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Microsoft released six security bulletins to patch 29 CVEs on Windows and Internet Explorer; two are rated critical, three are rated important and one is rated as moderate. Microsoft's Dustin Childs recommends first deploying security fixes for Windows Journal (MS14-038) and Internet Explorer (MS14-037).
Both of the patches rated as critical are to close Remote Code Execution (RCE) holes, but neither can be exploited without a user helping attackers out by visiting a maliciously crafted website. "None" is the number of active attacks Microsoft said it is currently seeing for these two.
MS14-037 resolves one publicly disclosed vulnerability and 23 privately reported vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer; it's rated critical for IE 6 – IE 11 on Windows clients and rated moderate for IE 6 – IE 11 on Windows servers. Microsoft again urged consumers to use IE 11, adding that "Internet Explorer 11 is much more secure than our older versions, which is why we encourage customers to upgrade."
MS14-038 deals with a vulnerability in Windows Journal; the patch closes a privately reported hole in all supported versions of Microsoft Windows, from Vista to Windows 8.1.
"The critical vulnerability described in MS14-038 is a great example of how unused software can be abused by attackers," stated Craig Young, a security researcher at Tripwire. "In this case Windows Journal, which is installed by default but isn't commonly used, can lead to arbitrary code execution." He added via email, "Even if Journal is not used in your organization, it is crucial that all systems with Windows Journal are patched immediately as this file-format vulnerability can be exploited with just a simple file preview."
However Microsoft added, "It's worth noting that Windows Server versions do not have Windows Journal installed by default. That's by design. You are always at less risk when you have fewer applications installed, so server systems ship with many optional components disabled. If you haven't reviewed the applications installed on your server recently, now is a good time to do so. Reducing the attack surface will have a positive impact on the overall security of the server."
The three patches rated important all deal with potential elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerabilities.
MS14-039 resolves a privately reported bug in Microsoft's on-screen keyboard; all supported releases of Windows, except Windows Server 2003, are affected.
MS14-040 fixes on privately reported vulnerability in Ancillary Function Driver (AFD) that affects all supported versions of Windows.
MS14-041 fixes a one privately reported flaw in DirectShow; "The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker first exploits another vulnerability in a low integrity process and then uses this vulnerability to execute specially crafted code in the context of the logged on user."
MS14-042 is the "odd one" to fix a moderate denial of service vulnerability in Microsoft Service Bus for Windows Server. "The vulnerability could allow denial of service if a remote authenticated attacker creates and runs a program that sends a sequence of specially crafted Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) messages to the target system. Microsoft Service Bus for Windows Server is not shipped with any Microsoft operating system." Ross Barrett, senior manager of security engineering at Rapid7, suggested, "If you have this component you will probably care to patch this before script kids start knocking over your site."
Microsoft revised 3 security advisories
Update to Improve Credentials Protection and Management:
This new package changes the default behavior for Restricted Admin mode on Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2. This advisory deals with different strategies for combating credential theft, which is a hot topic today. Patrick Jungles (lead author) and team have a new whitepaper discussing ways to defend against pass-the-hash style attacks, and there is a new web resource that covers various techniques and tactics to help prevent different types of credential theft attacks. Implementing these tactics before they are needed is another way to positively impact the overall security posture in an enterprise.
The Update for Disabling RC4 in .NET TLS was "revised to announce a Microsoft Update Catalog detection change for the updates requiring installation of the 2868725 prerequisite update. If you have already successfully installed this update, then you don't need to take any further action."
Security Advisory 2755801 now has the latest update for Adobe Flash Player in Internet Explorer.
As a reminder, if you have not updated Windows 8.1 or Server 2012 R2 with Microsoft's all-important Update patch, you have until August 12 to do so. Otherwise, you will not be able to receive future Microsoft security patches.
Nearly 300 free Microsoft ebooks
Lastly, Microsoft released a plethora of free ebooks, which cover Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Office 2013, Office 365, Office 2010, SharePoint 2013, Dynamics CRM, PowerShell, Exchange Server, Lync 2013, System Center, Azure, Cloud, SQL Server, and more. There are 130 Microsoft-flavored ebooks in that release, plus others previously released pushing the total offerings to nearly 300.
Happy patching and reading!


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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/3/2014 (1232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Phase 1 of the Manitoba Winter games was held from March 2 to 5 in the cities of Morden and Winkler and the R.M. of Stanley.
The Manitoba Ringette Association was proud to have been a part of the event. The ringette portion featured teams from seven different regions of the province competing against each other in a round-robin tournament that led to playoffs and medal rounds.
The regions represented were Winnipeg East (aka Winnipeg Blue), Winnipeg West (aka Winnipeg Gold), Eastman, Interlake, Westman, Norman and the host community, Central. Each team was made up girls from many different teams, some of whom had never played together and some of whom played against each other in regular league play.
The round-robin portion was divided into two pools. One pool featured the two Winnipeg teams, Interlake, and Eastman with the other featuring Westman, Norman and Central. All the teams from the first pool went on to the playoff rounds, while only the first place team of the second pool went on.
Competition in both pools was very tight with more than one game ending in overtime.
After defeating Eastman, Interlake went on to face Winnipeg Gold in the final, from which Winnipeg Gold came away with a 10-4 win. Winnipeg Gold, who had a bye into the gold medal game, had an incredible game while Interlake showed how difficult it is to take the long way around to get into that game.
Probably the most amazing part of the whole tournament, though, happened after the final game.
The final buzzer had gone, the winner was determined but there was a delay between the end of the game and the medal ceremony which meant that all three medal-winning teams were waiting anxiously on the ice for a very awkward 15-20 minutes.
Parents had taken pictures, coaches had shaken hand, players had hugged but still there were no medals.
This is when the most amazing thing happened...
The Winnipeg Gold players sat down in a circle on the ice and started a singing game that all girls of this age are familiar with.
They then invited the two other teams over and pretty soon all three teams were sitting in a large circle holding hands and singing and laughing together!
It was such a beautiful sight to see these girls who had competed so hard against each other sitting together as friends and ringette players.
There have been many stories of late about the ugly side of kids sports but this amazing story reminds us all — parents, players, and coaches — that there is another side to sport and if we look for them we will see these types of things happening all around us.
Suzanne Dyck is a community correspondent for River East.

subset: commoncrawl


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Weekday Campus Tours
Thank you for your interest in Mount Ida College. To reserve your spot at one of our Weekday Campus Tours, please fill out the form below. Please note that tours are only available on weekdays. To visit us on the weekend, please sign up for a Weekend Information Session here. Weekday Campus Tours adhere to the following schedule:
- Monday through Friday at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.


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by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Jan 06, 2014
A Chinese tycoon said Monday he is serious about buying the New York Times and wants to work on "rebuilding its credibility and influence" by reforming its award-winning coverage of China.
Chen Guangbiao, listed as one of China's 400 richest people and a man known as much for his publicity stunts as his charitable giving, penned an op-ed in the state-run Global Times newspaper headlined: "I intend to buy The New York Times, please don't take it as a joke".
"The tradition and style of The New York Times make it very difficult to have objective coverage of China," Chen wrote.
"If we could purchase it, its tone might turn around. Therefore I have been involved in discussing acquisition-related matters with like-minded investors."
The New York Times has published several award-winning reports on China, including a 2012 investigation into the family wealth of then-premier Wen Jiabao that was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
The paper's website has been blocked ever since in China, the world's second-biggest economy, and several of its reporters have had difficulty obtaining visas.
Chinese state media and officials often interpret overseas criticism of the ruling Communist Party as an attack on the country itself.
Chen added that if he succeeds he "will conduct some necessary reforms, the ultimate goal of which is to make the paper's reports more authentic and objective, thus rebuilding its credibility and influence".
Last Monday, Chen said at an event in the southern Chinese boom town of Shenzhen that he planned to travel to the US "to go discuss the acquisition" of the paper, a remark that many dismissed as the wealthy entrepreneur's latest play for attention.
Four days later, Chen was spotted by a Chinese Business News reporter at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
A New York Times spokeswoman told a reporter for the newspaper last week that the company had "no information" about any negotiations with Chen.
Chen built his fortune, estimated at five billion yuan ($825 million) by Chinese wealth publisher the Hurun Report, on the recycling company Huangpu Renewable Resources Utilisation Group.
But he has been derided by critics as a publicity hound who will go to great lengths for attention.
In the past, he has sold "canned fresh air" to residents of smog-ridden Beijing and also recently posed in front of a wall made out of thousands of "bricks" made of banknotes.
In his op-ed, Chen wrote that he has "persuaded a Hong Kong entrepreneur to contribute $600 million to this cause" of buying the paper, whose parent company is listed on Wall Street and has a market capitalisation of more than $2 billion.
"I have said as long as the price is reasonable, there is nothing that cannot be bought," he wrote.
He added that he first had the idea of purchasing the newspaper when he placed an advertisement in it in December 2012 asserting Chinese sovereignty over a disputed island group called the Diaoyus by China and the Senkakus by Japan.
"I find Americans know little about a civilised and open China that has been enjoying unprecedented development," Chen wrote.
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Senior .NET Developer jobs in Dothan, AL
Koch Supply & Trading | Cedar Springs, GA
Manager of Analysis (Containerboard)This role is a key business support function for the facility; the role creates value for the business by supplying expertise in economic and critical thinking in order to make sound business decisions.
5 - 7 years experience|
Scitor | Fort Rucker, AL
Utility Helicopter Subject Matter ExpertThe Utility Helicopter SME will perform activities related to Information Technology or Engineering including: concept of operations formulation, requirements definition, analysis and engineering, system architecting, system analysis and design, interface and data architectures, validation and verification, systems integration, system & op. performance analysis, Lifecycle cost analysis & estimation, decision analysis and physical configuration analysis (PCA) .
8 - 10 years experience|
Information Services
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Military Analyst -OPFDAnalyze, review, and make recommendations to the Director, OPFD on all Active Army (AA), Army National Guard (ARNG), and U. S. Army Reserve (USAR) Rotary and Fixed Wing, both manned and unmanned Aviation Branch issues related to the Organization and Personnel DOTMLPF domains.
8 - 10 years experience|
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Market PresidentThe Market President has the responsibility of managing all aspects of the Bank�s activities to ensure maximum profits commensurate with the best interests of shareholders, customers, employees and the public.
5 - 7 years experience|
Financial Services
The United Methodist Church | Dothan, AL
Director of MinistryThe DOM will serve as the Chief of Operations/Staff Encouragement and Strategic Alignment Coach.
Business Services


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Australia's insurance industry is ripe for more takeovers and consolidation, despite
That is the view of Mark Searles, chief executive of insurance broking giant Austbrokers, who argues there were still plenty of opportunities for buyouts as challenger brands take on big companies and brokers seek new parents or partners for their businesses.
"It's fair to say that there's been more activity in the last nine to 10 months then there's been in the last nine to 10 years," Mr Searles told The Australian Financial Review.
"There's still a lot more consolidation to occur in the market place – from broking to underwriting, and insurance generally," he said.
Mr Searles's comments come after one of the biggest takeover deals in the general insurance sector in recent history. IAG, the owner of brands such as NRMA and CGU, is in the throes of winning the final regulatory approvals for its $1.85 billion takeover of Wesfarmers' insurance underwriting unit.
In April, global broking group Arthur J.Gallagher emerged as the buyer of Wesfarmers' broking and premium funding subsidiaries.
Australia's general insurance market, which spans motor and home cover, is already dominated by two major players – IAG and Suncorp, which owns brands such as AAMI, Apia and GIO.
But Mr Searles is also not alone in noting that consolidation is heating up in the insurance space.
Serial buyer
Speaking at the group's half-year results in February, Mr Snowball played down competition threats from an IAG-Wesfarmers tie-up, arguing that the Queensland-headquartered insurance group remained a "very big player".
Mr Searles argued that deals such as Wesfarmers-Gallagher could mean big changes to existing brokers' operations.
This would disrupt their businesses and prompt principals to jump ship to other companies or set up their own shop.
"We will be looking very keenly at what this means for us, because it provides us with market share growth opportunity,'' he said.
Austbrokers has also been a serial acquirer of broking businesses across Australia.
In the past few years, the $600 million company has bought equity stakes in various insurance businesses, including a further 10 per cent interest in Austbrokers Canberra, 50 per cent in Insurics, and 30 per cent in Comsure Insurance Brokers.
Austbrokers' subsidiary companies also snapped up insurance portfolios in Walgett, Darwin and a broking book with $2.2 million in commission income owned by PB Insurance Brokers.
Austbrokers' share price has fallen 4.65 per cent to $10 in the past year, compared with the 12.44 per cent rise of benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index.
The Australian Financial Review


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In my hometown there used to be an Italian restaurant called Strings (which I later learned was a chain), that was "expensive" mostly because there were five of us. So our family used it as a special occasion restaurant. There was one dish that my sisters used order religiously – Salmon and Shells, so my dad decided to try to recreate it at home.
The pasta so fast and easy it makes me feel silly that we used to go to a restaurant for it, especially since I can now eat it in my pajamas or after going to the gym without feeling weird. The dish itself is pretty easy – its just smoked salmon, peas, shells and alfredo sauce.
To make it easy on ourselves we use a bottle of alfredo sauce instead of making that from scratch. But if you want to make it from scratch please do, I always mean to and then I forget about it and then its too late! Doh!
Because the original version was pretty garlicy we usually saute some garlic quickly then add the sauce in the same pot to warm it up, this time I was snoozy and lazy so I didn't do that, I just pour the sauce into the peas and pasta and let their warmth heat the sauce.
This dish is essentially a one pot meal. Especially if you don't warm up the sauce with garlic before pouring it in.
I cook the pasta shells and for the last minute add in frozen peas. Drain and then pour them back into the pot, add the smoked salmon and pour the sauce over it and viola! Dinner.
I used honey smoked salmon from Costco this time around, and used about 6 ounces, but I think 8 would make a better shell/pea/salmon ratio. I cut the salmon into strips then use my hands to break the strips into bite sized chunks. And yes, I wore gloves. I have issues with getting my hands dirty while cooking I'm the weirdest food person I know.
Since this is actually my sister's favorite pasta dish, and she's in Australia right now…following the yellow brick road to bring me a koala….I happily skyped her last night to tell her what I was eating. Needless to say she was not amused, but I was AND I got an awesome pasta dish out of it! Muhahaha.
The longest part of this whole dish? waiting for the dang water to boil.
Salmon and Shells
1 pound pasta shells
1 pound peas
8 oz (or more) of smoked salmon
1 jar of alfredo sauce (or homemade if you're spectacularly awesome)
Bring a pot of water to a boil, I don't salt the water since I find the salmon adds quite a bit of salt, add in pasta shells. Cook as directed on package and in the last minute of cooking add in the peas. To remind myself, I always set the timer for one minute less than the recommended cooking time, then add the peas and put 1 minute back on the clock.
While the pasta is cooking, remove the skin from the smoked salmon and then cut into long strips. Using your hands, break the salmon up into chunks. The salmon should do this pretty easily.
Once the pasta and peas are cooked, drained and either put into a serving dish or back into the pot add in salmon and the jar of alfredo sauce. Stir to combine.


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Fitness Model Forced To Live With An Artificial Heart
Andrew Jones had always been an athlete and loved to keep his body in top condition, so he was naturally shocked to learn that his heart was failing.
In his college years, Jones loved spending time at the gym or out on the truck. He had an impressive physique and excellent endurance levels, so nobody would ever have expected him to be suffering from heart problems.
Sadly, that's exactly what happened. After a morning run, Jones began having big problems with his breathing. He barely had the strength to stand up straight and was even coughing up blood.
He went to see a doctor, who diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy, meaning that his heart is unable to pump blood properly around the body. The only solution was for Jones to get an artificial heart. Normally, he could have had a transplant, but it was too risky to wait for a donor.
Naturally, Jones was shocked by the news. Having an artificial heart completely changes a person's life, as it takes a lot of looking after. Fortunately, Jones was up to the challenge and has refused to allow this event to ruin his life. He still works as a fitness model and he still manages to enjoy an athletic lifestyle.
Check out the video below to learn more, and then SHARE the article with your friends!


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This is Our Last Hope
Like the marshmallow monster in the movie Ghostbusters, the federal government ranges across America from sea to shining sea. It wraps itself in red white and blue bunting, bullying, badgering and browbeating citizens to get its way. Over the last 100 years, the monster from the Potomac has grown exponentially, shoving its tentacles into nearly every nook and cranny of American life.
Conceived as limited and delegated with enumerated powers for very specific purposes, the United States federal government morphed into an institution with nearly unlimited power, scope and authority. Like the kudzu vine so familiar in southern states, it continues to grow at a chilling pace. Chop off one stem, and two quickly grow back to replace it.
No rational American believes that the United States can simply continue on its current path. We've maxed out the credit card and the bank is calling in the loans. The American people can either take proactive steps to shrink Washington D.C. and gain control of the overreaching federal monster, or the system will eventually collapse on itself.Details


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With five-time winner Jacques Anquetil opting to sit-out the 1965 Tour, all eyes were on rising star Raymond Poulidor, runner-up the year before. Poulidor, however, would once again have to settle for second, as he was surprised by Italian neophyte Felice Gimondi. Gimondi grabbed the yellow jersey on Stage 3, temporarily lost it in Western France, and then regained it for good in the Pyrénées. Despite closing to within 34 seconds of Gimondi on the Mount Ventoux, Poulidor could not make up the time in the remaining stages.
D-Day in the 1965 Tour came on the Giant of Provence, the famed Mount Ventoux. Eternal challenger Raymond Poulidor knew it would be an all or nothing day for him and he attacked hard hoping to claim Felice Gimondi's yellow jersey. Only Spaniard Julio Jimenez managed to stay with the Frenchman, and the duo succeeded in dropping Gimondi. In winning the stage Poulidor took back 1 minute 38 seconds from the Italian. But it wasn't enough and 34 seconds still separated Poulidor from the yellow jersey. Alas, the popular French rider never would wear the yellow jersey, even for a day.
Poulidors fair-play: "Gimondi won because he was better."
Last rider: J. Groussard (96th) at 2 h 37 min. 39 sec.
The authority of Gimondi (23), who was competing in his first Tour, and Poulidors new failure, second again. The Italian had won the Tour de l'Avenir in 1964.
Tour starts in Cologne, Germany; the start ramp is used in time trials for the first time.
Malcolm X is assassinated; The Watts riots explode in Los Angeles; ex-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill dies; the birth control pill is introduced.


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Vivacity dance team Auditions
Amber Baltazar
Saturday, March 30, 2013 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (PDT)
Who's Going
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3 of your friends are going. Share it to get more people on board! Share
Sara Haughty
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
Luke Picard
London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
Rick Vespucio
Florence, Italy
Florence, Italy
Event Details
Vivacity Dance Team invites girls ages 10-17 to join the team. Dance Auditons will be March 30,2013 at Hooper Road Park located at 6261 Guynell Drive. Everyone is welcome to bring a friend. Dance style is Hip hop/ Jazz.
Have questions about Vivacity dance team Auditions? Contact Amber Baltazar
When & Where
Vivacity Dance Team
Guynell Dr
Baton Rouge,
Saturday, March 30, 2013 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar
Amber Baltazar
Vivacity dance team Auditions
Things to do in Baton Rouge, LA


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The Most Wanted
Weekly Sneaker Spotlight
Log In
Password Help
Create a Sneakerhead Account
Customer Help
Shopping Bag
Focus on the item you've purchased and/or used. What would you have liked to have known before purchasing?
For non-product related issues - like delivery and customer service - use the contact us form to get in touch.
The simple classic design is very nice. However, I would prefer a black colored sole instead of the white.
I have not had them long, so I cannot comment on their lasting quality, but they look well made.


text: This property details all Japanese Satellaview Release Dates. It has type Date. Pages using the property "Japanese Satellaview Release" Showing 1 page using this property.View (previous 25 | next 25) (20 | 50 | 100 | 250 | 500)L The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past +March 2, 1997 + Retrieved from "http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Property:Japanese_Satellaview_Release?oldid=349732#SMWResults" Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you've made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected.


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Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
iPhone: New, high-quality images show off several possible parts from Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 6, reports MacRumors. Included in the high-quality images are shots of the device's front display. These images show off how the LCD flex cable, earpiece and the camera all come together near the top of the device. Other images feature the mute and power buttons of the iPhone 6. The power button has a silver finish to it. The last leaked image shows the SIM card tray, which also has a silver finish.
iPad: A new rumor claims that Apple's next generation iPad mini may release alongside the iPhone 6, Breathecast notes. These rumors claim that the device may also go by a new name. It's believed that the new device may be called the iPad mini Air. It also may include the new TouchID feature that has been used in the iPhone 5s. Another rumor claims that four different versions of the next generation iPad mini will be available when it releases. This will include 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB versions of the device.
Production: Rumors out of China claim that the iPhone 6 is preparing to enter its final stage of production, reports AppleInsider. The rumor claims that the iPhone 6 has reached the "PVT" phase of production. It also claims that yield rates were up to 90% and that the device will be ready for its rumored September release. The rumor didn't acknowledge which of the possible new iPhones were about to enter the final stages of production. Other rumors have claimed that the 5.5-inch version of the device has hit production issues.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.


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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (
Satellite-based temperature measurements are an important indicator for global climate change studies over large areas. Records from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and (Advanced) Along Track Scanning Radiometer ((A)ATSR) are providing long-term time series information. Assessing the quality of remote sensing-based temperature measurements provides feedback to the climate modeling community and other users by identifying agreements and discrepancies when compared to temperature records from meteorological stations. This paper presents a comparison of state-of-the-art remote sensing-based land surface temperature data with air temperature measurements from meteorological stations on a pan-arctic scale (north of 60° latitude). Within this study, we compared land surface temperature products from (A)ATSR, MODIS and AVHRR with an
Land surface temperature (LST) is a supporting information source for the generation of the Essential Climate Variable defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), to support the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [
The arctic environment is highly vulnerable to modifications in the global climate system and currently subject to dramatic changes [
The Data User Element Permafrost (DUE Permafrost), funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), highlighted the needs for a permafrost monitoring system. The aim of this project was to facilitate the cooperation between remote sensing experts and the permafrost science community. To create an observation strategy, various permafrost relevant parameters, such as LST, land cover, subsidence, thermokarst lake changes, soil moisture,
This paper presents the comparison of state-of-the-art remote sensing-based LST data with air temperature measurements (Tair) for the pan-arctic regions north of 60 degrees latitude. Within this study, we compared LST products from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and (Advanced) Along Track Scanning Radiometer ((A)ATSR) with an
This paper presents a comparison of LST with Tair records, rather than validation approach. A validation approach of LST requires
Land surface temperature refers to the radiation properties of the earth surface and determines the intensity of the radiation of long waves emitted by it, which can be detected by aircrafts or satellite-based remote sensing platforms. There are different terms describing the same variable, such as land surface temperature or surface skin temperature. The air temperature or surface air temperature is measured at 1.5–2 m height, where the measurements are done by the contact of the sensor and the surrounding air. Land surface temperature and Tair are correlated to a certain degree, with some drawbacks depending on factors, such as land cover type [
The comparison is done by using statistical parameters such as the Pearson correlation coefficient (R), the slope (S) and the intercept (INT) with the y-axis of the regression line and the mean difference (MD), also known as bias. The first three parameters were derived by comparing the pixel of the LST data with the corresponding Tair measurements from the meteorological station. Each meteorological station is situated within a pixel of the different remote sensing products. The statistics are based on the scatter cloud derived from the analyzed comparison pairs and time step. The MD is calculated by the difference between Tair and LST divided by the amount of observed time steps. If the MD is negative, the LST detects warmer temperatures than the measured Tair, and
The AVHRR Polar Pathfinder product covers the polar regions of the northern and southern hemisphere with a spatial coverage north of 48° and south of 53° in latitude and have been used for several studies [
The data quality of the AVHRR Polar Pathfinder product is influenced by an orbital drift of each NOAA satellite during their lifetime, which causes a shift of the equator crossing time to the afternoon. This orbital drift evokes a cooling effect to the LST estimates. The effect was found to be stronger on the southern hemisphere and non-vegetated regions [
The LST products from MODIS Terra and Aqua are widely used for remotely sensed temperature research such as [
The MODIS LST products (MOD11C1, MYD11C1) were derived from MOD11B1, which has a daily resolution with 6 km pixel size in sinusoidal projection. This product is developed from algorithms defined in [
The retrieval of LST from MODIS is based on various input parameters, which were also available as individual products. In general, only swaths, which have a valid Level 1B radiance in channels 31 (10.78–11.28 μm) and 32 (11.77–12.27 μm), are over land (including water bodies) and are acquired under clear sky conditions, in addition to being used to derive LST information. The extraction is done by a classification-based algorithm developed by [
The LST product by the European Space Agency (ESA), which was provided for this study, was derived using ATSR-1 on ERS-1, ATSR-2 on ERS-2 and AATSR on ENVISAT earth observation data. All satellites have sun-synchronous orbits, where ERS-1 and ERS-2 acquire data at 10:30 a.m. and ENVISAT at 10 a.m. [
This global product covers the time period from August 1991 to December 2009 with a spatial resolution of 9.28 km in sinusoidal projection. The product has monthly resolution, where each month is covered by approximately 430 orbits at a resolution of 1 km. The final product resolution of 9.28 km is based on a composite and consists of pixels marked as land and cloud-free. The discrimination between day and nighttime data was done using sun elevation information [
Some issues about the data quality due to anomalies of the sensors during their data acquisitions times were identified. In May 1992, the 3.7 μm channel from ATSR-1 was lost. There were no data between January and June 1996 due to problems with the downlink and the tape capacity followed by a reduced swath within the visible channels since June 2001. AATSR onboard of ENVISAT suffered from a spectral drift in the 0.55-μm channel from December 2005 to December 2006, which was corrected
The comparison of the daily and monthly remote sensing-based LST estimates with ground measurements were done using the Global Surface Summary of Day Data (GSOD), an
The database of the Global Summary of Day Data is updated on a daily frequency. In general, the majority of the temporal availability of the meteorological stations goes back to the 1970s, for some cases even back to the 1930s and earlier. There are known issues about the data availability for some regions, which could be interrupted for some time periods due to data restrictions or communication problems. However, all available daily data records are based on a minimum of four observations per day. The data quality is automatically controlled and corrected, which prevents larger data gaps within the database [
The comparison of remote sensing-based LST estimates and Tair records from the meteorological station is performed with six processing steps:
Extraction of meteorological stations on pan-arctic scale (above 60 degrees north). Identification of geographic location of meteorological stations and extraction of data from pixels in remote sensing-based LST products. Comparison of LST and Tair time series for the whole temporal coverage of each product. Reduction of both databases to the overlapping time period of the remote sensing products (2000–2005). Inter-annual comparison of LST and Tair data based on the overlapping time period. Link of the results to land cover classes extracted for each meteorological stations based on GLC2000 (Global Land Cover 2000).
Extraction of meteorological stations on pan-arctic scale (above 60 degrees north).
Identification of geographic location of meteorological stations and extraction of data from pixels in remote sensing-based LST products.
Comparison of LST and Tair time series for the whole temporal coverage of each product.
Reduction of both databases to the overlapping time period of the remote sensing products (2000–2005).
Inter-annual comparison of LST and Tair data based on the overlapping time period.
Link of the results to land cover classes extracted for each meteorological stations based on GLC2000 (Global Land Cover 2000).
The extractions of the meteorological stations, which are situated north of 60 degrees, are done by metadata file, which was provided by the NCDC. This file includes additional information for each station, such as station ID, starting time of acquisition, geographic coordinates, country and measured parameters. This extraction results in over 600 stations suitable for this analysis. After an automated consistency check, identifying missing daily data, the data gaps where filled to create a consistent database. Meteorological stations, which have shown a significant number of missing data, were not used for this study.
To develop a comprehensive validation database, the geographic coordinates of each of the selected meteorological stations was extracted from the metadata and applied to the remote sensing time series product. Afterwards it was possible to convert the pixel stack from the LST products, which are including each time step, into a single vector. For each meteorological station, a matrix was developed, which included the time, the LST that was based on the remote sensing data, and the Tair values.
In a first step, the remote sensing-based LST was compared to Tair measurements for the complete time series of each product (Section 4.1). Only daytime temperature information was used in this study. This analysis should give an impression about the agreement between both parameters.
To derive a detailed insight in the comparison and to assure the comparability of this study, the overlapping period of the remote sensing products (2000–2005) was analyzed (Section 4.2).
For this time period, the inter-annual variability between LST and Tair were analyzed, using different statistical parameters, such as the Pearson correlation coefficient (R), the slope (S) and the intercept of the regression line (I), as well as the mean difference (MD).
Prior to the inter-annual variability by comparing LST and Tair time series information, the results were linked to land cover units (Sections 4.3 and 4.4). The goal was to provide information about land cover classes, which are showing the highest variability and discrepancies between remote sensing and ground temperature measurements. The aim was to use the most recent global land cover product GlobCover 2009, developed by ESA [
The following chapter presents the results from the comparison of LST from (A)ATSR (monthly mean values), AVHRR and MODIS (both daily mean values) with daily mean
The LST product from (A)ATSR covers the time period of 1991 to 2009 with a monthly temporal resolution. When compared to Tair measurements, a correlation of R = 0.89 is achieved. The remote sensing data detects colder temperatures than those measured on the ground within a range of 0 to 15 °C. Above 15 °C, the opposite becomes visible. The agreement between LST and Tair for temperatures above 0 °C are described by a correlation coefficient R = 0.75. Observing the negative temperature range, LST is showing colder temperatures until approximately −30 °C. Below this value, LST appears to be warmer. The negative temperature range results in a correlation coefficient of R = 0.81. Thus, higher correlations are found for temperatures below the freezing point.
The LST estimates from the AVHRR Polar Pathfinder dataset results in an overall correlation of R = 0.9, which is comparable to the correlation coefficient of (A)ATSR. However, AVHRR has a larger temporal coverage (1981–2005) and has a daily temporal resolution. Similar to (A)ATSR, LST from AVHRR results in colder temperatures compared to the corresponding Tair measurements within a temperature range from 0 and 5 °C and the opposite above this range, causing a correlation coefficient of R = 0.74. For temperature values below 0 °C, (A)ATSR and AVHRR are showing similarities. Until a value of −30 °C, LST is slightly colder than Tair. Afterwards, LST values are warmer than the corresponding Tair values. The correlation coefficient is R = 0.82.
The overall correlation coefficient of MODIS Terra and Aqua is higher than for (A)ATSR and AVHRR (R = 0.95). However, MODIS Terra and Aqua are covering a shorter time period. The correlation of temperature above 0 °C shows a slight overestimation with a very close fit of the regression line to the 1:1 line. The correlation coefficient is higher (R = 0.80) than for (A)ATSR and AVHRR. The correlation of negative temperature is very high with R = 0.92, which also results in a very close fit of the regression line and the 1:1 line.
In summary, MODIS Terra and Aqua LST estimates display a higher correlation when compared to Tair records, followed by (A)ATSR and AVHRR. The concentration of the point density within the scatter cloud is close to the 1:1 line, which is also the case for AVHRR. Values around 0 °C and slightly warmer seems to show the highest concentration of compared data pairs, except for (A)ATSR. AVHRR and (A)ATSR show outliers at 0 °C of the x-axis ranging down to −60 °C of the y-axis. These artifacts may be caused by the cloud and ice detection algorithm of the products. Since temperature conditions in the lower atmosphere (top of clouds) are much lower [
In general, LST appears to result in warmer values compared to Tair within the positive temperature range for all remote sensing products. This problem exists due to the fact that LST and Tair are based on different physical processes [
This chapter highlights the inter-annual variability of different statistical parameters extracted by the comparison of LST and Tair. Due to the large amount of data, each time step represents the median of all measurements.
The correlation coefficient (R) describes the variance of the point cloud around the regression line, showing the dependencies between LST and Tair. The variability of R during the time period of 2000 to 2005 is quite similar for all products, with the majority ranging between 0.6 and 0.9 during the yearly cycle. Higher correlations can be found in the winter season and lower during the summer month. An explanation could be the higher turbulences between land surface and atmosphere in the summer month in comparison to the winter month with lower incoming solar radiation [
In general, MODIS results in consistent inter-annual dynamics in contrast to more variations identified in AATSR and data inconsistencies for some months in the AVHRR product. A drop of the correlation coefficient is found at the end of 2004 for the AVHRR data. This might be due to the data quality, consistence of acquired data and algorithm processing chain. Known issues include problems with the scan motor on NOAA-16, which causes sporadic, irregular shifts within the derived spectral information [
The statistical parameters Slope (S) and Intercept (Int) describe the dynamics of the point clouds. A slope of 1 exists when the regression line is parallel to the line of best fit (x equals y). If the intercept equals 0, the regression line and the line of best fit are congruent. In combination with the correlation coefficient, which describes the variance around the regression line, these three statistical parameters allow for a detailed interpretation comparing LST and Tair. AVHRR and AATSR display large variability observing the slope. During the wintertime, the products have resulting slopes of −0.5, which is an indicator of lower dynamics during this time of the year. In the summer months, higher dynamics can be found by slopes with the value of 1.5. MODIS LST is very close to slopes of 1, which indicates low dynamics during the year. This is applicable during the summer season, while the winter season is showing fairly lower slopes of 0.8.
The statistical parameter Intercept (Int) is congruent for the AVHRR and MODIS data for the years 2000–2002. AATSR shows the same dynamics, but is fairly lower. For the year 2003 and beyond, AATSR and AVHRR have the same variability, while MODIS continues the dynamic patterns of the previous years. The decrease of the slope and intercept statistic values for the AVHRR at the end of 2004 data also becomes visible.
The relation of the correlation coefficient, the slope as well as the intercept indicates that LST was lower than the equivalent Tair during the wintertime for all LST products. This assumption is based on slopes, which are below 0 while showing a negative intercept with the y-axis. The summer season is characterized by slopes above a value of 1 in combination with positive intercepts, which indicates an overestimation of the positive temperature range and an underestimation of negative temperatures.
The correlation coefficient during the summer is lower in comparison to the winter month, indicating higher variances in differences between LST and Tair. In general, the diurnal temperature magnitude is lower in winter as in the summer season. This causes larger variations between day and night temperatures [
The mean difference (MD) is an indicator describing whether remote sensing-based LST data detects warmer or colder temperature in comparison to Tair. If the MD is negative, the LST detects warmer temperatures than the measured Tair, and
In general, the summer months are showing a slightly negative bias, which indicates that the land LST estimation results in warmer temperature than the measured Tair. For the winter season, the opposite is found. The positive mean difference values are caused by colder LST estimates than measured by the meteorological station at 2 m height. The lowest bias can be found for spring and autumn, which was also found for the other statistical parameters.
The observed variability and derivations between LST and Tair could be caused by the different pixel sizes of the products. MODIS and AVHRR have a spatial resolution of approx. 5 km, whereas AATSR has a resolution of about 9 km. This is changing the influence of the heterogeneity of the land surface in the LST pixel. Moreover, the LST values from AATSR are based on monthly mean. Hence, a comparison to daily values from MODIS and AVHRR is a challenging issue.
The findings are indicating low agreements between LST and Tair during peak temperatures events for both positive and negative ranges, which are found in summer and winter. Besides this, spring and autumn, which are characterized by moderate temperatures and diurnal differences, are showing a higher agreement and a lower bias between LST and Tair.
In summary, MODIS seems to shows the best fit between LST and Tair. Data from AATSR is affected by high inter-annual variability, which reduces the consistency of the dataset. Comparing LST from AVHRR with Tair, inconsistencies are also found in the time series, such as the drop of in the end of 2004.
The statistical parameters comparing LST with Tair estimates are linked to land cover classes for each station. As it was done in Section 4.2, only the median is displayed in
The correlation coefficient R was above 0.7 for all selected classes and products, which is an indicator for a good agreement between LST and Tair. However, MODIS showed the highest correlation for all classes (>0.9) while AVHRR results in lower coefficients for all classes. The range between the correlation coefficient of the products is low for classes, which are dominated by forest classes. Land cover units characterized by lower vegetation and sparse vegetation were showing a higher range of R-values. From the perspective of land cover classification, forest classes were defined as stable, whereas shrub land and herbaceous vegetation classes, characterized by a mixture of plant species, were known to be heterogeneous landscape units [
The majority of the land cover classes resulted in slopes above 1, except for water bodies, as well as needle-leaved deciduous trees, one of the dominant vegetation types in Siberia. Both land cover types resulted in slope values close to 1, indicating a nearly identical dynamic between the observed and the measured variables. Slopes above 1 resulted if LST was showing higher dynamics than Tair. In combination with the intercept, it is possible to derive information about whether LST is warmer or colder than the corresponding Tair measurements.
Land cover types such as needle-leaved evergreen forest, mixed forest, mosaic forest with other natural vegetation, shrubs, herbaceous and sparse vegetation, as well as flooded areas and water bodies, resulted in slopes above 1 and negative intercepts. This indicated that LST is warmer than Tair in positive and negative temperature range. In detail, the remote sensing sensors detect warmer temperature in positive temperature range and colder temperatures in negative range. For all these classes, AATSR and AVHRR had a stronger influence over this circumstance. Good agreement of LST and Tair was found for the needle-leaved deciduous forest, mosaic forest and other vegetation, sparse vegetation and flooded areas.
The statistical parameter mean difference is zero or positive for non-forest classes. These land cover types also showed the highest range between the products, where AATSR showed the highest values for this statistical parameter. The positive mean difference values thus indicate that LST estimates colder temperatures than those measured in the field. In comparison, the forest classes showed a negative bias, thereby indicating that warmer temperatures have been detected by the remote sensing data. In general, MODIS results in low mean difference values, which suggests the measured LST estimates to be close to the Tair (see Section 4.2). The needle-leaved deciduous forest land cover class, which is one of the major vegetation types, showed high agreement between LST and Tair by a low bias for all products.
The standard deviations of the correlation coefficient as well for the mean difference for each product and land cover type are shown in
In general, MODIS LST estimates resulted in the lowest standard deviations when compared to AATSR and AVHRR. As it was identified in Sections 4.1 and 4.2, the LST estimates from MODIS showed the agreement with Tair measurements and also had the lowest magnitude variability within the observed time series. Thus, the MODIS products are defined as consistent and having the highest confidence compared to the other products.
Comparing the products, AATSR and AVHRR showed larger values in both directions than MODIS, indicating a higher bias especially in Europe and the western part of Russia. AATSR detects colder temperatures over large areas when compared to
Land surface temperature information (LST) from AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer), MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and (A)ATSR ((Advanced) Along Track Scanning Radiometer) were compared to
MODIS LST has shown the highest agreement in comparison to Tair. (A)ATSR and AVHRR tend to detect warmer and colder temperatures for the positive and negative temperature ranges. MODIS is showing minor overestimations in the positive temperature range. (A)ATSR and AVHRR indicate outliers around the freezing point. These artifacts are referred to errors in the processing chain, when differentiating between clouds and snow, as well as ice-covered regions.
High agreements between LST and Tair can be found for the winter season with a decline towards the summer months [
High correlations are found for all land cover classes. The ranges of the correlation coefficient between the products are low for tree cover classes. Heterogeneous land surfaces, such as herbaceous and shrub lands, result in higher discrepancies. MODIS LST results in the lowest bias, emphasizing the quality of the product. Differences between maritime and continental areas are found. The results have shown coastal regions to be characterized by positive mean difference values, indicating LST to be colder than Tair. Continental areas are characterized by an overestimation of the Tair.
Coarse resolution LST information was compared to point measurements on the ground. The comparison between pixel and point values can bring uncertainties to the analysis caused by land cover, snow cover, topography, soil moisture and surface water,
As daily and monthly mean temperatures are compared in this study, future investigations need to be carried out addressing the actual daytime of the observed LST and measured Tair. Daily LST information from (A)ATSR might become available within the upcoming GlobTemperature program by ESA (European Space Agency) [
The authors want to thank Olivier Arino and Simon Pinnock from ESA ESRIN Frascati (Italy) for providing the LST product from ATSR-1, ATSR-2 and AATSR and allowing the usage for this study. Additional thanks go out to Logan Pryor (University of Lethbridge, Canada) for proofreading this paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Flowchart of the described methodology.
Comparison of (A)ATSR, AVHRR, MODIS Terra and MODIS Aqua LST estimates and Tair records from meteorological stations. Each plot shows the complete time period of each product (AATSR = 1991–2009, AVHRR = 1982–2005, MODIS Terra = 2000–2012, MODIS Aqua = 2002–2012).
Inter-annual variability of the correlation coefficient (R), slope, intercept (INT) and mean difference (MD) for the time period of 2000 to 2005.
Comparing LST and Tair for the time period of 2000 to 2005 for selected land cover classes.
Pan-Arctic mean difference distribution.
Standard deviation of the statistical parameters correlation coefficient and mean difference for selected land cover classes.
|tree, needle, ever
|tree, needle, deci
|tree, mixed
|mos: tree/other veg
|shrub, deciduous
|sparse herb or shrub
|flood shrub/herb
|water bodies


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11 RV Parks near Blue Ridge, Virginia
Laymantown, Virginia 2.92 miles SW
Cloverdale, Virginia 5.51 miles SW
Daleville, Virginia 6.2 miles NW
Hollins, Virginia 7.92 miles SW
We did however find 11 campgrounds within 25 miles of Blue Ridge. You can also find a list of cities with campgrounds or RV Parks near Blue Ridge in the left hand column.
Mile Post 86 Blue Ridge Parkway Bedford, Virginia 24523 (map) | (540) 586-7321
Sites: 144 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 14 Reviews
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Jun 2016 - $20.00
While this is a beautiful campground with nice trails, a pretty lake, and plenty to do exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway, it is an older campground that is not ideal for modern-sized RVs. Many of the sites are so unlevel that they exceed the jacks' leveling range, even with wood blocks. We were able to fit our RV in one site and paid for a second site for our tow vehicle. Although the rangers and park hosts are especially nice, helpful, and flexible, many of the descriptions provided on the reserve system website give inaccurate descriptions about the reality of the actual sites. If your rig is less than 20', you might be okay. Anything over 24' will be a big risk with only a few sites that will actually work. - JBick
May 2016 - $19.00
This campground should just be closed. Words can not explain how unexceptionable it is. We didn't even stay here and forwent our prepaid 2 night reserved payment, as a donation to the park. I understand this is an older smaller campground similar to others along the parkway. That's fine and not the problem; this particular campground is not actually being maintained. For comparison, we traveled the parkway and stayed at a similar campground that was very clean and well maintained; they seem to do the best they can with what they have. We had reserved a 2 night stay at Peaks of Otter. We arrived, checked out our site and actually wondered if the campground was even open. The campground was mostly unmowed/untrimmed, overrun with invasive underbrush such as garlic mustard, bathroom closed; sign says use bathroom on loop A. The problem with this campground is there doesn't seem to be much if any day to day maintenance, in addition to the known (but acceptable) much needed upgrades and repairs. I would recommend staying here only for a night stop and only if absolutely necessary. - dxr
Oct 2015 - $16.00
After 30 years of camping at Peaks of Otter, I give up. In all this time I have Never seen any maintenance performed at the park. If a lantern post rots and falls over for example - it will never be replaced. Pathway washed out to the rotting, moss covered table and deteriorated fire ring, all (almost all are up hill or down hill). The comfort stations look like something an urban explorer would be interested in taking pictures of in the middle of the night. But what is Most Annoying is their favorite trick is to close the B loop irrespective if there is a valid reason or not. So if you are looking for any amount of privacy beyond a KOA/parking lot, forget it. And you can always, of course, pick one of the choice spots were you are almost camping on the side of Route 43. The NPS staff or host, the few times I have ever seen either of them, act terrified and at absolute wit's end if they have to do anything other than drive around in the service truck. Too bad, it could be a really awesome park. - InTooDeep
Mill Mountain Spur Road Mile Marker 120.4 Vinton, Virginia 24018 (map) |
Sites: 30 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 2 Reviews
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Jun 2011 - $8.00
With a 30' Travel trailer we had to search for a site big enough to take us and this park was almost empty. The pull through site was really a wide spot in the road and we were uncomfortably close to what little traffic there was. The site was level side to side but a little steep back to front. We were in site B103. Also the roads through the campground are very narrow. Not a place for big rigs. - shenandoahvalley2
Oct 2005 - $14.00
Nice, quiet no hook-up campground at mile marker 120 on the Blue Ridge Parkway; just outside of Roanoke where all services are available. We only have a 30 ft class A and found that a number of the RV sites were not long enough for us, not sure if any would support big rigs. All sites are paved and level enough to work with. The pull arounds are not very wide and give you the feeling that your slides on the side nearest the road are a bit exposed. We liked site #91, it was level and big enough for the RV and had space for the toad next to it. It was one of the more open sites, most had more tree cover. The bathroom was very clean and basic, it is equiped with a lantern hanger for after hours visits since it has no lights of its own. This was a good campsite, pretty, quiet and well kept, dump station was easy in and out with potable water available at the far end of the dump area. Campground closes the end of Oct. We would stay there again. - mahaffee
1805 Roanoke Blvd Salem, Virginia 24153 (map) | (540) 345-0333
Sites: 40 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 5 Reviews
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Feb 2016 - $15.00
The park is a mobile home park and long term RV spots in the back which by the way is a flood plane and in the past six months we were evacuated by the city once. Other than that, the facility is fine but no restrooms or showers. There is a laundry room. The lots are clean and some are shaded, most aren't. I was there six months and all was well until.... I made one simple complaint and I was respectful and simply asked for a correction. The owner freaked and ordered me to leave within 24 hours. I had to pack up in 8 inches of snow. - East TN Camper
Aug 2015 - $30.00
Great park close to VA Medical Center. Our GPS could not get us there. Roanoke is Boulevard on the street signs. Use VA as end destination as its on all the maps and the parks is between the VA and the school. Great staff friendly and helpful. - littlegeneral
Jun 2015 - $30.00
Clean, quiet, affordable and well located for visiting Roanoke and Salem Va. This facility is not a 'destination park'. There are no playgrounds or bathhouses. What you get s a clean, quiet pad sight, (most are level). The park is well maintained, and consists primarily of mobile homes and long term RV residents. RV parking is primarily to the back of the park, along a creek. Note that the creek does occasionally overflow its banks, and if staying in the park in times of extended heavy rain, you will want to keep an eye out for flood warnings and be ready to move you unit to higher ground if warranted.
A few of the RV sites can be a bit tricky to get into, especially for a towable, due to carports and mail boxes placed very near the curb.
Good over the air television and Verizon cell signal. Minimal onsite management presence during our stay. Site had 2 18-24 inch wide concrete strips to park on which were long enough for us to park our 40 ft. - Fan Of The Blue Ridge
1164 Middle Creek Rd Buchanan, Virginia 24066 (map) |
Sites: 141 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 2 Reviews
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Oct 2004 - $26.00
Not a friendly campground for big rigs. We use to go to this one when we had a pop-up camper and it was okay. The owners before the campground changed ownership were very nice. We went from a pop-up to a 32ft travel trailer and almost got it stuck trying to come out of the campground. The new owners were not very friendly at all. They could care less if you were having problems getting in and out of their campground. - cucampn
Jul 2004 - $32.00
The campground differed so much from the ad in Woodall's I'm not sure the reviewers were in the right place. The facilities were dirty and run down. The roads and sites are in very poor shape. The fishing pond advertised dried up years ago. The dump station was right next to the swimmimg pool. The park was occupied mostly by full time residents, this appeared to be their last stop before being completely homeless. - jmitch1965
1164 Middle Creek Rd Buchanan, Virginia 24066 (map) | (540) 254-2550
Sites: 102 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 10 Reviews
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Oct 2016 - $36.00
Good road into location - - a little curvy but will accommodate all RVs. The campground is right on the road and the store is across the road. Coming around the last bend on the approach, the sight is disappointing. The impression is of a junkyard. There are campers and RVs parked around but it does not appear as an "organized" campground. The website is very misleading. The store is musty and dirty. Beautiful hilly scenery with tall hardwood trees, rushing river nearby. But all is marred by this ugly campground. The camping spaces are adequate and gravel surfaced. However, it appears that the facility is not being maintained. - Bruce1-_ j
Sep 2016 - $35.00
We stayed here two nights in May, 2016 and two nights in August. The sites are not on top of each other which I like. It is a rustic campground but we ARE camping. The people couldn't of been nicer, the pool was clean. They make great burgers and milk shakes at their grill. My husband is hiking the AT and it was a very convenient location. Close to both I-81 and The Blue Ridge Parkway. There are quite a few full time residents which may be the reason for some of the negative reviews. We stayed in the back and it was very private. - Lynn Barlow
May 2015 - $35.00
OMG! The worst campground in poverty I have ever seen. If you make it down the 5 mile single lane road (hope and pray an oncoming camper isn't approaching) and into the 3rd world country, you will be in for a surprise! The double-wide trailer located in the center surrounded by "Resident" campers is just the beginning. The residents appear to have a love for collecting junk on their make-shift porches. The store has a great source of "used" items just in case you forgot anything. The stream is pretty, but from the look of the campground, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the "full" hook-up option. We stayed for a total of 10 minutes. Enough time to cancel and turn the camper around. "Sure hope no one is coming in as we leave!" - Diamond d
816 Burks Hill Rd Bedford, Virginia 24523 (map) | (540) 587-5681
Sites: 3 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 6 Reviews
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May 2016 - $25.00
This is just 3 full-hookup sites in the parking lot of the Bedford Visitors Center. Rigs over 30 ft are going to have a hard time, as the spots are in a line along the side of the parking lot. They do not take reservations, but according to the county visitors manager, they do stay full in the summer. They advertise overnight stops only, but it can be arranged to stay 2 nights if necessary. - MThome
Jun 2013 - $25.00
It is what it is. Full hook-up sites at the Welcome Center. Advertizes one night only, however they asked us how many nights we wanted, so clearly more nights are available. Nice Welcome center. A bit expensive for what you get, but we would stay here again if we needed FHU. Can dry camp for $10. - campingandtravels.blogspot.com
Aug 2012 - $25.00
The Bedford VA Visitors Center is located at the same place as the National D-Day Memorial (www.dday.org) - the Memorial is on a hilltop directly behind the visitor's center. The visitor's center was kind enough to install 3 RV hook-ups (w/e/sewer) in their side parking lot. Very good spots other than they are slightly sloped. Good water pressure, great power stability, and Wi-Fi from the center is included. At only $25 a night - great! While they do advertise only one night, ask - you may be able to stay longer if there's no events happening. There's also an elementary school across from the RV spots with a walking track! - TheGrandMan
1336 Campers Paradise Trl Moneta, Virginia 24121 (map) | (540) 297-9000
Sites: 114 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 2 Reviews
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Aug 2013 - $52.00
Interior roads and sites are gravel. This park is poorly laid out for transient campers. Park caters to seasonal campers. We were escorted to our site. All sites are back in. Interior roads are narrow and little room between sites. Since this is a newly remodeled park, the gravel overlay has some soft spots underneath it. While backing in to our site (assigned site was way too short to handle our long RV) our front tires sank into the gravel. Glad we keep moving or we might have been stuck. Included WiFi worked well. Sat TV was no problem, because there is no shade. Verizon cell had 2 bars. We feel this park is overpriced by at least $20. Probably would not stay again. - eaglessoc
Jun 2013 - $60.00
Campground is on Smith Mt Lake but unless you have a boat or jet ski, you can't see much of it. At the entrance, there is a sign to stop & call a number & golf cart would meet you to go to site. Road is one way, narrow, with steep inclines to 4 levels. Once parked in back-in site, we had good view on 2nd level. Not much room to maneuver big rigs. One issue was that there were no rules or restrictions. Second, issue is the office invoiced a much higher rate($75) for holiday week which was not quoted to us nor listed on website. We had to seek out management since they did not come to us after several hours. We finally got it worked out but left a bad taste on our 4 night stay. They focus more on permanent than overnight campers. - D & B Blanks
4474 White House Rd Moneta, Virginia 24121 (map) | (540) 296-0522
Sites: 18 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 2 Reviews
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May 2013 - $42.00
This is a fairly new park close to Smith Mountain Lake. The sites are not level and require some effort to make your rig level. You can get a big rig in but some of the pull through sites require dodging fire rings and trees. This park is okay and is just about the only thing around, thus the high price for what you get. There is no internet service and my Verizon MIFI did not get but one bar, sometimes. If you need to be in the area; this is the place to be, because there is not much else. Access to the park is good and there are a couple of restaurants close by. - montana10
Jun 2012 - $50.00
This is a new RV park. Interior roads and site pads are gravel, some with a fair amount of slope. The interior loop road was not designed for a 45 foot motor home, but we made it. You'll need to maneuver on grass to back-in to your site. No shade is available on RV sites. The office staff was friendly and helpful. The first site we were assigned had too much slope to level. The next site had a faulty electric pedestal, which was promptly fixed. This park is good for a short stay. Smith Mountain Lake is nearby with many recreational opportunities. Nightly rate for park is high. - eaglessoc
5733 W Main Street Salem, Virginia 24153 (map) | (540) 380-2085
Sites: 62 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 85 Reviews
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May 2017 - $34.00
I'm not sure what the reason is that campgrounds have to be so darn close to the Interstate highways and their exit ramps, but this one topped them all. Yes, it's nice to exit from the highway and immediately pull into a campground entrance, but it's also nice to get a good nights rest free from excessive highway noise. And there was quite a bit of noise, so if you are a light sleeper, don't expect much. Yes, I knew it was close to the highway, but it was at the halfway point home, and I didn't see many other options to choose from and I was tired from driving, so we stopped. Where is Wal-Mart when you need them? When we pulled in the main campground driveway, the entire place looked dreary and in need of some spring cleaning, maintenance, and sprucing up. At first I thought the rest room building had a band of yellow caution tape around it, but it was just the paint peeling off of the doors and the overall dirty, dingy look of the building. We didn't venture inside the building. The sites were OK, but not very level, and the utilities were fine. There were a number of seasonal campers around the grounds, some of which needed a good cleaning and tidying up. I must say that the staff member that checked us in was informative and welcoming. I think that was the only positive aspect of the entire stay. I doubt if we would ever stay there again. - Love To Travel 2
Feb 2017 - $38.00
This park is a great location. Not a bad place to stay for convenience. It is open year round and is directly off of I-81. The lot we had was a long pull through, so it made it easy for our long rig. It has quite a few "residents" and they had cluttered sites. However, everyone we met was very nice. I would stay here again if I was passing through, but would not be likely to vacation here. - Joe Krukosky
Sep 2016 - $35.00
Our site was in the center. While it was a pull-through, it was extremely narrow. Our outdoor mat was touching the sewer hookup pipe belonging to the adjacent site! We could not have extended our awning if we had had next-door neighbors. It appears that many sites are occupied by permanent residents. You need a 6-character code to enter the restrooms and showers, which have seen much better days. A police car patrolled several times during the evening, making us wonder why... There's no dedicated dog-walking area, although pets are welcome. We had no shade but it didn't matter, as we pulled in at dinner time and left early in the morning. Wifi was OK, but we were close to the office. There's a lot of road noise from the interstate. Our picnic table was rotting badly. We were not there while the cavern was open. We would not return to this campground. - Pandora518
1235 State Park Rd Huddleston, Virginia 24104 (map) | (540) 297-6066
Sites: 50 | Recent Rate: $$$$ | 20 Reviews
|Clean Restrooms:
|Clean Showers:
May 2017 - $35.00
Very pretty campground with lots of trees but no easy access to the lake. We were in a pull though sire which was very large and had an adequate size level spot in the center. Park is not easy to access as roads to and from the park are narrow, hilly , and have a great many curves and sharp turns. - brantleys dad
Apr 2017 - $30.00
Affordable campsites! Bathrooms and showers were clean. It is not lakefront. There is a trail down to the water but you cannot swim, launch kayaks, etc from it. Sites are gravel and fairly level. Campsites include 30 amp electric, water, fire ring and picnic table. There is a sewer dump, recycling, and dumpster on your way out. Firewood and vending machine for sodas at the bath house. Large sink to wash dishes at the bath house also. Great trails throughout the park, beach you can drive to, boat launch available. Cabins down the road which could be considered lake front with their own docks (from a trail). Beautiful scenery and hiking trails! There is not space for additional cars at the majority of the sites. Additional parking is close and easily within walking distance. Definitely check this place out and support our national parks! Be careful leaving out of the pull thrus, there is a concrete drop that you could scrape. - WVSunshine
Nov 2016 - $36.00
Drove in in the dark from the BLUE Ridge Parkway. Not real close but campgrounds on Parkway closed this time of year. Immediately found a pull through with electric and water. Good Verizon service and satellite worked well. Bathrooms and showers some of best on road in two years. Daylight came and we saw just how beautiful this campground is. Highly recommend. - smitty12


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District of Other Statutes Cases
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Cases, Dockets and Filings
Cases filed
Cases 1 - 10 of 20
Sommers v. Okamoto et al
as 1:2016cv00558
Plaintiff: Maria D. Sommers
Defendant: Kay Okamoto , Roy Okamoto , Okamoto Realty
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Cobian v. Tsuji et al
as 1:2016cv00430
Plaintiff: Li Cobian
Defendant: Russell Tsuji , Barry W. Cheung , Department of Land and Natural Resources
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Ruggles v. Ige et al
as 1:2016cv00304
Plaintiff: Michael Doyle Ruggles
Defendant: David Ige, Virginia Pressler, Douglas Chin and others
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Okawaki v. First Hawaiian Bank et al
as 1:2016cv00232
Plaintiff: Janis Sakae Okawaki
Defendant: First Hawaiian Bank , John K. Matsumoto, Kahala Hotel and Resort and others
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Diaz et al v. U.S. Bank National Association et al
as 1:2016cv00002
Plaintiff: Mark Diaz, Mario Kai Kwon Estate Trust
Defendant: U.S. Bank National Association, Castle Peak 2012-1 Loan Trust Mortgage Back Notes, Series 2012-1, Marvin Dang LLLC and others
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Manera et al v. Fremont Investment & Loan et al
as 1:2013cv00605
Defendant: Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC , Deutsche Bank National Trust Company , Fremont Investment & Loan and others
Plaintiff: Edwin Castro Manera , Fe Acebu Manera
Cause Of Action: Truth in Lending
Horowitz et al v. Sulla et al
as 1:2013cv00500
Defendant: Phillip Carey , Ronn Ritke, Herbert M. Ritke and others
Plaintiff: Sherri Kane, Leonard G. Horowitz
Cause Of Action: Fed. Question: Tort Action
Okawaki v. Sanchez et al
as 1:2012cv00017
Defendant: Honolulu, City and County of , Robert Sanchez, Sheri Dolder and others
Plaintiff: Janis S. Okawaki
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Hofelich v. State of Hawaii et al
as 1:2011cv00034
Defendant: Trust Entities 1-2, GKM, Inc. , Scuba Diving International, Inc. and others
Plaintiff: Howard Hofelich
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Thronas, Inc. et al v. Blake et al
as 1:2009cv00353
Plaintiff: O. Thronas, Inc., O. Thronas, Inc., Kauai Aggregates and others
Defendant: Alva Blake, Keoni K. Bake, Patricia L. Rider-Blake and others
Cause Of Action: Racketeering (RICO) Act
Type: Other Statutes › Plaintiff
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


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Who can say God does not have a sense of humor after looking at this photo? Our amazing Father in Heaven, the One who created every detail of this universe and everything it contains, also created this dog! It is clear He wants us to LAUGH. I think it gives our Creator great joy when we make the most of our time here on earth. When the complications and challenges of cancer enter our lives, this becomes down right difficult at times - BUT even more important - as we realize that each day we have together is truly a gift.
Looking back over our journey with Zach after his diagnosis, the times of silliness, fun and laughter are our most cherished memories! As all of you know, when a day contains any level of "fun" while in the confines of a difficult treatment schedule, it could be labeled as a GOOD day. Add some face splitting smiles or deep down belly laughs and it suddenly becomes a GREAT day! It is our hope and prayer you find many great days ahead as you continue your battle.
Take the time to celebrate half birthdays as well as the real thing. Stop and play a board game or have a water gun fight even when you have about a million "other" things to do – you won't regret it. Let go of the pressures that can surround you when facing the unknowns of the future, and take in our amazing sunsets or gather a big bouquet of bright colorful flowers. It is easy to overlook these wonderful, intricate treasures God gives us each and every day. Just to sit quietly with your child or spouse, hold hands and leave the world behind can fill your heart with an enormous amount of joy that can never be taken away.No matter how hard we try, I know there are days where smiles and laughter are no where to be found. The reality and pressures of all the pokes, treatment plans, nausea, blood draws and pills can become overwhelming to the point of desperation. These are the days when you have to force yourself to do the opposite of what you are feeling and focus on the joy that comes from knowing God. This is the joy you experience in your heart – even in the depths of despair and sadness - when you surrender to God and allow yourself to lean on Him for strength. I have experienced this joy even on the very darkest of days. I can tell you without hesitation, if I did not have access to this wonderful gift – the joy of knowing our Father has so much more for us than the trials we face now – I would have surely fallen to despair long ago. Having the joy in my heart only the Holy Spirit can give through Jesus Christ is what gives me the strength to find smiles and laughter as I face each new day.
"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!" Philippians 4:4 (LB)
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2 (NIT)
"But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, 'The LORD is great!'" Psalm 40:16 (LB)
"Let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy." Psalm 68:3 (LB)
"We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus…He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward." Hebrews 12:2 (LB)
"I know the LORD is always with me…No wonder my heart is filled with joy." Psalm 16:8-9 (LB)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22 (NIV)
"Happy are those who obey his decrees and search for him with all their hearts." Psalm 119:2 (LB)
"I will continue with you so that you will grow and experience the joy of your faith." Philippians 1:25 (LB)
"The joy of your LORD is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)
"When all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew you had better things waiting for you in eternity." Hebrews 10:34 (LB)
"In your presence is fullness of joy." Psalm 16:11 (NKJ)
"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:8 (NIV)
Happiness can be a fleeting thing. Joy, on the other hand, will stay in your heart always when it carries the promise of salvation. God does not promise us a life filled with happiness – when sin entered this world that became an impossibility. He knows we will face many trials and difficulties as we take our journeys together here on earth. What he does promise is lasting joy for all those who surrender their lives to Him. Joy from the Holy Spirit is an everlasting joy for us all.
Dear friends, it brings our hearts happiness AND joy to share these words and gifts with you. We hope you can find many smiles and much laughter as you continue on each day. Remember to be looking for those silly moments that can make smiles appear and know every smile you give away will be much better when it comes back to you on the face of another. Our prayers will be sending you joy for your journeys each and every day!
"Therefore I live for today-
Certain of finding at sunrise
Guidance and strength for the way.
Power for each moment of weakness,
Hope for each moment of pain,
Comfort for every sorrow,
Sunshine and joy after the rain!


text:
Write The College Essay
According to CollegeBoard.com, there are usually three types of College Essays.
The "you" question:
Colleges want to know who you are—values, priorities, etc.
Choose one or two things that reveal your best qualities.
The "why us" question:
Colleges want to know why you chose their school.
What are your goals and your commitment to their school?
The "creative" question:
Colleges want your reaction to a specific topic—national issue, book, famous person.
Colleges want to see how creative you can be and the extent of your knowledge.
Be creative but use common sense.
Looking for more helpful hints? Try "A Student's Guide to Writing a Scholarship Essay"


text:
The Chinese say that the animal ruling the year you were born will influence your life.
Personality Traits of the Snake:
Snakes are governed by innate wisdom and intuition. Snakes are thoughtful, careful individuals.
Snakes learn quickly and will never make the same mistake twice. Snakes like the
best things in life. Yin to the Dragon's Yang, a snake is mysterious, patient and quiet.
A snake would be successful as a philosopher, fortune-teller or someone's best friend.
Famous People born in the Year of the Snake:
Picasso, Oprah Winfrey, Abraham Lincoln, Charlie Sheen, Sara Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Ryan O'Neal, Tim Allen, Courtney Love, Martha Stewart, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Click here for more Chinese Zodiac fun
BlackDog's Birthday Party
BlackDog's Birthday Party


text:
POLK COUNTY, TN. (WRCB) -- The man at the center of a triple murder faced a judge for the first time Wednesday.
George Waters is charged with three counts of first degree murder.
He is accused to of killing Wanda, Willard and Doug Waters.
Their bodies were found Friday in the Copper Hill community.
Wanda's husband, 61-year-old Willard J. Waters was taken to the hospital where he later died.
All three were found on a gravel road that has five houses, all occupied by family members.
Investigators say the shooting involved a dispute over property lines.
Waters is due for a preliminary hearing November 14, and he is being held without bond.
Breaking overnight, Chattanooga police confirm a person was shot on Wilcox Blvd. near Moss Street.
900 Whitehall Road
Chattanooga, TN 37405
(423) 267-5412
WRCB Jobs EEO | FCC Public Files


text:
Before we get to today's Money Morning we just had to relay the exciting news about the Queensland floods.
According to today's The Age:
"Queensland rebuilding will boost GDP"
We wondered how long it would take the mainstream press to roll out that old chestnut.
The mainstream press's new economic heartthrob, HSBC's Paul Bloxham said:
"By the second quarter of 2011 the economy will probably be boosted by rebuilding and replacement of household durable goods."
Hooray! Let's boost the economy by destroying things.
It never ceases to amaze us. The mainstream continues to take these guys seriously. Not only that, but the bureaucrats hang off every word too. Sheesh!
But anyway, we'll leave that subject for tomorrow's Money Weekend. Today we've got something else to wrap up… the continuing secret loan scandal…
Tell you what, it's been like drawing blood from a stone… only harder.
But finally, yesterday, the National Australia Bank [ASX: NAB] and Westpac [ASX: WBC] replied – sort of – to our questions.
It's funny how quickly you get a reply when you send an email to the chief executive officer, the chief financial offer and the legal big-cheese at the banks.
We'd waited four weeks for the media relations goons to get back to us… and nothing. Go to the top, and boy do the wheels start moving.
Again, here are the questions we sent them:
"Please can you advise on what date the bank informed APRA, RBA and ASX about NAB's use of the Term Auction Facility (TAF) from the US Federal Reserve?
"And why this information was not made public at the time?"
The questions were fairly clear.
Here's the reply we received from an NAB spokesperson:
"During the GFC, NAB worked to ensure its balance sheet maintained a bias towards safety during what was a difficult market. Participating in the TAF was a cost effective way to raise funds. NAB accessed the TAF through our New York operations, and was encouraged to do so by the US Reserve, as a way to encourage term liquidity moving in the market. In the context of the bank's overall funding requirements the amount was not material. Our regulators had a clear understanding of our overall funding and liquidity position."
Oh how we hate the term "GFC". We've vowed never to use it in Money Morning unless we're quoting someone.
We don't know why we hate it. But it grates.
However, we weren't entirely happy with NAB's answer. So quick-as-a-flash we fired back another email. We asked:
"Thanks. Which regulators?"
Almost as quickly, the NAB spokesperson replied:
"As you would expect, as part of our usual course of business, we provide updates to our regulators on the state of our overall funding and liquidity position."
Still unhappy with the answer we fired back another email:
"Which regulators… APRA, RBA or ASX?"
The reply came… not so quickly though this time:
"During the crisis, we kept our responsible prudential regulator APRA informed. However, we obviously kept regulators such as the RBA and ASIC updated on issues such as our funding and liquidity position during this time. The ASX was kept up to date, through normal processes, such as Trading Updates and half and full year results."
Still doesn't answer the question though does it? It's still an ambiguous reply… it called for another email from your editor:
"But did you specifically inform APRA, the RBA and ASX about the loans from the US Federal Reserve?"
Surprisingly the spokesperson replied:
"Specifically, we kept APRA (our responsible prudential regulator) informed."
But we still weren't happy:
"Are you saying you informed ASX and RBA about the Fed loans?" we asked.
The obvious answer to that is no. Which was confirmed in the final reply. Playing with a straighter bat than the Aussie cricket team, NAB replied:
"The participation in TAF was not material. However, regulators were aware of our overall liquidity and funding position as required. I can't provide any further comment on the matter."
Goodness me, why can't these people just answer a question right away. Don't they know we've got to get on with important research for Australian Small-Cap Investigator?
As for Westpac this is the reply we received to our initial question:
"Westpac met all its regulatory obligations on this issue. There were no disclosure requirements to the ASX. This facility was available to highly rated banks."
Oh stop it… ha, ha, ha…
Highly rated banks like Citibank, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland. Clowns.
Anyway, before we go on. We were interested to see what the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) had to say on this… so we forwarded Westpac's email to ASX CFO Ramy Aziz and our new media pals there.
I'll let you know when we get a reply.
But at least it adds another piece to the puzzle…
We bashed back a reply to Westpac:
"What about APRA and the RBA. Did you inform them and if so when?"
To which they replied, grumpily we think:
"Kris – as I said in our response – we met all our regulatory obligations."
So we replied:
"But did the bank tell APRA and the RBA? It's not a difficult question to answer. To save me the trouble of finding out whether informing APRA and the RBA is part of your regulatory obligations it would be easier to just answer the question."
So far we've just heard the sound of crickets… no reply just yet.
Email is great isn't it? It takes just a few seconds to fire off a question and you've got written evidence in return. No fussing around with shorthand or repeating answers or being misquoted… it's all there in black and white.
But as I say, it would be nice if the banks answered the question the first time rather than prevaricating about the bush.
So where does this leave us? Well, here's the state of play on who knew what…
Based on what the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has told us, the banks didn't tell the RBA a thing. That seems to be confirmed by the NAB, and judging by its shiftiness, also by Westpac.
It also appears that the "stable" and "strong" banks didn't tell the ASX about the secret loans.
Apparently $4.5 billion of loans from a foreign central bank wasn't "material" to NAB so it didn't tell the ASX. And Westpac has explicitly confirmed that it didn't tell the ASX either.
At least in that respect the ASX is close to being cleared of accusations of conspiracy to conceal information. So that's one positive to come from this sorry mess.
But it's still no excuse for its lack of interest in the matter since the secret loans became public.
That leaves one last regulator – APRA. APRA is the official regulator of Australia's banks. But APRA is legally prohibited from disclosing any information on the companies it regulates… ie. the banks.
The only way we've got of knowing whether APRA was informed is if the banks tell us.
So, remember what we wrote to you yesterday:
"Why tell APRA? Hang on. That might work. APRA is exempt from FoI enquiries. And as I mentioned before Christmas, APRA is covered by Section 56 of the APRA Act. This provides complete secrecy for any firm APRA regulates… in other words, secrecy for the banks.
"So maybe there's a chance the banks did tell APRA. But only because they knew APRA is legally prevented from disclosing any information about the banks to the public.
"Telling APRA could be the banks ultimate fall-back position – 'But we did disclose it, we told APRA. It's not our fault if they can't tell anyone.'"
Gee, and they call us a conspiracy theorist.
Turns out we were spot on. It looks like the banks didn't tell the ASX. And they didn't tell the RBA. Why? Because of the possibility the loans would be made public.
But telling APRA? Perfect. NAB admits it told APRA. So far Westpac hasn't admitted it told APRA.
But if they both did so it was in full belief that Australian investors would never find out…
The plan worked perfectly. No one knew anything until those meddling libertarians in the US such as congressman Ron Paul got involved. He demanded the US Federal Reserve release full details of all banks that received emergency loans from the Fed.
At that point the cat was out of the bag. Man the battle stations, the banks must have thought. They needn't have bothered. No one in the Australian mainstream press gives a hoot.
After all, they now look just as dumb as the RBA for falling for the spin that Australia's banks were somehow different to other banks. Turns out they were just the same.
But it makes sense of what we read in yesterday's Australian Financial Review:
"But Mr Laker [APRA chairman] said APRA would act as a gatekeeper to and set tough conditions for access to the RBA back-up facility."
That's in reference to the Basel III rules I mentioned yesterday.
In other words, everything will be kept secret from the taxpayer and the RBA. The banks will secretly approach APRA, tell it they want access to the RBA's insurance policy and then we dare say APRA will give them a permission slip to take to the RBA.
But because all dealings with APRA are top secret you'll never know the full details. You'll only know what the banks want you to know.
Even more than that, what this whole affair proves is how much secrecy there is in the world of banking.
Call us a conspiracy theorist if you like – we don't mind, our so-called conspiracy theories are more often proved right than wrong – but seriously, what else have the banks and APRA conspired to keep secret?
Think about it, if it wasn't for the unexpected release of data from the Fed you'd still be in the dark on this.
Make no mistake, there is more to be revealed. Much more is our bet. The banking closet is doubtless stuffed full of bailouts and secret deals that the regulators and banks are fighting to keep secret from the taxpayer.
For instance, how much of the $53 billion the RBA received from the Fed flowed through to the bankrupt Aussie banks?
Will that ever be revealed? We doubt it.
Then there's all the stuff we can't even imagine that's gone on.
Look, you shouldn't be surprised by any of this. We've warned all along that regulations and regulators don't protect investors.
Regulations and regulators only protect those that are regulated… in this case the banks.
It's been a cover-up job from start to finish.
However, Money Morning reader Luke writes:
"You guys keep harping on about this secret loan but when we are talking about a company with assets of over $600 billion I don't really care whether or not they secretly borrowed a measly $5 billion from the federal reserve."
It's a fair question. Is this issue really as big as we're making out?
Yes. It is.
Let me give you an example to draw a comparison. It's not exactly the same, but it's close enough and should help you better relate to it.
Imagine if you'd borrowed $1,000 from your friend knowing that you had to pay it back in one month. Then imagine you'd taken that $1,000 and used it as security for a margin loan to buy $100,000 worth of shares ($99,000 margin loan and $1,000 loan from your friend).
Now imagine the stock market fell – that's not hard to imagine! – so the value of the shares was now only worth $99,000.
Unless you can come up with $1,000 pronto the margin lender will close out your position by selling your share portfolio so you can repay your margin loan of $99,000.
But that would leave you with a problem, because your friend is expecting you to pay back the $1,000 you borrowed. How are you going to do that? None of your other friends have any money to spare…
Apart from one "friend". This friend happens to be called the Federal Reserve. It lends you the $1,000 to tide you over for a while so you can pay your friend back, or ask him or her for an extension on the loan. If he or she agrees then you can pay your margin call and hope the shares rise again.
If he or she doesn't agree then you can sell your stock, pay back your friend and then just owe your Federal Reserve friend the money.
As I say, it's not exactly the same as the Fed loans to banks. But it's close enough. And there is one similarity. And that's with the leverage involved. And the way banks borrow other people's money in order to leverage into assets while still having an obligation to pay its borrowings back on demand.
But as you probably know, leveraged positions are double-edged. It magnifies your returns but magnifies your losses as well. This is the position the Aussie banks were in and are in – which is no different to any other bank around the world.
If it wasn't for the secret loans from the Fed, the Aussie banks would have been unable to roll over short-term loans. Failure to do so would have been comparable to our example of a share trader being unable to roll over the $1,000 loan from his or her friend.
That's why NAB and Westpac needed the emergency secret loans from the US Federal Reserve.
$4.5 billion may sound like a drop in the ocean, but it wasn't.
Apologists for the banks can bleat all they like about the loans being small-fry, but it won't wash. Australia's banks were staring into the proverbial abyss in 2008.
If it wasn't for secret loans from a foreign central bank, bail outs from the Australian taxpayer, and top secret back room deals between the banks and its regulator, it's likely all four of the major banks would have gone to the wall.
And NAB and Westpac insist that these loans were not "material" and not a "disclosure requirement to the ASX". Give us a break.
Kris Sayce
For Money Morning Australia


text:
If you want to know more on getting copies etc,
And yes it does say 167,000 meters of shelf space in that FAQ, if you ever visit the buildings from the outside you get that "throw back" feeling as though you have just steped on a "Blake's Seven" or "Dr Who" film location representing a hedquaters of a totalitarian government.
And yes it's most definatly worth a vist I've found it actually very nice and much more welcoming than the British Library up in central London.
You don't need to book but for some documents you should check ahead as to their availability and in what form as you might need to have a readers card for seeing documentss in the original form
They also do events and themes, as you would expect they currently have stuff up on display about the Titanic.
Any way if you do plan to visit start with this link,


text:
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peachez said...
today at 1:41 am
today at 1:41 am
Remarkable work. Would you be willing to sell this piece?


text: On Dec 4, 2009, at 6:27 PM, Ken Nielson <knielson at adaptivecomputing.com> wrote: > Glen Beane wrote: >> I think both of these should be released very soon, both have some >> pretty important fixes I think. Can we set a date? I'd rather >> release >> these point releases often rather than sitting on fixes for months. >> _______________________________________________ >> torquedev mailing list >> torquedev at supercluster.org >> http://www.supercluster.org/mailman/listinfo/torquedev >> > I agree. I am going to make a snapshot for each tomorrow and unless > there are major problems I think we should do a release next week. > > Ken Sounds great!