text:
That Piece About Gay People Being More Biphobic Than Straight People
Originally published on gaystarnews.com
The first time I ever heard the word bisexual, I was 15. My friend's mother, who I adored, said: 'I can understand people being gay, but these bisexuals who are into just everyone are disgusting.'
I was so excited and afraid at the same time. It was so amazing to discover a word that described me – there were others like me out there somewhere. But I was terrified to lose this woman's respect.
I went right to the back of the closet until I was 21, when I met a young lady who would simply not take no for an answer.
The first person I told I was going to come out as bisexual, one of my best friends, said: 'Oh no, you should identify as lesbian. It's a political choice. I am also sometimes attracted to men but you must stand up against the patriarchy and decide not to date men anymore.'
So the first thing I learned about being bisexual was that negative comments were going to come my way from both straight and gay people – even those I was close to, even those who have experienced attraction to more than one gender.
This has remained true for me, only reinforced by each new biphobic comment I hear or read.
Earlier this year, I published a report on bisexuality. My office sent out a press release. Over the following two days, I monitored and responded to the public comments made online.
It was quite an experience. There were virtually no comments on mainstream press articles and heaps of biphobic comments on those in the LGBTI press. It seems the mainstream generally does not care about bisexuality, and LGBTI people tend to not believe it exists or consider it a threat.
One part of me was glad to see the comments. It proved the point made in my report that bi people experience more prejudice and harassment when accessing LGBTI services than any other type of service.
But most of me just cried. LGBTI spaces are funded to provide safe spaces for all LGBTI people. But for bisexual people, most LGBTI spaces and communities are not safe. And neither are on-line spaces, whether they are LGBTI or mainstream.
This week we saw the results of a YouGov survey asking people to plot themselves on a 'sexuality scale'. It showed 43% of young people no longer see themselves as entirely straight or totally gay.
In response, biphobia is filling my computer screen once again. Whether it is on the YouGov site itself or under articles about it, the comments fall primarily into the same old biphobic themes. The range and frequency of these biphobic views is breathtaking – you can read the worst here.
Some argue bisexuality does not exist and people have either been swayed by 'gay propaganda', are too young to know what their sexual orientation is, or are 'deluded'. They claim these young bisexuals are trying to be 'trendy' and are even scared of being considered bigoted if they say they are straight.
Others insist any kind of same-sex attraction is unnatural, immoral or a mental illness.
There are comments claiming bisexuality should not be included and only people who are attracted exclusively to the same gender should be counted.
Then there are those who claim same-sex marriage has corrupted the youth or that people become bisexual because they are prisoners or not good enough to be in a mixed-sex relationship.
To top it off, a number of people have written transphobic, racist, Islamophobic and ablist slurs as well as the homophobic and biphobic ones.
While some people have commented to support same-sex attraction in a general sense, few are defending bisexuality specifically.
I don't know if we are just too overwhelmed by the negative comments coming from all sides or just too tired of fighting multiple other battles to prioritize replying. Maybe because there are fewer people who openly identify as bisexual or non-monosexual, most of us feel getting involved is just not worth the effort. We are doomed to be drowned out.
Perhaps our allies have not read the comments or don't know what to say to back us up.
The result is the very dominant narrative that accompanies bisexual articles on-line is particularly negative and contains much hateful language.
Debate is good but it's time for people who believe in equality to stand up.
Next time you see a damaging comment or a hateful slur, consider flagging it and/or posting a supportive message.
Every slur removed saves people from being hurt further. Every supportive comment validates our identities and diversity.
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79 Comments
It's no secret why gay people hate bisexuals. Its almost jealousy or feeling of betrayal that they can get away with sleeping with boys and then switch to a girl and get society's approval, and while doing all this, maintains his happiness.
Yeah that's why gay people hate them. They can eat their cake and have it. And also because they're attracted to 100% of the population and not 50% or so, insecurity doubles while dating them.-
But they can't help who they really are,can they? I don't even need to mention that hating someone because he/she is bi, is like hating someone becos he/she is gay. U really can't help d orientation u were born with,everybody here knows this.
@Chestnut, I'm not endorsing hatred for bi's. I'm just stating what I feel is the obvious reason for it.
I agree Max. I agree.
And the bit about flagging hateful comments is so me. The moment I see a hateful or homophobic comment on any social media, I report it and it gets removed. That is my little contribution to this ever growing world of hate.
Omg Ace, I totally forgot you could do that on fb. I have a new goal people. 🙂 any homophobic rubbish I see on fb will be reported.
That's what u'll like max lol, thanks Ace for that lovely idea of reporting i'm going to do that.
Hating someone because they are bisexual is just unnecessary. I don't know about others, but I am quite turned on my bisexual guys. The feeling of knowing that he wants you after tasting the almighty pussy is satisfying in a fucked up way. ?
Ace ur really something…
Just Passing by.
I see Max has reported for duty.
Honey, if you want me, just say it. Doesnt mean you're gonna get it though… The least I could do is accept your friend request.
You just got attractive lol I want ?? hehe
Ehen,ha abiala.
You two have been dancing round each other a while now.Why don't you both explore this thing,whatever it is,see where it leads.
Who knows,lightning may strike-
Hmmmm could say the same about you and Chuck?
Nah,yesterday's jousting is a one-off thing.He had it coming.No one is asking him to like faiths different from his own,but deliberately making wrong assertions about them,wearing the garb of the "intellectual"?.Not something he should be allowed to get away with.
'Sides,I'm not in the market.Just an observer-
Sire protests too much methinks??????
Wasn't protesting any,just saying the truth.How did David put it now?.
Yeah,"the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places…"
Me just here to observe and sometimes prod them to go where they should-
"….indeed, I have a beautiful endowment….."
My Lawd…?????
You're a case,Kere.
Yeah,I have a goodly heritage
You need a hobby, this guy.-
Do you want to be my new hobby?
I dont quite get bisexuality, i know its pretty straightforward – to be attracted to both sexes. I have asked a few bisexuals i know and some report a stronger attraction for females while some are more drawn to males. I have met a few mind boggling ones who honestly dont know who they are more attracted to, they claim to be attracted humans regardless of gender, both in equal measure. I dont know about y'all, but thats many shades of messed up. AM NEVER dating such a person! but hate of any form is unacceptable, to each his own, i guess …
I'd really like to know the results of a survey on sexual orientation is carried out amongst Nigerians. I bet the results will shock everyone to their roots despite the widespread hypocritic homophobia …-
Ermm I don't think Nigerians will even answer that survey truthfully! Just saying ?
Its can't be helped i'm attracted to guys and these days i'm more into girls. Sometimes i see a cute gorgeous guy and i just imagine his tongue in my mouth lol.
Most Nigerians I've come across will lie in front of the altar when it comes to sexual/sexuality matters. The survey won't be productive because they won't be honest.
These things work in the west because people are open minded about these sort of things there and answer questions truthfully, knowing it'll help answer some unknown questions.
For most Nigerians, being bisexual to them is an act of feeling insecured about acceptance and culture as well…. that's my take on this.
pls follow up my personal blog on tuskamsy.blogspot.com. thanks dolls!
Am waiting to see the post about how the gay community discriminates against tops. #TopIsTheNewBlack
You mean those ppl who refuse to let anything up their ass?
Yeah they're all jerks!!.-
Oh,come off it Max.I identify as Top and I daresay you've been more of the ass on this forum than I have been.
By the way,I do think you're a bottom in denial than all these your protests of versatility.
Nothing bad in being bottom,you ken.I actually respect them the most.-
@TDC, oh you're one of those ppl. No wonder you sound like a jerk sometimes. And no I'm not in denial of anything, sex is meant to be enjoyed, not endured. And as gay men, I think that's what we should be celebrating; the Freedom to give and receive and not succumb to patriarchal heterosexual behavior where one person assumes a singular role. If you've never had an orgasm with a dick in your ass, you've not lived.
You know why it seems like your #Tops are endangered, its because people have started realizing how stupid it is to categorize people into roles, so they swing both ways. And that's why people like you and some flaming #bttms are outraged. Like someone hilariously said here once- #TopQualityTops.
Its all plain rubbish in my head. Anyone can take a D.. Refusing not to, if your partner requests for it is unacceptable. Its a no no. You shouldn't be giving what you can't take.-
Max nwa,when are you going to change ehn?.Whoever told you that such role is as a result of hewing to "patriarchal heterosexual behavior where one person assumes a singular role"? What's that even supposed to me? Howbeit it's never occurred to you all this while, that roles people identify with are what they naturally want to do, what they feel so at home doing while maximizing pleasure?
I see you didn't even deny my assertion you're a bottom masquerading as versatile, that's cool.
So you know, Tops make the best partner in a relationship. We generally tend to respect,appreciate and cherish our partners a lot and there's no putting on of airs about us. With tops,what you see is what you get. Of course,as is obtainable in any grouping,there's no denying there be some jerks among us.Give a top a try now,you'll be glad you did.
Oh,lest I forget.You've been more of a jerk here than I've been,go thru our posts history this year.Even you will cringe at all the……….drama you'd entertained us with.-
I rest my case. You're still the same.
Thank your God you've never dated someone like me, cos you'll wake up in the middle of the night and feel a throbbing stick in your behind. That's when you'll know.-
There you go with the usual assumptions.I'm currently dating a vers,we've been together some years and such issue as sticking it and being stuck has never come up.There's more to a real relationship than what goes where and who does the poking
I said , "someone like me"… Someone like max. Not verse. But max.
Oh and about you dating a verse, can't you see he's not satisfied in the relationship? You think he's ok because he's never brought it up?. Maybe he knows the kind of Jerky attitude you'd put up if you ever did, maybe he's scared you'll leave him hanging. Maybe he's not being truthful.. "Maybe, just maybe".
Relationship is about mutual benefit. A verse will only be satisfied if those obligations are fully met.. #Front&Back.-
Actually,in some ways,he has Maxxy attributes but that's part of the attraction,why I like him so.
No,I don't put up jerky attitudes,don't have any to so do.What I don't do,however,is suck it up everytime the "Max" in him shows up.
You know what,don't knock what you haven't tried.
That last bit says a lot about your fears,but really that scenario won't play out if you take the time to get the right guy,the right top.-
Right Top? Hahahaha hahahahahaha. Biko I need Me a free man, whose ass will be available anytime I wanna tap it.. Not someone who's scared shitless about losing the man in him if he spreads for someone else, or who's scared of the presumed pain associated with taking a D.
Your loss,Max.Your loss -
Btw,pain associated with taking your little D?.Gerrrara hia,mehn
"My little D", *sigh*
You're just petty. -
No sense of humour,I see *sigh*
Please God,Max really needs it.Grant him some,I pray. -
Ur shady humour doesn't appeal to me.
Okay,I apologize.Iwe gi dajuo.
No shade was intended and if any was given,I'm sorry.
@Olly,I'm starting to believe what I'd been hearing a while now.Tops are an endangered specie in the gay community
"Top" new definition: If I am more masculine than you, I am the top. If you are more masculine than me, you are the top. I am all about attraction, If i find you attractive, I will be happy to fuck with you. #BenefitsOfBeingVers.
I wonder where you got that "definition" from,Ace.It's a load of horse manure
Chai lol
'Kinsey scale' explains the spectrum perfectly for those who still think sexuality isn't fluid. Check it up
u know where i hate tops? Those folks that would just wanna get that dick in your ass immediately, no kissing, romance or the finger job and pound it like a pussy without considering if your up on on the cloud with him… I can kill for that!
This is actually my first time of commenting on this blog though I've been following for months now, I don't hate on bisexuals, I love bi guys especially the ones that could allow something up their asses, Max and tiercel , I was moved by your little argument, there is no such thing as Top or bottom in the Gay community, I can confidently say that, bang and be banged, that's what It is to be Gay, its only in the hetrosexual world you see one person *the girl* playing one role, how can you categorically say you are Gay if you can't let a guy bang you, if you enjoy only fucking a hole then you should be straight. As for me I take d Dick when it neccessary.
You really should have remained silent, Jay-kay. Yes, everyone is allowed to have an opinion. But stupid ones such as this should not see the light of day.
Chill Man,there's no cause to go all harsh on him.Just having an opinion from the limit of what he knows,doesn't make him stupid,just ill-informed
@Mandy, I expected more from you. This is exactly why many people don't comment here. They're scared of being silenced by vitriolitic comments.
You're one to talk, Max. When anyone is looking to admonish me for my comment, you really shouldn't climb that pulpit.
Pink panther, what I meant actually was "there is no such thing as STRICTLY TOP and STRICTLY BOTTOM, maybe I am not explaining myself so well, but try and get my point, we are the ones who invented the top and bottom thing cos maybe one person is more manly than the other, that I like topping doesn't mean I woundnt like bottoming, am sure that Max will get my point clearly
"there is no such thing as STRICTLY TOP and STRICTLY BOTTOM"
I guess I'm queerer than I'd thought then,since I've always been Top.
If such as me are no gays,then we'll form our own group,add one more letter to LGBTQ -
Exactly the way I have started feeling recently. These days, a Top is simply who is more masculine between two guys. Many "Tops" will bottom for who they consider more masculine than them.
Tiercel de claron, if you met a top you love, what would you do? Stop loving him because his top too? Because you can't bang him so you stop loving him. ? Do you go about looking for bottoms becos u are looking for a hole or because u are looking for love? Think about this, u run into a cute goodlooking guy and u feel something for him and he tells he his top and u are top too, what'd happen then.
Pink panther, that's what these "so called tops" do, becos they meet u and u are effeminate or soft, they conclude immediately that u are bottom, and won't let u enjoy exactly the same way they do. The only reason that is because we Gay people place sex as our ultimate priority, that's why on facebook before someone says hi to u, he'd ask "pls what's ur role?" Its nt fair, a dude added me and asked my role, when I told him I was top, he replied, "no we can't do" I just couldn't… Let's remove the whole role thing and love ourselves, av met a guy I loved, and becos I loved him I let him go me inside, and now I didn't enjoy it per se, but I enjoyed the fact that someone I loved was inside of me, and hell no I am not bottom. Buh I just took what I gave,
There's nothing like top and bottom. It's a stupid categorization adopted by gay people in order to fit into the hetero-normatic world.
@Max, when I said there isn't anything like top and bottom, I sounded insane to pink panther, I am just Glad that u said the same thing, and also believe what I believe, and as for the boy that called me and my comment stupid, I don't have much to say about that, my friend who introduced me to this blog said he's been visiting cos he doesn't want to be insulted, he adviced I shudnt comment a thing on here before I get insulted, I now see, that's by the way tho. Pink panther, do you think there isn't any bottom who would like to fuck? They've not fucked becos they've not been given the chance to, these tops turn them over and slam their ass, and the bottoms do nothing but wank themselves, that's so sad, the act of wanking themselves while being fucked is a clear cut sign that they've love to fuck too, Max already asked if you cum through the ass? I also wanna ask too, that we are Gay men doesn't make us women who only desire to be subdued, we are men and man must cum. Give a bottom the chance to fuck you, he'd gladly do it.
Finally, an article that perfectly expresses a hidden form of HOMOPHOBIA i.e. Biphobia. And it's as evil as it twin. Guilty one, take note!


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Welcome to Dragon Cave! Dragon Cave is an online adoptables game. Collect eggs, raise them to adulthood, and then breed them to create interesting lineages. New dragons are added regularly!
Speckle-Throated Dragons are an active, playful breed. They are easily excited and rarely remain still, spending much of their time in the air. Living in groups of up to sixty dragons, they nest in open plains and at the bases of mountains. Their speckled throats are their most distinctive feature, as well as the loud, echoing call they produce to communicate with one another. Female Speckle-Throats are slightly smaller than males and lack a head crest. However, they are swifter and more agile and prefer to hunt in small groups in order to take down prey.
Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling's wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.

subset: commoncrawl


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The original Ibanez Tube King gets beefed-up with this flashy reissue
Have you ever just looked at a piece of equipment and knew it was going to sound good? That's exactly the feeling I got when I opened the box and saw the Ibanez Tube King TK999HT pedal. It's probably an unfair, naïve way of evaluating gear, but I just got excited when I saw the pedal. The Tube King is a hot red, diamond-shaped tube distortion pedal with a glowing window at the top of the pedal with a visible tube inside. This thing should win awards for the design alone. The best part is, it only got better from there. |
We'll get to more of the cosmetic features in a minute, but first some stats. The Ibanez Tube King is a pedal that offers aggressive, modern tube distortion. It features an actual 12AX7 tube, 3 band EQ and drive controls with a presence switch for a variety of tones. It also includes a unique "VOID" control, which gets rid of the noise and can create sharper rhythmic sounds.
The Tube King isn't exactly new – it was originally available in the nineties. The name and purpose of the pedal is the same, but this reissue differs from its predecessors by featuring internal high-voltage DC circuitry. The former pedals utilized "starved plate" circuitry, which basically means if you run the tube at a low voltage ("starving" the plate) the tube will quickly run out of headroom and start distorting. The previous tube acted more like a filter to achieve those tube tones, whereas the 12AX7 in the new Tube King now gets normal DC high voltage, which allows for genuine tube-like distortion.
Being a former metal guitarist growing up in the eighties, I've always been a sucker for any high gain products I could get my hands on. The Tube King did not disappoint! This pedal can truly make any solid-state amp sound just like a tube amp. I had to go for the full-on test drive immediately, so I plugged in my Schecter guitar with Seymour Duncan pickups and turned the Level and Drive knobs on the pedal to 10. It definitely took on every heavy, brutal guitar riff I threw at it with ease, quickly achieving huge and tight distorted tones. It's configured with a scooped mid-range and heavy low end that is so prevalent in modern hard rock and metal.
I did try the sample settings that are included in the manual – everything from ''70s Drive to Death Rhythm – and they are great places to start before fine-tuning and tweaking the parameters to your liking. I tried this pedal with many guitars and different configurations, using different solid-state and tube amps as well as Pro-Tools amp simulator plug-ins. The pedal is very versatile in its tones, from a more subtle classic seventies rock sound to a very heavy, extreme metal sound. Either way, you get that genuine warm tube tone!
There are two controls I really liked on the Tube King. One is the Presence switch, which on the "Hi" setting adds more sizzle to the high end, just for an extra kick in the tone. The other is the "VOID" knob which acts as noise reduction or gate, which was perfect for canceling that evil single-coil noise if you're rocking out with a Strat. As a gate, it can go from subtle to very tight and controlled. It can definitely enhance your rhythms – especially with playing quick, staccato chords, since the highest level of "VOID" shortens the sustain and cuts out the extraneous noise in between chords. In a high gain situation, I'm so used to doing a quick turn with the guitar volume knob to cut out the noise during chord stops so it was a nice surprise not having to deal with that, thanks to the "VOID" option.
The Tube King itself is huge – it's more than twice the size of two average stompboxes and is a very heavy, durable pedal. I like the fact that you can easily control the Drive and Level knobs with your foot if you want to quickly change sounds in a live setting. The 3-band EQ knobs stay out of the way nicely by sitting on a recessed panel on the pedal. It may be too bulky or command too much pedalboard space for some guitarists, but with the incredible sounds this pedal can supply, I was happy to make room for it.
Overall, the Tube King TK999HT is a very easy to use, versatile pedal with excellent, authentic tube tones. It can make any guitar setup with average pickups and amp sound amazing. With its massive tone and size, the Tube King can definitely rule over all in your guitar setup!
Buy if...
you crave that tube sound when using a big rig is impossible.
Skip if...
you already have a tube amp stack and refuse to downsize.
MSRP $249 - Ibanez - ibanez.com |


text:
Taking Cue from Apple, Nissan Murano Ads Highlight Usability
While the Murano strikes us as exceptionally dull at first sight, here's a low-key ad that does a nice job of highlighting its merits. (Very Apple.)
The spot broke during the Super Bowl. Understandably, nobody paid it much mind; it's a bit mellow for such a high-tension time of year. But in normal daytime TV context -- between a Pampers ad and maybe a soothing Advil spot -- it would probably work quite nicely.
Hey, guess who made it? The ever-addled folks at TBWA\CHIAT\DAY.
by Angela Natividad
Feb- 6-08
Click to Comment
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2008, Television
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2008, Television


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Part of the Series
Truthout on the Mexican Border: Revealing What Is Behind the US War on Drugs
Do you support Truthout's reporting and analysis? Click here to help fund it.
This is the fourth article in Truthout's series looking at US immigration and Mexican border policies through a social justice lens, focusing on the lower Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas area. Mark Karlin, editor of BuzzFlash at Truthout, visited the region recently to file these reports.
Previous installments
The US War on Drug Cartels in Mexico Is a Deadly Failure
The Border Wall: The Last Stand at Making the US a White Gated Community
Murder Incorporated: Guns, the NRA and the Politics of Violence on the Mexican Border
When Roads Turned to Mud in the Colonias
Just outside of Brownsville city limits in Cameron Park, Texas, Lupita Sanchez used to park her car a few blocks from her home whenever it rained. The streets of the colonia where she lived were unpaved until 1996. If Sanchez dared to drive all the way to her house, she risked getting stuck in the mud, or, worse still, ending up in a sinkhole and waiting for the road to dry, when her car could finally be towed.
Now Sanchez is coordinator for community action services at Proyecto Juan Diego in Cameron Park, and she works tirelessly to improve conditions in what is becoming an empowered community of about 8,000 people.
Colonias in the United States are unincorporated, low-income communities outside of incorporated cities stretching from Texas to California, but the majority of colonias are in the Lone Star State. The Texas secretary of state estimates the state's colonias number around 2,300, with the highest number, approximately 1,500 colonias with as many as 300,000 inhabitants, in Cameron and Hidalgo counties at the state's southernmost tip. These figures are not exact: there is not one agreed-upon definition for colonias, and some colonia residents are undocumented (although at least one estimate is that at least 80% of colonias residents are US citizens, but these are still speculative numbers).
In "Shrub," Molly Ivins' and Lou Dubose's book about George W. Bush, Ivins described the colonias just north of the Mexican border: If they "were a separate nation, they'd look like a Central American republic." Some colonias still have sand or clay streets, and many individual homes still lack basic necessities, such as sewer and water service, that most people take for granted in the United States.
Colonias Created by Land Speculators Taking Advantage of Weak County Governments
US colonias are poor, Mexican-American and long-neglected by all levels of government, although that is changing somewhat – but not without a fight. Colonias grew because land speculators created the subdivisions in unincorporated county areas. In Texas, counties are relatively weak as governmental entities. As a result, land was deeded out to poor Mexican-Americans and migrants. The plots were repossessed if payments weren't made. This allowed a profiteering developer to turn a small parcel of land over several times without any of the inhabitants accruing equity, and the landowner was not required to go through the foreclosure process.
This changed somewhat in 1995, when the Texas legislature passed legislation requiring land speculators to register deeds with the county, but there are still ways to repossess the land, in the absence of prompt payments, with legal maneuvering and weak county enforcement.
What's more, until 1994, colonias were most often built without basic electrical, sewage and water services, and many roads were left unpaved. Now, these services are legally mandatory, but the mandates are not always enforced. Furthermore, the state does not allow counties to enact building codes to prevent substandard housing. While the situation for many of the colonia inhabitants has improved, it still remains an uphill struggle to obtain basic residential services and secure, sustainable housing.
Colonias Organize for Positive Change
It would be easy for this to become a story about the woeful conditions of life in the colonias and how the poor were once again pick-pocketed by the wealthy. And that would be true. But I found that while the colonias that I visited late last year face a host of serious challenges, there is an active network of committed social-service and advocacy organizations that are creating meaningful change by helping colonia residents claim their own power. I also began to consider how reinforcing the notion of powerlessness is just another form of keeping power from people who are subjugated.
To Lupita Sanchez, change comes one streetlight at a time. Proyecto Juan Diego coordinated a campaign to end Cameron Park's dark nights. It took commanding respect from political officials through increased voter turnout, cooperation with the utility company, the community's willingness to pay an extra property tax charge, and ongoing pressure. Now, Sanchez points with pride at the arcing lights that line the paved streets, which used to be dirt roads.
Sanchez and her staff also rallied residents to contract for garbage and recycling collection. Because there were no areas for exercise in Cameron Park, Proyecto Juan Diego helped pull together resources to build a park with a community center and walking path.
Achieving basic services is a big accomplishment in the colonias, but these services create something even more powerful in their wake: a sense of community and a sense of ownership of one's life and one's future.
Creating an Equal Voice for Poor and Working Families
Former priest Michael Seifert ministered and agitated in Cameron Park for many years before he left the priesthood and became a colonias network coordinator for the national Marguerite Casey Foundation Equal Voice initiative for poor and working families. In a report on the Equal Voice project, the Marguerite Casey Foundation states that, "the 37 million people – 7.7 million families – who live in poverty are experts on family issues, yet their input has rarely been sought." According to the foundation, one of the major goals for coordinators such as Seifert is to, "elevate the voices of the families into the public debate," motivating those who feel powerless to realize that they have the ability to make positive change.
La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), headed by United Farm Workers veteran Juanita Valdez-Cox.
Equal Voice organizations meet regularly and have formed task forces for the colonias working on health, jobs and economic security, education, housing, immigration and civic engagement. One example of the effectiveness of a strategic approach to empowerment in the colonias was a recent cumbre, or community summit meeting, convened by Equal Voice memberSeifert wrote of the February summit:
This gathering of border neighborhood leaders who were union [founded in 1989 by César Chávez] members was being asked to decide the priorities for the next two years of work. It was quite a serious group of people. They were being asked to give up a precious Saturday morning. A free morning for an hourly-wage earner is as rare as a raise…. Hardworking people who, at the end of a week have very little change to count, understand very well the connection of daily bread and justice…. The delegates filed out of the auditorium, heading for their colonias and their homes, for the hard work that is living out a dream.
Working Toward a Dream Does Not Mean Waiting for Perfection
Working toward a dream does not mean sitting back and waiting until living conditions are perfect, according to one of the six guiding principles of ARISE (A Resource in Serving Equality), which has four colonia outreach centers in south Texas. Lourdes Flores, president of the main ARISE support center, emphasizes that the role of the organization is to provide services that help create independence. "We are animators," she says. "We animate people and provide skills to help them become independent."
Many of the key leaders in Equal Voice's south Rio Grande Valley colonias initiative are women, but ARISE is specifically focused on empowering, "women to help other women see that they have talents and gifts that they can use to improve themselves, their families and their communities." Its slogan is, "Changing a community, one woman at a time."
"When a woman learns things, it empowers the whole family," says ARISE community organizer Ramona Casas. "Women are more open to accepting change." That may explain why, at the main support center, next to a new ten-acre park and exercise area, Flores and Casas point out with satisfaction ARISE's development of inexpensive solar heaters, an organic gardening area and diverse educational programming.
By comparison, the slogan of Proyecto Azteca, located not far from the ARISE support center, could easily be, "Improving the colonias one home at a time." With 0 percent interest loans and a requirement of 550 hours of sweat equity, a home can be built with staff assistance for as little as $45,000.
"The need for affordable housing is great," says executive director Ann Cass. "Housing needs to be sustainable, as well, to survive the weather events that we have, including cross winds, hurricanes and wind storms."
With other leaders of the colonias' Equal Voice Network, Cass spends much of her time working to secure a fair share of funding from different levels of government. This includes tedious but necessary tasks such as ensuring an allocation of federal relief funds for Hurricane Dolly, which devastated the area. In this case, the coalition corralled $186 million for damage to the colonias' housing and infrastructure, including $64 million for regional drainage improvement projects. Hopefully, with continued Equal Voice Network vigilance, this will lead to jobs for local residents and contractors.
Developing the power to effect social change locally has ripple effects. Some of the south Rio Grande Valley Equal Voice organizations worked with a statewide coalition to defeat all 85 anti-Mexican immigration and anti-rights bills, including a voter identification law, proposed in the state legislature.
From Unscrupulous Opportunism to Pride and Empowerment
In Mexico City, a colonia is a neighborhood – regardless of income – that can represent a vibrant community. Turning US shantytowns born of the unscrupulous economic opportunism of landowners into communities of pride and empowerment is not an easy task. The obstacles are immense.
But it is being done in the south Rio Grande Valley of Texas, through the tenacious work of leaders, many of them US Latinas, who know that progress can be measured one streetlight at a time.
It is the creation of community itself – of neighbors uniting with a strong unwavering voice – that leads to the improvement of daily living standards and to a shared pride.
This empowerment fulfills the vision of César Chávez: "From the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity and strength."
The next installment of Truthout on the Mexican Border will be "Javier Sicilia: A Poet Leads the Mexican Peace Movement."
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LISWire: New England School of Acupuncture Goes Live on Koha with ByWater Solutions
0December 28th, 2012LISWire12/28/2012
Nathan Curulla
(888) 900-8944
firstname.lastname@example.com England School of Acupuncture Goes Live on Koha with ByWater Solutions
ByWater Solutions, an open source community supporter and the U.S.' forefront provider of Koha (www.koha-community.org) support, announced today that the Kelly Library at the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) in Newton, MA is now live on their installation of the Koha integrated library system.
ByWater Solutions completed the migration for the Kelly Library in November and will be providing ongoing Koha support and hosting services for their over 4,500 books, audio visual materials and serials.
Jennifer Hartman, Director of Library Services, commented on their choice of Koha support by ByWater Solutions:
"We're very happy to have migrated to Koha with support from ByWater Solutions. We can do just about anything we like with our own system, but still have people we trust that we can turn to when we need a hand. Choosing ByWater to support Koha is what actually allowed us to make this switch as we simply don't have the in-house resources or expertise to run an open source product on our own. The assistance and training we received during migration was outstanding, as is the day-to-day customer support."
Nicole Engard, Vice President of Education, commented on working with the team at NESA:
"I always enjoy getting to train librarians to use Koha, but the group at the Kelly Library were a special treat because of their excitement. Every answered question was met with glee. I can't wait to work closer with the team at NESA in improving and supporting Koha."
The New England School of Acupuncture's customized online catalog can be viewed here: http://catalog.nesa.bywatersolutions.com.
About Kelly Library at the New England School of Acupuncture:
The Kelly Library supports NESA's academic programs through a collection of books, journals, and multi-media resources on acupuncture and Oriental medicine. The library's growing collection focuses on traditional and modern acupuncture with origins in China, Japan, Korea and other East Asian cultures. The collection also includes in- depth information on Chinese herbal medicine, as well as other aspects of Oriental medicine, including works on Asian culture, philosophy, and history. In addition, the library's holdings contain a number of science and biomedical texts, works on business practice and marketing, and materials covering a variety of alternative and complementary medicine modalities. For more information about the Kelly Library please visit, http://www.nesa.edu/library.About Koha:
Koha is the first open-source Integrated Library System (ILS). In use worldwide, its development is steered by a growing community of libraries collaborating to achieve their technology goals. Koha's impressive feature set continues to evolve and expand to meet the needs of its user base. It includes modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reserves, patron management, branch relationships, and more.Koha's OPAC, circulation, management and self-checkout interfaces are all based on standards-compliant World Wide Web technologies–XHTML, CSS and Javascript–making Koha a truly platform-independent solution. Koha is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). For more information about Koha, please visit: http://koha-community.org/
About ByWater Solutions:
ByWater Solutions is a full service, high quality support and implementation company dedicated to providing libraries with a lower cost, more advanced level of support for their ILS than a traditional proprietary solution can offer. ByWater Solutions has a proven track record in first rate Koha implementation and support with library systems of all sizes. Our highly ranked, comprehensive support is what sets our company apart from any other vendor in the industry. Partnering with ByWater Solutions to support Koha not only lowers the cost of implementing and maintaining an ILS, but more importantly empowers libraries by giving them the flexibility and freedom they deserve. For more information please visit: http://bywatersolutions.com/


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Those who thought the world would end last Friday can be forgiven. With two senseless public massacres, a biblical flooding, an economy still teetering, daily barrages of doomsday political ads, and another deadly terrorist attack targeting U.S. citizens on Sept. 11, the past year has waxed apocalyptic at times. A friend of mine has coined 2012 "The Year of Fear."
But having spent the last few years researching how fear functions in the human brain—interviewing many of the world's leading neuroscientists and psychologists, as well as being a guinea pig in their labs—I feel a sense of duty to share how our complex internal fear systems are not telling us the full truth about 2012.
This is because our fear centers are for the most part not under our conscious control. In order to survive in the wild, our early ancestors evolved automatic stress responses to anything associated with pain—useful for avoiding predators like saber-toothed cats and bear-sized hyenas. Now, however, modern sources of "painful" stimulus arrive via our smart phones, TVs and Twitter feeds with alarming speed and frequency. So, as we review the events of 2012, our brains automatically feel overwhelmed with bad news, accentuating images of storm-ravaged coastlines and funeral processions for innocent 6-year-old children. By contrast, few of us will note simultaneously that violent crime in our country continued to decline for a fifth straight year, cancer deaths decreased yet again (a steady trend since 1999), and teenage drunk driving has been halved in the last decade. In fact, according to the United Nations, the entire world is on average living longer, healthier, wealthier lives than ever before.
Because our early blunt "fearing" capacity hasn't fully adapted yet to the current age, we are left to deal with onslaughts of "good" fear and "bad" fear. Good fear motivates us toward constructive ends. Bad fear skews our perception of reality, contributing to many anxiety disorders—now afflicting more than 40 million Americans every year. Our task as modern humans is to better distinguish between the two.
After 9/11/2001, good fear prompted us to beef up transportation security. Bad fear, however, made many of us yield to the false belief that it was safer to drive than to fly, even with increased air security. As a result, in the year after the attack, there were an estimated 1,600 additional traffic fatalities due to more Americans traveling on the roads.
Similarly, after the Newtown, Conn., shooting, many of us feel a good fear of assault weapons, a response that could help us finally pass stricter gun regulations like those that have worked so well in Australia and the U.K. But simultaneously, some parents have developed a bad fear about the dangers in sending their children to school at all. The NRA seized on this fear, suggesting we put armed guards at all our schools. But that instinct is silly if you follow it to its logical ends. Should we also put armed guards in movie theaters and parking lots? Should all teachers be armed?
No. If more guns made us safer, the United States would be safest country on earth. Instead, we suffer from more gun-related deaths than any developed nation on earth. Assault weapons are a threat. Schools are not. Rather than fearing school, we should flood our subconscious fear centers repeatedly with positive activities and images to restore an association of happiness and safety: enjoying a family picnic at the school playground, or joining in song at school holiday performances. Because if the takeaway from the Newtown tragedy is that we fear school, the gunman wins and our children lose. If we can trust our good fear of automatic weapons, we can save lives.
This is a complex world, and it's not always possible to know what merits a good fear response. It will take some time yet for our brains to adapt. But we can start by working hard in the New Year to see the world as it is. At times, it will feel like this is the most dangerous era in which to be bringing a child—as my wife and I just did, somewhat nervously, in this Year of Fear. But if we instead focus on the data, the reality is that we live in a time with the best probability in human history of a child living a long and healthy life. The more we can reinforce good fear—and debunk bad fear—the more we can enhance those chances even further.


text:
I am getting this message every time I start mail.app.
I've read this tech note, but neither checkbox is selected.
I've run Keychain First Aid, and no problems were found.
How do I fix Mail.app in Lion that keeps asking for keychain password?
UPDATE: Thanks everyone for the help.. I finally deleted the Keychain prefs. Re-entered passwords as required, and that worked.


text:
Symantec's $10.5 billion acquisition last year of storage software company Veritas, one of the largest buys ever in the information-technology market, gave the Cupertino, Calif., firm more ammo in the data management market by adding a lineup of backup and replication tools.
Customers overwhelmingly believe the combination will be a positive in terms of new product and services offerings, although a couple did mention that they would like to see the company move a little faster in melding certain products and providing information on product direction.
One satisfied customer is Robert Graham, senior vice president of information services for Farmers and Merchants Bank. The bank has long used Veritas for tape backup at its 22 Southern California branches. In May 2003, when the company went looking for data replication software, which would allow it to automatically mirror financial data from each branch back to the bank's data center, it chose Veritas' replication tool, Replication Exec.
Working with Veritas again had Graham smiling all the way to the bank: Replication Exec paid for itself in five months by knocking down man-hours for tape maintenance at the bank's branches from 25 to 30 hours to fewer than five a week.
As for the merger, Graham says he and his team have always been satisfied with Veritas' sales and support, and that those areas continue to be among the merged company's attributes. Given the size of the deal, he says, "I think they're doing a pretty good job."
Like Graham, Mike Haske, vice president of technology for BankAnnapolis, which has seven branches in Maryland, replaced his tape backup system with Replication Exec to mirror data from its branches to a backup facility in Severna Park, Md. Tape backups took three hours a day at each branch; with Replication Exec, Haske's team needs only two hours to back up all the branches.
And last year, when one of his branches lost connectivity and Replication Exec stopped working, Haske says he called support and had it running again in less than 30 minutes. That sort of performance hasn't diminished since the merger, he says, and the product hasn't let him down since.
Gregg Davis, chief information officer with San Mateo, Calif., construction firm Webcor Builders, however, notes that he'd like to see more integration between the two product lines. He says he hopes that Symantec's antivirus capabilities will be incorporated into Veritas' backup tools, so that he can scan data for viruses before replicating it to disks or a disaster recovery site.
Davis says he has spoken to Symantec representatives, who said they hope to integrate products in such ways but did not provide a time line. Symantec product marketing manager Michael Parker says the first 12 months after the close of the merger were about integrating the two companies' operations, and that now the unified company is working on integrating their products.
Ralph Barber, chief technology officer with international law firm Holland & Knight, notes that both organizations did a good job of keeping support teams in place, but adds that the combined vendor "has slipped a bit" in providing long-term advice, like helping his team forecast needs or informing them of new products on the horizon.
When told about the "slippage" criticism, the company said in a statement that customer relationship managers with the combined company now have fewer accounts, increasing their ability to provide in-depth guidance.
But both Barber and Davis stress that they think the merger will be successful—the two companies always had strong product offerings and support, the execs say, so melding the two should benefit customers in the long run. As Barber puts it: "Things take time."
* Fiscal year ends March 31.


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Dash-Cam Footage of a Deadly Roadside Shootout Between a Cop and the Guy He Pulled Over for Speeding
Police in Oregon have released dash-cam footage from a shootout on August 29th between a highway patrolman and a 34-year-old former Army Reservist named John Van Allen, who was pulled over for speeding.
Allen immediately got out of his car, ignored the cop's orders to get back IN his car, pulled a gun, and started shooting. Then the cop returned fire, and Allen drove off. In the end, the cop was hit in the side, but he's okay.
And you can't tell from the video, but Allen was shot in the chest, and police found him dead about a half-mile down the road.
He pulls the gun at :31. WARNING: This video includes disturbing content.


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Spotlight on Surveillance
January 2006:
Legality of NSA's Secret Eavesdropping Program Is Suspect and Cost is Unknown
The federal government is spending an increasing amount of taxpayer money on surveillance technology and projects at the expense of other government programs. EPIC's "Spotlight on Surveillance" scrutinizes these surveillance projects. For more information, see previous Spotlights on Surveillance.
Last month, the New York Times reported that President George W. Bush had issued an order in 2002 allowing the National Security Agency unprecedented authority to conduct domestic surveillance.1 This month, the National Security Agency, the largest intelligence organization in the federal government, is under the Spotlight.
The NSA was created to conduct international surveillance – to intercept and analyze phone calls, e-mails, faxes and other communications, searching for threats to national security. The agency's budget is unknown; a federal judge ruled in 1999 that there was no requirement to reveal the intelligence budget, of which NSA is a part.2 However, it has been estimated that the NSA's budget is $6 billion.3 The agency has said that if it (and its military alter ego the Central Security Service) "were considered a corporation in terms of dollars spent, floor space occupied, and personnel employed, it would rank in the top 10 percent of the Fortune 500 companies."4
Applications for secret surveillance hit an all-time high in 2004,
and not one of the applications to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court was denied.Source: Department of Justice
The National Security Agency was created under a directive by President Harry S. Truman in 1952.5 James Risen explains in his 2006 book "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," which details President Bush's secret NSA order in 2002, that President Truman created the agency "in order to consolidate the government's code-breaking and code-making capabilities, and initially there were few legal limits on the NSA's ability to conduct domestic surveillance in the United States."6 This changed after congressional investigations in 1975 and 1976.
In 1975, the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities (more commonly known as the Church committee because it was headed by Idaho Sen. Frank Church) and House Select Intelligence Committee (called the Pike committee after its chairman, N.Y. Rep. Otis Pike) began investigating reports of possible illegal, improper, or unethical activities conducted by the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA.7 The committees learned of two important NSA domestic surveillance operations: Minaret and Shamrock.
The NSA, originally created to spy on foreign enemies, began a domestic watch list program called Minaret in the 1960s.8 The FBI, Secret Service, the military and the CIA added names to this list of threats to national security.9 This list included U.S. citizens or groups involved in civil rights and anti-war activities -- including civil rights leader and minister Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.10 In 1975, NSA Director Lt. Gen. Lew Allen Jr., testified before the Church committee and revealed that the NSA intercepted the phone calls of 1,200 Americans citizens' over six years.11
The congressional committees also learned of another domestic surveillance operation conducted during the 1950s and 1960s called "Shamrock." This involved an agreement where the major U.S. telegraph companies gave the NSA every single telegram sent to or from the United States.12 This surveillance was conducted with a warrant – the NSA merely asked the companies for the records and they complied.13
These revelations led to the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978.14 FISA established a separate legal regime for foreign intelligence surveillance information in furtherance of U.S. counterintelligence. (Title III, also called the "Wiretap Statute," outlined the strict guidelines regulating ordinary law enforcement surveillance.15) Congress specifically stated that FISA and Title III "shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance ... and the interception of domestic wire, oral, and electronic communications may be conducted."16
NSA employees were discouraged from discussing the warrantless
eavesdropping program with news media, according to documents
obtained earlier this month by EPIC under the Freedom of
Information Act.
Source: National Security AgencyJames Bamford, in his 2001 book "Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency," explains that FISA "for the first time outlined what NSA was and was not permitted to do. The new statute outlawed wholesale, warrantless acquisition of raw telegrams such as had been provided under Shamrock. It also outlawed the arbitrary compilation of watch list containing the names of Americans. Under FISA, a secret federal court was set up, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In order for NSA to target an American citizen or a permanent resident alien -- a "green card" holder -- within the United States, a secret warrant must be obtained from the court. To get the warrant, NSA officials must show that the person they wish to target is either an agent of a foreign power or involved in espionage or terrorism."17 Subsequent executive orders further limited the role of the NSA in the United States.18
James Risen's book, the New York Times report last month, and subsequent media reports have detailed President Bush's secret 2002 order allowing the NSA to conduct warrantless surveillance of international telephone and Internet communications on American soil.19 President Bush disclosed the order to only a few Congressional leaders and the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which issues warrants for domestic surveillance.20 These officials were told not to discuss the secret surveillance program with anyone else, making it difficult to question or provide oversight for the program.21
NSA employees also were discouraged from discussing the warrantless eavesdropping program with news media, according to documents obtained earlier this month by EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act.22 The documents, internal messages from the agency's director to staff, also defended the domestic surveillance program.23
The current NSA program echoes the Shamrock surveillance program – including the cooperation of U.S. communications companies. "Following President Bush's order, U.S. intelligence officials secretly arranged with top officials of major telecommunications companies to gain access to large telecommunications switches carrying the bulk of America's phone calls. The NSA also gained access to the vast majority of American e-mail traffic that flows through the U.S. telecommunications system," according to Risen.24
In a national radio address on Dec. 17, 2005, a day after the first media reports about the program, President Bush defended the warrantless surveillance program. He said top administration officials, including the attorney general and White House counsel, review the program every 45 days.25 After the review, President Bush must then reauthorize the program to keep it active.26 He has reauthorized the domestic surveillance program more than 30 times, and he said, "I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups."27
Last year, the average cost of a wiretap was $63,011, up 1 percent from the average cost in 2003.
Source: Administrative Office of the United States CourtsA December 22, 2005 letter from the Department of Justice to members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees discussed the purported legal authority for President Bush's secret order. The letter contends that the President has the authority to "order foreign intelligence surveillance within the United States" and "[t]he President's constitutional authority to direct the NSA to conduct the activities he described is supplemented by statutory authority under the AUMF [Authorized Use of Military Force resolution, passed by Congress, September 18, 2001]."28 The Justice Department also stated that the order was consistent with FISA.29
However, analyses by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Office and a group of 13 legal experts and former government officials questioned the Justice Department's assessment. Both analyses concluded that the Congress expressly intended for the government to seek warrants from a special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court before engaging in such surveillance when it passed legislation creating the court in 1978.30 President Bush's assertion that Congress authorized such eavesdropping to detect and fight terrorists does not appear to be supported by the special resolution that Congress approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which focused on authorizing the president to use military force, the analyses said.
"It appears unlikely that a court would hold that Congress has expressly or impliedly authorized the NSA electronic surveillance operations here," and the Justice Department's legal justification "does not seem to be as well-grounded as the tenor of that letter suggests," according to the CRS report.31 The legal scholars and former government officials stated, "Although the program's secrecy prevents us from being privy to all of its details, the Justice Department's defense of what it concedes was secret and warrantless electronic surveillance of persons within the United States fails to identify any plausible legal authority for such surveillance. Accordingly the program appears on its face to violate existing law."32
If such surveillance of phone calls and e-mail is necessary, permission can be obtained from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews applications and grants orders for foreign intelligence gathering. Administration officials have said that the requirement to apply for warrants from the FISC hampers its intelligence operations and that sometimes they cannot afford the delay created by the warrant applications.33 However, FISA allows for retroactive warrant requests – up to 72 hours after they've begun.34 The standard of proof required for warrants from the FISC is low; applicants need only show probable cause that the subject is an "agent of a foreign power."35 Also, historically, the FISC only has rejected a handful of requests; in fact, it rejected none of the applications for secret surveillance in 2004.36
Another justification administration officials have put forth for bypassing the FISC with the NSA domestic surveillance program has to do with the vastness of the operation. Because the number of telephone and Internet communications being monitored was so large, the officials did not believe that they could obtain fast approval for all of them.37 The secret program did create a large list of phone numbers and e-mail addresses linked to possible terrorists. This list regularly was sent to the FBI, but virtually all of that data led to dead ends or innocent Americans, according to officials interviewed by the New York Times.38 "F.B.I. officials repeatedly complained to the spy agency that the unfiltered information was swamping investigators," according to the New York Times.39
Under the federal wiretap laws, there are important reporting requirements that provide information about electronic surveillance in the United States. For example, the number of applications and orders for electronic surveillance must be reported annually to the Administrative Office of the United States Court and to Congress by the U.S. Attorney General.40 Under Title III, the number and cost of interceptions of wire, oral, or electronic communication conducted by federal and state agencies must be reported to Congress annually by the Administrative Office of the United States Court.41
Last year's reports showed that surveillance activity conducted by the United States has continued to rise dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, reaching an all-time high in 2004. According to the Department of Justice's 2004 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Annual Report, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court granted 1,754 applications for secret surveillance in 2004, more than in any previous year.42 No applications were denied in whole or in part.43
A report issued by the Administrative Office showed that state and federal courts authorized 1,710 interceptions of wire, oral, and electronic communications in 2004, an increase of 19 percent over intercepts approved in 2003 and the greatest number ever authorized in a single year.44 Federal officials requested 730 wiretap applications in 2004, a 26 percent increase over the number requested in 2003.45 However, there are no reports provided on the use of the NSA's new surveillance authority to either the Congress or the public.
There are also public reporting requirements that document the cost of legal surveillance in the United States by federal agents. These annual reports provide information for the Congress and the public to assess the value of electronic surveillance. For example, The Administrative Office's report showed that the average cost of state and federal wiretaps in 2004 was $63,011, up one percent from 2003.46 The average cost of federal wiretaps (that were reported) was $75,527, an increase of 5 percent from 2003.47 However, the NSA's secret domestic eavesdropping program was not reported under the requirements of either Title III or FISA; therefore, as the agency's budget is unknown and the agency fails to comply with the requirements of other federal agencies that conduct surveillance in the United States, the amount of taxpayer dollars spent by the NSA on this program is unknown.
In 1975, when Sen. Frank Church opened the committee hearings that would reveal the Shamrock and Minaret domestic surveillance programs, he said,
We have a particular obligation to examine the NSA, in light of its tremendous potential for abuse. . . . The interception of international communications signals sent through the air is the job of NSA; and, thanks to modern technological developments, it does its job very well. The danger lies in the ability of the NSA to turn its awesome technology against domestic communications.48
The National Security Agency again will undergo Congressional scrutiny on February 6, when the Senate Judiciary Committee begins its hearings examining the justifications of the Bush administration and the actions of the NSA in conducting this secret domestic eavesdropping program.49 Apart from the important questions raised by the Committee Members about the legality of the NSA program and the consequences of a possible determination that public officials violated the FISA, EPIC also urges the oversight committee to consider the importance of establishing reporting requirements for the NSA that are comparable to other federal agencies that conduct surveillance in the United States.
1 James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts, N.Y. Times, Dec. 16, 2005 at A1.
2 Aftergood ex rel. Fed'n of Am. Scientists v. CIA, No. 98-2107, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18135 (D.D.C. Nov. 12, 1999).
3 Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack 213 (2004).
4 National Security Agency Frequently Asked Questions: About NSA, http://www.nsa.gov/about/about00018.cfm (last visited Jan. 16, 2006).
5 President Truman wrote a memorandum about intelligence activities and issued "National Security Council Intelligence Directive Number 9, Revised" on Oct. 24, 1952 (Memorandum on Communications Intelligence Activities (Oct. 24, 1952), available at http://www.nsa.gov/truman/truma00001.pdf); On Nov. 4, 1952, less than two weeks after President Truman issued the memorandum, the NSA was created (Thomas L. Burns, Center for Cryptologic History, The Origins of the National Security Agency 1940-1952, 107 (1990), available at http://www.thememoryhole.org/nsa/origins_of_nsa.htm).
6 James Risen, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration 42 (2006).
7 James Bamford, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency 434 (2001).
8 Id. at 428-29; Cam Simpson, NSA uproar is 'deja vu all over again,' Chic. Trib., Jan. 9, 2006, at A8.
9 Cam Simpson, supra note 8.
10 Bamford at 428-29, supra note 7.
11 Intelligence Activities – The National Security Agency and Fourth Amendment Rights: Hearings Before the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities, 94th Cong. (1975) (hereinafter "Church Committee Hearings").
12 Bamford at 434, supra note 7.
13 Id. at 434-40.
14 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et. seq. (1978).
15 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et. seq. (1968).
16 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(f).
17 Bamford at 440, supra note 7.
18 Exec. Order No. 12,333, 3 C.F.R. 200 (1981), available at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12333.html; Exec. Order No. 12,334, 3 C.F.R. 216 (1981), available at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12334.html.
19 See Risen and Lichtblau, supra note 1; Dan Eggen, Bush Authorized Domestic Spying, Wash. Post, Dec. 16, 2005 at A1; Peter Baker, President Says He Ordered NSA Domestic Spying, Wash. Post, Dec. 18, 2005 at A1; Dan Eggen and Charles Lane, Hearings Demanded On Domestic Spying, Wash. Post, Dec. 18, 2005 at A4; Douglas Jehl, Among Those Told of Program, Few Objected, N.Y. Times, Dec. 23, 2005 at A1; Carol D. Leonnig, Surveillance Court Is Seeking Answers, Wash. Post, Jan. 5, 2006 at A2; and Carol D. Leonnig, Report Rebuts Bush on Spying, Wash. Post, Jan. 7, 2006 at A1.
20 Risen and Lichtblau, supra note 1; Risen at 56, supra note 6.
21 Id.
22 Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, NSA Director, Director's Message "NSA in the Media – 'Intelligence Gathering Practices'" (Dec. 16, 2005) and Director's Message "NSA in the Media UPDATE – 'Intelligence Gathering Practices'" (Dec. 22, 2005) obtained by EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act, available at http://www.epic.org/privacy/nsa/messages.pdf.
23 Id.
24 Risen at 48, supra note 6.
25 President's Radio Address (Dec. 17, 2005) (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051217.html).
26 Id.
27 Id.
28 Letter from Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella to Chairman Roberts and Vice Chairman Rockefeller of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Chairman Hoekstra and Ranking Minority Member Harman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Dec. 22, 2005), available at http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/nsaletter122205.pdf.
29 Id.
30 Memorandum from Elizabeth B. Bazan and Jennifer K. Elsea on Presidential Authority to Conduct Warrantless Electronic Surveillance to Gather Foreign Intelligence Information (Jan. 5, 2006), available at http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/crs_analysis.pdf; Letter from Curtis A. Bradley, Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law, Duke University, et. al, to the Hon. Bill Frist, Majority Leader, United States Senate, et. al, (Jan. 9, 2006), available at http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/dojreply.pdf.
31 Bazan and Elsea Memorandum at 44, supra note 30.
32 Letter from Bradley, et. al, at 2, supra note 30.
33 Risen and Lichtblau, supra note 1.
34 50 U.S.C. § 1805(f).
35 50 U.S.C. § 1805(a).
36 Letter from Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella to Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert (Apr. 1, 2005), available at http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/2004rept.pdf.
37 Risen at 48, supra note 6.
38 Lowell Bergman, Eric Lichtblau, Scott Shane, and Don Van Natta Jr., Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to Dead Ends, N.Y. Times, Jan. 17, 2006 at A1.
39 Id.
42 Moschella letter, supra note 40.
43 Id.
44 Leonidas Ralph Mecham, Director, Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 2004 Wiretap Report at 7 (April 2005), available at http://www.uscourts.gov/wiretap04/contents.html.
45 Id.
46 Id. at 11.
47 Id.
48 Church Committee Hearings, supra note 11.
49 Dan Eggen, White House Dismissed '02 Surveillance Proposal, Wash. Post, Jan. 26, 2006 at A4.


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ApacheCon US 2008 Session
Administering Apache Geronimo 2.x
Apache Geronimo 2.x is certified Java Enterprise Edition 5.0 container suitable for everything from a development environment to enterprise-level deployments. Geronimo leverages many Apache projects, such as Tomcat, OpenEJB, ActiveMQ, Derby. This session will cover administering Geronimo from two points of view: configuring an existing Geronimo server directly through the powerful web based administration console or editing configuration files, and secondly through Geronimo plugins containing configuration information either used in a custom server assembly or installed into an existing server.
Some of the topics covered are:
- First steps in getting Geronimo ready for a production environment,
- Administering embedded Tomcat, ActiveMQ, Derby.
- Deploy/start/stop of applications & other server components.
- Creating Database pools, Security realms, etc.
- Installing plugins for Geronimo.
- Managing keys, digital certificates and configuring SSL.
- Running a cluster of multiple server instances from the same installation.


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Generics Brought Down Common Drug Prices in 2012
05.03.2013 -
Cheaper generic drugs in 2012 brought down spending on treatments for common diseases like high cholesterol for the first time in 20 years, according to a report from the largest manager of U.S. pharmacy benefits.
A rise in spending on specialty drug treatments offset that decline, however, and drove total U.S. payments for prescription drugs up 2.7% last year, Express Scripts Holding said on Tuesday.
Spending on drugs to treat high cholesterol and high blood pressure fell 1.5% among customers who receive their prescription benefits through commercial insurers, the report said.
For Express Scripts, profit margins on generic drugs are higher than those on more-expensive branded drugs. Companies that provide their employees' insurance also encourage the use of generic drugs to bring down their healthcare costs.
The lower prices for common drugs came after the patents on branded versions ran out, putting cheaper generic competitors onto the market. Big pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Merck & Co hold the patents on drugs for about a decade after they start selling them. Then competitors like Teva Pharmaceuticals can start selling their own generic versions.
President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul law rewards the use of generic drugs as a way to decrease healthcare spending, which rose about 4% last year and accounts for about 17% of gross domestic product.
The patent for Pfizer's Lipitor, a cholesterol treatment that was once the world's best-selling drug, expired in November 2011. Cheaper generics hit the market soon after, which sharply reduced spending on treatments in 2012.
"The move towards lower-cost generic alternatives has had a tremendous impact," said Sharon Frazee, vice president research and analytics at Express Scripts.
In commercial insurance plans, the average price of medicine for high cholesterol fell nearly 10% to $47.87 for a 30-day supply in 2012.
Express Scripts processed 1.4 billion prescriptions in 2012, including for Medicare insurance for elderly people and Medicaid for the poor and disabled. It prepares separate reports for those sectors.
The company said this was the first decrease in commercial insurance prescription spending for the most common drugs since 1993, when it began collecting data.
Spending on specialty medications, which include rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and hepatitis C drugs, rose 18.4% in 2012. These specialty drugs, which can cost more than $10,000 per month, accounted for 24.5% of the nation's total spending on prescription drugs.
Prescription drugs for diabetes accounted for the biggest share of customer outlays on any treatment class. Spending on those medicines rose 11%, outpacing 2011's increase of 7%.
Both the cost and use of diabetes drugs went up, Frazee said. About one-third of Americans are diagnosed as obese, which has led to an increase in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes.
Spending on hepatitis C increased 34%, more than any other type of treatment, primarily because of two new drugs that hit the market in May 2011 - Vertex Pharmaceuticals's Incivek and Merck's Victrelis. Spending is due to increase 32% in 2013 and another 56% in 2014, the report said.
Prices of brand-name drugs rose 12.5% in 2012, according to the Express Scripts Prescription Price Index, which is based on a basket of the most highly used of those medications.


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Viscous Catenary
Application ID: 10281
The catenary is the geometrical shape that corresponds to the curve followed by an idealized chain or cable supported at both ends and hanging under its own weight. The viscous catenary problem describes the motion of a cylinder of highly viscous fluid, supported at its ends as it flows under gravity. In the last decade this problem has generated significant theoretical and experimental interest in the academic community. Solutions to the problem in one dimension have been derived. The rich phenomena that occur in this apparently simple problem are industrially important in a range of applications such as filament spinning and glass manufacture. The model is an example of the Laminar Two-Phase Flow, Moving Mesh interface with a time-dependent study.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
- COMSOL Multiphysics® and
- either the CFD Module, Microfluidics Module, Mixer Module, or Polymer Flow Module
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Specification Chart and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.


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Special Assignments
Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)
Currently - 69 Officers
The Washington County Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) is an interagency special response team of qualified city and county officers from within the ranks of the nine law enforcement agencies of Washington County. Currently there are 69 members on SWAT: Three Commanders, 38 Tactical Members, 14 Negotiators, and14 Tech Members. Many of the SWAT members are cross-trained in several areas such as snipers, breachers, and Canine handlers.
The team meets for training once a month for a 10 hour training session. During these sessions officers practice defensive tactics, tactical planning, special weapons training, mission operations and must meet qualification standards several times a year with each weapon they are assigned. There are currently three Forest Lake Police Officers assigned to the Washington County SWAT Team.
Mission Statement
Recognizing that the presence of a highly trained, highly skilled police tactical unit has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of injury or loss of life to citizens, police officers, and suspects; and recognizing that a well managed "team" response to critical incidents usually results in successful resolution of critical incidents. It is the intent of the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Cottage Grove, Woodbury, Stillwater, Bayport, St. Paul Park, Oak Park Heights, Oakdale, and Forest Lake Police Departments to work together to provide a highly trained and skilled tactical team as a resource for those law enforcement agencies included in this multi-jurisdictional agreement who need assistance with critical incidents.
The mission of the SWAT team is to support the jurisdictions within Washington County and agencies outside of Washington County requesting mutual aid assistance from the SWAT team. Critical incidents are defined as follows:
- Hostage Situation
- Barricade Situations
- Sniper Situations
- High Risk Apprehension
- High Risk Warrant Service
- Personal Protection
- Special Assignments deemed necessary by the Chief Law Enforcement Officers Board based upon a high level of threat.
The Washington County SWAT team offers a challenging career development opportunity for every qualified officer or deputy in this county. It develops a resource within each department for officers who become capable of teaching tactical thinking and risk management to other officers as related to enforcement situations.