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"LiveAtState" web chat with
David M. Robinson
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Mark Bartolini,
Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance at USAID
August 21, 2012
MS. JENSEN: Hi. Welcome to LiveAtState, an interactive web chat platform for engaging international media. I would like to welcome all of you joining us from around the world today. I'm your host, Holly Jensen.
Today, I'm joined in the studio by David Robinson, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration. And we're also joined in the studio by Mark Bartolini, the Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance for USAID. Today, they will be taking your questions on humanitarian assistance for those affected by the violence in Syria.
Before I turn it over to them, I would like to give you a few housekeeping notes. You can start to submit your questions now in the lower left-hand portion of your screen titled "Questions for State Department Officials." And if at any time you experience problems during today's program, you can email your questions directly to us at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will add them to the queue. We will answer as many of your questions as we can in the 30 minutes we have. If you'd like to get more information today, you can follow us on Twitter by using the handle @StateDept. That's @StateDept or @StatePRM and @TheOFDA, that's TheOFDA.
And with that, I would like to turn it over to you, David. Thank you for joining us.
MR. ROBINSON: Well, good morning. Thank you very much for having us here today. At the outset, I'd like to note that we celebrated or commemorated World Humanitarian Day on August 19th, last Sunday. There are thousands of very brave and dedicated people around the world working to provide relief and help to other people desperately in need, and nowhere is this more true than inside Syria today and also in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, where refugees have fled the violence in Syria and are receiving assistance.
The United States is deeply engaged in this activity. To date, we have contributed more than $82 million to the effort, and our help is reaching tens and hundreds of thousands of people desperately in need. So I appreciate this opportunity to elaborate on what we're doing, and I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
MS. JENSEN: Go ahead, Mark.
MR. BARTOLINI: Thanks for having us, Holly. I look forward to discussing this issue. The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance is authorized by Congress to provide needs-based assistance to people who have suffered from either a natural disaster or in conflict. And the situation currently in Syria represents one of the most complex environments we've ever had to work. Nonetheless, we have been able to reach over 780,000 people to date inside. The conditions, as I said, are very difficult, and certainly we're not reaching everyone. But I think it is a bit of an untold story what we are able to do inside Syria today.
MS. JENSEN: Great. Our first question is: Some say that the U.S. isn't doing enough to help those suffering from the conflict in Syria. Is the U.S. engaged? I'll turn it over to you, Mark, and you can answer first.
MR. BARTOLINI: Sure. Well, first of all, again, the situation inside many areas of Syria today – it's incredibly violent; people are suffering horribly. And we're certainly not reaching everyone that's in need. There's no question about that. We need better access. But what we are doing – again, I mention it's a very complex environment, so we're not able to brand what we're providing or even talk much about the mechanics of how we're doing this, but aid is getting in. It's unmarked. It's primarily medical supplies, food aid getting to populations in need.
I'm sure that, again, there is a perception among some that more needs to be done, and that's understandable, but a lot is being done right now. And we're constantly trying to ramp up our current operations.
MR. ROBINSON: I'd just build on Mark's comment to note that the United States is the single largest contributor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and for other international organizations that are very active inside Syria today. They're also active inside Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, helping people who have managed to escape. So the United States is perusing a very active and, I think, aggressive effort to provide humanitarian assistance.
MS. JENSEN: Can you briefly describe what challenges are impacting the humanitarian aid? And how are you working to overcome these challenges?
MR. BARTOLINI: Well, sure. Inside Syria, the main issue, of course, is violence and a lack of access. The government has not provided full access to aid workers to operate inside Syria, and obviously with the violent levels in certain of the cities that we're trying to operate in, it makes it very complicated for aid workers to get in. But there are people who are very brave, who are taking incredible risks to get aid into these areas, and we're using the full range of potential partners to make sure that we're able to access as many people as possible.
We do need better access, and obviously, we ultimately need a political solution here to stem the violence. But even given the situation, as difficult as it is, we are getting aid through.
MR. ROBINSON: Again, I think that that's absolutely correct. The United States is being successful in getting some aid in, a significant amount of aid in. But access is the most significant problem. And I would comment, again, that humanitarian problems, particularly of this scope, don't have humanitarian solutions, they have political solutions. And so we seek a political settlement to this problem, and we hope to reach the people most in need and to be able to provide them the assistance they need.
MS. JENSEN: The next question is basically a follow-up to that, and it comes from Valery Marinov from the Bulgarian National TV. Usually the pattern that follows is humanitarian crisis, humanitarian aid, full-blown conflict, international settlement. How are you going to break this circle and prevent full-scale military confrontation and provide effective humanitarian aid?
MR. ROBINSON: Again, the United States is working with our partners – international organizations as well as governments in the region – to provide assistance to Syrians who desperately need the help. We would really call on all of the countries in the region and others to add to this effort to provide help to these people. And I think that at some point we will be able to hasten the transition once the violence stops, once the Assad regime is finished. Being able to provide help today will help us to have a smoother transition in the future.
MS. JENSEN: Our next question is a follow-up from Valery Marinov. Are you optimistic that the UN, and the UN Security Council in particular, will be able to come up with one united position on Syria? And how can this be achieved?
MR. ROBINSON: I think the united position on Syria, from our perspective at this moment, is first that people who desperately need help have to get the help they need, and the Syrian regime should allow humanitarian workers to provide that assistance inside Syria, and the governments in the region should continue as they are, keeping the borders open to allow people that need to flee to get across the borders safely. The bottom line is that civilians and other innocents need to be protected. I don't think there's any doubt about that.
MS. JENSEN: Our next question comes from Alloui Soumia from Algerian TV: What is the value of the aid sent to Syria?
MR. BARTOLINI: Well, currently, the U.S. Government has nearly $82 million that's been in the region spent on aid. It's a variety of types of aid from food aid to medical assistance to non-food items, hygiene kits and the like, and primarily it's going to women and children who are civilians caught in these conflict areas.
MS. JENSEN: This is a follow-up from Alloui. How do you intend to deliver this aid?
MR. BARTOLINI: The mechanics of how we're doing it we're not discussing, because again, the situation is so violent. We have numerous stories of aid workers who have been attacked, clinics that have been established that have been attacked. So we feel it's not fair to those who are risking their lives to get into the mechanics of how it's done. But it's through a variety of networks – traditional networks and nontraditional networks – that we're able to do this.
MR. ROBINSON: And I think it's important that as we try to provide the aid to the people that need it that contributions are made to the UNHCR and to other organizations that are actively engaged in Syria and in neighboring countries.
MS. JENSEN: Is the State Department actively encouraging neighboring countries to consider accepting refugees? And how does the State Department believe the international community can get involved to alleviate the situations for the countries involved, specifically Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon?
MR. ROBINSON: Well, I would note that Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon are three countries that have left their borders open to allow people to cross and to find help and assistance inside their countries, and we encourage those countries to keep their borders open. We are partnering with them to alleviate some of the difficulty that those refugees may pose. And so I think the biggest thing that we can ask for today is that the neighboring countries continue to leave the borders open, allow people to get across the borders, and that the international community – UNHCR and others – will provide assistance partnering with the host governments to make sure that people are cared for.
MS. JENSEN: Are you working through the UN or local organizations?
MR. ROBINSON: We do. As a matter of fact, the United States is the single largest contributor to UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration, and many other organizations. We have, for more than 30 years I think, shown terrific leadership in helping to build the humanitarian response architecture that was in place inside Syria before the violence began and has mitigated some of the worst consequences. So we continue to work through our international partners, and we ask others to do the same.
MS. JENSEN: And are you guys providing assistance to the families in Aleppo?
MR. BARTOLINI: Yes, there is aid that's currently getting into Aleppo. There's no conflict area in Syria that we haven't been able to reach with aid. Having said that, there certainly needs to be more. And again, I just want to reiterate the importance of the government and all parties of the conflict providing for safe access for humanitarian aid workers.
MS. JENSEN: Great. At this time, I'd like to remind you that can you ask your questions in the lower left-hand portion of your screen titled "Questions for State Department Officials." And if you would like more information, you can follow us on Twitter by using the Twitter handle @StateDept or @StatePRM.
At this time, the next question comes from Rory Mulholland: Who is carrying out the attacks you mentioned on aid workers in clinics? And is it the Syrian regime forces or opposition fighters or both?
MR. BARTOLINI: From what we've been hearing, I would hate to designate who's carrying out the attacks. But these clinics are clinics that are primarily operating in opposition areas. They're serving people in opposition areas, so I think you can draw your own conclusions as to who's carrying them out. But they've been widespread. It's nothing – like nothing I've ever seen in any conflict I've been involved in, the level of attacks against people simply trying to provide humanitarian assistance.
MS. JENSEN: You can also follow us on Twitter at @TheOFDA. That's @TheOFDA, or you can follow us on Facebook.com/USAID.news. Next question is: How does this compare to the other crises around the world?
MR. ROBINSON: In terms of raw numbers, this is a significant, obviously, crisis, but every crisis that involves – or every attack against a civilian is horrific, and so we view this – the events in Syria obviously as terrible, and we are providing a level of assistance that we normally provide elsewhere as well. We're very active in many places – in Africa, in other continents around the world – but this crisis certainly is very, very significant.
MR. BARTOLINI: Sure. I would just add that the situation today in the Horn of Africa, in Somalia, in the Sahel area in Yemen – these are all major crises, which we're also very actively responding to. And in terms of, frankly, numbers dead, the situation right now in Syria is not as high as those crises, but the numbers affected are close. There's 2.5 million people in need of aid right now inside Syria, and 1.2 million have been displaced from the home. So on that scale, it's right up there with the worst crises in the world today.
MS. JENSEN: What more can be done to help the people of Syria?
MR. ROBINSON: Again, I think that the international community is responding to the humanitarian vein quite well, but we would ask for other donors to step forward and to contribute to the international organizations and the NGOs and others who are helping the innocent Syrians. And we again wish to extend our appreciation to the governments of Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and others, and Syria, who are taking in refugees that are fleeing.
MR. BARTOLINI: And I would just add what Dave said earlier about, of course, we need a political solution to this crisis to end the violence. But before that happens, there needs to be better access, and as I said, this is the worst crisis I've ever been involved with in terms of access. And governments need to put more pressure on the Syrian Government to open up the situation so that aid can get in.
MS. JENSEN: At this time, I'd like to ask you, if you have any questions for either one of these gentlemen, you can start to ask your questions right now in the lower left-hand portion of your screen.
With that, the next question is: What is the next step in terms of finding a sustainable solution to accommodating Syrian refugees in neighboring countries?
MR. ROBINSON: Again, the efforts that the governments in the region are making and that the international organizations are making are heroic, and continuing those efforts is the most important thing. The most important thing that can happen, obviously, is a political solution to this crisis so refugees can go home. That's what they want to do. And in the meantime, it's important that aid organizations and governments continue to provide them with life-sustaining support until they can do that.
MS. JENSEN: Is the U.S. providing aid to the rebels?
MR. BARTOLINI: We're providing assistance inside to conflict areas. The primary recipients of our aid, as it is in virtually every conflict, are women and children. And we're not specifically providing aid to any one group; we're providing aid solely based on need. But certainly, the areas that are most in need right now are those areas that are in conflict. That's by far and away the worst areas, and medical assistance is really the number-one issue right now for people who have been injured or who are simply lacking basic vaccines and the like.
MS. JENSEN: All right. Great. So we have time for one more question: Can you tell me how many people are being helped by the United States Government assistance, and where is that aid going?
MR. ROBINSON: Well, in neighboring countries, there are about 150,000 people that have fled and are receiving assistance through host governments and also international organizations. Inside Syria, the number is larger, and I'll turn that over to Mark.
MR. BARTOLINI: The number inside Syria is about 780,000 people that have received assistance that's been funded by the United States Government. And as I've said, most of that's going into conflict areas. But as we see this crisis drag on, we're seeing more and more areas of Syria affected. Aleppo, which has been under siege of late, is one of the primary areas that produces drugs for Syria. So you're seeing very common drugs like pain killers, antibiotics, vaccines coming in short supply. So as the needs grow, to the extent that we can, we're going to try to be able to spread out and meet all those needs with – inside Syria.
MS. JENSEN: I have one last late-breaking question that comes from Brooks Tigner from Jane's Defense Weekly. Are there any U.S. Government or government-supported agencies providing aid directly inside the country using their own personnel? And if so, how to ensure that? If not, any plans to engage directly in distribution of the aid inside Syria?
MR. BARTOLINI: Currently, there are no U.S. Government employees working inside Syria. And I think for that to happen, there's clearly going to have to be a change in the political situation, and they'll have to be invited in. But to date, there are none that I'm aware of.
MS. JENSEN: I'll leave it to you guys. Any final thoughts? I'll turn it over to you, [Dave].
MR. ROBINSON: Just again that I think it's – on the first hand, it's important to recognize the efforts of the governments of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq that are welcoming Syrian refugees inside their borders. It's important that we support those governments. It's important that we support the international organizations that are helping the Syrian civilians.
MR. BARTOLINI: And I'll just say that, again, I do think there is a misperception out there that nothing is simply being done for the Syrian people, and that's not true. As I've stated, millions of dollars is going in and providing assistance. It's not enough. What they're undergoing right now is terrible, and certainly our hearts go out to them and our sympathies. But we are doing quite a bit to try to assist them, and I think it's incumbent upon everyone involved in this crisis in the region to try to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance.
MS. JENSEN: Great. Well, that's all the time we have for today. I would like to thank all of you for joining us, and I would like to thank you both for joining us in the studio today. There will be a full audio and video copy of today's program available for you shortly after the conclusion of today's program.
And if you'd like to get the latest information from the State Department, you can follow us on Twitter by using the Twitter handle @StateDept or if you would like the latest information from PRM, you can do so by following @StatePRM. Or the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, you can follow them on Twitter using the handle @TheOFDA.
Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to doing this again with you soon.


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Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south. It is the 47th fastest growing city in the United States and the fastest growing metro area in the state of South Dakota, with a total increase of 22% since 2000.
Roads in Sioux Falls:
Most residents of Sioux Falls travel and commute by car. Interstate 90 passes east to west across the northern edge of the city, while Interstate 29 bisects the western portion of the city from the north and south. Interstate 229 forms a partial loop around Sioux Falls, and connects with Interstate 90 to the northeast and Interstate 29 to the southwest. A grid design system for city streets is the standard for the central area of the city, while secondary streets in newer residential areas have largely abandoned this plan.
"If you have never visited the state of South Dakota during the summer time, the scenery is so beautiful. Yes it does have cold winters but the summer time makes it all worth it. As some of you may already know the leading causes of automobile accidents is wildlife. Majority of wildlife related accidents are caused by Deer. One day while driving down the road and a deer out of no where came walking across the freeway. With no room to turn or sway my vehicle, I hit the deer head on with my new Lexus GS430. I just purchased it a few months ago and I was so upset. I called the police to report the accident and in return they dispatched a tow truck driver to the scene. The damage was very bad, I remember the hood being bent so far up I couldn't see out my own windshield. After talking with the tow truck driver, I realized my new truck was totaled.
I asked him, what would I need to do to get my claim handled correctly. The driver happened to have a business card for these guys. He said "here call Pinnacle. I have referred numerous customers to them and they have all been very pleased with their work." So I took Pinnacle Auto Appraisers business card and held on to it. After a week, I finally heard back from the insurance company and they made me an offer on my total loss claim. During the last few days I decided to do my own research to compare with the appraisal the insurance company provided. I was not happy with their offer. It was almost $4,000 less than what I saw my book value to be and also what is was selling for. I told the insurance company I wasn't going to accept and called Pinnacle. After speaking with the appraiser, I felt much better. He explained to me how the process works and that they would handle the negotiations for me. After just a few days I received the appraisal and it looked very professional. After not hearing from Pinnacle Auto Appraisers for a few days, I finally got a call from my Certified Auto Appraiser. He got me almost $4,000, exactly what I was hoping for. These guys know their stuff and if you want a company that will handle it for you, hire these guys! ~ Clint D. Sioux Falls, SD
We bring our expertise and experience to the table for large corporations as well as the common car enthusiasts. Whether you are disputing a total loss claim or looking to purchase a classic or exotic car: We can help value what you own!
If you live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota or in the surrounding areas we offer certified auto appraisals on classic cars, fleet vehicles, lease turn-in, total loss, diminished value, stated value, pre-purchase inspections, charitable donations, motorcycles, recreational vehicles and more! Please contact us today for more information.

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm planning to install some shades at a client that has an amx control system.
We will install aprox 20 qs shades + 2 standard 3-wire motor shades.
I'm not sure if with this configuration and a QSE-CI-NWK-E is enough or because of having the LQSE-4M is necessary to include a QS processor.
What is your experience interfacing with the QSE-CI-NWK-E?
Thank you!


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- I asked [Peter Negulescu (VP, SFGate)] why SFGate isn't an aggressive player in the local online advertising market ... He chided me for my ignorance regarding the 800-pound gorilla of local markets -- the Yellow Pages. "They have like 6-700 local sales people in every major region," he told me. "They visit every merchant in town." In other words, the Chronicle can never compete.
John is optimistic that local merchants would come to Yahoo or Google's website to self-manage their information and advertising, but I doubt you could get anything like the coverage you need with a self-service model. Many of these merchants don't even have a web site. They aren't tech savvy.
The Yellow Pages has uses hundreds of sales people because it has to. They need to physically send salespeople out to talk to each merchant. Getting complete coverage requires a massive, expensive sales force. That's why local search is hard.
See also "Down on local search".


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Continue the conversation in the Career Forum and our social media sites. Participate and build a successful career and job search strategy!
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Welcome to the online Career Speaker Series.
This series features authors and career experts who will share their secrets, research and tips with you as a job seeker.
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Each month, we'll bring you the nation's top career authors and experts in:
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I suppose that I should start out by explaining why my husband and I chose to homeschool in the first place. We have decided that the public school system is going downhill quickly. Over where we are, it's not uncommon to have 35-40 kids in a single class, the ridiculousness of Common Core is beginning, and teachers have been brainwashed by union heads into thinking they are underappreciated and underpaid (some are). We simply believe that homeschooling our four-year-old twin girls, Allie and Kristy, is now a no-brainer. This was a decision that we made because we think that allowing a child to flourish and blossom at their own pace is important and can be hindered in the normal school setting, especially with the ever increasing class sizes.
The first year of homeschooling, I started preparing months in advance. I arranged for there to be a dedicated room in the house for the schooling and installed every item I could imagine would be in a classroom. I created detailed schedule plans for the school year and researched forms of curriculum. I visited every homeschool support forum available at the time and by August, I was all nerves. The strict schedule and responsibility of what I would have to do for the next 12 years was already taking its toll on me. When the alarm went off at six on the first scheduled day of school, I jumped out of bed like someone had shot at me.
Allie and Kristy were little troopers in spite of their crazy mommy. I followed my plans to the letter and they did their best to see me as their teacher instead of just Mommy. We followed the same routine for a couple of weeks and from the outside looking in, I was the perfect homeschooling mom who had it all together. On the inside, however, I was a wreck. The grueling routine and schedule that I had created was getting to me, my husband, my children, and even my home that had been terribly neglected. In a few weeks, I had transformed from the fun loving wife and mother to a generic person who just filled a spot at the dinner table.
It wasn't until mid September that my husband saved me from my own self-propelled madness. As I sat in my pajamas at the edge of the bed, crying because I thought I was going to have to give up homeschooling, he said, "Tammy, how is what you are doing any different than what the girls would have in real school?". It was then that it hit me. The whole time I'd been going about this wrong. I mimicked everything I thought school should be and had abandoned the idea that school could be different, which was our point in the beginning. Homeschool was a way for us to allow our girls to have a choice my strict planning and routine was leaving no space for freedom. From that point, everything changed. I relaxed my rules, my schedule, and integrated schooling as part of the daily activities in the house, instead of only focusing on education.
Allie and Kristy now love their school at home. Allie is creative and spends more time on her artwork, but Kristy loves to read and is allowed to spend as much time as she wants reading new stories. Homeschooling is not about a strict routine, but about happy children who get the chance to find out who they are and what they want to learn. If this is your first year of homeschooling, be sure to use my experience to remind you of this fact and you will find that this task is actually no task at all, but only part of being a good parent.


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Two skiers lost for four days in the backcountry off the back of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in the Kootenays were found just after noon Sunday.
According to Golden-Fields RCMP Cst. Spencer Lainchbury, the hotel the duo were staying at reported them missing Sunday morning after they failed to check out of their hotel Saturday night.
"We notified search and rescue immediately and had them start to conduct flyovers," said Lainchbury.
The two skiers were located with only minor injuries in Quartz Creek, which is off the backside of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.
They were taken to hospital by ambulance where they're expected to make a full recovery.


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NEWTOWN, Conn. — Gene Rosen heard the staccato sound of gunfire near his home Friday morning, but dismissed it as a hunter in the nearby woods.
Then, 15 minutes later, as he was heading from his house near Sandy Hook Elementary school to a diner, he saw the children.
SEE ALSO: Do Apps Violate Child Privacy?
There were six of them, small children sitting in a neat semicircle at the end of his driveway. A school bus driver was standing over them, telling them things would be all right. It was about 9:30 a.m., and the children, he discovered, had just run from their school to escape a gunman.
"We can't go back to school," one little boy told Rosen. "Our teacher is dead. Mrs. Soto; we don't have a teacher."
That's when Rosen's grandfatherly instincts kicked in.
SEE ALSO: Black Roman Soldier Remembered
The 69-year-old retired psychologist took the four girls and two boys into his home, and over the next few hours gave them toys, listened to their stories and called their frantic parents.
"I had no idea what had happened," Rosen said. "I couldn't take that in."
SEE ALSO: Control Guns, Don't Buy More
Victoria Soto, 27, was a first-grade teacher killed when 20-year-old Adam Lanza burst into her classroom. It wasn't clear how the children escaped harm, but there have been reports that Soto hid some of her students from the approaching gunman. The six who turned up at Rosen's home did apparently have to run past her body to safety.
"They said he had a big gun and a little gun," said Rosen, who didn't want to discuss other details the children shared.
On Friday, Rosen walked the children past his small goldfish pond with its running waterfall, and the garden he made with his two grandchildren, into the small yellow house he shares with his wife.
He ran upstairs and grabbed an armful of stuffed animals. He gave those to the children, along with some fruit juice, and sat with them as the two boys described seeing their teacher being shot.
Then Rosen called the children's parents, using cellphone numbers obtained from the school bus company, and they came and retrieved their children.
One little girl, he said, spent the entire ordeal clutching a small stuffed Dalmatian to her chest and staring out the window looking for her mommy.
And one little boy brought them all a moment of levity.
"This little boy turns around, and composes himself, and he looks at me like he had just removed himself from the carnage and he says, `Just saying, your house is very small,'" Rosen said. "I wanted to tell him, `I love you. I love you.'"
Rosen said Sandy Hook had always been a place of joy for him. He taught his 8-year-old grandson to ride his bike in the school parking lot and took his 4-year-old granddaughter to use the swings.
"I thought today how life has changed, how that ground has been marred, how that school has been desecrated," he said.
A couple of hours after the last child left, a knock came on his door. It was a frantic mother who had heard that some children had taken refuge there. She was looking for her little boy.
"Her face looked frozen in terror," Rosen said, breaking down in tears.
"She thought maybe a miracle from God would have the child at my house," he said. Later, "I looked at the casualty list … and his name was on it."
Newtown Grandpa Took In Six Children During Sandy Hook School Massacre was originally published on newsone.com


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Folks, there's a serious housing shortage in America these days. The stress it's creating for needy families is approaching heart-attack levels.
Did you know, for example, that the inventory of million-dollar homes in Carmel, California, dwindled to only four properties at one point in late May?
But the tragedy doesn't stop there. This is a national crisis. Consider the poor people in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where only 10 homesteads in the million-dollar range were recently on the market.
It's not merely the poor and middle-class who can't find suitable housing: Many of our wealthiest citizens are hurting.
What's happening? There's a surge of multimillionaire hedge-funders, Silicon Valley high-techers, oil and gas frackers, and other super-richers. Their frenzy to snap up luxury second, third, and fourth homes is crowding regular rich people out of the market.
More disturbing is the influx of flashy Russian, Middle Eastern, and Asian tycoons grabbing high-end homes like they're M&Ms. Those foreigners are creating a housing crisis for our home-grown rich.
So, where the heck is Congress?
Why can't that immigration reform effort protect our own by taking aim at this emergency? And doesn't this luxury housing crunch just cry out for a mansion-construction subsidy? If our national leaders won't help the most privileged among us, who will they help?
The situation is so dire that many of the moneyed elites are scrounging around like commoners to find rental properties. Luckily, there are some swell homes still available out in the Hamptons, renting for about a million dollars. For the summer, that is. Yes, that's almost $10,000 a day — not counting utilities and the pool boy's salary.
But in tough times, the rich tend to toughen up, reach for their wallets, and do what has to be done.
Americas rich face housing emergency


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Where Am I?
You are currently browsing stories tagged with sausage
Wurst Lust
by Peter Wortsman 04/11/2011Neighborhood: Jackson Heights, Uncategorized
What is it, I wonder, about the German fondness for the flesh of the pig and the Jewish abhorrence of it? Like lust, revulsion too is a visceral thing fueled by the same hunger, only in reverse, a passion linked to the salivary glands that passes down the gullet to tantalize and taunt the gut. […]


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Gabrielle Giffords Discharged From Houston Hospital
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was discharged from a hospital in Houston Wednesday, about five months since she was shot in the head at a constituent meeting in Tuscon, Ariz. She will begin her next step of recovery as an outpatient.
After being released from TIRR Memorial Hermann, Giffords, 40, will be relocated to home of her husband, Navy Capt. Mark Kelly, in League City, Texas.
Kelly, who has remained optimisitic of Gifford's recovery throughout the ordeal, praised both his wife's character and doctors who treated her.
"Gabby gives her all to everything she does and that's exactly what she's been doing at TIRR since Jan. 26," said Kelly. "The remarkable progress she has made since then is a testament to both her single-minded determination to get better and the team of medical professionals overseeing her care."
Doctors at TIRR Memorial Hermann said Giffords' cognitive abilities and physical strength have improved to a point where she no longer needs to remain at the hospital. The Arizona congresswoman will soon begin outpatient treatment at the same facility, the hospital said Wednesday.
Dr. Gerard Francisco, the hospital's chief medical officer, said Giffords has "shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived at TIRR five months ago."
"We are very excited that she has reached the next phase of her rehabilitation and can begin outpatient treatment. We have no doubt that she will continue to make significant strides in her recovery."
Dr. Francisco will continue to to oversee Giffords' care as she continues the intensive therapy program with the same rehab team.
Giffords is expected to finish her rehab by the afternoon and return home each day where she will be assisted by a 24-hour home health provider.
The announcement of Giffords' release come just three days after new photos of the Congresswoman were posted to her Facebook page. The May 17 photos, taken one day before her latest surgery, showed Giffords smiling for the camera and sitting by her mom.
Thousands of well-wishers and even photojournalist P.K. Weis, who captured the shots, found Giffords' photos "inspiring."
"I was excited to see her and to see her smile. She was glad to see me, was in a good mood, smiling and laughing and seemed to enjoy the experience. I certainly did, too," said Weis.
The day after her photo shoot, Giffords underwent cranioplasty surgery where doctors inserted a plastic implant to replace a portion of her skull that had been removed to relieve the pressure of swelling on her brain. Surgeons also implanted a device that helped drain fluids from inside her skull to her abdominal cavity.
Two weeks ago, doctors removed the stitches from the cranioplasty, a final step in the healing process.
"Her wounds have healed, she has resumed full physical therapy without a helmet, and I am comfortable that she can be discharged," said Dr. Dong Kim, director of Mischer Neuroscience Institute at Memorial Hermann.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head on Jan. 8 by Jared Loughner. The 22-year-old shooter opened fire outside a grocery store during a meeting with constituents, killing six people and wounding 13 others. The bullet that hit Giffords went straight through her brain.
On May 25, a federal judge ruled Loughner incompetent to stand trial, basing his decision on findings of two forensic mental-health professionals who evaluated the Loughner. The judged ordered that Loughner be evaluated again in four months.


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Mel's Random Reviews
Commuter = Reader of everything including Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, Crime, Literature and anything else that takes my fancy!
Sunday 20 October 2013
Wednesday 2 October 2013
Charming (Pax Arcana #1) Review
Elliott James
Publisher: Orbit
E-Arc Courtesy of Netgalley & Orbit
John Charming isn't your average Prince...
He comes from a line of Charmings — an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chainmail and crossbows to kevlar and shotguns, he was one of the best. That is — until he became the abomination the Knights were sworn to hunt.
That was a lifetime ago. Now, he tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. One that shouldn't change just because a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar... Right?
He comes from a line of Charmings — an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chainmail and crossbows to kevlar and shotguns, he was one of the best. That is — until he became the abomination the Knights were sworn to hunt.
That was a lifetime ago. Now, he tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. One that shouldn't change just because a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar... Right?
first in a new Urban Fantasy series is usually a delicate balancing act of
introducing new characters, world building especially how their world varies
from ours and plot and while the story might lack a little, the characters and
the world-building are great foundations for a series. It just feels like a
little bit more mixing is needed but for the first in a series, this is a good
effort and I will definitely be continuing with this series!
Charming has some interesting characters with
a mix of powers and abilities although some characters are better developed
than others; I liked Sig and her Valkyrie powers – she doesn't just fall for
John's charms, but struggles with her current relationship and fitting John
into her group. In many other books Sig would have been the main character but
John Charming takes the lead. John has been on the run for a long time and has
a very mixed heritage which makes him unique. When he runs into Sig and starts
meeting the rest of her team, you really feel this is the first time he has
interacted with anyone on a more than superficial level for a long time.
world of magic and supernatural creatures is hidden from ours through old fae
magic called the Pax Arcana and there are plenty of asides that give you the
impression of a wider world still to be explored. So the weak link is really
the plot. The search for the new vampire who may pose a drastic threat to
humanity in the future is simply lacking any momentum. There is very little
time spent building the vampire as a credible threat now or any personality for
her which would add tension to the hunt. As such when the big finale arrived it
was underwhelming and lacked any emotional resonance.
is potential for an intriguing world and an expanded universe with so many
possibilities so I will give the series a chance and see if the next book
allows all the elements to work together.
for fans of Benedict Jacka and MLN Hanover. 7 out of 10
Elliott James,
Pax Arcana,
Urban Fantasy,
Sunday 22 September 2013
My Book Haul / Showcase Sunday
This is Books, Biscuits and Tea's Showcase Sunday where I share my lovely book hauls each week. Have a look back at Vicki's link up to see what everyone is up too!
This week was my first week back at work so I was back on the commuter train and back reading. I finished Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer - an interesting historical mystery, Charming by Elliott James a new male lead Urban Fantasy series and finally Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson - a fun comic paranormal romance.
A fairly quiet week after all the goodies from Canada so only couple of books arrived!
The Shining Girls - Lauren Beurkes
Publisher: HarperCollins
Kirby is lucky she survived the attack. She is sure there were other victims were less fortunate, but the evidence she finds is … impossible.
Harper stalks his shining girls through the years – and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came
back for him?
I read a couple of good reviews of this book so when I spotted cheap in Asda I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a try!
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
Publisher: Crown Publishing
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
I'm feeling in the mood for some thrillers at the moment so this one is a top seller that a friend told me to try - so I have!
So what have you picked up this week...?
Friday 20 September 2013
Gluten For Punishment (A Bakers Treat Mystery #1) Review
Nancy J Parra
Publisher: Berkley Crime
With her mother's death, Toni Ryder returns home to OilTop, Kansas bringing her gluten-free bakery business with her. But Toni has never felt at home in her hometown and cooking wheat-free in the middle of wheat country isn't making her any less a fish out of water. When Toni becomes a suspect in OilTop's first homicide investigation in twenty years, she must count on her crazy family and follow the clues to solve the mystery and clear her name
I picked this up while in Canada purely because one of my cousins over there is Gluten-intolerant and been bemoaning the lack of cakes she can eat now. JWhat I discovered was a fun, sweet mystery with a good bite to it and some great characters. Toni opens a Gluten Free bakery right in the middle of Wheat country, but despite some minor protest at her grand opening, she is surprised when her main opponent is found dead just outside her bakery. With the police focusing on her as the only suspect, she and her Grandmother decide they need to solve the case themselves…
There are some interesting characters – both secondary and minor which helps keep interest in the story. Toni's grandmother, Ruth is an eccentric old lady, riding a scooter and determined to grow old gracefully. She is the driving force behind Toni's investigation. But she also adds plenty of colour and joy to the scene every time she shows up. I also loved the description of the various gluten-free goodies Toni bakes which made me feel hungry during most of the book! Toni's best friend is an intriguing character as she is struggling with her business, a new boyfriend and a child who is autistic and I liked their friendship immensely.
The investigation itself is fairly simple with just a couple of conversations to other locals rather than any big evidence or sleuthing skills. However, consider the police are not particularly good at their job and don't even bothering to find out who was also on Main Street the morning of the murder, this seems to do the job nicely. It's not a complicated mystery but the story is well told with enough amusement from the characters to make an entertaining read!
Recommended for fans of Sofie Kelly and Connie Archer. 7 out of 10
A Baker's Treat Mystery,
Cosy Mystery,
Nancy J Parra
Thursday 19 September 2013
Throwback Thursday #97 - The Good Fairies of New York
This is a great feature that Melissa at My World...in words and pictures has been doing for a while which looks at those wonderful books that are ALREADY on my shelves that we haven't got round to reading yet.
The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
When a pair of fugitive Scottish thistle fairies end up transplanted to Manhattan by mistake, both the Big Apple and the Little People have a lot of adjusting to do. Heather and Morag just want to start the first radical fairy punk rock band, but first they'll have make a match between two highly unlikely sweethearts, start a street brawl between rival gangs of Italian, Chinese, and African fairies, help the ghost of a dead rocker track down his lost guitar, reclaim a rare triple-bloomed Welsh poppy from a bag lady with delusions of grandeur, disrupt a local community performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and somehow manage to stay sober enough to save all of New York from an invasion of evil Cornish fairies.
If they can stop feuding with each other, that is
If they can stop feuding with each other, that is
This was a present from Sarah, my occasional guest reviewer when she visited New York some time ago and looks like such a fun read, but like many it's not been read yet. Perhaps I should arrange a visit to New York for encourage me to read it! :-)
What Shall I read This September Results!
Decisions, decisions...I can never make my mind up so once a month I offer up a choice to you wonderful and wise blog readers and hand you the keys to my next book choice. The results have been counted, checked and rechecked and the winner for September is...
That's right you couldn't make your minds up any more than I can!
That's right you couldn't make your minds up any more than I can!
The full results were...
Hunters Moon: 25%
Sleeping With Fishes: 25%
Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs: 25%
A Quick Bite: 25%
So I'm taking the responsibility onto myself this month and will read which ever I feel like - although because of my holiday I'm a little behind this month so the review may not go up until October!
And who won their choice of book from my TBR pile? The winner is...Barbara E!
Congratulations! An email has been sent to you asking for choice!
Wednesday 18 September 2013
The Kingmaker's Daughter (Cousin's War #4)
Phillippa Gregory
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
At the court of Edward IV and his beautiful queen, Elizabeth Woodville, Anne grows from a delightful child brought up in intimacy and friendship with the family of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to become ever more fearful and desperate when her father makes war on his former friends. Her will is tested when she is left widowed and fatherless, with her mother in sanctuary and her sister married to the enemy. Fortune's wheel turns again when Richard rescues Anne from her sister's house, with danger still following Anne, even as she eventually ascends to the throne as queen. Having lost those closest to her, she must protect herself and her precious only child, Prince Edward, from a court full of royal rivals
recently watched the BBC adaptation of the Cousin War books, it really
encouraged me to pick up this book. Focusing on Warwick 'the Kingmaker's
youngest daughter, Anne, we follow Anne through her life as she grows up close
to the crown and is dragged into her father's manipulations and plots to
control those on the throne. She grew up in the House of York but her first
marriage is to the heir of the House of Lancaster which means she is front and
centre of some of the most intriguing political and actual battles of the
'Cousin's War'.
is young and naive at first but she learns from those around her especially the
different way the women around behave from her mother's self-preservation to
Margret of Anjou determination to fight for her son's throne and even her
sisters fear of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen. This was a period of time
when women were used for their family connections and bloodlines, yet managed
to carve out their own roles behind the scenes. The events Anne lives through
are tense and exciting which make for a fun read especially her possible
involvement with the princes in the tower. Anne maybe overlooked in history in
favour of the men in her life – her father, the kingmaker, her first husband,
Edward, Prince of Wales and her second husband the infamous Richard III but she
makes a lively and engaging narrator with her very different view point on
events from Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen and Margaret Beaufort, the Red
period of history was largely unknown to me previously with most history
lessons focusing on the Tudors, but I've loved learning more about the era
immediately prior to the infamous Henry VIII. There are some great mysteries
from this era with whispers of witchcraft, and sibling rivalry over the throne
pushed to extremes. I really enjoyed this story which felt fresh and enticing
as a summer's breeze on a warm day.
for fans of Alison Weir and Anne O'Brien. 8 out of 10
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Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Pootles – Friendly Wishes and Quirky Colours Plus Card Giveaway
I love weird and wonderful colour combinations and am forever scribbling them down when something catches my eyes.
To my recollection though, I have no idea what prompted me to put Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral and Basic Black together… my notes don't say more than BB, BB, CC….!
Anyway though, it seems to work.
I wonder if there's too much 'splat' in the background where I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set?
However, I think the balance is about right where I've used the Stampin' Write Markers on the stamp from Friendly Wishes.
I'd be happy to receive the card though, over splat and all! And of course, I'm happy to send it out!
So with that in mind, would anyone like this card?
Leave me a comment and I'll pick someone at random on Friday 23rd and mail it to them!
S xx
I hope you enjoyed this project, please do use the hostess code to get free product! (hostess code shown in the top right of my blog for the current one!) Learn more HERE. If your order is over £150, please do not use this code as You become the hostess and get the Rewards!
Sam Donald
Stampin' Up! UK Independent Demonstrator
You can buy Stampin' Up! online easily through my Stampin' Up! shop link on the right hand side, or within this blog post.
You can also join Stampin' Up! through similar links too! I have various FAQ and joining Stampin' Up! pages on the blog, so do click around!
And of course, you can find me on facebook, instagram, pinterest and on YouTube as a Guru with my account name as PootlesPapercraft, however, I'm scattered everywhere as Pootles!


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(Boston)--Cardiorespiratory fitness may positively impact the structure of white matter in the brains of older adults. These results suggest that exercise could be prescribed to lessen age-related declines in brain structure.
The findings, which appear online in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, are the first to show a relationship between fitness and brain structure in older adults, but not younger adults.
The researchers compared younger adults (age 18-31) to older adults (age 55-82). All participants had MRIs taken of their brains and their cardiorespiratory (heart and lung) fitness was measured while they exercised on a treadmill. The researchers found cardiorespiratory fitness was positively linked to the structural integrity of white matter fiber bundles in the brain in the older adults, while no such association was observed in younger adults.
"We found that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with enhanced brain structure in older adults," explained corresponding author Scott Hayes, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and the associate director of the Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System. "We found that physical activities that enhance cardiorespiratory fitness, such as walking, are inexpensive, accessible and could potentially improve quality of life by delaying cognitive decline and prolonging independent function," he added.
According to the researchers these results provide evidence of a positive association between fitness and brain structure in older adults. "We hope this study provides additional motivation for older adults to increase their levels of physical activity, which positively impacts health, mood, cognition and the brain." They caution that additional research is needed to track changes in fitness and brain structure over time, as well as clarify the impact of specific exercise programs (such as strength, aerobic or combined training) or dose of exercise (frequency, intensity, duration) on white matter microstructure.
This work was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Rehabilitation Research & Development Service [Career Development Award e7822w awarded to SMH], the Department of Veterans Affairs, Clinical Science Research & Development Service [MV], and the National Institute on Aging [K24AG035007 awarded to RAS]. Assistance with participant recruitment was provided by the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (P50-AG005134) and the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center (P30-AG13846).
Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology


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Statistics are kept for all active metrics automatically regardless of whether the metrics are displayed in time-series charts or gauges. However, statistics are displayed only in gauge charts: in note windows as well as in the chart viewports. When you reset gauge statistics, you reset the following data that is tracked for all active metrics, in all views, in the Monitoring Dashboard:
Resetting gauge statistics allows you to begin the gathering of statistical data for all active metrics at the same time so that they all correspond to the same time range.
To reset gauge statistics:
Note that it is not necessary to stop any views prior to resetting gauge statistics.


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La Belle endormie, written and directed by Catherine Breillat – one of the most important observers of our time on the themes of desire and sexuality – and Oki's Movie (Ok-hui-ui yeonghwa) by Hong Sang-soo – considered the real founder of the new Korean cinema, winner this year at Cannes of the "Un certain regard" prize for his film Hahaha – will be respectively the opening and closing films of the new Orizzonti Section of the 67th Venice International Film Festival (September 1-11, 2010), directed by Marco Mueller and organized by la Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta.
Both films – which will have their world premiere screenings respectively on Thursday September 2 and Saturday 11 at the Sala Darsena – will be in competition for the new prizes reserved for feature-length films (Orizzonti Award and Special Orizzonti Jury Prize) in the section that this year will be open to all "custom-format" works, with a wider outlook concerning the new directions in expressive language that are emerging in cinema.
La Belle endormie by Catherine Breillat – freely inspired by folk tales and the fairy tale by Charles Perrault – is interpreted by Carla Besnaïnou (Anastasia), Kérian Mayan (Peter), Julia Artamonov (Anastasia at age 16), David Chausse (Johan). It is a production of Flach Film Production – Cb Films – Arte France and is produced by Jean-François Lepetit and Sylvette Frydman. Catherine Breillat, who had already worked last year on a transposition of another fairy tale by Charles Perrault, Barbe Bleue, has said on the subject of La Belle endormie: "Unlike Barbe Bleue, I would like to consider this fairytale not as a story that two girls tell each other, but as the story of a girl being born (she does not yet know into what world), and creates her own little girl's world. Childhood is a long and ruthless limbo that precedes adolescence – even if that is precisely when the fairytale beginning of the story is set. Hence the girl grows little by little and becomes an adolescent, who naively believes that she knows everything about life. But life is not a fairytale, and love during adolescence is like early motherhood, which leads to a different life reality. It "brings your feet back on the ground", as they say. It is therefore no longer a fairytale, but an account of a life that is beginning".
Oki's Movie (Ok-hui-ui yeonghwa) is the eleventh full-length film directed by Hong Sang-soo. The story, which renews Hong's obsession with complex narrative plots, is divided into four chapters, A Day for Chanting (Jumuneul oeul nal), King of Kiss (Kiseu wang), After the Snowstorm (Pokseol hu) and Oki's Movie (Ok-hui-ui yeonghwa). A young filmmaker, his old professor of cinema, and the beautiful Oki, caught between the two men, are the protagonists of this story developing between present and past, reality and cinematic fiction. Played by Lee Sun-kyun (Jin-gu), Jung Yu-mi (Ok-hui) and Moon Sung-keun (Prof. Song), the film is written and directed by Hong Sang-soo, produced by his company, Jeonwonsa, and sold by FineCut Co. Ltd
Director, screenwriter, author, Catherine Breillat is one of the most important figures in French film and culture today. She has worked in the past with Maurice Pialat, Liliana Cavani, Federico Fellini, Marco Bellocchio, and participated in the Venice International Film Festival in 2000 as the screenwriter for Selon Matthieu by Xavier Beauvois (in competition), and in 2001 as the director and screenwriter of Brève Traversée. In 2007 Marco Mueller selected her for the special jury, composed entirely of film directors, for the 75th anniversary of the Venice International Film Festival. Her works include: 36 fillette (1987), presented at Locarno; Romance (1999); Sex Is Comedy (2002), the opening film of the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at Cannes; Anatomie de l'enfer (2003); Une vieille maîtresse (2006), in competition at Cannes; and Barbe bleue (2009), presented in the Panorama section in Berlin. Her latest book, Abus de faiblesse, was published in 2009.
Hong Sang-soo is considered the real founder of the new Korean cinema which, ten years now, has received the most important awards at every major international film festival, leading South Korea to centre stage in world cinema. His first full-length film, The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (Dwaejiga umure bbajin nal, 1996), Tiger Award at Rotterdam Film Festival winner, is considered the launch of a sparkling new generation that brought to international screens the films of Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong, etc … His most significant works include: The Power of Kangwon Province (Gangwon-do ui him, 1998), Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (O! Sujeong, 2000), both presented at the Cannes Film Festival, Night and Day (Bam-gwa nat, 2008), in competition at Berlin; and Hahaha (2010), the closing film and winner of the Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes 2010. Oki's Movie (Ok-hui-ui yeonghwa) is his first participation at the Venice Film Festival.
Biographical notes
Catherine Breillat
Born in Bressuire, France, Catherine Breillat, director, scriptwriter and writer. Her first novel, L'homme facile (1965), was published at 17 while in 1972 she played the part of Mouchette in Last tango in Paris (Ultimo tango a Parigi) by Bernardo Bertolucci. She soon abandoned her career as an actress and dedicated herself to writing scripts for Maurice Pialat (Police, 1985), working also with Liliana Cavani on the script for La pelle (1981), with Federico Fellini for And the Ship Sails On (E la nave va, 1983), and as assistant editor for Marco Bellocchio on The Eyes, the Mouth (Gli occhi, la bocca, 1982). In 1976, she made her debut as director with A Real Young Girl (Une vraie jeune fille), an adaptation of her own novel, Le soupirail. She also produced the music for this film, as she later did for Fat Girl (À ma soeur!, 2000). The common denominator in Breillat's films is without a doubt sexuality: investigated, denied, sought, suffered, resigned to. The director has said: "The stronger passion is, the more it is associated with suffering – one's own and that of others". Female sexuality becomes the means for investigating oneself, for analysing one's own demons and dark zones: a sort of disturbing psychoanalytical session. Breillat's cinema proclaims its proud desire for diversity to the world, as already revealed in the titles of her films, often punctuated by exclamation marks, from Parfait amour! (1996) to À ma soeur! (2000), the story of Anaïs, a clumsy, skinny girl of 12 nourishing a love-hate relationship for her 15-year-old sister, who is sunny and beautiful, and through whom she tests her own emotions. This film, which provoked a lively debate, as do the French director's works in general, won numerous prizes at the Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam and Chicago film festivals.
Catherine Breillat's entire filmography may be considered a continuous reference to Nagisa Oshima's masterpiece, In The Realm of the Senses (Ai no corrida, 1976), but also to such directors as Georges Bataille and Jacques Lacan. The theme of looking, whether directly or indirectly and, consequently that of voyeurism too, is always present in her films, as is non-conformity that goes beyond any simple provocation and becomes an instrument for liberation and purification. She participated in the 2000 edition of the Venice Film Festival, having written the script for To Mathieu (Selon Matthieu) by Xavier Beauvois, and in 2001 with Brief Crossing (Brève Traversée), the story of a 30-year-old woman disillusioned and disgusted by men and love, who seduces and is seduced by a 16-year-old. Among Breillat's works, it is also worth recalling Nocturnal Uproar (Tapage nocturne, 1979); 36 filette (1987) presented at the Locarno Film Festival, with Jean-Pierre Léaud; Sale comme un ange (1991); Romance (1999) with Rocco Siffredi; Sex is comedy (2002); Anatomy of Hell (Anatomie de l'enfer, 2003); and finally The Last Mistress (Une vieille maîtresse, 2006) presented in competition at the 60th Cannes Film Festival, inspired by a novel by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, which tells the story of a 19th-century libertine torn between a noble and pure young maiden and a turbid, possessive lover, played by Asia Argento. In 2009, at the Berlin Festival in the Panorama section, she presented Blue Beard (Barbe Bleue), an exploration of the famous fairytale by Charles Perrault, in which the director develops, as fairytale and memory, her favourite themes concerning the relationship between sisters and the subtle game of seduction.
Hong Sang-soo
Hong Sang-soo was born in South Korea in 1960. After studying directing at the University of Chungang in Seoul, he left for the United States where he studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in California and at the Art Institute of Chicago. In the United States, he filmed a series of shorts, thinking that he would dedicate his work to experimental film until he discovered Bresson's film The Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un curé de campagne), which changed his mind. After spending several months at the Cinémathèque Française, he returned to South Korea where he worked as a director for television. Fascinated with the exploration of human nature and its weaknesses through a sentimental lens, he made his intentions clear from the very beginning by focusing on love and betrayal in his debut film, a low-cost feature entitled The Day a Pig Fell into the Well (Dwaejiga umure bbajin nal , 1996) which earned important acknowledgments at the Asia Pacific Film Festival, the Rotterdam International Film Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival. Korean critics unanimously acclaimed the director's personal vision and artistic ambition as a breath of fresh air for Korean filmmaking. With his film The Power of Kangwon Province (Gangwon-do-ui him , 1998) he participated for the first time in the Un Certain Regard Section of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2000, he returned to Un Certain Regard with Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (O! Sujeong): a cubist film that pays tribute to Marcel Duchamp, filmed in mellow black and white, and that explores the potential of a divided and non-sequential narrative. The quest for complex screenwriting structures, often masked by a simple surface, characterizes all Hong's work and has attracted favourable reactions from such prestigious international publications as "Cahiers du Cinema", "Positif" and "Film Comment". This formula found its greatest success in 2002 with Turning Gate (Saenghwal-ui balgyeon), a comedy that launched the career of Kim Sang-kyung, one of the most popular contemporary Korean actors. His next two films, Woman Is the Future of Man (Yeojaneun namja-ui miraeda, 2004) and Tale of Cinema (Geukjangjeon, 2005), were both presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. His following film Woman on the Beach (Haebyeon-ui yeoin, 2006) was invited to the festivals in Toronto and Berlin, in the Panorama section. For Night and Day (Bam-gwa nat, 2008), he filmed abroad for the first time, locating his story in Paris in the summer, a city filled with the echoes of Rohmer; the film was presented in competition in Berlin 2008 and earned great critical acclaim. He returned to Cannes with Like you know it all (Jal aljido mothamyeonseo , 2009), in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Section. In 2009 Hong Sang-soo participated in the Visitors project, commissioned by the Jeonju International Film Festival, with Naomi Kawase and Lav Diaz. And it was again Un Certain Regard that showed Hahaha (2010) this year, which won Hong Sang-soo the prize for Best Film, awarded by the jury chaired by Claire Denis.


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New York City, NY
In today's technological environment, we can style, extend, and broadcast ourselves at will, projecting into digital realms that in turn shape us. The six artists in Past Skin take up science historian and cyber-feminist Donna Haraway's provocation, "Why should our body end at the skin?," testing the growing porosity between our bodies and habitats in a contemporary world where virtuality is ubiquitous and surreality is increasingly normalized. As much as we exert influence on our bodies and surroundings, the technologies that enable this influence also influence us. No longer simply "users" of technology, we become players renegotiating the stakes of our world, engineering natural and synthetic environments to fulfill social imperatives and emotional needs. Featuring 20 works across a variety of media—including painting, sculpture, drawing, sound, video, and virtual reality—by artists Cui Jie, Jordan Kasey, Hannah Levy, Abigail Lucien, Jillian Mayer, MSHR, and Madelon Vriesendorp, Past Skin highlights works that merge figures with landscapes to examine the state of the contemporary body in and beyond nature.
Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.
New York City, NY


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This is nothing new. Commercial Alert wrote back in September, 2001...
During an economic rough patch that has led to significant erosion in advertising pages, the wall between newspapers' editorial and business interests may not be crumbling. But it is shifting. Increasingly, ads are showing up in places - such as Page 1, the front pages of other daily sections, and the opinion pages - that have generally been off-limits for decades. And some are being sold at premium rates.
Dallas Morning News editor and president Robert W. Mong Jr. - whose paper began accepting ads on the front pages of sections last year and expanded the programs this year - said the key was to introduce advertising "tastefully" and "carefully."
"It's important, in this kind of competitve environment, to look for new and different ways to sell advertising and to help support our news" operation, he said.
Last year, USA Today owner, the Gannett Company, passed the word to its nearly 100 daily papers that "tasteful" front-page ads were OK.
You can read the whole article here.
Burlington Free Press is owned by Gannett. Interestingly, if you want to know Gannett's Mission and Vision [note that word order in the left-hand index on the Gannett homepage], the Vision statement...
Consumers will choose Gannett media for their news and information needs, anytime, anywhere, in any form.
... beats out the Mission statement in placement on the page....
To successfully transform Gannett to the new environment.
We will provide must-have news and information on demand across all media, ever mindful of our journalistic responsibilities.
Even in the the url vision comes before mission (check its placement again in your browser).
Dontcha just love it: "Ever mindful of our journalistic responsibilities." Yeah, right.
No doubt the Free Press had its eye on returning students at local high schools and colleges. Buy me! Buy me! For the ad industry and the newspapers beholden to them, advertisements like these fully exploit the vulnerability of people, especially the young. Walk down Burlington's Church Street or inside Vermont's largest enclosed shopping center and you'll see what I mean. Heck, you'll even see it at Burlington's ultra-hip liberal co-op!
Check out my earlier post, here.
At the end of the 1950s, author Vance Packard asked a question that resonates even more ominously today:
By encouraging people constantly to pursue the emblems of success, and by causing them to equate possessions with status, what are we doing to their emotions and their sense of values?
Thirty years ago, author Felix Greene declared:
Advertising is nothing more than a technique to keep people in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction with what they possess and in a permanent state of itchy acquisitiveness.
High time for some reader outcry!


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11 Best States for Bigfoot to Live
Whether you believe in Bigfoot or not, the furry biped has been spotted in every U.S. state except Hawaii. Rather than debate if it's a massive hoax or the most incredible game of hide-and-seek ever, we asked, "What are the best U.S. states for Sasquatch to live?"
Points were given for wilderness area and forest cover, protective laws, likelihood of deer roadkill (a favorite food), Bigfoot enthusiasm by locals, and frequency of sightings. Points were taken away for high population density, local bounties, laws allowing hunting of Bigfoot, and the number of reports of locals claiming to have shot one. In the end, Estately determined these 11 states provided the best habitat for Bigfoot to hide out and make occasional appearances in grainy photos and videos.
1. Washington State
According to the Bigfoot Field Reseachers Organization (BFRO), the Evergreen State has far and away the most "credible sightings" of any other state with 537. It really is the best state for Bigfoot to see and be seen. Heavily forested and with the fifth most designated wilderness acreage in the country, Washington State provides exceptional habitat and a Bigfoot-positive culture. The only downside is it also has the most reported Bigfoot shootings with 24, and locally-produced Olympia Beer is offering a $1 million reward for the safe capture of Bigfoot. Despite the threat of murder and kidnapping, Washington is the only state with a law on the books forbidding the hunting of Bigfoot (in Skamania County), and the state is home to the Sasquatch Music Festival, independent publisher Sasquatch Books, and it was the location for the classic Bigfoot film Harry and the Hendersons. It even used the Sasquatch as the mascot for its now vanished NBA team—the Seattle SuperSonics.
2. California
With over 428 sightings, California has the second highest number in the United States. The state has over 15 million acres of designated wilderness, as well as Bigfoot museums in Felton and Willow Creek. There are numerous organized groups searching high and low for them, including North America Bigfoot Search and Southern California Amateur Bigfooters (SCAB). The species is honored in the names of dozens of California businesses, including The Bigfoot Lodge in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Truth be told, California gets the #2 slot because when Bigfoot finally comes out of the woods to reveal its existence, it's going to want to hire an agent, purchase some laser hair removal, and take its talents to Hollywood.
3. Oregon
Oregon is the unfortunate home to the world's only Bigfoot trap in the Siskiyou National Forest, but the state still exhibits the many features this hairy being craves. There is plenty of fog and dark forests to hide in, plus there's over 2 million acres of wilderness and a hippie vibe that's tolerant of infrequent bathing. The Sasquatch Brewing Company honors the beast with its Hairy Knuckles Stout, and there's even a festival called the Sasquatch Brew Fest. Also, Bigfoot traditionally takes his water unflouridated, just like Portland, Oregon does.
4. Ohio
Being a bashful Bigfoot makes dating hard, especially for any Bigfoot longing to meet eligible humans. Luckily, Ohio's residents take an unusually enthusiastic interest in the legend of Sasquatch, who's been spotted in Ohio 234 times—more than all but three other states. The state hosts the annual Ohio Bigfoot Festival and the Ohio Bigfoot Conference, and there are numerous groups of squatch hunters in the state.
5. Texas
Texas so Bigfoot should feel right at home in the Lone Star State. Still, the hairy one should be on the lookout for hunters because it's completely legal to plug a Sasquatch in Texas, provided it's on private property and with permission of the owner. Also, Texas is home to the dreaded Chupacabra so it's possible they battle over territory.
While local Bigfoot enthusiasts gather for the Texas Bigfoot Conference, Sasquatch can wander the Sam Houston National Forest and feast on the exotic wildlife stocked at neighboring hunting ranches. It's nice to add some antelope and ibex to the standard diet of deer and berries.
6. Idaho
With a small human population, plenty of wilderness, and millions of acres of rugged forest, Idaho is the kind of place even Bigfoot could get lost in. The only downside is the state is crawling with skilled hunters who have a keen eye for wildlife. Also, there's an Idaho State University professor cooking up a plan to utilize drones with thermal imaging equipment to spot Sasquatch from the sky. Hard to find privacy.
7. Tennessee
Tennessee gets the nod over neighboring Kentucky because Bigfoot is still angry over Daniel Boone's claim that he shot the first Sasquatch in the Bluegrass State. Also, nearly 58% of Tennessee is forested, and there are over 9,000 cozy caves to live in, the most in the country. As a special treat, Tennessee is home to 15 varieties of turtles, a healthy Bigfoot snack that's both crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle.
8. Michigan
According to BFRO, Michigan has 173 sightings—8th most in the nation. There are various local groups who study the elusive bipeds, including the Michigan Bigfoot Information Center and Michigan Bigfoot. Most importantly, Michigan is a culinary wonderland for ol' Bigfoot thanks to extensive apple orchards and the fifth highest frequency of roadkill deer. Plus, with nearly 13,000 state parks there are excellent opportunities to steal picnic baskets from campers. Many Bigfoot sightings include witnessing the creature stealing apples, snatching deer carcasses off the road, and raiding campsites. As if that's not enough food, there's a local woman who claims to feed blueberry bagels to the numerous Bigfoot who live in the woods behind her house.
9. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania tends to shoot first and ask questions later when they come in contact with a Bigfoot, but perhaps that's because the fuzzy rascal is allegedly prone to vandalizing RVs? All the same, the Keystone State is 66% forested habitat, with Bigfoot sightings frequently occurring in the Michaux State Forest. The state also has an enthusiastic fan club in the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society. Pennsylvania is also home to the Houdini Museum, and surely Bigfoot is an admirer of the late performer's skill in escaping.
10. North Carolina
While the rest of the country bad mouths Bigfoot's horrible stench (like a skunk + rotten cabbage), North Carolina's hill people speak lovingly of its "beautiful hair."Besides this welcome praise, the rugged terrain of the Great Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains provide ideal habitat, and the warmer climate provides ideal weather for mating season, apparently March through April. Many in North Carolina, such as Carolina Bigfoot Field Research, are working diligently to protect these allegedly non-existent creatures.
11. West Virginia
West Virginia is the #1 state for roadkill deer, providing a virtual roadside buffet for the hungry Bigfoot. And to wash it down, moonshiner shacks still dot the hills so Sasquatch can sneak a little swig now and then. In addition, 81% of the mountainous state is forested, it's sparsely populated, and there are plenty of caves—ideal for a reclusive Bigfoot. However, the West Virginia Bigfoot Research Organization is fast on their over-sized heels, frequently searching the region for the elusive Sasquatch.
The 5 Worst States for Bigfoot to Live
46. New Jersey: Share the woods with the Jersey Devil? No way.
47. North Dakota: Nowhere to hide in a state that's only 2.6% forested.
48. Louisiana: Humidity wreaks havoc on hair so just imagine if your entire body was covered in it.
49. Hawaii: It would be awful lonely living in state devoid of any other Bigfoot.
50. Florida: Around these parts, Bigfoot gets called a Skunk Ape, which is unflattering. Also, Florida has the fifth highest recorded incidents of people shooting a Bigfoot. And there's a Florida-based online store selling fake Bigfoot urine in glass specimen bottles.


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Cassie Schumacher
WHY SHE'S INTERESTING: Inspired by her father, a homeless Vietnam War veteran, Schumacher founded the nonprofit Wheels 4 Change after qualifying for the 3,000-mile Race Across America in 2010. While the organization's goal is to raise money to support U.S. military veterans, it goes deeper. "Financially, we have raised a good amount of money. But I think true help is when you stand with the people and walk with them in their healing journey."
REALITY RIDE: At 18, cycling helped Schumacher battle alcoholism. "It clears my head and helps me get in the present." Eventually she started endurance cycling. By 2010, she became the fourth woman from Ohio to qualify for the Race Across America, which she used to promote Wheels 4 Change.
HER FATHER'S FIGHT: Schumacher's father lived normally for 20 years after serving in Vietnam. But in 1988, after helping organize a welcome home parade for other vets in Cleveland, he became estranged from his family. In addition to Wheels 4 Change, Schumacher co-founded the event series Pedal for Heroes in 2011. During the main event last year, 11 area fitness facilities raised more than $16,000 in one day for local veterans' organizations. "My dad and my family are my main inspiration to do what I have over the past several years." Her father has recently attended fundraising events and her send-off and finish parties for the Race Across America. "He is very supportive of me."
SLEEP CYCLE: In 2013, Schumacher finished first in her age group at the Race Across America. She did it thanks to a support crew of eight and her sponsors, who raised more than $15,000 for her to compete. Pedaling solo, she spent almost two weeks on the road, averaging three hours of sleep per day. "Once the clock starts, it does not stop — not for sleep, meals, bathroom breaks or anything."
View Finder: "Utah is the most fantastic place. My favorite place ever is riding through Navajo Nation. You can just really feel the spirit of the earth and our ancestors there. It's just a place that you just feel like you're in a different world."
PEACE IN THE VALLEY: Schumacher spends three to six days a week in the offseason in the saddle of her black and red Pinarello road bike. The Akron resident's favorite place to ride is the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. "It is the main reason why I moved to Akron."
FILM BUFF: Schumacher's favorite event in the city is the annual Cleveland International Film Festival. "I just love all the diversity in movies, being able to see movies that you wouldn't typically be exposed to."
Most Interesting People 2014
- Don Barton
- Dr. Akram Boutros
- Jordan Cameron
- Alexis Davila and Cyle Dixon
- Rachel Dissell
- Antoine Dunn
- Jose Feliciano Jr.
- Damien Forshe
- Glen Infante
- Laura Kepley
- Scott Kuhn
- Tom Lix
- Deidre McPherson
- Felice Mueller
- Alissa Nutting
- Melissa Reid
- Lance Rice
- Tim Richards
- Timothy Riffle
- Cassie Schumacher
- Stephanie Sheldon
- Sara Shookman
- Ricky Smith
- Hy Snell
- Jon Stahl
- Denise Su
- Nick Swisher
- Nina Turner
- Sean Watterson
- Sheila Wright


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Hydraulic rings and propeller nuts
Traditionally, ship propellers are mounted on a tapered shaft end with a nut and key. The torque is transmitted through friction of the mating surfaces and the key performs a stand-by function if the friction is insufficient.
On mounting, the propeller is driven up the taper by heating the propeller hub and driving in keys between the nut and the hub, or by using a hydraulic press or even flogging the nut to achieve the required axial drive up.
All these methods are time consuming and difficult to manage due to the large forces required. For large propellers the methods are unacceptable.
These conventional methods are especially troublesome when dismounting propellers from shafts.
Withdrawal forces are large and fretting damage often occurs on the contact surfaces. Due to the large forces, withdrawal tools are often bulky, expensive and difficult to handle. The dismounting process is therefore very time consuming.
The time saving technology from SKF
The SKF oil injection method combined with a hydraulic ring or nut from SKF solves all these problems and simultaneously eliminates the use of keys and keyways.
Accepted by all leading societies
This method is fully accepted by all the worlds leading classification societies and hundreds of references for all types of vessels are available.


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There are many different ways to view output generated by the environment. In many tools, for example, output appears as soon as it is generated -- this happens, for instance, when you compile code in the built-in editor.
At other times, you can view output in a tool called the Output Browser. This tool collects together
the output generated by the environment, and is particularly useful for viewing output generated by your own processes (which cannot be displayed in any other environment tool). The Output Browser displays all the output sent to the default value of the variable
(make-instance 'capi:push-button-panel
:items '(:red :yellow :blue)
#'(lambda (data interface)
(format t
"Pressed button in interface ~S~% data=~S~%"
interface data))))
This is a piece of CAPI code that creates a window with three buttons, labeled RED , YELLOW and BLUE , as shown in Example CAPI window. Pressing any of these buttons prints the value of the button pressed.
Figure 2.5 Example CAPI window
(capi:contain (make-instance
:callback #'(lambda (text interface)
(format t
"You entered: ~S~%" text))
:title "My Text Input Pane"))
The object that this code creates is going to demonstrate the Inspector tool. The code above creates a window containing a text input pane. You can type text directly into a text input pane, and this can be passed, for instance, to other functions for further processing.
into the text input pane and press
. Look at the generated output in the output view.


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April's Required Reading: Defense Department Discovers Wind Energy Doesn't Work Get link Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Other Apps By Mike Smith - April 21, 2023 The Department of Defense is -- finally -- discovering what the rest of us have known for two decades. Story is here. Get link Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Other Apps Comments
Hilary's Forecast Path Shifts West; Updated 9:20am PDT By Mike Smith - August 20, 2023 The forecast path of the center of Hilary has shifted a bit to the west. This increases the threat to the Southland, especially in terms of flooding. Rainfall Note the heavy rains are forecast for Los Angeles County. Serious flash flooding may result. Because the forecast path has shifted to the west, that increases the threat of serious flooding in Los Angeles County north into Yosemite and the southern Sierra. It lessens the threat in Utah and western Arizona. While the threat of widespread flooding in Utah and Arizona lessens, note that some thunderstorms with localized heavy rain show up on the map. In Nevada, the more western path increases the risk of serious flooding around Mt Charleston and into the central part of the state. Here is the updated (9am PDT) flash flood risk map. Wind There are already about 40,000 people without power in California, mostly in the center of the state. The maps above are the peak gusts forecasted with the storm. The highest winds, in general, Read more
Dangerous Travel Conditions - People Reportedly Stranded By Mike Smith - August 19, 2023 -- Note, more current info available. Scroll up. --- Updated Information as of 8am PDT You are risking your life if you attempt to travel through the purple area. While the rain has not begun in coastal California, I would urge you to use this time to make any preparations. Power outages have occurred already in southeast California. Here is the latest radar as of 7:55am PDT. As of 6:40am PDT , the radar indicates moderate to heavy rain falling over desert areas of Southern California and far western Arizona (click to enlarge). Rainfall amounts for the 24 hours ending at 7am PDT show more than two inches have already fallen. There are reports from reliable sources that roads are already washed out and that people are stranded in isolated parts of the desert. Below is a high-resolution computer model's rainfall forecast from 5am PDT to 11pm PDT Sunday. More than a foot of additional rain is forecast to fall. This will lead to catastrophic flooding. Here is a map of current watc Read more
Dangerous Tornado Situation Developing Tuesday and Tuesday Night By Mike Smith - April 03, 2023 [There is an updated version of this forecast. Scroll up.] This tornado outbreak has the potential for violent, long-tracked tornadoes at night. It is a recipe for a terrible disaster in terms of human life if precautions are not taken. Here are the color codes: Red hatched: High risk of strong tornadoes. Yellow hatched: Enhanced risk of strong tornadoes. Brown: Significant risk of tornadoes. The northern area of Iowa-Illinois-Missouri will see tornado-producing thunderstorms beginning tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon and continuing into Tuesday night. The southern area, from St. Louis across the Ozarks and into northeast Texas, may not develop until evening and then continue well into the night. Nighttime tornadoes are 2.5 times more deadly than tornadoes during the day. Addition, 7:30pm. The Texas Tech model shows thunderstorms developing over the Flint Hills and in Oklahoma 7-8pm. Those are already supercells in Kansas and the red lines in both areas are local rotation in the storm Read more