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MP4 | 5:58 mins |
Everytime Fender Pawn Shop release an amplifier, you know it's at least going look cool in your living room - there's a pretty high chance it's going to sound good too.
The new Fender Pawn Shop Vaporizer is a basic tube combo with a couple of clever twists, and as per usual with the Fender Pawn Shop range - it is one very eyecatching little cat.
The 12 watt Fender Vaporizer has two 12AX7s in the preamp stage, with two EL84s powering the show. It also features a twin set of custom designed 10-inch speakers, just to complete an eccentric spec.
It comes in three classic colours, if you're into your surf rock then you'll probably be into the Vaporizer.
The best thing? Well the MSRP is $399, which is a lot less than we were expecting when he heard the amp in action. It kicks out a beautiful clean tone, and a really messed up distortion tone that sounds like it came straight from a late 1950s garage rock compilation record.
There's a couple of features you might miss at first glance. By turning the volume knob down to zero, and turning the reverb knob up to max, you get a strange swampy sound - something that doesn't strike us as being a tone you would use all too regularly, but that'd be great to throw in to the odd song (emphasis on the word 'odd')!
The amp also comes with a footswitch, by engaging the switch you are effectivlely turning the volume and tone knobs up to 10, you can hear what this sounds like in the video above.
Is there anything you'd like us to check out and film at this year's NAMM show? Let us know on Twitter - @SonicAmped.
Written by Richard Beech - @RichTheJourno.
Filmed by Rob Hicks, presented by Richard Beech.
Product demonstration by Rick Heins - Fender Amplification Product Manager.


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Flowers are almost a requirement for Mother's Day. With this fun pasta bouquet craft, you won't have to worry about them not lasting.
Pasta Bouquet
You will need rubbing alcohol, food coloring, chenille stems, styrofoam ball (or floral arranging piece), paint, zipper sandwich bags, and Fiori style pasta – they look like little flowers.
Dye the pasta by adding 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol, 15 drops of food coloring, and pasta into a zipper bag. You can have your kids massage the bag and make sure the pasta gets coated really well.
I let the pasta sit in the food coloring for a few hours. Then I lined a cookie sheet with paper towels and placed the pasta on it to dry. I let the pasta dry overnight. It was the easiest way to make sure the kids didn't mess with it and I could put it in a well-ventilated area.
I while the kids kneaded the pasta, I cut the styrofoam balls in half and got some paint. I had them paint their half whatever color they wanted. They had a lot of fun. I let the paint dry overnight along with the pasta.
Cut the chenille stems in varying lengths. I had the kids thread the stem through the flower-shaped pasta piece. Only have the stem go through it by about an inch. Bend that end over and twist it to the longer part.
I gave each of the kids a bundle of stems and had them put the stems into the ball halves. The result was as individual as each of the children. It was BEAUTIFUL!
Now you have a gorgeous pasta bouquet floral arrangement, centerpiece, desk decoration, or dresser ornament. And it will never wilt.

subset: commoncrawl


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While many conspiracy theorists are politically liberal, they also include people on the right, including members of the John Birch Society, who imply that the Sept. 11 attacks were part of a continuing plan by U.S. elites to create a "New World Order" and impose greater control over Americans.Is anyone surprised by fact that people with advanced degrees believe conspiracy theories? Although plenty of sensible people get advanced degrees, the pursuit of an advanced degree is something that appeals to the kind of person who wants to load a lot of material into his brain and do things with it. Someone like that is more likely to get into conspiracy thinking -- things are connected! -- than the ordinary person who wants to get through with school and get out in the world and do things there. The sizzle and ferment of the inside of the head isn't what most people want. And they're suspicious of academic types with good reason. There are a lot of screwy people in academia.
Some conspiracy theories are fantastical (CIA agents orchestrated the attacks; Israel planned them.) -- the epitome of preposterous beliefs that start with a conclusion and work backward to find evidence. Each new month brings a deluge of crackpot theories, but a growing number of people say there are too many improbabilities -- too many illogical holes -- in the government's version of what happened....
"Conspiracists (come) from all parts of the population, they (come) from all racial and religious groups," says Bob Goldberg, a history professor at the University of Utah and the author of "Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America." "The fact that people who have advanced degrees believe in conspiracy theories does not surprise me because it's not an issue of whether you're smart or dumb. In fact, when you look at conspiracy theories, what distinguishes them is how rigorously logical they seem to be, that they are so intensely structured and that there's a belief that every single fact is important and connects to another fact. There's a rigor to (their) logic."
ADDED: Here's an article about two new government reports refuting the 9/11 conspiracy theory.


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Take a moment and consider your nominee for celebrity "Body of the Year."
We're guessing 66 year-old Dame Helen Mirren is probably not the first name that popped into your head. And yet, according to a recent poll conducted by the L.A. Fitness gym chain awarded the British actress top honors.
Mirren scored ahead of supermodel Elle MacPherson, Jennifer Lopez, and fellow Brit Pippa Middleton. The male side was a bit more predictable, with David Beckham, Daniel Craig, and Johnny Depp locking in the top spots.
The survey was conducted among 2,000 gym members, and Mirren scored 18% of the votes. MacPherson, whose nickname happens to be "The Body," was second with 10%.
Mirren, who recently co-starred with Russell Brand in a remake of the hit comedy "Arthur," is currently filming a biopic of embattled music producer Phil Spector alongside Al Pacino.
Selected Reading: People, Huffington Post, USA Today


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The New York Jets are expected to explore all options on cornerback Darrelle Revis' future, two sources apprised of the team's plans said Wednesday.
Dysfunction in the Big Apple
Darrelle Revis' situation with the Jets shows what happens when an owner dictates football decisions, Gregg Rosenthal writes. **More ...**
Going back to discussions with general manager candidates, Jets owner Woody Johnson has expressed a need to figure out where the team is headed with Revis. And with some doubt that a long-term contract could be on the horizon, given the tenor of previous negotiations and the Jets' salary-cap situation, the idea of a trade would be one of the options considered by the team and new GM John Idzik.
Revis wants to be and always has wanted to be a Jet for the rest of his NFL career, a source close to the player told NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.
Revis is due $6 million (with a $9 million cap hit) in 2013, and, per terms of his contract, he can't receive the Jets' franchise tag in 2014. Revis ended his 2010 holdout from the Jets by signing a seven-year contract that could void after four years, based on the cornerback hitting training-camp reporting dates.
Further complicating matters with Revis is the fact he is coming off anterior cruciate ligament surgery, and any team trading for him likely would want to lock him up and not assume the risk his current contract sets up, with the All-Pro's ability to walk next March.
"Let's say he's healthy," one rival AFC executive said. "Then he should command a good return. But even then, it's hard to say because not every team is willing to pay that freight (in draft picks and/or players), then assume the contract situation."
Revis is due a $1 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2013 league year, creating something of a mid-March deadline. He's also set for a $1 million workout bonus and a $1 million reporting bonus, due at the start of the training camp, in addition to his $3 million base salary.
Follow Albert Breer on Twitter @AlbertBreer.


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Handaxe and Tektites from Bose, China
Date of Discovery: 1996
Discovered by: A team led by Hou Yamei and Rick Potts
Age: About 803,000 years old
Location of Discovery: Bose, China
Smithsonian scientists and their Chinese colleagues found this and other handaxes in the same sediment layer with tektites, small rocks that formed during a meteor impact 803,000 years ago.
Since the handaxes and tektites were in the same layer, both are the same age. Early humans must have moved into the area right after the impact. They may have made the handaxes from rocks that were exposed when forests burned.


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Available NOW!
Released January 20, 2015
published by Jolly Fish Press
Suppose a young woman is raised in a sheltered polygamous community in which a woman's only purpose is to marry young and produce and raise many children for her husband, a man she must share with one or more other women? What would happen if she leaves this life rather than submit to its tenants? And how, with limited education, could she learn to support herself in the "evil" outside world of the "Gentiles?" These and many other questions led to the storyline of Gabriel's Daughters.
Gabriel's Daughters received a Silver Medal in cultural fiction from Readers' Favorite — see Award
Janet Kay Jensen, author of the award-winning novel Gabriel's Daughters, sheds light on the puzzling, mysterious, and often disturbing lifestyle of polygamy from numerous viewpoints. Released January 20, 2015 by Jolly Fish Press, Jensen's novel tells the story of sixteen year-old Zina Martin, who runs away from home in the fictitious town of Gabriel's Landing, when she learns she is promised as a plural wife to a man with four other wives and children older than she is. Pregnant by the high school teacher who seduced and then abandoned her, Zina's only option is to run. Unprepared for the outside world of the "Gentiles," she must set out on her own course of self-discovery, maturity, time and trust in order to eventually reconnect with her beloved family .
Jensen has been fascinated with the subculture of polygamy since childhood, when she first heard the folksong, "Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys," which, incidentally, is the title of her first novel (Gabriel's Daughters is the sequel). Hearing tales of her own Utah pioneer ancestry, some of whom were polygamist, and occasionally encountering members of these secretive communities as a resident of Utah, she began to research the subject. Reading about a young wife who left a polygamist group to attend college, and then became valedictorian of her class, further fueled Jensen's imagination.
Western Writers of America SPUR award winner Rod Miller notes: "Gabriel's Daughters is, at its core, three rounds in our culture's ongoing 'nature vs. nurture' boxing match. […] A well-crafted, cleverly constructed web of interlocking stories, Gabriel's Daughters offers food for thought while it engages and entertains."
Meridian Magazine's Jennie Hansen notes that Jensen's work is "well-written, thought provoking, and a step outside the norm." She continues: "Trust and security issues play a major role in this novel. As do several modern hot-button issues including race, homosexuality, polygamy, sexual predators and homeopathic medicine. Jensen has a light touch and takes a more academic and philosophic approach than a dogmatic or moral one to these issues. With strong characterization, the author gives a picture of many pieces of America from a rural western community locked in the past with its joys, sorrows and abuses, then a low-to-middle class big city black neighborhood, a sophisticated penthouse and artistic lifestyle offered in Minneapolis, a backwoods southern community straddling the line between the old and the new, to bits and pieces of Salt Lake City with its recognition of its changing demographics."
Janet Kay Jensen is co-author of The Book Lover's Cookbook (Ballantine, 2003) and Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys (Bonneville Books, 2007). Her work also appears in Writing for Charity, Healing Ministry Journal, and Parables for Our Times.
Purchase Gabriel's Daughters through …


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Technical Paper
Design Details of the Compression Ignition Rotating Liner Engine. Reducing Piston Assembly Friction and Ring/Liner Wear in Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines
The Rotating Liner Engine (RLE) is an engine design concept where the cylinder liner rotates in order to reduce piston assembly friction and liner/ring wear. The reduction is achieved by the elimination of the mixed and boundary lubrication regimes that occur near TDC. Prior engines for aircraft developed during WW2 with partly rotating liners (Sleeve Valve Engines or SVE) have exhibited reduction of bore wear by factor of 10 for high BMEP operation, which supports the elimination of mixed lubrication near the TDC area via liner rotation. Our prior research on rotating liner engines experimentally proved that the boundary/mixed components near TDC are indeed eliminated, and a high friction reduction was quantified compared to a baseline engine. The added friction required to rotate the liner is hydrodynamic via a modest sliding speed, and is thus much smaller than the mixed and boundary friction that is eliminated.


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What is the buffy coat?
Blood consists of millions of cells suspended in a liquid called plasma. These cells include red blood cells (which carry oxygen), white blood cells (which fight infection), and platelets (which help with clotting). Examining red blood cells is easy because there are so many of them; thousands of red blood cells can be seen in a single drop of blood. By comparison, white blood cells are present in very small numbers, and examining them is more difficult.
The fastest way to examine large numbers of white blood cells is to look at a buffy coat smear. The buffy coat is simply a concentration of all the white blood cells and platelets in a sample of blood. To prepare a buffy coat, a special machine spins the blood sample at very high speed in a process called centrifugation (much like a spinning ride at an amusement park).
"The fastest way to examine large numbers of white blood cells is to look at a buffy coat smear."
This causes the blood to separate into three parts: a large bottom layer of red blood cells, a large top layer of clear plasma, and a narrow middle band that contains all the white blood cells and platelets. This band is creamy white to buff-colored, and as a result it is called the buffy layer or buffy coat. The buffy coat material is collected and spread on a glass slide where it is examined under the microscope.
What sample is needed?
A simple blood sample is all that is needed for a buffy coat examination.
Why examine the buffy coat?
The main reason to examine a buffy coat is to look for abnormal white blood cells that are circulating in the blood. One of the most important cells to look for in a buffy coat is called a mast cell.
What are mast cells, and what does it mean if mast cells are found in the buffy coat?
Mast cells are a specific type of white blood cell. They play an important role in allergies and related conditions. In healthy pets, mast cells are found almost exclusively in body tissues and only very rarely in the blood. Mast cells can become neoplastic (neoplasia means "new growth" or tumor), and when they do, they form a mass or growth called a mast cell tumor. These growths may develop in the skin or in an internal organ, and they can be benign or malignant (cancerous). (Image via Wikimedia Commons / Joel Mills (CC BY-SA 3.0.)
If a mast cell tumor is highly malignant it may spread through the body, enter the bone marrow, and ultimately appear in the blood stream. This widespread distribution of malignant mast cells through the body is called systemic mastocytosis. The simplest way to detect this condition is to examine a buffy coat smear.
"If a mast cell tumor is highly malignant it may spread through the body, enter the bone marrow,
and ultimately appear in the blood stream."
If a pet has been diagnosed with a mast cell tumor, it is important to do a buffy coat examination before surgically removing the growth. Knowing ahead of time whether mast cells are present in the buffy coat may help your veterinarian predict what will happen after the growth is removed. The chances for a good outcome are much better if the buffy coat is negative, suggesting that the tumor has not spread. The presence of large numbers of mast cells in the buffy coat usually indicates that systemic mastocytosis is present. This is a worrisome finding since the condition is difficult to cure and can be fatal. However, there are medications that can help to control the disease and prolong the life of the pet.
If the buffy coat examination is negative, what then?
A negative buffy coat examination is good news, but it is not a guarantee that the mast cell tumor has not spread. Your veterinarian may want to do further testing and may suggest sampling lymph nodes or bone marrow to see if the tumor has spread. Alternatively, your veterinarian may suggest doing a series of buffy coat examinations at regular intervals to monitor your pet for systemic mastocytosis.


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Manual Mode
The order is processed within 5 - 20 minutes after receiving of the funds, namely after 12 confirmation/s of the transaction Chainlink LINK
Due to the high volatility of the exchange rate Chainlink LINK the amount for the request will be recalculated at the time of actual receipt of payment for the request (12 confirmation/s of the transaction Chainlink LINK). Total amount may be either higher or lower than the initial amount in proportion to the change in the exchange rate Chainlink LINK
Attention! An AML check will be performed on your transaction. In the event that the cryptocurrency sent by you has a High Risk or is associated with illegitimate sources, an identity check will be carried out, and an additional fee will be applied, which is described in the User Agreement
The exchange rate is calculated using WhiteBIT exchange rate
You'll be registered automatically after creating the order. Afterwards You'll be able to authorize and view Your orders history and messages in internal chat of the order


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Our secret CEO speaks a lot of sense
Cyril The Judas
We really need Georgia to get something off Scotland tonight. I don't think it matters who wins Germany-Poland, the best we can hope for is 3rd.
Christy Fagan - He scores big goals
A German win would be best I think. Poland gotta go to Scotland next. We need those two to be dropping points
Many Saints heading over to Poland??
Who's going to the Germany match? I'm trying to make it over; if that works out, I'd also go see the Pats match at Bohs the night after.
Great. Now that I finally made sure I would be able to go, tickets are sold out. Does anybody have an idea how to get one?
Don't worry. You'll get tickets for the Bohs match handy enough on the night.
Anyone know if Ireland would be likely to be seeded in the playoffs?
And maybe a chance for a second... AND IT IS! IT'S ALL OVER! PATS HAVE WON THE CUP!
Last night was an amazing result and performance.
Nice to see the buzz back.
First time we've beaten a team ranked above us since Holland in 2001!
And maybe a chance for a second... AND IT IS! IT'S ALL OVER! PATS HAVE WON THE CUP!
We've just beaten the world champion to hell with the will be seeded for the playoffs talk were going to win the group come on Georgia
Holland can't get 2nd. Iceland & Czech's already qualified from that group
joe.ie have thrown something together
So looking like one from Ukraine, Bosnia, Denmark, or Sweden
Denmark or Bosnia would be my preference
Well you'd better concentrate all the jinx on Bosnia then (unless you're keen to watch mighty Ibra trying another Goal of the Year)
Since the eight teams have been divided into the two pots according to their UEFA-coefficients,
Pot 1 (the seeded teams) consists of:
and Pot 2 (the unseeded teams) of:
For further reading about the draws:
Hungary is the one we want. Bosnia would be our next pick then I'd say.
And Brian Kerr is in tears.
Much of a muchness really.
Sweden would be the least hostile away leg though.
Congratulations! Good luck for the draw.
Never a pen but we'll take it.
Not a huge fan of the National team but great for the game here to qualify. Let's just hope we don't get both finalists in our group this time as we did the two previous times we qualified. With 24 teams there now and a few pretty average ones like ourselves among them, there's a fair chance we'll get a weakish group this time.
We are at war with Eurasia. We've always been at war with Eurasia.
I'd want to avoid France as they're the hosts and Germany as we won't catch them on the hop again. Apart from that, we'll have a sporting chance no matter what group we're drawn in, so I wouldn't have any preferences one way or the other.
I'm not sure expanding the tournament dilutes it in any way. Is there really such a big gulf between the top 16 sides in Europe and the next 8? The Dutch couldn't make it even with the expansion while Northern Ireland, Wales and Iceland would have qualified (or made the play offs) under the old format.
Me on why Ireland wouldn't have qualified without the League of Ireland
"We've seen you come, we'll see you go"


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Disappearing Phone Booths, Part II: A Perfect Storm for Privacy
I recently gave a speech entitled "Disappearing Phone Booths" – this is the second in a four-part series recapping the speech. Part I addressed the threat to privacy posed by new innovations. Part III will discuss the harms caused by the loss of privacy. Part IV will explain what's at stake if privacy continues down its collision course with obsolescence. A full version of the speech can be found here.
There are four interrelated circumstances that amplify the consequences of the data collection that we subject ourselves to on a daily basis.
1. Digital ubiquity
These first of these four circumstances is digital ubiquity.
The digital technologies that collect data about us are unavoidable – they are ubiquitous. To disconnect from all of the services and technologies that collect personal, sensitive data about us would be to disconnect from society. The on-the-ground reality is that to "opt out" of the data collection, correlation, and/or use that takes place when we go about the activities described above would be analogous to "opting out" of electricity a mere thirty years ago. For most Americans, within the next two decades, just about every activity of daily life will be monitored to some degree or another. And while we could perhaps come up with some academic scenario in which this won't be the case, the truth is, you'd have to be a hermit's hermit to avoid it.
2. The increasing number of parties that take part in our daily transactions
This brings me to the second of our four circumstances. That today, third parties are involved in each of our transactions – our purchases, our visits to websites, our communications. They are involved in the most mundane, and the most sensitive, activities of our daily lives.
For example, when you visit a typical news site, your ISP as well as Twitter, Facebook, analytics providers, and dozens of ad networks all may know exactly which articles you have read. Your email provider technically has access to your email and your phone carrier knows everywhere you go and everywhere you've been. Credit card carriers know about your purchases and if you use a cloud-based service to write or share documents, then some company knows everything you write.
3. The commodification and monetization of data
And what about all of that data that these third party companies – the ones that facilitate, or maybe just latch on to, all of your activities – are seeing and collecting? Well, this brings us to our third circumstance: Data is a hot commodity and storing massive quantities of it is becoming cheaper with each passing day. Not only do companies facilitate many of our daily actions, they are strongly incentivized to monetize the information they obtain in doing so. They may sell this data, they may use this data for their own purposes, and they may hand this data over to our government – either as part of intelligence gathering or criminal investigations. Multinational companies may hand this data over to other governments as well.
Data is a hot commodity for companies and governments alike.
4. Woefully out-of-date privacy laws
And we now arrive at our fourth circumstance, and this is one I want to spend a bit more time talking about.
Our privacy laws, with regards to privacy vis-à-vis companies and privacy vis-à-vis our government, are woefully lacking.
A. Privacy vis-à-vis companies
Let's start with privacy vis-a-vis companies.
We do not have a baseline privacy law in this country. We do have sectoral privacy laws – the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act – but the next new phone, or the next new tablet, or the next new facial recognition device, or the next new drone – well, when these come into market, there's no evergreen law that provides a floor of protection for users, that governs the type of data companies can collect, the type of transparency or choice they have to offer consumers or, alternatively, how these companies can or cannot use the highly sensitive information they may end up storing. The White House has repeatedly called for such a baseline privacy law, and CDT has long argued that we need one sooner, not later.
But while we don't have a baseline consumer privacy law, we do have the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has the power to enforce against unfair and deceptive trade practices, including those relating to privacy. With respect to privacy, the FTC has largely focused their enforcement actions on what are called deceptive trade practices: that is, they'll bring a case against a company that violates one of its promises to users.
But it doesn't take the world's best general counsel to know that if your company is going to be held liable for promising something, then your best bet may be not to promise anything at all. So what we end up with are companies that write privacy polices that are simultaneously extraordinarily vague and extraordinarily long and legalistic. Many of them use a lot of words to say nothing.
In fact, some great researchers at Carnegie Mellon a few years ago conducted a study to predict the cost, in terms of time and money, if the average American were to actually read every single privacy policy of every single web service that she used in a year. The numbers they calculated were just astounding. The average user would have to spend between 181 and 304 hours each year reading privacy policies. Nationally, that sums to between 39 billion and 67 billion hours a year. And if you translate that into economic terms, that is between 559 billion and 1.1 trillion dollars of productivity that would be lost if we were all to read privacy policies like we are "supposed" to in order to make an informed choice about the sites and services we use. (Of course, it's not like reading vague and legalistic privacy policies actually gives most people that much usable information about what companies do with their data anyway!)
Now, while the FTC has been pretty clear that privacy policies are insufficient, while they have expended tremendous effort putting forth new model privacy frameworks and have done some really great work in this regard, Congress has not really given them the power they need to enforce these new frameworks. So for the time being, we largely seem to be stuck in an old privacy policy paradigm.
This means that consumers today simply aren't provided with enough insight to make informed choices about how the data they share with third parties is being collected and used, even when such choices are available. On the web alone, only the savviest consumer will be able to successfully complete the obstacle course that is preventing online tracking. When it comes to protecting our privacy on our mobile devices, in our cars, on our streets, and yes, even in our homes – think about your phone tracking you from room to room or monitoring your heart rate as you sit and watch TV, we have little control, little power.
B. Privacy vis-à-vis government
Okay, so I've now talked about commercial privacy. What about privacy from our government?
The sad state of affairs is that when it comes to privacy, neither statutes nor case law offers great protection.
Let's start with statutes. The primary statute governing government access to electronic information, both real-time interceptions and stored communications, is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, or ECPA.
ECPA was passed in mid-October 1986 – when I was three weeks old.
I'll put that another way: I'm the same age as ECPA.
Needless to say, I like to think that I have aged more gracefully than ECPA has.
That's because ECPA, a strong law when it was passed 25 years ago, was created for a time when there was no such thing as a World Wide Web.
Let me offer one example of ECPA's less than graceful aging. When drafting ECPA, Congress wasn't sure how to treat email that was in storage with an email service provider. At the time, electronic storage was expensive, and email service providers routinely deleted email after 30 or 90 days. So Congress assumed that, if someone wanted to keep a copy of an email, they would download it onto their own computer or print it out; Congress felt that after a certain period of time, email left on the server would be the analog of abandoned property, in which the recipient had no privacy interest. And so Congress decided that after 180 days, email would no longer be protected by the warrant standard and instead would be available to the government with just a subpoena.
But today, most of us now save our emails indefinitely and we store them not on our hard drives but in the cloud, on the servers of our email providers. Of course we also store our calendars, photos, and a wealth of other sensitive, private data in the cloud. Any of this data stored on our laptops or in the confines of our homes requires a warrant for the government to seize it. Yet the same data, sitting in our private, password protected account with a service provider, is available to the government without a warrant under ECPA.
Other examples abound of how ECPA has not kept up with modern technology. The laws on the books, it turns out, offer us cold comfort when it comes to privacy from intrusion by our government.
So what about case law? Where our laws fail us, does the 4th Amendment not offer a sturdy floor of protection?
In an age, where, as I discussed earlier, third parties increasingly involve themselves in some of the most intimate aspects of our daily lives, the third-party doctrine (which states that when you convey information to a third party, you lose your expectation of privacy in that information) stands as a pretty impressive barrier to Fourth Amendment privacy protections for our private and sensitive information.
It's a situation exacerbated by the flimsy privacy policies that companies offer their users. Some courts have held that a company's Terms of Service agreements, by reserving all types of rights for the company to play around with user data, can destroy a user's reasonable expectation of privacy in her online activity; even the 6th Circuit Court, in its Warshak decision, a decision that was a big win for email privacy, held that "a subscriber agreement might, in some cases, be sweeping enough to defeat a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of an email account."
In other words, when a company fails to offer users strong assurances that it takes steps to reduce the data it collects, accesses and/or uses, it not only obliterates users' privacy vis-à-vis itself, the company, it also may obliterate users' protections against government intrusions on their privacy. But, for the reasons discussed above, because of the incentive structures in place today, there's little reason to believe those privacy policies are going to improve on their own accord.
Fortunately, some are starting to question the wisdom of holding on too tightly to the third-party doctrine, recognizing that in today's age, it renders the Fourth Amendment not a floor built out of hearty oaks but one made of rotting pines, one that threatens to collapse on any who dare tread too heavily.
Indeed, in her concurrence in US V. Jones, the recent GPS tracking case, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the third-party doctrine is "ill suited to the digital age, in which people reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of carrying out mundane tasks."
I would be remiss if I did not also at least briefly acknowledge the Supreme Court's 2001 decision in Kyllo, in which it suggested that police surveillance of the home using technologies "in general public use" does not violate a reasonable expectation of privacy and therefore would not require a warrant. The Court in Kyllo held that thermal imaging devices, the type of technology at issue in the case, were not "in general public use" and therefore their use by law enforcement did in fact necessitate a warrant. But eleven years later, such devices are available to you and to me for about $1,000 on Amazon, leaving open the question of whether or not police today need a warrant to use them.
Scalia wrote in Kyllo that in the home, "all details are intimate details, because the entire area is held safe from prying government eyes." But as technologies that are increasingly capable of discerning what we are doing in our own homes enter "general public use," Kyllo's own reasoning calls this assertion into question, setting the privacy protections we have long enjoyed in our own homes on a collision course with obsolescence.
So back to our four circumstances
Put these four circumstances together — (1) digital ubiquity, (2) the increasing number of parties that take part in our daily transactions, (3) the commodification and monetization of data, (4) and woefully out-of-date privacy law – and we have something of a perfect storm.
Yet the loss of privacy is not an inevitable cost of technological innovation. Instead, it has been the natural outgrowth of a policy framework, contextualized by business incentives that are not well aligned with protecting privacy, that has turned a blind eye to the foundational benefits that privacy offers us as citizens of a democracy and as consumers in a strong capitalist society.
Cutting off all data collection is not viable, but finding middle-ground legislative compromises that forestall persistent monitoring, and that prevent collection from morphing into surveillance, is absolutely necessary.


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(We are certain this column was suggested by someone, but have no clue who it was. We will figure out someone to fire.)
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(We are certain this column was suggested by someone, but have no clue who it was. We will figure out someone to fire.)
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Is that the origin of the snorks?
I'm pretty sure it is mandatory to have the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile show up at least once at a birthday party for boys between the ages of 4 and 13. Hopefully, this crucial developmental step will be followed.
I'm guessing nursecindy requested this one. She has excellent taste in columns.
Anyone else experience the "Pinata That Wouldn't Die?"
These etiquette tips would also apply to Congress and most state legislatures. Thanks Judi and Dave.
Good grief, Dave. Apparently you have been at some of my childrens' birthday parties. etc.
Living in an upper middle class neighborhood, the entire deal was obligatory. Everything from the mandatory cake etc to the loot bags that accompanied each child leaving the house after the party.
(I especially liked the clown in attendance, since he/she scared the daylights out of half the kids attending). But then again,I am known to have a bit of a sick sense of humour.
I can see why you won the Pulitzer. Perception, and creating humour out of it, is everything...
Thank you Annie. May I request a favor from every one??? We are experiencing extremely severe weather right now so please keep your fingers crossed for us. So far they've spotted 3 funnel clouds and it is as dark as midnight here at my house. Any prayers appreciated as I am terrified of tornado's and severe thunderstorms.
On the positive side I may end up in Florida if this keeps up! Maybe I'll see Dave.
You still with us, nursecindy?
I see a tornado report at 4:55pm for STATESVILLE, NC: "TORNADO REPORTED SOUTH OF I-40 EXIT 148 NO DAMAGE AS YET". No idea how close that is to you, but hopefully not too close.
Having been thru a couple, tornadoes are absolutely terrifying. I wish you and yours the very best.
And there a lot more practical ways of getting to visit Dave.
I am close to I-85. Statesville is not that far away. It is unbelievably bad here.
I'll get you, my pretty! And your rotten little dog, too!
My little one turns three on March 10. I can't tell you how excited I am to have a bunch of pre-schoolers hopped up on sugar and missing their naps running around my house for a few hours.
How ironic that nc lives near "Mocksville".
NC -- I see a tornado warning out for Atlanta, but only severe thunderstorm in what I presume is your area.
Several years ago, I was going to lunch with a bunch of lawyers when the subject of kids' birthday parties came up. One of the lawyers mentioned taking his young son to one such birthday party a few weeks earlier. The Licensed Character theme was Kim Possible, and, yes, there was indeed a young, attractive, fresh-faced and shapely college-age girl dressed up in what was the standard Kim Possible outfit at the time, which includes a dark, form-fitting top, cargo pants, and a sizable expanse of bare midriff. (A quick check of the Disney website indicates that the bare midriff may have gone away. For your own innocence, don't use Google Images.)
Anyway, the lawyer/dad said he found himself looking at "Kim" far more often than was probably appropriate, particularly at a child's birthday party and given his own age and marital status, not to mention the fact that this young woman was dressed as a children's cartoon character. He then looked around the party and saw with amusement that every other adult male there was similarly focused on "Kim", some struggling more than others to look away. No word as to how Kim was enjoying the attention.
We've had 2 tornadoes in my area, bonmot. Mocksville is in the upper central part of N.C. I live on the N.C./S.C. border. Cleveland County to be exact. So, Mocksville is a fair distance from me.
Thanks, Fritzworth. I think I've just found the theme for my little one's party.
Good luck, nc.
Hunker down.
*tosses all nursecindy's lawn furniture into the pool*
nc, hope you're (not your) out of the hallway by now. My memory of toddler birthday parties brought up tornados, too, although in a somewhat different context.
My niece reported her child was sent home from such a party with a goldfish in a plastic baggie full of water. That mommy would definitely be on my sh!t list.
Cindy, the news said the tornado warning will continue until 8:00, so just keep hanging in there for a couple more minutes, and you'll be all right. Trust the Carolinas to get both tornadoes and hurricanes.
I'm worried about Cindy. She hasn't posted anything in over an hour.
Finally have electicity again! Thanks to everyone for their good thoughts and wishes. It was horrible here for a while. It's terrible to have no power, no tv, tornadoes, thunder and lightening outside, and 130 lb. labrador trying to climb on your lap because they are also scared. Fortunately we are all fine. Thanks again, everyone.
To show solidarity with nursecindy's plight, I just spent 2 hours at the dentist and now I'm on hold with my phone "service" company (rhymes with Slime Yarner). After navigating the intricate polypy bowels of their phone system, I finally got a live guy who spoke English. He explained that he would have to call me back, since their computer system had just crashed. I asked him if his computer system was serviced by Slime Yarner. He said, "No, we have a GREAT system!" Sigh.
snork @ "intricate polypy bowels"
Yay, nursecindy's electrified again.
Dave - the Oscars need you. And Steve Martin. And hurry.
Key quote - "the Oscar's star-filled audience jumped to its feet for Crystal, as if it hadn't seen a real host in 127 hours."
Annie, did "Slime Yarner's" computer system come back up? I used to have them. Now I have "Mel North" iykwim. They are a subsidiary of AT and another letter.
Of course not....methinks he was telling a fib. They are known for their slimy yarns.
So Annie let her fingers do the walking?
We're on my wife's farm in Kentucky right now. We had bad storms Monday morning with tornadoes scattered around, so we're with you Cindy.
For a few minutes we were worried about Stewie, our small back-up dog because it was sooo windy and he haaad to go out.
I found our bird feeder late in the afternoon but I don't know if there were birds on it when it took off (Wheeeee!).
I forwarded the column to my daughter who has my 4 yo grandson. I'm afraid she regards clowns as more appropriate party hosts than I am. I tend to get distracted by venomous animals that are harmless to me. The kids' parents then ask why, exactly, that old man picked up that spider in front of all those kids?
After Hurricane Ike, I went nine days without 'lectricity.
Nothing against agriculturists, but livin' like a farmer sucks.
bon - any farmer worth his salt has back-up generators and lots of fuel to run them. So what you experienced was worse than farming. Unless you count getting up at 4am to milk cows in sub-freezing weather.
No, but after I week, I did have to get up at the Budt-Crack of dawn and go slop the generator we scored.
Generator theft was rampant right after the storm. Some crafty thief brought a lawnmower into someone's yard, started it up and left it running there to mimic the noise of the generator they were stealing, which of course would have to be disconnected and shut off. Silence would've been a dead giveaway.
Had the perps been caught in the act, the homeowner could've shot them dead and the DA would never have prosecuted.
Glad you're OK, nc. I guess I better check on my parents; they're only 40 miles or so west of Statesville...
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Are Rightscorp and CEG-TEK Comparable?
Rightscorp (a.k.a. Digital Rights Corp.) has been compared to CEG-TEK in many ways, but they remain a separate 'kind' of entity and thus they have their own rules.
Similarities Between Rightscorp & CEG-TEK
Copyright Enforcement Group (a.k.a. CEG-TEK) and RightsCorp at first glance look alike, but they are different animals. While they both use the DMCA laws (or with CEG-TEK, their foreign-country's equivalent) to send letters to internet users accusing them of copyright infringement, and while they both attempt to force account holders to pay a "settlement fee" to settle all claims claimed against them, the mechanisms of how they operate are quite different.
Rightscorp asks for $20-$75/title, CEG-TEK $300/title
True, both CEG-TEK and RightsCorp send DMCA notices to ISP subscribers (internet users). CEG-TEK (currently) asks for a settlement of $300 per title (C$225 for account holders in Canada), and RightsCorp asks for $20-$75 per title (multiplied by the number of times the song was downloaded or uploaded).
Rightscorp does not release the settling party from liability.
The big difference between CEG-TEK and RightsCorp is that CEG-TEK releases the accused downloader from liability when the settlement is paid; in CEG-TEK's contract, there is NO ADMISSION OF GUILT (UPDATE: CEG-TEK recently updated their settlement agreements and now they have an inflammatory "admission of guilt" provision, speak to your attorney about this), whereas RightsCorp contracts explicitly have the settling party admit guilt in an "I did it, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again" fashion. This 'admission of guilt' issue was the initial reason I wouldn't work with RightsCorp.
Rightscorp sends additional infringement notices for other titles after one settles.
There are obviously other issues with CEG-TEK settlements that we've discussed before, just as there are obvious issues with RightsCorp settlements (namely, with RightsCorp, many have reported that after paying one $20 settlement, they received 10-40 additional infringement notices, whether or not the downloads actually happened). In the end, a $20 settlement (1 settlement @$20) can result in a $3,000 settlement ($75 per additional infringement notice x 40 additional notices = $3,000 settlement). Personally, I prefer CEG-TEK's method of being transparent over Rightscorp later asking someone who settled for more money.
CEG-TEK does not sue people (although their clients might).
Lastly, there are customer service differences between CEG-TEK and RightsCorp. CEG-TEK retains multiple individuals who respond to inquiries and convince those who call in [with inquiries, objections, and website troubles in processing payment] to pay the requested settlement amount or face a lawsuit. They have been known to claim that they record the conversations (watch out for this, as an admission of guilt here can be used against you, as can a lie later be used against you later in a perjury claim).
The important thing to note about CEG-TEK is that CEG-TEK DOES NOT SUE PEOPLE. Rather, they are a SERVICE PROVIDER providing COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT SERVICES TO THEIR CLIENTS (namely, the copyright holders). CEG-TEK has also been known to scrape the list of callers to ascertain their identities (although this used to happen before we learned that they are now able to obtain [from select ISPs] the geolocation data identifying where the download took place). Thus, if a settlement is not reached, they forward the file over to the copyright holders to allow them to follow-up with the accused downloader using their own attorneys. At this point, CEG-TEK is out of the picture.
Well, to be accurate, first CEG-TEK has their own attorney Marvin Cable send out settlement demand letters asking for $1,750 per title, and only after he is unable to obtain a settlement from the accused downloader, only then do they forward the file over to the copyright holder(s) for their own attorneys to do what they will with it. This is where in my opinion the "ignore" route can result in an accused downloader being contacted by an attorney requesting a settlement, this time asking for a significantly higher amount. Again, depending on the COPYRIGHT HOLDER [namely, whether they have sued in the past (you can look this up on http://www.rfcexpress.com), and whether they intend to sue again in the future], this is how to best determine whether to ignore or settle the claims listed on the CEG-TEK website.
In my opinion, this CEG-TEK policy of "we forward your file over to the copyright holders" is where the misuse of that information *can* originate. Not all copyright holders are upstanding citizens (note to self to write about how a particular action might be illegal or unethical, but we see lawyers doing it anyway, unpunished — "LEGAL, BUT NOT LAWFUL"), especially considering that most of Ira Siegel's clients are adult entertainment companies (pornography), and their lawyers do not think twice before reminding the accused downloaders that they could be involved in a lawsuit for the download of pornography.
Rightscorp has been accused of fabricating their infringement notices.
RightsCorp has its own set of problems. First of all, aside from the settlements having accused downloaders admit guilt to one or more downloads, there is a difference in the validity of the claims between RightsCorp and CEG-TEK. RightsCorp's initial claim may be valid, but the many follow-up claims have been said to be fabricated. Contrast this to CEG-TEK — CEG-TEK sends an infringement notice within days of a download taking place, but when the internet user logs in to CEG-TEK's site, CEG-TEK's computers have already searched and found any older downloads somehow linked to that internet user (based on the geolocation provided to CEG-TEK, presumably by the ISPs themselves, and also based on the list of IP addresses leased to the subscriber over how long the ISP keeps these lists of past IP addresses based on their "IP retention policy").
NOTE: There is more to say here, but the jist is that CEG-TEK uses fuzzy science (same geolocation, same bittorrent software, same port number) to link cases together. This causes problems when CEG-TEK's system links together multiple tenants' downloads in an apartment complex or dorm, or when an unlucky "free privacy connection" subscriber receives an infringement notice containing all of the downloads from the hundreds of other users connecting through that same IP address.
Rightscorp operates with NOBODY answering the phones.
And, while CEG-TEK provides what they call "Customer Service" (a.k.a., "tell me about what a bad boy you were so that I can thank you for admitting guilt and force you to settle or face a lawsuit"), last I checked (and admittedly, it has been some time) there is ABSOLUTELY NO CUSTOMER SERVICE from RightsCorp. Yet, RightsCorp won't hesitate calling you with their Robocalls all day and night.
Rightscorp's stock is plummeting.
Lastly, the biggest difference between CEG-TEK and RightsCorp is that whereas RightsCorp is financially a "sinking ship," and last I checked, their stock price dropped to $0.06 per share on the stock exchanges, CEG-TEK has only been *expanding* their operations, growing in size, expanding into other counties (most recently, sending copyright infringement notices in Canada), openly speaking about hiring foreign attorneys to enforce their clients copyrights, and they even have been going into other areas of intellectual property (e.g., going after those who sell counterfeited goods over the internet).
My thoughts about CEG-TEK versus Rightscorp (so far).
In sum, Copyright Enforcement Group in my opinion is the "big bad wolf" of copyright infringement, yet they do everything they can to keep their "paws" clean. What has always bothered me about them (other than that former plaintiff attorney Ira Siegel's name appears on each of their settlement demand letters), is that with their growth comes the ability to push around attorneys and internet users with boilerplate settlement agreements, (recently) new terms on their settlement agreements which are less friendly than the former friendly terms, and the ability to continually raise the settlement amount (which was initially $200, then $250, then $300), and nobody can do anything about it.
"Settle or ignore," it does not matter to CEG-TEK.
As for RightsCorp, I still hold by what I said almost 24 months ago. I see no reason to get involved with them, as they have always been a sinking ship. It is only a matter of time before they are bought out by someone else.
NOTABLE RIGHTSCORP ARTICLES (from Slyck.com):
Rightscorp's Red Bottom Line Gets Larger and so Does its List of Copyrights to Protect (8/19/2014)
Rightscorp Scores More Copyrights to Protect from The Royalty Network (7/11/2014)
Rightscorp, 'We Aim to Protect Millions of Copyrights as we Continue to Lose Money' (5/14/2014)
Rightscorp Sets its Sights on the Pay-Up or Else Program for UK Pirates (5/7/2014)
Rightscorp Scores Again, Gets 600 Copyrights from Rotten Records to Protect (4/16/2014)
Rightscorp Adds 13,000 More Copyrights From Blue Pie Records to Protect (3/31/2014)
Rightscorp Publishes its Full-Year & Fourth-Quarter 2013 Financial Report (3/26/2014)
Downloaders Beware; Rightscorp Now Monitoring Billboard Hot 100 Songs (2/28/2014)
COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT GROUP (CEG-TEK) ARTICLES (from this blog):
Canada begins receiving CEG-TEK DMCA settlement letters. (3/12/2015)
How time limits / purged records stop a copyright holder from learning a downloader's identity. (12/18/2014)
CEG-TEK's growing list of participating ISPs, and their NEW alliance with COX Communications. (11/12/2014)
The Giganews Problem (11/12/2014)
CEG-TEK is now your friendly "photo" copyright troll. (6/13/2013)
CEG-TEK's new "you didn't settle" letters sent from Marvin Cable. (3/22/2013)
CEG-TEK's DMCA Settlement Letters – What are my chances of being sued if I ignore? (2/22/2013)
Why CEG-TEK's DMCA settlement system will FAIL. (2/22/2013)
CONTACT FORM: If you have a question or comment about what I have written, and you want to keep it *for my eyes only*, please feel free to use the form below. The information you post will be e-mailed to me, and I will be happy to respond.
NOTE: No attorney client relationship is established by sending this form, and while the attorney-client privilege (which keeps everything that you share confidential and private) attaches immediately when you contact me, I do not become your attorney until we sign a contract together. That being said, please do not state anything "incriminating" about your case when using this form, or more practically, in any e-mail.


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Studio Calico's latest release - Documentary - should be hitting stores right about now.................. and to celebrate we are doing a blog hop!
As scrapbookers, we are definitely all about documenting.... our lives, our people, our memories, our stories.... and on and on....
I personally love to document the little details or little thoughts that enter my mind and heart when I see a certain photograph. I don't always journal directly about what is happening in the photographs but instead I try to write about the feelings I get when I look at those images.... and often I do combine both together because it is also nice to document events and things that happen in our lives. And still other times I use my scrapbook pages simply as a way to write little notes to my family -- to tell them how much I love them and what I love about them.
This is partly why I love scrapbooking so much -- it is so great that we have this outlet to document whatever we want about us and our loved ones... there are literally no rules!
Most everything on this layout is from the Documentary line. I love the rich bright colors that can either go completely boyish (like I did) or could also be combined with some pinks to take on a more feminine look. To create this layout I played along with the Sunday Sketch that happens each week on the Studio Calico blog and used this one by Jennifer Johner. I pretty much used the sketch exactly except that I flip flopped it. I typically find sketches hard to stick to personally but Jennifer and I have similar styles so I knew this would be a fun one for me to try out! I have always loved her scrapping style and then when I found her blog I thought it was pretty cool because we have very similar decorating tastes as well! Funny how you can become linked to people through the internet that are so similar to you in lots of different ways!
Anyway, on to the exciting news.... each of us DT members is giving away the COMPLETE collection!! How fun is that? You can enter on each of our blogs and also on the SC blog which means you have 19 chances to win!! To enter here just leave me a comment on this post telling me something you are excited to do this summer! I am always looking for fun and new things to do with my kiddos so I am hoping to get some inspiration from all of you!
Then you will continue on with the blog hop by going to Nicole's blog next. Lots of great inspiration coming your way so be sure to check out each blog!
P.S. I will be back on Wednesday to draw a winner!
oh and one more SUPER EXCITING thing....
Studio Calico is having a one day sale today and everything is 20% off!! Now is your chance to stock up on all of those punches, mists, stamps etc. that I have been raving about! :) You can scroll down to some of the past posts to see which ones are my faves! Such a great deal!!
Hope you all had a great weekend!!


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The only thing stopping the Sacramento Kings from a sale and move to Seattle is approval by NBA owners.
The Maloof family has agreed to sell the Kings to a Seattle group led by investor Chris Hansen, the league confirmed in a statement Monday morning. The deal is still pending a vote by the NBA Board of Governors.
A person familiar with the decision said that Hansen's group will buy 65 percent of the franchise for $525 million, move the team to Seattle and restore the SuperSonics name. The Maloofs will have no stake in the team.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal was waiting approval.
The sale figure is a total valuation of the franchise, which includes relocation fees. Hansen's group also is hoping to buy out other minority investors.
The Maloofs will get a $30 million non-refundable down payment by Feb. 1, according to the deal, the person said. They will still be allowed to receive other offers until the league approves the sale.
-- Associated Press


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NC to air study on PCB pollution in Yadkin River
Published 12:00 am Monday, May 13, 2013
RALEIGH (AP) — Fish in one of North Carolina's largest watersheds are more polluted by an industrial contaminant than previously reported and state health officials have failed to expand warnings against eating PBC-contaminated fish, according to a new study.
After more than a year of research and internal discussions, the state Department of Health and Human Services was scheduled to release its study of PCB contamination along a stretch of the Yadkin River near a shuttered aluminum smelter Alcoa Inc. operated for nearly a century. The study's release Monday comes the same day state environmental officials scheduled a community meeting near the closed smelter to discuss the research.
Environmentalists represented by Duke University law professor Ryke Longest collected data from the study under a public records request. He wrote State Health Director Laura Gerald two weeks ago, saying the agency has known the breadth of PCB pollution for some time and "has not acted to protect the public health" by expanding warnings against eating fish from two reservoirs in addition to the one where the notice has been posted since 2009.
"Every day in which fish consumption advisories are delayed is another day the public stands unprotected," Longest wrote.
State public health officials have warned since 2009 against eating largemouth bass and catfish caught in Badin Lake, located east of Charlotte, because they had elevated PCB levels. Alcoa contested the 2009 fish warnings in a state administrative court.
There also has been a statewide advisory since 2002 urging pregnant women and children under 15 against eating catfish or other species whose feeding results in mercury collecting in their bodies, state health officials said. Everyone else is encouraged to limit consumption of those fish.
"As the report that will be released Monday will substantiate, the existing fish consumption advisory for mercury is sufficient to protect the public health against the concentration of PCBs found in fish studied in High Rock Lake, Falls Reservoir, and Lake Tillery," DHHS spokesman Ricky Diaz said.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are chemicals formerly used as coolants and transformer lubricants that were released into the environment through manufacturing, or improper disposal and storage of electrical equipment. PCBs have been shown to cause cancer in animals, as well as affect their immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says on its web site. Human studies provide supportive evidence but are less definitive, the federal agency said.
Alcoa has acknowledged it likely is responsible for the PCB contamination in sediment near the defunct smelter on the southern shore of Badin Lake. But state officials said four years ago that most of the contaminated fish found in the lake came from its northern end. Health officials said the PCBs could have traveled by air and Alcoa said they might have come from upstream.
The study was intended to better pinpoint the problem.
"This is a watershed issue that is not specific to Alcoa, but associated with industrial and municipal discharges upstream," Alcoa relicensing manager E. Ray Barham said in a statement.
The study comes as state environmental regulators are considering whether to certify that the company's operation of four hydroelectric dams built decades ago to power the Alcoa smelter won't harm water quality in the Yadkin River. That certification is needed for Alcoa to renew its 50-year federal hydroelectric license.
A public hearing on the water quality certification is scheduled Tuesday in Albemarle.
Electricity generated by the dams no longer power the smelter, which once employed nearly 1,000. The power is now sold on the wholesale market and Alcoa keeps any profits.
Alcoa estimated in 2006 that the dams generated almost $44 million a year in revenues. Over 50 years, that could mean revenues of more than $2 billion, an amount that could multiply if demand for clean power booms. But Alcoa's financial statements and reports to federal regulators show revenues for each of the past five years have been below the 2006 estimate.
Alcoa recently covered a three-acre section of the Badin Lake bottom near the defunct aluminum smelter to keep PCBs there from moving. The sediments were no risk to humans and capping them prevented disturbance, the company said.
Environmental activists want state environmental regulators to force a full cleanup of the health-harming industrial contaminant so that the fish are safe to eat.


text: Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LEIPZIG, Germany, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Doctors in Germany said a woman who gave birth to identical quadruplets beat odds of about one in 13 million. Doctors at Leipzig Hospital said the mother, whose name was not released, beat the daunting odds when she became pregnant with quadruplets Laura, Sophie, Jasmin and Kim without the help of artificial insemination and it was near miraculous that the pregnancy made it to the 28th week without complications, The Local.de reported Tuesday. Advertisement The girls were born 10 weeks early, doctors said. "They came through the early birth astoundingly well," a hospital spokeswoman said. Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung, who was made the girls' godfather, visited the infants Tuesday. "Crazy," Jung said of the quadruplets. "It is simply unbelievable. The most beautiful thing is that everything is complete. In short -- all are healthy." Read More Man with unusual name arrested in Wis. Beyonce security kept dad from daughters Four family members share birthday Mom gives birth on New Year's Day again Twins born in different years