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UPDATE: SFR contributor Peter St. Cyr obtained a picture of the warrant that links the FBI raid on Loera's home to the email investigation that led to last week's indictment of Jamie Estrada. Estrada is charged with 12 counts of allegedly intercepting emails that belonged to Governor Susana Martinez' campaign email domain. St. Cyr writes that his sources say Loera's computer was raided in the email hacking case during the last week of 2012.---
Last Friday, Jason Loera, a political consultant and former Albuquerque resident, was arrested in Los Angeles, for allegedly harboring child pornography.---
Loera, a political operative who has worked with New Mexico Democrats, faces between five to 20 years in prison on an indictment of two counts for allegedly "receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct" and one count for allegedly "possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct."
The office of Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-Santa Fe, whom Loera had done work for in the past, released a statement to SFR.
"We are shocked to hear about the indictment," Luján spokesman Andrew Stoddard writes in an email to SFR. "These are very serious charges and they deserve to be fully addressed through the legal system."
The Democratic Party of New Mexico had no comment on Loera's indictment.
Though he was arrested in California, Loera allegedly harbored the child pornography in Bernalillo County in September 2009 and February 2010. He is being charged by the US Attorney's Office in New Mexico. The case was investigated by the Albuquerque division of the FBI.
Earlier today, he was released on a $20,000 bond and is currently under electric monitoring. Loera is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Read the US Attorney's statement below:
June 3, 2013
ALBUQUERQUE – Jason Loera, 44, a political consultant and former resident of Albuquerque, N.M., was arrested Friday in Los Angeles, Calif., by the FBI. Loera's arrest was based on an indictment alleging child pornography charges that was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. Loera made his initial appearance in federal court in Los Angeles earlier this afternoon. Loera was released on a $20,000.00 bond and under electronic monitoring,
and ordered to report to the federal court in Albuquerque to face the charges in the indictment. [Later, the press release was corrected with the following information: CORRECTION: The federal court in Los Angeles has not yet entered an order requiring Loera to appear in federal court in Albuquerque.]
The three-count indictment charges Loera with two counts of receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count of possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. According to the indictment, Loera allegedly committed these offenses in Sept. 2009 and Feb. 2010 in Bernalillo County, N.M.
If convicted of the offenses alleged in the indictment, Loera faces a maximum sentence of not less than five years or more than 20 years in prison. Loera also would be required to register as a sex offender. Charges in indictments are merely accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and the New Mexico Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and DOJ's Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West: Only Buying White for Their Baby
f you can believe it, Kim Kardashian is finally keeping something private: the sex of her baby! On Monday, the reality star spoke with the Associated Press at the E! Upfronts in New York City about her and Kanye's plans to keep their little one's gender under wraps. "We buy all white, or we'll go and buy both (girls' and boys' clothing), and then no one will know," she dished.


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I don't think anyone posted anything about this. Just thought I would share the news in case anyone is interested.
New food venue Taste opened in Kakaako. Right now they are only doing breakfasts and lunches, Tuesday to Friday with occasional dinner food events. Offers a permanent location for popups, check their website for details.
Also, if anyone remembers Little Oven, it just reopened this past weekend.


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ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: National Highway Authority officials on Sunday reviewed progress on construction of Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1) and Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad Motorway (M-3).
Federal Communications and Railways Minister Lt-Gen (R) Javed Ashraf Qazi presided over the meeting.
The communications secretary Iftikhar Rashid was also present on the occasion. NHA chairman Maj-Gen Tariq Javed gave a detailed briefing.
The NHA chairman-designate Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed, the ministry's joint secretary, Ashraf Hayat and senior officers attended the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting Lt-Gen (R) Javed Ashraf Qazi said, the highways played key role in socio-economic development. Keeping in view the importance of communications the government desired earlier completion of highways projects so that economic activities could be expanded and speeded up.
He said, steps were under way for earlier resumption of construction work on Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1) and Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad Motorway (M-3).
Mr Qazi said, Pakistan was rich in experienced highway construction experts and we desired to have advantage from the capabilities of national experts and engineers for construction of motorways which would help make country self-reliant in the field of construction.
He said, the remaining work of M-1 would be completed by the local companies and the projects had been divided into various sections/packages.
The minister said, steps were also being taken for restart of construction activity on Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad Motorway. He said, Rs1 billion have been allocated for M-3 in PSDP 2001-2002. He said, the latest construction techniques should be employed and maximum benefit be taken from latest developments for construction of the motorways.
He hoped that the new NHA chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed, would undertake concrete steps for timely completion of highways projects all over the country.
The communications secretary said, it was encouraging that the national talent would be utilized during construction of M-1 and M-3 and national experts and engineers will avail opportunity to participate in national development projects.—APP


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- Is Virginia's P3 program at risk?
- MAP-21's contradiction on managed lanes
- Tolls are financing major bridge projects
- Time to rethink federal transportation policy
- State DOTs concerned about TIFIA
- Rail transit under fire in California
- Upcoming Conferences
- News Notes
- Quotable Quotes
Is Virginia's P3 Program at Risk?
The state with the longest track record in public-private partnerships (P3s) for transportation infrastructure is clearly Virginia. It enacted the first workable general enabling legislation for P3s back in 1995 (the Public-Private Transportation Act—PPTA) and despite a few early stumbles, has generated substantial private capital investment for much-needed projects, including the recently opened Express Lanes on the Beltway (I-495), the Midtown/Downtown Tunnel project in Hampton Roads, and the Express Lanes project on I-95, the latter two financed in 2012. Virginia is also the first state to have created a professional privatization unit in state government, inspired by similar units in the major states of Australia and Canada.
This leading role is now under political attack, due to unhappiness among some elected officials in the Hampton Roads area, egged on by a critique of the PPTA program from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). That report, released in November, is essentially a follow-up to a 2004 SELC critique by the same author, James J. Regimbal, Jr. It can be downloaded from SELC's website, www.southernenvironment.org.
In effect, what Regimbal wants is fairly significant politicization of the P3 process in Virginia. He suggests giving the legislature a formal role in the process, wants no P3 activity to occur until completion of the long, drawn-out environmental review process, thinks design-build and public toll agencies could generally do a better job than private investors, and wants to constrain all P3 projects to follow a standard model, despite the fact that projects differ considerably in risks. And if at the end of a competitive procurement process, only one consortium ends up submitting a proposal responsive to the RFP, Regimbal would cancel the procurement.
You have to get well into the details of this critique to see that Regimbal doesn't really understand how toll concessions or global P3 procurements work. He's completely oblivious to the political risk that would be created by a number of his recommendations (e.g., requiring the legislature approve the specific amount of state investment in a P3 project—which means politicizing the negotiation over the specifics of the concession agreement, and requiring formal approval of the terms of the negotiated deal by the Commonwealth Transportation board). These kinds of political approval requirements are features of state P3 enabling measures that have failed to yield any viable P3 projects (or even proposals). He is also sharply critical of the relatively new Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships, despite it being exactly the kind of professional P3 unit recommended last year by the Brookings Institution for all states and modeled, as Brookings recommended, after similar bodies such as Partnerships B.C. (Canada) and Partnerships Victoria (Australia).
Regimbal laments the fact that Virginia (like most states) no longer has enough transportation money to build new projects, but his critique of P3s often seems oblivious to this fact. In the one place where does suggest an alternative, he points to a long-established state toll agency (Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel District), which can, indeed, issue toll revenue bonds for new projects. But this is a single-facility agency which has been unable to finance a needed expansion of its own facility.
He also doesn't appreciate the critically important role transferring risk to the private sector in well-structured P3 concessions. Construction cost overruns, late completion, and over-optimistic projections of traffic and revenue are endemic in transportation mega-projects. P3 toll concessions have not eliminated such risks, but when done right, such concessions transfer all those risks from the public sector to the private sector. The value of such risk transfers is quantified in the value-for-money analysis carried out by P3 units. And because of the P3 provider's willingness to take on such major risks, it is entitled to earn a competitive return on the capital it is willing to risk on the project.
Finally, I'm dismayed that after nearly two decades of P3 projects in Virginia, any critique would repeat the nonsense about the private sector having to pay significantly higher interest rates on debt than government. Nearly all major transportation P3 projects these days use tax-exempt private activity bonds (PABs) plus low-cost subordinated debt in the form of TIFIA loans. Equally silly is the claim that a ceiling on annual toll rate increases "guarantees" that such increases will occur every year. No toll operator with any sense will increase toll rates if doing so will reduce revenues, as might occur during recessions, for example.
In short, while this report makes a few good suggestions for increased transparency, the bulk of its recommendations, if implemented, would increase political risk for P3 projects in Virginia. That would lead some or all potential investors to go elsewhere, depriving Virginia of much-needed transportation investment.
MAP-21's Contradictions on Managed Lanes
In the SAFETEA-LU legislation of 2005, Congress intended to "mainstream" the conversion of HOV lanes to HOT lanes. And in the 2012 MAP-21 reauthorization, Congress went even further, permitting the conversion of HOV lanes to Express Toll Lanes (ETLs). But in drafting the new legislation, nobody noticed a contradiction between the two sets of provisions. I am indebted to Fred Kessler of the Nossaman law firm for pointing out this problem, both in a managed lanes webinar last fall and in a session at the AASHTO annual meeting in Pittsburgh several weeks later.
SAFETEA-LU dealt with managed lanes in section 166(b) of federal highway law. Prior to this, conversions were only permitted under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (limited to 15 states) and new ETLs could be created under the Express Lanes Demonstration Program (15 projects, program sunsetted Sept. 30, 2012). SAFETEA-LU mainstreamed HOV-to-HOT conversions, meaning all states could do this without needing VPPP approval, but with several specific requirements:
- The HOT lanes must use an electronic tolling system;
- HOVs in the converted lanes must be exempt from tolls;
- No degradation of service was permitted, as certified via annual reports to FHWA; and,
- The HOT lane operator must monitor performance, annually certify vehicle eligibility, etc.
Going even further, MAP-21 authorized conversion of HOV lanes to ETLs without the above requirements. Per new language in section 129(a)(1)(H), such a conversion does not require a federal tolling agreement, or requiring HOVs to be exempt from tolls. Under this provision, states can design and operate managed lanes—whether new construction or conversions of HOV lanes—in the manner they judge best.
But in drafting MAP-21, Congress failed to delete the old language in Sec. 166(b), including the requirement that HOVs in converted lanes be exempt from tolls. This leaves state DOTs and MPOs in a quandary when it comes to planning managed lane networks: must they exempt HOVs from tolls per the older language or go straight to Express Toll Lanes per the new MAP-21 language?
FHWA staff spotted the conflict between the two provisions and issued guidance on Sept. 24, 2012 (www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/guidance/guidetoll.cfm). According to this document, the new language of Sec. 129 has no specific authority allowing non-HOVs to use HOV lanes; that authority comes only from Sec. 166. Therefore, it says, Sec. 166 governs all HOV-to-HOT conversions. And hence HOVs may not be charged tolls on the converted managed lanes (unless the state gets specific approval to do so under the VPPP).
I am not an attorney, but in my view, this is a rather tortured reading of the intent of Congress. MAP-21 provided for a complete replacement of 23 USC 129(a), the thrust of which was to significantly reduce federal limits on the use of tolling and pricing. Tolling and pricing are now a statutory right of states, without FHWA approval or tolling agreement, as long as there is no net loss of non-HOV lane capacity on highways. That strongly suggests an intent to let state DOTs and MPOs convert HOV lanes to toll lanes, if that makes the most sense to them, especially when developing managed lanes networks. Clarifying this would be appropriate in a technical corrections bill, if there is one. If not, it cries out to be fixed in the next reauthorization, two years from now.
Toll Finance Key to Major Bridge Projects
While there is still a lot of hand-wringing about less federal highway money available than many had hoped for in MAP-21, state DOTs are going full-speed ahead on major bridge replacements, financing them with tolls and often using some form of public-private partnership (P3) arrangement.
One of the highest-profile projects is the replacement of the aging and obsolete Tappan Zee Bridge, across the Hudson River north of New York City. After years of political battles over whether the bridge should include a hypothetical light rail line, the project is now on a fast track with Gov. Cuomo's support and a winning design-build bidder selected on a bid of just over $3 billion (the other two bids came in around $4 billion). Like the bridge it's replacing, the new Tappan Zee will be largely or entirely toll-financed.
The largest other bridge project is replacement of the non-tolled I-5 bridge across the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. Oregon insists on it including a light rail line, which has much less support north of the border, and that issue is not yet resolved. What has been resolved is that this $3.5 billion project will be a toll bridge, and it may be procured via some form of P3 arrangement. Washington State is also using toll financing to replace the SR 520 floating bridge in the Seattle area. Tolls will cover about 40% of the new bridge's $2.7 billion cost. The original floating bridge was financed via tolling, but after the initial bonds were paid off, the tolls were removed. With permission from the federal Value Pricing Pilot Program, and hard-won local political support, WSDOT began tolling early last year on the existing bridge, two years before construction on the replacement bridge begins
A $2.6 billion project for two new toll bridges is under way in Louisville, in a joint effort between the Indiana and Kentucky DOTs. Because Kentucky does not have P3 legislation, its bridge is being procured conventionally, while Indiana has selected the winning bidder for a design-build-finance-operate-maintain concession for its bridge, the East End Crossing. Both bridges will be tolled, but the states will be taking the traffic and revenue risk. InDOT will compensate its concessionaire via availability payments.
North Carolina is making use of a toll concession to procure the new $650 million Mid-Currituck Bridge, with the state making an equity investment to buy down the amount to be toll-financed for this seven-mile, low-traffic bridge to the Outer Banks. The value-for-money analysis carried out for the NCDOT's Turnpike Division found that while the capital cost of a concession will be slightly higher than if the state developed the project, there are large offsetting benefits from risk transfer and lower life-cycle costs.
This is just a sampling of the major bridge projects now under development around the country. Others include the $2.4 billion Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, the $2.3 billion Detroit River International Crossing, the $800 million Knik Arm Bridge in Anchorage, and two Port Authority of New York and New Jersey toll bridge projects: the $850 million replacement of the Goethals Bridge (availability-pay concession) and the $1 billion refurbishment of the Bayonne Bridge. Without toll financing, it's doubtful that any of these projects would be under way.
Rethinking Federal Transportation Policy
Last fall when I began focusing on the impending Jan. 2nd federal sequester (now postponed two months), I concluded that engaging in endless battles over dividing up shrinking federal transportation money is counterproductive. As Congress grapples with impending budget cuts, we need to do a fundamental rethink of how the federal government assists with much-needed transportation infrastructure.
The reality going forward is that there will soon be no such thing as "general revenue" funding for much of anything beyond entitlements, defense, and interest on the national debt. As long as the federal budget remains grossly unbalanced, federal general-fund investments in infrastructure are essentially borrowed from China—an unsustainable situation.
Drawing on everything I think I've learned in more than 25 years in transportation policy, let me suggest three key principles for a sustainable federal role in infrastructure:
- Users should pay for the infrastructure they use;
- Large capital projects should be financed, via revenue bonds and other mechanisms; and,
- The federal role should be narrowed to do only things that are truly interstate in nature, which will mean shifting more responsibility to the states, metro areas, and the private sector.
Reason Foundation's new Policy Brief, "Funding Transportation Infrastructure in a Fiscally Constrained Environment," starts with those principles and seeks to apply them to all the modes of transportation in which the federal government has played an important funding role. You can download it from the Reason website: http://reason.org/news/show/funding-important-transportation-in.
The paper first explains why I think the basic model used for federal transportation programs—user taxes feeding centralized trust funds that make annual grants for cash-based investments, increasingly subsidized by general-fund money—needs replacing:
- Because these user taxes are seen as taxes, Congress seldom increases them, even when their real value declines due to inflation and other factors.
- Each transportation program involves large cross-subsidies, in which some users pay for other users' projects, often for projects of low real value.
- Federal money comes with costly strings attached, such as Davis-Bacon and Buy America requirements, needlessly raising the cost of federally aided projects.
- Federal programs over-emphasize new capacity, at the expense of proper maintenance of existing infrastructure.
- Most federal programs encourage state and local governments to fund large capital projects out of annual cash flow, rather than financing them over time, as businesses (and home-buyers) do.
The report lays out a comprehensive set of organizational, tax policy, and regulatory changes that would implement the above principles, thereby ensuring needed, cost-effective investment in airports, air traffic control, highways and bridges, ports and waterways, transit, and passenger rail. This is especially relevant with the new Congress set to take up both passenger rail and ports/waterways legislation this spring. I will have more to say about both subjects in upcoming issues. Meanwhile, I hope you find this new paper thought-provoking and at least some of its policy ideas worth considering.
While every state DOT that has transportation P3 legislation available cheered MAP-21's expansion of the TIFIA credit support program for projects with dedicated revenue streams, there are growing concerns over how FHWA is implementing the revamped program. Texas DOT, for one, has filed critical comments in response to DOT's Notice of Funding Availability issued last July to explain how DOT interprets what Congress enacted.
Public Works Financing's December issue details some of TxDOT's concerns, which I've heard echoed by several other DOTs in recent months. What many of those supporting the revamp (not just expansion) of TIFIA thought they would be getting was a program in which "administrative earmarking" was pretty much eliminated in favor of a check-off-the-boxes approach—if you meet all the criteria and there is funding available, you will get the loan. But TxDOT's comments express concern that, as PWF summarizes, "the NOFA allows USDOT to continue earmarking projects based on poorly defined [non-statutory] policy preferences such as livability and sustainability." And in a direct quote from the TxDOT filing, the agency wrote that "The USDOT should adhere to administration of the TIFIA program as a prudent lender, not as an arbiter of public policy." Instead, projects must now pass an undefined "public benefit" test before Letters of Interest are processed.
I have also seen a list of possible points to be addressed in a proposed oversight hearing on DOT's implementation of TIFIA including the fact that, as of early January, none of the 23 projects submitting Letters of Interest (LOIs) since the program was revamped have been invited to submit a loan application, that the process being used for LOIs circumvents the statutory rolling application process, and FHWA's failure thus far to issue the promised new TIFIA program guide and new regulations per MAP-21.
While I can understand that gearing up to manage a considerably larger program takes time, on the policy questions I think the critics are making some good points. Again, if there is to be a MAP-21 technical corrections bill, it may be that the intent of Congress in revamping TIFIA needs to be more clearly stated.
Rail Transit Under Fire in Los Angeles and San Jose
In the last several weeks hard-hitting critiques of rail transit projects in California's two largest metro areas have crossed my screen. What I found unusual about them is not so much their content as the identity of their authors. One is Mike Rosemberg, a long-time transportation reporter for the San Jose Mercury News. The other is Robert Garcia, a respected civil rights advocate and head of The City Project in Los Angeles, whose credo is "equal justice, democracy, and livability for all."
Rosenberg's article is a background news story on the 25th anniversary of the light rail system in San Jose. Its headline reads "25 Years Later, VTA Light Rail Among the Nation's Worst." Rather than the typical newspaper puff piece, Rosenberg's article sticks to hard facts about what the VTA light rail system has cost, what it has accomplished, and how it stacks up compared to comparable systems elsewhere. I've read similar critiques by independent researchers, but was surprised to see Silicon Valley's main newspaper tell it like it is about one of the most disappointing U.S. experiences with light rail. (www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ci_22264605/25-years-later-vta-light-rail-among-nations?IADID+Search)
Garcia's piece, which was sent out by The City Project, is titled "Just Transportation: Is Los Angeles Making Progress on Transit for All?" It makes a detailed factual comparison of bus and rail in Los Angeles over the past 30 years. Drawing on expertise from transportation consultants, it finds that the L.A. County MTA "spends almost twice as much on rail to carry about one-fourth as many passengers" as its buses do. (www.cityprojectca.org/blog/archives/17561) The piece is a powerful corrective to several recent national stories, such as "How Los Angeles—Yes, Los Angeles—Is Becoming America's Next Great Mass-Transit City," by Matthew Yglesias, last Sep. 17 at Slate.com. They make quite a contrast.
Note: I don't have space to list all the transportation conferences going on; below are those that I am (or a Reason colleague is) participating in.
Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting, Jan. 13-16, Washington, DC (Adrian Moore and Robert Poole speaking). Details at: www.trb.org/AnnualMeeting2013/annualmeeting 2013.aspx.
Moving Georgia Ahead: What's Coming Down the Pike, Jan. 24, Georgian Club, Atlanta, GA (Robert Poole speaking). Details at: http://weblink.donorperfect.com/LeadershipBreakfastRegistration.
Advancing Transportation Infrastructure through Public Private Partnerships, Jan. 28, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (Robert Poole speaking). Details at: www.transportation.northwestern.edu/lipinski/index.html.
Private Resources for New York's Future: Public-Private Partnerships, Feb. 12, Hotel Albany, Albany, NY (Shirley Ybarra speaking). Details at: www.ncppp.org/calendars/Albany_1302/NY2013flyer.pdf.
Infrastructure Report Card, ASCE DC Meeting, Feb. 19, Hilton Arlington, Arlington, VA (Shirley Ybarra speaking). Details at: http://asce-ncs.org.
Transportation Finance & Mileage-Based User Fee Symposium, April 14-16, Doubletree Philadelphia City Center, Philadelphia, PA (Cosponsored by Reason Foundation). Details at: www.ibtta.org/events.
Turkey Leases Highways and Bridges. Last month the Turkish government announced the winning bidder for a 25-year concession to operate, maintain, and improve all 1,975 km. of tolled motorways and two toll bridges (the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge). Submitting the winning bid of $5.72 billion was a consortium of Koc, UEM Group, and Gozde Girisim. Five consortia had submitted qualifications and three were invited to submit bids.
Oregon Launches New MBUF Pilot Project. In late November, Oregon DOT launched its second pilot project to test ways of charging drivers per mile driven (mileage-based user fee). Volunteer participants may choose among five different plans to record and pay for miles driven, including three different on-vehicle devices: a dongle that plugs into the diagnostic port, a smartphone app, and a GPS box. Another option is a flat rate annual charge, with no device in the vehicle. Further information is available at www.roadchargeoregon.org.
Beltway Express Lanes as Virtual Exclusive Busways. Fairfax County, VA's Fairfax Connector bus service will begin operating the first of four express routes on the new Express Lanes on the Capital Beltway, I-495 in mid-January. The initial route will go from Burke Center to Tysons Corner at a planned average speed of 55 mph, previously impossible on the congested Beltway during peak periods. The other routes will be introduced this spring.
Abertis Now World's Largest Toll Road Provider. Thanks to two recent acquisitions, Spain-based Abertis has become the world's leading toll road provider, with 7,312 km. (4,541 miles) of toll roads in its portfolio. In December the company acquired 3,226 km. of Brazilian toll roads from another Spanish operator, OHL, and followed that transaction with the purchase of OHL's 343 km. of toll roads in Chile. Abertis's core holdings in Europe are in Spain and France. Its initial U.S. toll operations comprise toll roads and a major toll bridge in Puerto Rico.
Comparing Concessions with Traditional Procurement. A useful and informative paper by Bob Prieto, a senior vice president of Fluor, explains the many differences between traditional public-sector procurement of large transportation projects by design-bid-build (DBB) contracts with the more complex design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) method, commonly called long-term concessions (which may or may not involve tolling). Especially useful is a detailed comparison chart comparing who does what, and especially which party bears which risks. "Comparison of Design Bid Build and Design Build Finance Operate Maintain Project Delivery" appears in the PM World Journal, Vol. 1, Issue V, December 2012 (www.pmworldjournal.net).
ICC Speed Limit to Increase. Although it was designed to operate at 60 mph, Maryland's year-old InterCounty Connector (ICC) toll road spent its first year with a 55 mph limit. In December, the results of a year-long engineering study were released, concluding that it makes sense to increase the limit to 60 mph. The speed limits on the nearby Capital Beltway and I-270 are both 55 mph, but those unpriced roads are so congested that such a speed can seldom be achieved. By contrast, the variably priced ICC is thus far congestion-free.
Low-Cost All-Electronic Tolling. Last month's issue summarized the recent Reason Foundation policy study which found that the cost of collecting tolls via all-electronic tolling (AET) should be as low as 5% of the revenue collected—not the 25 to 30% of revenue needed for most 20th-century toll roads. In its major report on alternatives for the Ohio Turnpike, KPMG analyzed the costs of toll collection on that facility. While cash collection consumed 33.5% of the revenue generated, transponder-based E-ZPass tolling cost just 4.9% of the revenue it generates. (www.ohturnpikeanalysis.com)
New Congestion Intensity Data from INRIX. Traffic data company INRIX recently unveiled a new INRIX Gridlock Index (IGI) that provides monthly updates on the intensity of traffic congestion in the country's 10 largest metro areas. The data come from the INRIX Traffic Data Archive, a database that draws on numerous sources including a network of about 100 million vehicles and mobile devices. The 10 metro areas are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Details are available by emailing email@example.com.
Mass Pike Going Cashless. Joining the trend toward all-electronic tolling (AET), the Massachusetts Turnpike and the state's other toll facilities will end cash tolling by 2015, Gov. Deval Patrick announced on Dec. 12th. The state's 410 toll collectors will either retire or find other work, and the state expects to recoup the AET system's estimated $100 million cost within three years.
"Much of the transportation policy establishment in Washington seems to be on the dinosaur track. The big players are still trying to divide up the spoils rather than thoughtfully triage programs that have outlasted their value. In transportation funding, leverage ought to be the priority rather than politics. Economic development and mobility ought to be the priority rather than administrative earmarks. But we seem to be going the wrong way as the fear of scarcity makes everything political. Transportation politics runs deeper than scarcity. Divisive politics is preventing both sides—highways and transit—from addressing the scarcity problem with anything more than plumber's putty."
—William G. Reinhardt, ". . . And the Politics of Scarcity," Public Works Financing, November 2012.
"As for future legislation, even if Congress finds the time to renew the transportation program by October 2014 when the current law expires, few observers expect the next surface transportation bill to be a massive multi-year measure funded with hundreds of billions of dollars. More likely, the next transportation authorization will take the form of another short-term bill funded at current spending levels. Those levels ($74 billion in FY 2012) are generous enough, a senior state DOT official told us, to allow most states to maintain transportation infrastructure in a state of good repair, but they will leave little money for major new construction. The Highway Trust Fund can no longer provide capital for capacity expansion."
—Ken Orski, "A Post-Election Outlook for Transportation," Innovation NewsBriefs, Dec. 20, 2012
"'Unlocking the value of the [Ohio] Turnpike' is the theme phrase to describe the approach the Governor as adopted. That is political gloss for using optimistic projections of future Turnpike revenues to borrow more to increase the state's stock of 'free' roads that need taxpayer support—or themselves more debt—for upkeep and modernization. Short-term this presents an apparently irresistible temptation to politicians because it appears to produce so many benefits at so little immediate pain or obvious cost now. The damage done by the accumulation of eventually unsustainable state debt will happen on someone else's watch, they hope."
—Peter Samuel, "Comment," Tollroadsnews.com, Node 6317, Dec. 13, 2012
"If the [I-495] Beltway [Express Lanes] had been funded through traditional public financing, its development and construction would have taken decades to procure, acquire right of way, design, and build. It would have possibly been broken into multiple construction segments. And traditional funding would have been pressured by other transportation priorities in Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth's having the ability to leverage current public funds with private-sector investment, which included equity funds and private activity bonds, allowed the commuters in Northern Virginia to benefit from the improvements now instead of in decades."
—VDOT Secretary Sean T. Connaughton, "Accelerating Public Benefits," Public Works Financing, December 2012.
"One idea for funding surface transportation gets more traction by the year. Tying user fees directly to miles driven by a vehicle matches a usage pricing model favored by many businesses. Turn on a light, you pay for the electricity you use. Cell phone owners pay for the number of minutes they talk or text. TV aficionados pay extra for select shows. Drivers pay extra for electronic toll transponders that let them skip tollbooth lines. Use as you cruise. It seems a fair model for transportation . . . and more and more often, policymakers favor the concept."
Xerox Corporation, "Mileage Based User Fees: Use as you cruise—alternative funding to the fuel tax," www.xerox.com/transportation, 2012.


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Red Rock rollout: commission promotes transit plan
Advocates of the Red Rock transit corridor through the southeast metro used an open house Wednesday to formally roll out plans for commuter rail stops along the 30-mile corridor.
The Red Rock Corridor Commission envisions commuter rail service along Highway 61 from Hastings to St. Paul and ultimately to Minneapolis.
The transit stations would be on Highway 61 at Upper Afton Road; the former Knox site in Newport; the Langdon Village area of Cottage Grove; and near downtown Hastings.
The commission is preparing a final report on the transit plans and could seek formal backing from the affected cities and Washington County this summer.
Red Rock rail advocates say they also will work to increase commuter bus ridership along the corridor, which could strengthen the argument for regional and federal funding for rail station construction.
See the upcoming print edition of the Bulletin for more on this issue.


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By Cornelia de Bruin
Triplicate staff writer
When Del Norte's industries began to blossom, the first major employers were timber companies.
Of those companies, whose heyday spanned from until the mid-1930s, the major player was Hobbs, Wall andamp; Co. It dominated the lumber industry until 1939, according to online information.
Cut trees were, of course, taken to sawmills to be turned into lumber that the companies sold. The connection between forest and mill was railroad lines, but the mills relied on freighters to get their product to major markets.
From Crescent City the company steamers Del Norte, Mandalay and Westport headed for the ports of San Francisco and San Pedro, which they could return from within a seven to 10-day run.
On their return trip they would bring in freight and merchandise for the public, as well as passengers.
In 1908 Hobbs, Wall andamp; Co. shipped 19,193,800 feet of lumber from Crescent City Wharf.
Although it was the major company, Hobbs, Wall andamp; Co. had competition from a company first known as Crescent City Mill andamp; Transportation Co.
After J. Wenger gained controlling interest in that company's Lake Earl Mill, the Crescent City Mill andamp; Transportation company became known as J. Wenger andamp; Co., which operated the intercoastal steamers Albion and Scotia.
The first commercial sawmill on the Klamath was a venture undertaken by the Klamath Commercial Co., which R.D. Hume incorporated. It planned to ship cedar, laurel and oak to Crescent City on small schooners for shipment via steamer to San Francisco.
Success did not come to Hume, however, and he sold the sawmill to Edward and Henry Schnaubelt in 1890.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Bull andamp; Dunn began logging Klamath Butte, floating logs down the Klamath to its mouth, then making them up into large rafts called swifters for towing to Eureka and eventual export to Japan. The swifters could hold several million feet of timber.
Bull andamp; Dunn worked with G.G. Davis, who had developed the swifter concept, which involved holding the logs together with cables laced through them Davis held 32 patents on the process.
It was proven very effective when one of the swifters came loose en route from Alaska, where Davis had previously worked, during a storm and floated across the Pacific to Japan.
Davis ran into problems crossing the bar at the mouth of the Klamath during low water. Generally, he could get the logs across during flood tide when the water was higher.
The same problem plagued a gasoline schooner, Martha, which its Captain Olsen ran aground three times trying to cross the bar despite warnings.
While Martha was grounded, the Klamath backed up, prompting several motorists to use a new road that led down Richardson Creek to Douglas Bridge.
Against flaggers' cautions, they crossed the new bridge, which had not been opened yet for traffic.
Once Martha was freed from being grounded, the water rushed out.
A second freighter, Golden West, also ran aground after crossing the bar using a channel Davis had opened up when he helped free the Martha.
Golden West lashed onto a raft of cedar logs, then grounded on the south beach while trying to head out to the Pacific. The raft she was pulling circled around the vessel, hit the south beach and fell to pieces.
The freed logs then rammed into the Golden West, later to be mostly salvaged.
During the freight-shipping period, several ships went down off the Del Norte Coast.
The first was the Paragon in 1850, followed by the Tarquin in 1851 and the burning of America in 1855.
The most well-known wreck is Brother Jonathan, which hit an uncharted reef and took 215 people to their graves in 1865.
In 1941, the oil tanker Emidio was hit by torpedoes fired by a Japanese submarine. She drifted into Crescent City Harbor and sank. Five of Emidio's crew were killed by machine gun fire from the submarine.


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Last week I wrote about using a cash budget system. I realize there are many ways to manage money and everyone must determine what works best for them. While the cash system has worked wonders for my life, all families are different. This week I wanted to briefly mention using a budget system with a debit card.
– Set a budget– Just like with using a cash budget system, you should start by making a budget and knowing how much you have to spend each month.
– Consider your debit card options– Not all cards offer the same rewards. Know what the rewards are for your card, how you accumulate those rewards and any restrictions that may be associated with redeeming awards.
– Track your spending – This could be a simple excel spreadsheet, using a free service such as Mint.com or any other system that will enable you to input your transactions and keep on top of the funds you have available.
Personally, I would suggest giving both the cash budget system and debit budget system a try. Determine what works best for you. If you've always used credit, consider a 2 or 3 month trial period with cash. Determine if you saved more by using cash and if so, factor in the looses from the debit card rewards. If you're having a difficult time with the cash system; try out using your debit card. The goal is the same in both systems. To live well within your means & to make your hard-earned money work for you.
Make sure to read the comments on the Cash Budget System post and feel free to share your budget system with us
This post is linked to My Coupon Teacher & Life as Mom


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Diesel, the infamous denim company, is making some bold moves on their website. At first glance it looks someone hacked their site (the big idea). These "Hackers" are actually two very cute young ladies who have renamed the site "Heidies" and turned it into a MySpace meets YouTube zone with a live webcam and chat.
Everyone deserves their fifteen megs of fame (it looks like Michael Seaton's nomenclature is taking hold) and these two Heidies have hijacked the Diesel site along with a Diesel sales rep until they get what they want (fame and glory?).
Diesel is leveraging a lot of social media tools for this online campaign. While their "standard" website is just a few clicks away (off of the top navigation), I really like this initiative. Diesel advertising has always been suggestive, curious and engaging. The Heidies match up. Not because it's risky (this has been done before), but because it comes off as hokey and not floggy. Meaning, it's clear this is fake, but it's fun, it's aligned with their brand and they're asking users to check out the MySpace page, to Digg the item and more. The live chat component also seems surprisingly busy and lively.
The snarky copy works too. I love this line from under the live webcam window: "And no, we will not show our tits, been there, done that, didn't work."
I was wondering how many people asked Subservient Chicken the same question?


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"Our diplomacy ended up giving a bad conscience to an international community capable only of expressing noble sentiments while doing nothing, ... So how can one explain that we are today investigating an action our country should be proud of?"
Related quotes
"Diplomacy in general does not resolve conflicts, ... Wars end not due to peace processes, but due to one side giving up."
"The president has said for quite a while now that we support European diplomacy, and we've been giving full backing to that effort. In the interview with Israeli radio, he was merely reiterating the government's position. Our policy hasn't changed."
"Now that the international community is energized to deal with the issue, we believe the chance for diplomacy succeeding has improved."
"For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible - and no one can now doubt the word of America."


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Pro-life activists in central and northwest Iowa will take their message the streets this weekend to show their opposition to abortion. With the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision looming next week, the pro-life movement in Iowa hopes to make a strong statement about the effects of that ruling.
"In that time, more than 55 million unborn lives violently ended before they drew their first breath," said Jenifer Bowen, executive director of Iowa Right to life. "Who were they created to be? Tragically, we will never know. Little girls and boys who never got to take their first breath–to live their lives–to dream about who they wanted to grow up to be."
Iowa Right to Life is organizing its first Midwest March for Life. Scheduled for 11am Saturday morning, abortion opponents are encouraged to join in the walk that will stretch around the State Capitol building and end at the Iowa Supreme Court building. Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds will join the walkers.
"There's nothing more precious than human life and I think this is a way to demonstrate my long-standing commitment to do all we can to protect life in all stages of development," Branstad said.
Following the march, Branstad, Reynolds and a lineup other pro-life speakers will address a luncheon at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center.
"I have always been pro-life and worked to pass pro-life legislation while working in the state Senate," Lt. Governor Reynolds said. "I think it's important for all Iowans to respect the sanctity of life and it is an honor to be able to help raise awareness by participating in the March for Life."
Pro-lifers in northwest Iowa will also participate in a March for Life over the weekend. Teen Defenders hosts their second annual Siouxland March for Life, beginning Sunday at 1pm in Sioux City. Their march will includes passing by a Planned Parenthood clinic.
"Our primary objective is to demonstrate our opposition to Planned Parenthood's presence in Sioux City," said Jake Dagel, executive director of Teen Defenders. "However, life must be protected in all capacities."
Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats and State Senator Bill Anderson are among the participants in the Siouxland March for Life.
"This event is open to members of all faiths," said Dagel. "Teen Defenders strives to promote the message of life in an encouraging and loving way."
Teen Defenders is a pro-life network dedicated to the empowerment of junior/senior high school students, who are seeking to become active in defense of the preborn, the elderly, and the "least of these" in society.
The Iowa events scheduled for this weekend mirror the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., which attracts hundreds of thousands of participants. That event takes place January 25 in our nation's capital and is expected to be the largest ever.
Here are the details for this weekend's March for Life events in Iowa:
Midwest March for Life
Saturday, January 19, at 11:00 am.
Meet on the west steps of the Iowa State Capitol
Following the Midwest March for Life, at 12:00pm, the "Roe v. Wade Effect" Luncheon Program will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center (formerly Veterans Auditorium), 730-3rd Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. To reserve seats for lunch, please call 877.595.9406 or email [email protected] To defray the cost of the day's events, a free-will offering will be taken.
Special Speakers at the Midwest March for Life and the "Roe v. Wade Effect" Program include:
Governor Terry Branstad
Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds
Bishop Richard Pates
Iowa State Senator David Johnson , Sue Thayer, Former Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Clinic Manager , Rev. Keith Ratliff Sr., Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Al Perez, Miracle Life Family Church , Tamara Scott, Concerned Women for America, Iowa Republican National Committeewoman , Troy Newman, Pro-Life Nation, Jenny Condon, Executive Director, InnerVisions HealthCare , Jenifer Bowen, Executive Director, Iowa Right to Life
Prayer and Healing Service: 4:00-5:30pm
As many are in need of healing from the wounds of abortion, pastors and prayer leaders will be present to assist those who are struggling with the aftermath of the decision they or a loved one have made. For confidentiality purposes of those needing prayer support, this will not be a publicly disclosed location. Contact 877.595.9406 or [email protected] for more information.
Siouxland March for Life
Sunday, January 20th at 1:00 pm in Sioux City
Participants will begin at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Store at 4137 Gordon Drive and continue to Planned Parenthood on Stone Avenue and conclude with a rally at Bethel Baptist Church at 4212 Gordon Rd.
The event is being held to promote the protection of all stages of life in the Siouxland community. Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City will lead the march and offer a prayer in front of the Planned Parenthood offices. Other speakers scheduled to address the crowd include Iowa State Senator Bill Anderson and Jake Dagel, founder and Executive Director of Teen Defenders. The keynote speaker will be Bob Vander Plaats, President and CEO of THE FAMiLY LEADER.
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Question: If I convert my traditional IRA's in 2010 do I have the option of paying the tax in just the first year or must it be spread over the next 2 years? Thanks. Fred, Plano, TX.
Answer: When you convert a traditional IRA into a Roth in 2010 you get to choose whether to pay the 2010 tax bill in full or to include the conversion amount as taxable income in 2011 and 2012. The option to spread it out over two years is a one-time tax perk on conversions. But you don't have to go that route.
Of course, the choice adds an additional layer of complexity. For instance, should you pay the tax tab in full or over two years depends on whether you believe the money you make off the delayed payment will offset the risk of a higher tax bill.


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Cornthwaite not thinking of Socceroos recall as defender focuses on Selangor
Australian defender Robert Cornthwaite is concentrating more on a strong finish to his first season at Selangor FA rather than a Socceroos recall.
Cornthwaite was signed for the Malaysia Super League side this season after spending four seasons with Jeonnam Dragons in the South Korea's K-League between 2011 and 2014.
The 29-year-old has produced a respectable performance in his debut campaign with the Red Giants under Mehmet Durakovic's guidance, netting five goals in all games this season.
"I think so far things have gone very well," Cornthwaite told ESPN. "The last few weeks I have been able to get on the scoresheet and that always helps.
"We are having a very competitive season and want to be challenging for the title come season's end."
The England-born centre-back has eight caps to his name Socceroos since playing in a 2-2 draw in a World Cup qualifier at home to Oman in 2013. His impressive form in Malaysia could lead a national team recall for him.
However, Cornthwaite admitted that he does not think over his chances of making Australia national squad for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup joint qualifiers.
"We all love to dream of playing for our country but I think that boat has sailed," said the former Adelaide United man.
"I am extremely proud of my time with the national team and no one can take that away from me. It was great to see Australia win the Asian Cup."
Next : INTERVIEW: Team Melli starlet Sardar Azmoun finds his way in Russia


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Love's double-double leads Wolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Kevin Love wasn't going to allow the Charlotte Bobcats to break their long and miserable losing streak on his watch.
Love had 30 points and 18 rebounds to help the Minnesota Timberwolves hand the Bobcats their 16th loss in a row, 102-90 on Wednesday night.
Nikola Pekovic added 21 points and 11 rebounds, and the Timberwolves snapped a four-game skid of their own.
Kemba Walker had 21 points and six rebounds and Corey Maggette scored 18 points for the Bobcats, who have lost 22 of the last 23 games. D.J. Augustin played for the first time in 12 games, but his return wasn't enough to lift Charlotte out of the worst losing streak in franchise history.
Augustin had nine points and four turnovers in 24 minutes.
The Bobcats were feisty for the first three quarters, leading by nine points early, by two at halftime and keeping it tied at 66 with 3 minutes to go in the third. But the Wolves closed the third on a 10-0 run, with Martell Webster hitting a floater off the glass and scoring on a fast break to help them take control.
The Bobcats wilted in the fourth, with the Wolves opening on a 13-4 run to put it away. Luke Ridnour, who has struggled mightily with his shot the last four games, scored six points in the surge, and J.J. Barea hit a deep 3 for an 89-70 lead.
The Bobcats haven't won since Jan. 14 against Golden State, a miserable stretch in which the team has been beset by injuries to key players.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jeremy Lin put aside his record-setting scoring to hand out a career-best 13 assists, and the New York Knicks got back to .500 with their seventh straight victory, 100-85 over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Lin added 10 points, focusing more on his role as a distributor while others torched the Kings for 51- percent shooting. Landry Fields had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Bill Walker and Steve Novak each chipped in with 14 points.
Lin scored 136 points in his first five starts, most by any NBA player since the NBA merged with the ABA in 1976. His 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left Tuesday allowed the Knicks to pull out a 90-87 victory in a game they trailed nearly the whole way.
The Knicks (15-15) led this one almost throughout, evening their record for the first time since they were 6-6 after a loss to Oklahoma City on Jan. 14. They host hapless New Orleans on Friday night, hoping All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony will return from a strained right groin.
Tyreke Evans scored 19 points for the Kings.
TORONTO (AP) -- Tony Parker had 34 points and 14 assists, and San Antonio beat Toronto to extend its season-best winning streak to nine games.
Danny Green scored 13 points and matched his career high with seven rebounds, Tiago Splitter also had 13 points and Manu Ginobili added 11. The Spurs haven't lost since a 101-100 overtime defeat at Dallas on Jan. 29.
Parker went 12 for 12 from the foul line for San Antonio, which last won nine straight during a 10-0 stretch from Dec. 3-22, 2010. The victory was the sixth straight away from home for the Spurs, their longest run since winning eight straight road games to begin the 2010-11 season.
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points for Toronto. The Raptors have lost three straight and eight of 10.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Kevin Martin tied a season high with 32 points, including the winning free throws with 23.6 seconds remaining, in Houston's victory over Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant missed three shots in the last 16 seconds and Houston finally grabbed the rebound on the last miss to secure the win. Goran Dragic missed a pair of free throws for Houston after that, but the Thunder didn't have time to get down the court for another shot.
Martin's performance came a night after he went scoreless for the first time in six years in Houston's 93-83 loss to Memphis. He didn't score in the fourth quarter until his free throws for the win.
Durant led the Thunder with 33 points, and Russell Westbrook added 26.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Ryan Anderson had seven 3-pointers and 27 points, Dwight Howard added 17 points and 14 rebounds and Orlando shot its way past Philadelphia.
Orlando made 15 of 25 attempts from 3-point range, and had all five starters reach double figures for the second consecutive game. Jason Richardson had 14 points, including four 3s, and Jameer Nelson tied a career high with 14 assists and added 12 points.
The Magic have won three straight and seven of nine since losing to the 76ers last month.
Louis Williams led Philadelphia with 21 points and seven assists.
DALLAS (AP) -- Shawn Marion had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Dallas beat Denver to stretch its winning streak to a season-high five games.
Vince Carter had 15 points for Dallas. Lamar Odom scored 14, Jason Kidd 13 and Dirk Nowitzki 12. None of the starters played more than 27 minutes.
Rudy Fernandez led the Nuggets with 14 points.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Rookie Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in his return after missing three games because of a concussion, leading Cleveland past Indiana.
Irving played for the first time since Feb. 7, when he banged his head following a collision in Miami. The 19-year-old was only cleared to play in the morning by Cavs doctors, who followed the NBA's new guidelines on head injuries during his recovery. The
Semih Erden, starting with center Anderson Varejao sidelined indefinitely by a broken wrist, had a career-high 18 points. Darren Collison scored 18 points for Indiana. The Pacers have lost five straight.
BOSTON (AP) -- Rodney Stuckey scored 25 points and Ben Gordon hit three 3-pointers in the opening 4:09 of the fourth quarter during a game-breaking spree that Detroit past Boston.
Greg Monroe had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Gordon finished with 22 points Detroit. The Pistons won for the fifth time in seven games.
Rajon Rondo had a season-high 35 points for Boston one game after he recorded a triple-double. Chris Wilcox, starting in place of the injured Kevin Garnett, had 17 points and nine rebounds. Garnett was a late scratch because of a hip flexor.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Rudy Gay scored 25 points, Tony Allen matched his season high with 21, and Marreese Speights added a season-high 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds to help Memphis beat New Jersey, handing the error-prone Nets their season-high seventh straight loss.
Mike Conley had 16 points and 10 assists for Memphis. The Grizzlies have won four of their last five.
Deron Williams scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for the Nets.
PHOENIX (AP) -- Josh Smith matched his season high with 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to rally Atlanta.
Smith, whose career best is 32, had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the second half to help Atlanta snap a two-game skid and win for the third time in eight games.
Steve Nash, back after a night off as the Suns played their third game in three days, had 22 points and 16 assists. Grant Hill, who also sat out Tuesday night in a loss at Denver, scored 18 points for Phoenix.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Marco Belinelli made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 22 points to lead short-handed New Orleans past Milwaukee.
Chris Kaman added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Gusvtavo Ayon had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help New Orleans (6-23) win consecutive games for the first time starting the season 2-0.
Ersan Ilyasova led the Bucks with a season-high 23 points.


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Hi everyone,
I am a huge fan of Thom's and listen regularly. I just caught the end of a conversation about a new ruling that requires livestock producers to get a prescription before administering antibiotics to their animals.
From a consumer viewpoint, I welcome any movement towards ending the horrendous conditions in meat production that results in Ecoli and the extreme over-use and abuse of antibiotics in food animals. However, as a very, very small farmer that raises just a few animals at a time by hand, I am often disheartened by the blunt instruments used to achieve rational goals. I have antibiotics in my fridge and when a goat cuts her leg or a sheep start coughing, I will dose them, conservatively, to save their health and preserve the health of the herd or flock.
This maybe takes place a few times a year. Not routinely. But, I can state emphatically that the margins of a tiny farm like mine are very thin indeed and if I have to call a vet to come out ($80 "housecall fee" before she steps out of the truck), I simply could no longer raise the 3-6 lambs and 6 pigs a year I raise and sell to friends and family. Not to mention, the vet can't always come. It's simply a fact bourn out by myself and every farmer I know that small farmers can exist only if they can take care of the majority of the medical emergencies that arise.
Even with Michael Pollan and the localvore movement seemingly epidemic, I am constatnly amazed at the invisibility of the small and micro farmer. Rather than sweeping regulations that will drive farms like ours under and very possibly be "worked around" by the big producers, we need regulatory support and effective incentives that grow small farms and increase consumer access to responsibly-grown produce and animal products and make factory farming cost prohibitive.
My 2 cents.


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With the holiday season approaching, one of North County's most important charity organizations helping the homeless, Brother Bennos, is running low on food, particularly canned fruits and vegetables.
The folks at Brother Bennos say there also is a great need for new men's socks of all sizes and new underwear in the medium size range (34-36).
As you can imagine, requests for these items, as well as warm clothing and blankets, are in high demand during the winter months, especially around the holidays.
Oceanside business owners Janice and Dennis Gardner will provide collection points for Brother Bennos' donations at their two furniture stores, 530 S. Coast Highway and 805 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Drop by either of these two downtown stores, or call (760) 722-7227.
PUN MASTER -- Vista High School's Interact Club, which is sponsored by Vista Rotary Club, will feature two upcoming programs by author and radio personality Richard Lederer on Dec. 5 at the high school. Richard is a North County resident and nationally known as a master of puns and word history. He will speak from 1 to 2 p.m. Dec. 5 to students and parents, and again from 3 to 4 p.m. for the general public. Cost: A donation of $2 for students, parents and teachers; $5 for the general public. Donations will be for the VHS library and a Vista literacy program. Call Lyn Berry, Interact Club advisor at (760) 726-5611, Ext. 4704.
ADD INTERACT -- Thus far this school year, Vista High's Interact Club has helped refurbish a Vista home, as well as assisted in a city cross-country meet. Worldwide, Rotary clubs sponsor local Interact clubs in high schools and Roteract clubs in colleges as a way of introducing young people to community service.
MUSIC, MUSIC -- On Friday evening, the Big Band & Jazz Hall of Fame Orchestra joined with the Oceanside Rotary Club and the Oceanside Elks Lodge for a gala dinner-dance at the Elks Lodge. More than 150 Elks and Rotarians turned out to raise money for two college scholarships for graduating music students at Oceanside High and El Camino High schools. Applications will be available early next year and in the spring. Two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded on behalf of BB&JHF, Oceanside Elks and Oceanside Rotary to a graduating musician or vocal student who will go on to college pursuing music career.
NEW DATE -- The salute to El Camino High School football coach Herb Meyer has been rescheduled (because of the recent fire storms) for 7 p.m. Friday at El Camino High's last home football game this season. All of Herb's alumni players, fellow teachers and coaches are urged to attend and be there by 6:15 p.m. This is Herb's final game after 27 years of coaching.
Notes for Tom Morrow can be e-mailed to email@example.com, faxed to (760) 757-2072, or call (760) 901-4074. Find his previous columns on the Internet at www.nctimes.com.


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Your child's education is our priority too!
We all know that education is the foundation for a successful future for our children.
No one person can be an expert at everything.
With Cecil's homeschool classes you can teach to your strengths and let us fill in the gaps.
Our classes offer hands-on enrichment opportunities and a chance for your child to socialize with other students their age.
Download the Homeschool Schedule (right mouse click link, then click "Save Target As..." to save the PDF to your computer) and register to reserve your child's spot today.
Our homeschool program isn't just for kids. Parents you can brush up on skills as well with our extensive online course offerings.
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text: Home We constantly have a variety of bikes, ATV's, and trikes for sale. Stop by and check out our bikes and see our great deals. Don't forget to take a look at our bikes online, too. We also assist customers in selling their bikes both online and at our shop. Tune Ups, customizations, and detailing-we do it all. We are certified and have over 15 years of experience, so you can put your bike in our hands with confidence. We provide our customers with a full range of amenities and perform quality service you can trust. We constantly are having new deals and sales on our bikes and services. We also offer coupons online that you can print off and come by to cash them in. In addition, we host events at our shop, so make sure to check in to see what new things we're doing.


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Less than 24 hours after Roger Mason, Jr. revealed that Miami Heat superstar LeBron James would boycott next season if Donald Sterling was still the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers; Mason is now backtracking on his comments.
Mason told Showtime's Jim Rome in an interview to air Wednesday night that LeBron "ain't playing if Sterling is still an owner," next season. However, Wednesday afternoon Mason took to Twitter to try to "clear it up.
Jim asked me about guys playing next season if Sterling remained an owner. I mentioned I spoke to LBJ as I speak to many players.
— Roger Mason Jr (@MoneyMase) May 14, 2014
My bad if I was not clear.LBJ never said anything about boycotting.He's a friend and I would never want to imply something he didn't say
— Roger Mason Jr (@MoneyMase) May 14, 2014
The bottom line is that our commissioner,team owners,fans, players, and the world all agree that there is no place for racism in our league.
— Roger Mason Jr (@MoneyMase) May 14, 2014
Showtime is still scheduled to air the show where Mason claims the opposite of what he said on Twitter. LeBron hasn't commented on the situation, but is expected to talk to the media preceding Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals Wednesday night.


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Rich Kids Robbing Paris Hilton – Peep "The Bling Ring" Trailer
"Come on, let's go to Paris'. I wanna rob," are not the words you'd expect coming from Hermoine Granger. Check out the trailer for "The Bling Ring" starring Emma Watson.
"Come on, let's go to Paris'. I wanna rob," are not the words you'd expect coming from Hermoine Granger. But then again, every child star needs a break through role to push them from doe-eyed ingénue to legitimate hollywood hottie and it seems Sopia Coppola's latest film, The Bling Ring will do just that for Emma Watson. Based on the true story about a gang of California kids who pillaged the houses of the rich and famous – including Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan –, the screen adaption comes out on June 14th. Check out the official trailer above.


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Sibling Stars – Hollywood's Most Famous Brothers and Sisters
In Hollywood, it's all about who you know and who better to let you in than your own brother or sister? It's cute that these siblings have risen to the top of the entertainment industry. For some of these duos, they have also worked on a film or two together. Could there be a little bit of a rivalry between the two? One always has done a little bit better than the other, whether its an extra Academy Award or a high grossing film. In either case, these brothers and sisters have shared the limelight together and even look great side-by-side on the Red Carpet!
GALLERY: Hollywood's Most Famous Brother and Sister Pairs
Celebrity Cameos in 'Don Jon'
'Modern Family' Gets Spin-off
Jennifer Lawrence Cast in 'Dumb and Dumber To'
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Leesville standout athlete Bernardo Henry, ranked No. 21 among Louisiana's Top 40 players by Rivals.com, has narrowed his colleges choices down to McNeese State, Arkansas State and UCF.
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More and more young adults are living with their parents to a later age than they used to, a topic that's been the subject of many Dr. Phil episodes and now, in an exaggerated form, a feature film. "Failure to Launch" stars Matthew McConaughey as Trip, a 35-year-old who lives with his Mom (Kathy Bates) and Dad (Terry Bradshaw). It's a sweet living arrangement - he lives in their very nice house and mom does laundry every day.
However, Trip's parents have reached that point where they feel as if they've earned some time on their own. They still get along well with their son, but they'd kinda sorta like him out. Figuring that they've exhausted all their options, they finally stumble upon a woman named Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker, miscast) whose rather odd career is starting a relationship with men living with their parents, giving them enough self-confidence to want to be independent and then moving on.
The picture proceeds just in the way that you'd probably expect it to: Paula has a clause in her contract not to start an intimate relationship with clients but does when she falls for Trip; Trip's friend finds out, there's the inevitable conflict that breaks them apart before they come together again, as they figure that yeah, they actually kinda like each other. An emotional element from Trip's past that'd be major in another movie is introduced late in the game here and then...essentially forgotten about, which just seems strange. Also odd is that we never see Parker's character actually have to "move on" from a client and the effects of that.
"Failure to Launch" tries to be funny and romantic but never really manages either very well. As for the latter, it's largely due to the fact that the easygoing, laid-back McConaughey and the more tightly wound Parker don't seem like a good match on paper and this is one of those instances where opposites don't seem to attract on-screen, either. The main issue is that the two not only don't have chemistry, but don't seem to even be making an attempt to show a connection with each other. The two leads are supposed to fall in love, but I was completely baffled as to why they did, when they did (I can't remember a romantic comedy where the two people who fall in love really interact as little as these two do here) or how they did. Neither offers a bad performance (McConaughey's low-key performance is amusing at times, Parker's not as much), but they just don't click at all together.
As for the comedy, the movie just doesn't really offer that many amusing situations or bits of dialogue (I'm not saying that it tries and fails, I'm saying that there's just not all that much here that seems to be intended to be funny.) A running gag is having Trip randomly bitten by wild animals. It's slightly funny (but mostly just odd) and there's no real payoff to the joke until an eye-rolling explanation late in the picture. The only actual bit of humor in the picture is completely unintentional: the wonderful Zooey Deschanel ("Elf") plays Paula's rather goth roommate superbly, but seems to have walked in from a totally and completely different movie.
Overall, "Failure" just didn't work for me. It's too predictable, not funny enough and not very romantic. There's a few moments here-and-there, but the material just doesn't click and neither does Parker with McConaughey.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Failure" is presented by Paramount in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (a separate pan & scan edition is also available) and thankfully, the presentation is certainly no failure. Image quality is terrific throughout, as sharpness and detail were consistently fantastic.
The picture did display some minor edge enhancement on a couple of occasions, but otherwise appeared completely crisp and clean, with no pixelation, print flaws or shimmer. Colors remained bright and vibrant, with nice saturation and no smearing or other concerns.
SOUND: "Failure" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Aside from a paintball fight that really fires up the surrounds, the film's audio is largely dialogue-driven, with the rear speakers remaining quiet. Audio quality is fine, with crisp dialogue and clear sound effects.
EXTRAS: The extras section offers a decent mix of the usual: a "making of" promo featurette, a featurette on the situation (kids living at home) in the movie, an interview between McConcaughey and Terry Bradshaw, trailers and a contest featurette.
Final Thoughts: It has a couple of brief laughs, but "Failure" never really gets off the ground as either a romance or a comedy, as the leads seem miscast and the rather uneventful script could have used a few more rewrites to figure out a better direction for the story. However, the DVD offers excellent audio/video quality and a nice set of minor supplements. A slight rental recommendation as a date night time-waster for those who didn't see the picture theatrically and are still interested.


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Stock Graphic >> Object - Autumn leaves berries branches set 81569 by Tatiana Kost design @ CreativeMarket
File Size: 56.96 MB; Layered: Yes; DPI: 300 DPI.
Vintage Watercolor set.Autumn leaves, berries,acorn,branches,insects
300x200 mm, 300 dpi .Each object in the group and in layers. Easy to edit, make your own sets!
For invitation, birthday, mothers day, advertising, labels. The possibilities are endless!
Illustration In zip archive you will find .
-PSD Each object in the group layers. CMYK, 300 dpi
-JPG for preview
Please don't resell any of the individual elements your own artwork but rather use them to create something unique to sell as your own :)
Please, report us if you found any bug or have suggestions to: [email protected]
Good luck to everyone!
Keywords: autumn fall berries, acorn, branches, insects nature season, set, illustration botany plant, leaf wreath watercolor isolated hand drawn, wood leaves hand painted.


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chi is from a manga called "chis sweet home" its a vary cute anime. it is in fact my favorite. this is my first tutorial,so dont make fun of it. i dont like mean people.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Whether it's Red Bull, Five Hour Energy or a panoply of energy drinks on the market, they all have one thing in common—they can kill you. Sure they sponsor really great things as is the case with Red Bull and Felix Baumgartner's historic jump from space, but make no mistake there is a dark side to these beverages.
Look at the recent news about Monster Energy:
Five people may have died in recent years after drinking Monster Energy, a popular energy drink that is high in caffeine, according to incident reports recently released by the Food and Drug Administration.
When I read what's in some of these energy drinks it truly scares me. In our over-worked and over-stressed society it appears that coffee is no longer enough to get us through the day.
This is what too much caffeine can do to you:
More than moderate consumption of caffeinecan increase alertness, but also reduce fine motor coordination and cause insomnia, headaches, dizziness and nervousness.
Massive doses of caffeine (above 10g, about 170mg/kg of body weight), can be lethal, although this equates to drinking more than 80 cups of coffee in rapid succession!
There is nothing healthy about this energy drinks ingesting that much caffeine is not good for you period. For more information on the amount of caffeine in some of the most widely consumed beverages in the country, I'd suggest taking a look at this. You'll be shocked.


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In this process of integration into the world economy Egypt can not simply respond
passively to increased competitive pressures, but has to define and implement winning
strategies for its industry. Achievements of Egyptian industry to date, though considerable,
are not enough. Egypt offers advantages in terms of the skills of its human resource,
low labor cost, availability of natural resources and energy, geographic location,
and political and social stability.
read more about industry profile
the Egyptan Plastic Institute
The Egyptian plastic Institute is the first specialized institute in Egypt and the Middle East is working to develop the skills of workers in the sector and by providi...
[read more]
a new service for members of the Assembly
Moussa,EPEMA chairman announced the launch of the data unit which will be a network
information that provides a monthly report on raw materials and plastic
[read more]


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Peace of mind more important than accumulating wealth, Merrill Lynch survey finds
A vast majority of adults age 45 and older say achieving peace of mind is far more important than accumulating wealth, according to a new study by Merrill Lynch.
The survey included 6,300 respondents of varying economic echelons, and broadly found that 88 percent said having enough money to retire with peace of mind was seven times more important than being wealthy in retirement.
The study seemed to be eye-opening at Bank of America's Merrill Lynch, which typically polls its affluent clients. It also appeared to buck the intimidating and dour news from other recent studies, predicting that people will be forced to work much longer than they want to.
With some studies, "You're going to get an answer which is all about income, and it's all about a number,'' said David Tyrie, head of Personal Wealth & Retirement for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "From now on, it's not only about savings, it's about living.''
The issues that are most pressing for many people over age 45 as they think about retirement are social connections; managing multi-generational family relationships – like helping care for grandchildren or assisting with paying for their education; and how to save for a surprise health problem.
More than half of respondents, 57 percent, said they consider retirement a new chapter of life, and an opportunity to do something new. And 65 is not hard-and-fast retirement; 48 percent of people said they wanted to work longer because it brought satisfaction to their lives. Some preferred to work part-time after a certain point. Overall, seven out of 10 pre-retirees say they would ideally like to include some work in their retirement years.
Women are more worried than men about outliving their savings, Merrill said, 61 percent for women and 47 percent for men. And saving for health care is by far workers' biggest concern, whether wealthy or not.
To be sure, having enough money matters. But Mary Mullin, a Boston-based financial advisor who has been with Merrill Lynch for 29 years, calls that a math problem.
Some people will have to adjust to living on $30,000 a year, she said, while some have enough to spend that sum monthly. "It's really about the next chapter of your life,'' Mullin said.


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Artist description:
I haven't been online for a while 'cause I was really busy ... This is a quick draw (>.
Java Draw Created Nov 02, 2012 470 x 338px Unless noted Copyright 2012 Akyuketsuki Ray.
We encourage you to submit a comment and let the artist know what you think of this drawing. Please log in or join to post a comment.
Post a comment
Awesome draw!..love her expression...5/5h
Not bad. Hope you'll come online more :)
Beautiful...Love her piercing eyes! Very captivating 5h=)
you did a wonderful job with her hair welcome to RMD
Very beautiful portrait Ray.. She looks so beautiful and innocent !! :) Her eyes are just amazing and I like the hair as well.. 5h
Very pretty!!
Awesome drawing, the eyes are very beautiful, love the colors. 5/5h
beautiful portrait..nice expression...5h
look great nice drawing....5/5


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Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
Catherine Zeta-Jones Gushes Over Michael Douglas in Sweet Tribute on Couple's 17th Wedding Anniversary
Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
Happy 21st, Kristen Stewart!
Even though we know it wasn't your first cocktail party, you still have plenty of reasons to love being legal!
Case in point: You can keep up with your beer-lovin' beau!
So what's K.Stew's drink of choice?
If she takes after boy toy Robert Pattinson, then it looks like this gal will be sippin' on some brewskis.
Good thing, too! Since we know R.Pattz loves to indulge.
The dude even recently dished that he needs to give up beer for his newest role in Cosmopolis.
But if our favorite duo can't indulge in a cocktail together, what's left to share?
A cigarette, of course! And true to Robsten fashion, the two were spotted sharing cigs outside the bash that went down in Squamish, British Columbia, as the Twi crew wrapped filming for Breaking Dawn. The two also huddled close and shared a quick kiss.
Taylor Lautner and Dakota Fanning were also spotted at the party, where Rob goofed off on Taylor's motorcycle.
For the laid-back, paparazzi-shy Kris, we bet this night couldn't have been better.
After all, the duo must be exhausted from filming all those steamy Breaking Dawn sex scenes. And let's not pretend like those leaked photos were anything less than R-rated.
Cheers! That's something we can all drink to.


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A map, and expansion theorizing
Posted 17 November 2013 - 08:26 PM
Anyways. I made a map.
Obviously, this is some terrible MS Paint applied to the globe map, but I needed some way of referring to the eight or so unknown lands scattered about and this is a handy reference.
So first of all, the three continents and battle isles were pretty easy to match up because someone else made this map, and plus the coastlines are mostly unaltered. That said, I didn't use that map as a baseline because it actually gets Tyria's dimensions wrong. If you look at the coastlines of northern Tyria, you'll notice that GW2 Tyria should be shrunk from the west and stretched to the north in order to make that little hump on the Maguuma Jungle match the coastline on the globe. Also, we saw slightly more of the north in GW1's Eye of the North expansion.
Bookkeeping aside, I've been thinking about what kind of new continents we might go to in expansions. Obviously the first on the list of suspects are the places we've already been: Cantha and Elona. Both of them show significant coastline changes from their GW1 incarnations. Cantha's Shing Jea Island is now a peninsula, plus there's the possibility that the Jade Sea has melted into actual water again (although the globe shows no such sea). Elona has a giant lake right around where the border between the Desolation and Vabbi used to be, near the place where Palawa Joko snuck into Vabbi from the Desolation like six hundred years ago the first time he tried to conquer Elona. Maybe Vabbi flooded it in an effort to stop him from slipping through there again? Didn't really work out for them if they did. Either way, there's evidence that ANet has redesigned these areas the same way they've redesigned Tyria, which could mean we're going back to them.
On the other hand, look at Tyria's coastline, especially the harbor area near Lion's Arch and Rata Sum and such. There's a lot of coastline detail there. Cantha and Elona don't show nearly as much detail, whereas the places I've labeled Human Homelands and Harpy Homelands (both of which are implied but not confirmed true) have a surprisingly large amount of coastline detail. Also look at how big Tyria is compared with Elona and Cantha. In GW1 these continents were implied to be of about the same size, but we never actually saw them on the same map. On this globe, Tyria is slightly bigger than Cantha and nearly twice the size of Elona. It's possible that Cantha and Elona will be bundled with the Human Homelands and Harpy Homelands, respectively (it's also possible, especially with the Harpy Homelands, that the border won't stretch nearly as far east as the box on my map).
The Ash Legion Homelands and Kogan Homelands are decent expansion fodder, and both for the same reason. Both of them are already hinted at and both of them have reasonably likely expansion locations on this globe. Particularly the Ash Legion, whose actual homelands would probably only be the northwestern fifth or so of the block I've assigned to them (the rest of it is labeled the same for lack of anything better to call the place), and who are right next to a big huge sea or lake or whatever. Compare to the rest of the northeastern area, which is basically blank. The fact that ANet bothered to put something there at all, combined with how much they didn't put into more distant areas and the fact that we already know there's something out there to explore (specifically, the Ash Legion homeland), all suggest that they probably have plans for this place. Although those plans may well be extremely vague and quite possibly are limited to "yeah, we might do something over there and we think it'd be cool if there was a giant lake."
Finally there are the "Kogan Lands" which I have labeled as such based on the extremely tenuous connection that in GW1 there used to be a PvP place in the Maguuma Jungle called Fort Koga which was shut down like six years ago, and in its description it mentioned that they traded with people to the west. And that might not even still be canon, but still, it's terribly interesting that just west of Fort Koga is a really great place to put a port to trade with whatever's on those big islands out west.
Concerning Utopia; Guild Wars: Utopia was going to be a fourth campaign for GW1 but it was cancelled because the team decided they wanted to make GW2 instead. They still have a ton of concept art and background material for it, however, and they haven't thrown it away. This means that any island could theoretically be the Utopia island, including one or both of the Kogan islands, the northwest isle, the southwest isles, the southern isles, or the southeast isles. Utopia is an island that travels through time, which means it could be that weird hollow island in the southwest area, leaving only beaches behind until the Utopia island phases into the current time. That said: That island is tiny and probably couldn't support an entire expansion on its own. Although since Utopia is a time portal, a Utopia expansion could have an island which is only one region big and then the rest of the expansion is all in the past or the future or whatever.
There's also the northeast reach, which is just blank, barren land. Wooden Potatoes, who made an excellent video on the subject, suggests that the dragons may have eaten all of it the last time they were awake, and the six gods just didn't bother to rebuild it. His theory is plausible, sensible, and interesting, but also little more than an educated guess. As opposed to my theories, which are obviously prophecies handed down by the god of video games. I think ANet just wanted to leave themselves a bunch of essentially blank map to fill in with whatever they wanted. It's also possible that these are the actual Harpy homelands, since they certainly look awfully barren and they are east of Elona (although they are as much north as east).
While we're talking about the Wooden Potatoes video, he talks about how large chunks of the globe are covered in red, but not Tyria, and how this could indicate that the dragons have eaten everything. Mainland Cantha, however, is also covered in red. It wasn't devoured last time we checked, but it was suffering the side effects of Shiro Tagachi's death scream, which turned water to jade, trees to stone, and caused a horrible overpopulation problem everywhere else. I'm undecided on the plausibility of the theory, but it's interesting.
Tune in next year when I make the first three episodes of a Let's Play before losing interest.
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Posted 19 November 2013 - 01:47 PM
Dear god I want an expansion.......
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Posted 20 November 2013 - 08:55 AM
Fun fact, though: I was going to post this in the Durmand Priory in the first place, but eventually decided against it because it was more ruminating about expansion plans than about lore. And those expansion plans may have been abandoned entirely. Drat.
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Posted 21 November 2013 - 05:04 AM
1) East of the Blazeridge Mountains lie the Blood Legion territory, including their Blood Citadel.
2) Harpy homelands are Dzalana, which don't reach that far.
3) We know humans reached Cantha via boats, and landed in the northeastern parts of Cantha. Given the map, this places their homeland to be what you dubbed the "Southwest Isle" - note that while Jeff mentioned south of Cantha, he said that they *may* have come south of Cantha *or Elona* - he isn't technically false, but it would be a red herring. The only way for his line ot make sense without the map being false would be for the homeland being your "Southern Isles" - though note that the landmass at the bottom matches the edges of the landmass at the top.
4) The Kodan "homelands" was the arctic seas. They thrived on the iceberg ships - no actual land territories do they own.
5) "Kogan"? Is that meant to be a play off of the Krogan, or the Kodan? Either way, makes me laugh and shake my head as it just sounds silly as a name given the two.
I'll, possibly, read through the post itself when I have a few less things on my plate. I need to stop distracting myself. >.>
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Durmand Priory|Library of Whispers|GuildMag
"...I received a 400-page bible document for the world..." - J.Robert King
I want. I want bad.
Posted 21 November 2013 - 09:12 AM
"Kogan", specifically, is a reference to Fort Koga and the idea that whoever the fort was built to facilitate trade with would be somewhere in that direction - I was wondering where that had come from myself until I got to the explanation in the text.
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Posted 21 November 2013 - 10:26 PM
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Durmand Priory|Library of Whispers|GuildMag
"...I received a 400-page bible document for the world..." - J.Robert King
I want. I want bad.
Posted 22 November 2013 - 11:19 AM
Edited by Maldeus, 22 November 2013 - 11:19 AM.
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Posted 27 November 2013 - 02:29 PM
Yes, I'm aware, and Maldeus was aware.
Fort Koga was for Krytan trade - a fort along the trade route to the western coast. Most likely during the Guild Wars as Orr/Orrian guilds no doubt blockaded the Strait of Malchor - the Krytan and Canthan trade hadn't ceased despite the Guild Wars, after all.
He used "Kogan" purely as a short-form for "the hypothetical civilisation that Kryta may have traded with using the trade route Fort Koga was built on". May be, as you said, that that was Cantha (except that I think Cantha did suspend trade with Tyria during the Guild Wars, only resuming after the Searing and Cataclysm) but, basically, "Kogan" is just a placeholder for "western continent". (Which, tbh, is the term I probably would have used myself, but I'm not going to call foul on the usage that was made coupled with the explanation in the post).
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Posted 27 November 2013 - 03:02 PM
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ACParadise Network: American Cosplay Paradise American Cosplay Experience American Cosplay Snapshots
Cosplayer Qu-ko > Costume of Alexis Rhodes / Tenjouin Asuka (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
- Most Recent Photo
- 10-09-2012
- Series
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
- Character
- Alexis Rhodes / Tenjouin Asuka
- Special Variation:
- Ep. 179 graduation dress
- Year Completed:
- 2012
- Construction Difficulty:
- Difficult
- Costume worn at:
- Anime Boston 2012
- Otakon 2011
About this Costume
- Construction Details:
Satin drapes so well. Unfortunately, Casa satin works better than regular satin, meaning I am going to need to remake that underskirt in the near future...
Also, it frays like a bitch. And I keep losing weight, so I need to take it in eventually.
- Personal Thoughts:
- I have a lovely, lovely Fubuki to be my princely big brother for this one. As much of a pain it is to transport and wear, I'm hoping at some point we can find the perfect place to do a new and improved photoshoot now that I've lost some weight, know how to apply makeup a little better, and have generally improved the whole thing.
(We're both astonishingly IC, too. She might as well be my overly-fabulous big brother... sob.)
Wig Details
- Wig Brand
- Fantasy Sheep
- Wig Name
- 60 cm Long
- Original Color:
- Sandy Yellow
- Styling Time
- maybe 2 or 3 hours?
- Wig Quality Rating
- 5 / 5.00
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