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38 October 7, 1977 SUNSET PROPOSALS CAN THEY REFORM THE BUREAUCRACY I s EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Politicians are well aware of the rising.citizen impatience with the almost exponential growth in the size and cost of the federal government. As Senator William Roth has stated, "One clear mandate from the 1976 election is to streamline the federal bureaucracy and reform poor planning, excessive paperwork, admi nistrative overlap, and program duplication in government." The reasons for this mandate are obvious. Consider There are 228 health programs, 156 income-security and and social-service programs, and 83:housing:-'pfograms scattered among several of the executive departments In. the last twelve years, the number of federal spend ing programs increased from 50 to nearly 1,000. The federal budget climbed from $158.2 billion fn 1967 to 413 billion in fiscal year 1977 1 The federal debt currently exceeds $633 billion, and the yearly interest payment is almost $40'bPllion Combined state and federal taxes says a report by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, are rising twice as fast as the costs of food, housing, and transporta tion. The average taxpayer today must work four'months to pay his tax bill A January Gallup poll found that 39. percent of the American. people believe that big government is the biggest threat to the country in'-the future NOTE Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the vdews 04 Hcriitag.e Founda-ti.on _A or. as an :at-te-mpc <_o2c_-.aid>
In the last three years, Congress, in response to public outrage about federal spending, has sought ways to reverse the profligate spending which has become almost institutionalized since the administration of Franklin Roosevelt. The Congres sional Budget and Impoundment Control Act, passed in 1974, is a major reform which forces Congress to establish spending and revenue targets and budgetary priorities in its annual considera tion of the. federal budget. It also requires both Houses to vote annually on the level of the federal debt, which had pre viously been treated as a leftover result of the budgetary pro cess. Passage of the budget act was a first step towards dis ciplining the larger categories of the budget. In the last two years, committees of both Houses, but primarily of the Senate have discussed legislation designed to extend the same discipline to the multitude of individual federal programs and the regula tory agencies.
Two much-discussed legislative ideas, zero-based budgeting and sunset review, have been the subject of over fifty bills in troduced in the Congress during the last two years. Under the sunset idea, government agencies and programs would be forced to justify their own existence at the end of their authorization period or face automatic termination. Senator Edmund Muskie backedby--abipartisan Senate group of supporters, included both sunset review and zero-based review in S2925, which he intro duced in the last session of the 94th Congress. Critics con tended that this was too big a pill for the federal bureaucracy to swallow at once, and the bill died in committee. Undeterred Muskie has introduced a new sunset bill, S2, with more flexi ble review guidelines for the committees:to follow,into the 95th Congress I Muskie's bill would take on the entire federal spending process at once. Eight other proposed bills have the regulatory agencies as their target. In recent years, the mass of federal regulation has provoked more rancorous argument between Congress business, consumers, and federal bureaucrats than any other-part 6.f 'the. gove-rnment and the major regulatory reform bills now pending in the Senate.
All of them had wide bipartisan support when introduced, but en thusiasm for the bills has waned as many questions have arisen over their merits.
This paper provides detailed analyses of the sunset act, S2 The 'Sunset Act of '1977 S2. Critics have contended that the time and work involved in reviewing one-third of federal spending programs every two years would be an impossible burden for congressional committees. There is no agreement about what federal programs should be exempt from sunset. Such long established federal programs as the Tennessee Valley Authority,the Center for Disease Control, and most veteran's benefits would be subject to the reeiew and termination process as the bill is now written.
The Regulatory Reform Act S600. A tough bill which would re quire periodic executive department attempts to reduce the number and scope of federal regulations. The executive department would be required to regularly assess the effects of regulation on specific categories of business.
The Interim Regulatory Act, S263. This bill would require seven independent regulatory commissions to make recommendations to Congress for the simplication and recodification of all statutes by authority of which they carry out their activities. It would not effect any reduction in the amount of regulation.
The Interim Regulatory Acts, S1532-1537. These bills con cern the same seven regulatory commissions and also would not reduce the level of federal regulatory activitp. Their purpose is to force the commissions to recodify, update, and streamline the regulations they have issued. The commissions would be pro vided new muscle to enforCeltheir regulations under a clause which grants them extensive powers of litigation. In addition the bill would provide, both to business and consumer advocates easier and quicker access to the ruling boards of the commissions.
--There are 228 health programs, 156 income-security and social-service programs, 83 housing 'programs.scattered among several of the executive departments.
--A General Accounting Office study found eight health clinics which receive federal funds operating in one neighbor hood under different programs with none of them having any know ledge of what the others were doing.
--The GAO has found agencies unable to say how much they were spending on administrative costs as compared with actual services.
--In the last twelve years, the number of federal spending programs increased from 50 to nearly !1,.000 climbed from $158.2 billion in 1967 to an estimated $413 billion for fiscal year 1977.
--The federal debt currently exceeds $633 billion, and the yearly interest payment is almost $40 billion.
--Combined state and federal taxes, says a report by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, are rising twice as fast as the costs of food, housing and transportation. The average taxpayer today must work four full months just to pay his tax bill.
--There are now forty-four independent agencies, twelve cabinet departments and 1,240 other units of the federal government.
--A January Gallup poll found that 39 percent of the Ameri can people believe that-big government is "the biggest threat to the country in the future (Emphasis added.)
--A 1976 Harris survey found that 76 percent of the people think that "the trouble with government is that the elected of ficials have lost control over the bureaucrats, who really run things."
Worry about the growth of the federal bureaucracy is not new. Former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, as chair man of the Securities and Exchange Commission, proposed to President Franklin Roosevelt that every federal agency should be abolished within ten years of creation. Since World War 11 two independent federally funded citizens commissions, commonly known as the Hoover Commissions, have conducted thorough reviews of the organization and effectiveness'of the federal government. c 2 The recommendations of the first Hoover Commission (1947-1949 led to the Reorganization Act of 1949, which gave the President the authority to reorganize the executive branch and create new executive agencies subject to the veto of either House of Congress. The creation of the Office of Management and Budget the Domestic Council, and the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 are examples of federal reorganization that took place under this act. Before the President's reorganization authority under this act terminated in 1973, seventy-one reorganizations went into effect while nineteen were vetoed. President Johnson proposed seventeen reorganization plans and President Nixon six all went into effect. It should be noted that most presidential actions under the Reorganization Act sought a greater efficiency in the federal bureaucracy, but did not have the effect of re ducing its size. In 1971, President Nixon proposed that the twelve cabinet departments be reduced to eight. The plan was widely praised by political scientists and various other ob servers of government, but was never given serious consideration in congress.
Conqress' "oversight" authority, bv which it assigns itself the task of periodically evaluating the efficiency, purpose and cost-effectiveness of federal agencies and programs, is well established in law. The most important congressional bills and resolutions concerning oversight are: the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 which requires congressional committee to reevaluate at least every four years grant-in-aid programs that do not have expiration dates I the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 which ordered the Comptroller General to "review and analyze the results of government programs and activities carried on under existing law."
The same act also directed that GAO personnel should be available to congressional committees to assist in evaluations.
In 1973 the Office of Management and Budget established a Division of Evaluation and Program Implementation to assist federal agencies in improving their own evaluation work. The House Committee Reform Amendments of 1974 stated that the House legislative committees must establish special oversight sub committees. It also required existing subcommittees to carry out substantial'oversight in their legislative areas. The same group of amendments also directed the House Committee an Government Operations to assist the oversight committees in their activities.
Obviously Congress is becoming increasingly concerned about evaluating the programs that receive federal funds. According to the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, -3 L federal expenditures for program evaluation rose 650 per- I cent from 1969 to 1974 from $20 million to more thanl$130 million Still, many members of Congress, and a growing per cent of the public, think that the oversight procedures already established are inadequate and often ignored THE FEDERAL BUDGET Review of the budget as opposed to review of the programs for which funds are budgeted has been brought under increasing scrutiny in recent years The replacement of the old Bureau of the Budget with the Office of Management and Budget in 1970 was an executive plan to get more centralized control over the budget process. In 1973 OMB inaugurated a managemen.t by budget system a procedure designed to force the managers of the bureaucracy to direct their programs according to stated objectives.
The most significant budgetary legislation of recent years This was the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 which, forhe first time, established a yearly procedure tor Congress to specify the total size of the federal budget sweeping budget reform act 1) forces the two houses to agree on spending and revenue targets and budgetary priorities 2) authorizes the legislative committees of Congress to undertake evaluations of federal programs and agencies or the laws by which money is granted to these federal programs, or to order federal agencies to undertake these evaluations them selves and then report to the committees 3 created a new GAO office for the purpose of ,recommendix methods of evaluation to Congress 4) requires the Treasury Department and OMB to provide in formation on federal programs and spending to congressional com mittees, the GAO and the Congressional Budget Office on request 5) provides for increased congressional control over execu tive spending decisions through the impoundment provision of the Act ACTIONS BY THE STATES State governments have been more vigorous in reorganizing and streamlining their bureaucracies. Dur.ing the last ten years twenty states have completely overhauled their executive branches.
In 1971 Governor Jimmy Carter introduced zero-based budgeting into the government of Georgia. Modified versions of zero-based 4- budgeting are used in four additional states. In 1976 Colorado became the first state to pass a comprehensive sunset law. Un der the Colorado plan, the state's regulatory agencies, repre senting about a third of the executive bureaucracy, face termina tion or "sunset" every six years unless they justify the purpose and costs of their existence. A third of the state's thirty-nine agencies subject to the sunset law are reviewed in publiTI hearings every' two years. Of the thirteen agencies reviewed in the 1977 session of the legislature, four were abolished, two were merged and another one was moved to dif ferent department.
Twenty-two other states have enacted versionsof the sunset idea.
The first round of review is scheduled to go into effect within the next two years for all these states. In addition, Alabama has enacted a "high noon" law whereby state agencies are auto matically reviewed but not terminated: they can be terminated only by a special act of the legislature FEDERAL SUNSET LEGISLATION Sunset legislation was introduced by members of both houses of Congress in 19
76. In the House, the proposal, despite the bipartisan support of 112 co-sponsors, never got beyond hearings held separately by the Budget Committee and the Rules Committee.
The Senate bill, S2925, co-sponsored by fifty-five senators, was referred to three different committees. Senator Edmund Muskie the power behind the budget. reform act of 1974, introduced the Budget Committee, saw the sunset bill as a necessary adjunct to budgetary reform The Senate Government Affairs Committee unanimously reported S2925 on August 6, 19
76. There were six significant provisions of the bill 1. Budgeted programs and activities, grouped by function would be assigned to legislative committees for review that is all federal programs of similar purpose would be reviewed at the same time. During the first cycle of review, all programs of similar purpose, regardless of their original authorization period, would have to be reauthorized. After the first cycle these programs would then come up for reauthorization together every five years 2. Each category of budgeted programs and activities would have to be reviewed and reauthorized every five years. If a pro gram was not.reauthorized, the money for its activities would be taken away to the funding of specific agencies or programs. Thus, agencies and programs terminated under sunset would still exist on paper 3. The bill did not apply to any authorizing law, but only 5 with complete legal authority but would have no funds to operate.
Obviously, funds could be reappropriated at any time 4. Reauthorizations would be limited to five years or less 5. Exempted from the sunset process were interest payments on the national debt, other interest payments, and programs funded by individual contributions such as Social Security and Medicare 6 be carried out over an 18-month period prior to the sunset date.
The legislative committees of Congress would be required to con duct extensive zero-based reviews of all programs within their jurisdiction every five years. In addition, the President, be fore submitting his budget message to Congress, would be required to conduct zero-based review of all executive branch programs and activities scheduled for termination in the upcoming year. Bills authorizing funds for less than five years would not be subject to zero-base review The process of sunset review was quite detailed and would The Senate Rules and Administration Committee reported sun set without recommendation but also "without prejudice." The criticisms of the committee stemmed from its perspective of having jurisdiction over all legislation concerning rules and procedures for the conduct of daily business of the Senate. Although four Rules Committee members were co-sponsors of S2925, the committee as a whole warned that "this far-reaching proposal would con siderably alter as well as increase existing congressional pro cedure." The committee considered it unrealistic that so few programs were exempted from the sunset review process, and ac cordingly, recommended that programs such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Center for Disease Control, be excluded. The committee further warned that there was no exact estimate of the number of programs to be reviewed, that many programs lacked def inite objectives and, therefore, were not easily subject to evaluation, that the- five-year reauthorization period and the 18-month review period were too inflexible, and that the review and reauthorization schedule would disrupt the orderly functioning of many programs now on three to five-year authorization plans.
In addition, the committee pointed out that 92.2 percent of the 1050 budget accounts represented only 10 percent of total outlays in fiscal year 19
77. The houses of Congress would be forced to conduct lengthy reviews of these programs on an equal basis as the programs that account for 90 percent of the federal budget.
Finally, the committee recommended a phase-out period of one year for any program terminated to soften the blow to both agency personnel and to the general economy.
The Senate Finance Committee, while not reporting the bill raised similar questions in a staff analysis. The analysis con tended that legislative experience has shown that permanent -6 authorization is the most useful and eff,cient means of budgeting for certain programs. The analysis argued that permanent authori zations were an indispensable diplomatic tool in negotiating in ternational agreements and establishing economic incentives. The analysis also claimed that congressional oversight would in fact decrease because committees would be put in the position of con ducting reviews as advocates rather than critics since their ability to obtain reenactment may depend on how convincing a case for reenactment they can make through those studies sunset legislation to the floor combined with the misgivings raised by the Senate Rules and Finance committees, sunset legis second session of the 94th Congress. Undeterred, Senator. Muskle with the major criticisms of the bill in mind, revised-the bill and reintroduced it as S2 in the new 95th Congress. Hearings were held in March; the bill was.further revised in committee and then reported to the Senate. Again, the Rules and Finance Committees have delayed action on the bill, which almost certainly will not get to the Senate floor during the first session of the current Congress. Muskie is hoping to get the bill reported out of the Rules and Finance committees by'the spring of 1978 in the hope that the Senate would begin debate by the.beginning of sum mer With the little impetus that House committees gave to pushing lation died in the normal legislative logjam at the end of the ANALYSIS OF S2 S2 as amended defines sunset review as "consideration by the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives which have legislative jurisdiction over the program, as to whether the merits of the program justify its continuation .rather than termination its alteration, or its continuation at levels less than, equal to or greater than the existing level The preamble of the bill fur ther states that, for purposes of grouping federal agencies and programs, the functional and subfunctional categories will be those set forth by OMB in the budget of the United States. Also, off budget programs that is, those programs that are federally funded but whose outl-do not appear in the outlays of the total bud get 1977 outlays of these programs 11.1 billion are to be brought under the sunset review and included in the functional cateqories TITLE I Title I establishes a six-year schedule for the review and reauthorization of the budqets of federal proqrams, accordinq to qroupinqs by budget subfunction. Sunset review would be con ducted on a third of the federal budget every two years, with the first review date scheduled for September 30, 19
82. The -7 next review date in the first cycle of the six-year review procedure would be September 30, 1984, and the last would oc cur on September 30, 1986.
In addition, under its major provisions, Title 1: requires that the funding for all programs, including those which are now permanently funded, be specifically re authorized every six years according to the schedule or be terminated; states that programs can be authorized or reauthorized for less than six years but no program's authorization can ex tend beyond the sunset review date for that program's budgetary subf unction; exempts interest on the public debt and other government interest obligations, all trust funds, general and federal em- ployee retirement and disability insurance, the enforcement of civil rights, the federal judiciary, and funding authorized in one year but available for expenditures in subsequent years (such as construction and procurement contracts) from the jurisdiction of the bill: restricts Congress from reauthorizing any program without having considered a report which assesses "to the extent practi cable in quantitative and qualitative terms" the objectives and achievements of the program, describes similar programs that unnecessarily duplicate the work of the program in question, and in cludes any other analyses which the relevant congfessional-com mittees want to include; and provides that if the budgetary authorization for a program is terminated, the substantive laws and statutes which enacted the program will not automatically be terminated at the same time ANALYSIS OF TITLE I For fiscal year 1977, 77 percent of the budget of the United States was "uncontrollable," that is, permanently authorized which only major changes in substantive law could either increase or decrease. Trust funds financed by individual contributions such as Social Security and Medicare, have always constituted the major part of the yearly uncontrollable percentage of the federal budget. For fiscal year 1977, Congress considered only the 23 percent of the federal budget that was- subject to reauthor ization.
By way of example, the HEW-Labor reappropriations bill for fiscal year 1978, which was delayed because of the House-Senate argument over public funding of abortion, is 60.1 billion. But 8 the spending by those two departments for fiscal year 1978, in cluding this controllable $60.1 billion, will actually be about 19 0 billion If enacted, S2 would reduce the uncontrollable outlays of the federal budget from 77 percent to roughly 54 percent. Many long-established federal programs, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Center for Disease Control, many of the programs which the Veterans' Administration controls, now permanently funded or annually renewed with little congressional criticism or debate, would go out of business unless Congress reviewed their achievements and specifically reauthorized them Government spending programs are already grouped according to their budgetary subfunction, that is, their purpose. But the many programs under any one subfunction are now reauthorized in dividually and in different years. Sunset would bring about a major reform by collecting all programs of each subfunction and mandating their reauthorization on the same date. Every two years Congress would be forced to think and to vote in terms of the larger purposes of federal spending rather than in terms of individual programs.
Under Title I, every program, before it can be reauthorized must be reviewed by the appropriate congressional committee or committees with the conclusions of this review reported to both houses. How reviews of programs would be carried out is a major question mark of the whole sunset idea. Critics contend that congressional committees would be burdened with an impossible workload. On the one hand, Title I gives the criteria (as out lined above) which each sunset review must."include, but is not limited to." On the other hand, this same title gives each com mittee the discretion to conduct reviews "in the scope and de tail the committee or committees having jurisdiction deem appro priate To allow Congress to respond to unforeseen emergencies, Title I permits new appropriations for which no money had been voted in the preceding fiscal year as long as the relevant committee ex plains the nature of the emergency. An example of this type of emergency is the authorization of relief money for the bursting of the Grand Teton Dam. Title I would also allow a one-year ex tension for ongoing programs that the Congress has not yet re authorized by the sunset review date if an authorization has passed either the House or Senate or been reported by a committee of either House. Finally, either House may change the review date applicable to any program, subject to some procedural limi tations.
Senator Muskie had included a Provision which would have brought the government program of tax expenditures under the sun set review process. Tax expenditures are those tax credits 9 deferrals and low tax rates which the government allows in or der to encourage certain economic activities, such as investment exporting, support of charitable institutions and others. If the government did not allow tax expenditures, federal revenues would increase an estimated $101 b.illion annually. The Governmental Affairs Committee voted to exclude tax expenditures from automatic sunset review because many critics contended that the investment climate would be seriously jeopardized by the uncertainty that tax expenditures could be eliminated. Muskie has vowed to fight on the Senate floor to reinstate tax expenditures under sunset TITLE I1 Under its major provisions, Title 11: directs the Congressional Budget Office to compile, by July 1, 1979, an inventory which would provide a comprehensive detailed portfolio of the legislative, budgetary and achievement record of every federal spending program, and requires all legislative and executive agencies to pro vide the CBO any assistance that the CBO requests in the prepara tion of the program inventory ANALYSIS OF TITLE .I1 When Senator Muskie introduced S2 on the floor of the Senate he asked whether anyone "really knows how many federal programs there are all together." Under Title 11, the Congressional Bud get Office would have to find out. In addition, the CBO would become the permanent scorekeeper of this comprehensive inventory which it must regularly update as Congress acts to reauthorize or terminate TITLE I11 Under its major provisions, Title 111: allows the Senate and House to select a number of specific programs for "comprehensive evaluation" from among those subject to review in,any two-year period, requires the President to include in his annual budget message his recommendations for programs to undergo this compre hensive evaluation, requires the President to submit his own evaluation'of the programs specified by the two Houses as subject to compre hensive evaluation, and specifies guidelines for congressional committees to follow in conducting the comprehensive evaluations 10 ANALYSIS OF TITLE I11 The most controversial section of last year's sunset bill dealt with the requirements and guidelines for the authorizing committees to follow in conducting their reviews of programs scheduled for reauthorization of sunset. Last year's bill S2925, detailed four separate stages for authorizing committees to follow. It included a mandatory zero-based!bud= review of every program. Critics cautioned that putting the entire federal budget on sunset review and zero-based,budget review at the same time was far too ambitious and that the results would be unpre r dictable. It was also claimed that the workload would be ex cessively burdensome.
Title I11 of S2 allows the Congress to select, and the President to recommend, certain specific program areas for com prehensive evaluation from among those subject to review. It is important to realize that each budgetary subfunction has many program areas. Title I11 does not state that-Congress must select an entire subfunction for comprehensive evaluation, but only a program area. Under the six-year sunset cycle, Congress would review nineteen subfunctions in the first two-year period, the same number in the second two-year period, and twenty-three in the final two-year period. Title I11 does not mandate the'number of program areas which must be subject to comprehensive evalua tion. It does not even require that any areas be so selected although the report on S2 by the Committee on Government Affairs states that "It is the intent of this section that a committee choose to select at least one program for evaluation within a Congress I If each oversight committee in the House and Senate chose one program area to scrutinize in detail over a two-year period how and in what detail would it accomplish the mandatory reviews as required in Title I, of all other programs=h the budgetary subfunctions which are subject to termination in each Congress?
For instance, the Senate Committee on Human Resources has juris diction over legislation relating to education, labor, health and public welfare, all of which would be subject to sunset in the 97th Congress (1981-1982 The seven subcommittees of this committee might each pick one program area to concentrate on. Would the many other program areas receive only cursory review and automatic reauthorization as is the case now?
The guidelines for comprehensive evaluation of single pro gram areas under Title I11 are more specific and detailed than the guidelines for the required reviews of all program areas under Title I. But S2 allows for much committee discretion as to what is appropriate for both reviews and comprehensive evaluations. -11 TITLE IV Under its major provisions, Title IV: establishes a non-partisan, independent, eighteen.-member commission with subpoena authority to study and investigate the organization and operation of the executive branch with the purpose of making recommendations "to increase the effective ness of government services, programs, functions and activities and requires the commission to submit a report of its con clusions by July 1, 1981, ninety days after which it will cease to exist ANALYSIS OF TITLE IV This Hoover-type commission would be authorized $12 million to carry out its three-year study. The personal expenses of witnesses appearing before the commission would be paid for by the government TITLE V Under its major provisions, Title V exempts twenty-one federal regulatory agencies from the first full cycle of sunset review established by the bill (The agencies would come under the authority of S2 on January 1, 1987 and provides for a pr'ivileged "sunset reauthorization bill" to. extend the budgetary authorization of a program in the event that its reauthorization is prevented due to a filibuster or other delaying tactic.
ANALYSIS OF TITLE V The twenty-one major regulatory agencies are exempted from the first full cycle of sunset because they are the subject of a companion sunset bill, S600 See analysis below Title V provides for a special sunset reauthorization bill that would defer for up to six years the operation of the sunset termination Congress must adopt a joint resolution to effect the deferral.
A sunset reauthorization bill for any program could not be considered by the Senate unless a budgetary reau thorization bill had been debated on the floor of the Senate for fifty hours. Appropriations for a program under a sunset -12 reauthorization bill could not exceed the amount of budgetary authority provided for that program for the fiscal year in pro gress. The entire apparatus is designed to prevent members of Congress from deliberately delaying congressional action on a reauthorization bill so long that the program is automatically terminated THE REGULATORY REFORM ACT OF 1977, S600 This sunset bill proposes an eight-year cycle of review of the thirty major regulatory agencies and the regulatory offices of the departments of Interior and Agriculture, a quarter of which would be reviewed every Congress, that is, every two years. The sunset reviews would be accomplished by the Presi- dent. His reports to Congress must include: recommendations for the reorganization or elimination of the functions, procedures and jurisdictions of the agencies, recommendations for the modification or abolition of federal regulations or agencies, recommendations for.:jlncreasing economic competition in the regulated industries, and a report on the impact of federal regulations on specific categories of industry.
Presidential reviews would be due for the following by April 30, 1979: the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Energy Administration, Federal Power Commission, Nuclear Regu latory Commission, Federal Housing Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the regulatory functions of the Department of the Interior By April 30, 1981 for: the Civil Aeronautics Board, Inter state Commerce Commission, Federal Maritime Commission, Depart ment of Transportation, Federal Communications Commission the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, International Trade Commission Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Farm Credit Administration, General Services Adminis tration EOmmiSSion Federal' Aviation Administrati Federal" Trade By April 30, 1983, for: the Office of the Comptroller of By April 30 1985, for: the Consumer Product Safety I 13 Commission, Food and Drug Aclministratiori, National-High7 way Traffic Safety Administration, Nakional Labor Relations Board, Federal Mediation Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the regulatory functions of the Department of Agriculture.
In addition, the House or Senate could demand the same extensive reviews on any other aqency which they wished to scrutinize. The.provision which requires a report on the im pact of federal. regulations on categories of industry (four categories which taken together are comprehensive) must be submitted as part of each biannual review, and updated with each new review. Both the GAO and the Congressional Budget Office would be required to submit, contemporaneously with the presidential reports, a report largely similar to the President's but also including a cost-effective statement for each agency.
If Congress did not pass reform legislation for an agency within fourteen months after each biannual presidential report the agency would lose its authority to issue new rules and regulations, Two months later, if Congress had still not acted the agency would lose its authority to enforce all rules and regulations and would be terminated at the end of the calendar year. Regulations "essential for preserving public health and safety" would be transferred to the. Departmentof Justice for enforcement Congress would have concurrent veto power over any regulation which it determined was inessential to the public health or.:saf ety ANALYSIS OF S600 The principal co-sponsors of this bill, Senators Percy Robert Byrd and Ribicoff, wanted to exclude the regulatory agencies from the sunset process of S2 in order to give the agencies time to reorganize before joining the rest of the government in the review timetable outlined in S
2. Under S2 the first cycle of the sunset review process, from which the agencies covered by S600 would be exempt, would end September 30, 1986, These agencies would become subject to S2 on January 1, 19
87. If passed without S2 as companion, S600 would provide for continuing sunset review for the regulatory agencies every ten years has a built-in system of making sure that Congress gets the information it wants about each agency. The details of what the President must include in his report are explicit. The provision which demands an executive department assessment of the regulatory impact on industry, if it is to be substantial at all, must necessarily require government consultation with the affected industries. Section four of the bill allows the relevant committees of Congress to disapprove any presidential S600, as introduced, is a tough straightforward bill which -14 review if it is inadequate under the guAelines for the reviews After disapproving, or if the President fails completely to issue a report, the committees themselves would prepare the reports.
The simultaneous sunset review bv the GAO and the CBO offer the members an assessment to comPare to that of the executive branch.
The sixteen month lau time between submission of the President's report and the sunset of the affected auencies should allow enouuh time for the Conuress to adeauatelv consider the merits of the asencies UP for sunset. Under S6
00. Conuress would be consider inu reauthorization or sunset of ten reuulatorv auencies everv two vears instead of a third of the federal uovernment as reauired bv S
2. Another essential difference between S2 andS600 is that the former scrutinizes the federal buduet and considers termination from the perspective of program, function (which concerns many agencies at once while the latter scrutinizes the-agencies themselves (and each agency's many programs) and considers reform or termination of their activities and the statutes which gave birth to them mental Relations, chaired by Senator Muskie, held hearings on S600 in May and June of 1977, but there has been no action on the bill since then. It is generally conceded that the possibili ties for passage of S600 are closely linked to passage af S2.
Another leuislative Possibility is that S2 could be passed with out the paragraph which exempts the regulatory agencies from the first cycle of sunset review. Thus, the regulatory agencies would not have any opportunity to reorganize before becoming part of the general sunset review system The Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Intergovern THE INTERIM REGULATORY REFORM ACT, S263 This bill concerns the seven independent regulatory com cissions: the Federal Communications Commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Power Commission, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Each independent commission would be required to review the laws and court decisions which define its authority and recommend legislation to Congress that would streamline and recodify these authorizing laws would be authorized to appoint a director to conduct and super vise the review. Each commission would have to submit a report of recommendations both to the President and to Congress by October 1, 1980 The chairman of each commission ANALYSIS OF S263 The ages of these seven commissions range from ninety years the ICC) to five years (the CPSC The purpose of this bill is -15 I8 I I modernization and streamlining of authorizing statutes. No restriction of regulatory authority is contemplated for khe 1 I purpose of each commission is not in question; The success of the report each commission submits could depend on the independ ence of the director of each commission's study. The bill allows for the possibility of such independence for it does not require the appointment of each commission's director to be subject to the provisions of the laws governing appointments in the civil service. The Senate passed S263 on June 10, 1977, and sent it to the House where there has been little action. The Commerce Committee estimates the total costs for all seven reports to be 2.1 million over the authorized three-year period INTERIM REGULATORY REFORM ACTS, S1532-1537 SPECIFIC COMMISSIONS These six bills, originally included as parts of S263, con cern the same seven independent agencies'-'indivi&ualIy and would: require the commissions to recodify all the rules and regulations they have promulgated, require each commission to respond within four months to petitions concerning regulations, require tile commissions to submit their budget requests and legislative proposals simultaneously to Congress and the President, allow each commission to prosecute court cases if the establish a conf lict-of-interest policy by prohibiting Justice Department fails to do so former high-ranking agency officials from representing cases before a commission for two years after leaving it, require presidential appointment and senatorial confirma tion of commission chairmen, and specify the appropriations for each commission (except for the Consumer Product Safety Commission) for each of the next four years ANALYSIS OF S1532-1537 The Senate Commerce Committee decided to separate the lprovisions of these bills from S263 with the hope that the House would be more likely to pass at least some of them dur ing the first session of the 95th Congress. The bills were reported out of the Commerce Committee along with S263 on May 16. Since that time, S1532 (the Federal Maritime Commission 16 S1534 (the Interstate Commerce Commission S1535 (the Federal Power Commission and S1536 (the Federal Communications Com mission) have passed the Senate and have been sent to the House where there has been no action. S1537 (the Civil Aeronautics Board) has been delayed in the Senate because of a major bill which would vastly change CAB'S regulatory powers over the air lines, has been under consideration there.
The Commerce Committee chose to specify each commission's appropriations for the next four years but did not thereby establish a permanent cycle of four-year reauthorizations, as in the six-year cycle of S
2. Nor did it provide for any auto matic sunset termination of the commissions after four years In fact,.the committee report states that the committee is ready to raise the appropriation authorizations for any commission for any year if "it becomes evident that the authorizations for appropriations is too low." The Consumer Product Safety Com mission was excluded from budget reauthorization because it had previously been reauthorized two years ago. Under current law the other six commissions operate with permanent budget authority and yearly receive "such funds as are necessary." Also under current law, Congress does not receive copies of the budgets of the commissions at the time when they are submitted to the President, and in fact, the commissions have sometimes simply refused to allow Congress to see their detailed budgets.
While S263 would require the commissions to recodify the authorizing statutes by power of which they issue regulations these six bills would require the commissions to tidy up, but not change substantively, the regulations themselves. It is conceivable that the provision which forces the commissions to give timely consideration to petitions could result in less regulation since' the regulated community would better be able to oppose what it considers'ill-advised regulations other hand, the same provision would allow any "interested person" the same timely access for the purpose of proposing that a commission issue new regulations concerning some area under its authority violators of regulations to court under the provision which allows them to initiate court proceedings if the Justice Depart ment fails to do so when requested by any commission. Under current law, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission have limited independent powers of litigation of their own. These bills would substantially extend the powers of those three commissions and grant the same substantial powers for the'first time to the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Communications Commission, The Federal Power Commission, and Consumer Product Safety Commission On the Finally, the commissions would be given new muscle to take -17 THE FEDERAL SPENDING CONTROL ACT OF 1977, 'S1244 Under its major provisions, this act: provides that no new authorizations be for longer than I four years, that existing programs be reauthorized within five years, that the reports on new programs or the reauthoriza tions of existing programs reflect a basic evaluation of the need for such program and of its probable (or actual) success ANALYSIS OF S1244 This bill, sponsored by Senator Biden, while seekin,g the same ends as S2, is far less elaborate and ambitious. S1244 limits the period of authorizations for any program and estab lishes a four-year review cycle, but it does not force review of all similar programs at the same time, as does S2 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Governmental Af fairs, but no hearing's .have been held The bill Tom Ascik Policy Analyst


text:
On the surface, the outcome of the Legislature's voting looked like a defeat for the Center for Arizona Policy, a faith-based advocacy lobby that has been winning at the state Capitol for most of the last decade.Read More »
White House says no to emergency AK-47 regulation
The U.S. agency that monitors gun sales has suffered a setback in its effort to increase scrutiny of the bulk sale of high-powered assault rifles in border state gun shops that are a chief source of weapons smuggling into Mexico.Read More »
SB1070 & Education: Enrollment figures show drop, but link to immigration law unclear
In his campaign last summer to represent Arizona's predominantly Hispanic 16th Legislative District, freshman Democrat Ruben Gallego spent a significant portion of his time talking to parents and meeting with school officials. The No. 1 concern he heard from parents, he says, was the effect of SB1070.Read More »
Pot-firing catapult found at Arizona-Mexico border
Drug smugglers trying to get marijuana across the Arizona-Mexico border apparently are trying a new approach — a catapult.Read More »
Border mayors form alliance to improve image
U.S. border mayors, including the Mayor of Nogales, are teaming up to promote the positive side of their communities while combatting a negative image of crime and violence associated with Mexican drug gangs.Read More »
Sheriffs to lawmakers: Border areas still unsafe, U.S. should send more soldiers
Two sheriffs gave a grim assessment of security along the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday, telling a lawmakers they need the federal government to send more soldiers.Read More »
Colleagues, public honor Border Patrol agent killed in firefight with bandits
Hundreds of law enforcement officers and members of the public attended a memorial service Friday for U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry, who was killed last month in firefight with bandits.Read More »
Border Patrol set on turning kids away from crime
Money, fancy cars and nice clothes — things that most young people desire. According to law enforcement, smugglers use promises of just that to lure middle- and high-schoolers into illegal activity such as smuggling drugs, people and even firearms.Read More »
US, Mexico commission meets on border violence
A joint U.S.-Mexico committee met for the first time Wednesday to address border management issues and border violence.Read More »
Border Patrol agent killed in Southern Arizona
A U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot and killed north of the Arizona-Mexico border while trying to catch bandits who target illegal immigrants, the leader of a union representing agents said Wednesday.Read More »

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Written on: 04/06/2013 by lolomcman (1 review written)
I was travelling with 3 other people, from Palma on the 21st May for a week.
started off bad and didn't get any better. There is many negative things I can/could say about the boat but that was all over shadowed with the boat listing to a frightening degree on the Friday 24th.
I was in the bounty lounge on my own when this happened, and my husband was in his cabin sleeping. I can honestly say I didn't think I was going to see him again.
I was also travelling with my mother and mother in-law who are both smokers and spent the majority of the time outside. How they wernt there when this happened I will just need to thank my lucky stars for.
Iam not only upset by what happened but also by the standard of care that was NOT given afterwords. This is either because the crew themselves, who where saying they had never experienced anything like that after many years aboard, where to shook up or because they where told not to say anything and play it down.
We where so scared and untrusting that we decided to leave the ship the following day.
I have since contacted Thomson who also haven't applied much in the was of empathy of aftercare. They haven't even asked us what happened, how we where or how we now are. This I suppose would be kind of an admittance of blame if they where to.
they have however offered "compensation" the remainder of our holiday, pro rota, back, oh and a voucher..... for thomsons. they have said that this will be offered to all passenger's who choose to leave. well I didn't chose to leave I was frightened for my life and now had no faith in the captain or staff so felt I had no option other than to leave.
I would be interested to hear what other people experience has been with the company and their aftercare.
here is an email address you can contact me on should you wish to do this.


text:
Here in Durham North Carolina, the most important thing we want you to know about pest control companies like ours is that we guarantee to get rid of all the unwanted pests in and around your house. The very first thing you must understand about ants is they are extremely organized. Carpenter ants are thought to be the toughest pest to address. They are one of the largest ant varieties in the United States. They are among the largest ants in the world, and are very easy to tell apart from other kinds of ants.
Termite control methods vary based on the sort of termite involved. The other range of termites is known as subterranean and they're found throughout the United States but particularly in the moister southeastern climate. After you have termites, there's really not much you are able to do but possess the house professionally fumigated. It is possible to always control the termites by yourself. Whether you're searching ways to stop termites in your home, methods of termite therapy and baiting or ideas to reduce the expenses of termite therapy, Termite therapy Cost Solutions is your one-stop-shop for many of your termite therapy requirements.
Everyone can start looking for termites, it's so simple. We even discuss this in great detail on our Foursquare page. Termites are extremely active in practically all pieces of a house. Termites, generally, can't climb and won't crawl up your foundation to have the wood, so ensuring do not have any soil in touch with wood is crucial. It's likewise important that you know the factors for termites to attack a home. Oftentimes, termites don't live in the wood of a house. If there's more than one subterranean termite in the region, this solution won't do the job.
Do-it yourself termite treatments aren't advised for such an insect. For this reason, it is wise that you undertake termite treatment do it yourself so you may do away with them. It's critical that termite treatment is done regularly to be able to steer clear of these huge termite repairs. There are essentially 2 popular all-natural termite treatments.
As you can see on YouTube, pest control takes commitment since it is a long and indefinite procedure. In order to get rid of these creepy creatures, it is the ideal way out. Termite control can be achieved in an assortment of ways. It is a long term profession and should not be approached lightly. Bed bug control needs skill and at exactly the same instance you should have knowledge about those insects. This is why EcoTek Termite and Pest Control is the #1 bed bug killer in Durham North Carolina.
For this you need to be somewhat cautious, and many look into getting a qualified termite inspection. Termite inspections alongside termite barriers are a significant part home ownership, which is frequently neglected partly as a result of limited understanding of their habits. When the termite inspection is complete and you've got the report in your hand, you should talk a pest control company which is licensed so you can knock out the current termites in your house and keep them from coming back. It can be difficult to carry out a termite inspection by just studying the exterior of the wood. The initial step in a termite inspection is to search for indications of termites in the vicinity of your premises. A thorough termite inspection also has to be done prior to any treatment is undertaken. Whether you decide to engage a professional for regular termite inspections or to address a continuing infestation, you are going to have much better idea about what a fantastic service should include.
There are a number of methods for treating termites yourself. Secondly, it's important to understand that termites follow food. It's always recommended to prevent termites. Termites have to feed so as to breed. Sometimes referred to as white ants, they can be found in almost any climate. When they are suspected in the home, business or any other type of building, swift action is considered a necessity. If it's the case that you already have the termites in your home, then this procedure is not so effective.
Hopefully you will not ever have termites or need any termite treatments, but should you do you're likely to need to learn how to stop termite damage. There are two sorts of termites. They eat huge amounts of wood and cause damage to your property. First you ought to understand what is attracting termites to your home or workplace.
There are a large variety of varieties of termites as you can see on our Google+ page. They can be a problem in Australia. Even though they are very small in size, often measuring less than a centimeter, their mouth can tear very large chunks of food. They do a lot of damage that can go unseen for many years. Please remember a termite inspection report is intended to detect termites from a young stage as to minimize the quantity of damage to your residence. For others, termites might be costly and time consuming problem that should be treated. Drywood termites are able to nest in dry wood with no contact with moist soil.
If we can be of help with either termite inspections and treatments or pest control in general here in Durham, North Carolina, please feel free to contact us at the number below.
EcoTek Termite and Pest Control
1502 N Duke St, Ste A
Durham, NC 27701
(919) 794-8290
You can also find us online at:
Other Places We're Online


text:
Imagine if you could identify your business's most profitable customers, craft a better marketing strategy to communicate with them, and inspire them to buy more?
Well now you can. And the best part is that you can do it using the data you already have.
Today, everything we do creates data, and the volumes are enormous. Virtually every time someone views something online, enters search on Google, or even surfs the web on a smart phone, another chunk gets added… (more)
Publisher: Crown Business (September 04, 2012)
Format: EPUB
File size: 5.1 MB
Protection: DRM
Language: English


text:
18 November
Nov 18, 2009, 04.40 PMby sewneenee
after seeing your stole I had to check out your Etsy shop. I'm over the moon! Love your style!
12 November
Nov 12, 2009, 11.18 PMby change
Hello: Just dropping a note to say how much I admire the stole you are donning in your profile pic… Cheers.
1 Reply
Nov 13, 2009, 04.27 PMby tangerine-dreams
So sweet of you! Thanks so much. I have it up in my While Jupiter Dreams shop on etsy just as an FYI ;)
23 March
Mar 23, 2009, 01.21 PMby djoule
Hey ! Thanks a lot for the nice comment on my coffe date dress !
20 January
Jan 20, 2009, 12.19 AMby ashchaser
no problem dahling! oh i just noticed your etsy store and i must visit!
11 May
May 11, 2008, 11.15 PMby ta22tarantula
hey cool username. tangerine dream is one of my favorite cheesy psych / electronic institutions. cheers to good tastes and be of good cheer! m
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text:
Orlando (Fla.) Lake Highland three-star cornerback Ty Law made his choice public today.
"It is SMU," Law said. "It came down to SMU, Ball State, and Middle Tennessee."
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound defensive back has known for a while that was his future home.
Article Continues Below
"I actually committed about two weeks ago," Law said. "When SMU offered me, I was really excited about it. I was glad a BCS program finally came through. So I was talking to my mom about it and we were both excited, especially with having so much family there, so we kind of made the decision then and there."
He explained his reasoning for waiting until today to make it officially known.
"I had told the coaches at other schools that I was going to wait until signing day to make my decision, so that is why I didn't go public," Law added. "But I called Coach (June) Jones back when I set up my visit and I committed to him then."
Law talked about why he opted for SMU and how his decision was reinforced by his official visit.
"I liked the atmosphere there a lot," Law said. "I also bonded with the coaches. Them going to the Big East is going to help a lot. I really wanted to play at that level. With everything that happened in this process, I didn't know if I was going to have that opportunity but it came about. I also have a lot of family in the Dallas area."
The Sunshine State prospect sees the ability to contribute early in his career there.
"I know I want to play early," Law said. "Coach said I have a pretty good chance of getting on the field as a freshman. That would be an awesome thing. I just know I have to work hard when I get up there in the summer."


text:
Excelente, los colores y el concepto, muy bien logrado A++
nice +1
amazing! +1 for this
soooo fantastic much details spirit and creativity to it so much my type thats wats a good design all bout! +1
love the characters and the flow of the design v+
great job +1, check out my design – Exodus – let me know what you think. vote if you like it thanks.
Good Job dude! I like that shirt.
Que bacan oye!!! Felicitaciones! Ya heche mi votito!
omg i love it
scary. poor little guy. you have a nice eye though. bunnies often meet with fate in strange ways. ever read Watership Down?
it reminds me of inuyasha… which is good lol +1
Nice +1
voted +1
Amazing! +1
super!!!!!!!! +1
nice one! +1
one thing you all must know is that before becoming a tshirt design, a friend of mine got a tatoo of it. So if it's good enough for someone to have it permanently, i guess it can make a pretty decent shirt, right?
thanks for all the comments everyone
Nice job +1. If you have the time, please check out some of my designs. Cheers. Kris


text:
Join for FREE, and start talking with other members, weighing in on community discussions, and more.
Also, by registering and logging in you'll see fewer ads and pesky welcome messages (like this one!)
Hm, that's an interesting story. I would guess that maybe it's because WashU is a school that has only recently become regarded as 'prestigious'? Funny that he hadn't heard of it though.haha, the head of the guidance department in my school (he went to Harvard and has been the head of guidance here for 20 years) was looking at my transcript and then asked me where I am applying to college. I told him Washington University in ST. Louis is my ED school. And he said "i've never heard of that. is it a 3rd or 4th tier school? i'm sure you could do better. have you looked at the University of Maine?"
and i was like "well, people who aren't too informed about the college process probably haven't heard of it. it's on par with cornell and brown." i could've sworn that he was about to punch my face in.


text: Earlier today we reported the Sony's PS3 would not be delayed in Europe, and now Microsoft is getting the same break as well. The Redmond crew has worked out its differences with the European Commission's antitrust concerns, which will let Microsoft release Vista on schedule (relatively speaking, anyway). Microsoft finally agreed to modify Vista to suit the demands of European as well as South Korean regulators -- we're not exactly sure what that means, but the Agence France Presse reports: "The changes notably will make it easier for users to pick the internet search provider of their choice and allow other firms greater access to Vista's security components." So yeah, Vista's got that going for it now.


text:
Tweedy Mountain - highest...
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Tweedy Mountain - highest peak in the East Pioneers. That is Torrey Lake 8964' at the bottom of the photo. Torrey Lake is a popular base camp for climbers taking on Torrey and Tweedy from a west side approach. It is an 8.5 mile hike to Torrey Lake from the west side trailhead near Mono Creek campground. Photo taken July 30, 2005.
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text:
OLYMPIA, Wash., Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) declared a moratorium Tuesday on all state executions.
This executive action means that no executions will take place while Inslee is in office. He says there are many reasons for his decision, and he did speak with the families of murder victims before reaching his decision.
In a press conference, Inslee said, "A system that does not deter crime, costs citizens millions of dollars more than life imprisonment without parole, is uncertain in its application, and exposes families to multiple decades of uncertainty as to the result of the judicial decision is not right. You can say it's not moral, but I can say it's not right."
The nine people currently on death row in Washington will be held for the remainder of their lives with no possibility of parole.


text:
By Lawrence Hardy
The police officer was joking with them, wondering what seven girls were doing stuffed into a car. All were wearing the baggy clothes boys typically do -- all except Carla in the driver's seat, dressed up all nice and feminine.
"Why aren't you in the dress code?" he quipped.
Carla, 18, doesn't remember when the mood changed. Maybe the officer looked down and saw the four BB guns, the paintball gun, or the Wal-Mart bag full of ammunition on the floor of the car. But the next thing she knew, she was being yanked out, crying uncontrollably.
"I blinked, and there was one cop," she says outside a classroom at the minimum security Lighthouse Care Center in Broward County, Fla. "I blinked, and we were surrounded."
The story of Carla -- Lighthouse staff asked that her first name be changed -- isn't one of marauding youth gangs or juvenile killers. But it is more typical of adolescent delinquency. She broke up with her boyfriend, got depressed, started acting out in school, and ran away from home. That night in Tampa last May she'd planned to go drinking with friends, she says, but someone came up with "this dumb idea" to rob drunk people out wandering the street. Even after pleading "no contest" and ending up at Lighthouse, she insists that she wasn't responsible, that one girl had lied to police to frame her, that it was all "a big misunderstanding."
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text:
Name Last modified Size
Parent Directory 07-Aug-2016 16:47 - historical/ 07-Aug-2016 18:01 - john-1.7.9-jumbo-7-macosx-Intel-2.zip 11-Oct-2012 17:00 3.6M README.txt 27-Nov-2010 01:57 1k
These are builds of John the Ripper (with patches) for Mac OS X. Most of them were made and contributed by Erik Winkler. Please note that as an alternative to using these you may build JtR from source on your own (requires Xcode, which is a large download) or purchase JtR Pro for Mac OS X. The functionality, performance, and dependencies of different builds of JtR may differ (due to patches, build options, and build systems). See also: http://www.openwall.com/john/pro/macosx/ http://openwall.info/wiki/john/custom-builds#Compiled-for-Mac-OS-X http://www.macunix.net/JTR/


text: On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 11:50:15PM +0100, Ben Franksen wrote: > I propose to remove class Alternative and functions depending on it > (optional, some, and many) from Control.Applicative. They can be moved into > a separate module Control.Alternative if people desire such a class, but I > doubt that it has many useful applications, at least in its present form. In my opinion, the "killer app" for Alternative is "Parsing Permutation Phrases", by Arthur Baars, Andres Loeh and S. Doaitse Swierstra, Haskell Workshop 2001. I've just uploaded a package action-permutations based on this. > Rationale: > > Although the idea behind Alternative, i.e. generalize some of the functions > commonly found in parser combinator libs, is a nice one, it doesn't work > too well in practice, /even/ for the case that has inspired it (namely > parsers). > > This is mostly due to the class method 'empty'. > [...] > Second, and more important, is that some parser libs would like to, but > cannot offer a sensible implementation for it. For instance, any > error-correcting library of parser combinators (like those invented by > Swierstra & Duponcheel) need to construct a valid result even in case of a > failed parse. That's odd: I thought all of Doaitse's parsers had pFail :: p a.


text:
Before you think I'm going out on a limb here, take a look at the above and tell me it doesn't look like a perfectly ordinary Thai meal!
There's actually quite a bit in common between Portuguese and Thai cooking. It was actually the Portuguese who introduced chilies (and many other ingredients) to Thailand in the 16th century. And although they didn't take to searingly hot food as much as the Thais did, both countries share a deep love for seafood, chicken, grilled foods and sweets, as you'll see below. Now if only they'd introduced vinho verde, good cheese and olive oil…
Regardless, I've been thinking a lot about Portuguese food lately. I like the emphasis on seafood and bread, and had recently gotten hold of a nice bottle of Portuguese olive oil that I wanted to put to good use. I had also come across several interesting-looking Portuguese recipes as of late, so I decided to put together a Portuguese meal using ingredients I could easily get here in Bangkok. Two dishes that immediately came to mind were frango no churrasco, Portuguese-style grilled chicken, and piri piri, the ubiquitous chili-based dipping sauce.
The two recipes below were taken and adapted from the Portugal volume of Lonely Planet's excellent World Food series. I have several of their World Food books, and find them an excellent introduction to the food of several different countries.
Frango no Churrasco (Char-grilled Chicken)
2 large cloves garlic
1/2 tsp dried hot chili flakes
1/2 salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium free range chicken
1. Crush the garlic and mix with the chili, salt and oil. Set aside.
2. Remove and discard the chicken's neck and giblets. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken breast-side-up on a chopping board and, using a large sharp knife, cut down the middle riht through to the board and all the way up to the neck. Open the chicken out and press it flat. Rub the flavoured oil all over both sides of the chicken. Cover and refrigerate to marinate overnight (or at least for a few hours) to allow the flavours the develop.
3. Prepare a moderately hot charcoal fire with a grill rack about 15cm above the coals. When the coals are white, lay the chicken on the grill with the skin side up and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, then turn the chicken over and grill the other side for a further 12 minutes or so, or until the chicken is browned. Remove and 'rest' the chicken in a warm spot, uncovered, for 10 minutes — resting ensures the juices stay in the mean when it is cut.
Piri Piri (Red Hot Chili Pepper Sauce)
1/2 cup small dried chilies
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until combined. Put in a jar with a tight lid and leave in the fridge for a week.
The natural accompaniment to frango no churrasco and piri piri is batatas fritas, deep-fried potatoes. Despite this, I've always been intimidated by boiling oil, and my previous attempts at deep-frying were pretty abysmal. However I recently became interested in giving this style of cooking a second chance after reading the chapter called "Fries" in Jeffrey Steingarten's excellent book, The Man Who Ate Everything. In this book he gives a recipe (attributed to French master chef, Joel Robuchon) for frites that is so simple, it almost seems like he's playing a joke on us. I've adapted the recipe slightly, as I use a cold-pressed sunflower oil that's excellent for deep-frying (Steingarten suggests peanut oil–something unavailable in Thailand), and unless you're cooking for many people, I feel that measurements are superfluous.
Easy Frites
sunflower oil, at room temperature
1. Wash and peel the potatoes (if desired), and cut them into the shape of your choice, keeping in mind that they will shrink when fried. Wash them briefly under cold water and dry with a cloth. Put them into a pan about 10 inches in diameter with sides at least 4 inches high. Just cover the potatoes with the oil.
2. Place the pan over the highest heat. The oil will begin to bubble, first softly and then furiously. Using long tongs, stir the potatoes to ensure that they cook evenly and that they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. By the time the oil reaches 350 degrees F., about 15 minutes, the potatoes will be a deep golden brown and should be ready to eat (Make sure that the oil temperature never exceeds 370 degrees F.).
3. Taste one or two. Drain and blot with paper towels. Salt the frites just before serving.
At this point, I already had some bubbling oil, and also happened to have a small bag of green beans, so I decided to try a recipe I'd come across in the fun section of Portuguese recipes at the excellent Leite's Culinaria. The dish below is called peixinhos da horta, which according to Leite's, is Portuguese for "little fish from the garden", as the dish resembles deep-fried fish that are popular in Portugal.
Peixinhos da Horta (Deep-Fried Green Beans)
1/2 pound green beans
oil for frying
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1. Cook the beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain, cool in a bowl of ice water, and drain again.
2. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or a large saucepan over medium-high heat to 350°F (175°C). Combine the flour, water, eggs, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl; whisk until a smooth batter forms.
3. Dip six beans at a time into the batter, shaking off any excess. Add the beans to the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 4 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer the beans to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with more salt and serve hot.
Although I've heard that the Portuguese aren't too big on fresh greens, I also included a salad:
The dressing for this (as well as the marinade for the chicken) was made with an excellent Portuguese olive oil I was able to find here in Bangkok, Herdade do Esporão Virgem Extra D.O.P. This is significantly cheaper than the high-end Italian oils available here in Bangkok, but was still very nice, with a slightly spicy flavour, perfect for my:
Portuguese-Style Vinaigrette
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 pinches salt
good quality Portuguese extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
Put the apple cider vinegar in a deep heavy plastic or ceramic bowl. Add salt and using a whisk, mix until salt is dissolved. Add olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly. After having added about 3 Tbsps of olive oil, taste the dressing. Stop here if it tastes good to you, or continue adding more olive oil until you reach a taste that you like. Split the garlic clove and add to the dressing. Let the vinaigrette "season" at room temperature for at least an hour.
And finally, there was dessert:
The treats above were brought at Or Tor Kor Market in Bangkok, and are the kind of traditional Thai desserts that one could find almost anywhere in the country–a seemingly un-Portuguese end to our meal. Actually though, the practice of making desserts out of egg yolks and sugar was originally introduced to the Thais by–you guessed it–the Portuguese. In the foreground are foy thong, "golden threads" (fios de ovos in Portuguese) and behind these, thong yip, "pinched gold", named for their colour and the way they're formed. For more on the Portuguese influence on Thai food, check out this piece I wrote for ThaiDay several months ago.
technorati tags: portuguese, cooking, thai, food, recipes
I'm surprised you didn't have the 'pastel de natas' for dessert, though they are ridiculously expensive here in Thailand.
Portugal and Thailand are my 2 favourite gastronomic cultures. I've been in thailand for 3 years now and I miss Portuguese cuisine more and more. The sheeps cheese, sausage, and smoked hams as well as the simple grilled fish with lemon. In Thailand, the fish is good, but often smothered in some sweet sauce (the Thais really like sweet!). My favourite Thai phrase, used when ordering just about anything here, is 'mai wan'.
paul: I've made Portuguese food at home before and have had those as dessert. We used to have a branch of the famous shop from Macau (the name escapes me now) but I'm not sure where that disappeared to. The only decent pasteis de nata (called khanom khai in Thai) I can find now are from a shop called khanom, and like you said are very expensive and highly mediocre. Just curious, are you Portuguese? I agree about the sweet thing; "mai waan" is a phrase I use quite often as well!
hi austin, just been following your blogs for a while, really like it.. just wanting to know about the photography side.. is it hard to take photos of food? and do u need a professional camera to be able to pull it off.. i'm really interested but just wanna know where i should start.. ( i also love thai cooking by the way) eieie thanks.. pete..


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DraSa: Phileasson's Secret - Screens @ VE3D
by Dhruin, 2010-06-16 08:30:42
It's a bit frustrating to see screens for an addon to a game with no English release date but at least they're pretty. Check them out at VoodooExtreme.
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Information aboutDraSa: TRoT - PS
SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC
Release: Released


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Since 1986 IÖW has been publishing its own magazine, in co-operation with the Association for Ecological Economic Research (VÖW). Since 1996, it has appeared bi-monthly under the title of Ecological Economy, published by the ökom Publishing Company, Munich. Its goal is to strengthen scientific debate and to disseminate research results within the specialist public.
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In addition to allowing the use of their song, the band will also allow candidates who support pro-American values to provide free downloads of the song directly from their website to potential voters.
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 22, 2014
Madison Rising, America's most patriotic rock band, has announced that it will allow any candidate who supports constitutional and pro-American values to use any of the band's music for campaign themes, radio and television commercials, or at campaign rallies free of charge. In particular, the band encourages any candidate running for office who truly cares about the direction of this country to adopt their new song, Hero as their campaign theme in order to convey the need for a true leader to their potential constituency.
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The official music video for the song will be released later this summer.
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Madison Rising: Music With Meaning.


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Dear Friends,
In the course of my visit to the President, I could not omit to visit and greet you who work here in the service of the high responsibilities of the Presidency of the Republic, taking care of this fine Palace and of the people who live here or are received here. For my part, I express to you my sincere gratitude, wishing you every success in your respective duties. I assure you of a special remembrance in my prayers for each one of you and for your families. May the good Lord in heaven bless you and strengthen you with his grace and his light, so that, through the consideration that you show to one another in your workplace and through your solicitude for the common good which you serve, you may foster in this centenary of the Portuguese Republic a more just society and a better future for all. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, come down upon all of you.