text:
Immigrant Voices from America's "Forgotten Gateway": A Model for Civic Engagement in a Museum Setting
Immigrant Voices from America's "Forgotten Gateway": A Model for Civic Engagement in a Museum Setting
Suzanne Seriff, Ph.D
University of Texas at Austin
Museums and Social Issues, Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 2008
Left Coast Press, Inc.
All Copyrights Apply
Keywords: Immigration, Migration, Galveston, Texas, Port of Entry, Forgotten Gateway, Civic Engagement, Immigration Exhibits, Museum Studies, Dialogic Exhibits
Biography: Trained in anthropology and folklore, Dr. Seriff has curated numerous community and national exhibits that move beyond the gallery walls to feature civic engagement around important issues of our day: tradition and innovation in the global marketplace; museums as safe places for scary conversations; and tourist, immigrant, and ethnic arts in a transnational world.
Abstract: From Benjamin Franklin's tirades against German immigrants in the mid-18th century, to the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 19th, and the National Quota Act of the 20th, our nation has demonstrated a consistent history of tension over whom we collectively regard as "real Americans" and whom we will allow into this country. This article explores the challenges and rewards of rooting an historical museum exhibit on American immigration in community collaboration and dialogue between contemporary immigrants and immigrant descendants. Curator Suzanne Seriff discusses innovative strategies employed in an upcoming NEH-funded traveling exhibit on historical immigration through Galveston, Texas which engage contemporary stakeholders in an active dialogue about enduring questions facing our country as a "nation of immigrants" including, "Who should be an American?" and "Who gets to decide?"
Immigrant Voices from America's "Forgotten Gateway"
By Suzanne Seriff, Ph.D
University of Texas at Austin
On a cold and windy morning in March, 2002, 18 high school sophomores from a synagogue class in Austin, Texas, huddle at Battery Park, on the tip of Manhattan Island. Before they board the ferry to take them to Ellis Island to explore their Jewish immigrant roots, they witness a dedication ceremony of the first official memorial to the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, which occurred just blocks away, exactly six months earlier.
The students' conversations reflect the restless mood of the nation. As one of the religious school chaperones, I field their fears about 9/11, and their questions about national security, terrorism, immigration reform, and tighter homeland security. We are literally standing between two of the most powerful symbols of our nation's history: the Statue of Liberty, symbol of our proud immigrant past, and Ground Zero, a physical representation of fear of those who came from outside our national borders to harm us.
While this point in history is unique, the ambivalence in our national story of immigrants and immigration is not. It is a story that flip-flops between a proud portrait of ourselves as a "nation of immigrants" and an alarmist view of immigrants as a threat to the national or economic security of "native-born" Americans. It wavers now and, historically, always has.
Later in the morning, a student who had been checking the Ellis Island records for the names of his great-grandparents complains, "These aren't my ancestors. We came in through the port of Galveston. Why did I come all the way to New York, when my immigrant roots are back home in Texas?"
This is the moment of conception of "Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island," a collaborative exhibition project currently being developed by The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas and generously supported with funding, in part, from the National Endowment for the Humanities "We the People" awards. The exhibit, which is slated to open at the Texas State History Museum (TSHM) in February of 2009, will subsequently travel around the country in two versions: a 6,000 square foot exhibit with over 150 original artifacts, five multi-media programs and over a dozen interactive components, slated for major history museums and historic sites in Texas and around the country, and a smaller, interactive community-based version, slated for underserved libraries, immigration centers, schools, churches and rural museums. Both versions are designed to accomplish two goals:
1) To raise awareness of the role of Galveston Island as one of the top ten trans-oceanic gateways to the United States between the years of 1845, when Texas joined the Union, and 1924, when the National Quota Act severely curtailed immigration to the United States; and,
2) To use this little-known piece of American history as a lens through which to explore recurring issues that have defined the immigrant experience throughout our country's history—including today.
To achieve these goals, an exhibits team at TSHM—including myself as Project Co-Director and Guest Curator -- has spent the last four years talking and working with kids, adults and old folks in immigrant neighborhoods, in the museum, at teacher workshops, professional conferences, libraries, in public school classrooms, and national archives around the country to determine successful ways for history museums to use the stories of the nation's immigrant past as a way in to people's contemporary experiences and thoughts, and to use their everyday experiences as a way to better understand the past around the topic of immigration.
Before developing the content of the exhibit, the project team took three major actions: the team sought to understand how existing museums and historic sites have creatively addressed immigration issues both within and beyond their gallery walls; the team committed extensive time and resources to outreach in immigrant communities to understand how civic engagement could address immigration issues through dialogue and the arts; and finally, based on this research, the team developed an interactive approach to exhibit design and content that will not only present the historical material in terms of larger humanities issues and questions, but also pave the way for visitor dialogue and engagement around these issues.
The journey began in mid-2005 with a visit to museums and historic sites that have creatively addressed the landscape of immigrant history as a tool for visitor education and engagement. Two examples are located in the nation's immigrant heartland of New York City. The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is an historic site containing three floors of permanent and temporary exhibits and audio-visual displays interpreting the operations of this immigrant processing station between 1892 and 1954 (Chermayeff, Wasserman, and Shapiro, 1991). The Lower East Side Tenement Museum picks up where the Ellis Island Museum leaves off, by presenting the lives of those immigrants who settled for a time in one of New York City's most renowned immigrant neighborhoods, and using their stories as catalysts for visitor engagement around key immigrant issues (Abram, 2007).
These sites represent only a partial picture of the diverse immigrant populations and patterns that characterize our nation's immigrant history. Among those 30 million or more immigrants who arrived by ship's steerage, more than 6 million were bound for a dozen other seaport destinations on our nation's eastern, western, and southern shores (Stolarik, 1988). Still others arrived at their destinations in chains and shackles -- far removed from the freedom of an official immigrant processing port. These stories are beginning to be told at historic immigrant sites and museums throughout the United States. The Japanese American National Museum and the Angel Island Immigration Station, both on the West Coast, focus on particular immigrant groups (Japanese and Chinese) that have been largely excluded from the mainstream U.S. immigrant history. An innovative exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Museum called "Open House: If These Walls Could Talk," shines a light on a single, existing St. Paul house as a window into the daily lives and hidden dramas of multiple working-class immigrant families who lived there over the years, from the original German immigrant builders in 1888 through Italians, African Americans, and today's Hmong inhabitants.
At each of these site, a landmark in America's trans-oceanic immigrant history is used as the foundation on which to engage the public in questions concerning race and gender-based exclusions, detentions, and deportations; social welfare and responsibility; immigrant settlement patterns; the process of navigating the bureaucracy; and forced migrations resulting from human trafficking and political expulsions. Each site's interpretive programming also works to motivate visitors to make a personal connection between themselves and the immigrant stories told there. Projects such as these have expanded our understanding of the multifaceted patterns of our nation's immigrant history, while at the same time reaching out to their audiences to actively engage in dialogue and discussion about the topic at hand.
The next step was to apply these practices of civic engagement to the proposed exhibit. The process started with a two-day workshop, led by our mentors from the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, to train the staff at TSHM in the art of engaging visitors, stakeholders, and community members as active learners in this type of history exhibit. Also during that first summer of research, the project organized, in partnership with Humanities Texas, a statewide workshop for middle and high school teachers. It took place in Galveston and tested approaches to audience engagement on the topic of Galveston as a landmark site for American immigration. That workshop focused on the use of primary source documents and landmark sites—including letters, photographs, passports, city maps, city architecture, oral histories, journals and period art—to uncover forgotten stories of the lives, attitudes, and experiences not only of the immigrants themselves, but of the medical inspectors, federal officials, legislators, newspaper reporters, entrepreneurs, and general citizenry who came in contact with them. Later that summer, the Museum, under the direction of the visitor research firm, People, Places, and Design Research, conducted a front-end study that would determine the level of knowledge and interest that the wider public might bring to this topic. The Museum team not only polled museum-goers, but went into community centers, restaurants, churches, grocery stores and libraries to talk to folks about what they knew, what they thought, and what interested them about immigration into Texas and the United States both historically and in the present day.
To broaden the discussion and to include another set of stakeholders, the project initiated a second facet of research, which centered on a round of neighborhood projects, workshops, and conversations on the issues and stories of more recent immigrants. Out of this work emerged a community advisory committee and a set of goals for community initiatives: 1) to foster engagement with recent immigrants to Texas and the United States; 2) to initiate a dialogue among and between immigrants on the broad issues explored in our project; 3) to develop programmatic prototypes for activities to be included in our traveling community outreach; and 4) to build awareness of our Museum's overall mission and spark interest in the exhibit in advance of its opening.
The finding from these first two phases of research was clear -- the most effective approach to representing this piece of American immigrant history was to allow visitors to be part of the discovery of the stories, and to frame what they are learning through the lens of their own personal lives.
Another clear finding was that, although Texas is frequently headlined in current national immigration stories, its history as a major maritime gateway remains totally unfamiliar. Our person-on-the-street interviews indicated that even most longtime Texans were not aware of its history as a significant Gulf Coast immigrant port from Europe, or as a major route for slave traders before the Civil War. Rather, it is Texas' southern border with Mexico that has been the predominant focus—both in state and nationally—for discussion around the topic of immigration.
The third and final step was to use this preliminary research to develop a set of themes that would both engage the public in this slice of our nation's immigrant history, and motivate visitors to make a personal connection between themselves and the immigrant stories told there.
We started with themes that were common to the migrant experience across time and space: deciding or being forced to leave one place for another; dangers of the journey; confronting discrimination, navigating bureaucracy, finding support, and making a new start in a new land.
Then, a second tier of themes was developed which pick up where most immigration exhibits leave off. These focused on larger forces, patterns, and characteristics of immigrant gateways and experiences. These themes are broad and somewhat abstract and the challenge was to find a way to illustrate them through an interpretive framework and design that was still dedicated to engaging visitors in the process of discovery. The five themes are as follows:
Theme I: Immigration is Patterned
The dominant image of immigration to America is of individual men, women and children who permanently depart their place of birth and travel great distances to make a new home and better life for themselves. But as scholars point out, immigration is not random, individual acts, but is patterned (Mintz, 2008). When immigration is looked at over time and space, it is possible to see distinct patterns or "waves" of changing demographics (where people come from and where they enter and settle), changing policies (affecting how "open" or "closed" the nation is to receiving immigrants) and changing numbers. Part of the challenge of presenting the full migration story is recognizing how, why, and when governments, economic forces, media, and populations at-large participate in the migration process and for what reasons (Sassen, 1999; Massey et al, 1987; Brettell and Hollifield, 2000; Portes and Rumbaut, 1996). The exhibit team for Forgotten Gateway decided to take on this challenge by embedding individual stories in four specific historical periods and framing those periods in terms of the laws, attitudes, and demographics that define the immigration flows—both locally and nationally—in those times.
Theme II: Migration Comes in Different Forms
Scholars point out that migrations take many different forms. They can be forced as well as voluntary, temporary or permanent, short distance or long distance, one-time or repeated. Some immigrants to this country were known to come for only a short time to earn money and then return to their home countries; others came under duress, either under force as the objects of human trafficking, or forced out of their home countries as refugees. Forgotten Gateway addresses this theme by boldly including stories of Galveston as a gateway for the migration of slaves who were forced here; "guest" laborers who came and returned to their home countries; Chinese laborers who were brought here to work; and refugees fleeing political unrest in their own countries.
Theme III: Gateways Matter
New York Harbor, with its images of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, epitomizes immigrant entry. Between 1820 and 1920, nearly 24 million immigrants entered there, but another six million entered elsewhere, including more than 100,000 into Galveston, one of the nation's top ten immigrant receiving ports of that century. Each gateway city offered a unique experience, attracting different immigrant populations based on its industries and partnerships with railroads and shipping companies (Stolarik, 1988). Forgotten Gateway explores the importance of place to the immigrant experience through a focus on Galveston Island as it changed from a small port for sailing vessels, to a major cosmopolitan steamship and railroad hub, and back to a nearly abandoned immigrant port.
Theme IV: Immigration Means Big Business
In each successive wave of immigration to the United States, there are those who thrive from the business of immigration—providing transportation, housing, land, jobs, services, protection and supplies to the newcomers. Forgotten Gateway illustrates the many interlocking facets of immigration as a business venture in each successive wave by introducing visitors to the multiple stakeholders of the time in the areas of transportation, labor, government, agriculture, media, banking, social services and ranching who each play a role in enticing (or enslaving) newcomers to the state and the nation (Rozek, 2003).
Theme V: Immigration is tied to National Identity Building
From Benjamin Franklin's tirades against German immigrants in the mid-18th century, to the Chinese Exclusion Act more than a hundred years later, Americans have demonstrated a consistent history of tension over who we collectively regard as "real Americans" and therefore who we would allow into this country (Daniels, 1997; Hing, 2004; Jacoby, 2004; Luibhéid 2002). Forgotten Gateway explores the changing tides of our nations' attitudes toward the latest wave of newcomers and how they affected the immigration process at each successive period in Galveston's history as an immigrant port.
In order to bring these themes to life, the Museum reached across Texas--and beyond—to discover the most compelling stories of those who came to America via Galveston. In addition to primary source document research in museum collections, university and government archives, county courthouses, and local history centers, we decided that there is no substitute for real live storytellers, and we devoted months to finding living family descendants of the folks whose stories we wanted to tell, to ask them directly about their family lore, memories and precious family artifacts.
Our treasure hunt has led us to conversations with Czech, German, Japanese, Chinese, Wendish, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Hispanic, Native American, Jewish and African-American descendants, to name only a few. They have provided family stories of trailblazers who forged the way for entire villages to make a new home in a new land; stories of forced migration of Africans who were brought from other southern states through Galveston to work as slaves; stories of conflict between Native Americans, Hispanics, Anglos and European newcomers over who owns the land and who has a right to its resources; tales of "guest laborers" who were brought from Europe under false promises of high pay or free land; tales of racial and religious profiling of unwanted classes of immigrants resulting in their detention or deportation; tales of the Ku Klux Klan's rise in power in the 1920s on an anti-immigrant nativist platform, and their big splash at the Texas State Fair on Ku Klux Klan Day in 1923; and stories of immigrant boats turned back to Europe at the onset of WWI, leading to the tragic fate of 1,000s of displaced refugees.
This approach was particularly fruitful in discovering the stories of a very particular subset of immigrant descendants—namely Texas and Midwestern Jews --whose parents and grandparents immigrated to the United States through Galveston between 1907 and 1914 as part of an organized plan to save them from the pogroms of Czarist Russia, and Poland, and bring them to safety in the United States with promises of jobs and homes throughout the Midwestern States. This year, 2008, marks the 101st anniversary of the start of this movement, which succeeded in saving over 10,000 Jews from annihilation in Europe, while diverting them from the already overcrowded and immigrant-weary tenements of New York City and the East Coast (Marinbach, 1983).
At the same time that the Museum team gathered these stories of our immigrant history, we also reached out to contemporary immigrant communities. The goal was to hear their stories, learn their dreams and challenges, and engage them in meaningful conversations about how their stories of leaving and coming to a new place compare and/or contrast with those who came before. Gathering these stories has taken outreach staff into local schools, community centers, health care clinics and libraries throughout Central Texas. Immigrants reached were from every continent and over 40 countries. These programs, in turn, have resulted in small mini exhibits, festivals, workshops, summer camps, and other products that have been exhibited throughout Austin, and even as far away as Washington, D.C. at the American Immigration Law Foundation. Examples of such immigrant outreach programs include:
* Semester-long workshops for immigrant and refugee students to tell the stories of their families' journeys to the United States through comic strip illustrations and handmade books and memory boxes.
* Year-long workshops with parents of immigrant and neighborhood children in a bi-racial community resulting in an annotated "newcomer's guide" to the neighborhood, with stories, letters, maps, and advice to newcomers.
* An oral history documentation project conducted in coordination with local naturalization ceremonies that can be hosted at the school, the courthouse, or a local museum site. The focus of the program centers on stories gathered from immigrants on the day of their naturalization ceremony as citizens of the United States.
* A photo essay and oral history project featuring portraits and stories of recent immigrants that can be displayed at community centers, libraries, restaurants and schools.
* A collaboration with neighborhood health clinics, comprising weekly workshops with migrants from the neighborhood that focus on health issues and result in an exhibit in the waiting room area of the neighborhood clinics.
Project staff has also developed collaborative partnerships with over a dozen visual arts institutions, film societies and youth theater groups to develop exhibitions, symposia, performances, lectures, screenings and workshops around the topic of immigration through Texas gateways. Also initiated is an ongoing program to work with immigrant youth — in targeted schools, after school programs, and community centers — to write, direct and create films, art pieces, animations and plays based on original oral historical work with immigrants and immigrant descendants in Texas. Each of these collaborative projects will be performed, exhibited, and discussed at immigrant arts festivals, art crawls, symposia, lectures, exhibits, book club events, and performances throughout the city during the exhibit's ten-month premiere in Austin.
These stories, while particular to the Texas landscape, are also national stories. It was this realization that convinced the exhibit team that this exhibit should travel to maritime port cities and railhead cities throughout Texas and the United States, and that the exhibits' grass-roots and community-based planning process could serve as a model for host sites to relate their own stories. Toward this end, the team has carefully documented their processes of oral history collecting; primary source document and artifact research; community photo scanning and story-gathering sessions, and grass roots arts programming, and developed an extensive public history "community kit" for each host site to use to augment the exhibit with their own communities' immigrant history. The kit invites visitors and community members to learn how to piece together historic objects, photographs, records, and maps to tell a coherent story about their own community, and to create a safe place for dialog across the generations.
Finally, the museum team has worked hard to develop a format for the exhibits — both large and small versions — that would answer the American Association of Museum's 2002 challenge to its constituencies to become places "where people can gather to meet and converse and participate in collaborative problem solving" around enduring humanities themes. For this topic, in particular, we chose an approach that we hope will involve visitors in an active process of discovering stories, noting patterns and drawing connections to their own life experiences (McClean, 1999).
The exhibit will be organized around five kinds of experiences with differing levels of discovery and modes of learning. They include:
1) Recreated environments which simulate the sights, sounds, and feel of the gateway experience at four pivotal points in Galveston—and our nation's—immigrant history. The recreated environments combine a 3-4 minute video, an interactive map activity, and other visitor interactives. Each environment reflects the predominant humanities theme explored in the section: an ox cart piled high with immigrant trunks evokes the promises — fulfilled and broken — of migration to a wilderness land in the first wave of transoceanic travel before the Civil War; a bustling railroad station luggage trolley mirrors the theme of immigration as big business at a time when newcomers were enticed to colonize the state in the post-war wave; the inspection room of a federal immigration station sets the scene to explore America's rising xenophobia — and legal restrictions—toward "foreign aliens" at the point of entry at the turn of the 20th century; a boarded-up door of the station evokes the dramatic shift in policy and practice toward immigration as local, national and international events resulted in the close of the federal inspection station on Galveston island (McComb, 1986).
2) Case exhibits featuring original artifacts, photographs, label texts and quotes, take advantage of TSHM's years of community, archival, and oral historical research to dynamically portray a theme through the stories of specific individuals. For example, the theme of chain migration is brought to life with the story of one young minister from northeastern Bohemia—Arnost Bergman—who set out alone to Texas. His new life sparked an exodus of family members, neighbors and townsmen from Bohemia and Silesia. The case will feature his optimistic letter home; the autobiography of the man who read his letter and set out with his family and neighbors to follow him to the new land; an 18th century Bible brought by one of the early Czech Bohemian settlers, and a hand-operated wood music box, illustrating the dreams of starting a new life filled with prosperity and free expression in a new land. After reading the story of these 19th century pioneers, visitors are encouraged to contribute their own thoughts to what would persuade a whole community or family to leave their homes today, and what they might take with them on the journey if they did.
3) Activity areas invite visitors of all ages to actively explore and engage with the section themes. As visitors approach the area on forced migration, for example, they have the opportunity to interact with three separate ships manifests from the 1840s and discover clues on the documents as to what the three featured ships were carrying: cargo, slaves, or passengers. Map activities at each of the four sections provide an opportunity for visitors to test their knowledge of geography and demography by charting changes in where immigrants were coming from, and going to, and by what means they traveled to and through Texas.
4) Multi-media components bring to life the immigrant experience to America at four distinct points in Galveston's history as a maritime gateway. Through period photographs, newspaper and film clips, period political cartoons, promotional literature, artistic renderings, and personal history clips, these media pieces dynamically illustrate the look and feel of immigration through Galveston's gates during distinct periods in our nation's history.
5) Reflection stations connect visitors to humanities themes and exhibit content to their own lives. A station titled "Today?" invites visitors to relate the historic issue they have just learned about to the personal experience narrative of two or more contemporary immigrants from different parts of the world. Visitor response is prompted at these reflection stations by an evocative question such as: "What might motivate you to leave your home and settle in a new land?" In the last section of the exhibit, visitors are encouraged to add their families' immigrant facts to a national timeline, and contribute to an ongoing story wall that further portrays their personal snapshots of their own immigrant history.
We live in a country of immigrants. History is an opportunity for people to see connections between their immediate reality and the larger context of their family's stories, their community's stories, and their nation's stories. The Forgotten Gateway project provides an important and unique lens into that immigration history. These stories shed light on a number of points in American immigration history which, in many ways, are much like today, when immigration policy is hotly debated; new restrictions for immigrants and tighter controls at the borders are under discussion; and the very nature of what kind of immigrant is a good immigrant is alive in daily conversation.
By the end of the exhibit, visitors will have encountered not only the historical facts of the importance of Galveston, they will have heard the stories of some of the people who landed at this island. They will have been given a chance to include their families' own story, as well as compare the stories of more recent immigrants to our nation. They will have heard the immigrants' motivations – promises made, kept, deferred and broken – and seen how these motivations were linked to the expansion of the nation and the global economy—both yesterday and today. They will have experienced the fear of the immigrant standing in front of an inspector who does not speak her language, and the joy of having a kinsman who interprets, protects and deals compassionately with her. They will have appreciated the fearlessness and courage of early settlers, who came on a promise that could be redeemed only after living through disease, war and depredations. They will have opportunities to feel the same courage in those who come today.
Visitors will also have learned about the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and how that sentiment, along with an untimely storm and the onset of world war, eventually created too high a barrier for immigration through this gateway on the Gulf.
They will have studied objects from the journey and heard sounds of waves, trains, whistles and human voices. They will have turned wheels, lifted window shades, opened drawers, examined inspection cards, and contributed their immigrant facts on an immigration timeline. They will have been moved by media images displayed on luggage, deciphered maps and timelines, and answered well-posed questions that stir action and inquisitiveness.
Our goal is that visitors will move through the exhibits as active learners. They have been invited to suspend disbelief to become part of recreated environments. They have been challenged to be immigrants, negotiators and history detectives.
Visitors are invited to move back and forth between the 19th century and today. They have been asked to understand others who do not look like their family and to better understand how their family mirrors the lives of those who have journeyed to this nation before them.
In short, our hope is that visitors will step through the Forgotten Gateway and recover a key to their nation's past, and in so doing, better understand the present, and become active contributors to the shape of our nation's future.
Abram, R. J. (2007). Reports from the field: Kitchen conversations: Democracy in action at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The Public Historian, 29(1), 59-76.
Brettell, C. B. & Hollifield, J. F. (Eds.). (2000). Migration theory: Talking across disciplines. New York: Routledge.
Chermayoff, I., Wasserman, F., & Shapiro, M. (1991). Ellis Island: An illustrated history of the immigrant experience. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Daniels, R. (2004). Guarding the golden door: American immigration policy and immigrants since 1882. New York: Farrer, Strauss & Giroux.
Dinnerstein, L. & Reimers, D. M. (1999). Ethnic americans: A history of immigration. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gardner, M. (2005). The qualities of a citizen: Women, immigration and citizenship, 1870-1965. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Higham, J. (1963). Strangers in the land: Patterns of American nativism 1860-1925. New York: Athenaeum.
Hing, B. O. (2004). Defining America through immigration policy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Jacoby, T. (2004). Reinventing the melting pot: The new immigrants and what it means to be American. New York: Basic Books.
Luibhéid, E. (2002). Entry denied: Controlling sexuality at the border. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Marinbach, B. (1983). Galveston: Ellis Island of the west. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Massey, D. S., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pellegrino, A., Taylor, J. E., & et al. (Eds.). (1987). Worlds in motion: Understanding international migration at the end of the millennium. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McComb, D. (1986). Galveston: A history. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Mclean, K. (1999). Museum exhibitions and the dynamics of dialogue. Daedalus, 128(3), 83-107.
Mintz, S. (2008). Notes on immigration. Digital History. Retrieved from http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu.
Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. (Eds.). (1996). Immigrant America: A portrait. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Rozek, B. (2003). Come to Texas: Enticing immigrants, 1865-1915. College Station: Texas A&M University Press.
Sassen, S. (1999). Guests and aliens. New York: The New York Press.
Stolarik, M. M. (Ed.). (1988). Forgotten doors: The other ports of entry to the United States. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Takaki, R. (1990). Iron cages: Race and culture in nineteenth century America (3nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.


text:
The gap between pork producers and their city cousins grows ever wider. Three recent events reinforce this great divide.
You need only look to the unsettling campaign in Florida calling for a ban on the use of sow gestation stalls. Early this year, Florida's Supreme Court approved the wording of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gestation stalls or sow tethers. The anti-stall advocates need nearly 500,000 valid signatures by June in order to place the amendment on the November ballot.
Why target Florida? It's a small pork-producing state with easy prerequisites for placing amendments on the ballot. Beware if organizers are successful, because the results could be far-reaching and precedent-setting.
Waterkeeper Wranglers
Then there's the Waterkeeper Alliance (WKA) mission to close down confinement pork production in this country. WKA President Robert Kennedy Jr. has plainly stated: "We're starting with hogs. After we get done with hogs, then we're going to go after the others." He also stated: "We have attorneys now who have money and they know what they're doing. They are the best in the country and we are going to put an end to this industry." And, in the L.A. Times, he's quoted: "We will march across this country and we will bring these kinds of lawsuits against every single pork factory in America if we have to … whatever it takes to win."
I've heard Kennedy speak. It's apparent that he not only doesn't understand modern agriculture, he's not the least bit interested in gathering the facts.
Riverkeeper founder Robert Boyle, in a Washington Post article (June 22, 2000), describes Kennedy as "very reckless," then adds: "He's assumed an arrogance above his intellectual stature." Bingo!
Kennedy runs fast and loose with what he calls facts and what most folks would call conjecture. Kennedy and his cohorts have a cause, driven by the possibility of huge monetary and political gains. They hang their aspirations on the sensitive public issue of clean water. Like motherhood and apple pie, who would argue with that?
To my knowledge, no one in pork production disagrees. But Kennedy and associates put themselves above the plethora of state and national environmental rules and regulations by which pork producers must abide.
Violate the laws and you will be fined. Violate them chronically, and you could land in jail. Kennedy should become more familiar with the requirements tacked on to pork production before he lambastes it with misinformation.
Occasionally, I get a call or e-mail from a Waterkeeper disciple. I always make it a point to challenge them to ask their lawyer-leaders this question: "Should you win a big settlement, what is your plan for sharing the cache with family farmers?" Usually, the suggestion is met with silence.
The fingerprints of the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are all over these initiatives.
If you're interested in learning more about how intertwined the anti-farming, animal rights organizations are, check out the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) web site:
www.ActivistCash.com. The list of activist groups, foundations, celebrities, key players and funding sources is mind-boggling. The CCF gathered financial information from Internal Revenue Service documents through the Freedom of Information Act.
CCF has an agenda, too. They represent a coalition of restaurant and tavern operators organized to counter "the most notorious and extreme groups that conspire to restrict the public's food and beverage choices through intimidation, taxation and misinformation." I have no problem with that.
Applebee's Fallacy
I had to wonder, though, if the Applebee's International restaurant chain, which boasts over 1,300 restaurants in 49 states and eight foreign countries, is a member of CCF. Unfortunately, CCF has a non-disclosure policy forbidding the disclosure of their membership roster. Still, I think it ironic that a December 19, 2001 letter from Applebee's International runs so diabolically opposite the CCF's stand.
The letter was a strong-arming tactic directed at their "vendor partners" (meat and egg suppliers) demanding that they adhere to a list of animal welfare standards. The list readily smacks of terminology and demands commonly used by animal rights groups. And, like animal rightists, Applebees' demands are not supported by sound science or a study of their viability.
This triad of pork industry challenges is real. Failure to address them will surely cast us into new ill-founded rules and regulations. Our pork-producing counterparts in the European Union can tell you stories about what similar movements have done to their industry.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
OOPS! Sorry you did not find the page you were looking for!
That page has either moved or been discontinued (or worst we made an error).
Below you will find la ink to our main menu.
The Great Idea Finder
contact us
if you are unable to locate the page or information you were looking for.
We will need the address of the page you were coming from and the link you were trying to use.
Thank you for your help. We want to get it corrected as soon as possible.


text:
Exquisitely hand painted 'DUTCH SQUARE TILE' This tile is decorative,beautiful, and easy to install, It provide a stunning impression on many areas of the house, wall, table top, stair risers.Infact,it can even be framed. The possibilities are endless...however, it depends on your particular taste and reuirement how you want to display it in your surroundings. One can have it professionally cemented to the wall, or have it framed, or installed on furniture.For these tiles, organic paint has been used to colour them. These colours have a matt texture, and may bleed if they come in contact with liquid. Hence, buyers are strongly advised not to wipe tiles with a wet cloth. All tiles should be lightly dusted.These should not be used in areas like bathroom where they can come in regular contact with water, they are to be creatively used for purely decorative purpose only. Although all efforts are made to create identical tiles to that of the images published on the website, there could be minor shade differences, as all tiles are individually hand crafted and painted when an order is placed
Product By Vanitas Collections
Color : Blue And White
Material : Ceramic
Dimension LxH : 12*12 inches


text:
18 July 2010
Winners of First PL/SQL Challenge Playoff Announced
And now the results (drumroll, please!):
First Place: Gerben Kroese (Netherlands)
Second Place: Niels Hecker (Germany)
Third Place: Janis Baiza (Latvia)
4: John Hall (United States)
5: Timur Akhmadeev (Russia)
6: Nick Strange (United States)
7: Rob van Wijk (Netherlands)
8: Ken Holmslykke (Denmark)
9: Rich Dellheim (United States)
10: Jeff Kemp (Australia)
11: Michal Pravda (Czech Republic)
12: Henrikas Zukovskis (Lithuania)
13: Edwin van Meerendonk (Netherlands)
14: Marcus Matzberger (Germany)
15: heho (Germany)
16: Muhammad Abdul Halim (Bangladesh)
17: shwetamber kaushik (India)
18: Javid Sch (Azerbaijan)
19: Eurico Matos (Portugal)
20: Filipe Silva (Portugal)
21: Jeyhun Gasimov (Azerbaijan)
22: Adriano Teixeira (Portugal)
23: Toine van Beckhoven (Netherlands)
24: Anton Scheffer (Netherlands)
25: Sailaja Pasupuleti (India)
26: Nopparat Vanichrudee (Thailand)
27: Radoslav Golian (Slovakia)
28: Latha (United States)
29: Fabio Sangalli (Italy)
30: Noor Ahmed (India)
31: Christian Rokitta (Netherlands)
32: Rokas Baltuskonis (Lithuania)
Congratulations, first and foremost, to Gerben, Niels and Janis on your accomplishments. A very impressive performance on what participants reported was a tough set of PL/SQL quizzes.
Gerben wins US$1000, or another prize of equal or greater value (Gerben's choice).
Niels wins US$500, or another prize of equal or greater value (Niels's choice).
Janis wins a "library" of all of O'Reilly Media's Oracle ebook, or another prize of equal or greater value (Janis's choice).
Congratulations also to everyone else in the top 10. You each win your choice of an O'Reilly Media ebook.
Everyone else who participated will receive a certificate verifying your participation in the playoff, which you I hope you will display prominently, as it demonstrates your knowledge of and commitment to learning more about the PL/SQL language.
We will soon add a number of reports to the Statistics page so that you can get a sense of scores, ranking, country distribution, and more, for this playoff.
10 comments:
Congratulations Gerben, Niels & Janis. That's a wonderful achievement for such a difficult set of questions. Hats off!ReplyDelete
Yes, Congratulations Gerven Kroese, Niels Hecker and Janis Baiza for your Great performance.ReplyDelete
Many many thanks to Steven Feuerstein for giving us the chance to learning PL/SQL and giving me a certificate.
Muhammad Abdul Halim
Congrats :)ReplyDelete
Congratulations to all!ReplyDelete
Congrats Halim!!! I am feeling proud and you know why. :)Go ahead man.ReplyDelete
Thanks Shamim Ashrafi sir.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous19 July, 2010 20:02
Well done everyone. Good to see so many Dutch people in the final and the winner among them ;-). Well done, Gerben.ReplyDelete
I think it was a tough series of questions. I had enough difficulty with them. And I have respect for anyone who finished all questions in time with a high score. It seems I need to work on some specific subject areas ;-). Thanks Steven and others for the opportunity. And many thanks to Finn for his contributions!
Congratulations to all!ReplyDelete
Specially for Gerven Kroese, Niels Hecker and Janis Baiza for your Execellent performance.
Congrats!!! Thank you to all programmers.ReplyDelete
Congrates to all winners.ReplyDelete


text:
Brewers send four players to All-Star Game
CINCINNATI -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke isn't a fan of team meetings, but happily made an exception on Sunday.
Roenicke closed the clubhouse doors at about 11 a.m. ET to deliver news that wouldn't go public for another eight hours: For the fifth time in team history, and the first time since 2007, four Brewers players would represent the franchise at the All-Star Game on July 15 at Target Field.
CINCINNATI -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke isn't a fan of team meetings, but happily made an exception on Sunday.
Roenicke closed the clubhouse doors at about 11 a.m. ET to deliver news that wouldn't go public for another eight hours: For the fifth time in team history, and the first time since 2007, four Brewers players would represent the franchise at the All-Star Game on July 15 at Target Field.
Third baseman Aramis Ramirez and center fielder Carlos Gomez were elected National League starters by baseball fans, positioning the Brewers to have at least two players in the starting lineup for the third time in five years. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy was named as a reserve and Francisco Rodriguez made the NL bullpen via the player ballot.
It made for a fun meeting.
"When you have guys in it, it is," Roenicke said. "If you're one of those teams when you don't have anybody in, and now you have to have somebody in, then it's a little different. …
"We've got some guys who had great first halves so far, and that's what's nice to see. It's great because it's a team game, we play to win, but it's nice when an individual is recognized like they are for this game."
Lucroy garnered special recognition as the only first-time All-Star in the bunch.
"I was a little nervous, but I had a good feeling about it," Lucroy said. "It's one of those things that you kind of hope happens and you get recognized for, and whenever it does happen it feels good. I'm glad that I was able to have this opportunity."
Besides 2007, the Brewers also had four All-Stars in 1980, '82 and '83.
Here's a look at the Brewers' 2014 All-Stars:
Carlos Gomez, CF
Prior ASGs: 2013
ASG Stats: 0-for-1, grounded out as the final player to bat against Yankees' Mariano Rivera in an All-Star Game
How he made 2014 NL team: Elected by fans
Why he's an All-Star: Rather than trying to get him to take pitches and put the ball on the ground, the Brewers decided in 2012 to tell Gomez to look for something to hit and swing hard. It's worked. He's also made a leap defensively, winning the Brewers' first Gold Glove Award in more than 30 years last season.
Did you know?: Gomez's father, also named Carlos, was a quality shortstop and center fielder in the Dominican Republic, but never broke into professional baseball in the U.S. because of his small stature. The younger Gomez told a story during Spring Training about how his father, intent on producing a son who would grow big enough and strong enough to play in the Major Leagues, set out to "marry a big woman to have a big kid." He wed Belgika, who gave him three children, including a 6-foot-3 speedster who would grow up to be an All-Star.
Quotable: "It means that I get better, and the world recognizes that I make progress and they want to see me because it's them voting. It makes me feel like I have to continue to get better every day, working hard to be the player that I think that I can be, because I'm not there yet. I'm still working and still learning every day, and I don't feel like it's enough.'" -- Gomez
Jonathan Lucroy, C
Prior ASGs: First time
ASG Stats: N/A
How he made 2014 NL team: Player ballot
Why he's an All-Star: He has been baseball's most valuable catcher all season, as measured by wins above replacement, and even made a last-minute push in fan balloting before falling short of NL starter Yadier Molina. Lucroy has improved dramatically on defense since his hurried promotion to the Majors in 2010, which has had a positive effect on his offensive production.
Did you know?: Lucroy has embraced the "nerd" role lately, since teammate Ryan Braun lovingly labeled him as such in an interview with a national writer. Lucroy's locker at Miller Park features the logo of Lambda Lambda Lambda, the fraternity featured in the 1984 film "Revenge of the Nerds."
Quotable: "Not only has 'Luc' been our best player and MVP to this point, I think he should be in the MVP conversation for the league." -- Braun
Aramis Ramirez, 3B
Prior ASGs: 2005, 2008
ASG Stats: 1-for-2, single, two walks
How he made 2014 NL team: Elected by fans
Why he's an All-Star: Credit the Brewers' scorching start to the season, because Ramirez himself admits he's surprised to be in the starting lineup. He's tied for fourth among NL third basemen in home runs and fifth in RBIs, partly because Ramirez spent about a month on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.
Did you know?: Ramirez will be the first Brewers third baseman to start an All-Star Game. He started as an injury replacement in 2005, while playing for the Cubs, made the team via the player ballot in 2008 and was poised to be an injury replacement in 2011 for the Phillies' Placido Polanco. But Ramirez didn't get that invitation until a day or two before the event, and politely declined, he said, because he'd already made family plans.
Quotable: "[Being elected by fans] means the fans of Milwaukee really support their players, because I'm sure probably 90-95 percent of those votes were coming out of Wisconsin. They really supported me. I did miss almost a month; that's why I was a little surprised. But it's good." -- Ramirez
Francisco Rodriguez, RP
Prior ASGs: 2004, 2007-09
ASG Stats: 2 1/3 innings, one strikeout, two walks, one save
How he made 2014 NL team: Player ballot
Why he's an All-Star: He did not sign until late in the offseason and was not expected to be the Brewers' closer until emerging from the bullpen in the ninth inning on Opening Day. Rodriguez jumped all over the opportunity. He did not allow a run until his 20th appearance of the season, and leads the Majors with 27 saves.
Did you know?: Rodriguez's Spring Training got off to a prickly start. In early March, he stepped barefoot on a backyard cactus -- it was the Cactus League, after all -- delaying his exhibition debut by several days. Rather than risk infection by cutting into his foot to remove the hundreds of spines, Rodriguez simply had to wait for them to work their way out naturally. He was still pulling them out in April.
Quotable: "I probably can't show how happy I am because we just lost a tough game, but it is something really special for me and my family once again, to be in the Midsummer Classic. There are no words to describe for me and my family how excited we are right now." -- Rodriguez
Immediately following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters on Sunday, fans began voting to select the final player for each league's 34-man roster via the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Experian. Fans can cast their votes from a list of five players from each league until the winners are announced after the voting concludes on Thursday at 3 p.m. CT.
The final phase of All-Star Game voting will again have fans help choose the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com and via Twitter in the 2014 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote Sponsored by Pepsi, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the overall vote that determines the recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
MLB.TV Premium subscribers, for the first time, will be able to live stream the All-Star Game via MLB.TV through FOX's participating video providers. Access will be available across more than 400 platforms that support MLB.TV, including the award-winning MLB.com At Bat app. MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage of the All-Star Week festivities.
The 85th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network and SiriusXM will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brew Beat, and follow him on Twitter at @AdamMcCalvy.


text:
Viewing Discount Customers in Your Reseller Account
In the Reseller Control Center, you can view a list of your customers to whom you offer discount pricing. For more information about offering your customers discount pricing, see Managing Discount Pricing for Your Reseller Customers.
To View Discount Customers in Your Reseller Account
- Log in to your Reseller Control Center.
- Go to the Reports tab.
- From the Customers menu, select Customer Lookup.
- Click Advanced search.
- Select Only Discount Pricing Shoppers, and then click Look Up Customers.


text:
Song List
Show Review
Artist Bio
Keep an open mind, or perhaps just let it go altogether. Ahmed Gallab, a touring member of Yeasayer along with his solo project Sinkane (learn more here), has assembled ten tracks of sample-worthy goodnesss from the outskirts of avant garde compositions, jazz, and Four Tet (he could be his own genre of creation)....
Yeasayer returned home Saturday to transform Terminal 5 into a new-age bohemian nightclub. They brought along The Smith Westerns (probably not old enough to buy alcohol), HUSH HUSH (One of the funniest musical acts you'll ever experience), decorative cacti (which seem to be in attendance at all of their shows lately), a synthesizer that didn't make it through the night, and a few new songs....
Last night, Brooklyn band, Yeasayer, premiered a new song while performing live on Conan. "The Devil and the Deed" is more jaunty than the usual sci-fi smoothness of the experimental rockers, yet the falsetto chorus and dry ice around their ankles leave a haunting impression....
About this Video
© 2019 Baeble Media. All rights reserved.


text:
Press releases
Our latest press releases can be found here.
Here, you will find exciting stories and background information from the world of Zalando.
Whether you're looking for annual or interim reports, you can download our financial publications here.
Press material
Here, you will find photos, videos and lookbooks for download.


text:
Your browser does not support iframes.
We have heard it time and time again after a close game that comes down to a final shot with a close play. Such was the case Thursday when Morehead State upset Louisville in the NCAA Tournament.
You have seen the replays time and again by now. Morehead's Demonte Harper put an incredible fake on Louisville's Peyton Siva, then nailed a 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds to play.
That is plenty of time for Louisville to get off a shot. Morehead's pressure forced Louisville to settle for a contested 3-pointer from Mike Marra.
Still stunned
I'm still stunned that the Anderson County girls' basketball team will not be playing in Diddle Arena on Wednesday.
But that is the beauty (if you win) and craziness (if you lose) of March Madness. Unlike the NBA, where the best team nearly always wins a series, high school and college tournaments are one-and-done affairs.
Teams get in foul trouble. Some teams get hot, or as was the case for Anderson County on Saturday night, teams that normally shoot well, don't.
It is tough enough to win a regional championship in Kentucky basketball. Out of more than 260 high schools only a select few, the "Sweet 16" are fortunate enough to have the combination of basketball skill and luck to make it through five or six win-or-go-home games. Each game, in theory at least, is a bit tougher than the next.
Anderson County will have a major challenge in Friday's Eighth Region Tournament semi-final when the Lady Bearcats tangle with Owen County.
I can't think of a better basketball day than when it is time for the semi-finals of the regional tournament.
Four teams, all good, all with the same goal, usually gathered in a high school gymnasium not quite equipped to handle a crowd of that magnitude. But they manage that one night a year.
When I heard the news that Anderson County's Eriel McKee had not been named to the coaches' All-Region team, I reacted like any normal person who has seen much girls' basketball this year would.
"You ARE kidding, right?"
No kidding. When the 15-girl team was announced recently, there was no McKee on it.
It is unbelievable.
About 40 minutes before tipoff of Tuesday's Eighth Region Tournament game, I asked Anderson County girls' basketball coach Tony Kays if his team was ready to play.
It was a legitimate question as the Lady Bearcats have had a tendency to play to the competition at times and have slacked a little against teams that they are supposed to handle, such as Oldham. To make matters more interesting, Oldham had a team that many thought could be a spoiler in the region.
Anderson County will open girls' Eighth Region Tournament play on Tuesday night when the Lady Bearcats take on Oldham County at approximately 7:30.
Owen County and Simon Kenton will play in the first game, one that on paper looks like a dandy.
Paper also says Anderson should advance to the regional semifinals for the sixth time in the last eight years. The Lady Bearcats beat Oldham County by 20 points in the second week of the season, but every game is different, especially those three months apart.
Copyright © 2019
The Anderson News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Lawrenceburg, KY and the surrounding area.


text:
This is your boy, Ford Asspimple. Even with help from Nunziata and Berardinetti, he still can't get his facts straight or stay on message. That council is actually debating this again is enough to make me wanna barf.
Sure, let's tear up the Master Agreement and bet a billion dollars on this guy. Great idea.
Related posts:
- Just how fucking stupid are Ford supporters, anyway? | #TOpoli
- Via @cityslikr: #Fordfest, integrity, and the slow but steady fouling of the public sphere | #TOpoli
- Mayor Stupid, the Star, and another question | #TOpoli


text:
Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf lrf pdb txt html
♥ Latest News! ♥
Want a custom story just for you? I'll write and edit your desire to perfection. Simply send me an email with all of your taboo desires: email@example.com
Chat with me LIVE! Join my free anonymous -EXTREME TABOO NSFW/NSFL- Discord server here: https://discord.gg/4TRwUqt (FREE Audio Stories, FREE Erotica Stories, and MORE!) Some of my paid stories here are on my Discord for free! I love you guys!
We can have a little bit of one on one chat if you want. Tell me what you like, love, and want to see me write. If you have something specific in mind, let's talk! I would love, love, LOVE, to turn you on. I'm bisexual! It's playtime! Or... roleplay time, if you enjoy ageplay! I'll be your mommy, or your little sister... or simply the hot next door neighbor you wish you could fuck, but your wife... Enough talk. Join my Discord. You have nothing to lose, and so much to gain! Let me bring your fantasies to life.
5/19 - Enslaved, Tortured, and Raped
This is a hot one. I'll leave you guys to your business ;) I hope I can make you cum so hard!
5/8 - Panties/Audio
Due to popular demand, I now sell my panties! Tell me your favorite color and I'll wear it for a few days, send it to you, and you can take care of your business with my velvet soft panties ;)
Secondly, I now sell my stories or your personal custom story, in audio! I'll read your story aloud and sent it to you, and only you. Can you imagine jacking off with my panties wrapped around your dick while you listening to your favorite erotica piece? I'm hot just thinking about it. I smell good too -blush- I can do other author's stories as well, just send me an email to email@example.com Let's have fun together! XOXO
If you like, I can even roleplay with you via direct message! Who would you like me to be? How old?
I've been writing for about 10 years now, and I have over 500 erotica titles to choose from! I have two associate degrees; one in Writing, and the other in American Literature. I recently completed my Master's in Creative Writing. I am currently working on my PhD in Expressive Writing. If you want a quality piece of work, just reach out to me via email and we can work together so that I can give you something you can keep forever as your own.
If you love my writing or even enjoy it, drop me a review on a story that you felt was exceptional. Receiving reviews to an author is like Christmas day! It's so exciting!
All of my Mother-Son Incest stories are now in one spot: https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/37030?ref=JezebelRose
All work from 10/24/18 and beyond (good page to bookmark to see my newest stuff without old stuff swamping your view): https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/36722?ref=JezebelRose
3/31 - Hey! Guess who's back? I've been stuck in the hospital! Lame! Well, now I'm out, and writing. Expect several new releases over the next week as I catch up on my custom story requests. I love you all, and thank you for supporting me!
12/16 - Teaching My Daughter About Sex. This story is about a mother teaching her daughter about sex between females and dogs via a double-headed hollow dildo with cameras on each end wired to a large display to show what happens internally: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/912959?ref=JezebelRose (internal suction & fluid exchange)
12/2 - Part two of the Three Brothers Raping Mother series. Momma is now preggo and it turns all three of her sons on:
11/30 - Three brothers rape their mother by tying her to the bed and having their way with her pussy, ass, and mouth. Little do they know, but Mother is ovulating. Read this one here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/910356?ref=JezebelRose
11/20 - Barely Legal Virgin Son Impregnates Mother is now live right here:
11/19 - Two new stories are now live! Check them out:
The Viking's Prize: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/908086?ref=JezebelRose (historical viking rape)
Dominating Family Part 4: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/907659?ref=JezebelRose (family forced bdms extended series)
11/14 - Exchanging Fluids is now live! This is a 10k word story where a woman fucks various female animals in heat with a double-headed hollow dildo. Expect loads of details about vaginal secretions, lubricants, cum, swollen vulvas and more:
11/12 - The Chieftain's Daughter 1000 Years Later is now live! Check it out here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/36801?ref=JezebelRose
11/10 - I am writing Part 2 to The Chieftain's Daughter right now :) Your emails of encouragement for more were enough. I expect to have Part 2 ready very soon! Then, next, we shall see what happens in Part 4 of the Dominating Family series!
11/5 - Part 3 of Dominating Family is out now! Check it out here:
Oh! If you are into native american historical rape, gang rape, and humiliation, check out The Chieftain's Daughter, here:
10/26 - Have you found a serious issue with one of my stories? Maybe a bundle missing a story? Let me know and I'll give you a free bundle of your choice! firstname.lastname@example.com
Sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/5hSQX ~ I only send out a newsletter when I have a large sale going on every so often.
~ If you are new to reading my stories, first check out my Private Collection. These are my favorite stories that I feel best to represent myself as an author: https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/36466?ref=JezebelRose
~ Love my stories? Take a peek at my bundles to save you time and money. These are priced at $1 or less per story in each bundle! https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/34262?ref=JezebelRose
~ Want a custom bundle? Let me know and I'll put together a collection just for you! Simply send your request to email@example.com with your request. I discount depending on the number of stories included.
Lastly, I love you all! Every single one of my fans has made my dream come true as an author. I love writing about sex in all forms. Whether it be animal sex, rape, incest, or even sexual slavery. Much of my catalog is dedicated to bestiality and incest, however, I have over 500 various stories to choose from! Some of my stories are extremely violent, or seductive each in their own way. Take a peek at my many series below and give me a shot! I won't let you down... :) ...and if I do, contact me and I'll make it right.
My series below are not series, they are separated by kink, as you will quickly notice. If a series is actually a series, it will be obvious. Check out the Erotica series to see all of my work, including bundles. Sort by recency to see my newest work (I like to think I write better as I learn more!)


text:
Oct. 11, 2011
NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-Two members of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth cross country teams have been honored by the Little East Conference.
Freshmen Katie Sheehan (Scituate, MA/Scituate HS) and Ben Girard (Manchester, MA/Manchester Essex HS) have been named LEC Rookie Runners of the Week. It's the third time that Girard has been so honored.
At last Saturday's James Earley Invitational at Westfield State, Sheehan led the Corsair runners for the first time this season, finishing 13th overall in 19:23 for the 5000 meter race. Girard led the UMass Dartmouth men, placing 22nd overall in 27:20 over the five mile course.
"Our whole team had a real breakthrough race on Saturday, and Katie was the poster child for that breakthrough," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jon Hird. "She's been looking good in practice, she listens well, she remembers well, and she is very performance-oriented. For someone for whom track and field was probably her primary running sport in high school, last Saturday's race was a great achievement and a real eye opener. Ben continues to perform at a very level for a freshman. Week after week, he races well, he plans well, and he thinks well throughout the course of the race and makes the adjustments he has to make. Over time, he is going to be a very good cross country runner. One of his most important attributes so far is his consistency, and coaches love athletes who are consistent."
The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Connecticut College this Saturday.


text:
Do you have Your Bangin Summer Body Yet? Well, Come and Get It!
Have you ever heard of someone working out their organ system? I mean working toning their heart, liver, lungs? Maybe not, probably sounds strange lol. There are simple movements that can assist in keeping you healthy like for instance walking, yoga and tai qi. Qi Gong has so many benefits if you practice it regularly. It's so good that i wrote about it on this blog before. I'm currently on my Kundalini yoga thang, i'll tell you about that one next time. Back to Qi Gong though, if you want to have more energy, more will power, a wider aura, to increase your magnitizim and be happy inside and out. You have to try Qi Gong out for real. I have a teacher who taught me most of what i know about Qi gong. I will post a link to the video where you can learn too if you would like. Oh yes, Qi gong will help you sleep better, focus longer, regulate your blood pressure too. Sounds good huh?
There are benefits that come out everyday about exercises that no one would think would have the great benefits they have. This is no exception. Trust me I'm 34 and I'm getting older by the minute but i enjoy having a body that is happy, healthy and together to my standards. Qi gong works the entire body, and i notice it works your buns too. It worked mine out anyway. Beyond that, I feel younger than what i really am. I know that.How do you feel right now? Do you need some more juice to get going? Well, here you go…look up this work out when you're done.
What's your standard healthy- hot-body look like? Take some notes on this one. Qi gong is one thing that does a body good. Did you get that? You better! By the time you write your list I would have just gotten finished with my Qi gong routine. I honestly stopped working out to write some of this article because the results I'm getting are some powerful from this stuff. So, lets get into it..why Qi gong? What the heck it is anyway? It's a type of martial arts practice actually. This type of martial arts is for the cultivation of your life force energy though. Life force meaning, the invisible body that mobilizes your entire physical body. Confusing? of course it is! It's all good though, you'll get it. Trust.
I can't see your face from where i am but Okay you seem a bit more interested in this exercise now that you noticed the booty lifting part that you're fully tuned in. i got you..well Qi gong is good for the entire body!
And even though the type of Qi gong i mostly focus on is medical Qi gong which works the inside of the body..yes the inside not the outside..but it does both though trust me. So you get the benefits of working the organs, and outside of the body and your booty… I have to get going now. Look for that information on where to buy a great qi gong video. It's coming soon. Enjoy your day and peace and love ya'll. 123Blast off!
Related articles
- Balancing The Inner And Outer Bodies (blissreturned.wordpress.com)


text: (from the publisher)Gear up for the hottest movie event of 2010 with this collection packed with Iron Man action! First, superstars Peter David and Sean Chen bring the blockbuster IRON MAN to comics...just in time for IRON MAN 2! When Tony Stark is wounded and taken prisoner in the Middle East and forced to build a missile for insurgents, Tony creates a suit of armor to keep him alive and blast his way out! Now Tony sees the folly of his greed, and sets out to right wrongs as the armored avenger...Iron Man! Next, Iron Man: Fast Friends explores the special bond between Tony Stark and his best friend, Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes. Then it's time to open up the Fury Files as Nick Fury heads out into the field to track down Bruce Banner.


text:
Sanford And Weiner: Different Humiliations, Same Remorseful Script
In the past three decades or so, when writing about political sex scandals became an art form, the tendency has always been to lump everyone together. There are many differences between, say, what Anthony Weiner did and what Mark Sanford did. And, while we're at it, what John Edwards and Mark Foley and Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich and Marion Barry and Gary Hart and Wilbur Mills and Buz Lukens and Kwame Kilpatrick and Larry Craig and Eliot Spitzer and John Ensign and Barney Frank and all the others have done as well. Yet, when one writes about "sex scandals" and "politicians," you'll often see all these fine gentlemen included in the article, despite the differing circumstances.
But in some ways it's not that much of a stretch to link Sanford with Weiner, considering the fact that they are two high profile pols who in recent years humiliated their wives, abandoned by their supporters and who are now either seeking "redemption" (the current buzzword) with the voters or contemplating doing so.
While their actions are quite different in scope — Sanford fell in love with another woman and Weiner sent lewd pictures of himself on Twitter — both followed a similar pattern. Immediately their inclination was to lie. Sanford was "hiking on the Appalachian Trail;" Weiner's Twitter account was "hacked." And when their stories fell apart, they switched to tearful, icky, TMI Total Confessional. Sanford managed to serve out his term, even though he was censured by the state legislature for using government funds to hide his affair. For Weiner, it took just one month to go from adamantly denying he had sent the racy photos (or feigning ignorance as to whether the pictures were really of him) to resigning his House seat in June of 2011.
They also both totally humiliated their wives and shamed their families. Sanford's affair led to divorce; he is now engaged to his Argentinian firecracker. Weiner's wife, who was pregnant at the time the notorious Tweets were being sent out, is staying put. Sanford was in love with the "other woman," which was/is not the case with Weiner.
It's one thing to ask for forgiveness and seek redemption from the voters; Sanford and Weiner seem to be reading from the same script. But it's another to give them a reason to vote for you. The task may be a little easier for Sanford. First of all, the stars began to align in his favor when the representative from South Carolina's First Congressional District, Tim Scott, was appointed to the Senate to fill a vacancy. In a Republican district that went 58 percent for Mitt Romney last year, Sanford was easily the most well-known and best-financed Republican in the race to succeed Scott. Besides, he held the very same seat for three terms before he retired in 2000 (and then went on to serve eight years as governor). He still has a decent shot at winning the May 7 general election.
It's a tougher road for Weiner, whose scandal is unlikely to ever be forgotten (and even if that were possible, there will always be the front page of the New York Post to remind you of it). And even if Weiner can ignore the shameful and embarrassing treatment he is assured of getting from the city tabloids, he still has to get by a serious list of other Democrats who want to be mayor, one that includes the speaker of the city council, two citywide-elected officials (the public advocate and comptroller), and the unsuccessful 2009 Democratic nominee, among others. He has already reportedly spent a hundred thousand dollars in polling for a potential run and has more than $4 million in the bank that could be used for a campaign. And his recent comments, highlighted by Sunday's New York Times Magazine cover story, made it clear that his itching for City Hall has not diminished one bit, not since he first tried in 2005, when he made a strong bid in the Democratic primary.
What he may not realize is that there is no great need for him to return to politics, even among his fellow Dems. Bloomberg Businessweek's Joshua Green writes that Weiner may be blind to how others see him: "One reason Weiner has so few friends is that most members of Congress, including his fellow Democrats, regarded him as chiefly concerned with his own aggrandizement — he spent more time shouting at Republicans on cable television than legislating."
In some ways, Anthony Weiner is a very smart guy. In many ways, he reminds me of Gary Hart. Yes, I know, I warned against sex-scandal linking at the beginning of this post. But there are a lot of similarities between the two. Hart, of course, was the frontrunner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, the "new ideas" candidate, until he was caught spending a weekend in April of 1987 with one Donna Rice, a woman who happened to not be his wife. Humiliated and the subject of endless mockery from late night comedians, Hart dropped out of the race within a month. But then, shockingly, he re-entered the contest in mid-December, saying voters were not hearing about the key issues from the candidates, such as "strategic investment economics," "military reform" or "enlightened engagement." Maybe so, but the straight-faced pronouncement from Hart came seemingly with the belief that voters would be thinking of "strategic investment economics" when they saw him. It was as if he were blinded by his own self-importance.
Hart was gone from the race a few months later, having won not a single delegate.
Similarly, Weiner has started talking about the issues that face New York City. He wants a single-payer health care system. He would raise taxes on the wealthy. He wants to encourage people to commute to work by bike. He wants more "transparency" in the police department.
Will anyone be listening?
Good Looks Department. President Obama wandered into a bit of controversy the other day when he said of Kamala Harris, California's AG, that she "happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general in the country." Within minutes came the usual head-scratching, with many wondering if Obama's comments were, in the words of GWU Associate Law Professor Naomi Schoenbaum, writing in Slate, "simply a statement of opinion, a gaffe, or a form of benign sexism."
Of course, this is not the first time Obama has gotten into hot water over his comments about women; one may recall his description of Hillary Clinton as "likeable enough" during a 2008 debate. And don't think for a minute that this is solely an Obama issue. How many times, for instance, have you seen references to Sarah Palin's or Scott Brown's looks?
The fact is, nobody can be the "best looking" anything without an official Political Junkie Fake Poll.
Political Updates. I post periodic political updates during the week — some serious, some not — on Twitter. You can follow me at @kenrudin. Here's one sampling from the mailbag:
Q: You wrote that Hillary Clinton will be 69 years old in 2016 and that if she won, she would be the oldest woman ever elected president of the U.S. But wouldn't she also be the youngest, since no woman has ever been president? — Roberta Chandler, Chicago, Ill.
A: Yes, of course. I was just being playful. Sometimes being playful doesn't translate well in print.
Political Junkie segment on Talk of the Nation. Each Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, the Political Junkie segment appears on Talk of the Nation (NPR's call-in program), hosted by Neal Conan with me adding color commentary, where you can, sometimes, hear interesting conversation, useless trivia questions and sparkling jokes. Last week's show focused on the prospects for gun and immigration legislation. You can listen to the segment here:
And speaking of TOTN ... Lots of wonderful notes from so many friends expressing their thoughts about Talk of the Nation and, of course, the Wednesday Political Junkie segment ending at the end of June. Your expressions of support mean more to me than you know.
Podcast. There's also a new episode of our weekly podcast, "It's All Politics," up every Thursday. It's hosted by my partner in crime, Ron Elving, and me. With Ron on vacation last week, Mara Liasson stepped in to substitute.
Sanford And Weiner: Different Humiliations, Same Remorseful Script
And Don't Forget ScuttleButton. ScuttleButton, America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle, can usually be found in this spot every Monday or Tuesday. A randomly selected winner will be announced every Wednesday during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation. People are still unhappy about the most recent puzzle, which you can see here, and which — given its April 1 posting, turned out to be an April Fool's Joke. A genuine puzzle returns this week. And remember, whether the puzzle is for real or not, the winner still gets not only a Political Junkie T-shirt but also a 3-1/2-inch Official No-Prize Button!
April 24 — Hillary Clinton first post-government paid speech, National Multi Housing Council in Dallas.
April 30 — Special Massachusetts Senate primary.
May 7 — Special election in S.C. 01.
May 21 — Los Angeles mayoral runoff. Also: Pittsburgh mayoral primary.
June 4 — Special election in Missouri's 8th CD to replace Jo Ann Emerson (R), who resigned.
June 25 — Special Senate election in Massachusetts to replace John Kerry, who is now secretary of state.
June 26 — Final "Political Junkie" segment on Talk of the Nation (TOTN).
Aug. 6 — Seattle mayoral primary.
Mailing list. To receive a weekly email alert about the new column and ScuttleButton puzzle, contact me at firstname.lastname@example.com.
******* Don't Forget: If you are sending in a question to be used in this column, please include your city and state. *********
This day in political history: The House ethics committee says it found "reason to believe" that Speaker Jim Wright violated House rules 69 times over the past ten years, mostly over allegations that the Texas Democrat enriched himself regarding a book-publishing scheme and accepting improper gifts from a Fort Worth developer. Wright insists he is innocent of the charges (April 17, 1989). On May 31, Wright will make a dramatic announcement on the House floor, saying he will resign effective June 6, rather than contest the charges.
Got a question? Ask Ken Rudin: email@example.com


text:
Over two and a half years after the Climategate scandal fundamentally undermined public confidence in the theory of manmade climate change, questions are continuing to be raised regarding the means used for collecting data for evaluating global warming, and the process of peer review that evaluates the climate studies.
The latest challenge confronting advocates of the theory of global warming is a study coauthored by Anthony Watts, a former television meteorologist, president of IntelliWeather, and a "convert" to the ranks of the skeptics of manmade global warming. In 2007, Watts founded SurfaceStations.org, a site which evaluates the weather stations gathering data used to model changes in global temperatures, because of concerns regarding the accuracy of the data.
Why would the location of the stations matter? Because the growth and spread of the population of the United States could cause localized changes in temperature without having a larger — even global— effect. For example, measurements from a location that was once in the middle of a field might now be surrounded by blacktop; in such a situation, the world has not necessarily gotten warmer but the area around the monitoring equipment certainly has.
The existence of such poorly-placed monitoring equipment is far from hypothetical: an article for FoxNews.com cited several examples:
That problem of poorly sited stations thanks to "encroaching urbanity" — locations near asphalt, air conditioning and airports — is well established. A sensor in Marysville, Calif., sits in a parking lot at a fire station next to an air conditioner exhaust and a cell tower. One in Redding, Calif., is housed in a box that also contains a halogen light bulb, which could emit warmth directly onto the gauge.
The study conducted by Watts and his colleagues (An area and distance weighted analysis of the impacts of station exposure on the U.S. Historical Climatology Network temperatures and temperature trends) draws on the SurfaceStation data to reach several significant conclusions, including the following points:
• The analysis demonstrates clearly that siting quality matters. Well sited stations consistently show a significantly cooler trend than poorly sited stations, no matter which class of station is used for a baseline, and also when using no baseline at all. …
• It is demonstrated that stations with poor microsite (Class 3, 4, 5) ratings have significantly higher warming trends than well sited stations (Class 1, 2): This is true for, all nine geographical areas of all five data samples. The odds of this result having occurred randomly are quite small. ...
• Not only does the NOAA USCHNv2 adjustment process fail to adjust poorly sited stations downward to match the well sited stations, but actually adjusts the well sited stations upwards to match the poorly sited stations.
• In addition to this, it is demonstrated that urban sites warm more rapidly than semi-urban sites, which in turn warm more rapidly than rural sites. Since a disproportionate percentage of stations are urban (10%) and semi-urban (25%) when compared with the actual topography of the U.S., this further exaggerates Tmean trends.
• NOAA adjustments procedure fails to address these issues. Instead, poorly sited station trends are adjusted sharply upward (not downward), and well sited stations are adjusted upward to match the already-adjusted poor stations. Well sited rural stations show a warming nearly three times greater after NOAA adjustment is applied.
In other words, the study determined that not only are many monitoring stations poorly placed, the erroneous data generated by the poorly-placed urban sites is actually being used to adjust the data gathered at better-situated rural sites. What is the result? "The new analysis demonstrates that reported 1979-2008 U.S. temperature trends are spuriously doubled, with 92% of that over-estimation resulting from erroneous NOAA adjustments of well-sited stations upward."
Undoubtedly the new study will draw criticism from advocates of the theory of manmade climate change because it calls into question the reliability of the data upon which the theory has purportedly been based. Consider, for example, one of the critics of "climate change deniers": Richard Muller, a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley who was himself quite recently among those "deniers." According to a recent opinion article which he wrote for the New York Times ("The Conversion of a Climate Change Skeptic"), Prof. Muller cites the increase in surface temperatures as the reason for his "conversion":
Last year, following an intensive research effort involving a dozen scientists, I concluded that global warming was real and that the prior estimates of the rate of warming were correct. I'm now going a step further: Humans are almost entirely the cause.
My total turnaround, in such a short time, is the result of careful and objective analysis by the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, which I founded with my daughter Elizabeth. Our results show that the average temperature of the earth's land has risen by two and a half degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years, including an increase of one and a half degrees over the most recent 50 years. Moreover, it appears likely that essentially all of this increase results from the human emission of greenhouse gases.
In a sense, there is a point of agreement between the two studies: there has been an increase in temperature at many of the monitoring stations, and that increase has been caused by humans — but there is reason to believe that the temperature change is extremely localized, and that the poor placement of monitoring equipment has proven to be a very poor guide to worldwide trends — a doubling of the temperature change, if Watts, et. al., are correct.
The study which Muller cites as the cause for his "conversion" is drawing criticism even from others who would normally be critical of "deniers." For example, Judith Curry, a climatologist and chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is quite critical of Muller's findings:
Judged by standards set by the IPCC and the best of recent observation-based attribution analyses, in my opinion the Rhode, Muller et al. attribution analysis falls way short. … Looking at regional variations provides substantial insights into the attribution.
No one that I listen to questions that adding CO2 to the atmosphere will warm the earth's surface, all other things being equal. The issue is whether anthropogenic activities or natural variability is dominating the climate variability. If the climate shifts hypothesis is correct (this is where I am placing my money), then this is a very difficult thing to untangle, and we will go through periods of rapid warming that are followed by a stagnant or even cooling period, and there are multiple time scales involved for both the external forcing and natural internal variability that conspire to produce unpredictable shifts.
The SurfaceStations data raises fundamental questions about the existence of much of the purported warming — let alone the source of any global warming. The fundamental challenges to the science behind global warming have arisen since the Climategate revelations — certainly the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been fundamentally undermined as the IPCC's methodology has been subjected to outside scrutiny. The time seems near when the "global warming" of the past 20 years will go the way of the "new ice age" of the 1970s.
Photo: a weather monitoring station in an open field at the Bloom Dairy Farm near coldwater Mich.: AP Images


text:
This morning I sent out Christmas cards, thankful to finally get them out of my house and into the hands of people who have not heard from me in a couple of years.
But as I was addressing the cards this past weekend, I was struck by how many people on my list have gone through really hard things recently. Loss. Disappointment. Great hardship.
This year my prayer has been that in every Christmas light (even the ones that keep going out in front of my house!), in every glistening ornament, in every flickering candle flame I would see God for who He is—the giver of every good gift.
Linking this post to Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped. Head over there to read more.
Photo credit #1, #2.


text:
The British Geological Survey (BGS) in association with the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has completed shale resource estimates for several areas in the UK. For more information follow these links:
BGS will harness new technology to instrument the Earth so that we understand how geological processes act in real time. We will use our new understanding and existing research capability to rise to challenges across the world, and help society to:
Download the full strategy pdf 4.6MB.
Shale gas is mostly composed of methane. Methane is 'natural gas' and is the gas used to generate electricity and for domestic heating and cooking. Shale gas is produced using technologies developed since the 1980s that enable gas to be recovered from rocks (mostly shale) which were previously considered to be unsuitable for extracting gas.
Conventional gas comes from a 'source' rock that was buried and heated at considerable depth (up to thousands of metres below the surface). Temperature increases with depth, and hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, are released from the source rocks at different rates depending on how fast the rocks are heated. Due to the pressure underground, these hydrocarbons migrate upwards and may find their way into a porous 'reservoir' rock. If this is overlain by an impermeable 'cap' (or 'seal') rock the hydrocarbons become trapped. The hydrocarbons are extracted by drilling through the cap rock into the reservoir. These hydrocarbons, which can be relatively easily recovered, are known as conventional hydrocarbons and have been exploited for more than 100 years. North Sea gas is a conventional hydrocarbon. With 'unconventional' hydrocarbons, and shale gas in particular, the rock which contains the hydrocarbons is virtually impermeable and so acts as hydrocarbon source rock, reservoir and seal. The gas is both produced and trapped within the shale. It is only when the shale is drilled and artificially fractured that the gas is released from the rock and can be extracted. The process of artificially fracturing the rock is called 'fracking'.
There are several different rock units within the geological sequence of the UK that have the potential to produce shale gas. The main interest is in the Carboniferous units, particularly the Bowland Shale Formation which occurs throughout parts of north-west and central and eastern England. Other units of interest occur in the Jurassic rocks of the Weald Basin, parts of southern and north-eastern England, and County Fermanagh Northern Ireland. There is a possibility that much older Lower Palaeozoic rocks in Wales and central England may be prospective in shale gas (although this remains to be confirmed as it has not been fully evaluated by exploration companies or the BGS). Exploration for shale gas in the UK (as with Europe in general) is in the very early stages and the actual prospectivity is not known.
Advances in technology, developed principally in the USA, have meant that gas can now be extracted from shales and other low permeability rocks. Transferring these technologies from the USA to the UK could give rise to shale gas production if gas occurs in the rocks in commercial quantities. After initial exploration of the shale deposits, a borehole is drilled into the shale horizon at a carefully selected site. It may be drilled horizontally to increase the volume of rock that can be accessed by the borehole. A process called hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') is undertaken. This involves pumping water into isolated sections of the borehole at pressures high enough to fracture the surrounding rock. Sand entrained in the water helps to 'prop' open the fractures, create permeability in the rock and allow the gas to flow into the borehole. Chemicals are also added to improve the efficiency of the fracking operation.
Shale gas extraction and fracking has received a huge amount of media interest. Just like any other industrial process there will be associated risks. Some of those relevant to shale gas include 'induced seismicity', such as the low magnitude earthquakes experienced in Lancashire in 2011. There is also the potential for groundwater and surface water contamination (see below for more infomation on potential impacts to groundwater). This may arise from surface activities that may lead to spills associated with the storage and mixing chemicals at the drill/fracking site or the storage/management of fluids that return to the surface from the borehole, the so-called 'flowback and produced waters'. Other potential pathways for contamination of groundwater include poor well-design and well construction, and the migration of contaminants along natural pathways into overlying aquifers. Understanding the risks is a very important step in the design and approval process and very strict controls and regulations are in place to reduce the risks to an acceptable level.
The two main induced earthquakes in Lancashire in 2011 were very small. To put them into context, they were less powerful than some of the earth tremors that have been associated with coal mining in the 1950s and 60s and that occur today.
There is a broad regulatory framework that already exists. The use of fracking, shale gas technologies and associated activities is covered within the existing regulatory frameworks.
There are two potential impacts on groundwater. The first is associated with the supply and consumption of water for fracking as groundwater may be considered as a source of this water. The second is contamination of groundwater. In both cases the regulations that apply to shale gas extraction will require a detailed risk assessment before any authorisation or permit is granted. Before granting a permit the relevant regulatory authority (e.g. the Environment Agency in England) will need to be satisfied that the activity will not cause pollution of groundwater or lead to unsustainable abstraction. Once approved, monitoring of the environment will be required as part of permit conditions to demonstrate that no impact is occurring. To provide an independent environmental baseline against which this compliance monitoring can be compared, the BGS is undertaking a baseline survey of methane concentrations in groundwater ahead of any shale gas development as there is currently no UK baseline. The baseline study is not only restricted to methane. A wider range of chemical indicator parameters are also being measured and the results will supplement the data already published by the BGS and used to set groundwater threshold values (standards) for the EU Water Framework Directive.
Estimates of the amount of recoverable gas and the gas resources are variable. It possible that the shale gas resources in UK are very large. However, despite the size of the resource, the proportion that can be recovered is the critical factor. A better understanding of the shale gas resource, and the amount of gas that is potentially recoverable, will come from further geological research, such as that carried out by the BGS. If the amount of recoverable shale gas does prove to be large this will be a significant indigenous source of gas for the UK and may reduce our reliance on imported gas.
The BGS is taking a central role in shale gas research in the UK and also across Europe as follows:
Shale gas prospectivity is controlled by the amount and type of organic matter held in the shale, thermal maturity, burial history, micro-porosity and fracture spacing and orientation.
BGS expertise in basin analysis and seismic processing, organic chemistry, palynology and palynofacies analysis, and mineralogy and petrology is available to assess source rock properties.
Shale is extremely anisotropic, unlike sandstone and carbonates, which exhibit weak anisotropy.
As part of the enhanced research programme, groundwater, regional air quality, seismicity and ground movements will be independently monitored at two proposed hydraulic fracturing sites in Lancashire.
Research focusing on understanding the fundamental mechanisms through which gas is generated and retained within deeply buried rocks in the UK and overseas.
The BGS is also carrying out groundwater-related research. More about shale gas and groundwater.
Contact Enquiries for further information.


text:
Translation Disclaimer
Elmwood Advisory Board(This commission was dissolved effective July 16, 2013 and is no longer active.)
Agendas and Minutes: Current Year | Previous Years Mission:Advises the Council regarding the establishment of a Business Improvement Area to help finance refurbishment of the Elmwood Theater, including territory proposed in the area and the method and basis of levying the assessment. Seven of the nine members shall be owners of businesses or commercial property located within one-quarter mile of the Elmwood Theater, 2966 College Avenue. Meetings:Contact Secretary for Date, Time & Meeting LocationContact:Communications to Berkeley boards, commissions or committees are public record and will become part of the City's electronic records, which are accessible through the City's website. Please note: e-mail addresses, names, addresses, and other contact information are not required, but if included in any communication to a City board, commission or committee, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service or in person to the secretary of the relevant board, commission or committee. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the secretary to the relevant board, commission or committee for further information.The Secretary of the commission is responsible for relaying all communications from the public to the members of the commission. The Secretary's contact information is listed below.
Mailing Address:Elmwood Advisory BoardOffice of Economic Development2180 Milvia Street, 5th FloorBerkeley, CA 94704
Enabling Legislation:Resolution No. 56,802-N.S. (01/12/93)For More Information:Commission Vacancies Meeting Agendas & Minutes:Agendas & Minutes are presented in PDF format. To view PDF files, download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.Agendas and Minutes: Current Year | Previous Years2013 Agendas and Minutes: Please refresh your browser for the most up-to-date information.Note: Documents will open in a new browser window.
Back to Top