.
Economy Room
Flat LCD TV, Telephone, A/C, Hair Dryer, Iron/Board
Type of bed: Queen
Standard Room
Flat LCD TV, Telephone, A/C, Hair Dryer, Iron/Board,Small Refrigerator (for some units)
Type of bed: (2) , Twin
Deluxe Room
Flat LCD TV, A/C, Telephone, Hair Dryer, Iron/Board, Small Refrigerator
Type of bed: King
Jr Suite
Flat LCD TV, A/C, Telephone, Hair Dryer, Microwave, Kitchenette, Sitting Area, Coffee Maker, Small Refrigerator, Iron/Board
Type of bed: King
Sitting Area with 1 Pull-Out Sofa Bed, Telephone, A/C, Flat LCD TV, Hair Dryer, Microwave, Kitchen (Full/Semi), Small Refrigerator,Coffee Maker, Iron/Board
Type of bed: Queen
Reservation/Cancellation Policies:
Minimum Stay Requirements
Two days on weekend and varies on Holidays and Special Events.
Children Restrictions
Accept children 12 years and older.
14 Days ($25 Cancellation Fee before 14 days/forfeiture of one night's deposit within 14 days.) 30 Days on Holidays and Special Events ($50 Cancellation Fee before 30 days and forfeiture of deposit within 30 days.) Minimum Stay Requirement - 2 Days on weekend and varies on Holidays and Special Events. Rates on Holidays and Special Events vary.
Outside Only.
Other Activities
Historic Interest
Westwinds Inn architecture dates back to the early 19th century.
Historic sites nearby:Fort Zachary Taylor Park, East & West Martello Towers, Fort Jefferson
Other Awards:Best Inn from the Key West Innkeepers Association
Recommended Restaurant(s)
CafeSole, Michael's, Finnegans, A&B Lobster House.
Nearby College/University
Florida Keys Community College
Get a Free Night at this inn
The dates this property will honor the certificate are Monday-Thursday in August. Subject to availability. Must call to make reservation..
- One Night Free: This property is featured as participating in the iLoveinns.com Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free program.
Nearby Inns
|Eden House
1015 Fleming St, Key West, FL (0.1 miles)
|Simonton Court
320 Simonton St, Key West, FL (0.3 miles)
|Amsterdam's Curry Mansion Inn
511 Caroline St, Key West, FL (0.9 miles)
|Island City House
411 William St, Key West, FL (0.9 miles)


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Signs of Puberty in Girls
Description:Puberty is an exciting and terrifying time! Suddenly you find that your breasts are growing, you're getting hair in different places, and your mood starts swinging all over the place. Not to worry, all of these things are perfectly normal. Once you learn what to expect puberty won't seem quite so scary!
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"Welcome Friends" Pumpkin Wall Décor
This item is currently out of stock.
Greet your loved ones and friends with festive fall cheer with this adorable "Welcome Friends" wall décor! A lovely plaque in the shape of a pumpkin features a sparkling metal stem and leaf, accented by the wonderful chalkboard-like message of friendliness. And with its sturdy metal hook, hang the plaque wherever you please from a nail, screw, decorating hook or hanger around the home or office.
- Lovely fall décor with chalk-like calligraphy
- Perfect for around the home or office decoration
- Hangs easily from a nail, decorative hook or hanger
- Model number: 1526401
- 13.5"L x 1"W x 11.5"H
- Material: Medium density fibreboard, metal
- Product weight: 1.1 lbs.
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text:
IT seems that everybody is offering loans these days – from payday loan
enticements to long-term deals.
Cashflow has teamed up with finance comparison site moneysupermarket.com
to help readers compare the best deals on credit cards, loans, mortgages and
Here, its head of content, CLARE FRANCIS, explains how finding
the right loan can save you hundreds of pounds in interest.
MOST personal loans allow you to borrow up to £25,000 but the top rates
of interest are to be found on loans between £7,500 and £15,000.
Lenders tend to bump up the rates on loans under £7,500 so they still make a
good profit.
You'll also pay more for loans above £15,000 because it is more risky to lend
bigger sums as there is a greater chance that the borrower will fall behind
with repayments.
Loads of people wrongly assume they have to go to their bank for a loan.
That's not the case and rates vary, so shop around to find the best deal.
Beware though, only those with the best credit histories will be accepted for
the top deals and the rate advertised only has to be given to 51 per cent of
Your application could even be rejected if you have a less than perfect credit
Before making a loan application, think about how much you can afford to repay
each month and how long it will take to clear the debt.
You have to decide what 'term' – or over how many years – you want to borrow
the money for.
It will cost less each month if you go for a long term, but overall it will be
more expensive because you'll be paying interest for longer.
Try and repay as much as you can afford and go for the shortest term possible,
but do not overstretch your finances and put yourself in danger of missing
For example, someone borrowing £10,000 over seven years would have monthly
payments of £145.78 but in total they'd pay £2,246 in interest.
If they borrowed the same amount over five years they'd save £664 in interest
over the term and the monthly payments would be £193.03.
And if they could afford to pay £300 a month they could opt for a three year
term and pay just £941 in interest.
It's vital to keep up with loan repayments. Missed payments could see what you
owe increase and harm your credit score, making it harder to borrow in the


text:
It only takes a minute to get started. Fill out our simple sign up form and login to the website.
This step is optional but will drastically raise your chances of your profile getting noticed by other daters. Write a little something about yourself, your pasttimes and attach any nice photographs of yourself.
Utilise our website's state-of-the-art search to find members who fulfill your requirements. Or just flip through listings and find people that you find interesting.
Found someone who takes your fancy? Send a message to them or just a wink and see if anything develops. With a little luck you'll be on your way to uncover your soulmate.
It's quick and simple


text:
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden Vehicle Donation Program
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden is a faith-based agency rooted in the Gospel and in the social teaching of the Catholic Church. We provide social services to, advocate for, and empower the poor, oppressed or vulnerable. We do this on a non-discriminatory, non-sectarian basis throughout the six southern New Jersey counties.
Rooted in the Gospel and in Catholic Social teaching, we seek to transform the lives of people in need, with a special emphasis on reaching out to people and groups who are not fully part of the communities of South Jersey because they are poor and vulnerable.
Have an old car taking up space in your driveway? Donate it to Catholic Charities, Diocese of Camden!
We accept all types of vehicles:


text: Corny Ideas By mtpr.org • Sep 6, 2013 TweetShareGoogle+Email September 8th, 2013: If an abundance of corn on the cob has left you indifferent to one of summer's highlights, Jon and Greg are ready with suggestions: cornbread, tamale pie, corn soufflé, corn chowder, and corn in salads. Listen Listening... / 5:47 The Food Guys, September 8th, 2013, on "Corn." Tags: The Baking WizardTweetShareGoogle+EmailView the discussion thread. Related Content Fresh Tomato Sauce By Beth Anne Austein • Aug 29, 2013 September 1st, 2013: Greg and Jon give free-form instructions for simple tomato sauce, using fresh, flavorful tomatoes of the season. Freeze enough of it and you'll have a delicious key ingredient for recipes all winter. Peaches and Peach Galette By Greg Patent • Aug 23, 2013 The Baking Wizard August 25th, 2013: Jon and Greg praise the seasonal Montana peach, and Greg explains how to make peach galette, a "sheet of thin, buttery pastry topped with fresh fruit." http://www.thebakingwizard.com/peach-galette/ Peach Galette Follow-the-Sun Pickles: Cucumbers With a Tan By mtpr.org • Aug 16, 2013 August 18th, 2013: Greg and Jon revisit one of their very first "Food Guys" topics: "Follow-the-Sun Pickles." Cucumbers, spices and liquid are stuffed into a jar, rotated in full sun for eight hours, then stashed in the basement for three days. An example of the nearly-instant gratification of the summer menu. Food Science, Part 4: Mayonnaise By mtpr.org • Aug 9, 2013 August 11th, 2013: Jon and Greg conclude their four-part series on food science - inspired by the writing of Harold McGee - with "Mayonnaise." http://curiouscook.typepad.com/ Food Science, Part 3: Green Color in Salads By mtpr.org • Aug 2, 2013 August 4th, 2013: Inspired by the writing of Harold McGee, Jon and Greg continue their four-part series on food science with "Green Color in Salads and Sauces." http://curiouscook.typepad.com/ Food Science, Part 2: The Searing Truth By mtpr.org • Jul 26, 2013 July 28th, 2013: Inspired by the writing of Harold McGee, Jon and Greg continue their four-part series on food science with "The Searing Truth." http://curiouscook.typepad.com/ Food Science, Part 1: Basic Food Elements By mtpr • Jul 18, 2013 July 21st, 2013: Inspired by the writing of Harold McGee, Jon and Greg begin a four-part series on food science with "Basic Food Elements." http://curiouscook.typepad.com/ Younger than the Rolling Stones: Rapeseed / Canola Oil By mtpr.org • Aug 6, 2013 December 9th, 2012: Brought to Jon and Greg's attention by food writer Ari LeVaux, rapeseed / canola oil withers under The Food Guys' scrutiny. Its origins as a component in ship lubricant as well as the multi-step refining process it undergoes - and the trans-fats created during that process - are the highlights of its rap sheet. http://www.flashinthepan.net/?p=825


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Filter Results:
- Full text PDF available (24)
Publication Year
Publication Type
Publication Venue
Data Set Used
Key Phrases
Learn More
- Daniela Husser, Martin Stridh, Leif Sornmo, S. Bertil Olsson, Andreas Bollmann
- Indian pacing and electrophysiology journal
- 2004
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. Neither the natural history of AF nor its response to therapy are sufficiently predictable by clinical and echocardiographic parameters. Atrial fibrillatory frequency (or rate) can reliably be assessed from the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) using digital signal… (More)
- Martin Stridh, Leif Sörnmo
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2001
A new method for QRST cancellation is presented for the analysis of atrial fibrillation in the surface electrocardiogram (ECG). The method is based on a spatiotemporal signal model which accounts for dynamic changes in QRS morphology caused, e.g., by variations in the electrical axis of the heart. Using simulated atrial fibrillation signals added to normal… (More)
- Martin Stridh, Leif Sörnmo, Carl J. Meurling, S. Bertil Olsson
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2004
A new method for characterization of atrial arrhythmias is presented which is based on the time-frequency distribution of an atrial electrocardiographic signal. A set of parameters are derived which describe fundamental frequency, amplitude, shape, and signal-to-noise ratio. The method uses frequency-shifting of an adaptively updated spectral profile,… (More)
- Martin Stridh, Leif Sörnmo, Carl J. Meurling, S. Bertil Olsson
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2001
Time-frequency analysis is considered for characterizing atrial fibrillation in the surface electrocardiogram (ECG). Variations in fundamental frequency of the fibrillatory waves are tracked by using different time-frequency distributions which are appropriate to short- and long-term variations. The cross Wigner-Ville distribution is found to be… (More)
- Philip Langley, José Joaquín Rieta, Martin Stridh, José Millet-Roig, Leif Sörnmo, Alan Murray
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2006
Analysis of atrial rhythm is important in the treatment and management of patients with atrial fibrillation. Several algorithms exist for extracting the atrial signal from the electrocardiogram (ECG) in atrial fibrillation, but there are few reports on how well these techniques are able to recover the atrial signal. We assessed and compared three algorithms… (More)
- Linnéa Larsson, Marcus Nyström, Martin Stridh
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2013
A novel algorithm for detection of saccades and postsaccadic oscillations in the presence of smooth pursuit movements is proposed. The method combines saccade detection in the acceleration domain with specialized on- and offset criteria for saccades and postsaccadic oscillations. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated by comparing the detection… (More)
- Frida Sandberg, Martin Stridh, Leif Sörnmo
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2006
A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is used to improve the robustness to noise when tracking the atrial fibrillation (AF) frequency in the ECG. Each frequency interval corresponds to a state in the HMM. Following QRST cancellation, a sequence of observed states is obtained from the residual ECG, using the short time Fourier transform. Based on the observed state… (More)
- Martin Stridh, Daniela Husser, Andreas Bollmann, Leif Sörnmo
- IEEE Trans. Biomed. Engineering
- 2009
A novel method for characterization of f-wave morphology in atrial fibrillation (AF) is presented. The method decomposes atrial activity into fundamental and harmonic components, dividing each component into short blocks for which the amplitudes, frequencies, and phases are estimated. The phase delays between the fundamental and each of the harmonics, here… (More)
- Ulrike Richter, Andreas Bollmann, Daniela Husser, Martin Stridh
- Med. Biol. Engineering and Computing
- 2009
The purpose of this study was to develop techniques to quantify the propagation pattern of the electrical activation during atrial fibrillation (AF) along a one-dimensional catheter. Taking intra-atrial signal organization aspects into account, the atrial activations are detected and combined into wavefronts. Parameters describing wavefront consistency and… (More)
- Carl J Meurling, Anders Roijer, +7 authors S Bertil Olsson
- BMC cardiovascular disorders
- 2006
BACKGROUND Atrial electrical remodeling has been shown to influence the outcome the outcome following cardioversion of atrial fibrillation (AF) in experimental studies. The aim of the present study was to find out whether a non-invasively measured atrial fibrillatory cycle length, alone or in combination with other non-invasive parameters, could predict… (More)


text:
New Delhi, Jun 7: A mild quake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale occurred in parts of Gaya, Bihar, early this morning.
The tremor, epicentered at 24.7 degrees north latitude and 85.0 degrees east longitude, was felt at 0247 hrs, India Meteorological Department said.
There was no report of any casualty, they said.


text:
It only takes a minute to get started. Fill out our simple sign up form and login to the site.
This step is discretionary but will dramatically boost your chances of getting noticed by other people on the site. Tell people about yourself, your pasttimes and upload a nice photograph of yourself.
Utilise our website's advanced search to find over 60s members who fulfill your criteria. Or just look through listings and find members that arouse your interest.
Located someone who you find interesting? Send them a few words or just a wink and see what develops from there. With a little luck you'll be on your way to uncover your soulmate.
It doesn't take long


text:
KAMPALA: The Ugandan shilling weakened 1.1 percent to hit a one-year low against the dollar on Tuesday on swelling demand for hard currency from commercial banks and firms in the energy sector.
At 1004 GMT, commercial banks in Kampala quoted the currency of east Africa's third-largest economy at 2,675/2,685 to the dollar, from Monday's close of 2,670/2,680, and from 2,680/2,690 in earlier trade.
The currency touched 2,685/2,695, a level last hit on Nov. 2, 2011, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The shilling's depreciation has sharply accelerated in recent weeks, mainly fuelled by dollar demand from importers stocking goods for Christmas holiday shoppers. It has also taken a knock from a string of aid cuts this month after donors - a significant source of hard currency - alleged corruption.
"The market is shallow on dollars yet demand by banks is very strong so the shilling is taking in a lot of pressure," said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making by Barclays Bank.
Uganda's currency has now lost 7.6 percent of its value against the dollar in the year to date, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Its weakness is also due partly to the rapid unwinding of official interest rate hikes after an inflation surge cooled. Market analysts say this month's decision by BoU to slow down the pace of its policy easing might provide the shilling with a measure of support in the medium term.
The central bank cut its benchmark rate (CBR) by only 50 basis points to 12.5 percent, less than the anticipated 100 basis points.
"The energy sector is also exerting enormous demand on the dollar and the shilling is tumbling as a result," said Ahmed Kalule, trader at Bank of Africa.
"And the shilling is not helped by the fact that dollar inflows are really very scarce."
Ahmed said money market players were now eyeing 2,700 as the next psychological level for the shilling and that crossing it was likely to spook the market into panicked greenback purchases.
Technical analysis of the shilling's 14-day and 50-day weighted moving averages shows it is expected to keep weakening against the dollar in the short term.


text:
Will Shortz Presents the Super-Colossal Book of Sudoku: 300 Wordless Crossword Puzzles
€ 11,49
Lieferbar innert 2 Wochen
April 2006
BeschreibungMillions of Americans have already acclaimed sudoku as the most addictive, enjoyable puzzle since the Rubik's Cube. So don't wait: Pick up a pencil and solve away!
-300 of the world's best sudoku
-The puzzles that have taken the world by storm!
-Introduction and solving tips from puzzlemaster Will Shortz
PortraitWill Shortz has been the crossword puzzle editor of "The New York Times" since 1993. He is also the puzzlemaster on NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday" and is founder and director of the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. He has edited countless books of crossword puzzles, Sudoku, KenKen, and all manner of brain-busters.
Untertitel: Sprache: Englisch.
Verlag: GRIFFIN
Erscheinungsdatum: April 2006
Seitenanzahl: 368 Seiten
Format: kartoniert


text:
Natural source of Iodine & tastes good
Verified Purchase
Natural source of Iodine & tastes good
The only drawback for me is the fact that the container opening is too big, which leads to frequent spills of large quantities of the kelp...
Arsenic Contamination
Posted by Reviewer1400839 on Jan 31, 2014 | Verified Purchase
This product was found to contain high levels of Arsenic - around 80 ppm (not ppb)
attention heavy metals
Posted by Reviewer2639716 on Oct 31, 2014 | Verified Purchase
this product contains arsenic and other heavy metals that is why i stopped consuming it .
Good stuff
Posted by Reviewer1327608 on Jan 03, 2012 | Verified Purchase
I sprinkle this on my soups and salads for extra iodine. I barely notice the taste but I sure feel the difference. I have much greater energy during the day and sleep better at night. Great price, too. This is a keeper.
Great salt alternative
Posted by Reviewer2710430 on Feb 11, 2012 | Verified Purchase
I love kelp. I find it a great salt alternative which provides me with plenty of iodine as well.
Natural source of Iodine & tastes good
Posted by anomisyu on Sep 01, 2012 | Verified Purchase
The only drawback for me is the fact that the container opening is too big, which leads to frequent spills of large quantities of the kelp...
Excellent source of Iodine
Posted by Maebird on Jan 31, 2012 | Verified Purchase
This is a great way to incorporate iodine safely into the daily diet. Flavor is somewhat fishy, so it's not for everything, but then again a pinch is all you need for iodine intake and if needed, the flavor could be undetectable in small amounts.
never again not sure what it did!
Posted by Reviewer2977915 on Jan 09, 2013 | Verified Purchase
used for 2 days and woke up with sore throat and raspy voice which I read could be from this effecting my thyroid....(was NOT sick)plus I was told kelp isn't the best option for iodine...
Posted by Reviewer2906832 on Dec 04, 2011 | Verified Purchase
These add zest to any cooked vegetables or soup. Good for u too.
good taste
Posted by 4760127085354875222 on Nov 20, 2016 | Verified Purchase
Surprisingly very nice taste. I bought it for my adult son. He loves it. He puts it on omelettes, soups even grilled fish or chicken. I tried it myself and I was very pleasantly surprised.
i approve
Posted by 5013526863525917313 on Oct 20, 2013 | Verified Purchase
In the past I had high blood pressure concerns from excess salt intake issues...I got it under control quickly going vegetarian, vegan, and then mostly whole plant based foods. I don't feel bad eating sea salt or pink himalayan rock salt. And I don't like salty food. But I wanted to try this because the other two don't have iodine, an essential mineral, and I don't eat animal products (which contain it). I like this! I use a few sprinkles as I would salt. It doesn't taste exactly like salt but it is pleasant. I've tried it with a lot of Asian dishes. Gonna keep going!


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Tactical station
13,100pages onAdd New Page
this wiki
this wiki
The tactical station is one of the primary stations found on the bridge of a starship. This station allows the tactical officer to control the phasers and torpedoes on the exterior of the starship.
External linksEdit
Tactical station article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.


text: The curries are still more than excellent at Alfredo's, but the pricing scheme is awkward, at best. The prices on the menu with Indian curries are only valid on weekdays, perhaps even only for lunch on weekdays. At other times, expect to pay an additional 15% or so. And your drinks might not be on your bill, yet you will... More


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Day 21
As time has gone by, the laws concerning marijuana have changed around the country. Some state have totally legalized pot. Others have made it legal for medical purposes.
However, these law changes have placed a lot of people in serious limbo. Even if you live in a state that allows medical marijuana your company may still be able to fire you for drug use if you actually use medical marijuana.
This is proven by the case of a football player for the Buffalo Bills. Offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson has been suspended for the second time for his use of marijuana for helping him cope with the pain of Crohn's Disease.
Crohn's Disease is defined as "an inflammatory bowel disease … [that] causes inflammation of the lining of your digestive tract." Crohn's disease can cause "abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition," by the Mayo clinic.
There is no cure for Crohn's Disease. One of the things that helps ease the pain according to medical studies is – weed. "I've got doctors telling me this is the No. 1 medicine that would help your disease," Henderson said in October, according to The Buffalo News. "You try to tell that to the league and it seems like they didn't care too much."
To deal with the pain, Henderson smoked marijuana. Medical marijuana is legal in New York State. As one source told NFL.com, "He needs cannabis. You can't take pain killers with the way his intestines are." The issue is, while the NFL allows medical exemptions for some banned substances, like Adderall, marijuana is not one of them.
"There is zero allowable medical exemption for this per the NFL; however, there clearly should be," Brian Fettner, Henderson's agent, said earlier this season.
Since this is Henderson's second "offense" he is facing a ten game suspension without pay. If he continues to seek pain relief from the one thing that works best without affecting his intestines, he faces a lifetime suspension.
Several years ago the NFL was being called The No Fun League for not allowing touchdown dances. Since then we have discovered that the league knew about the links between its game and concussions and brain diseases and did nothing about protecting the players. Now, we have a player with a serious disease being suspended for using the one thing, medical marijuana, to ease his pain being suspended.
I think the better description is the No Feelings League, especially when it comes to the health and safety of its players. But this is what happens when a company decides that it is the sole authority to decide what is "medical" and what is not.
It doesn't matter if you are talking about governments or companies, the will of the people are always secondary to the rules of the elite. The NFL should be ashamed of itself. They should apologize to Henderson and reinstate him and even give him back his pay from the four games he lost in his first suspension.
I hope that Henderson sues the NFL and wins big. There is talk about how the NFL is losing viewers this year. There a lot of reasons as to why it is losing viewers. Maybe, just maybe, the fans are tired of seeing their stars being treated like property with no feelings, no rights, and no pain.
I gave up watching football years ago. They don't even play football anymore. The players are treated badly. If you care to do a little research, you will discover that injuries in football rose dramatically when players stopped playing fundamental football.
Sorry, but you don't tackle someone by simply running into them trying to knock them out of the game. And, the league has done nothing to end this farce. Why? Because they treat their players like gladiators and love the idea that this increase in unnecessary violence increases viewership.
Stories like this one make me glad I stopped watching years ago. Yes, players make millions of dollars. But, they are employees and it is the responsibility of the league to help protect them as much as possible. If the NFL can get away with this, what makes you feel safe at your workplace?


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Since december 2012 Battlestations: Midway is supported by GameSpy no longer. The only one possibility for Midway players is GameRanger. Please visit www.gameranger.com, download Gameranger client and make new account. You can find other Midway players in the Gameranger rooms. BS:M patch 1.1.1 is required to play online battles. Iowa Mission Pack and Midway Modders Mappacks 1 and 2 are recommended.
- Index
- » Battlestations: Pacific Board
- » Pacific Editors
- » How to beat the BSP Ripper woes
How to beat the BSP Ripper woes
How to beat the BSP Ripper woes
I recently upgraded to Windows 7 and I was painfully reminded what a mission it can be to get the BSP Ripper working.
With Windows 7 and below it was not usually an issue, but the later operating systems don't make it easy.
As we all know the default installation path is C:\Program Files\BSP Ripper or if you run 64-bit C:\Program Files (x86) BSP Ripper.
Once you run the Ripper the first time you'll see it creates 5 folders within its installation folder:
If it does not it means the operating system did not give the program permissions to do this. I tried to manually change the security settings, but it changed nothing. I figured out to where it will extract the mpaks in this scenario: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\VirtualStore
USERNAME is your unique user name to login to WIndows.
There are 2 fixes for this. The forst one is to run the program as an Administrator.
Right click the shortcut and select RUn as Administrator.
Otherwise you can browse to where the program is installed, right click on BSPRipper.exe and select Properties. Go to the Compatibility tab and tick Run this program ans an administrator. Now every time it will automatically launch as Administrator. You just need to allow UAC to launch the program. If you do not want this to happen the entire time then follow fix 2.
Install the BSP Ripper directly to the root of the hard drive, for example C:\.
If you have a secondary hard drive (like I do) you can install it to Program Files on that drive (as it is not the protected OS drive aka drive C), for example D:\Program Files\BSP Ripper.
Happy Ripping.
- Index
- » Battlestations: Pacific Board
- » Pacific Editors
- » How to beat the BSP Ripper woes
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Battlestations Shoutbox
- N_Trainz : it shouldn't crash any of the IJN missions, just one mission has the history of crashing in the Challenge missions 2, I don't know the name as its been a while I last loaded this mod
- alantay11 : Gdrive mod crashes when i try to load a mission in ijn campaign?
- N_Trainz : No it was created by multiple authors from around the world. I just made it so its actually a mod instead of a complete game that's about 7GB in size. The readme file that is displayed can give you more info about the mod
- Runsva : hey ntrainz did u make this mod all by yourself?
- N_Trainz : If you need any other help, just shout out and I'll try to get back as soon as possible
- N_Trainz : Its not a problem :D I do thank you for waiting for a long time to get the mod. Again hope you enjoy the mod and the other fun features it comes with
- Legendary Da : I don't know how many times I said that, but thank you so much for your work. Considering how much time making an installer, making it work and uploading it to different servers, I thank you again for the effort you put in this. :D
- N_Trainz : Legendary Da: Here it is, installers works this time and Moddb won't accept it as they say its too large to upload, so its on my Google Drive and here is the link, hope you enjoy it «link»
- Legendary Da : I had guessed it was about the wrong area, though I still wondered why it had been removed. Thanks for taking your time to make something better for the community. Take as much time as you require, though; life still comes first.
- N_Trainz : Actually it was removed by me for 2 reasons; 1. was it was uploaded in the wrong area and 2. the installer didn't autp - detect the disk version, only the Steam version (since that is what I have). Going to remake it so if you won't mind a but longer wat that'll be appreciated
- Legendary Da : Thanks soo much for the mod, I couldn't access to the Internet lately so I couldn't write a reply. Btw, the mod is removed from ModDB, is it taken down, or you removed it yourself? Either way, thanks for the awesome work (at least for providing it) :D
- N_Trainz : What game and mod are you dealing with?
- Runsva : Can someone PLEASE help me i can't install anything on my game it just keeps crashing!!
- N_Trainz : Legendary Da: Its now live on Moddb and here is the link, requires a Batlestations Midway game to be installed to work «link» - midway - skinpack/addons/international - bsm - collection - light - version Enjoy
- Runsva : are we still talikg about the zyy modding pack??
- N_Trainz : Yeah I wanted to do this, but the installers were being a pain giving me errors about something. I finally got it working, and just figured out how to make the updater now since it'll be two parts with one containing the misc files and the other mostly the mpak files. It'll be a stand - alone DLC mod just like the Bismarck Mission Pack was. Like I said I plan to have it all completed and uploaded by this weekend
- Legendary Da : No, no, not problem at all; I am already grateful that you were thinking about this subject, I can wait as long as you need to. Thanks for the help (again), and feel no need to rush this subject; we all know that the life comes first. :)
- N_Trainz : Hope you won't mind the wait, it'll be worth it if you ask me, and yes I do understand that you can't download due to that cap Mege has. I heard the PM was down, but haven't tried it as I been busy helping the BSmodHQ team with things and then those that are life - in - general.
- N_Trainz : To Legendary Da: I been trying to work on that actually, what I'm experiencing is the pack size> I already made it a light version of the mod, so hopefully this weekend maybe, might be sooner
- Legendary Da : To N_Trainz: So, um... I can't exactly download from Mega for some reason; so could u upload that mod to Moddb? I am sorry for making extra work for you, and I TOTALLY understand if u can't upload it again; so, do as you want; I just wanted to say somehow I couldn't dl the mod (btw, why isn't the PM working?). U don't have to post the link either; I'll find it from the site if u upload it. Thanks whatever u do, and so sorry for the extra wish. :/
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birthday is today!
birthday will tomorrow
Admiral Luke
birthday will Monday, 29 May 2017


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Home › Forums › Campfire › Post-Trip Reports › 5 Weeks Hiking the GR-7 in Southern Spain
Jul 18, 2012 at 9:12 pm #1292143
Southern Spain: the GR-7 in Andalucía, Murcia, and a bit of Valencia
In April and May of 2012 we (Amy and James) spent five weeks backpacking on the GR-7 in southern Spain.
Our full annotated photo show is found at SmugMug.
The GR-7 (Gran Recorrido) is a Spanish National Trail extending about 1900 kilometers from Tarifa, located at the Straits of Gibraltar, the southernmost point in continental Spain, northeast to the border with Andorra in the Pyrenees. The southern part of the GR-7 is congruent with the trans-European E-4, which also starts in Tarifa and is currently completed as far as Budapest, Hungary, a distance of around 8000 kilometers. The E-4 is planned to eventually terminate in Greece. We know of one person who has through-hiked the E-4 and we appreciated his very useful blog and trip analysis.
We started our walk at the Tarifa ferry terminal (arriving from a 10 day birding trip in Morocco) and traveled through the Andalucía and Murcia Autonomous Communities and a piece of València Autonomous Community, finishing at the train station in the large town of Elda. Our 34-day walk totaled about 1060 kilometers (658 miles), including various off-route diversions in the Sierra Nevada mountains and a few other places. Total gain was about 23,610 meters (77,460 feet).
Route files
Download our GR7 route in kml format, great for viewing in Google Earth.
Or, if you prefer gpx format, download our GR7 route in gpx format.
Please note that these files show the route that we followed and in places is not congruent with either the book route or the GR-7 gps track available from Rutas y Viajes.
It's not as good as getting the kml file and viewing in Google Earth, however you can simply view our route on a map using BikeRouteToaster.
The GR-7 in Andalucía has two official variations around the Sierra Nevada; one skirts the northern perimeter of the mountain range and the other follows the southern perimeter. The two variations have similar walking lengths. We chose to walk the southern variation because we believe it had fewer olive groves and more walking on mountain trails. The southern variation also provided us with better access to Mulhacén (3,478 meters, 11,413 feet), the highest peak in continental Spain. Although not directly on the GR-7, we climbed Mulhacén via a diversion starting in Bubión.
We followed the GR-7 using a combination of the guidebook route, the on-the-ground way marks, a downloaded GPX track, and our own variations. We carried detailed satellite images of the entire route in our iPhone and were able to map out opportunities where, by diverting from the established route, we eliminated significant stretches of pavement walking in favor of dirt roads and footpaths. On more than a dozen occasions, we were able to walk variations we believe improves the route. For instance, we by-passed a long stretch of pavement walking along the A-405 leading to Castillo de Castellar by following a slightly longer dirt track west of the established route. Another variation leading to the town of Cieza kept us mostly off pavement and higher in the mountains. After passing through Nigüelas, we walked high in the Sierra Nevada towards Tello before dropping back down to the GR-7 at Lanjeron.
Most of the GR-7 is on unpaved roads with little to no traffic. There are some stretches of pavement walking, mostly when entering and leaving villages and towns. Even then, traffic was usually light to negligible. In a few places, most notably in the Sierra Nevada and other mountains, the GR-7 is on traditional footpaths. Throughout the region we walked, there is an extensive network of dirt roads, varying in quality from graded and maintained to rough farm tracks, but there is not a marked network of public footpaths like those found in England. Many of the dirt roads were undoubtedly centuries-old traditional footpaths that over the years have been widened to accommodate first horse-drawn carts and later vehicles. The tread quality of the footpaths was generally decent.
The dirt roads do go everywhere, crossing fields, through orchards, by farmhouses, and almost all of them are publicly accessible. Vast numbers of "Coto Privado de Caza" signs are posted, but these only mean that while you can't hunt on the property, walking is permitted. We saw very few "Prohibido el Paso" signs. Although nearly all rural houses were fenced, the fields and countryside fences appeared to be intended to control animals, not to keep people out.
Because the majority of this portion of the GR-7 is on unpaved roads, we thought that it would be a good region for a dirt-road bike trip. There is a well-documented long distance dirt-road bike route in the region called the TransAndalus.
Overall Impressions
The portion of the GR-7 that we walked was generally quite satisfying. While the scenery was not awe-inspiring, it was almost always pleasing. The walking was straightforward, mostly easy, comfortable, and rewarding. The small towns were usually quite beautiful and in harmony with themselves and their surrounding environment. People were friendly and helpful without being in your face all the time. The food was good. There is great peace to the simple routine of a walk like this: get up, eat, walk, eat, walk, locate a place to stay, eat again, sleep and repeat. The terrain and physical environment had enough variety that the walking was rarely boring. As the high point on the southern variation is around 2000 meters, altitude should not be an issue for most people. Anyone who is reasonably fit and has basic backpacking skills and equipment should be able to do this walk.
The GR-7 passes through cultivated lands (primarily olive and almond orchards), grazing areas, native oak forests, tree plantations, cork-oak woodlands, quite arid almost badland regions, and many small towns and villages. The grazed areas range from overgrazed trashed landscapes to attractive hills where the grazing appeared to be done at a sustainable level. The pleasant Mediterranean landscape with flower-filled fields and chaparral often reminded us of our central-California home. Spain has been investing heavily in carbon-free energy sources, and the GR-7 passes commercial photovoltaic installations, numerous wind turbine farms and skirts the perimeter of Andasol, the largest solar power station in the world and Europe's first parabolic trough solar plant.
The small towns in the first half of the walk were heavily influenced by their Moorish past with compact layouts, narrow winding streets, lots of tile work, and white-painted buildings. They are sometimes referred to as "pueblo blancos" and the words fit. In the later portions of the walk, the villages opened up a bit and tended to be constructed with both more unpainted stone and colorfully painted structures, and have wider, straighter streets. Most towns had one or more large open plazas, often with churches, fountains, and a collection of shops. The churches are almost exclusively Catholic, rather forbidding in appearance and almost always locked up tight. Street signs are small to non-existent, so finding markets, bakeries, and cafes takes paying attention or, more frequently, asking passers-by. There are centuries old buildings, some dating back to Roman times, which are still being used for home, shops and other purposes. There are also many castles, some in ruins and others in reasonable repair, which add a dramatic element to the route.
We have taken one other long walk in Spain; in 2010 we through-walked the Pyrenees High Route (aka HRP) between the Atlantic and Mediterranean along the French/Spanish Border (Trip Report). Compared to the HRP, the GR-7 is much easier, more relaxed, but not nearly as scenic. There is access to shops nearly every day on the GR-7 but not on the HRP. The walking on HRP is primarily on footpath, which is often steep and rocky, so it is more physically demanding than the GR-7. If you have an opportunity to walk only one of these routes and you have the skills to do it, we believe the HRP to be an overall more rewarding trip. However, the GR-7 was an extremely satisfying experience as well.
This walk is not wilderness backpacking. Outside of northern Scandinavia, there is essentially no wilderness in Western Europe as we know it in the US. The GR-7 passes through areas that have been settled for millennia and have been affected and modified by human activities including extensive grazing, agricultural terracing, deforestation and so forth. However, whether this is good or bad is mostly a matter of expectations: if you want wilderness, hike in the US or Canada. If you want to experience a cultural landscape, travel in Europe can be very rewarding. You will pass through towns that might be 2000 years old with buildings that have been in continuous use for a thousand years or more. Old wells have produced good water for tens of generations. Things are settled, not everything is new. The GR-7 passes through the village of Orce where a nearby archaeological site contains hominid stone tools dated to over a million years ago (possibly the oldest in Europe). Chain stores and restaurants are only found in the larger towns and shops in the small towns are still locally owned and operated. There is not much sprawl once you leave the immediate coast. Public transport is widespread and works. If you leave preconceptions and expectations at home, this type of travel can be extremely satisfying.
One of the things that is refreshingly different in England and Spain compared to the US, is that privately owned lands are usually open to anyone who wants to walk through them. This means that while there are no wilderness areas, there are very large landscapes available to the walker to enjoy. In the US, private lands are just that, private and rarely useable by walkers.
There is a Cicerone Press guidebook for the GR-7 in Andalucía (Tarifa to Puebla de Don Fadrique): Walking the GR-7 in Andalucía, Michelle Lowe and Kirstie Shirra; Cicerone, 2007; ISBN: 9781852845070
The book is moderately well written and while only somewhat helpful for navigation purposes, contains cultural information that we found interesting.
The route is way-marked using standard European Grande Randonnée markings. However, we found that, at certain points on the ground, there are multiple mutually exclusive options to chose from:
1. the written text in the guidebook
2. the printed maps in the guidebook, which don't always match the text descriptions
3. the way-marks on the ground
4. the GPX track we downloaded
5. the actual conditions on the ground
6. your own sense of where the best route might be
In other words, the above sources will not always be in sync and you will have to choose what you believe to be the best route. However, it is not highly complex terrain, and making the "wrong" choice is not likely to cause significant difficulties other than possibly having to backtrack. Unless you have no sense of navigation at all, it would be difficult to get seriously lost.
The on-the-ground way-marking varies from quite helpful to significant stretches where signs are non-existent. In places the path has been re-routed with new way-marks, but the old way-marks have not been removed, leading to possible confusion. Again, keep in mind that the way-marks will not always match other sources of route information. While it is certainly possible to follow the route using the guidebook and way-markings alone, for us, having a GPS made life a lot easier.
We carried printed OpenCycleMaps on this trip (printed using the no-frills app called myPhotoMap). Other than in the Sierra Nevada where large-scale proper topo maps might have been helpful, the lack of high quality maps was never an issue. If you want paper maps, get the 1:50,000 Servicio Geográfico del Ejército (Spanish Military Survey) maps, available at Stanfords or La Tienda Verde
We also carried an iPhone that we loaded with navigation and reference materials. We used the Gaia GPS app (our third long trip with this helpful app), preloaded with tracks, waypoints, satellite imagery, and OpenCycleMap data. It worked very well. If you plan to backpack with an iPhone, it's important to read the battery conservation section in the article: Instructions for using iPhone as Backpacking GPS/Mapping device.
We camped on 31 of the 34 nights we spent on the GR-7. We never camped in an "official" campsite, but set up whenever it was time and a suitable site was available. Although we tended to be discrete, we certainly were not stealth-camping: one night was spent on a paved scenic overlook just 100 meters from the village at Castillo de Castellar, another on a public plaza behind the administration building in Bérchules, and yet another on the patio of an unused farmhouse. We camped in olive and almond groves and in a barn. We asked permission on the few occasions when somebody was around and were always granted leave to camp. No one ever bothered us, but we were quiet and didn't build fires, and usually didn't set up until dusk and were packed up again before sunrise.
Campsites were sometimes difficult to find due to terrain issues: too steep, too rocky, too much underbrush and so forth, but we were always able to find places that were at least better than adequate and were often quite fine. Official campsites, either public or private, were extremely rare.
If you chose not to camp, many of the towns had commercial lodging such as pensions, hotels, hostels, and B&B equivalents. The guidebook has dated, but still helpful information on what lodging is available. A major downside of doing this trip based on lodging instead camping is that you are forced to plan your days around the availability of lodging and there are several sections with extremely long distances between places to stay, so some camping is functionally mandatory unless vehicular transport is used.
Food and Water
The route passes shops every day or two, so buying food is not a significant problem as long as you plan ahead. First, essentially all grocery stores in rural Spain are closed daily from 2 PM until 5 PM, Saturday afternoon, and all day Sunday, so shopping must be scheduled around those hours. Second, local fiestas of various kinds are common in Spain and if you are in a town during one, the stores will all be closed. On the other hand, the stores themselves, however small, were usually extremely well stocked with a wide variety of foods useful to walkers, much more so than small town stores in England and the US. Bakeries (pastelería for pastries and panadería for bread) had much better offerings than those in England, but are not quite as good as patisseries in France.
Since we don't carry a stove, we subsisted on our normal walking diet of bread, cheese, jamón serrano, (usually locally produced), yogurt, crackers, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, sausage, tuna, packaged pastries and cookies, juices, wine, and chocolate.
We also regularly ate in the small town cafes. The quality of the food in these places, however modest they looked, was generally quite good and we had many unexpectedly tasty meals. Since our Spanish is rudimentary and menus usually non-existent, ordering was often a puzzle and we often essentially just asked the proprietor to feed us. We were never disappointed and on at least two occasions, someone had to call the cook to come in from home to make us a meal. The places were almost all very friendly and kind to us. Overall, we spent approximately $20 US per person per day on food.
Water was never a problem. Towns and villages have public water sources called fonts, usually located in the square next to the church. The fonts are sometimes very old and sometimes very elaborate. Rarely, these would be posted as non-potable, but the vast majority had good water. Farmhouses were also a source of water and you pass many of these. We never treated water, and we purchased water only once, in Venta Romana, where the well water is not palatable.
Language and People
We met very few English speakers in the rural areas and small towns on the GR-7. Amy has learned some basic Spanish (sufficient for traveling), which proved very useful for simple conversations and finding food sources. The regional dialects are very different from the Latin American Spanish we are used to in California. That said, everyone was friendly and tried to be helpful.
Being comparatively warm, sunny, and inexpensive, Southern Spain is a popular destination for northern Europeans, and many of the towns and villages on the route have significant ex-pat populations of Britons, Germans, Dutch, etc.
The trail was not crowded. We met one Spanish, one French, and one Dutch couple each doing a week or so on the GR-7, but no other through-walkers. In the Sierra Nevada, we met quite a few day-hikers, primarily British folks on holiday. We saw quite a few groups of mountain bikers and numerous lycra-clad road bikers, usually on weekends or during a holiday week. And once we walked for a couple of kilometers with a large group of Spanish children heading for school in Ventas de Zafarraya.
Although mid-spring in southern Spain is normally warm and dry, we experienced unexpectedly cool conditions, especially for the first couple of weeks. Skies were frequently overcast, winds were blustery, and we had intermittent, but very light rain. Locals often commented on the abnormally windy and cool weather. We had good to excellent weather during the middle portion of the trip, but experienced a storm with minor snow and hail while crossing the eastern Sierra Nevada and another in the Sierra de Baza mountains. The final week and a half was generally good, but the last few days were too warm for Amy's comfort. Expect conditions to be very hot during the summer.
We are birders and spend time during our walks enjoying the local avifauna. On this trip we observed 134 species of birds. Spain has the greatest bird diversity in Western Europe, but the portion of GR-7 we walked does not sample all of Spain's variety of habitats. We saw almost no seabirds, waterbirds, or shorebirds. However, we did have good selections of woodland and open-country passerines. Birds were reasonably abundant, but generally more skittish than in England or the US. Among many classy species, wheatears, bee-eaters, and hoopoes stand out. Larks were abundant and a constant ID challenge.
John Hayes wrote a terrific description of GR-7 dogs in his E-4 blog, and it matched our experience. Every rural house had at least one, and often up to a dozen, dogs. The savage dogs were always fenced or chained, and the loose dogs were consistently placid and lazy. We've never had trip with a larger quantity of barking savage dogs, but we never had any bad encounters. The dogs were less problematic than any of our walks in the UK, where people's pet dogs ("he's never done that before") were occasionally quite aggressive.
We had no real problems with annoying insects during our walk. We had a few mosquitoes around the tent on a couple of nights, but they were not noticeable during the day. We have no idea what the insect situation is at other times of the year, but most the terrain is dry so water hatched bugs are likely not common.Jul 19, 2012 at 1:42 am #1895902
Great trip report! I am considering to hike the GR7 myself as a winter trip and therefore I am especially grateful for the GPS data.
I realise that you have hiked in spring, but do you think that it would be possible to hike it in deep winter?
ChristineJul 19, 2012 at 3:37 am #1895907
Khader AhmadMember
@337guanacosLocale: Pirineos, Sierra de la Demanda
Doing the GR-7 in summer is almost suicide unless you are really used to desert hiking. as an example yesterday in Sevilla was well over 40ºC/104ºF.
The GR is doable in winter, but in Sierra Nevada skiing gear is almost mandatory. Mulhacen is treacherous, there are snow storms with deceased hikers almost every spring as it seems easy and pacefull (it is with good weather).Jul 19, 2012 at 4:19 am #1895913
Does that mean snow shoes? From what time on can I expect conditions for normal hiking without any special winter gear like skis out snow shoes?
ChristineJul 19, 2012 at 7:49 am #1895943
Note that Mulhacen is not part of the GR7, we hiked to the top as a side trip. It is the spike in the elevation chart in our original report. Winter 2011-2012 was extremely dry, and by April 24 the remaining snow at the summit was just minor patches. Lower down where the GR7 is routed was far below the snow.
There are, I think, only two passes over 5000 feet. I'm not familiar with the winter snowpack situation, so can't speak to that question. Also, we hiked the southern alternate, and the alternate that goes north of the Sierra Nevada might be drier in winter.
I've just posted the kml file that shows the route as published by RutasYViajes.es. Load this in Google Earth, together with the kml file from our original report, to see how the two differ.Mar 2, 2013 at 3:50 pm #1960656
Jack MilletMember
@jackmilletLocale: Europe
Hi !
My wife and I walked the GR7 southern route in October/ November 2012. We had a lot of windy , cold and rainy weather which made for some pretty uncomfortable nights under our tarp. I`m very curious to know which model REI tent you used during your GR7 hike and how much it weighs. We are looking for something stabile and stormworthy ,not necessarily Ultra light, but in the light category . We 'd also be thankful for any other tent recomendations that you might have.
Thanks very much,
JackMar 2, 2013 at 4:21 pm #1960676
Jack asked what tent we used on our GR7 hike. We have been using a REI Quarter Dome T2 for a couple years and we are really pleased with it. Double rainbow doors, two roof vents, easy setup, good in wind, good bathtub floor, good headroom and comfort for two, stealth coloration, etc. When we studied the options it was the one we liked the most. REI is not listing it on their site right now, hopefully that is just seasonal out-of-stock and not end-of-life. Ours weighs exactly four pounds with six stakes and our collection of tie-outs and line locks. Other threads/articles on BPL do a better job of describing other options than I could do.Apr 23, 2013 at 10:29 am #1979732
Inspired by Amy's trip report I am going to hike the GR 7 later this year as a part of my next long hike from the Southernmost point in Europe, Tarifa in Spain to the Northern most point, the North Cape in Norway.
I am currently preparing the Southern part of this hike from Germany to Tarifa. In order to save money and bulk I have downloaded all the maps for the GR 7 and cropped them into a strip map consisting of about 100 DIN A4 pdf files. As this has taken me several days of work I want to offer them to future GR 7 hikers. If you are interested just send me a PM and I'll send the pdf files to you via dropbox or the like. This is of course for free. You just have to print out the maps yourself.
The data source are the free IGN (Instituto Geografico Nacional) maps 1:50,000. You can download them here:
The download is free. You just have to register. I have then cropped the maps to DIN A4 format (more or less equivilant to US letter format) resulting in a strip map of about 100 single maps. The GR 7 is rarely marked on the maps but I have covered the whole route from the start in Tarifa all the way to Catalunya which is about 1,705 km.
I have not yet hiked the trail but I'll probably post a trip report when I am done early next year.Apr 23, 2013 at 2:58 pm #1979817
Roger CaffinModerator
@rcaffinLocale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe
Hi Amy+
A magnificent Trip Report. Thank you.
CheersFeb 13, 2014 at 12:31 pm #2073129
I have hiked the whole length of the GR 7 in Spain this year as part of my 2 year-long project to hike from the Southernmost point in Europe (Tarifa in Spain) to the Northernmost point (North Cape in Norway).
I would like to complement Amy's excellent trip report with the extensive report on my blog.
I have hiked the Northern variant of the GR 7 whereas Amy has hiked the Southern variant. She has chosen the better route as I found the Northern variant not that interesting. You can find my conclusion on the Northern variant here.
Also Amy has hiked in spring whereas I hiked through winter and still had a very pleasant experience. My trip report includes almost the whole length of the GR 7. Although we hiked different variants and in a different season I totally agree with Amy's observations.
I would like to point out that there are now two excellent new trails in Southern Spain that partly coincide with the GR 7, but are far better marked.
GR 247: Bosques del Sur:
The website is in English and contains tracks for downloading. The most interesting feature of this track is that it goes from refuge to refuge and is within the beautiful forested National Park of Cazorla.
GR 249: Gran Senda de Malaga:
So far the website is Spanish only but the maps and tracks for downloading are self explanatory. The videos of each stage will give you a good impression of what to expect. The trail is so low that it can easily walked year round. Malaga is the major transportation hub of the region and there is plenty of stuff for sightseeing.
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CANADA FX DEBT-Canadian dollar weakens on retail sales data
* Canadian dollar weakens after early rise
* Bonds mostly higher across the curve
* Canada retail sales drop more than expected
* (Adds details, quote)
TORONTO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened versus the U.S. dollar late on Monday morning, hit by data that showed a big drop in December retail sales.
Canadian retail sales tumbled 5.4 percent in December, the biggest monthly drop since 1991 and more than twice what was expected. [ID:nN23330217]
"What takes precedence is the dismal retail sales numbers that we got this morning," said Charmaine Buskas, senior economics strategist, TD Securities.
"They definitely confirm that the Canadian economy is under a lot of pressure and it certainly assures the markets that another rate cut is coming from the Bank of Canada."
The data put more pressure on the central bank to cut its key overnight rate by another half-point on March 3 to 0.50 percent. [ID:nN23330217] Continued...


text:
By Kathy Chu, USA TODAY
Even as regulators rein in some of the most egregious credit card practices, consumer groups and legislators warn that more needs to be done — and quickly — to protect the most vulnerable consumers.
A rule — to be issued Thursday by the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration — is expected to restrict issuers' ability to raise credit card interest rates for any reason and curb the fees charged to borrowers with tarnished credit records.
ON NOTICE: Sweeping changes to credit card rules
Ken Clayton, senior vice president of card policy at the American Bankers Association, says the measure will "directly address all the concerns that Congress and others will raise … and fundamentally rewrite the way card companies and consumers interact."
But consumer groups argue that the rule is unlikely to restrict how much banks can charge, their ability to pull back on consumers' credit limits — hurting their credit scores — and their aggressive marketing to college students.
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A threat to the economy
USA TODAY, in its Credit Trap series, found that as borrowers struggle to stay afloat, banks are aggressively raising rates and fees, often stripping consumers of what little disposable income they have left. That threatens to accelerate the downturn, because consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
The paper's investigation also revealed that during the housing boom, banks sharply raised card limits in part because of a surge in home equity, then guided borrowers to use mortgages to pay off card balances. And the series found that banks' practice of packaging and selling credit card debt to Wall Street has given them a powerful incentive to raise card rates and fees.
Regulators' new rule on credit cards is an "excellent first step," because banks can't double your rate if you pay one day late, says Gail Hillebrand, senior attorney at Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. "But it's not enough."
At one time, credit cards were subject to usury laws in 50 states that generally capped interest rates at 12% to 18%. A 1978 Supreme Court decision changed that, ruling that a bank could charge the maximum rate allowed by the state where it had its headquarters.
States such as South Dakota and Delaware removed their interest rate caps after the ruling, and banks flocked there so they could charge higher rates.
Then came the barrage of fees. The Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that credit card fees were "interest" charges, again subject to state law where the bank is headquartered. That basically gave banks freedom to expand and raise credit card fees as much as they wanted, experts say.
"Banks in a very devious and sinister way drove the battleship through the opening and went from a reasonable $10 to a $40 late fee within three or four years," says Duncan MacDonald, the former Citibank group counsel who represented Citibank in the 1996 Supreme Court case.
Over the years, as banks realized that consumers shopping for a credit card paid close attention to upfront rates — but not fees — card rates began falling and a bevy of fees cropped up to take their place, MacDonald notes.
Still, those fees are completely avoidable, says Clayton, of the American Bankers Association. Credit cards are a "great value that helps consumers address everyday issues and longer-term challenges," he adds.
Now, as the economy falters, banks have become even more aggressive about increasing borrowers' credit costs, advocates say. Banks are not only raising credit card rates on consumers who pay their bills on time, but they're also imposing higher fees, and doing so more often.
Legislators and advocates point to hair-trigger changes in credit card terms as a reason why a law, rather than just a regulation, is needed to reform the industry.
"The Fed can give, and the Fed can take away," says Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Law vs. regulation
To restore economic stability, says Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the public needs a law to "stop credit card companies from ripping off their customers and driving them into deeper and deeper debt."
Meanwhile, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who sponsored the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, said that she will review the new rule and "see what remains to be done to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices."
While reform won't help borrowers who have already gotten their rates increased, at least it will give them better options the next time they're shopping for credit, says Linda Sherry of Consumer Action, an advocacy group.
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This detailed, white-metal set includes a 28mm heroically-scaled Mk1 Gatling Gun. This kit is supplied unassembled, and unpainted.
The kit includes the following components:
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This product is not suitable for children; it may include small and sharp components. Manufactured in white metal. The white metal used in these figures contains lead. Do not ingest these models as it may be harmful to your health.
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