text:
Everything you want to know about books & authors. It is THE place to find read-alikes, author biographies, plot summaries, specific settings, specific genres, book publishing and purchasing, series information, book reviews, and more!
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About: This pathfinder is an annotated bibliography designed to assist in research for the topic of the American Civil War. The list contains non-fiction items that are held by the Troy-Miami County Public Library. The pathfinder guide does not contain all books the library has on the subject, but is designed as an introduction to the larger collection of library holdings.
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About: This pathfinder is an annotated bibliography designed to assist in research for the topic of World War One. The list contains non-fiction items that are held by the Troy-Miami County Public Library. The pathfinder guide does not contain all books the library has on the subject but is designed as an introduction to the larger collection of library holdings.


text: Carl Baldwin <email@example.com> writes: > > Is anyone out there able to map keys to arbitrary commands in KDE. I > have been wondering about this for a long time. Right now I am using > KDE 3.1 and would like to map extra keys on the keyboard to control > xmms. I can't find a way to do it from the control center and I have > searched the web for a while without a clue. A workaround is to put the commands you want in the K menu by using the menu editor. Then, you can assign a shortcut key (and you can hide the menu entry, if you don't want it to appear in the regular K menu). Regards, Gaute Hvoslef Kvalnes

subset: commoncrawl


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The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of an $8.4 million loan to Jamaica to assist the government in establishing a more dynamic, equitable, and efficient land market.
The resources will finance new technological and administrative processes and better management and planning in four areas: land registration, public land management, land information management, and land use planning and development.
The project is designed to improve the accessibility of all segments of the population, including low-income groups, to land markets, as well as to provide greater protection to property rights of all sectors of society, including women heads of households, through existing legal norms. In addition, the project will reduce legal uncertainty and lead to greater access to credit and more investment in sounder and more productive land use.
Among the results of the program, some 270,000 certificates of title and 5,000 deposited land use plans will be computerized and indexed. In the targeted parish of St. Catherine, land tenure for 30,000 parcels will be clarified.
The total cost of the program, to be carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Housing,* is $12 million.
The IDB loan is for a 20-year term, with a 3-year grace period, at the variable interest rate, now 6.84 percent. Local counterpart funds total $3.6 million.
Part of the interest will be defrayed by the Intermediate Financing Facility.
*Ministry of Environment and Housing
Tel. (876) 926-1590; fax (876) 020-6616
Hello, Welcome to the IDB!
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text: At the camp on the first night we set up camp by pitching our tents and starting the fire. We had 7 meals a day in this order 1.breakfast 2. morning tea 3. lunch 4. afternoon tea 5. dinner 6. dessert 7. supper. After supper was sleep and a person was snoring on the first night and kept me awake all night and I was so tired the next morning I had to be puled out of the tent. On Sunday we all went in the water in canoes or the tubes and one of the boys lost their school hat in the lake. One of the best part of the camp was finding a really big log that burnt until we went home but my overall favorite part was being with all my friends.


text:
Visa to Canada
Processing of canada permit
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Visa to Canada
Processing of canada permit
3.Dec.2012, 04:17 PM
Post #1
Joined: 25.Aug.2012
I would like to know if anyone has an idea of how to apply for a Canadian visa here in Stockholm. I am here on Sambo .. I went through their website and not enough information was given. I need someone who has applied to give me guidlines on what documents to submit. I appreciate the response.
4.Dec.2012, 11:10 AM
Post #2
Joined: 4.Dec.2012
Last year, I have applied for a Canadian visa from Sweden. As I remember, it was necessary to send the application along with the passport to London since the Canadian embassy in Stockholm do not process visas.
I was on business trip, so I followed the instructions at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/business/apply.asp.
Hope this was helpful!
4.Dec.2012, 03:25 PM
Post #3
Joined: 25.Aug.2012
Thanks for the response dime, really appreciate. I plan applying for a tourist visa but i do not know anyone out there. I am going with my sambo. we do not know if they will ask for an invitation letter or a hotel reservation is fine . Were you successful getting the visa last year. please let me know if you have an idea if a hotel reservation will work. Thanks a milli in advance
4.Dec.2012, 07:17 PM
Post #4
Joined: 4.Aug.2012
Hi there,
I have quite good knowledge of the Ca process. First of all what passport do you hold ?, secondly how long do you wish to stay ?, what nationality is the person that you will be entering with ? and do you have a return flight ?
4.Dec.2012, 08:45 PM
Post #5
Joined: 25.Aug.2012
Hi Kat
thanks for the response . i have a ghana passport but here on sambo. my sambo is swedish. we plan staying for 2 weeks. yes i have a return flight. please respomnd. Do i need a hotel reservation since i have no friend over in canada.
Thanks in advance
4.Dec.2012, 09:48 PM
Post #6
Joined: 4.Aug.2012
Hey Lucky,
Your Swedish sambo will not require a visa. (you probably know this), if you are a legal resident of Sweden and have proof that you have been so for a year or more then you will also not require this. However, you WILL need upon landing, proof that you have accommodation and travel plans whilst in Canada and a return ticket to Sweden. Canada is a very liberal country and will treat you fairly. If there is any doubt that you are intending to stay there, you must convince (with proof) that you have an on-going life back here in Sweden and that you will be returning for that very reason. i.e. a job, study family etc etc. You should contact the Canadian embassy in the U.K. to confirm, although they often give misleading information and most frequently with caution will just tell you to apply for a visa. You do not need one if you have met the criteria of living in Sweden legally for a year or more.
Hope this helps
4.Dec.2012, 10:04 PM
Post #7
Joined: 25.Aug.2012
Thanks Kat for the information , I really appreciate your response. Thanks alot.
4.Dec.2012, 10:14 PM
Post #8
Joined: 4.Aug.2012
No worries Lucky,
To be honest I think that you will be absolutely fine, upon arriving you will be granted the 90 day travel stamp in your passport. If you were coming directly from Ghana and seeing family there it may be a different story !!!. Canada is NOT like the U.S., I hope it works out for you guy's and have a wonderful time, I am going back for a visit soon having lived there and been a permanent resident for thirteen years !!!
Best of luck
5.Dec.2012, 08:34 PM
Post #9
Joined: 14.Jan.2009
Im Canadian
Dont even try flying to Canada without a visa, you will be denied entry. Apply for your visa before you even buy your air tickets !!!
5.Dec.2012, 10:19 PM
Post #10
Joined: 4.Aug.2012
Don't be an asshole, you are certainly NOT Canadian...No-one from Canada calls flights "Air-Tickets".
Provide an insight from your experience or bugger-off you retard.
6.Dec.2012, 07:32 PM
Post #11
Joined: 14.Jan.2009
IM not gonna reply to you retarded.
But heres what i was born at st joseph mercy hospital queen and roncesvalles, and lived almost all my adult live before i moved to Sweden at Queen and Lansdowne.
Dont assume shit...
Let the OP fly to Pearson and maybe he can let us know how it went without a visa in his passport.
7.Dec.2012, 11:47 AM
Post #12
Joined: 12.Aug.2008
Your Swedish sambo will not require a visa. (you probably know this), if you are a legal resident of Sweden and have proof that you have been so for a year or more then you will also not require this
Where exactly does it state so?
As far as I can tell, permanent residents of Sweden must apply in London, and theres no place saying you don't need a visa as a permanent resident? What you say about the immigration when landing, thats with everyone, have they visa or not. You can still be returned even you have a visa.
7.Dec.2012, 06:12 PM
Post #13
Location: Västra Götaland
Joined: 10.Apr.2011
As far as I can tell, permanent residents of Sweden must apply in London, and theres no place saying you don't need a visa as a permanent resident?
If you read the thread properly, you will realize that the sambo in question is a swedish citizen, not a permanent resident.
9.Dec.2012, 07:11 PM
Post #14
Location: Stockholm
Joined: 24.May.2011
Your sambo does not require a visa, however my guess it that you do, I have not come across any exceptions to this rule as described above.
In principle, visa requirements are made on citizenship, not residence. Of course there are a few known exemptions such as within the schenghen area, etc.
I would ring the Canadian Embassy and check this one, absolutely no harm in being sure and erring on the side of caution.
10.Dec.2012, 02:20 PM
Post #15
Joined: 12.Aug.2008
Hackie - luckylettie is from Ghana, on a Sambo visa in Sweden? Which part of "permanent resident" do you not get? Nobodys interested in the Swedish hubby part of the equation.


text:
Boris Lukyanchuk
Education: 1. Graduated from M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia in 1967, Specialty: Physics. Scientific Degrees: PhD from Lebedev Physical Institute, Academy of Sciences of USSR, 1979; Dr of Sciences (Physics and Mathematics) — Second Doctorate (Habilitation) from General Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of USSR, 1991; State Professor's Degree (Physics and Mathematics) from State Highest Certifying Committee of Russian Federation, 1992. Scientific Interests: Interaction of laser radiation with matter, Chemical processing with lasers, Nonlinear phenomena, Selforganization, Laser-ablation, Theory of nanocluster formation, Photomodification in polymers, Laser Cleaning, Plasmonics. Special Achievements: Honorary Professor at Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria, since 1991; IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Awards 2004, Singapore, 2004; Fellow of the Optical Society of America, since 2011 Publications: 6 monographs, 300 original papers.
Biography Updated on 6 February 2011


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text:
It's officially Week 1 of A Gluten-Free Holiday! This week, we're sharing tips, recipes, and ideas on how to stay healthy through the hectic and sometimes stressful holiday season. Over at Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free, Amy is giving away two copies of her new cookbook, Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free. She also has some amazing tips for healthier eating throughout the holidays.
My main focus this holiday season to stay healthy? I am planning my indulgences. My still-sensitive digestive system (much less my waistline) can't handle two months of free-for-all indulgences in sweets, starches, and heavy, carbohydrate-laden foods. Will I abstain completely from these things? Of course not – it is the holidays, after all. However, I will pick and choose mindfully when I wish to enjoy a treat (it will still be gluten and dairy-free regardless), and will make a point to sit down and truly enjoy that treat. The rest of the time, I plan to stick with meal planning as much as possible, so I can ensure I keep up my intake of green veggies and nourishing foods.
I have a number of other healthy tips for the holiday season here.
Do you have tips for a healthier holiday season? Do you want to enter for a chance to win Amy's new book? Visit Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free and share your tips! And don't forget to check back next week for Thanksgiving Favorites, hosted by Cook It Allergy Free.


text:
(PRWEB) May 23, 2014
The study, sponsored by the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), tests whether resveratrol, a compound found in red wine and red grapes, may be beneficial to patients suffering from mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Resveratrol has been shown to have multiple benefits for people with common illnesses associated with aging, but its role in Alzheimer's disease requires further investigation.
"We have validated the MSD assays for use in our resveratrol trial for primary endpoint analyses as well as exploratory biomarker work with samples from this trial," said Dr. Robert Rissman, Director of the ADCS Biomarker Core. Biomarkers in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), such as amyloid peptides and Tau, are useful in characterizing the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease as well as determining whether treatments are effective.
"We are pleased to be part of this important study. Our investment in the development of these assays is a reflection of our commitment to advancing studies in neurodegenerative diseases," said Jacob Wohlstadter, President and CEO of MSD.
MSD has been developing assays for neurodegeneration biomarkers for several years, but is now offering analytically validated assays to provide the Alzheimer's research community next generation assays of greater precision and robustness than previously available. The assays have proven useful in support of clinical trials and longitudinal studies.
"We look forward to working with MSD on CSF biomarkers throughout the course of this study," said Dr. Paul Aisen, Director of the ADCS. The resveratrol trial includes 26 U.S. academic institutions affiliated with the ADCS. It is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.
About Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC.
Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC., based in Rockville, Maryland, develops, manufactures, and markets instruments and assays for array-based biological measurements for research use in life sciences and for biodefense applications. MSD is the world's leading provider of highly sensitive multiplex immunoassays. More information about MSD and its products can be found at http://www.mesoscale.com.


text:
MDEP was established in 2006 as a multinational initiative to develop innovative approaches to leverage the resources and knowledge of the national regulatory authorities that are currently or will be tasked with the review of new nuclear power reactor designs. The nuclear regulatory authorities of 15 countries participate in MDEP, which includes 5 design-specific working groups and 3 issue-specific working groups. The Nuclear Energy Agency facilitates MDEP activities by providing technical secretariat services for the programme. The MDEP Policy Group (PG) and the Steering Technical Committee (STC) oversee the programme.
Further details about the organisational structure of MDEP can be found in the terms of reference
Current MDEP members include national regulators from:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also participates in key aspects of MDEP's activities. For more details, please refer to the terms of reference.
MDEP's main objectives can be defined as follows:
To carry out the work, two main lines of activity have been implemented:
A key concept throughout the work of the MDEP is that national regulators retain sovereign authority for all licensing and regulatory decisions.
For more information on the MDEP's accomplishments to date and future work, please see this year's annual report: MDEP 2016 Annual Report.
MDEP engages with key stakeholders involved in ensuring the safety of new reactor designs, manufacturing, construction and operation. At this time, these stakeholders include other national regulatory authorities and international organisations involved in ensuring nuclear safety including the IAEA, Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA), NEA Committees on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) and Safety of Nuclear Installations (CSNI), the various reactor vendors, nuclear component manufacturers, mechanical and electrical standards development organisations, reactor operators and licensees and key industry representatives such as World Nuclear Association (WNA).
To this end, the MDEP has organised three conferences (in 2009, 2011 and 2014, to communicate its work with various stakeholders. The MDEP also issues press releases that cover the programme's major events and milestones. However, individual regulators retain sole responsibility for communication on specific new reactor issues.
New chair takes over at the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP)
The Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) has appointed Dr Allison M. Macfarlane of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as its new chair. Dr Macfarlane replaces André-Claude Lacoste, former chair of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire, ASN). Read more...
UAE nuclear regulator joins the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP)
On 24-26 September 2012, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) participated in its first MDEP meeting as a new associate member, on the occasion of the MDEP Steering Technical Committee meeting which was held in Beijing, China. Read more...
Indian nuclear regulatory body (AERB) joins the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP)
On 4 April 2012, India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) became the first new member in the MDEP since its inception in 2006. Read more...
Update on MDEP chair and new members
As of 1 January 2015, Mr Petteri Tiippana, Director-General of the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), succeeded Dr Allison Macfarlane as chair of the MDEP Policy Group. On 17 May 2013, Sweden (SSM – Swedish Radiation Safety Authority) was admitted as the 13th Member of MDEP. On 7 January 2014, Turkey (TAEK – Turkish Atomic Energy Authority) was admitted as the 14th member of MDEP. On 17 November 2015 Hungary (HAEA – Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority) was admitted as the 15th member of MDEP.
In accordance with the terms of reference, the MDEP carries out its work through design-specific and issue-specific working groups as follows: s:
Working groups for each new reactor design will share information and co-operate on specific reactor design evaluations, construction, commissioning, and early phase operation. Participants in these working groups should be MDEP member regulatory authorities (or their technical support organisations) who are interested in a specific reactor design and are willing and capable of contributing positively to the group's activities. Design-specific working groups will be formed when three or more countries express an interest in working together.
Working groups have been established for selected technical and regulatory process areas within the MDEP's Programme of work. These currently include
Last reviewed: 23 August 2017


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[JURIST] AP is reporting that the US House has approved a dramatic increase in fines for indecent broadcast programming.
3:38 PM ET - The House passed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 [bill summary] by a vote of 389-38 [vote results]. The bill raises the maximum fine for indecent programming to $500,000 for both companies and individual entertainers. The current maximum penalty for companies is $32,500, and entertainers currently face an $11,000 maximum fine. The White House has said that it strongly supports the bill, which "will make broadcast television and radio more suitable for family viewing." Opponents of the bill say that increased penalties will stifle free speech. The Senate is currently considering a similar measure, and any differences in the two versions will have to be resolved before the bill can go to President Bush for his signature. The two houses were unable to reach a compromise on the issue last year. The FCC has background on broadcast decency standards. AP has more.


text: On Mon, Sep 11, 2006 at 04:26:30PM +0200, Henning Thielemann wrote: > On Sat, 9 Sep 2006, Ross Paterson wrote: > > I think that a finer grain numeric hierarchy, while retaining Num, etc, > > is feasible without changing the language: unlike the case of monads, > > the people who will be defining instances of numeric classes are the > > very ones who are inconvenienced by the current hierarchy. The main > > impact on clients of the classes is that some functions would have > > more general types. > > There are many Num instances around in libraries where people wrap to > external libraries: functionalMetapost, CSound wrapper in Haskore, > SuperCollider (GSL too?). What about Num (algebraically Ring) instances of > polynomials, residue classes and other such advanced mathematical objects? And what do abs and signum mean for Haskore's orchestra expressions, polynomials, residue classes, vectors, matrices, functions, etc? The people who define those wish they were defining Ring, but they must define Num.


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casey.hodg988430wrote a review of FOX Racing Shox 32 Float 29 100 FIT CTD Fork - 2013 on September 13, 2013
great action but too flexy
Familiarity: I've used it several times
I've put this fork through several XC rides and the flex is almost unbearable to me. there is considerable rearward flex under braking, even just tooling around the driveway. I've tried every tuning trick Fox recommends and none of it helps. I would return if backwoods had a suitable non-Fox option. very disappointed with my first Fox fork.
This is replacing a Reba with 9mm qr, so i was hoping for improved stiffness and control.
3 stars only because it does smooth out the trail better than any fork i've had.


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New Bern�s Centenary United Methodist Church dedicated its new Columbarium and Memorial Garden Sunday after nearly five years of planning, design and construction.
New Bern�s Centenary United Methodist Church dedicated its new Columbarium and Memorial Garden Sunday after nearly five years of planning, design and construction.
The Rev. Susan Pate Greenwood, the church�s senior pastor, conducted a ritual of consecration following Sunday�s worship service in the small garden fronting New Street. About 150 people attended the event, which followed the 11 a.m. church service.
The beautifully landscaped memorial garden has four benches and underground niches for urns covered with granite nameplates line. Above-ground niches are in two locations.
Speaking briefly to a group that filled the new garden and spilled over onto adjacent areas, Greenwood said the columbarium and celebratory event were only possible because of the dogged determination, tenacity and generosity of a few dedicated church members who longed for a sacred place for the ashes of their loved ones.
She praised the committee that worked on getting both church council and New Bern Historical Preservation Committee approval, and she expressed appreciation for the help of neighboring Christian communities who shared information about their columbaria, including Garber United Methodist Church in Trent Woods, and neighboring First Presbyterian Church and Christ Episcopal Church.
Greenwood had special recognition for Mary Cox Bullock, who was a guiding force of the Centenary Columbarium and Memorial Garden.
�Her many years of faithful and diligent labor made it possible,� the pastor said.
Bullock worked for more than 14 years, through several different committees and church councils, which tabled the proposal, before seeing the Centenary Columbarium and Memorial Garden become a reality.
After the dedication, Bullock brushed off the praise, saying, �It was just persistence and my big mouth.�
Greenwood noted the creative design and skilled execution of Christian artist Benny Thompson, who incorporated a predominant cross sculpture into the ironwork fronting the handicapped entrance and framing the backdrop for the Columbarium and Memorial Garden.
Thompson said: �I am very touched. I am just honored by the opportunity to build this memorial to Jack (Pearson Huddle) and his family.�
Plaques for the contributions of both are already posted, along with those honoring Susan Brinson Howard, Robert �Bob� Armstrong, Don Wayne Mattocks and Joyce Downey Connor.
Marcia L. Richmond of the church�s Columbarium Committee said, �The memorial garden walls have bronze memorial plaques for loved ones buried elsewhere or to memorialize any loved one, whether a church member or not.�
An underground sprinkler system has been installed in the memorial garden as well as in the Evelyn Haire Prayer Garden, Richmond said. One of the reasons for choosing the site on New Street was because it was convenient for people attending funerals at Centenary to proceed directly outside the handicap ramp for the interment of ashes in the columbarium.
�Best of all, it looks like it�s always been here and that�s the most important thing to the Historic Preservation,� Greenwood said after the service.
Richmond said, �The project wasn�t without hiccups and delays,� including Preservation Society requests for minor modifications, relocation of the bell and buried time capsule, and beige bricks custom made to match those in place.
One committee member commented that it was almost like �birthing a baby� � a long wait, but very worth it.
Centenary United Methodist Church is the oldest continuing Methodist church south and east of Baltimore, with the present building completed in 1904. It was established during a 1772 visit to New Bern by the Rev. Joseph Pilmoor. It was first called Andrews Chapel and was located on nearby Hancock Street.
Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665.


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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — An interim director has been appointed to help guide the work of a council that advises California agencies on mental health treatment for residents at risk of incarceration.
Nathan Stanley was named to the post Thursday after the members of the Council on Mentally Ill Offenders told The Associated Press they couldn't meet the council's legal obligations without staff help.
Most of the 12 volunteer members work fulltime professional jobs.
Stanley doubles as associate director of field operations for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He will do both jobs while officials search for a permanent executive director.
The panel is supposed to make recommendations to the prison system, state agencies and law enforcement on cost-effective ways to keep the mentally ill from committing crimes.


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Reed's law firm operated under his name
WASHINGTON – Rep. Tom Reed's Corning law office continued to operate under his name while he has been serving as a member of Congress, despite House ethics and American Bar Association rules that appear to bar that practice.
Legal documents filed in Corning City Court and obtained by The Buffalo News showed that "The Law Office of Thomas W. Reed II, PLLC" continued to operate under that name through at least 2011, after Reed's election to Congress in November 2010.
And an online search of cases reveals that the law firm using Reed's name filed 194 cases in Corning City Court in 2011 and nine more in 2012. Most appear to be medical debt collection cases Reed's firm filed on behalf of Corning Hospital or the Guthrie Clinic.
And although Reed has not practiced law since joining the House, he listed his law firm – with his name in it – on his most recent personal financial disclosure statement. And the law firm's registration with the New York State Department of State was listed as active as recently as Friday.
All of this appears to fly in the face of the Rules of the House of Representatives, which say that lawmakers and their staff members cannot practice law outside of Congress "or permit the name of such individual to be used by such a firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity."
In addition, by continuing to have his law firm named after himself, Reed appears to be in violation of the bar association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which say: "The name of a lawyer holding a public office shall not be used in the name of a law firm, or in communications on its behalf, during any substantial period in which the lawyer is not actively and regularly practicing with the firm."
The Reed camp insisted he had done nothing wrong.
"Tom hasn't practiced law since he took office and in fact never renewed his license," said Katherine Pudwill, Reed's campaign spokeswoman. "The law firm in question is no longer operating: ongoing actions were transferred to another attorney, the firm was dismantled and assets disposed of in accordance with House ethics rules."
Tom Rust, interim chief counsel and staff director at the House Ethics Committee, said he could not comment on Reed's situation.
Bill Choyke, senior strategist with the American Bar Association's Communications and Media Relations Division, said there's good reason why an officeholder should not keep his or her name attached to a law firm.
"In short, it is misleading to include someone's name in the firm name if they are not actually practicing with the firm," Choyke said.
Reed's congressional aides responded with a statement from Joe Rizzo, a Rochester lawyer who has handled the dissolution of Reed's legal practice.
"Tom ceased the practice of law upon taking office," Rizzo said. "As outside counsel we proactively sought guidance from the Ethics Committee and worked with him to dispose of the firm's assets so that it could be dissolved in accordance with the ethical guidelines – a process which is nearly complete.
"We have been fully transparent with the committee and in Tom's disclosures throughout the entire process," Rizzo added. "Any suggestion that we have not acted appropriately within the ethics laws at every turn is inaccurate and without legal merit."
email: email@example.com


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Below you will find information to help both students who are interested in Military Psychology and those who are seeking career information and opportunities. You also may find updated and useful information on our student website.
Student membership in Div. 19 can provide many benefits. Student members will receive our quarterly journal, Military Psychology, and our biannual newsletter, The Military Psychologist, as well as membership on our division email list.
In addition, membership in the division ensures your eligibility to apply for student awards. The division also provides opportunities for mentorship, networking and organizational participation within a diverse community of both clinical and research psychologists.
Are You a Student Interested in Conducting Military-related Research?
The Consortium Research Fellows Program (CRFP) is a partnership between the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area and several Department of Defense agencies. The CRFP fosters a strong relationship between the higher education community and the Department of Defense.
Student Awards
The Society for Military Psychology is proud to support students conducting research in the field of military psychology. Our division sponsors an annual research grant of $1500 for a student project demonstrating excellence in the field and provides travel grants of $750 to help defray students' cost of travel to the annual APA convention.
We've prepared three webpages to help you locate information about careers in military psychology.
Board Certification
The American Board of Police and Public Safety is open to military applicants as a new board certification opportunity.
Student Affairs
Chair (APA Convention, Student Chapter Network)
Angela E. Legner, MA Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
901 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20005
Chair-select (Membership, Communications)
Kevin O'Leary
Clinical Psychology Department
Antioch University New England
40 Avon Street
Keene, NH 03431
Past Chair
(Student Awards/Grants, HPSP Scholarships, Internship/Residency/Fellowship Information)
Jennifer A. Barry
Clinical Psychology Department
American School of Professional Psychology
Argosy University
1550 Wilson Blvd., Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22209


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Proud day of remembrance
Small crowd of local residents gather to celebrate lives of departed veterans
Even before the Memorial Day ceremonies began at Fir Hill Cemetery in Sandy, everyone knew the day would be special.
Unexpectedly, two F-18 fighter jets flew over the cemetery twice - on their way to a scheduled fly-over in Estacada and once again on their way back to their Portland base.
Even though it happened a few minutes before the Sandy ceremonies began, attendees accepted it as a sign of respect and remembrance.
Also special was the Pledge of Allegiance, recited from memory by 3-year-old Lilian Engblom of Sandy.
Speaking before the group were Post Commander Terry Boyer and Senior Vice Commander Merle Stewart, who called Monday a 'proud day of remembrance.'
Stewart described sacred and hallowed ground in Washington, D.C.; Hawaii; Normandy, France; and the Philippines as testament to the price of 'achieving and maintaining freedom around the globe.'
He also reminded those present to set an example and teach our youths about the cost of freedom.
'As American citizens,' he said, 'we must not only remember the fallen, but it is our duty to teach our youths that nothing comes without a price - that sacrifices are meaningless without remembrance.'
After several floral dedications to fallen comrades, the familiar bugle sounds of 'Taps' filtered through the evergreen trees at Fir Hill - a fitting tribute to all veterans of wars beyond our borders.


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rare! STEVIE RAY VAUGHN Vaughan Leather Concert Jacket
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STEVIE RAY VAUGHN Vaughan Leather Concert Jacket This is the only leather jacket I have left for the annual SRV Ride & Birthday Jam. The jacket is brand new top quality 100% leather jacket. Impress your family and friends and be one of only a few people who has this very special jacket! Choose from this style in Medium and black cloth waist banded leather jacket in Large and XL. is also available without any waist banding for a more comfortable fit. The annual SRV shows are held at Cowboys in Arlington, Texas This would be a great gift for that fan or collector Since people like to collect all of the SRV Bday Jams items, this is a PREMIUM SRV item to start any collection.
Shipping is $15 via USPS Priority Mail, insurance is required and is $2.40 for up to $200. To insure for more add $1.10 for each additional $100.
including Lithographs, posters, vintage 1960's Sam Phillips record invoices, high quality autographs and other concert and music memorabilia!


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Piecing together profitable partnershipsOctober 2015
As more and more corporates team up with environmental and social campaign groups to help drive improvements in sustainability performance, what impact is the changing landscape of partnerships having on the effectiveness of NGO campaigning and bringing companies to book for poor performance? Tom Idle reports
It's no time to be working for a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in central Asia. Described as "battering rams" by government officials, China is considering new laws to restrict just what independent organisations can get away with, recently detaining five women for more than a month for campaigning against sexual harassment.
In Cambodia, the state says it must handcuff any NGO workers that cause political trouble. A new law in Indonesia has set tight restrictions on NGOs to deter them from "disrupting the stability and integrity" of the country. And only three months ago, officials in Pakistan shut down the local Save the Children offices, accusing its aid workers of being spies.
While NGO-aversion is widespread in the East, the same can't be said for what's happening here in the West, particularly within the business community. Possessing levels of trust that most companies could only dream of, more and more organisations are keen to cosy-up to NGOs, rather than tread in fear of them, in a bid to leverage some of their charm. According to the latest Corporate-NGO Partnerships Barometer, enhancing brand and improving credibility remain the primary motives for companies wanting to get into bed with NGOs. While, for most NGOs (98%), getting access to significant cash resources remains the number one reason to partner with a corporate.
Of course, NGOs have long played a key role in pushing the sustainable development agenda at an international level, with campaign groups acting as key cogs in the wheels of inter-governmental negotiations. Whether it is bringing into force a ban on CFCs or the elimination of slavery – NGOs have been a driving force in bringing about positive environmental and social change in the world.
But facing a retreat by many governments favouring an anti-regulation agenda, NGOs have slowly but surely targeted powerful corporations, some of which dwarf entire nations in terms of their buying power, influence and resources.
Yet, they continue to bring companies to book for poor performance. Only recently, Forest Heroes got creative to force palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari to take action on forest clearances across Indonesia. The business, the parent company of luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental, was targeted by a series of mocking video ads. Playing on the hotel company's 'She's a fan' slogan and TV spots, regularly backed by celebrities like Kevin Spacey, it created the slogan 'She's not a fan' and splashed images of endangered Sumatran elephants all over the ads – one of the popular animals it claims are being threatened by the loss of habitat associated with Astra Agro Lestari's expansion of palm oil plantations. The campaign also featured video footage captured by drones revealing some of the evidence that Forest Heroes claims supports its assessment that Astra Agro has cleared some 14,000 hectares of forest since 2007 and cleared 27,000 hectares of peatland in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the corporate-NGO partnerships we know and love – such as the Sky-WWF team which gave birth to the Sky Rainforest Rescue initiative, or the Marks & Spencer-Oxfam partnership which has popularised 'Shwopping' – continue to create mutual value for both parties.
But a new type of relationship has also been emerging – one which sees the traditional protagonists get a lot closer to the so-called 'enemy'. This new form of partnership, sometimes involving a consortia of players, is a sign that the responsible business agenda is maturing, according to Manny Amadi, chief executive of C&E Advisory, which runs the Corporate-NGO Partnerships Barometer. As companies and NGOs work together to tackle an array of common sustainability challenges, from tackling climate change, to addressing health issues such as obesity, "both parties are recognising the greater reach, impact and value provided by this model of partnering," he says.
It is in dealing with supply chain issues that these new relationships seem to be gaining most traction. Despite best intentions, big companies with long, complex and wieldy supply bases are failing to trace raw materials and commodities effectively, and have little knowledge whether their products and services are fuelling modern day slavery or deforestation, for example. With a lack of oversight, or presence on the ground, they have realised that NGOs can unlock some of the complexities involved in working with dispersed suppliers, particularly in the developing world.
In early 2013, Greenpeace announced that it would suspend active campaigning against the world's third largest paper and packaging business Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), after three years of continuous protest against the business for blindly chopping down trees across Indonesia, home to endangered tigers and orang-utans.
In a clear response to the aggressive Greenpeace campaign – which saw it target high-profile APP customers, such as the toy company Mattel and the fast-food chain KFC, urging them to stop buying products packaged in APP's materials – the paper business released a new Forest Conservation Policy (FCP). It promised an immediate moratorium on any further forest clearance by all of its Indonesian suppliers, as well as a pledge that independent assessments would be conducted to establish areas for protection. It was a big success for Greenpeace and APP's move was described by environmentalist Tory MP and wannabe London Mayor successor Zac Goldsmith as the "most dramatic turnaround of any global green villain ever seen".
And it also kick-started a willingness from APP to be more open and transparent about both the challenges it faces and how well it is overcoming them. Now in constructive dialogue with Greenpeace, rather than cowering under attack, the business invited another NGO, the Rainforest Alliance (RA), to independently assess how well it was meeting its new FCP one year on.
Earlier this year, the RA reported its findings, which while not entirely glowing (the company was found to still be failing to stop deforestation and illegal activities in its concessions) it did boost its credibility, drawing many plaudits for its transparency.
Similarly, the chocolate and coffee company Nestlé decided to team up with The Forest Trust (TFT) to ensure its sourcing of palm oil was not contributing to illegal rainforest and peatland clearance – a direct response to another Greenpeace campaign attacking the company's connections with the Indonesian palm oil producer, Sinar Mas, which had been accused of illegal deforestation.
TFT – which has also worked with Kingfisher and Marks & Spencer to improve the procurement of wood from sustainable sources – will visit plantations and verify that Nestlé's suppliers are meeting a set of agreed palm oil-sourcing guidelines. It is a partnership that the TFT's executive director Scott Poynton says "sends a message to the industry that segregated palm oil – that is to say factories that only deal with certified palm oil – is the way forward".
These types of partnerships, with a clear purpose and an ability to create positive impact at scale, are likely to stand the test of time. By opening up and inviting independent scrutiny, these businesses can ill-afford to mess up.
Similarly, by adopting a more seemingly friendly approach, the NGOs in question are putting their own reputations on the line too.
The importance of partnerships will only grow, according to the C&E data, with pressure on business to demonstrate societal consideration (85%), and a desire for both business and NGO to leverage each other's assets (80%) being the key drivers for more partnerships to emerge.
Clearly, given the structural and cultural differences of both parties, getting NGO-corporate partnerships to be effective and valuable has its challenges, not least in finding and agreeing on common goals and building trust. But the benefits of teaming up for the common good "are likely to outweigh their inherent challenges," says Amadi. However, he warns that the perceived value of becoming bedfellows with an organisation seen traditionally as being on 'the other side' will only be truly realised "through effective planning and skilful navigation of real and often substantive challenges".
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HOUSTON - As soon as Ben Zobrist launched himself toward the bag, he knew he was out.
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Out of the game, that is.
Determined to cut down on risky headfirst slides, the Houston Astros are doing something about it. They've put a unique policy into effect for all of their minor leaguers: If any of them try it at first base or home plate, their manager is required to immediately pull them.
While All-Stars Roberto Alomar, Derek Jeter and Scott Rolen have gotten hurt in the past going headfirst - and Junior Spivey, Rafael Furcal and Carl Everett were banged up this year - the Astros want to teach their young players to avoid them.
''We tell our guys that it's a low-percentage play, and that you can get injured doing it,'' Astros director of player development Tim Purpura said.
Only a week into his pro career, Zobrist got an early exit recently with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the Class A New York-Penn League. Hoping to beat out an infield grounder against Batavia, the promising prospect made a dive for it at Troy, N.Y.
Zobrist was nipped in a close play, then heard manager Gregg Langbehn whistle from the dugout. One inning into the game, Zobrist was already back on the bench.
''As soon as I did it, I thought, 'Oh, no!''' said Zobrist, picked in the sixth round of the June draft. ''I knew I was getting taken out.
''They told me about the rule when I got here. I'd done it in college, but that's the lesson I learned.''
Langbehn said: ''He was trying to make a hustle play, and I can't fault him for that. But how many sprinters dive across the finish line? You're better off running through the bag.''
The Astros make exceptions for plays in which runners go headfirst trying to avoid tags. Diving into second base and third base is allowed, although not encouraged.
Purpura said the policy went into effect after Roger Cedeno broke his hand on a headfirst slide into first base in May 2000. The Houston speedster spent nearly three months on the disabled list, and the Astros looked to cut down on dislocated digits and jammed joints.
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Jan 01, 1998 | 160 Pages
This amazing man, this great intellect, this magnificent genius with his overwhelming love of humanity is a devastating challenge to a society built on hypocrisy, greed and profit-seeking at the expense of common humanity. -The New York Times
"[Robeson's] nobility, his language, his encouragement and his praise put me forever in his debt because it inspired me fully . . . to be like him, and to use my life as he had used his, to put into it the commitment of the liberation of his people and all people." -Harry Belafonte in Restoring Hope
"Robeson's book is a perennial, first published in 1958, and now a voice from a different time. It anticipates for black persons the 'moral support of the American majority' with an intensity that now seems evangelical. It's full of a probably tragic hope. It should be read." -The Boston Globe


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DEFINITION of 'Forex Charting Software'
An analytical, computer-based tool used to help currency traders with forex trading analysis by charting the price of various currency pairs along with various indicators. Forex charting software packages are used by many traders to determine the direction on any given currency pair.
BREAKING DOWN 'Forex Charting Software'
There is a wide range of forex charting software, which varies in appearance and functionality. However, users should look for several things in forex charting software that will help them to get the most out of their trading, including:
- Is it free, or if there is a nominal charge? What additional features are made available?
- What technical indicators are available?
- Is the software Windows, Macintosh (Mac), or internet (Java or HTML) based?
- Can you trade from the charts?
- Is historical data made available through the software?
- Is the graphical user interface (GUI) pleasing to look at?
- Is the GUI conducive to monitoring a lot of information at once?
Most forex brokers allow traders to open a demo account prior to funding a full account or mini account. This allows users to try out each broker's charting software during a trial period.


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A Jew falls in love with a Palestinian: Why 'Miral' has everyone up in arms [VIDEO UPDATE]
For this week's Jewish Journal cover, I expanded upon an earlier post I had written, asking why some Jews were lobbing a fusillade of criticism at the film. Working from my initial thesis—that SOME Jews simply can't handle anything remotely sympathetic to the Palestinian perspective—I interviewed some of the people who criticized the film, its incendiary screening at the U.N., as well as those who liked the movie and support its message.
Whatever one's feelings about the film's politics or even its integrity as a engaging narrative, I believe it deserves to be seen with open eyes and open hearts.
Was it overtly political for this film to screen at the U.N.? Yes. I think there are movies about the conflict that are more balanced and appropriate for the incipient United Nations Film Club. As Rabbi Marvin Hier points out in my story, the U.N. could have screened two contrasting films representing both sides of the conflict. But with respect to Miral, art does not have an obligation to objectivity. This film is NOT a history of the Arab-Israeli conflict; it is the story of one woman's life. And no, it is not especially nuanced. In fact, I think the lack of context, nuance and the film's general inability to humanize Israelis is its major weakness; let's not forget this is the work of a first-time screenwriter, who may have overburdened herself with loyalty to the message rather than the storyline. This is evident in some of the film's clichés and lack of detail. But if you want to know how the conflict looks from this woman's point of view—that is, Rula Jebreal's—see Miral.
Prompted by some of the comments below and reactions to my earlier post, I want to explain why I've been writing so much about a "film being panned by critics". Despite the merits of the movie itself, and despite the reasonable possibility that the filmmakers may have 'drummed up controversy' for publicity's sake, Miral raises important questions about our ability to engage with other points of view. Look at the reaction people are having just on this blog. Perhaps the backlash is not a response to the film itself, but to the idea of the film, and the story behind the film—a Jew could love a Palestinian? a Palestinian could love a Jew?—as well as the convoluted politics that inevitably permeate anything related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. No surprise that this is a hot button issue, and yet, something about this film's very existence is deeply discomfiting to many people—and that's why I'm writing so much about it.
And now, the story:
Julian Schnabel must have known that screening a film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations General Assembly would be scene-stealing. To set the town talking, the event would unite all the trappings — provocative subject matter, prestigious venue, Hollywood glamour.
In fact, the March 14 screening of "Miral" in New York drew a crowd of movie stars, diplomats, artists and intellectuals — Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Vanessa Redgrave, Ambassadors Jean Kennedy Smith and Qazi Shaukut Fareed, and Dan Rather, among them – raising the profile of an event that openly merged artistic prominence and political power. But when mixed, art and politics — while not exactly strange bedfellows — can stir into a complicated brew. And, sure enough, Schnabel's screening spawned a flurry of protest from some of the most powerful and prominent voices in the Jewish establishment, who accused the film of being "one-sided" and "anti-Israel."
The next day, a Los Angeles Times headline declared: "Screening of 'Miral' at the United Nations draws protests from Jewish groups."
The wave of controversy that ensued called into question whether a high-profile film written by a Palestinian and sympathetic to "the other side" was simply too much for some Jews to handle. That the filmmaker, Julian Schnabel, is Jewish and presenting a perspective counter to the dominant Jewish paradigm was considered a tribal and national betrayal. That the film's distributor, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is a New York Jew, and a vocal supporter of Israel, was even more unsettling. Haven't the Jews and their State of Israel had it hard enough?
Read the rest here
And now a video blog:


text: That's a first one on me..... I usually see the rx-8's have the power struggle like that when the converter is stopped up... as for the electrical... I don't see a front harness doing that..... does it sound like its super low on compression? I am in the process of replacing two engines in rx-8's right now. How many miles do u have on the car?


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SEVEN DAYS INTO 1987, James Simmons needed to look a few people in the eye. The 62-year-old president and board chairman had spent a quarter-century building United Bank of Arizona into the state's fourth largest bank. Now, the payoff was at hand.
A new law had made it possible for out-of-state companies to buy Arizona banks, and the desert was ablaze with pecuniary romance. Banks like United were being courted by huge financial institutions offering princely sums to string another pearl on their corporate chains.
Every year for a decade, United had made more money than the year before. It had about $2.5 billion in assets and branches all over Phoenix and other Arizona cities. Like all other banks, it appeared to be getting rich from a real estate boom that had made Arizona one of the country's fastest-growing states.
The United Bank pearl was shimmering brightly in the eyes of an English multinational corporation called Standard Chartered PLC. More than a year earlier, the company and the bank had gotten engaged, and now Standard Chartered was ready to cut a check for $335 million to buy United and place it under the control of its California subsidiary.
That January day, Simmons had before him a two-page document that would make or break the sale. It was a wordy certificate--crafted by lawyers paid well to mind every subparagraph and semicolon--essentially assuring the buyers that United Bank was not lying about its fiscal soundness.
Simmons and another bank officer had to sign the certificate for the deal to go through.
Around a conference table, Simmons gathered the ten top managers of the bank, men and women who knew the institution intimately and in some cases had spent the bulk of their careers helping it grow from an upstart to a large, respectable institution.
Simmons laid the document before him on the table and read it aloud. Then, with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, he started asking questions.
"I questioned each of the people in that room, and asked them if they had any knowledge or any reservations about signing that document," Simmons recalls. "There was not any indication from any of them. . .that there were any problems."
Simmons signed, and the next day a happy union was consummated. London-based Standard Chartered got its desert gem, and $335 million coursed its way into the bank accounts of United stockholders around the world, including Simmons and other United officers.
The bank kept its name, and Simmons and most of the other bank officials kept their jobs. Standard Chartered didn't plan to meddle much. It expected United to be a profitable Arizona franchise, reporting to the company's Union Bank subsidiary in California.
In only a matter of weeks, however, Standard Chartered began to suspect that somebody in Simmons' conference room had looked back at him and lied.
One after another, several of the bank's largest loans "blew up," as lawyers are prone to say. United found itself writing off tens of millions of dollars in losses and trying to explain to its new owners what was going wrong.
The marriage plunged quickly toward divorce and by summer, with Standard Chartered scraping for cash because of unrelated problems it faced back in England, the bank was on the block. In January 1988, United Bank was sold to Citicorp for $207 million, although Standard Chartered had to buy back $140 million in bad loans as part of the deal. All told, Standard Chartered would later argue, the star-crossed romance had caused it $338 million in losses.
Determined to recover some of the money, the English banking giant began looking for somebody to sue.
Its sights eventually focused on a group of people who had not even been in the conference room that day, but whose company had deep enough pockets to justify massive, expensive litigation--Price Waterhouse, the internationally known Big Six accounting firm, which for years had audited United Bank.
During what became the state's longest civil trial, lasting 11 months, Standard Chartered officials argued that Price Waterhouse should have discerned the bank's shaky financial underpinnings and alerted them before they bought it. In May, in a verdict that stunned the accounting profession, a jury agreed and awarded Standard Chartered the $338 million it asked in compensation, the largest civil verdict in state history.
An old joke holds that auditors enter a battlefield after the fight and bayonet the wounded. But, as the Price Waterhouse verdict underscored, accountants have found themselves facing bayonets after the financial carnage of the late 1980s.
The end of the decade was not kind to banks in Arizona, or across the country. First, oil cratered. Then real estate. The stock market crashed. Savings and loans dropped almost daily. Banks, big and little, sought buyers with deep pockets to save them from collapse.
As federal regulators, stockholders and the public looked for players with some money left to atone for the country's banking debacle, professionals like accountants and lawyers who had helped paper the deals were drawn into the blamefest.
The Resolution Trust Corporation, created to clean up the thrift mess, has filed multiple lawsuits against auditors for falling asleep at the switch as thrifts piled up shaky loans. Recently, the RTC also included Beus, Gilbert & Morrill--the law firm that represented Standard Chartered--in an unrelated $1.3 billion lawsuit over the failure of Western Savings and Loan.
Price Waterhouse says the verdict in the United Bank case is patently unfair and raises questions about just how far those who lost money will go to find a scapegoat. The firm promises vigorous appeals, and it likely will be years before the final outcome of the suit is decided.
"This case was nothing more than a finger-pointing exercise and an attempt to shift responsibility for their own bad business decisions to someone who played no role in the transaction," says Erica Baird, special assistant to the Price Waterhouse board chairman in New York City. "This is outrageous. This is ridiculous. This is going to be reversed on appeal."
Attorneys for Standard Chartered, however, contend that the accountants have been rightly brought to task for failing to diagnose an ailing bank. "We believe and the jury believed that the loss would have been avoided by Standard Chartered if Price Waterhouse had done their job," says Mark Dangerfield, an attorney with Beus, Gilbert & Morrill.
To press its case, Standard Chartered had to argue it had placed almost blind trust in Price Waterhouse's audits of United. And ultimately that meant forwarding an argument that--although the jury accepted it--strikes some observers as incredulous.
The argument was that a primary cause of the multimillion-dollar business fiasco--a deal scrutinized for more than a year and blessed by legions of supposedly savvy bankers and attorneys in Arizona, California and England--was a junior accountant with Price Waterhouse named Laurie Pollitt who was sent in to examine United Bank's loans when she was 25 years old.
the last thing Laurie Pollitt says she expected, or wanted, in her life was to be dragged into the limelight. She did choose, after all, to become an accountant, a profession that does not inspire many television dramas and whose members generally retire with few newspaper mentions in their scrapbooks.
Pollitt, now 31, grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, as her accent attests. Her mother was an executive secretary, her father in construction, and Pollitt decided to become an accountant, she says, "because I wanted to be in business, wanted to have a career and I was very good in math."
At Eastern Kentucky University, she met her husband, Jeff. After graduating in 1982, she worked two years as an accountant at a data-processing firm in Cincinnati, Ohio, before job prospects brought the couple to the Valley in late 1984.
Pollitt, in her mid-20s, got on with the Phoenix office of Price Waterhouse in January 1985. That year she was introduced to the audit that would ultimately teach her that blame tends to roll downhill.
Price Waterhouse had audited United Bank for years, and the process changed little each time around. A team of fieldworkers, usually around four, according to later trial testimony, would go into the bank in the fall, set up a temporary office and spend several weeks poring over loan files, computer print-outs and other paperwork.
They were looking for warning signs--indications of fraud, slippery accounting, inadequate records and such--that might give reason to believe the bank was misrepresenting its condition in its financial statements.
In late December, more fieldwork was done, and then the team's paperwork and findings were passed up the Price Waterhouse chain of command. Karl Almquist, the partner primarily responsible for the United Bank audit, would ultimately review the work of his team and pass judgment on the bank's financial statements.
In the greater context of United Bank and multimillion-dollar bank mergers, Laurie Pollitt was a very small player.
As a relatively junior staff accountant still awaiting state certification, she made just more than $20,000 a year, according to trial testimony. Pollitt was assigned to the audit teams that went into selected United Bank branches during the two years before the bank was sold. Her first year, 1985, she looked primarily at credit-card accounts.
But in 1986, her role expanded greatly, and Pollitt found herself reviewing the files of complex commercial loans involving millions of dollars. Some of the loan portfolios she checked were the ones that "blew up" the next year, causing United's financial losses.
Pollitt says she did her job by the book and makes no apologies for her fieldwork. "It was a very good audit," she says, and she was a small part of it. At trial she would testify that there was no way she could have foreseen the impending troubles of some of the loans she reviewed.
In addition to her college degree, Pollitt says, she had several years of experience under her belt and received five weeks of training from Price Waterhouse in bank auditing.
Karl Almquist, the Price Waterhouse partner responsible for the United audit, says Pollitt was a perfectly capable member of the team.
But in court, Standard Chartered's attorneys needed to make Pollitt look like an idiot. Although she was not a defendant in the case, proving her incompetent was crucial to the argument that Price Waterhouse had bungled the United audits.
For 11 days, Pollitt was put on the stand and Leo Beus, the lead attorney for Standard Chartered, pounded away at her, trying to show that she had not done a thorough job. In painstaking and time-consuming detail, Beus attempted to reconstruct Pollitt's work during 1986 to show that, if she had known what she was doing, she would have uncovered the bad loans United Bank was carrying.
On the stand, Pollitt had trouble recalling many things about the audits, which were by then five years in the past. Trial transcripts give glimpses of a sometimes confused, upset and defensive witness.
No, she told Beus, she could not remember whether she had seen appraisals of artwork that had been used as collateral on a major loan. No, she did not remember whether she had read critical examinations of United Bank done by federal regulators. No, she could not recall if a lien on a piece of property should have been cause for alarm.
Heated exchanges between lawyers ensued when Beus accused one of Price Waterhouse's attorneys of coaching Pollitt while she was on the stand.
To Pollitt, it was a distasteful and enraging experience. "It was just totally absurd that he started on me," Pollitt says. "I think he did it to show off. I just didn't enjoy him, whatsoever. He, to me, was kind of the slimy-type attorney. I guess I was naive going in thinking that all attorneys are honest."
Pollitt, whose husband is one year away from finishing law school at Arizona State University, had never been involved in a trial before, much less a witness in a gargantuan civil suit between warring corporations.
But there she found herself, being hectored by high-priced attorneys looking for a scapegoat.
Pollitt was not working anymore for Price Waterhouse at the time of the trial. In early 1991, she had left to become controller for the Mega Foods grocery store chain.
For weeks the trial overwhelmed her life. Between testifying, trying to do her new job and preparing for the next day's questioning, she was regularly putting in 12- to 16-hour days.
Across the dining-room table of a Scottsdale house where she, her husband and two dogs live, Pollitt recalls the experience with a touch of Southern defiance. She considers questions carefully, but answers with determination.
She does not appear to be seeking sympathy and is, in fact, reluctant to talk about the case.
Her reluctance, she says, stems from an exasperated belief that she was wrongly dragged into the whole affair to begin with. Other accountants will understand that she did nothing wrong, she says. As for the general public, and the jury for that matter, she'd just as soon they forget about it.
The case has not affected her career, she says, and she is not concerned so much about professional fallout as she is with publicity she does not want.
"It got very tough," she says of the trial. "For me, testifying was for the principle of the thing. I didn't work for Price Waterhouse [at the time of the trial]. I didn't owe them anything. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't think Price Waterhouse did anything wrong. So when I first went there, it was really for the principle of the thing."
Naively, she admits, she expected to answer questions truthfully and go about her business, drawing little notice. Instead, she says with bitterness, she learned that trials do not follow neat expectations the way accounting does. She became a sitting target as the first person from Price Waterhouse to take the stand.
"He [Beus] was going to ask me questions, I was going to answer and the jury was going to make a decision," she says. "I was naive in thinking that. It was a performance and there were games played. He wanted to push me around."
During and after her testimony, Pollitt says, she could not believe what was happening. The failure of a business deal between the state's fourth largest bank and a foreign multinational firm was being laid on the shoulders of an insignificant outside accountant.
"I knew myself that it didn't rest on my shoulders, the outcome of the audit or the outcome of the trial," she says.
John Binkly, a partner at Coopers and Lybrand, a Big Six firm hired by Price Waterhouse to go back and review the audit team's work, testified that Pollitt and the firm had done their jobs properly.
Pollitt's reputation was not the only one attacked at trial. Almquist, the partner overseeing the audit, also came under fire for not adequately supervising Pollitt and the other fieldworkers.
He, too, bristles at the mud thrown his way. "Yes, I'm offended," says Almquist, who retired from Price Waterhouse after 32 years for reasons unrelated to the lawsuit and is now business manager of the Heard Museum. "Not only the reputation of Price Waterhouse, but my personal reputation, which is something that I value very highly, has been challenged."
Almquist says he had no doubts at the time that the United audits were properly performed, and nothing that came out at trial changed his mind. But to six of the eight jurors who decided to award Standard Chartered its record verdict, Price Waterhouse did err, and Pollitt seemed to be a key part of the reason.
Juror Betty Swigart, who voted for the record award, said she was convinced that Pollitt and Almquist were largely at fault for not detecting the imminent problems with United's loans. "Price Waterhouse didn't do its job," says the 65-year-old retiree from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Laurie Pollitt had only two days of training to audit a bank. She was more or less the leading person doing the audit. Her supervisors should have followed through more and seen what was going on with some of these multimillion-dollar loans."
Two jurors disagreed vehemently with the majority's conclusion. Retiree Raymond Eagan, who was not pleased to spend almost a year of his life sorting out the fight between lawyers for two big companies, believes that what Standard Chartered's attorneys did to Laurie Pollitt was a crime in and of itself.
"These [lawyers] were making $500 an hour or $250 an hour," he says. "They make a woman who's under 30 years old look like a complete and utter asshole. That's not right. I think it was unfair because she was credible. She didn't steal any money. She didn't cause the damn bank to go under."
In fact, United Bank never did go under. Although it lost a lot of money, it never required a taxpayer bailout or intervention by federal regulators. There have been no criminal allegations of fraud or chicanery.
But United Bank's problems did mirror what happened to banks nationwide during the late 1980s. It was riding a boom carrying problem loans, even former president James Simmons acknowledges. When the bust came, the time bombs began to explode.
in february 1987, about three weeks after the United sale to Standard Chartered had closed, the first time bomb was laid on Simmons' desk.
A bank officer who did not normally review loans happened to look at a list of people who were past due on their accounts.
On the list was the Victorio Land and Cattle Company, which was run by Peter Wray, then husband of Gay Firestone Wray, a niece of the Firestone rubber family. Wray's company was the bank's largest single borrower with more than $18 million in loans, according to a Standard Chartered attorney.
Alarmed, the officer brought the loan up with Simmons. The bank president called in Paul Milus, the bank's chief credit officer. Milus had been with the bank for 20 years, trial testimony showed, and had been one of the people who sat across the conference-room table from Simmons three weeks earlier and assured him that he could sign the certificate attesting to the bank's soundness.
Simmons told Milus to bring in the loan files on Victorio, and learned, he says, that his chief credit officer had been lying to him. The Wray loans were a disaster.
For several years, trial testimony established, Wray's businesses--including cattle ranches and a real estate brokerage firm--had been in shambles. But instead of going under, Wray just kept asking for more money from the bank, and Milus kept giving it to him.
"Notwithstanding the acknowledged, obvious fact in the loan files that the company couldn't pay its bills through profits or cash flow, the bank continued to loan it millions of dollars," says Standard Chartered attorney Mark Dangerfield.
Within a matter of hours of looking at the Victorio files, Simmons testified, he realized that the bank was going to suffer a major loss. "It was obvious to me that the collateral was not sufficient to pay the loan by a substantial amount," Simmons testified at trial. After several days of investigating, the bank determined that it would have to write off $13.5 million in losses from the Victorio loans.
When informed of the losses, Standard Chartered had every right to be upset, Simmons says, because even he felt betrayed by a chief credit officer he says he trusted. "Obviously. . .it was misrepresented," Simmons says. "I don't think there's any question. It was misrepresented to me, and it was misrepresented therefore to [Standard Chartered]."
Simmons said Milus could not give him an adequate explanation of why he had continued to lend Wray millions of dollars without collateral. Milus, who was fired immediately after the Victorio loan problems were discovered, faces a separate lawsuit by Standard Chartered for his handling of the Victorio situation. Victorio went out of business. Wray and his wife were divorced, and he could not be located for comment. Milus, when approached for an interview, swiftly closed the front door of his home at the base of Camelback Mountain.
Ultimately, Simmons said, the bank decided that Milus' decision to continue lending Wray money was an isolated "dysfunction" on Milus' part. Whatever reasons Milus had for continuing to lend Wray money, and covering up the weakness of the loans, were apparently specific to Wray. No other large loans Milus had handled seemed to be at risk, Simmons said.
But over the next few months, federal bank examiners came across more burning fuses. When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation came calling for its regular review of the bank, lead bank examiner Norton Cook would later testify, investigators were deeply troubled by problems they found in United's books. There appeared to be millions of dollars more in loans on the verge of default.
Given the bank's condition, Cook later testified in a deposition, the bank's loan-loss reserves--money set aside to cover bad loans--were "grossly inadequate."
The underlying problems, Cook testified, seemed to be that the bank was growing too fast and its loan process was not keeping pace. Controls weren't in place to make sure that loans were being properly analyzed before they were made.
"Many of these loans were not well-documented, had major problems in their credit-analysis area, loan files were disorganized," Cook said in deposition.
In particular, the examiners believed that United was going to have to eat at least two more of its largest loans.
The first was a loan of $10.5 million to developer Lawrence Malanfant. Malanfant was in financial trouble, trial testimony showed. Two pieces of property he had put up to secure the loans--one in San Diego County and one in Lake Havasu--were dramatically overappraised, according to expert witnesses, and not worth enough to pay the loans back.
In the second case, a Tempe-based electrical contractor was on the brink of bankruptcy and owed the bank more than $10 million. The Newbery Corporation had told United Bank in 1986 that it was in trouble, and the bank had lent it another $3.5 million so it could try to dig its way out.
Simmons, at the time, took great exception to Cook's findings and fought the FDIC's insistence that loss reserves be increased because the Malanfant and Newbery loans were headed down the tank.
He wrote to Cook's supervisor asking that the FDIC report be changed. To this day, he says Cook was wrong. "The. . .two loans were not charge-off loans," he says. He calls them "problem loans" that would have paid out if the economy had held.
But by the end of 1987, both had been written off as losses. Taken together, the Victorio, Malanfant and Newbery loans accounted for more than $30 million in write-offs in less than a year.
Standard Chartered was not enamored of the new facets of United Bank it was discovering.
"They were interested in buying a top performing bank. They weren't interested in buying a problem bank," says Richard Williams, another Standard Chartered attorney.
By the summer of 1987, Standard Chartered was having problems of its own back home that crippled its ability to carry a troubled American bank, all parties to the trial agreed. The Bank of England was requiring British banks to increase their own loan-loss reserves to offset problems with loans to developing countries.
Hungry for cash to meet the new requirements, Standard Chartered put United Bank up in a fire sale. Citicorp bought it for $207 million, attorney Williams says, as long as Standard Chartered would agree to buy back $140 million of the bank's worst loans.
james simmons retired from United Bank after it was sold to Citicorp, almost exactly a year after he signed the all-important certificate. He served as chairman of Valley National Bank for two years after that, and was briefly touted as a possible head for the Resolution Trust Corporation.
Now, Simmons has a glass-walled office on the ninth floor of the Esplanade office building, where he is running his own investment company. He and President Bush beam down from a picture hanging behind his desk.
There is no way, Simmons says, that he could have known the choppy waters ahead on the day United Bank was sold. He had started United Bank in 1960 and nurtured it for 25 years.
The "dysfunction" of his top credit officer, he says, eluded the bank's own officers. He was aware that the Newbery and Malanfant loans were problems, but was still confident they could be worked out.
"We had a structure I think was excellent," Simmons says. "I don't think any structure we might have had, however, could have given us prior warning on the real status of Victorio."
Simmons did make millions of dollars from the sale of United, he concedes. At trial, he testified that he received somewhere between $3 to $5 million from his stock and profit sharing when the bank sold.
He has not escaped the legal snarl borne of the deal. He is suing Standard Chartered trying to recover attorneys' fees he believes the company owes him, and the company is suing him back over the Victorio loan losses.
If he could not foresee the impending problems at United, Simmons says, there was no reason to expect Price Waterhouse to. Certainly, he says, there was no reason to expect a junior accountant to.
"I never really depended on the auditors, except in a general way, to keep me informed of loan problems," he says. "We had people in the bank to do that, and I considered them much more able to keep me informed of loan problems than an outside auditor."
The fact remains, however, that United's loans did start exploding. Presumably, the task of outside auditors is to find out if bank officials like Simmons are myopic about their own institutions.
But to Simmons, and other Price Waterhouse defenders, it is the height of absurdity to argue that, in the end, a multimillion-dollar bank deal went bad because of Laurie Pollitt.
Standard Chartered, Simmons says, has made Pollitt and Price Waterhouse the scapegoats for its own bad business decision. Raymond Eagan, one of the jurors who voted against the verdict, reached that conclusion himself.
"It was their own damn dumb business decisions. They didn't check the bank out," Eagan says. "Who's horseshitting who? They took ol' deep money pockets Price Waterhouse to the cleaners. . . it's all just a great big corporation money game."
John Binkly, the expert witness hired by Price Waterhouse, points out that Standard Chartered had more than a year from the time it agreed to buy United until the deal closed. That was ample time for the company to send in its own auditors and scour the bank's loan files to look for problems, he says. If the problems were as obvious as Standard Chartered claimed, Binkly says, they could have easily found them before cutting the $335 million check.
Besides, Binkly asks, if Standard Chartered was relying on the Price Waterhouse audit to vouch for the bank, why did it close the deal on January 8, before the 1986 audit of the bank was completed?
"It's a shuddering thought to think that you're going to be held accountable for an audit that isn't done," he says.
Standard Chartered, Binkly believes, used revisionist history to best advantage in the case. "It's funny how when time passes you have selective memory," Binkly says.
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But Standard Chartered's attorneys say the blame has been placed where it belongs. The Victorio loans were clearly in trouble in 1985 and 1986, well before the economic collapse, Richard Williams says, and the two other large loans--Malanfant and Newbery--were giving off major warning signals that should have been obvious to Price Waterhouse in late 1986. Cook of the FDIC, Williams notes, found the problems easily when he visited the bank a few months after the deal closed.
In the end, Williams says, the case does boil down to the people Price Waterhouse had in the bank during 1986 looking at the loan files. Most important among them, he says, was Laurie Pollitt.
"Looking at loans is not a task that an inexperienced auditor is capable of doing," he says. "You can't get somebody one year out of school and say here's a complicated commercial loan, go out and see if the loan is collectible."
Pollitt absolutely refuses to believe the blame that has been cast her way. "I shouldn't be involved," she says. "It's ridiculous that I'm being pointed out as a turning point in this case. I kind of want to ignore it, not acknowledge it. Because my point is it's wrong. I shouldn't be pointed out."