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NOTICE: The slip opinions posted here are
the latest electronic versions available from the Michigan Court
of Appeals. Updates are posted as received from the courts.
Consult the advance sheets and bound volumes of the official
reports for final revisions and proper pagination. Errata and
requests for correction of Michigan Court of Appeals opinions
should be submitted to: Deputy Reporter of Decisions, 800
Washington Square Building, Lansing, MI 48933; (517) 373-0714.
CHURELLA, et al.
PIONEER STATE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, et al.
August 28, 2003
Wayne Circuit Court
No. 238695
LC No. 96-635359-CZ
MARK CHURELLA, SUSAN RADTKE, and PETER TREBOLDI,
PIONEER STATE MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, DAN CZMER, JACK D'ARCY, HARLAN GINGRICH, ROBERT WEST, CARLETON WILSON, DALE LITTLE, GORDON GINGRICH, and MILTON TIMMERMAN,
ATTORNEY GENERAL, COMMISSIONER OF THE OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE SERVICES, and NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANIES,
Intervening Defendants-Appellees,
Mgnish Dennehy Agency, Inc. and LORI SMITH,
Before: Donofrio, P.J., and Bandstra and O'Connell, JJ.
Plaintiffs appeal as of right the trial court's order dismissing plaintiffs' suit pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. This case arose when plaintiffs Mark Churella, Susan Radtke, and Peter Treboldi brought suit to compel defendant Pioneer State Mutual Insurance Company and its directors, defendants Dan Czmer, Jack D'Arcy, Harlan Gingrich, Robert West, Carleton Wilson, Dale Little, Milton Timmerman, and Gordon Gingrich to distribute the company's excess surplus. Plaintiffs claimed a right to sue as policyholders and therefore owners of Pioneer. Plaintiffs claimed the directors violated the business judgment rule by failing to consider whether to distribute the excess surplus.[1] We affirm.
Plaintiffs filed a class action suit and sought certification as a class, alleging that as current and past policyholders, they had standing as owners to compel Pioneer to distribute its excess surplus. They claimed the company was holding millions of surplus in excess of its reserve requirements and that it was obligated to distribute that surplus. Furthermore, they claimed that the directors breached their fiduciary duties to the policyholder-owners by failing to distribute the surplus, and thus were not protected by the business judgment rule.
Pioneer's and its directors' answer sought judgment for no cause of action, claiming plaintiffs had no recognizable claim under Michigan law and that the directors' actions were in the best interests of the policyholders and therefore protected by the business judgment rule. They also moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(4).
The Attorney General and the Insurance Commissioner argued that while Michigan had no case law on point, eight cases in other states had denied plaintiffs the right to compel distribution when there was no dissipation of a surplus. They claimed that policyholders are different from shareholders because policyholders contract to have their insurance claims paid, while shareholders buy shares for investment purposes. While the Attorney General and the Insurance Commissioner admitted that plaintiffs had a beneficial interest in the surplus, they argued that plaintiffs had no right to compel distribution because they did not allege that they were promised a share of the surplus or that they had contracted for a share.
Plaintiffs, on the other hand, argued that policyholders have the same rights as shareholders, and that the board of directors was not protected by the business judgment rule because it had failed to act. The trial court decided to adjourn the hearing because it found two cases cited by defendants difficult to distinguish and wanted to give plaintiffs time to respond. The trial court indicated that it was troubled by the notion of ownership because plaintiffs conceded that their ownership rights could not be transferred.
Following a second hearing, the trial court granted summary disposition because it determined it had no subject-matter jurisdiction. The court further indicated that plaintiffs presented no deposition or affidavit indicating that the directors behaved in an improper fashion, but if the directors had, it would be the Insurance Commissioner's job to sanction their behavior. The trial court subsequently dismissed the case and ordered plaintiffs to pay Pioneer's costs and attorney fees.
Plaintiffs appealed, and this Court affirmed the trial court's ruling regarding subject-matter jurisdiction, but reversed its imposition of costs and fees. Our Supreme Court reversed and remanded to this Court because it determined that MCL 500.403, 500.410, and 500.810 did not clearly give the Insurance Commissioner exclusive jurisdiction over the claim. This Court then remanded to the trial court to rule on the substantive issues.
The Attorney General and Insurance Commissioner again moved for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(4) and (C)(8). Pioneer also moved for summary disposition pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8). The trial court indicated that it had already ruled substantively against plaintiffs, that plaintiffs received what they bargained for, i.e., insurance coverage, and that they had no cause of action beyond that for which they bargained.[2] The trial court again granted defendants summary disposition, reiterating the language of its previous order granting summary disposition for failure to state a claim.[3] This appeal followed.
The sole issue on appeal is whether policyholders have a right to compel distribution of a surplus and whether the business judgment rule shields directors when they do not make the distribution.
We hold that policyholders have no right to compel distribution where there is no statute, company bylaw, or contract provision according them the right, and where they did not sufficiently plead facts to overcome the business judgment rule.
This Court reviews de novo a trial court's grant of summary disposition for failure to state a claim. Beaudrie v Henderson, 465 Mich 124, 129; 631 NW2d 308 (2001). When reviewing a trial court's grant of summary disposition for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, an appellate court assumes all factual allegations in the nonmoving party's pleadings are true, Maiden v Rozwood, 461 Mich 109, 119; 597 NW2d 817 (1999), and determines whether there is a legally sufficient basis for the claim. Beaudrie, supra at 129. In the instant case, plaintiffs' factual allegations are that they are policyholders and that the board of directors has not distributed the company's excess surplus.[4]
For this Court to conclude that plaintiffs' claim is legally sufficient, we must decide that as policyholders plaintiffs are owners of Pioneer, that policyholders have the same rights as shareholders with respect to compelling distribution of excess surplus, that shareholders have the right to compel distribution, and that plaintiffs are not precluded by the business judgment rule from bringing suit. It seems clear that policyholders are owners of mutual insurance companies. Because of their ownership interest, policyholders of mutual insurance companies are both insureds and insurers. Comm'r of Ins v Arcilio, 221 Mich App 54, 66; 561 NW2d 412 (1997). In addition, defendants concede that plaintiffs have some form of ownership interest.
However, whether a policyholder has the same rights as a shareholder is not as clear. Plaintiffs have cited several cases that analogized policyholder suits to shareholder suits. Pincus v Mut Assurance Co, 4 Pa D&C 3d 71, 73 (1976), aff'd 251 Pa Super 626 (1977) (a suit challenging a mutual company's dividend policy is governed by the same legal principles applicable to stock companies); Barnes v State Farm Mut Auto Ins Co, 16 Cal App 4th 365, 375 (1993) (a policyholder has the same legal rights a shareholder has). These cases have clearly analyzed suits to compel distribution by policyholders according to the same standards with which shareholder suits to compel dividends are analyzed.
On the other hand, defendants assert that the relationship between a policyholder and a mutual insurance company is that of creditor and debtor, and that the policyholder's rights are determined by statute, bylaws, or contract. Prudential Ins Co of America v Miller Brewing Co, 789 F2d 1269, 1275 (CA 7, 1986) (an insurance policy is interpreted like a contract); Pink v Town Taxi Co, 21 A2d 656, 659 (Me, 1941), citing Greenlaw v Aroostook Co, 105 A 116 (Me, 1918) (a member of a mutual insurance company has the right to share profits and duty to share losses according to state law, the company's bylaws, and contract); Boynton v State Farm Mut Automobile Ins Co, 429 SE2d 304, 306 (Ga App, 1993) (a member has no contractual right to proceeds where the contract provides that distribution is within the company's discretion); Barnes, supra at 375 (statute provides that members of a mutual insurance company have the same rights as shareholders of stock corporations). Yet, these cases are only persuasive authority because they involve decisions from other states and a federal circuit court. See Farm Bureau Mut Ins Co v Buckallew, 246 Mich App 607, 613-614 n 6; 633 NW2d 473 (2001); Sharp v Lansing, 464 Mich 792, 802-803; 629 NW2d 873 (2001).
Indeed, none of the parties cited any binding Michigan authority on this issue, and the trial court indicated that it believed the issue was one of first impression. Nevertheless, while Michigan courts have not squarely dealt with this question, previous decisions involving similar issues are helpful. In a suit by a policyholder to enjoin reinsurance designed to allow a mutual insurance company to continue business, our Supreme Court indicated that a policyholder's rights depended on the terms of the policy. Glover v Diggs, 368 Mich 430, 432; 118 NW2d 278 (1962). Because plaintiffs in the instant case did not allege that the terms of their policies gave them the right to compel distribution, it initially appears that their claim would fail.
Furthermore, this Court has determined that the insurance code did not incorporate by reference the appraisal rights given to shareholders by the general corporation act. Wiltsie v Standard Accident Ins Co, 1 Mich App 212, 216; 135 NW2d 592 (1965). This Court f
urther stated that the Legislature did not intend to supplement omitted provisions from the Insurance Code, MCL 500.100 et seq., with provisions of the Business Corporation Act, MCL 450.1 et seq. Wiltsie, supra at 214-215. Because we are unable to find a provision in the insurance code affording policyholders the right to compel distribution, it would appear that plaintiffs have no basis to maintain their suit. While Wiltsie, supra, was decided before November 1, 1990, and therefore is not binding precedent, MCR 7.215(I)(1), Wiltsie is supported by MCL 450.1123(2), which provides that Michigan's Business Corporation Act, MCL 450.1 et seq., does not apply to insurance companies.
On the other hand, the Court in Glover, supra at 434, also stated, "If a suit of this nature, brought by the holder of a policy issued by an insurance company, may be analogous to an action by a stockholder of a corporation when duly authorized under the law of the State, like rules of procedure must be observed." This appears to consider the concept that a policyholder's suit should be treated like a shareholder's suit. In addition, the Supreme Court stated that mutual insurance policyholders "would be in a better position to assert a property interest in the surplus." In re Certified Question (Fun 'N Sun RV, Inc v Michigan), 447 Mich 765, 791 n 34; 527 NW2d 468 (1994), after remand 223 Mich App 542; 567 NW2d 460 (1997). However, this statement was not essential to the determination of that case and, thus, is not binding precedent. Faith Reformed Church v Thompson, 248 Mich App 487, 496; 639 NW2d 831 (2001).
We note that the arguments propounded by plaintiffs and defendants may be harmonized; i.e., where a policyholder of a mutual insurance company has the right to bring suit to compel distribution of surplus, the action must be treated as a shareholder's suit to compel a dividend; however, the policyholder must derive the right to compel distribution from either statute, the company's bylaws, or the policy itself. This would be consistent with Glover, supra at 432, 434. An extension of Glover, supra, in this fashion results in the holding that plaintiffs have no legal ground to support their claim.
Even if we did determine that plaintiffs have a legal basis to maintain their suit, they must next overcome the business judgment rule:
"It is a well-recognized principle of law that the directors of a corporation, and they alone, have the power to declare a dividend of the earnings of a corporation, and to determine its amount . . . . Courts of equity will not interfere in the management of the directors unless it is clearly made to appear that they are guilty of fraud or misappropriation of the corporate funds, or refuse to declare a dividend when the corporation has a surplus of net profits which it can, without detriment to its business, divide among its stockholders, and when a refusal to do so would amount to such an abuse of discretion as would constitute a fraud, or breach of that good faith which they are bound to exercise towards the stockholders." [ In re Butterfield Estate, 418 Mich 241, 255; 341 NW2d 453 (1983), quoting Hunter v Roberts, Throp & Co, 83 Mich 63, 71; 47 NW 131 (1890).]
Plaintiffs in the instant case claim that the directors are not protected by the business judgment rule because they failed to exercise their discretion when they did not consider whether to distribute the excess surplus. They alleged in their complaint that Pioneer and its directors violated their fiduciary responsibilities to the policyholders by not distributing the surplus. However, plaintiffs did not indicate how the failure to distribute the surplus amounted to fraud or bad faith. They cite several cases to support their claim that failure to declare a dividend is an abuse of business discretion. However, we find none of the cited cases dispositive.
In Miller v Magline, 76 Mich App 284; 256 NW2d 761 (1977), this Court noted that the dividend policy was one of the major purposes of a for-profit corporation, id, at 304-305, while in the instant case, the major purpose of a mutual insurance company is to provide insurance coverage to its policyholders. In addition, this Court quoted with approval the chancellor's finding that the directors could not claim the company was unable to afford a dividend when they had paid themselves significant bonuses. Id. at 309. Plaintiffs have not made similar allegations in the instant case.
The board of directors in Marvin v Chemical Products Co, 298 Mich 296; 298 NW2d 782 (1941), signed an agreement giving another party complete control over the company's finances. Id. at 298. Our Supreme Court determined that the directors could not contract away their duty to exercise independent judgment. Id. at 301-302. In the instant case, plaintiffs did not allege that the directors had, by contract, abdicated their managerial responsibilities.
While Dodge v Ford Motor Co, 204 Mich 459, 508-509; 170 NW 668 (1919), appears to support plaintiffs' position that a failure to distribute excess profits, without more, is an abuse of discretion, our Supreme Court also noted that the purpose of a business corporation is to provide profit to its shareholders. Id. However, this is not the purpose of a mutual insurance company. The design of a mutual insurance company is to provide affordable insurance coverage to its members. Kamm & Schellinger Brewing Co v St Joseph Co Village Fire Ins Co, 168 Mich 606, 618; 134 NW 999 (1912).
Therefore, because plaintiffs did not indicate how the directors' failure to consider a distribution constituted fraud or bad faith dealings, and because plaintiffs have not cited any cases indicating that a failure to declare a dividend, without more, constitutes an abuse of business discretion, we conclude that plaintiffs have not sufficiently pleaded facts that would overcome the business judgment rule. Conclusory statements, unsupported by factual allegations, are insufficient to state a cause of action. ETT Ambulance Service Corp v Rockford Ambulance, Inc, 204 Mich App 392, 395; 516 NW2d 498 (1994).
In sum, we hold that policyholders have no right to compel distribution where there is no statute, company bylaw, or contract provision according them the right, and where they did not sufficiently plead facts to overcome the business judgment rule.
/s/ Peter D. O'Connell
/s/ Pat M. Donofrio
BANDSTRA, J. ( concurring)
I concur with the majority that we should affirm this case. However, the decision that the policyholders here have no right to compel distribution of a surplus makes it unnecessary to consider whether the directors violated the business judgment rule in failing to make that distribution. I would not reach that second question and note that, by doing so, the majority opinion might be misread as indicating that policyholders such as those involved here would have a right to compel a distribution if they could allege and prove that the business judgment rule was violated. I do not read the majority opinion to have that import and write separately to point that out.
Further, I note that our decision that the policyholders have no right to compel a distribution should not be viewed as unduly harsh. They are not without a remedy. If a majority feels that a distribution should be made, they can elect new board members who share that view.
/s/ Richard A. Bandstra
[1] The Attorney General and the Commissioner of the Office of Financial and Insurance Services (the Insurance Commissioner) moved to intervene as defendants, and moved for dismissal pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (C)(4), alleging that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction and plaintiffs failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) also moved to intervene as a defendant and filed a brief supporting dismissal, and was granted leave to file amicus briefs in lieu of being granted leave to intervene as a defendant. Nonparty defendant Lori Smith, an employee of nonparty defendant MgNish Dennehy Agency, Inc., originally approached Pioneer at an agent's meeting with information regarding plaintiffs' lawsuit, and she and her company were listed as potential witnesses for Pioneer.
[2] Plaintiffs assert that the trial court considered issues beyond the pleadings and, thus, its order granting summary disposition was decided under MCR 2.116(C)(10), rather than MCR 2.116(C)(8). Because neither defendants' motion nor their supporting brief included extraneous evidence, see Smith v Globe Life Ins, 460 Mich 446, 455; 597 NW2d 28 (1999), we conclude that the court properly considered the motions under MCR 2.116(C)(8).
[3] Once a court concludes it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction, any further action it takes is void. Altman v Nelson, 197 Mich App 467, 472-473; 495 NW2d 826 (1992); see also Burke v Michigan Catastrophic Claims Ass'n, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, decided April 15, 2003 (Docket No. 227123) (circuit court had no jurisdiction over policyholders' suit for breach of fiduciary duty and contract concerning extent of distributed surplus). There may be a question whether the trial court could rely on its findings in the previous order after it determined it lacked jurisdiction. However, the parties do not raise this issue on appeal, our Supreme Court determined that the trial court did have subject-matter jurisdiction, and the trial court adopted its original findings after it was found to have subject-matter jurisdiction. Therefore, we conclude that the court could validly rely on its previous findings.
[4] Defendant has submitted with its brief on appeal meeting minutes indicating that the board of directors considered whether to distribute excess surplus on November 1, 2001, and decided not to distribute it. However, plaintiffs point out that these minutes were not presented to the trial court, and there is no indication in the record that the trial court considered them. Because this Court "is limited to the record established by the trial court," Reeves v K Mart Corp, 229 Mich App 466, 481 n 7; 582 NW2d 841 (1998), we must not consider the meeting minutes in our decision.


text: Aliens really are real? Uploaded 01/25/2008 If you use a rocket-powered shed to fly into space, always be sure to put your mobile number in the shed, so that if aliens come along the shed and ring you to start negotations straight away. Share Tweet Stumble Email Pin It Tags: alien rocket powered shed k2m misc text NEXT JOKE The Ghost and bee joke. 2 Comments Login to Comment

subset: commoncrawl


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Teachers at Work
A column about teaching
Paper, Butter Crocks, Literature: Crafts and Cooking in the Language Arts Classroom
"Blancmange?" one of my students said. "What's blancmange?" And suddenly, we weren't talking about themes and relationships in Little Women anymore, but instead about a foodstuff that no one's enjoyed for 200 years.
In the novel, when one of the girls falls ill, next-door neighbor Laurie sends "a blancmange" over to soothe the patient. I had been reading aloud from the novel to my students, when we were derailed by the unknown substance. I knew I had two choices: answer the question quickly to set us back on the relentless path through the book that I'd set out, or, stop and consider the question, and thus provide a real demonstration of the curiosity and inquisitiveness I'm always trying to encourage my students to have.
We stopped. We discussed the etymology of the word. We looked "blancmange" up in the dictionary. We looked it up online. And, eventually, one day after school, we trundled down to the home rec room to cook and eat a blancmange, while watching the most recent film version of Little Women. For the record, a blancmange is kind of like a flan. Tasty!
Sure, making blancmange isn't a career. But neither is reading.
That experience reminded me that simple explorations have a place in the high school classroom. Crafts, including cooking, are a mainstay of the lower grades (believe me, when I taught preschool, there was a one-craft-per-day manifesto which left me gibbering over coffee filters and plastic straws into the wee hours), but often ignored once the middle school years arrive. But a little project, breaking up what can be a monotony of reading and writing in the language arts, is the perfect antidote to a winter-dulled classroom.
As my experience in the art of custard-making shows, a little project can give your students the experience of a different time or place. We often forget just how remote literature can seem to our wired students -- there aren't yet any curricular classics that reflect what their lives look like every day. And the teenage years are the most difficult time to understand that there's a world outside of your own life; imagining the lives of those who lived hundreds of years ago is even more difficult for them. Sometimes a simple, visceral experience is the key in.
It's also worth noting that handicrafts reinforce the same concepts and skills to older students as they did in preschool: Hand-eye coordination. Color theory. Patterning. Mathematical ratios. Estimating. Not to mention that crafts allow the different learning types -- visual learners, kinesthetic learners -- a means to educate themselves in a way that is profoundly comfortable to them. We word nerds would do well to remember reading and writing aren't the only valid ways to learn. And this stuff is fun. If our classrooms are a preparatory experience for the lives we hope our students will lead, we would do well to value safe, stimulating fun in them.
Incorporating crafts and cooking into our lesson plans is not wildly difficult, and, of course, internet sources can help. Here are some of the ideas I've come across or implemented in my own classroom.
In Which Our Thoughts Turn to Dairy
I start off with food because it makes everyone happy. If you can find a reason to tie together a work of literature and some simple food preparation, you're going to have an exciting, memorable class that day, giving your students an experience of life in a different time or place.
If you're reading something set in Puritan or pioneer times, such as Sarah, Plain and Tall or The Crucible, help your students understand how difficult daily life was for the characters. Foods that we take for granted today then required tremendous effort, and such conditions would have strongly affected the characters, perhaps driving them to do things we do not easily understand. For example, making butter is simple, but requires the effort of an entire class (or perhaps my girls have weakened their churning muscles with too much texting). The basic premise is on the site, but I use a large jar and straight cream. Bring a pack of crackers and a knife or two.
Any novel or short story featuring a festive setting, such as the pivotal winter carnival scene in A Separate Peace, is a great reason to involve your class in making ice cream, no cooking or special machine needed. Please note that the same class did not get to make butter and ice cream. I teach English, not Principles of Dairy.
Reading Tennessee Williams? Harper Lee? Eudora Welty? Flannery O'Connor? Truman Capote? All of these Southern writers crafted characters who seem to be constantly drinking sweet tea. From my brief sojourns in the South, this appears to be accurate. I'm sure one of our Southern readers can steer us in a better direction, but I like to make sun tea using this technique. Before you think this is a stretch, picture your students drinking small cups of sweet tea while they read these iconic writers. Especially for us Northern folk, this is a great chance to experience a little part of the gentler lifestyle that Southerners do so much better.
There are many other food-related crafts you can use in your classroom, such as making hummus while reading The Kite Runner, or serving buckwheat pancakes (warning: your students won't like them) while reading Tuck Everlasting. Explore www.cooks.com for recipes, and Martha Stewart's Kids as well as Family Fun's recipes section for more ideas that suit your curriculum.
Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful, But in Class It's So Delightful...
There is more to life than food. There's also making stuff look pretty, specifically your classroom. Why not let your students help? Chances are, they will enjoy this mini-break from textbooks, and you can still sneak in some learning for them.
At this time of year, our thoughts and prayers turn to snow days, so I get the girls to cut out snowflakes as I read snow-themed poems to them. I have a book of snowflake patterns that I use, and several are available on Amazon.com too. Or visit these websites for printable patterns: Paper Snowflakes or Noel Noel Noel. If you have more time, and some stiffer paper, here's a very cool, relatively simple 3-D snowflake pattern. These patterns allow each student to create something lovely, but freeform cutting is certainly fine by me too. The poems I share include Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (you can find it here, if your textbook happens to be the one in 10,000 that doesn't include it.), an excerpt from Denise Levertov's "Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus" (scroll down here) and Richard Wilbur's First Snow in Alsace. If we're doing this when it's actually snowing and the class is feeling cozy, I'll even read Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day, to them. At the end of class, we decorate the classroom with our work.
The Heart is a Lonely Crafter
But perhaps you're thinking more about Valentine's Day. Although I am one of those Valentine's Day cranks who mutter about it being a "fake" holiday (query to self: what are the "real" holidays?), the thought of tying together a craft and literature makes it much more palatable. When I started teaching at an all-girls' school, I thought V Day would be left in the dust, but I have learned the truth: Valentines' Day exists at the will of teenage girls. In my mind, Valentine's Day is the holiday most correlated with school handicrafts, as I recall laboriously cutting out tiny hearts to make valentines for each of my classmates. If you want to recreate such a scenario, there are a myriad of ideas at this link at MarthaStewart.com. Is it too 2006 to dislike Martha Stewart? Are we over that now? I sure hope so, as the site is an amazing source of classroom-worthy crafts. This link includes 11 Valentine's Day activities. I think idea # 7 is particularly apropos for an older classroom, as it employs small, simple-to-make stamps to create lovely heart patterns. And to read? Gary Soto's first date poem, "Oranges" is perfect to read and discuss while doing this.
Not That Kind of Book-Making
Many of our curriculums now include substantial writing from the students. I find this thrilling, but wonder what to do with all of their output: poems, short stories, genealogy charts, autobiographies. Then it occurred to me: all of these are going to look better in a little book than in 10 pieces of typing paper stapled together, right? (After all, we now know what typing paper is for: snowflakes). So I'm excited to try making books with the girls. Book making can get very complicated, involving special tools that make me think of 15th century monasteries. But accordion books are quite simple and instructions can be found here or here. By the way, I do not know why all handmade book instructions feature marbleized paper. I can only assume the marbleized paper mafia made a deal with the bookmakers guild 300 years ago.
Old School Salty
Do you get confused when you read The Lord of the Rings? Not quite sure where's Rivendell (which I insist on calling "Hobbitville") in comparison to Mordor ("Evilville")? Ah, you, like me, must lack the ability to comprehend the Geography of Fake Places. Thus, let me also sing the praises of salt maps. Fallen far out of favor now, Salt Maps, which I hope you all remember, (but if not, these great pictures and instructions) were a way of making relief maps, with only lots of salt, some flour and your mother's undying patience needed. Principally seen in Social Studies classes back in the day, I'm thinking of using this technique at school to make either a map for The Lord of the Rings or The Lord of the Flies. Definitely one of the Lords. So fun, so old school.
Fun in School: Not Always Impossible
Sometimes, though, you're not looking for anything except an enjoyable way to pass a day in your classroom. Maybe it's the end of the year, or the day before a vacation, or a day when you know more students will be absent than attending. My favorite go-to craft for a day like that is making paper beads. It's simple, requiring only scissors, magazine pages (or other papers), glue, and toothpicks. It also rises to the level of the crafter -- everyone can do it, and the artistically gifted can use their color sense to make something truly lovely. If you want to extend this project by a few classes, here's a way to make the beads into key chains (This site also has a color photo which may be illuminating if you're not familiar with this craft).
I also am not above the purchase of crafts kits. For the last two years, I've had an English Honors class that adores making things. They're also incredibly hard workers, stalwartly working on a curriculum that is very advanced. About twice a year, after a big test or huge assignment, I like to give them a day to chill out and make something. We use the catalog from Oriental Trading Company to choose kits. The girls bring in the money (usually such a small amount that it's not a problem, but I'd subsidize a student if I thought it would be), I order the kits, they arrive quickly, and then we hang out together, craft, and get something cute to take home. Just be forewarned: Once Oriental Trading Company has your information, they will not hesitate to send you approximately 80 catalogs a month. Make sure to give your school address.
There you go, just a few of the many ways to incorporate handicrafts and cooking into your classroom. All that is really required is a desire to do so. I hope that the prospect of a slightly different kind of class excites you as we head through these long winter days. Trust me, your students will be glad you took the time to do so. Blancmange is a small, white, sticky thing, but it left a big impression... your students will think so, too.


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VALLEYS schools will be green with envy after one of their Rhondda counterparts secured their second green flag renewal.
Llwynypia Primary School have spent the last two years working towards the continued environmental recognition, and will now proudly display the results at the site.
While aiming to ensure the environment is at the forefront of every child's conscience and is a major part of the curriculum, the school have mainly focused their attention on litter, waste minimisation and global citizenship.
The Eco Council, pictured, have also taken part in various litter picks around the local area with both Llwynypia and Cwm Clydach Community First.
They also proudly display their anti littering and dog fouling posters around the school, and have sent books and resources to their link school in Uganda.


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Choice of colors is very important in a scripted tv show and Alphas is no exception. I'd like to focus a little bit on Skylar/Zoe's colors in the serie.
Some could say it's just handy to carry Skylar's electronic toys, but a smaller, not so flashy, bag would have been a better in this case. Please refer to a previous post, if you're not convinced about the importance of the colors on a tv show set.
I have looked for other similar colored elements in the episode and have find some disconcerting ones (see screencaps below); i have kept only the elements that were obviously placed on purpose by the production designer imo, and left some others because red and yellow are primary colors that you can find in numerous elements of the set or on the streets for example.
And in case anyone is unsure about the importance of the orange color, Zoe herself says it to Vince when he brought her a popsicle, "Orange. My favorite".
From what i've seen in season two, if Alphas gets a third season, it looks like Zoe's color could evolve from orange to green. See you then for another post.
If you want to learn more about Alphas's costume designer Susie Coulthard, you can read an article on the choice of clothing for Laura Mennell's character : 'Alphas' Laura Mennell: 'It's like dressing a model' at ZapIt
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For the second time in eight days, a pedestrian was struck by a car and killed while walking on a Luling highway.
On Friday night shortly before 6 p.m., Shantrelle Dunmiles, 32, was killed on LA 631 (Old Spanish Trail). According to the crash report, Dunmiles was walking east on the edge of the westbound lane when Nakita Thomas, 59, of Silsbee, Texas, began to pass the car in front of him. As Thomas entered the westbound lane to overtake the car, his Dodge Ram struck Dunmiles, who died upon impact.
Thomas submitted to a chemical test and the results are pending. The crash remains under investigation.
On Nov. 2, a North Carolina man was killed after he was struck by a truck on Highway 90 near Pier 90 in Luling.Wadie Willis, 46, was in the right lane of travel when he was hit by a Ford F-150 driven by a Lafayette man. Police do not believe that the driver of the truck, Tremaine Leday, was speeding or impaired before the accident.


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Prisoners swapped for land
This posting has three articles
1) Huff Post: Israeli Settlements Get Go-Ahead On Eve Of Palestine Peace Talks;
2) Time: Why the Palestinian Prisoner Release Mattered;
3) CEPR: Palestinian Prisoners in Israel plus
4) Notes and links on statistics on prisoners, current hunger strikers and on prisoners' organisations;
West Bank protests about the imprisonment of their men, October 2011. Photo from a collection (uncredited) posted by Occupied Palestine.
Israeli Settlements Get Go-Ahead On Eve Of Palestine Peace Talks
By Karin Laub and Mohammed Daragameh, AP/ Huffington Post
August 11, 2013
JERUSALEM — Israel approved building nearly 1,200 more settlement homes Sunday and agreed to release 26 long-held Palestinian security prisoners – highlighting an apparent settlements-for-prisoners trade-off that got both sides back to peace talks after a five-year freeze.
Yet concerns were mounting, especially among Palestinians, that the price is too steep. Sunday's announcement was Israel's third in a week on promoting Jewish settlements on war-won lands the Palestinians want for a state. It fueled Palestinian fears of a new Israeli construction spurt under the cover of U.S.-sponsored negotiations.
In Israel, the most vocal protests came from relatives of those killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians slated for release.
Bereaved relatives held up large photos of their loved ones during a Supreme Court hearing on an appeal against the upcoming release. "Why are we releasing butchers now? What for?" asked Gila Molcho, whose brother, lawyer Ian Feinberg, was stabbed to death by Palestinians who broke into a European aid office in Gaza City in 1993.
Israelis and Palestinians are to launch talks on Wednesday in Jerusalem, following a preparatory round two weeks ago in Washington. The U.S. envisions an agreement within nine months on the terms of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, including drawing a border, agreeing on security arrangements and deciding the fate of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinians want a state to include the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. However, they are willing to swap some West Bank land for Israeli territory to allow Israel to annex some of the largest Jewish settlements. In all, Israel has built dozens of settlements since 1967 that are now home to some 560,000 Israelis.
The diplomatic paralysis of the last five years was largely due to disputes over the settlements, deemed illegal by most of the international community.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas long insisted he will only resume talks if Israel freezes construction. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a freeze. Abbas, under pressure from Kerry, eventually dropped it as a condition for talks.
In exchange, Kerry won Israeli agreement that it will release 104 Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences, many for involvement in killing Israelis.
The prisoners are to be freed in four stages during the negotiations, with the first 26 to be released later this week.
Late Sunday, a group of Cabinet ministers selected the names in the first group, to be published early Monday.
Fourteen prisoners will be released to Gaza and 12 to the West Bank, according to a government statement. Eight of the prisoners had three years left to serve and two would have been released in six months or less, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel announced Sunday that he has given final approval for the construction of 1,187 apartments in settlements. Nearly 800 are in east Jerusalem and the rest in the West Bank.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the construction was approved in areas that Israel expects to retain in any future peace deal. "There is no way it changes the final map of peace," he said. "It changes nothing."
The Palestinians responded angrily, but stopped short of walking away from the negotiations.
"It is clear that the Israeli government is deliberately attempting to sabotage U.S. and international efforts to resume negotiations," Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh said. "Israel continues to use peace negotiations as a smoke screen for more settlement construction."
Shtayyeh said the Palestinians would complain to the U.S. and Europe. The main U.S. mediator in the talks, Martin Indyk, met Sunday with Abbas at his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Sunday's announcement was Israel's third in a week on pushing settlement plans.
A week ago, Israel added more settlements to its "national priority" list of several hundred communities eligible for special government subsidies, making them attractive to Israelis seeking cheaper housing. Several days later, the government advanced plans for nearly 1,100 more settlement homes.
Some Palestinian commentators have criticized Abbas for returning to negotiations without Israel either agreeing to a settlement freeze or recognizing the 1967 frontier as a baseline for talks.
"The Palestinians need to quit the talks because all they get is more building in the settlement buildings," said Hani Habib, a Palestinian writer and commentator. He said Abbas shouldn't have traded Palestinian national aspirations for a prisoner release, an emotional issue for both sides.
Since 1967, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been arrested by Israel, from young stone throwers to those who carried out deadly attacks.
Prisoners are seen in their communities as heroes who made personal sacrifices in the struggle for independence. Many Israelis view those involved in killings as cold-blooded terrorists.
On the Palestinian side, Abbas' aides have said privately that he was under intense U.S. pressure to return to the table. They said Abbas feared a drop in international aid and the possible collapse of his self-rule government in the West Bank if he defied Washington.
However, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denied Sunday that the Palestinians had acquiesced to a prisoners-for-settlements trade-off, even implicitly.
The release of 104 Palestinian prisoners announced on July 28 was a precondition for the preliminary talks which began in Washington on July 29, 2013.
Why the Palestinian Prisoner Release Mattered
By Karl Vick, Time magazine
July 29, 2013
The decision Sunday [July 28th] by the Israeli government to release 104 Palestinian prisoners seems like a straightforward victory for the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, giving him the political cover he needs to restart talks this week in Washington with representatives of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. But the history of the issue on both sides shows how deeply the politics of the prisoners runs in the region and why the release made such a difference. For Israelis, the prisoners recall civilians killed in militant attacks. For Palestinians, divided as they are by geography and politics and challenged by a lack of a unifying leader, the captives play a crucial rallying role in Palestinian struggle for nationhood.
When Abbas' political opponents in Hamas secured the release of 1,027 Palestinians in exchange for a single Israeli soldier almost two years ago, Abbas was midway between Bogotá and Caracas in full statesman mode. Greeted at Simón Bolívar International Airport by an honor guard holding swords over their heads, Abbas proceeded by motorcade up the coastal range to Caracas, and after his arrival in the penthouse suite at his hotel, I asked him what he made of the news that had, in a twinkling, overwhelmed his wildly popular speech at the U.N. announcing a bid for Palestinian statehood days earlier. "All in all, it is good," Abbas said matter-of-factly, as a South American rainstorm pelted the plate glass. "To release 1,000 prisoners is good for us, for the families."
But was it also good for his political opponents in Hamas? Abbas shook off the implication. "Whether they are with us or against us, they are Palestinians," he said. "Any release of any prisoner is in the interest of every Palestinian."
That calculation of the power of prisoners anchors the painful decision by the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday to release another group of them — this time to Abbas — as a necessary prelude to the resumption of peace negotiations. Only when the vote was recorded did Abbas' negotiators board a flight to Washington, where they will sit down with Netanyahu's representatives Monday night.
The release was a near thing, supported by only 12 of the 21 ministers in Netanyahu's Cabinet. The Prime Minister called it a necessary step "to see whether we face a Palestinian side that wants, as we do, a genuine end to the conflict between us." According to one poll, 85% of Israeli Jews opposed the release, and Finance Minister Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party called the prisoners: "A disgusting group who deserve to disappear in prison all their lives."
On the Palestinian side, the return of any prisoner — even a routine release — is cause for public celebration. Horns honk, cars careen through the streets trailing streamers. It's like a wedding. The celebration will be particularly enthusiastic in coming days, as the first of the 104 are expected to appear on the streets of the West Bank during the holiday that marks the close of Ramadan, the month of sacrifice and fasting currently being observed by devout Muslims. If all goes according to plan, more will be set free at regular intervals, giving Abbas an accomplishment to point to in the months ahead whether the talks make lasting progress or not.
"We take care of all the prisoners, from all the factions," says Ziad Abu Ein, the Palestinian Authority's Deputy Minister of Prisoners' Affairs. "Because the prisoners are all against the occupation," he says. "They are not against Fatah or Hamas."
Time in an Israeli prison is viewed as a rite of passage for many Palestinian males. The monitoring organization, Military Court Watch, says that 750,000 residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have spent time in detention. Israeli soldiers, sometimes operating on tips from informants or video images of stone throwing at street demonstrations (where a helmeted soldier with a video camera sometimes stands on the periphery of the action, panning the Palestinian side), often make arrests in the middle of the night.
The experience can be searing, especially for teens and preteens. Military Court Watch says that of the approximately 4,000 Palestinians currently in custody, 193 are children. Israelis recently arrested a 5-year-old boy in Hebron. The maze of military jurisprudence they encounter is described by an Australian journalist in a lengthy magazine piece and by Israeli lawyers in the film The Law in These Parts. Upon their release, the bravado kids often display in public is just that, says Salwa Duaibis, of the Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, who is based in Ramallah. Mothers report a different reality at home: nightmares and a return to bed-wetting.
Thereafter, time in Israeli prison becomes a credential. In the West Bank city of Hebron, the last mayor, ill at ease with the city's reputation for militancy, tried for a time to discourage young job applicants from including prison time in their résumés — a customary practice. At al-Quds University in the town of Abu Dis, just beyond the separation barrier bisecting Jerusalem, a museum dedicated to prisoners has its own modern building, dramatic lighting and tastefully mounted exhibitions, including a collection of letters smuggled out of custody by being folded up smaller than the size of a fingernail.
"Netanyahu cannot affect how much the Palestinian people feel for their prisoners," says Yousef Mkhemer, who heads the Committee for the Steadfast, an East Jerusalem group that fights the continuing expansion of Jewish neighborhoods across the 1967 Green Line. "Because we cannot affect other things, [we want leaders to] just bring us back our soldiers from this war."
For Israelis, the prisoners represent a violent history. In West Jerusalem, scores of Jewish Israelis gathered outside Netanyahu's official residence to protest the release by holding up photos of those killed by the actions of the prisoners: a teacher and three sons burned to death in a fire-bombed bus in 1988; a pair of teenagers found bound and stabbed in a ravine outside Jerusalem in 1990; two university students murdered while hiking near Bethlehem in 1984.
In East Jerusalem, Firas Tarik Issawi explains the dynamic on the Palestinian side. "These are our children," he says. "They're basically representing the Palestinian struggle, and as long as they're in prison, it clearly states there's still a struggle." Issawi spent three years in an Israeli prison in the 1990s. His brother Samer was among the 1,000 released in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but became a cause célèbre when he was rearrested in July 2012 for violating the terms of his release by venturing into the West Bank. In protest, Samer went on a hunger strike, wasting away to the point where Israeli officials feared he would die in custody — an event that both sides realized could lead to a mass uprising. He won a promise of early release.
"If any of these prisoners die, we can't control the Palestinian street," says Abu Ein, the Palestinian Authority Deputy Minister. Adds Nasser Qouss, a Palestinian activist: "You can't control the people today like you could in the past. In the past there were different organizations, Tanzim [the Fatah youth wing that also functioned as a militia], more people around. Now no one has any trust in any of them."
Polls show Palestinians are pleased with neither Hamas nor Fatah; in the absence of an alternative, the two factions' popularity rises and falls based on events. The prisoners released two years ago to Hamas in exchange for Shalit brought Hamas a surge of popularity even on the West Bank, something Abbas encountered when he returned from his foreign travels. Even in Ramallah, stronghold of his secular Fatah faction, there was displayed a sea of green flags — the Hamas color. "Why not?" Abbas told me tartly a few days later, no longer in statesman mode after a series of meetings with irate Fatah officials. "They are celebrating a very big victory — granted by our neighbor."
He meant Israel, which had rewarded a militant group at the expense of the moderate Palestinian Authority President whose security forces keep the West Bank so quiet that, in the year that would follow, not a single Israeli would be killed there, for the first time since 1973. Abbas complained that in the wake of Shalit's release by Hamas, Netanyahu owed him a prisoner release as well — one promised by Netanyahu's predecessor, he acknowledged, but owed nonetheless. The prisoners on his mind were the very ones Netanyahu's cabinet voted to release on Monday, two years later and by the narrowest margin.
When the decision finally came, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat pointed out that the same group actually had been promised freedom under the terms of an agreement Israel signed with the Palestinians at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik in 1999. "We welcome this decision 14 years later," Erekat said dryly, and left for the airport.
Karl Vick has been TIME's Jerusalem bureau chief since 2010, covering Israel,the Palestine territories and nearby sovereignties. Karl Vick @karl_vick
Palestinian Prisoners in Israel
Report by Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR)
The Bottom Line
Since 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, more than 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This represents approximately 20% of the total population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and 40% of all males. Despite prohibition by international law, Israel detains Palestinians in prisons throughout Israel, far from their families, who almost never obtain the necessary permits to leave the Occupied Palestinian Territories to visit them.
No One is Protected
There are an estimated 6,800 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, of which 10 are members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The elected PLC members were victims of a mass arrest targeting legislators and officials on June 29, 2006, in the wake of the election that brought Hamas to power and the capture of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Initially, 40 of the PLC members were charged. Most of the indictments were for "membership," "activity" and "holding a position" in an "unauthorised association." Meanwhile, the kidnapping and imprisonment of elected officials continues. For example, in December of 2010, Israeli soldiers kidnapped Hebron-area legislator Sheikh Khalil Nayef Rajoub – a PLC member who had been imprisoned in 2006 and had just been released five months earlier — after breaking into his home and searching it.
Of particular concern are the number of Palestinian minors in Israeli jails – 209 as of January 2011, 29 under the age of 16. In March 2011, the Palestinian Ministry of Detainee Affairs published a new report documenting the torture of children as young as seven in Israeli prisons. Between January and March of 2011, Israeli soldiers abducted 150 children and all of them were interrogated during the course of their imprisonment M_AW00_6– with many subjected to hitting, psychological abuse and other violence or threat of violence without a parent or adult representative present.
Children are often taken suddenly from their homes, often in the middle of the night, with soldiers surrounding the house and then raiding it. Soldiers usually do not have a warrant for arrest or searches. For example, in July of 2010, an unusually heavy number of Israeli soldiers (in 12 jeeps) entered the outskirts of the village to arrest a local youth, 17 year old Ahmad Abed Al-Fatah Burnat, without giving any reason. Ahmad was taken by jeep to Ofer military prison located outside Ramallah. Prisoners in Ofer, especially young boys, are kept in harsh conditions with the intention of pressuring them to give information about other Palestinians. Many are denied food and water for extended periods of time and exposed to extreme cold or heat.
Inhumane treatment of children is a violation of UN rules for the protection of juveniles and the treatment of prisoners in general, of which Israel is a signatory.
At the other end of the spectrum are older prisoners, some of whom have served terms of unprecedented lengths. Palestinian Nael Barghouthi, for example, is the world's record-holder. The 54-year-old Barghouthi, originally from Ramallah, has been in custody for more than 33 years, after being detained on 4 April 1978 at the age of 21 for a suspected bombing. He has been in prison 12 years longer than he was free, and continues to be denied visits by his sister.
Getting Arrested: A game of Russian Roulette
The arrest and detention of Palestinians living within the OPT is governed by a wide-ranging set of military regulations that cover every aspect of Palestinian civilian life. There are now more than 1,500 military regulations governing the West Bank and more than 1,400 for the Gaza Strip. The Israeli commander of the region issues military orders, which often remain unknown and become apparent only when they are implemented. For example, carrying or placing a Palestinian flag is a crime in itself. Removing the rubbish put in the middle of a road by Israeli soldiers after they have left is another crime. Firing in the air during a wedding, as is the tradition, constitutes a danger to Israel's national security, even if it occurs in the autonomous territories (area A). Pouring coffee for a member of an association declared illegal by Israel is deemed support for a terrorist organisation.
Israeli border policemen and soldiers arresting two Palestinian men in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, on 22 October 2010.Upon arrest, detainees are usually handcuffed and blindfolded. They are not informed of the reason for their arrest, nor are they told where they will be taken. Physical abuse and humiliation is common. In numerous sworn affidavits, detainees have reported that they were subjected to attempted murder, rape and many other forms of physical abuse. During arrest, detainees and their family members have often been forced to strip in public.
Under Israeli military regulations, Palestinians can be detained for up to 18 days without the Israeli military informing them of the reason for their arrest and without being brought before a judge. The army is also not obliged to inform the detainees' families of their arrest or the location of their detention.
After or within this period, the person is sent to an interrogation center, placed in administrative detention, or held in custody awaiting charge and trial. Lawyer visits can be prohibited for up to 90 days after the day of arrest for a Palestinian detainee. In contrast, a meeting between an Israeli detainee and his/her attorney can be delayed for a total of only 48 hours (for "regular" violations) to 21 days (for "security" violations). The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club issued a report in December 2010 that found that between 70% and 90% of the detainees interviewed in the years 2005 to 2007 were not allowed to meet a lawyer able to provide advice and assistance prior to signing a confession.
What follows is either trial and judgment against the detainee or, more frequently, his/her transfer to administrative detention.
In the case of administrative detention, detainees face charges based on secret evidence. Theoretically, administrative detention can be extended indefinitely. Detainees do not know when they will be released or why they are being detained. Some Palestinian detainees have spent up to eight years in prison under administrative detention. (Compare that to an Israeli citizen, who can be held without indictment for an initial period of 15 days, which can be extended for only another 15 days.)
Palestinians are tried in Israeli military courts. These military tribunals are presided over by a panel of three judges appointed by the military, two of whom often do not have any legal training or background. These tribunals rarely comply with international standards for fair trials.
The maximum allowable civilian sentences are considerably less severe than those allowable in the military tribunals, a major reason for the significant differential in sentences passed upon Israelis and Palestinians. For example, a Palestinian convicted of manslaughter by a military tribunal is subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while an Israeli convicted of manslaughter in a civilian court faces a maximum of 20 years. Likewise, under the Israeli penal code, prisoners may be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence. The military orders under which Palestinians are judged do not allow for early release for any reason.
Into the "Gulag"
The fourth Geneva Convention forbids the transfer of detainees outside the OPT. Article 76 states that "all protected persons accused of an offense must be detained within the occupied country and if they are sentenced, they have to serve the sentence within it." However, there are only two military detention centers and one military detention camp located within the OPT.
All of these detention centres are extremely overcrowded. Detainees sleep on wooden planks covered by thin mattresses. Electricity is sparsely provided and all movement is prohibited after sundown. Although Israel's own prison regulations require inmates to receive sufficient food to remain healthy, Israel has recently taken to requiring detainees to obtain more than half of their food from families or the prison canteen. The food provided to Palestinian detainees is insufficient in both quantity and quality. Between March and May 2002, for example, inmates in military detention camps were provided with frozen food that they were only able to defrost by sunlight. There are no special dietary considerations made for detainees who suffer chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Hygiene among the prisons is poor as well. Those injured during their arrest often are forced to remain in blood-soiled clothing for several months; individuals who were detained in their night clothes or underwear also do not receive a change of clothing. Soap is rationed by the prison administration, and other personal hygiene items are offered infrequently and are often unsanitary. Hot water is seldom available. For example, each section of 120 detainees at the Ketziot Military Detention Camp receives one bar of soap each day, and none on Friday and Saturday. Garbage is removed irregularly, and the sewage system is in extreme disrepair.
As a result, a large number of detainees are in poor health. Prison clinics have become renowned for offering only aspirin for all health treatments and physicians within the clinics are all soldiers. Health examinations are conducted through a fence, and any necessary surgery or transfer to hospital for additional medical treatment is usually postponed for long periods of time. Demands made by Israeli organisations to provide health care to detainees have consistently been refused, in addition to petitions made by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
According to a February 2010 Middle East Monitor fact sheet, there are approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who suffer from chronic ailments, such as cancer, kidney failure, heart disease and diabetes, hypertension, anemia, acute inflammation in the back and lungs, and joint and skin problems. The number of affected inmates continues to rise as a result of medical negligence. Palestinian human rights reports have repeatedly accused the Israeli authorities of adopting a policy of deliberate neglect, leaving prisoners to face a slow death.
The Use of Torture during Interrogation and Detention
The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled on 6 September 1999 that interrogation methods described as "torture" may be used in the "necessity of defense" and in situations in which a detainee is considered a "ticking bomb." Since Israel can legally hold detainees incommunicado for several weeks, interrogators are able to use methods of torture without impunity. Legalised torture includes sleep deprivation and shackling for extended periods of time.
According to 2008 research by Abdun-Nasser Farawn, a former prisoner and expert in prisoner affairs, 95% of Palestinians who had been imprisoned in Israel had been beaten; 89% were deprived of sleep for long times; 82% were forced to stand in difficult positions for long periods; 55% were subjected to extreme hot and cold temperatures; and 50% had pressure applied to their testicles. Furthermore, Farawna said that since 1967, 70 prisoners had died in Israeli custody as a result of torture.
A Palestinian detainee can be interrogated for a total period of 180 days, during which he or she can also be denied lawyer visits for a period of 60 days. Confessions extracted through torture are admissible in court. After the 180-day period, charges must be brought against the detainee, or he/she must be released.
If a complaint is lodged, investigations are confidential and led by a security agent under the authority of the State Attorney. No agent has been charged since the responsibility for investigations was transferred to the Ministry of Justice in 1994.
Disconnected from the outside world
Since June 2006, following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli security authorities have imposed harsh constraints on family visits to prisoners, particularly those from the Gaza Strip. These restrictions culminated in a decision by the Israeli army in June 2007 to place a total ban on visits by the families of prisoners from Gaza.
The majority of prisons throughout the world ensure the basic right of prisoners to make phone calls to their families and lawyers. In Israel, a common criminal has the right to make such phone calls; however, Palestinian or Arab "security prisoners" are deprived of this right. Even in humanitarian situations such as bereavement, prisoners are denied the right to pay their respects by phone.
Notes and Links
Fact sheet
from Military Court Watch
750,000 – 800,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been prosecuted in Israeli military courts since 1967.
Children as young as 12 years can be prosecuted in the military courts.
500-700 children are prosecuted in the military courts each year.
Children are most commonly prosecuted for stone throwing.
The majority of children are detained at night and report physical and psychological abuse during arrest, transfer and interrogation.
Over 99% of cases in the military courts end in conviction.
Over 55% of Palestinian child detainees are held in prisons in Israel in breach of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
1. Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.2. Military courts used to prosecute civilians are permitted under international law but only on a temporary basis. Israeli military courts used to prosecute Palestinians from the West Bank have now been operating since 1967.
An Israeli child has the right to have a parent present when questioned by the police, whereas a Palestinian child questioned under Israeli military law has no such right.
3. Since 1967, over 1,700 military orders have been issued but few have been translated into Arabic, as is required under the Fourth Geneva Convention. In theory, these laws have no legal effect until translated.
4. Dual Israeli legal systems operate in the West Bank. Palestinians are prosecuted in military courts, whereas Israelis settlers are prosecuted in civilian courts, with far greater rights and protections.
5. An Israeli child has the right to have a parent present when questioned by the police, whereas a Palestinian child questioned under Israeli military law has no such right.
6. An Israeli child cannot be given a custodial sentence until reaching the age of 14 under civilian law, whereas a Palestinian child can be sent to prison at the age of 12 under military law.
[There are extensive statistics available at this website, Military Court Watch: Monitoring the treatment of children in Israeli military detention
Statistics on Palestinians in the custody of the Israeli security forces
Compiled by B'Tselem
Updated: 25 Jul 2013
At the end of June 2013, some 4,827 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners were held in Israeli prisons, 409 of them from the Gaza Strip. An additional 1,267 Palestinians were held in Israel Prison Service facilities for being in Israel illegally, 24 of them from the Gaza Strip. The IPS considers these Palestinians – both detainees and prisoners – criminal offenders. A few dozen other Palestinians (we do not have precise figures) are held in IDF facilities for short periods of time. The following data were provided by the military and by the IPS.
June 2013, Held by IPS, 4,827 persons of whom 3,308 serving a sentence, 137 in administrative detention. The remaining 1,382 are detained under, or awaiting, some other legal procedure.
[ For the rest of the statistics on Palestinians in Israeli detention, click on the headline above.]
Statistics on Palestinian minors in the custody of the Israeli security forces
Compiled by B'Tselem
Updated: 25 Jul 2013
At the end of June 2013, approximately 193 Palestinian minors were held in Israeli prisons as security detainees and prisoners. Another 20 Palestinian minors were held in Israel Prison Service facilities for being in Israel illegally. The IPS considers these minors – both detainees and prisoners – criminal offenders. The following figures were provided by the Israeli military and the IPS.
[For the detailed figures, click on the headline above]
14 Palestinian prisoners now on hunger strike as Tallahma brothers join hunger strikers
August 2013
Two Palestinian brothers held in Israeli prisons have joined the prisoners on hunger strike, raising the number of Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike to 14, Addameer reported on August 4.
Omar Tallahma, 22, and Mahmoud Tallahma, 19, have launched an open-ended hunger strike in protest of the abuse of their interrogators and against their continued arrest, demanding their freedom. The Tallahma brothers are from Dura in al-Khalil district.
Omar was arrested on June 30, 2013, and Mahmoud on July 10.
Addameer also provided the following update on the ongoing conditions of Palestinian hunger strikers:
Ramallah, 31 July 2013 – Despite the mounting pressure on the hunger strikers and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) attempts to isolate them, Addameer lawyers were able to gain access to two of the twelve prisoners who have reported that all of the hunger strikers detained in Ramleh clinic have stopped taking vitamin supplements and are threatening to boycott water if their demands are not met. They are currently also refusing medical examinations.
This most recent development is in light of the harsh conditions they are subjected to in the prison clinic, including denial of medical treatment, lack of humane treatment and isolation in dirty cells.
It should be emphasized that Addameer and other human rights organizations are consistently being denied access to the hunger striking prisoners, both from denied applications and by indirect means, such as transferring the prisoner to another location on the date of an approved visit. This week, Addameer had five approved visits to hunger strikers but was ultimately only allowed access to Ayman al-Tabeesh and Husam Matar. The other prisoners were transferred without notice on the day of Addameer's visit, thereby denying them their right to legal counsel and further isolating them from the outside world.
Ayman al-Tabeesh, who has been on hunger strike for 70 days in protest of his administrative detention, is currently being held in desolate conditions in Ramleh clinic in a ward for infectious diseases. For over five weeks, he has been isolated in a soundproof 2×2 windowless cell with a mattress on the floor. According to Ayman, fellow hunger strikers Adel Hareebat, Mohammad al-Tabeesh, Mohammad Rimawi, Husam Matar and Abdul Majeed Khdeirat were also held in similar conditions before their recent transfer. Ayman also confirmed that three of the Jordanian prisoners are held in another ward of the prison clinic, which houses prisoners with mental disorders.
The prisoners are subjected to increased pressure and threats by the IPS to end their hunger strikes. They have reported that they are continuously transferred to different cells, subjected to night inspections, not allowed clothing, sheets, family visits and any contact with others except for a one hour recreation period in the yard. Those who are on hunger strike in protest of administrative detention have been promised verbally that they will not receive a renewal order, but the IPS refuses to document the agreement in writing.
Husam Matar, who has been on hunger strike for 61 days was held briefly with Mohammad Rimawi before his transfer to an unknown location last week. Husam reported that Mohammad's health is critical and his life is in danger. He is currently taking medicine for a lung infection and fungal infection resulting from his hunger strike as well as suffering from mineral deficiency.
Husam is also being held in appalling conditions; he is in a small, dirty cell filled with sewage water. The conditions are so filthy that he is unable to pray during the holy month of Ramadan. Husam suffers from previous medical issues such as neurological problems, and bone issues, and currently suffers from facial hair loss, bodily pains and dehydration as a result of his hunger strike.
The hunger strikers also confirmed to Addameer that Adel Hareebat is in critical condition, his pancreas and liver are failing and he has a lack of basic minerals in his blood, decreased heart rate, blood sugar and blood pressure. Addameer was denied visitation rights for Adel despite his dangerous and life-threatening health condition.
Addameer again calls for immediate intervention from the international community including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union, to pressure Israel in the strongest manner possible to save the lives of all twelve hunger strikes.
From Addameer newsletter, January June 2013
March-June 2013
Ayman Hamdan started a hunger strike on 28 April 2013 in protest of his administrative detention. Hamdan was arrested on 21 August 2012, and has been on administrative detention ever since. He was issued his second administrative detention order on 20 February 2013. He is currently detained in Ofer Military Prison in isolation.
Ahmed Hamdan, his brother, started a solidarity strike on 24 June 2013.
Jordanian prisoners: On 2 May 2013, 5 Jordanian prisoners (Mohammad AlRimawi, Hamzah Othman, Munir Mare'e, Alaa Hamdan) started a hunger strike to draw attention to their case and demand family visits, which they are currently being denied. There are currently over 30 Jordanians languishing in Israeli prisons.
Abdallah Barghouhi [also Barghouti], who is serving 67 life sentences, started a hunger strike on 2 May 2013 in Gilboa Prison. He is on strike with the Jordanian prisoners, as well as to protest the denial of visits from his family members in Jordan. Barghouthi was swiftly moved to isolation in Ramoun prison upon announcing his hunger strike and is now held in Ramleh Prison Hospital due to his deteriorating health condition.
Imad Batran started his hunger strike on 7 May 2013 in protest of his administrative detention. He has been held on an administrative detention order for 19 months. Imad Batran was in isolation in Ofer Prison before being transferred to Ramleh Prison Hospital for health reasons.
Ayman Tabbisheh started a hunger strike on 23 May 2013 in protest of his administrative detention. He is currently being held in isolation in Ofer Prison and is only drinking water.
Adel Salameh Hareebat started a hunger strike on 23 May 2013 in protest of his administrative detention. He was arrested in November 2012 and has been on administrative detention since his arrest. He is held in isolation in Ofer Prison.
Ghassan Aliyan (22 years old from Aida refugee camp) started a hunger strike on 10 June 2013 in protest of his re-arrest after his release in the prisoner exchange.
Iyad Abu Khadeer began his hunger strike in protest of the IPS refusing to release him after his 8 year sentence had expired. Addameer has received this preliminary information from Iyad's family.
Husam Matir began a hunger strike on 1 June 2013.


text:
Aethra bore to Aegeus a son Theseus, and when he was grown up, he pushed away the rock and took up the sandals and the sword,1 and hastened on foot to Athens. And he cleared2 the road, which had been beset by evildoers. For first in Epidaurus he slew Periphetes, son of Hephaestus and Anticlia, who was surnamed the Clubman from the club which he carried. For being crazy on his legs he carried an iron club, with which he despatched the passers-by. That club Theseus wrested from him and continued to carry about.3
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1 The tokens of paternity left by his human father Aegeus. See above, Apollod. 3.15.7.
2 Literally, "tamed." As to the adventures of Theseus on his road to Athens, see Bacch. 17(18).16ff., ed. Jebb; Diod. 4.59; Plut. Thes. 8ff.; Paus. 1.44.8; Paus. 2.1.3ff.; Scholiast on Lucian, Jupiter Tragoedus 21, pp. 64ff., ed. H. Rabe; Ov. Met. 7.433ff.; Ovid, Ibis 407ff.; Hyginus, Fab. 38.
3 Compare Diod. 4.59.2; Plut. Thes. 8.1; Paus. 2.1.4; Ov. Met. 7.436; Hyginus, Fab. 38. Periphetes dwelt in Epidaurus, which Theseus had to traverse on his way from Troezen to the Isthmus of Corinth. No writer but Apollodorus mentions that this malefactor was weak on his legs; the infirmity suggests that he may have used his club as a crutch on which to hobble along like a poor cripple, till he was within striking distance of his unsuspecting victims, when he surprised them by suddenly lunging out and felling them to the ground.
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consilient technologies announced a new beta program for its consilient4 e-mail application, which will provide push e-mail to select nokia phones. if you own a nokia 6820, 6822, 9300, or 9500 then you should send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com to request to give it a whirl, or fill out the form on consilient's site. you also need to use microsoft exchange, novell groupwise, sun java system messaging server, oracle collaboration suite, or an imap4 server as your e-mail platform to use consilient4. i see that the company also provides solutions for windows mobile, blackberry, and palm os devices, but i have never tried those solutions. have any readers tried them? what are the costs? thanks to libby for the news.
user comments 1 comment(s)
|use blackberry (10:18pm est thu apr 21 2005)
i use blackberry now and works great, for email. not that good as a phone though and would pref. a nokia 9500 with push email (not a beta though).
hope noka sorts this out because blackberry are miles ahead on email side. – by mac


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RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- After originally planning to announce his commitment on signing day, Tahaan Goodman (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) decided he couldn't wait any longer. The nation's No. 108 overall recruit and No. 9 safety knew he'd made up his mind, so after school on Wednesday, he announced publicly his decision to commit to UCLA.
It was an interesting recruiting road for the four-star safety, who was a lean to USC very early in the process and also considered Arizona State, LSU, Nebraska and Oklahoma. But Goodman had been linked to UCLA for months. He was impressed during his visit to the campus in November and had another opportunity to experience life at his future home, when he took an unofficial visit to UCLA this past weekend.
The 6-foot-2, 184-pound safety finished his senior season with 59 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and nine rushing touchdowns. He is the No. 11 overall player in California and the state's No. 2 safety.
With Goodman in the fold, the Bruins =hold verbal commitments from six ESPN 300 prospects, including two in the ESPN 150.
Good friend and fellow four-star safety Priest Willis (Tempe, Ariz./Marcos De Niza) is expected to announce his decision at 7 p.m. MT on Wednesday. The two have long said they will be a package deal, so more good news could be on the way for the Bruins.


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(Science Daily) UCLA life scientists have identified for the first time a particular gene's link to optimism, self-esteem and "mastery," the belief that one has control over one's own life -- three critical psychological resources for coping well with stress and depression…
The gene [senior author Shelley E.] Taylor and her colleagues identified is the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). Oxytocin is a hormone that increases in response to stress and is associated with good social skills such as empathy and enjoying the company of others.
"This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to report a gene associated with psychological resources," said lead study author Shimon Saphire-Bernstein.
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Pycnocline, in oceanography, boundary separating two liquid layers of different densities. In oceans a large density difference between surface waters (or upper 100 metres [330 feet]) and deep ocean water effectively prevents vertical currents; the one exception is in polar regions where pycnocline is absent. Formation of pycnocline may result from changes in salinity or temperature. Because the pycnocline zone is extremely stable, it acts as a barrier for surface processes. Thus, changes in salinity or temperature are very small below pycnocline but are seasonal in surface waters.
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Does New York City Need More Bank Branches?
Lauren Evans laments the expansion of TD Banks in New York City—with 15 new locations by the end of the year, TD Banks will bring its "Empire" to 126 branches. Just so we're completely clear on Evans's political allegiances, TD Bank is described as an "unstoppable homogenizer of a city once fertile with independent businesses."
Evans argues that many branch services can be replaced by smartphone technology, and that the expansion of TD Bank service branches "involves razing time-honored city treasures to make way for another soulless green edifice…"
An email Chris Giamo, regional president for TD's New York metro area, explaining the benefits of the expansion sparked Evans's ire. Unfortunately the email is not shared in full, but Evans finds Giamo's explanations for the bank's expansion to be lacking a desired apology.
Not mentioned in Evans's analysis of the expansion of TD Banks are data on how many of the new banks are located in one of the state's Banking Development Districts, created to provide incentives for banks to locate branches in low-income neighborhoods. Nor does the article describe the nuances of the ongoing debate about the usefulness of ATMs for under-banked, low-income populations. Nor does the article examine the merits of claims that many banks are spreading branches to the outer boroughs because that's where a large population of under-served immigrant entrepreneurs lives and works.


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"I wouldn't go there if I were you."
Grissom, carrying his silver kit, meet Brass standing outside the hotel room where he had been called in to the scene of a DB.
"I thought your guys already cleared the scene."
"They did. Cleared it before I got here. I... I've called in a couple of day shift CSI's."
"What? I know you've worked a lot of hours lately, but 2 am is still graveyard." Grissom meant for his comment to come out as a joke. As he watched for Brasses reaction, though, he started to realize that something was wrong. Not only was his friend not smiling, but he looked downright sick. His face was pale, and Grissom thought he saw Jim's hand shake. With twenty years on the police force, not to mention five years heading up CSI, it took a lot to rattle Brass.
"Jim? What's going on."
Brass wouldn't look him in the eye as he answered. "Gil I... when I responded to the scene I saw... I don't know how to..."
In all the years they had been friends, Gil had never seen Brass at a loss for words. Not at the scene of triple homicides, not interviewing murder suspects or victims. Not even their first visit to Lady Heather's had silenced him. Something in the hotel room behind them had managed to do the impossible, and Grissom was growing concerned.
Finally, Jim gathered up enough courage to say what needed to be told. He lifted his eyes and stared straight at Grissom as he spoke two simple, but life shattering, words.
"It's Sara."
"Where's Sara?" It was out of his mouth before Jim's word sunk in. It's Sara. Sara. Sara, who had quit six months ago, without warning. Leaving Las Vegas. Leaving him.
Grissom reached for the hotel room door, needing to see for himself what Jim was telling him. An arm reached out from behind him, pulling him back.
"Griss, you really shouldn't go in there."
Without turning around, Grissom shook his head. "I have to Jim. I have to see for myself."
Reluctantly, Jim drew away his hand. He knew what his friend would see when he opened the door, but he also understood how stubborn Grissom was. No matter what he said, how well he articulated the horror he had seen, Grissom would insist on seeing for himself. There was nothing he could do, except be there when he came out. With that in mind he reached for his cell phone.
"Hello Catherine? It's Brass..."
I've had this dream before. Grissom walked into the room, and was assailed by nightmarish images. The knife, laying on the floor. The pale hands, clenched into fists, as if she had tried to defend herself against the attack. Blood. Everywhere there was blood. It was matted in her auburn hair. Dripping down her arm. Pooling on the gray carpet. The copper smell filled the air, and for the first time since his days as a teenager in the coroner's office, Grissom felt like he was going to throw up.
Brown sightless eyes stared at him, empty and dull. But that wasn't right. Her eyes were always bright, shining with intelligence and humor. He remembered the first time he had seen them, watching him intently from the front row of a lecture hall. The last time, eye's still sparkling, but this time with pain. "I don't think I can do this anymore." All those times between. Eyes narrowed in concentration, going over the evidence until it came together. Shining in triumph as suspect is lead away in handcuffs. Filled with contentment as the team sits around a diner's table for breakfast. Seething with anger when justice for a victim seemed out of reach. But never empty, like they were now. Never dead. Sara. Dead. Sara. Sara. Sara. Dead. Dead.
CSI Grissom looked around the room and observed the open window, the position of the body on the bed. Gil noticed the fact that she had gotten her hair cut, and had a tan. CSI Grissom saw the pattern of the blood drops and the possible escape routes from the room. Gil saw the pale pink of the shirt she was wearing and the open forensic journal on the bedside table. The same journal that was beside his own bed. CSI Grissom wondered about motive, and suspects. Gil just wanted to know why. Why was she back in town? Why had someone done this to her? Why couldn't he have ever told her what she meant to him? Meant. Past tense. Because everything about Sara was past tense now. The realization hit him like a right hook as he sink to his knees. Sara was gone. Not gone, like back to San Francisco, with the hope that she might come back some day. Forever gone.
Grissom look over his shoulder to find Catherine standing in the doorway. There were tears in her eyes, and her voice cracked as she spoke. Brass must have called her. She stepped cautiously into the room.
"Gil, dayshift is here. They need to process the room."
"No." The single syllable came out like a growl. He suddenly couldn't handle the idea of anyone else coming in, seeing her like this. Treating her like any other crime victim. "No. I will
"Griss, you can't. I can't. We're too close." She was behind him now, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"I have to, Cath. I have to do this one last thing for her." The tear that was in Catherine's eye now ran down her cheek, and it was only then that Grissom realized that his own eyes were dry. How strange. He should be crying, or screaming, throwing things. Instead he reached for his kit and begin to pull out what he would need to process the room. Latter, he knew, would come the tears and recriminations. When the numbness wore off there would be grief and pain and anger. First, though, there was the job. Not because it was the most important thing, like he had been so often accused of. But because he had to find justice for one more victim. He had to make sure that she would be at peace. This, he knew, he could do for her. So often he had failed to give her what she wanted, but this time he could give her what she needed. For Sara.
With that he sat back and smiled.


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GENEALOGY-DNA-L ArchivesArchiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2005-05 > 1117279852
Subject: Re: [DNA] Middle Eastern ancestral markers on new Euro 1.0 test
Date: Sat, 28 May 2005 07:30:52 EDT
In a message dated 5/27/2005 9:38:22 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
rural French enclave where so many babies are born with "Mongolian blue
spots" in the small of their backs.
now this is agroup that should have the whole mtDNA string done (or at least
some of them should) and Where IS that $1000 Y-DNA genome? ::Stomping foot::
This thread:


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StrainSense supports Progressive on new sports bra design
Progressive are a Sports research and design company based at Loughborough University's Sports Technology Institute. They wanted to measure the tension exerted by sports bra straps and underbands so that the 3D motion testing of the garments could be normalised. Without a suitable product available on the market to help them do this Progressive required a bespoke solution.
Working with StrainSense, the team developed a small hand held strain gauge that enabled quick handheld measurements to be made during testing. Using a digital ossiliscope to display the results adjustments to each bra could be made in real-time.
The bespoke solution has enabled Progressive to improve the quality of its testing and findings to a level that previously had not been possible. Ross Weir, Innovations Director of Progressive comments "Working with StrainSense to develop a bespoke solution meant that we could use the testing results to develop a product that met our customers' needs."


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MADISON - Charlie Partridge has always made it a point to mold his players at the defensive line position at least enough to feature a deep rotation. That way, particularly in the middle, players don't get worn out and they don't start giving up too much ground in the trenches.
When fall camp opens up in August, Partridge, also one of two new defensive coordinators, will have yet another healthy rotation at the position. To start, Louis Nzegwu and David Gilbert are two relatively seasoned veterans at the end position returning with plenty of experience.
Neither will be able to completely replace the void left by J.J. Watt, but both proved to be making some gains as spring camp wore on. That is an encouraging sign, especially since each of them are reaching the latter years of their Badger career.
Article Continues Below
"I like what our guys have done," UW head coach Bret Bielema said near the end of spring camp. "I like our new coaches, the philosophy and some of the coaching that they've changed a little bit. I think up front, Louis Nzegwu, Brendan Kelly and David Gilbert are going to be three really good defensive ends."
Kelly, who returned to action after missing a large chunk of time with a severe groin injury over the past season, opened plenty of eyes throughout spring camp. He was active at the line of scrimmage, quick to make plays and seemed motivated to return to regular action.
Should he continue to stay healthy, at least based off his improvement during spring drills, Kelly will be a much-needed boost to the end position. If nothing else, he'll provide depth at a position that desperately needs to produce.
"If you guys remember, we played him as a true freshman because he's a really good player," Bielema said. "Because he hasn't played so long, he's got a lot of desire to get out there and he's a great kid. So it's great to finally see him back out there."
Kelly started spring camp buried on the depth chart but ended it firmly inside the two-deep. That, moving forward, is his goal.
"I'm finally out here and I want to stay out here," Kelly said early in spring camp. "I want to crack the two deep and just really progress and get my skills back on the defensive line because I've been out of the game for so long.
"And just really mature and solidify myself as a leader on the defense."
Pat Muldoon and Warren Herring also made strides throughout spring camp and seem to be another couple of guys that will add depth to the end position.
The defensive tackle position is equally as deep. Patrick Butrym, Jordan Kohout, Ethan Hemer and Beau Allen all return as guys who received plenty of reps throughout the course of last season. That should do nothing but benefit them entering 2011.
Butrym, as the position's only senior, will provide the leadership inside that has helped turn the UW defensive line into one of the better run stopping units in the Big Ten over the past couple of seasons. He's played in a bevy of games - essentially started as a sophomore - and returns with more experience than most everybody on the entire defensive line.
"He's giving great leadership," Bielema said in regards to Butrym. "I really believe we've got four or five guys inside now that are probably as solid a group inside the interior tackles since I've been here."
Add Kyle Costigan and Eriks Briedis to the mix at tackle, too. Though they are a little lower on the depth chart, they are still guys who will compete come fall camp and push the players above them. That, in short, is the sign of a strongly coached unit.
There will be one interesting development at the defensive line position when fall camp rolls around in a couple of months. Tyler Dippel, who missed all of spring drills, will likely be back and ready to compete for a spot in the two deep. Having come on strong a season ago, particularly late in the year, Dippel, like Kelly, will return with a strong motor.
He'll be hungry to contribute especially since he missed all 15 practices during the spring.
If there was one theme that rose to the forefront at the defensive line position, it's the fact that it may be the deepest it's been since Bielema became the head coach.
Then there are a couple of younger guys like Konrad Zagzebski, Jake Irwin and Bryce Gilbert that made strides throughout spring camp. Though they'll probably not crack the two deep this season, all three of those guys still play an integral role at their respective positions.
"It's nice to have those guys because you have an actual one, two and third line," Kelly said. "You don't have to worry about if you're a second stringer running with the threes. It's great to bring those guys along and see them develop. They can watch and learn from the older, more experienced guys and still get time to develop with the younger guys."
Defensive end:
-Louis Nzegwu, SR
-Brendan Kelly, JR
-Tyler Dippel, SOPH
Defensive end:
-David Gilbert, JR
-Pat Muldoon, SOPH
-Warren Herring, FR
Defensive tackle:
-Patrick Butrym, SR
-Ethan Hemer, SOPH
-Eriks Briedis, JR
Defensive tackle:
-Jordan Kohout, SOPH
-Beau Allen, SOPH
-Kyle Costigan, FR


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CATHEDRAL choir members will swap hymns for Prog-rock when they back Jethro Tull star Ian Anderson later this week (December 14).
Ian Anderson and Friends will give a Christmas concert at St Nicholas' Cathedral, in Newcastle, in aid of Cathedral funds.
The show will include carols, classical music and Jethro Till tracks, including Aqualung with a Cathedral organ introduction.
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Mr Anderson said: "I'm not a true blue Christian but I support the Church and value our great traditions of faith and worship.
"I value the architectural heritage of an age which will not come again. Once the roof falls in, it will turn into a block of flats or a Starbucks."
The show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets can be booked by calling The Sage Gateshead on 0191-4434661.